To be shocked that 50k in savings is seen as ‘ not much in savings’ - maybe on mumsnet - but think about how people are struggling to put food on the table.

[Ginandbitterlemons]

I posted about our savings of £50 k for a specific reason , and was asking advice .

A number of mums netters appeared to mention that that was not a great deal of money.

Now- its not a question of me being offended by such responses- but it has hugely struck home to me just how much society is divided.

There are people who consider this hardly anything - yet I am aware that so many sections of society would be glad to have this , or any, savings at all .

Am not sad for me that I have this ‘ insignificant ‘ amount of savings- but I am aghast that some people do not seem aware that its something than actually may be out of reach for many ,and how such comments may sound to those folk .

I was aware that mumsnet can be elitist- but for goodness sake- there are people really struggling out there.

I am not expressing this very well , but how do people think it sounds to others who are living day to day hand to mouth?
Its been really thought provoking- and made me both aware of what I do have , what my values are , and to up my donations to the local food bank.

Hope I don’t get slated for this - its just really made me think about the wealth divide .

Agree, but success/ wealth is based entirely on the K’s earned. I don’t know anyone in real life who thinks like this. It’s a pattern across a lot of threads.

Yeah same!

Nobody seems to enjoy day to day life much in Mumsnet world.

Top up your savings

Overpay your mortgage

Add to your pension pot

Make sacrifices

How about we live in the moment a bit, instead of planning for a not certain future?

Oh , and £50k savings is a huge amount of money, the circumstances in which you live is irrelevant.

That’s how you know it’s bullshit, it’s all a huge competition and the bullshit depends on the topic at hand. Wait till you notice the same posters claiming to earn 100k+ are also on other threads claiming to be so hard up they live off lentil soup from the food bank 😉

I also doubt many people on 100k salaries would have time to post on mumsnet. Note not “all” I say “many”

Because as a nation we are tending to focus on the now and not do much in the way of savings for emergencies and pensions - do you really want to spend 30 years living on pension credit with nothing to do all day ? - we are a nation of spend now worry later

it should be a balance - enjoy now and make sure you can enjoy your future too but so many people are a boiler/car/job loss away from absolute misery because they prioritise enjoying now and feel entitled to their little luxuries.

and I do know that for a significant chunk of society ( those at the lower end to income and those with very young children ) that isn’t possible but the majority should be able to save more than they do

That's not the same as "I don't know anyone" though is it? Which is what you said. That's "a few of my friends whom I've discussed money with."

You could have other friends, colleagues, family members, your hairdresser, child's teacher, whoever, who do have significant savings.

When all my friends are having a moan about how broke they are I wouldn't jump in with "well I've got xxxx in savings" because that would be totally tone deaf.

Besides which it's totally irrelevant, because you and you social circle aren't a microcosm of the whole of society-you cant extrapolate that because none of you have savings that means nobody else does, in exactly the same way that it would be ridiculous to ask a group of friends working in finance in the city what their savings are and then say "well nobody I know has less than £100,000 in savings so surely thats about the average."

Firstly, the money comes from a company in both our names, so according to HMRC I am actually a high earner.

Secondly, the post was in regards to a couples’ joint savings and I was responding to the disbelief that the people who are wealthy would spend their time on MN. Regardless of who actually earns the money, I am both wealthy and on MN.

Thirdly, my insight is no less valid because I am a SAHM. My family’s financial position is still my lived experience, it’s not as though my DH has huge savings whilst I am pauper.

Why though? Many, many people earning £100k + still keep normal working hours. They’re subject to the same working time directives. My salary isn’t quite £100k but I work a normal 9-5. Yes I’m often answering emails in the evenings, but not all evening! And I have weekends free and annual leave like everyone else (currently away for half term). My DH earns more than £100k and granted doesn’t post on MN but he has hobbies/watches TV/reads Tottenham Hotspur forums in the evenings and weekends!

Couldn’t work out how to double quote. See above.

A fair amount of the posters who claim to earn 100k, when moaned at by jealous lower earners, claim that they work themselves to the bone and their pay reflects that.

Which in the cases where that’s true fair enough, but I find it really hard to believe that mumsnet is over run by extremely busy 100k earners when that group of people is 4% of the general population but is seemingly 54% of mumsnet.

More fool you if you fall for it

I don’t ’fall for’ anything, as I don’t really give a shit what randomers on MN earn and neither should anyone else, really. I’m just saying it’s perfectly possible to be a high earner and to have time to post of MN. No one works 24/7

That’s fair enough and I agree with you. I never said nobody who earns 100k posts on mumsnet. My point was merely that seeing as people that earn that much are only 4% of the general population I find it hard to believe it when I see half the people on this site claiming to earn that much.

Apparently, there’s about 8 million unique users on Mumsnet.
Looking at the UK alone there is approximately 2.5 million people earning over 100K, you also have to take into account that there are plenty of people on Mumsnet who are not in the UK (me being one of them) and usually they come from countries like the US, Ireland, Australia etc our wages are actually higher. So I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon for people on over 100 K to be on Mumsnet and posting throughout the day…

Yeah sure I’m not saying no one here earns 100k, I just think there’s also a lot of liars maybe they feel inadequate reading comments from actual high earners so they lie idk.
Statistically it just doesn’t add up the sheer amount of people claiming to earn 100k on here.

And the us and Irish posters would be noticeable for using $ or €

Not necessarily, I very rarely use the € sign when talking about money on here…

I work full time and I earn around £30k a year.

I split from my husband earlier this year and we sold the family home. That gave me savings for the first time in my life. My earnings let me rent my house and pay all the bills, but I now have about £150k split between various things. I feel very fortunate, but as I am now on my own I feel this huge responsibility not to fritter it and keep it safe.

However, I spent some for the first time since receiving it. I am going to France next month and staying in a swanky hotel. I felt guilty spending the money originally, but then I thought - fuck it, I have had a shitty year. I deserve a treat.

Lots of those people you listed are not friends though are they? My hairdresser is not my friend she's my hairdresser. Same for colleagues and children's teachers they are not my friends.

The people who are my friends, I am aware of their financial situations and they are aware of mine.

There aren’t 2.5 million earning over 100k. It’s 4% of the total workforce of 34 million.

it is completely true that British wages are pretty crap these days in comparison to other countries.

Because sometimes you realise in life, there will come a time when you need to access your savings and have none.

We were specifically speaking about 100,000+ in GBP.

I’m Serbian and live in the US. I don’t tend to make a habit of using RSD or $ when referring to GBP.

We have £50k in my premiun bonds and £27k in DH. I agree, we don't think it's much tbh

If you assume half the posters are bullshitting, why do you spend your time here? And not just a little time either if you are trying to sleuth out perceived inconsistencies across various boards. The only thing more bizarre than creating a fictitious identity onan anonymous forum is spending your free time trying to hunt those bullshitters down.

I agree with this. If you don’t take what people say at face value (bar obvious trolls etc) then what’s the point in engaging at all?

I find some threads interesting, why do people watch eastenders it’s made up bullshit too? Why do people read Shakespeare even ?