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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you actually need 2k a week to live on?

327 replies

TheIcyAquaFawn · 26/01/2026 22:31

Post bills/house etc?
For a brilliant quality of life?

Perfect week stuff as in fun activities, no budget. Food shopping throwing everything in the trolley - lots of easy food. Being able to order Ubereats whenever you fancy ?

OP posts:
golemmings · 28/01/2026 20:46

Id redecorate the house and spend school holidays visiting giant pandas. I would also go skiing every year. As for the other £2000 a month, id just feel guilty.

Dunnowhatimat · 28/01/2026 20:47

Cadenza12 · 26/01/2026 22:33

86k take home? That's almost no one then.

Just out of curiosity as I can't figure it out - how are u getting 86k? There's 52 weeks per year so 52 * 2 =104k? I feel like I'm missing something 😂

Kendodd · 28/01/2026 20:56

TheIcyAquaFawn · 26/01/2026 23:04

Quite a lot of food waste already happens for me. Sadly

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Why?

Harmonypus · 28/01/2026 20:57

I'd be feeling pretty flush if I had £2k a year for fun stuff.
Scrap that, even £1k per year would be about £1k more than I have got.

MrFluffyDogIsMyBestFriend · 28/01/2026 21:07

I think it would become a bit boring and also really time-consuming doing a £500 shop and then having to deal with all the waste.

However, I would spend a lot on taxis because I don't like driving and it makes me not want to go anywhere. So I'd get a taxi to the coast every weekend (1 hour away), probably eat out a couple of times a week and I would buy a massive freezer and fill it with those really good quality frozen ready meals from the local farm shop (FieldGoods not Cook). Not sure what else because I like buying my clothes from Vinted and I have very little space for anything new. But then I'd have a bigger house if I had that much spare money. But the real luxury I having the money in the bank and knowing that you'll never have any financial worries.

MrFluffyDogIsMyBestFriend · 28/01/2026 21:09

Dunnowhatimat · 28/01/2026 20:47

Just out of curiosity as I can't figure it out - how are u getting 86k? There's 52 weeks per year so 52 * 2 =104k? I feel like I'm missing something 😂

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That was my thought and I'm absolutely terrible at maths 🙃

ThoughtsQuestions · 28/01/2026 21:35

Cadenza12 · 26/01/2026 22:33

86k take home? That's almost no one then.

Well it's actually £104k right?

SemiRetiredLoveGoddeess · 28/01/2026 21:40

If l had 2K a week to live on. I would spend it all oh sex and drugs and Rock n Roll

And just waste the rest.

Happy Days!!!
👍💃💰🙏

moomoo1967 · 28/01/2026 21:44

TheIcyAquaFawn · 26/01/2026 22:31

Post bills/house etc?
For a brilliant quality of life?

Perfect week stuff as in fun activities, no budget. Food shopping throwing everything in the trolley - lots of easy food. Being able to order Ubereats whenever you fancy ?

Living in a dream world, my monthly take home is just over that amount

LaDamaDeElche · 28/01/2026 22:42

If I was loaded I could definitely spend more 😂

Original poster
TheIcyAquaFawn · 28/01/2026 22:43

ThoughtsQuestions · 28/01/2026 21:35

Well it's actually £104k right?

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Wrong. As this is post mortgage and bills - so a lot more than that.

OP posts:
LucyLoo1972 · 28/01/2026 22:46

LovingLimePeer · 26/01/2026 23:56

My pay is variable depending on how much work I do, but we're likely to have c. £12300 take-home per month for the next calendar year so similar to the level you think would be optimal. I'm a pathological saver though so can't even imagine spending it on fun. We have an annual takeaway, I buy my clothes in charity shops, and if I want fun money (eg a date night every few months), I do extra work so it goes into a separate fun fund.

My husband and I calculated that we can live on a salary of £22000 each once the children leave home, but for now we can save £94000 per year. I just can't get my head around the thought of maximising fun, when I can maximise security and house deposits/university education for my children and invest in their future.

Yikes - you save 94,000 per year?

we lived very frugally and it led me to so much stress I ahd a catastrophic breakdwon that nearly killed me and changed ours ives irrevocably.

you may drop down dead tomorrow and thee are no pockets in a shroud

oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends · 28/01/2026 23:04

GalaxyJam · 28/01/2026 19:51

Meh, it would be wasted on the kids anyway

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No intention of taking kids, maybe not even DH.

Littlesarou · 28/01/2026 23:31

BatchCookBabe · 26/01/2026 22:35

I don't know what planet you live on @TheIcyAquaFawn but we live on one third of that!

£2K a week is £100K a year. The vast majority of people do not earn this, or anywhere near this! (Many people have less than half of this!)

.

Edited

Its a lot more than that - £100k would be higher rate tax, lose personal allowance etc so would work out circa £1325 a week - for £2k take home you need about £150k (let me know where to get this job please 😜)

Catterbat · 29/01/2026 00:10

I can’t believe some of the miserable people on this thread! It’s just a fantasy, folks. Chill out!

I am skint as an absolute bastard but I love to dream too OP.

I could totally spend 500 a week in M&S, just get the posh steak and the most expensive wines! Nice little weekends away travelling first class. Expensive clothes and makeup. If it’s 2k a month for life (which it is in MY fantasy), there would be no need to save.

Bollocks to being sensible, that’s what real life is for.

Lockdownsceptic · 29/01/2026 00:10

Cadenza12 · 26/01/2026 22:33

86k take home? That's almost no one then.

I make it £104K.

pollymere · 29/01/2026 00:50

I don't think I'd know what to spend £500 a week on for treats. 2K is more than our household income for the month... We get takeaways and have clothes and haircuts.

AlleycatMarie · 29/01/2026 01:01

@TheIcyAquaFawn I would say even more!! I would want at least 10 grand a month for holidays! So mine would be 4k a week!

TaupeGuide · 29/01/2026 01:31

id say 1k a week for me, but yes to be able to truly live then its needed

FlyingCatGirl · 29/01/2026 02:16

charlieandthechocolatfactory · 26/01/2026 23:06

I have gone from £3600 monthly to £23k a month (single mum, 30 , receive 1.1k for child maintainence on top) so seen both sides.

honestly, for a good quality of life living simply and buying what you need including bills etc, £3000 is enough.

Are you a bit of bullshitter because what job are you claiming pays you £23k a month! Nobody would pay anybody that kind of money per month! I get sick of these silly brag posts on Mumsnet! You haven't gone from earning a pittance to earning nearly £280k a year! And you claim to be fleecing your ex as well as having £23k a month salary! Were you also trying to claim that £3600 month was a pittance? How could tyres etc cripple you as permanent high earner! £3600 is a high salary that most people don't earn!

iusedtobeasize8 · 29/01/2026 02:25

She means 23k a year

MibsXX · 29/01/2026 02:42

iusedtobeasize8 · 29/01/2026 02:25

She means 23k a year

Yup, I read that as 2,300 a month lol, prob autoincorrected!

Toober · 29/01/2026 05:58

Am I the only one who can't/doesn't daydream about these things? It would just me make me a bit sad! 🤣

Statsquestion2 · 29/01/2026 06:00

Littlesarou · 28/01/2026 23:31

Its a lot more than that - £100k would be higher rate tax, lose personal allowance etc so would work out circa £1325 a week - for £2k take home you need about £150k (let me know where to get this job please 😜)

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Yeah we take home just over 1700 per week on our basic month and our income last year was over 140k so that’s about right

ThoughtsQuestions · 29/01/2026 06:30

TheIcyAquaFawn · 28/01/2026 22:43

Wrong. As this is post mortgage and bills - so a lot more than that.

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Oh right, disposable. Well to take home that £220k. £128k post tax. Bills £26k. Existing the mortgage to be high on that take home