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.

£42k sounds a lot but I think people forget it works out less as one person than as a joint income as you don't get 2 x tax relief. That's still a hefty mortgage for someone to pay by themselves. Do you have childcare? Pension? Student loan? It all chips away. Best thing is a spreadsheet monitoring all in goings and outgoings and having it set out for a year at least so you can predict how to safe for things like Christmas etc.

Get a grip. You esrn 5 grand a year less than me and dp put together and weve 2 kids and a 900pcm childcare bill to pay.

i didnt mean for this to turn into a political debate.

i work until late most nights and do not feel like i have money at the end of it. being able to buy food and turn heating on i know is a luxury these it days (it shouldnt be) - but it doesnt change the fact that i feel like 42k goes nowhere when it is supposed to be a professional level income.

What are you spending your money on?

take home is 2,300

user well, you also don't have to pay for two people's food, holidays, clothes, you can have a smaller place etc etc.

42k goes a long way if youre not pissing it up the wall

i work until late most nights and do not feel like i have money at the end of it

This is your feeling - fine. So now you need to establish the facts - where is your money going, how can you change things to feel better off (because you are well off at £42K).

I get you OP but most won't here.

I was also going to say that it is more expensive living on your own as you obviously can't share the cost of bills, utilities etc.

However, it is a decent income so you just need to sit down and make a spreadsheet of all your outgoings and then work out where you could make savings.

Ok so your mortgage is £750 and on top of that you will have your ESSENTIAL FIXED COSTS

utilities
insurance (house contents and mortgage)
council tax/ anything for service charge if in a flat
student loan?
Fuel/ fares
car insurance

Add all of those up. For car insurance etc work out the annual amount/ divide by 12.

Work out your monthly outgoings.

The what you have left is for
food
going out
clothes
savings- for emergencies like a broken down boiler or your car packs up
holidays( not an essential.)

You should have a weekly or monthly budget for all of these.

My DD is on about the same as you with the same mortgage. She makes her own lunches, batch cooks, doesn't buy daily coffees, has a big student loan and a gym sub. She still has around £500 over each month to save.

So where are you being extravagant?

Fist thing you need to do is pay off your debt- is it a CC? Cut your spending till you get rid of that.

"Goes nowhere"

=

"I'm spending it on shit"

There are people on half your income with an equal rent/mortgage payment who are making it work. Myself included.

The cost of living isn't the problem here.

Haha, having been a sahm to 3dc with dh's 28k income and still affording holidays abroad I think you need to seriously look at your outgoings!

Having said that, Dh earns double now and my salary is similar yet we don't have as much spare as you'd expect. You always seem to live just beyond your means.

Learn to use excel, figure out what your monthly cashflows are, reconcile then at the end of each month, project forward on a planning basis for up to a year. Use actual daily flow (dates down the first column, actual in or outflow in the second) and cumulative balance in the third to show where your future pinch points will be. You will feel in control, be able to match expectations to reality and identify where you can make savings.

Seriously deluded. Do a bit of research and learn how to deal with money.

If you can’t manage on a salary that high then there’s something seriously wrong with your spending. What are you doing with your money that food and heating are now luxuries?

There is genuine vitriol for the op and I can see why and people have also given sage advice about looking at outgoings, here is a cautionary tale for you op.

My SIL is 52 and since graduating has never been unemployed, she has also enjoyed really good health and a way above average wage. She has also worked tax free completely legally due to where her job was based and even had accommodation for quite a few of those years.

She has no pension at all and no savings as such, she is just really crap with money. DH and I when she was yet again moaning about money offered to help her make savings and work out a plan. That was almost fifteen years ago. She took great affront and didn't want assistance. She still whinges about money, she has earned more than most ever will with amazing perks.

My sisters on the other hand have had mainly minimum wage jobs. I have helped them with money in the past and am happy to continue to do so. There is no way I would ever assist SIL, she has made so many stupid decisions that my patience over the last couple of decades has worn thin.

She is willingly incompetent, do not be like her.

Okay

Based on estimates:

Fares/petrol 130
Car (tax, ins, maint) 80
Phone 30
Food 150
Utilities 90
Service charge 50
TV/broadband 40
Mortgage 750
Debt 250

Add 100 for incidentals and that's 1670 so £630 left. I assume the op needs also to budget for stuff like contacts, haircuts, clothes (yes you do need to be presentabe in a prof job) replacing the dishwashwr, plumbing emergency, modest holiday.

To be honest it soon adds up and if you can't have a nice life when yiu are young, free and single, when can you.

ohtheroses yes, well it adds up far sooner on 16k or 22k or 5k.

The poor need all those things too, you know?

You clearly need to learn how to manage your finances better. Tbh, this stuff should be taught at home/school (the value of money/how to save/how to budget etc)

To be honest it soon adds up

People dont earn £650 a month. According to you thats the OPs disposable income.

It's disingenuous

I also have a professional job and work probably about the same as you for less money, and have kids to support.

You take home £2600 a month just for you and have £1000 of debt. Even if food and bills/travel are another £1000 that leaves £600 which seems to me to be a decent amount to live on. You must be pissing it up the wall.

My partner earns 50k and I earn 500-1000 a month (from home). I know where you are coming from as we never seem to know where our money disappears too!

Why is your take home only £2300? I took that home when I was on £36k

Alvin Hall books are very good, it would help you.

There’s a frugal thread in the credit crunch section.