To think £2k in rent and bills is “normal”?

[smoosee]

Live in London for work and need to be close to the office. My rent and bills, so water, electricity, council tax, heating, internet, comes to about £2,000 a month. I take home about £5,000 a month , in my mid 20s. Manage to save about £1k a month. AIBU to think this is pretty normal and not exactly living it up for a young professional?

You have 2k spending money each month after bills AND making savings and don’t feel like you are “living it up “

that seems a shame - you probably need to assess what’s happening to that 2k fun money and then do some prioritisation

I’m not in your situation but myself and my husband have somewhat less than 2k a month fun money between us and we certainly are living it up !

although for us, this is the most we have ever had to spend on ourselves so we really appreciate the things we can do

imagine living more normally on 2.5 to 3k a month - because calling your wage normal isn’t accurate either

mortgage is more than that here 😭

2k for rent AND bills is amazing. My rent is almost £4.5k... without bills and im not even in london...mind you ive got 2 kids so i need a bigger place etc.

£60k in your 20s is not normal no.

Your rent and bills in London; probably and especially where housing benefit is paid.

When I was in my 20s (20 years ago!!), my rent was £1200 a month (flat share) plus bills on top. I think water, heating, electric were included, but obviously internet, phone bill, commuting costs, etc, so probably base expenses every month of at least £1600. That wasn’t much less than I made! Maybe at most £2000 a month income, not always. I needed help from family and I never had a chance to save.

That said, if you are earning that well, buy don’t rent. I wasn’t able to save up a deposit or have a decent enough income to buy til I was 40. But the mortgage on my massive 5 bedroom house is only £1600 a month. If you have the disposable income, I’d be investing it better.

Rent sounds normal for a room in a flatshare. When I lived in London eight years ago I earnt less than you, paid about the same in rent/bills, but saved more each month.

Earning 5k a month after tax is not normal as a 20 something and not common at any age, it's in the top few % of earners, and it's a huge amount with only yourself to support.

I take home only a little more and we are a family of four and I'm 50, in a higher professional career, with one at university, and I don't think I'm doing too badly.

You are on an incredibly high salary for your age (north of 85k if your take home is 5k per month, assuming you don't already put money into a pension, in which case your salary is even higher) and, for London, I'd say pretty low rent and bills combined. As a pp mentioned above, the first thing I'd do is put 1k a month into my pension, then save 1k, and you'll still have 1k to play with a month.

Sounds like you’re doing extremely well OP!

I live in Birmingham and my household bills amount to around 1.7k (ish). I’d think 2k even seems quite low for London

Rent and bills is normal maybe on the cheap side if you live alone.
5k salary is not normal, it's way above average, I bet you have a lovely lifestyle! Enjoy! x

normal enough to me…my mortgage and insurances alone are 2k…

1200 for a shared house might be normal now, but would have been crazy 10 years ago.

I rented in zone 2/3 for 500-800 sharing with only 2 other tenants around the same time. Then a studio for 1100 in zone 2, a 1 bed flat in zone 2 for 1400, and finally a small 2 bed cottage in zone 3 (but Richmond area) for 1800 just 4 years ago.

Forgot to add, I’m also not in London.

I’m afraid this post made me laugh.

I mean all the talk about how you need £2k to just live us … such a privileged position. Just look state pension £800 a month.
MW? Just a bit higher up just above £1.5k

So yes most people live spending less than £2k a month on bills, food and rent/mortgage.

And a wage at £5k a month, saving £1k???
Come on, very few people manage that.

As for the young professional side, I have two dcs in ther 20s. Young professionals too. They don’t earn anywhere near as much as that. You are been very well paid if you earn that in your 20s. Finance role I imagine? You won’t be earning that as a junior doctor or an engineer for example.

So no, I’m afraid it’s NOT a normal position. It’s a privileged one

“Normal” really is not a term that can be used for housing. I too live in London and probably pay similar but £5,000 take home in mid 20s is about 90k - 95k per annum gross which is not average for mid-20s and I am sure you know that.

I am confused how so many people think this is a normal amount? I am in London and have moved around a lot to always keep my rent (house share) + housing bills less than £900. I am on 65k and save about 2k per month as I am very frugal (saving to buy a house before I turn 30). only saving 1k on a 5k net salary is crazy.

Outgoings seem normal, but with that salary, I’d be looking at where I could cut back in other areas to increase saving/investing. As someone in their 20s, you could really set yourself up well for the future by investing 500 a month now as well as having savings. Maybe something to think about.

The Cumbrian coast - about 15 miles outside the national park.

I live in the Midlands but I'm privately renting and pay £££ for full time childcare and activities and other kid related expenses.

It's crazy because I look relatively comfortable on paper but in reality I'm skint!

OP says the net monthly income is £5k, so if there’s a student loan and pension coming out of that, it’s closer to a £100k salary.

That is definitely high for mid twenties, even in London. They should be saving much more with such low (for London) outgoings.

I assumed that the £5k a month was before tax.
That would put the OP at £60k a year, which is already the high tax band (so nowhere near the ‘usual’ wage even for professionals)

That would leave her with£3.800 per month.
Depending on what student loans she has, she’d be paying £400 per month for that. Plus pension.

So yes I suspect she doesn’t feel like she is rolling in it because the margins are small.

But she rea.ly need to remember that being able to save £1k a month is luxury few people have. Even young professionals.

i mean if you want to compare, dh earns £70k as an engineer. Pretty ‘normal’ type of wage at his level. Professional role right. But he has 30+ years experience behind him… not a couple

Outgoings normal (rent maybe even a bit low - I pay over £1000pm for a one bed outside of London!). Income unusual as £5k a month is a level of earnings most people will never see (that income would solve most of my problems 🤣). What is your profession?

You both have and spend a large amount of money. London is probably the key factor here.

Are you in a house share? I’d say £2k is about normal. You don’t mention student loan repayments or pension so that salary is after those deductions? You’re doing well. On average most mid 20’s will not be on a £90k salary. It will feel skewed due to you being in London and presumably surrounded by others earning that or more as well.

A young member of my family is on £180k at 27 years old, also in London. People don’t believe me when I tell them and my family think that is untold riches. They’re very sensible with money though and save several K a month for a house deposit.