34 on 42k a year and feel poor

[User6404]

I'm supposed to be in a 'good' job, work all hours and lots of pressure. Im told this is a good salary but I never seem to have any money after paying mortgage and bills!

Is anyone else in this position and wonder why it is worth working so hard for little return? Am I deluded? I dont talk about money with friends.

Where in the country are you as thats very relative?

It totally depends on where you live, your outgoing costs and if you have an earning partner to share those costs with!

If you live in Scotland with a DH who’s an accountant and inherited a house to live in, you’ll obviously be in a very difference situation than a single mum of three in London!

Who is it who is telling you this is such a good salary?

Boo fucking hoo

Try moneysavingexpert to reduce your bills

If you have debts and you're making large repayments, sorting those out will make a big difference

Do you have children? Childcare costs?

£42k is a good £12k above average and you’ll be in the top 30% of earners in the country - at a rough guess

The issue isn’t your salary, but your disposable income

It depends on your mortgage and where you are. Are you single income? I think, if you earn £42k on your own and have a normal mortgage with a flat in the SE, then you probably won’t have a life of luxury despite the very good income. However if you are flat sharing at that income (not saving for deposit) or in a dual income household with a partner earning similar then you will have lots left over.

I’m assuming no kids or childcare. Nursery full time is over £1k so you will definitely have nothing left over!

outside london and no other cost, mortgage under 750 pm. some debt paying about 250 pm and one income.

Poor? Really?

Whole families live on much less

Well, you’ll be better off than someone who earns less with kids and worse off that someone who lives with an earning partner. It’s all relative!

Prepare to be flamed OP...

I get it, I earn 40k but seem to always be in my overdraft each month even though I live up north!

I would suggest getting a regular savings account or even premium bonds so you can have money saved before anything else comes out. Also it's worthwhile doing a budget to see where your money goes (for me I was spending £50 a week at the work cafeteria )

It may require some lifestyle changes but it's a decent salary, you just need to adjust your means :)

Boo fucking hoo

I mean, I think I'm supposed to say it's all relative and yada, yada but mostly I second the above.

Get a spreadsheet and work it out. If you are good with money, you should know know all of these automatically. How much do you spend on:

Mortgage
Council tax
Water
Gas/electric
Food
Insurances
Car/travel expenses
Phone
Tv/Netflix/sky etc
Charity donations
Socialising

Add it all up, how much do you have left?

Let's assume you're repaying a student loan and contributing 8% towards a pension.
Your take home pay is £2,285 a month.
Your mortgage is £750 which is a lot less than many people pay for their mortgage or rent.
Even with debt repayments you still have more than £1,200 left over.
You're not poor, you're just bad at budgeting.
Do you have commuting costs?
Do you shop around for energy, insurance and other bills?

Well what do you spend it all on??

So do a budget and work out where your money goes.

Grow up

£2666 net pay per month
£750 mortgage
£250 debts
Leaves £1666 for utility bills, council tax, travel expenses, insurance, food and spending

I third Boo fucking Hoo

Do you know what all your outgoings are?

What do you want to spend money on that you can’t?

What do you spend money on that you maybe shouldn’t or could cut down?

£42K is a good salary. £750 is not a massive mortgage/housing cost. You need to work out a realistic budget of wants and needs and adjust your expectations to match it.

Oh do FO

We (2 adults, 5 young dc & pets) live, comfortably, on a lot less than that. You need work out a budget & stick to it to stop yourself feeling 'poor'.

Yeah, either this is bollocks or you're seriously irresponsible with money. I was on a similar salary ato that age, sI Milan rent costs tof your mortgage and had plenty of disposable cash. Plus holidays etc. You must be living way beyond your means. I'm now working 38 and earn less as I went PT after having DC. Even though my income is lower, and I now have childcare bills I would certainly not describe myself as poor.

Surely you have at least 1,000 after all your bills?
As a family we take home 2,800 and our rent is £850. I never feel poor and there's two of us and a child? I guess poor is subjective, not being able to buy everything in sight is not poor though 🤦‍♀️

Oh and we have to pay £600 a month in childcare ffs.

*similar salary at that age, similar rent costs to your mortgage.

Sorry, my phone is drunk.

Yeah, definitely do a budget... I earn pretty much the same and my mortgage is similar - I'm managing to save about £600 a month and have about £4-500 disposable income after all bills (disposable but also to cover food).