To say there’s always a high earner thread? Tell me about your income vs expenditure if you are of the opinion that you are broke/not well off?

[Moneymadness]

Just that really. Every other money thread ends up taken over by those with large incomes and low expenses, or just large incomes tbh. If you want to. Post your numbers if you are bloody broke and just getting to the end of the month(or not)…a safe space that cannot be taken over by the higher earners maybe?

I’ve recently walked out of my job, managed to get a new one, the downside is, it’s 60 hours a month less so I’m going to be earning like £700 roughly less a month!
I only pay 1 utility bill a month and my phone bill so it’s not like I’m going to be not able to pay bills, it’s my savings that is going to suffer because I won’t be able to save much each month like I have been doing!

You sound loaded

700 less than what though?

The median gross annual salary for full-time employees in the UK is around £35,828, I earn a little below this and am in a two income household. I consider this pretty well off but do still celebrate a month where I end up with money to save. It goes on bills, commuting, food, DC clubs, new clothes for DC, second hand clothes for me, my treat of skin care and our family treat of eating out or takeaways. My DH earns more than me and we split bills by percentage of earnings. We have shared savings too that DH builds but are considered joint, but those are for all the things we need to do to the house.

So no one is broke it seems…

I earn just under 37k a year before tax, husband about 32k a year. We definitely aren't broke but we do struggle to put anything away in savings. I consider it a good month if we have a £100 left after bills, food, rent etc. Again, I don't think we're broke, that's just how life is nowadays. Most of our friends, colleagues etc are in a similar position.

My DH would define himself as broke but we have a duel income of 100k. I think we are doing really well and don’t feel broke at all. I do think for our income we should be able to do a lot more but I guess everyone feels that with current cost of living.

DH and I earn 75k between us.

We have 0 mortgage or rent though so we are able to save a fair bit a month and have a pretty nice lifestyle as well.
If we had kids or lived in London, we'd be brassic.

Why are those of you on high salaries who are NOT broke answering…like just why?

They can't help themselves! 'Look at me - I'm loooooaded!' 🤷‍♀️
I am fully, properly broke! No savings, absolutely nothing. My husband earns minimum wage and me just a bit above. Family of 4 to support and it is absolutely crippling us.

Why have you started a thread complaining about people not telling you their income when you haven't told us yours ?

They are posting on the cost of living and money matters forum, rather than AIBU

I was about to say the same thing! People who are actually broke are now unlikely to answer when others earning £100k are claiming poverty.

You asked how much people earned and what they spend it on and whether they consider thenselves broke. Youve heard that people on lots of different household incomes still feel stretched. You could have asked 'only people who only have one minimum wage earner for the whole household respond' and you'd have got different answers. As it is, youve learnd that broke is a pretty subjective term and has been interpreted as most people as having nothing left over at the end of the month.

You go first and then set the bar at what broke means to you.

No idea…

That’s not what she asked though…

We were finding it quite tough when I was earning around £25k and DH was earning £31k which was most of last year. We weren't struggling to pay for rent and food but we were definitely having to make some choices around holidays, days/nights out and extra-curriculars for my daughter. Quite a few months we were having to dip into savings rather than add to them.

Now, I'm on £45k and he's on £34k and we feel very comfortable.

Your income and expenditure is pretty irrelevant though. It’s what you have left after costs that matters. So you could earn the average wage living in a cheap area of the UK and be far better off than someone on a high wage in London because their housing, commuting costs and nursery fees will be much higher than those living elsewhere. These threads are meaningless because only DISPOSABLE income is relevant.

I earn slightly above the average salary in U.K., but as a lone householder with mortgage of £1000+ per month have to be careful - I try and save minimum of £50 a month just in case need repairs etc, and am trying to pay more into my pension

Can I answer? Broke is when you run out of money to buy food and you have no money to top up a pre paid metre for heat and light, when you have a week to go until payday.

Broke is searching through pockets and bags praying you find a stray fiver.

Broke is when you empty your small change jar or your children’s piggy banks to see if you have enough for a loaf.

It isn’t that you can’t save as much as you used to or find that £100k doesn’t go that far.

Costs are partially optional though / two people with similar jobs and family set up in the same location may choose very different housing options , may chose very different commuting options so it’s not disposable income either

and I think that’s kind of the point of the thread - that one persons essential is another persons choice and that lots of people on big money make big choices and the moan about being broke

Had a friend like that -we were same job but her husband earned more than mine

couldn’t understand how I could afford what I did but her mortgage was three times mine ( bigger house in posher area and bigger house means bigger bills ) and her idea of a typical Friday night was a meal out whereas mine was have a few mates round for a chat ,my holidays were camping and hers were hotels , my car was a fiesta and hers somewhat bigger and posher and newer …and so on

which meant I do have spare cash to join a gym … which she found amazing because she couldn’t afford that after “essentials”

Correct, that’s not what I asked.

So you aren’t broke?

This! Yes this!! Having been there and not far off still this is what I consider broke! I wanted to create a safe space i suppose. That’s all.