To think that on higher incomes, having no money left often comes down to spending choices?

[ThatGoldZebra]

Sometimes when I hear what people are earning, I’m surprised when they say they have no money left at the end of the month.
I understand that everyone’s circumstances are different but at a certain income level it feels like spending choices and lifestyle play a big role. AIBU to think that?

Or a WFH job, because they are so easy to come by now.

Not sure whether you’re saying wfh jobs are easy to get, or are being sarcastic and saying they’re not easy to get.

I think if we all lived in wattle and daub shelters and foraged / hunted our food, we’d have lots more disposable income.

£6 per mth on Netflix is absolutely a luxury.

many people across the UK don’t pay that (or other subscriptions or TV licenses too in many cases) because they need their money to cover necessities.

as a family of 4 in London on a less than £100k household income (shocking, I know)
we are often reviewing our luxury spending - and Netflix definitely falls into this category for us.

imagine all the families who are on actual low incomes - to say that it’s not a luxury because it’s only £6 per mth is incredibly shortsighted and shows that you inhabit a bubble of privilege.

Sorry! I was being sarcastic.

YABU because it's always a choice. It's called cutting your cloth.

Off course but that doesn’t necessarily mean that is wrong . When I got paid half of what I do now I live fin a crappy area and only had one child , since I’m now getting 3x more I have 3 kids and moved to a bigger house, got a bigger car and spend more on holidays and shopping . It’s a matter of logic that if you have more wages you tend to get a better quality of life .

Thank you.

People don't always start out on high incomes. It's possible to come from a modest background with thrifty, frugal habits ingrained and then start earning a high income. This is a point at which there are options. Lifestyle inflation or careful money management.

I have a colleague who is a reasonably high earner compared to me, single, owns a gorgeous flat in a very expensive end of town. she’s always pleading poverty, living off credit cards. and absolutely furious she can’t afford a big house.
She also has expensive taste and buys high end everything (diffusers from white company in bathroom, brand new Audi on finance, regular £250 hair appointments, only buys food from Waitrose, coffee every morning)
meanwhile I have a partner so yes someone to share the bills with but we also shop in Lidl, share a shit car and I use box dye on my hair. So yes we have money left at the end of every month whilst she’s living on credit cards.

I think some people seem to be confusing surviving with actually living

I think the point is that it’s an ongoing cost. ‘Only’ £6 per month is £72 per year. If someone squandered £72 on a fancy pair of trainers that they didn’t need, you’d probably consider that a luxury, so why not Netflix?

When I was a poor student there’s no way that I would have wasted £72 a year on something like that.

Shoes aren't a great comparison, because only one person can use them at once. Netflix is potentially a very efficient way of using a small amount of money for multiple people, particularly if we consider that it can deter people from spending money on other things to entertain themselves.

Why stop there, if a family of four all live in a single cardboard box under a bridge and send their children up chimneys to save on childcare costs, they’d be minted. Sheer luxury and frivolity to insist on a roof and a childminder 🤷‍♀️

We get it. No one should have anything more than housing, bills and food, and basic clothing (a grey tracksuit perhaps).

Netflix is a luxury in the sense that it's not essential. However, it's probably one of the cheapest ways to keep a whole family entertained. £6 for a whole month is the same as a cinema ticket. Or less depending on the cinema and seat.

Is Netflix £6??? I think I must be getting ripped off!! (Misses point of thread…)

Obviously choices make a huge difference but everyone regardless of income bracket can be affected by the cost of living increases.

We decided to make one more move up the property ladder in our forties. The house we had was perfectly fine but it had never felt like home to me. Two years after we moved the Truss budget happened, interest rates skyrocketed and our mortgage payments doubled. We can afford it, but it is thousands of pounds a year extra for no additional benefit to us. A few years ago we felt like we had plenty of disposable income. Now we really don’t.

That’s obviously due to a choice we made to move house, but we didn’t foresee Ukraine, Truss, Iran and all the other things that have happened to push up interest rates and the cost of living exponentially.

I think it's £6 with ads and you can only watch on one screen at a time. I'm sure I pay more than that.

I was paying £13 for ages before I realised you could get it cheaper with ads.
And honestly, the ads are fine. Some programs don't seem to have any ads at all.
Prime is far worse now for ads.

Lifestyle creep is a real thing with a lot of
people, although obviously the current cost of living crisis has dampened this a bit compared to years ago. Someone would get a promotion and a pay rise and immediately have an idea in their head how they want to spend it. Bigger house, bigger car, holidays etc. But the bigger house comes with a bigger council tax and heating bill, and you realise you can’t clean it all yourself and hire a cleaner. And now you live in a neighbourhood where your kids school go on ski trips every year and you have to pay for that too, and it all adds up. I’ve become very aware in recent years of not just automatically spending any (small) pay rise I get. Instead it often goes into my pension or long term investments and my lifestyle remains largely the same.

Since I’ve started thinking this way, I’ve noticed how on any game shows etc where people can win money, when asked what they would do with it, I’ve never heard anyone say they’d invest it for their future or put it in their pension. Why not? Surely that would be the smartest thing to do with it?

What are you paying for accommodation though?
For most looking to rent or buy today, mortgage/rent is more than your entire income.

Well, yes. Those of us on low incomes find cheap ways to maintain our mental health. A walk in the park, for example. Growing some seeds from a packet costing £2.50. Or whatever.

How go you think we manage our mental health?

I don't have Netflix. It isn't a necessity.

£6pm isn't a lot. But it adds up. A takeaway isn't expensive. That unnecessary but fun item of clothing isn't expensive.

But they add up.