To wonder how people are coping?

[CobbleWobble]

We are very lucky, I know this.

We are "Mumsnet rich" both have professional jobs with good salaries (£170k household income) and yet this last 12 months:

• removed children from private school
• changed how we do the weekly shop to reduce costs
• cut subscriptions (like Disney+ etc)
• reduced what I bought in the back to school shop
• decided against a holiday in October half term
• concerned about our usual Christmas food order

What is going on? I just don't understand why or how prices are rising as they are or how people on less than us are coping!

I'm extremely grateful we have the things to cut that we have but we've also had to remortgage this year which has doubled our mortgage payments and then our utilities have increased and the food shop has just got insane.

We have other things we can cut - a holiday in the UK, Netflix, the monthly takeaway but its just miserable to think we may need to do that just not to be living.

Happy to post spending particulars if people are finding it hard to see where I'm coming from.

So AIBU to think that as a country we cannot go on with prices rising like this? How are others coping?

OP has clarified that £160k is gross. Net household income is £7k per month.

If you have paid off most of your mortgage your outgoings are significantly lrefucrd

@daisymoo2 seriously? OP isn’t used to having to budget?? Everyone should budget? and two 40k salaries are very different to £160k…

Why also being lefties into this…you do realise that some ‘lefties’ earn very well as well. I earn more than OP doing the maths (less than her husband) but enough to be in the highest tax bracket. I’ve had to save to buy my house at high interest rates, no help from parents at all, grew up very working class. Adding in my partner’s salary as well we take home around £120k. There is no way on earth you would find me complaining on Mumsnet, with faux concern about how other people are coping. You will find me putting my money where my mouth is, giving to charity, helping out people with ££ when I can, voting with intention.

We live a good life, maybe the house isn’t as big as I’d like it to be, maybe we’d like a newer car, yes the food shop is astronomical, but we are LUCKY to have the income we do.

But that salary is more than enough for anybody to be able to afford the mortgage on a reasonable house so it’s a moot point .

Thinking again on this, our net is the same but joint gross income is more like £120k

£160k is about £7.8k net (allowing for a 10% pension contribution)

one person working at 0.8fte in a professional role and the other full time earning most of the salary doesn’t stack.

because even £100k is about 6k take home, meaning the other party would be earning £60k and take home is way more than £1k

I think there’s fudging but either @CobbleWobble doesn't work in any substantive way (monetarily speaking), the split is more equal, or the gross salary is wrong.

But not for sone people who say they are comfortable with salaries of 70k or so

But they’re on £170 it’s more than enough to manage a mortgage on a reasonable house. Plenty.

Omg I’d be so happy with that family income! Single parent £30k - mortgage and bills all covered - I’m coping. Just about, on £170k we’d be rich… I don’t get how you’re not?

I'm going to assume that there is little point in reducing the pension contributions as the tax consequences mean that you won't get a big gain from that. On that basis you have £7k net a month. From that the house and utility expenses are £3,230 and the expenses you need to incur in order to work (so childcare subs commuting broadband and phone) are £1360. That leaves £2400 for "lifestyle" expenditure and that is the bit you can play with. TBH some of those expenses you've done a decent job with already - £600 pcm is not a a big spend for a family of four for toiletries/food/cleaning stuff given the price increases you've cut other things and had some advice on how to cut more. The issue really is that you didn't expect to have to make the cuts and decisions you are on that level of income. And I really agree with you that the cleaner should be something you cut as it just inflicts hardship on someone who really needs the work.

Our economy is totally out of kilter - we are taxing a proportion of the working population at silly levels to prop up the rest, many of whom are themselves working really hard and in some cases getting less for it than they would if they were on benefits. The issue is that we are subsidising businesses to pay less than a wage people can live on because not doing so would make it even less competitive to employ people in the UK and we'd lose even more jobs abroad. At the same time, we are subsidising business who couldn't move abroad and aren't paying their fair share of tax either - eg Amazon can't afford not to have warehouses here but can get away with paying warehouse staff a wage that leaves them claiming UC. Our property market is also now so out of kilter that many many working people need help to pay their rent - that same proportion of the working population is paying most of that - transferring money from people who work for it to people (landlords) who don't. OK the landlords pay tax on that but they don't pay NIC. Many of those lucky enough to buy their property are then struggling to pay the mortgage. There was an interview with Kevin McCloud in the Times today where he pointed out that when he bought a 2 bed home in Dulwich it cost him £60k and house prices were 3-4 times average salaries. Now that house would be over a million and houses are many many more times the average wage.

High taxes and high property and childcare costs means less money to spend at small local businesses.

What’s your industry?

Your problem is that as a single earner on £120k you're in the worst tax bracket and worse off than a couple earning 60k each.

Not necessarily - less than that after tax and that's assuming that theres no student loan to pay.

I am referring to others on the thread who say they are comfortable on 70 K

How much worse off? Thanks

Gross salary £60,000
Income Tax £11,432
National Insurance £3,210.60
Take home pay £45,357.40

x 2 take home = £90,714.80

Gross salary £120,000
Income Tax £39,432
National Insurance £4,410.60
Take home pay £76,157.40

The dual income household has £14,557.40 less per year.

This are just what I got from Google.

Wow

The take home pay is a bit more than that for me but still less than 2 salaries . I guess we have potential savings/ peace of mind for the child with one person around though it is not good for their career or mental health !

I don't believe you Op, this is a goady/braggy post.
Pathetic!!
Cancelling a Disney subscription at £10 a month when your monthly income is hundreds of pounds.
Talking nonsense!

Yep, £10; when there is £900 a month spare. Even the children's 'after school clubs' costs for thus and last year but apparently just taken them out of private school. Our private schools end far later than state so costs for after school clubs minimal. Or perhaps OP is just useless at money management.

Also, there is the added advantage of both employers making pension contributions. Plus possible bonuses. But obviously there could be significant childcare costs if both parents are working and sometimes a cleaner, more money on convenience food, need for 2 cars etc. and own pension contributions. plus of course working is good for career, independence, job satisfaction etc

I was thinking this

my council tax is c at 207 but as single it’s £157

water around £40/50

g&e 150

I don’t pay childcare but do work tho 200 seems very cheap a month compared to what some friends pay for cm or nursery

I agree the government hasn't shifted the dial on living standards at all. But what do you mean about unregulated energy companies? They're regulated by Ofgem - and there's a price cap.

The country can’t afford for people like op to be struggling. She has a big mortgage on a money pit house because the housing market is fucked, maybe that’s all that was available in the area she needs to live in to work?

Lots of employers don’t pay a living wage and wages have to be topped up by the state, I don’t see them offering to pay for op’s professional registration as it’s the right thing to do when a lot of other employers aren’t even paying enough to live on.

Holiday clubs and wrap around are extortionate in some places. My local state school wrap around is 50% of the cost of the local private school fees, well it was before they went up 20% with vat anyway. And if you want people like op and her dh paying lots of tax they can’t be cutting hours or changing jobs into ones where you can flex for 2+ hours a day to do the school run.

I’m glad op said she wasn’t going to cut her cleaner because we should want high earners to employ local people to do things like that as it generates income in our areas instead of every penny going to big conglomerates and the ‘shareholders’. High earners need leisure time to spend money in shops and restaurants and leisure facilities - this keeps loads of people in work. We should want more disposable income not less for more people, it’s not good for the economy if everyone spends their leisure time cleaning, batch cooking and gardening.

I dunno, op is not the enemy, her household pays loads of tax and she is struggling with budgeting now the price of everything is gone through the roof. It’s not morally wrong to earn lots of money, it’s not wrong to want a better lifestyle for yourself when you earn a lot of money. I’m sure if someone gave everyone on this thread 10k they would do something with it to make their lives easier/better/more enjoyable.

Um no

”She has a big mortgage on a money pit house”because she re mortgaged and has clearly frittered money.

Holiday clubs and wrap around are extortionate in some places. My local state school wrap around is 50% of the cost of the local private school fees, well it was before they went up 20% with vat anyway.

My back of a beer mat calculation makes your wrap around care about £80 a day (based on £5000 term fees for private and 63 days in state school term).
Is that right?