I know Im being unreasonable!! but WTF?!...

[PunnyOliveTurtle]

In the queue for the post office and a woman in front of me (take note we very squished up together) opened up her banking app. and my heart sank, she had 4 accounts...800ish, 2kish, 1kish and 10kish. I have one account with 178quid til pay day at the end of the month, and i need to buy food and pay a bill. I know i was unreasonable for looking, I looked away as soon as I could, but my heart died a little. I'll never have that kind of money. Such a different world we live in...

That's hardly crazy money. You also shouldn't have snooped, how tacky.

£13,800 isn't loads and loads. If she's saving a house deposit it'll get her nowhere!

£18k though - that's below minimum wage, take it you work part-time? The solution would be to work full-time.

If someone looked over my shoulder while I was on a banking app, they could easily see anything up to £100k on there.

None of it is mine, my business account is on the same app as my personal account. Customers pay huge amounts into it but 99% does not belong to me, a tiny amount is my profit.

I've also been power of attorney for relatives and able to check and access their banking. None of that belonged to me either.

So you really don't know what you're looking at. She could be richer than you, she could be poorer than you, she could be on the same level.

And you already knew the above about the person in front of you in the queue.

The post offices I go in you stand back and wait your turn,never is anyone that close to see people’s banking apps.

I think this woman was just checking her banking app on her phone in the queue.

You don't really know exactly what those amounts represent. Could be a credit card statement or other amount owed as others have said. And you.also don't know what struggles she might have, which no amount of money can cure

Or realise everyone is different and if you snoop you may find something you are not looking for?

I don’t think £14K is that much to have in accounts, people often surpass that when saving for a wedding or house deposit etc.

It’s all relative though isn’t it, you’d love to have what she has but equally there will be someone on here who would love to be in your position too.

Im sure there’s a saying about peeking at things then wishing you’d rather not seen it…

Do you have young children? I know it’s difficult to change things with young kids. If you don’t, have you thought about retraining? Sounds like money is really tight but early 40s might be a great time to look for a new career.

Just one example - I work as a social worker in adult social care and my local authorities and some surrounding it have apprenticeship courses. People who work as unqualified social workers earn about 28k a year and once they’ve been here for two years the local authority funds their social work degree on the job and after three years they are qualified social workers and their earning potential goes up to 45k within a few years. I have colleagues in their 40s and 50s who have done it.

Maybe there are opportunities out there. My DW is obsessed with how much Lidl managers get paid - 60k a year. I’ve told her to get a job in Lidl do some courses in management and work her way up lol.

Those savings might not be achievable now but maybe one day.

Sorry if this comes off as oh you’ve got no money, get a better job then. I just am always so impressed with these social work apprenticeships as it means people who never would have been able to give up work to retrain can qualify. And 45k might not be rolling in it money but I’m comfortable

Same for me.
If OP had seen my various accounts once I had received my inheritance they'd have been envious, but I didn't somehow regard it as 'my money' as I hadn't earned it.
And it meant that I no longer had my parents around.
My parents were in jobs where they received very generous pensions, obviously were able to buy a house when house prices were realistic- those things don't really apply to me!
So there are many unknown factors!

That's not really that much money. Everyone's circumstances are different. She may have worked her socks off at school and got a well paid job. It could be inheritance? Husbands money?
You need to focus on yourself and not what other people are earnings.

Nope, just looked at mine and it's a balance that that says x bank platinum visa £xxxxx. It's a credit, you pay it and reduce it.

If you looked over my shoulder and saw my CC balance it would say 2,547.86 (no minus sign), that's my available credit limit not what I owe.

Some people have more money, I don't understand why others don't get this.

The person behind you could have -800.

I get it, its shit. Unfortunately its life. There will always be people way richer than you are, and there will always be people way worse off than you. Its just the way the world works. There may be people here who are envious of your £178 until the end of the month.

Money doesn't always equal happiness though.

My best friend is currently dying of cancer in a hospice. Shortly before she was admitted she was awarded £300K in a medical negligence claim as her cancer was missed. She never got to spend a penny of it. Her DH would gladly give it all back to have her home and healthy again.

So, yes, it may sting seeing someone more well off than you are, and you have every right to feel a bit shit about that, but you have your health (I hope!)

What does that have to do with my post?

This.

i can see my business account on my homepage. There is over 500k in there right now. But that’s because in 3 weeks time I have to pay one bill alone that comes to over 600k.

I also pop into the post office a lot to sell on Vinted because high turnover doesn’t equal high profit!!

Yes exactly. I have very high turnover. My profit is low.

Which is why it's so annoying that the VAT threshold is based on turnover, not profit.

It's not exactly loads of money, it's a normal amount to have in current accounts as an emergency fund.

She could have won money or play match betting regularly.

It's hardly a lot. It is recommended to have 6 months salary in savings.

I'm in this situation. The bank balance alone would make it look like I'm fortunate, but it came at the cost of my father dying young.

It also doesn't show that my husband is currently out of work and I am on a fixed term contract. If we don't get new jobs soon then the balance will quickly deplete.

Well that's why you are struggling, you aren't working full time right now.

• Age 21 and over (National Living Wage): £12.21 per hour, which is £25,397 per year for a 40-hour week.

That person is probably working full hours or more.

I find it surprising that by your 40s you don't realise that there are plenty of people around with lots of money as well as plenty with little money.

18k is low salary which is why the amounts feels unachievable for you BUT they are not unrealistic for many people.

My uni aged dc have over £800 left after working very long hours, over the summer in a job paying above min way. Admittedly their housing costs were covered by me but they paid for everything else.

Note to self: never open banking apps in public!

(not that I have £800k in the bank)