How much would you say is enough to live comfortably on?

[charliebaker]

I'm new to all this so I don't know whether this is in the right section but feel free to let me know if it isn't.

I'm 16 so I've never earnt my own money but I am looking for jobs as well as being in education. I'd say that I've had quite a good upbringing - I live in Manchester in a 4 bedroom house but there was 8 of us in it including my mum and dad. My mum and dad are divorced but my mum is a social worker and my dad runs his own business. I have nice things(technology, phones etc.) but I haven't been on a holiday in years. You must be questioning why I'm writing this but I'm semi answering my own question to see whether other people would agree with me.

I read that in order to have a large, nice house in a nice area with a good car(Range Rover, Mercedes) and go on holiday every year etc etc you have to earn 80,000 before tax. It didn't specify whether it was combined or a sole income. I want to be a doctor and the average wage for a salaried GP(which is what I want to do is 53,000 to 80,000+) and so I was wondering whether that would be enough to do all the nice things I'd want to do.

I probably sound quite naive(I possibly am) but I want to be a doctor for all the right reasons it's just money matters aswell and I wanted your opinions. Feel free to insult me.

It completely depends on where you live. Housing costs are the biggest factor in all this. Also, childcare costs - reliant on where you live (cost and proximity to family that can help) and how many children you have.

As you are already planning to, study hard and have a clear career aim. Things may change many many times as you mature and life circumstances change.

But, money isn't the be all or end all of life. I'm poor, going to be poorer still next year when the tax credits cuts hit. I'm happy though and working to capacity. Budgeting is tiresome but necessary every step of the way.

p.s. never say or think 'feel free to insult me' - know your own worth!

£53-80K is a very good salary outside London and you would be earning orders of magnitude more than most people (average salary in the uk is around £26K)! However the lifestyle you're describing is costly. A "large" house where I live (up North, relatively cheap area) is around £300K so would probably be attainable on an £80K salary but not on a £50K one. You'd also have to save at least 30K deposit. An expensive holiday could easily run to £3-5K, a lavish Christmas £2K, a Merc will set you back £25K......all expensive. You'd also have considerable student debt. I'd say you could live very comfortably but perhaps not quite as extravagant as you'd think!
To put it into perspective we live in a very nice, house with a garden in a lovely area (but we rent and as I said it's up North), we don't run a car but we could afford to (we couldn't afford a brand new car though), we don't go on holidays but enjoy days out, we don't lose sleep about money but Christmas etc needs to be budgeted for, we don't have to worry about money but we're not flush. We have 2 young dc and our main extravagance is me not working to SAH with them. Dp earn around £45K.

It is actually very responsible to consider the salary of a career you're intending to study for before you commit to it. You can do much worse than medicine if you want to be wealthy!

Before I married and had DS I earned around £35k and found that quite enough for me on my own (I owned a flat, not in london), but then I've never wanted a range rover!

If you want to support a stay at home partner and children then I'd guess that you'd struggle on what I earned to also run cars and take holidays etc..

It's enormously dependent on where you live. 80k in large parts of the SE won't give you much freedom at all, what with property costs - round our way, without a deposit of 100K+ it will get you a small terraced house. But 80k in other parts of the country may buy you a 4 bed detached house, two cars and three holidays a year.

You learn to spend what you earn, I think. A family on 50K a year might have the same amount left over at the end of the month as a family on 120K, depending on their outgoings on food, cars, childcare, mortgage etc.

It's good to consider your future salary. I can't imagine many doctors in any part of the country struggle too much; it's not an easy job, or quick to qualify into, but I imagine it would always come with a comfortable salary.

A large house near me would cost you about £1-£3million, you won't get far on £80k. Housing is the biggest variable, but the cost of living does vary - go out for a pint in London and Nottingham and see the difference.

One thing for certain, education (professional qualifications), application, ambition and a bit of luck are needed. A career with high barriers to entry usually pay more, or running your own business.

Impossible to say - depends on

• where in the UK you want to live
• if you have children
• if so, how many and do you want to educate them privately
• what help you have with deposit for a mortgage

FWIW I know lots of GPs who are struggling, please do not go into medicine for the money. Look at what is happening now with junior doctor hours. I am a salaried GP and I take home less now than I did 5 years ago.

DH & I live in the SE. We are comfortable on income of £1800 pm (and are paying a mortgage). Depends on your lifestyle I suppose and what you consider "comfortable".

To me it means being able to pay all bills and eat pretty well (good quality food cooked from scratch) and have some modest savings for rainy day (£10k).

We are both late 40's and live very comfortably on around that income between us.
But we have never been in debt (except mortgage), we still budget, shop in charity shops sometimes, we run 2 small and not new cars and we have never overstretched ourselves mortgage wise, we have nice holidays, go out all the time and have money in savings and investments, we can afford nice food, have the heating on whenever, buy what we want within reason.
We live in a lovely area, in a nicely decorated large 4 bed with a study, 2 living rooms, huge kitchen/diner/snug/2 bathrooms, utility etc. But have previously lived in a house we couldn't afford to do up, a house with no parking etc. Things take time, but as you are thinking about it now and have the beginnings of a plan, you will no doubt get where you want to be. Remember though your priorities will change. A house like ours can vary so much in price depending on location/area/part of the country.
My advice is what I am telling my teenagers;
Buy a house (they have a deposit already), start saving asap, always budget and avoid debt. But part of that budget should include fun e.g. travel, going out, enjoying life.
Good luck!

A junior doctor's starting salary is about £26 000 it takes at least 10 yrs after medical school to a fully qualified GP

Like everyone else said, it depends where you live. Our household income is around 60k and I'm currently a stay at home mum. We have a brand new car but it's a company car. Standard 3 bed house. Not rolling in it but no money worries. Don't have lavish Christmas' by choice. 2 children under 2. However up until 6 months ago we lived in a much more expensive part of the country and struggled on 60k.

If you have a partner when you have kids, and if he earns a decent salary, then you should be ok earning £50-80k. On a single income, with a SAHP and kids, you won't have that big house, cars and foreign holidays if you live in the SE. Housing will be the biggest factor.

When I mean ok, I mean if he earns say £50k, giving you a combined income of above £100k, then you should be able to have that nice car and foreign holiday. It depends on how much above £100k you are looking.

Tbh, we have a combined income of £90k and we don't have mercedes. We do have a foreign holiday every year and a 4 bed home. So I'm guessing another £10k a year should get us two nice cars?

My husband and I earn about £55k between us. We live in the South West and own a 4 bedroom detached house, he has a new Audi (I drive a Focus, a posh car doesn't interest me) and we have had big holidays but only every few years. A big chunk of our money now goes on nursery fees.

My advice would be to aim high, but make sure you do something you want to do too. We don't earn loads but we're in flexible jobs, don't work longer than 9-5, and have very little commute so we have loads of time as a family.

Someday a junior dr starts on nearer 22k than 26k

Would agree with the above our income is similar to most on here, have a good standard of living at least one foreign holiday a year, usually two, one new car (company) one older one - only does 6k miles a year so will keep for a few more. nice house, nice area no big but that's been deliberate due to wanting holidays etc. and been lucky with our moves so mortgage is fairly small.

We work to live not the other way round, could both earn more with bigger commutes but there's way more to life than money.

We are in the North West - in a reasonable expensive bit

Your title is how much do I need to live comfortably. That's a different question to how much do I need to drive a Mercedes etc. I'm a solicitor and as a trainee started on £14,000, then went to £17,000 in my second year and £25,000 when I qualified. I earn just over £50k now (31). I've always lived comfortably even on £14,000. Now I have more money and my partner earns £80k and were in Scotland so it goes further North but neither of us have a desire for a merc or a big house. You're pretty young and sometimes when you don't have your own money that's all you can think about. Possibly will be of less concern later? By all means make sure you can live comfortably but it's important you choose a course and a career you'll enjoy.

*we're

Impossible to say, one mans comfortable is another ones roughing it. A nice holiday for one would be a normal holiday for another.
Unfortunately, the thing people have failed to say is that whatever you earn in future you will grow accustomed to it and live to it. As long as you live within your means, that is ok.
Eg, my exh, takes home £11,000 a month and leases an expensive car and has a massive mortgage and cannot pay his bills. Everyone on the outside sees his car etc and thinks he is doing well, but it is all facade, he owns nothing, and there are alot of people like this driving around in flashy leased vehicles living beyond their means.

I'm impressed, OP. I wish I'd had the foresight at 16 to work out what kind of lifestyle I wanted, how much it would cost and work everything out like that. :)

Of course, your priorities might change, and what you want or need might change too, but you're much more likely to be able to actually hit somewhere around the marker you're looking at by planning it through - I've just sort of gone through without much of a plan at all and have never yet earned over £10k a year. (Part of that was due to having children young and not working full time for a good while).

I can't advise, sorry, but I wish you well and I think you'll do just fine.