AIBU to be baffled by colleague on same wage living lavishly?

[Cherryred2]

AIBU to think that some people are so unaffected by the COL and to find it strange. A woman at work is just living a life that seems so alien to me and the others. She is just back from a weekend in London (not for any reason), went to a show, had dinners, shopping spree etc. last year bought a new house and a new car!! Is doing a Disney Paris and Paris holiday this summer! Is going on another trip to Budapest with her sister,spa weekend with her mum and sister, a few days to Rome with her DS because “he loves history and would love to see the colleseum and is thinking of where to go with her dd because she has to make it fair. I asked her if she had plans this weekend and they were out for dinner Friday night and Saturday night for two different celebrations. I’m constantly thinking WTF! The crazy thing is we earn the same which is approximately 50k, I mentioned a credit card last year and she said “oh no I don’t do credit cards, never had one, I hate them, I’m so fearful of debt, mortgage is my only debt and I overpay on that!” I’m baffled!

I don’t think you should be baffled. Very easily explained. You say she has her parents and in laws so no inheritance. My grandad left me money, could be the same for her. Her husband could have a high paying job. They could have a low mortgage. There’s no many reasons.

My assistant earns a third of what I do, but she is always on holiday and spending lavishly. Because her husband earns mega money and they live in a cheaper area than we do, her mortgage I imagine is low.

I don’t think it’s baffling at all if she’s in a relationship. My partner’s salary covers all the bills so mine is used for lifestyle stuff and savings (albeit it all goes into one pot we both have access to).

People who feel they have to scrimp and save will inevitably envy those who don’t. maybe they feel they could have made different life choices.

Who cares what other peeps do?

Money doesn't buy you good health - as many of my "rich" friends have found out.

i think you’re being unreasonable, you must have an inflated lifestyle. We own our home but cheap cars are 30 years old

My wage is 47k (after pension), during my wifes maternity leave we have been Cyprus, Mallorca, bought a motorhome, did 3 months travelling Europe in it , fuetureventura

On top of that I’ve been Amsterdam twice & the algarve then going Benidorm & Chicago This month

We’ve also managed to put £4k into our baby’s ISA

You cars are 30 years old?
You are also a 2 income household.

We own our home but cheap cars are 30 years old

Just 10 more years and you will be MOT exempt! Savings😁

I read a thread on here not long ago about a woman who had won a few million on the lottery. They walk among us.

Also, possible inheritance. If she’s single she could have had a DH with life insurance or god knows what. Also, how do you know she doesn’t work? She might work from home.

Are you both single? Presumably her other half earns differently to yours? Or perhaps her other half has an inheritance. I also know a few people who are very well off financially because of compensation after significant accidents.

The other thing to consider is if you save anything each month, possibly she's living entirely to her means.

Do you have any kind of debt? Do you budget well and save and invest?
If she has been doing this for many years she will have money, potentially lots of money

@Cherryred2 OP, what you, and most people, overlook is that the majority of people live together as couples. The salary of individual people is irrelevant. What matters is the household income.

As an example, there's a woman who does a similar job to me who almost certainly earns a lot less because she only works a 4 day week. But her household income is a lot higher than mine because her husband is a high earner.

Are you and her both married? If yes, then you need to think about household incomes, and not individual salaries.

If you and her are both single, then indeed, there's another explanation.

Inheritance isn’t the only way she could have acquired money from family.

However - you presumably have no idea how much her partner earns, so it’s odd that you’re assuming her financial position is the same as yours.

Haha. I'm betting it's choice 3--head of the underground crime syndicate.

I don’t earn much, my husband earns loads. My colleagues are probably thinking the same as you OP.

Clearly DH earns very well and/or they have a very small mortgage. I don’t think it’s weird whatsoever.

Op are you going to come back and tell us why you are so baffled or is it one of them threads

Well clearly she is getting the money from somewhere! ... Her family could've come into money - gifted by grandparents, gifted by business windfall from a family member, perhaps her parents pay for all her holidays (my friends parents pay for all their family holidays to center parcs, abroad, Disney etc - but naturally she doesn't tell anyone and puts it all over Facebook like they're rolling in it!!).

She perhaps came into money from family or just has savings built up? I've inherited money from a great auntie and grandparents in the past so I'm sure colleagues may have thought the same about me.

Still have all my parents and in-laws, inheritance doesn't need to be strictly form parents.

😆😆

£50k is about £3k a month take home pay. If her mortgage and bills aren’t any more than about £1500 she has plenty of money for travel and going out.

My money is mine, I pay for quite a few things others probably find extravagant. My husband pays mortgage etc and also earns enough to pay for holidays 🤷‍♀️

It doesn’t sound like she is being rude to you or bragging about it so not sure why it bothers you enough to post about it?

She sounds like me. I earn less than her but my DH earns 4 x what I do and we have joint finances. I go on holidays and out to dinner and he spends on tech.

I’m baffled that you’re baffled tbh.
My colleagues and I are all on the same salary plus or minus a maximum of 3k depending on whereabouts on our particular point of the payscale you’re on, half of us are on the top, the other are a mix.
We all live wildly different lifestyles based on a huge multitude of external factors. It doesn’t take much pondering to figure out why someone is living it up or down compared to you!

I'm always going out to shows, or a meal, or nights away. I'm on minimum wage and definitely not loaded!
Surely you can understand that everyone's outgoings are different though?
Mortgage is paid off for me so that makes a big difference and no debt so very little outgoings at the mo.

Maybe she’s on onlyfans or sells pictures of her feet online 😂