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.

So you’ve got a disposable income of £740 a month? That’s not poor!!!

I don’t think that’s a lot for emergencies, food and socialising over a month? You can easily spend 50 quid on a meal out.

OP, you can, but you realise you dont actually have to?

OP are you surrounded by people who perhaps earn even more than you do? Or couples who earn the same but share living costs and therefore have more disposable?

I think the key word in your post is that you FEEL poor. You aren’t objectively poor, even with servicing that debt (pay it off!!).

If you’re surrounded by people who have more or are frittering large sums of money away in small amounts (£3 coffee 5 days a week = £780 a year, £50 meal out once a month = £2600 a year) then you will feel (relatively) poor.

Yes I realise I don’t have to spend 50 quid on a meal. And actually I can’t remember when I last did do that.

I’m simply saying it’s not that much to do things with. And yes I work with and know very wealthy people so that may mean my judgement is off from the norm.

I actually sat down once and did a spreadsheet that costed out what I considered to be an affluent lifestyle. For me it was things like - large country house, two foreign holidays a year, 3/4 weekends away, generous clothing budget, regular meals out, nice car etc etc and so for me it came to a household income of over £100k.

Other people might feel an affluent lifestyle is much life. That’s all relative.

OP has gone from calling themselves poor to talking about spending £50 on a meal.

Utterly ridiculous.

No, OP said she feels poor and later posts give some clue as to why that might be.

@User6404 OP i live on £50 a week and don't consider myself poor. This £50 is for fun and socialising basically, i eat out every week but would never spend more than £20 on a meal.

How many people are in your household? There’s 3 of us on less than you and we have a higher mortgage.

also your debt is high so maybe causing some of the problem as your wage is good

Did the debt come on overspending on day to day stuff? If you had to cut back, maybe that’s why you feel poor. If it were me, I’d be cutting back more to get it paid off sooner.

Poor money management

You might feel poor, but you’re not.

You don’t think £740 a month to do bugger all with is a lot???
Are you even on this planet OP?!

We have 4 kids and after bulls and a basic food & nappy shop we end up with £18 a week spare for unnecessary spending - £18 a sodding week for 6 people and you “feel poor” at nearly £200 a week just for yourself to piss up the wall?!

I repeat - Boo motherfucking Hoo!!

If you have money for meals out and socialising then you ain't poor.
If you weren't in debt you'd have more.
If you were frugal with spending, you'd have more.
If you moved to a cheaper area/house, you'd have more.
If you saved some of your large £740 disposable income you'd have more.

My heart bleeds for you OP, we managed a family of 5 on a third of your salary.

I think it’s all to do with who you associate with at work and how you see yourself relatively. If you are working in London for example with a lot of rich lawyers and earning this salary you will feel poor. I have a friend who earns mega bucks, lives in Hampstead, has more than enough money for everything. Sees herself as not rich just because she works in finance in an environment where people are so rich they will fly over to New York just for a dinner meeting. Crazy

£740 disposable income is a huge amount, you're really not managing your money well at all. Most people live on a hell of a lot less than that.

I'm a single Parent with 2 Children and we live on a total income of £13,000 a year!!
Rent is 500 pcm, and pay quite a lot of council tax too, food, travel, clothing etc.

I won't bash you, cause I have no idea of your circumstances, and I hate it when people judge me.

Your not poor though if you've spent all your money on fun, nice things. Even If you have no money left over after bills and food if that money goes to a nice house, nice food, a holiday, nice car then that person isn't poor they've just spent all their money. Theres a big different between being poor, not having the money in the first place, to having money but spending it all.

With £700 a month spare you could have 2 meals of £50 a week! And still have 300 left over. It's loads.

I think really what your feeling is not rich. I never feel rich but I most certainly don't feel poor. I earn a fair amount less than you and have a nice flat, no worries about bills, no worries about food, no worries about petrol. I am not poor. However I do see on Instagram people who seem to eat out everyday, I see people buy lunch and coffee at work everyday, we go out and friends buy £10 cocktails and wear expensive clothes, and I have no idea how they afford it as I don't do any of these things, we all earn the same but they might have a fuck tone of debt or just different priorities to me. Or it's all fake. Either way it is a bit disheartening when people around you seem to have everything but that doesn't mean you are poor.

The thing is if you have the attitude of "I'm poor because I can't have everything I want" then you are always going to feel poor because to have everything to wanted and do everything your probably have to earn over 100k. You need to budget properly and work out with your disposable income what is important to you.

I'm a single Parent with 2 Children and we live on a total income of £13,000 a year!!

That’s everything you get? Your salary, your tax credits, housing benefit, child benefit?

I've never had loads of money (I receive my local equivalent of what used to be DLA in the UK), but budgetting is a lifesaver. I also mean I keep tabs on any spending. I've cut meals out and cable TV. Instead, I pay for Netflix and watch box sets.

I've finally managed to pay down my credit card and feel massively relieved. And a little bit proud of myself.

I remember living in London though, it felt expensive to breathe.

Completely understand why you feel this way. I wish I could say it gets better as you earn more...but the moment you decide to move to a better area it gets worse!

Of course, you are better off than someone on the breadline, but that doesn't mean you're rich.

Of course, you are better off than someone on the breadline, but that doesn't mean you're rich.

The average salary in the UK is something like £27k? The op is rich in comparison. Certainly rich in comparison to the rest of the world!