Aibu to think this is a good salary?

[jamsandwich5]

Just to settle an argument. My husband and I respectively take home 33k and 31k a year after tax.

I work 30 hours, he works 38. He wants me to up my hours but I don’t see why as we don’t struggle for money and I am happy having a bit of spare time to sort kids school admin etc.

AIBU to think 64k for a household (of4) is plenty?

Please remind him that you are working - you're just not being paid for it. Of course, you'd be happy for him to pay you at childminder's rates.

Oh dear, you have done a lot of calculations however you have failed to comprehend that these figures are already after tax earnings. Maybe before you go wild pointing out it doesn’t add up you should double check your workings!

You told her her figures didn’t add up. Was that any practical help? And I have already advised at the beginning of the thread.

Omg that's a dream amount of spare money! Is your husband sore that he works longer hours than you? Tell him to drop a day, you'll still have plenty of money.

Yes I do. However rushing to suggest that the OP figures are wrong was mean of you. Considering especially that were, in fact, not wrong.

Well it's £64 / 12, so yes it's over £5k a month.

Totally reasonable to ensure you are both working same hours. Can he not cut his to match yours?

It's around the same as my household income and we manage fine, have plenty going into savings and enjoy holidays and activities without any struggle. I do make saving elsewhere with things that aren't important to me. I buy cheap cars upfront rather than buying new cars on lease or finance, buy a cheap phone and have a £6 a month rolling plan rather than contracted Iphone, eat shops own brand food, no designer clothes.
I don't think asking MN is much use though, you will have a mix of high earners with high end tastes and low earners who have learnt to enjoy life on a small budget. Only you and your DH will really know how much you need.

This. In many places that wouldn’t cover the bare minimum.

This is why all my emails to my boss have bullet points, and bold* for the really really* important bits

Tell him the cost of a childminder to do drop offs and picknuos, he'll soon change his mind.

The time you have with your children now is precious, it's important for them to have you around, why lessen your quality of life and theirs?

If DH is so bitter maybe he could go down hours but sounds like he's being really petty. Write a list of all the jobs he would be having to do as well to show equal share if he's so keen.

Why doesn't he up his hours, if you're the one doing all the school runs, etc? 38 hours isn't full time, surely he could do 40-45 hours for a bit of extra if he's the one who is so bothered by it?

Is he planning to do some school runs and life admin? I bet not.

THIS

I would point out that if you worked 8 hours more then he would need to adapt. He would need to do school drop offs and clubs, maybe do more household chores like cooking etc

It’s not like you have 8 hours extra to yourself which is probably what he thinks.

It's plenty. There's more to life than money - time is far more precious.

But the OP said they have enough money, so in her case it does more than cover the bare minimum.

I've got 1 dc in primary, one in secondary, and my brain is bamboozled by the homework and all different schools platforms I need to keep up with. I would cut hours if I could

I think it depends on your end goal.

If your kids are at school now, it’s extra cash to save for earlier retirement or higher pension. Gives you more options later in life.

I am a planner. I always like to save for a rainy day or a ‘what if’. If my health is good now and I can make the money now, I feel that gives me security for a time when I may not have that. Plus I don’t want to work until the bitter end.

I would agree, OP. I work only 20 hours per week but dont have family help really and school doesn't offer any extra hours, so id have to get a childminder and then every school holiday would also be a nightmare. It's just not worth it, so we muddle along on less. If you are managing now then keep doing what you're doing. My husband is on €39k and im on €20k in ireland which has a high cost of living but we are relatively lucky as we have a small mortgage compared to some. I know if we had a bigger mortgage id have to rethink and realistically we'd have to upskill and our life would be more stressful. I admit I like the slower pace but I know that's a luxury in this day and age.