To think it’s crazy that National Minimum wage is £27k

[Butterflyfluff]

Yet it’s not really enough to live on 😢

My first job paid £7.5k per year and I thought I was loaded! And I’m not ancient.

Now 2 people on NMW earn over £50k between them yet it’s really not enough these days.

£27k is not a lot to live on these days.
With rent and bills you can easily pay £1500 a month.

Obviously if you’re in a couple then things are much easier because you can half the rent etc.

Well bloody hell, how very lucky! Just skimming the tax threshold - phew!

I earned £25k or thereabouts from my first proper job in the 00s. I could get a mortgage on a family house with my salary alone. Totally unimaginable these days.

Our combined income is only a tiny bit short of that and we wouldn't be allowed to buy an 800k house because of affordability rules - feels like there's some info missing here! How big a deposit did you put down (and, I suppose relevant, did you save it yourself or was it a gift?). An 80% LTV mortgage on an 800k house would be 3.5k a month - I assume you're paying nowhere near that now as you're close to paying it off (and assume maybe bought when interest rates were lower?), but was one of you earning better earlier on?

My DS is paying £1000 per month in rent in Guildford for a house share. On top of that are council tax and utilities and food, and travel to and from work. On NMW, that doesn't leave anything after tax. So we help out. We can so we do. Surviving youth and training is uphill and arduous. So we help out.

Just within the amount not to be taxed. As a tradesman does he often get cash jobs?

Guildford is notoriously expensive

So most of the earnings are undeclared for taxation?

Think it’s particularly hard for young folk especially in London. DD on minimum wage paying £1000 a month rent plus bills and travel costs etc. I’m incredibly proud she’s supporting herself but it’s fairly stressful and challenging. Yes she could live in other parts of the country but the field she works in would be pretty difficult to find the same opportunities. (Not living in a palace either, a fairly average house share with 4 people in a pretty downtrodden area).

@mindutopiahow did you buy an 800k house on that salary?

Possibly 🤷‍♀️

Haha, the amount he earns completely matches the annual personal allowance, so he doesn’t have to pay tax. I bet he gets a lot more cash in hand. Ask him about it.
I guess my own income wohld be higher if I didn’t have to pay tax

Sad that she actually believes that!

I compared my bills earlier this year to what they were when we bought our house 25 years ago.

If salaries had kept up with the increase in my council tax and utilities, I think I worked out that minimum wage should be around £37k.

How much of the difference is being subsidised in universal credit, saving billionaires and costing taxpayers?

It is, but it is also the only place with enough letting property close enough to where he works. It's also convenient for his housemate. When he finishes the apprenticeship, he will move.

You're describing my lifestyle though. We went to France this year, our first holiday abroad since there last Eurocamp-type holiday in 2019. Our cars are 12 and 18 years old. We rarely eat out - maybe twice a year as a family. We earn a lot more than £54k between us and don't live in an expensive area. We started from scratch with no parental contributions.

There are too many variables to base this on your own circumstances.

20K between you? How do you manage that one?

It probably wasn't worth anywhere near that when they purchased it, since the mortgage is nearly paid off, and that's it's current valuation now.

I wonder if we will see the same increase in salaries.

@StuNur85 I’m sure

So little??

Did you miss the part when she said her household income is £74k a year? That would be approximately £58k a year after tax. The median UK household would have about £39k a year after tax. So their household is well above average.

I would love to know where you live and what trade he does! My experience of tradespeople is they are nearly always unavailable because they are too busy and that if you do find one they will be charging you a price that brings tears to your eyes !

I think your OH is either the worlds laziest tradesman or he is doing a lot of cash in hand and I hope the tax people catch up with him .

Yes, plus all the cash in hand that doesn’t make it onto the books.

Are you that naive @intrepidpanda or do you think everyone else is?

Bonkers

Agree, expectations have changed so much.

I know lots of people who eat out several times a week, probably have a takeaway coffee a day, shop for clothes every month and have multiple holidays per year. Varying levels of income.

That’s just totally normal now.

Whereas the people I know who do ok on 27k hardly ever do those things, and drive old fully owned cars/ car budget is under 5k.

No. But I bet it's 8.30-4, but paid 9-3.30 am a paid lunch break with you spend on dinner duty.

DH is a TA so same salary. He also teaches 2 days a week and has to plan.
And yes it's 39w a year.

I work clinically for the NHS. Between us we earn 2x nmw or thereabouts.

2 cars, camping holidays. 2 kids, no childcare costs but probably 2k in extra curriculars a year. Meals out on holiday. I'd say we were comfortable but live in the 1970s rather than the south.

Do you not have a mortgage?