Cost Of Living (how much do you earn?)

[SouthMan28]

Sorry if this is really personal for you all.

But just wondering, how much you all earn? And can you afford things ok? Would you be able to afford a holiday this year?

As me and my partner earn £2,300 take home per month (is this a good wage per month?) And we feel like we can't afford anything and are just are home bound all weekend as we don't have enough for extras once bills etc are paid for!

Is anyone else feeling the pinch?

I'm assuming you don't have children. To be honest, in todays world, an able-bodied adult working less than full time is quite indulgent. If things are tight for you - and I can imagine they are - your partner needs to work more, either by getting a FT job in the same sector or supplementing her job with a second one.

Do you have children?

Im a single parent and work double the hours your partner does.

If you don’t have children you should both be doing at least 30 hours per week.
Her getting a job with more hours will definitely help you both out.

9 k net a month things are comfy they weren't always used to have a combined income of yours but with a child but then climbed the career ladder. Our only meal out was wetherspoons or McDonald's as a treat. We had pasta most nights a week as it cheap to make in bulk.

I earn £80k, my DH earns similar, although his fluctuates as he’s self employed. We have a take home of between £9-10k depending on how much works he has. We have big outgoings, large mortgage plus school fees for youngest DC. We are comfortable though and will be having two holidays abroad this year plus one or two U.K. short breaks. Life wasn’t always like this. I was a free school meals kid but I was absolutely determined that my kids would have a different life to mine and they do. It’s not too late for you and your partner. You can retrain, get qualifications, do an apprenticeship etc. If you want to have children I strongly recommend that you do it sooner rather than later.

OP please bear in mind that for whatever reason these types of thread always attract loads of people who seem to earn way above the UK average. It isn't an accurate picture of what the person in the street earns. Not that it really matters anyway, as you need to think about what works best for you and your partner rather than anyone else.

I earn £5800 after the season ticket loan is deducted (and obviously the pension and tax).
My husband recently gave up work as it seemed a bit pointless paying for childcare and never seeing the kids when we don't need the extra money. We don't really struggle, but it's a bit daunting at the moment because my job isn't going well.

I thought the the country was crying out for more Care staff? I think your DP needs to look for another care home that can give her full time hours.

Minimum wage full time would be £18,525 per annum so roughly £1.5k per month before tax etc.

So many MNetters think £30k is poverty 🤣

Haa your partner got an NVQ2 in health and social?

Look on NHS tons of care field jobs!

I can't imagine a care home not giving you more than 2 shifts a week. Very strange.

Myself and DP take home a combined £4.3k, we do rent in London so that doesn't stretch very far, we haven't been on holiday in 4 years, can't see one coming any time soon

Combined take home of £3300. 2 kids. Massively struggling tbh. Direct debits are £2k a month (mortgage, gas electric, home loan, car tax, water etc) so the remaining £1.3 is for food, fuel, hobbies and anything else that crops up - so roughly £300 a week. Sounds a lot, but given that both cars use a tank a week of fuel doesn't leave much for food and everything else. My car has just cost me £400 and then the clutch went on DH's another £600.

I honestly feel we need £6k a month to be comfortable and not worrying about how to pay unexpected bills. Doesn't help that DH was out of work for 7 weeks which cost us nearly £4k out of the savings account and onto credit cards.

im on around £1630 ( NHS top band 4) and partner £2k ( local council) . No kids low mortgage and outgoings tbh. So we manage comfortably. One car. Neither huge spenders on material things but like to go out to eat, holidays ( not big expensive all inclusive or anything) and just experiences really. We comfortably can do this and save, pay pensions and overpay the mortgage. Purse strings will be tightened though as cost of living is starting to bite.

I do support my dad a little financially too.

OP please bear in mind that for whatever reason these types of thread always attract loads of people who seem to earn way above the UK average. It isn't an accurate picture of what the person in the street earns.

I agree.

I think the average family income in the UK is 25,000 - 30,000.
But many will get less and a few will get more but MN will have you believing everyone’s on £50K plus.

Our income fluctuates due to DH earning monthly bonuses (but not every month and there is never an average to work from), but is generally very healthy. I am a student/trainee teacher and our combined yearly income including loan, wages and DC's disability benefit is circa £50-70k.

It's really biting us. We rent for various reasons and our non-negotiable outgoings are £3k a month before we even buy food, clothes etc.

I needed diesel today and it cost £90 to fill the tank. I can hopefully make that last two weeks, but I have to get to work, school etc and have a chronic injury/condition that makes walking extremely painful for me.

Our holiday this year is/was a week at one of our parent's houses who lives a couple of hundred miles away and a week camping. We are incredibly lucky to have all equipment already and are staying local.

DH won't be getting any bonus at all over the summer months and that's going to be awful. We'll be living on the credit card(s) for the next few weeks until my student loan payment comes in. It's grim and the teensy bit of government help we'll get that was announced the other week can't come quick enough!

It's all relatively really. It seems low for a joint salary but others live on less.

We earn 100 thousand pa but have high outgoings due to a long commute and where we live is expensive in relation to the rest of Europe. We're having to be much more mindful of money. May get rid of one car if I can manage a bus commute. I'm not sure how people on low wages with lots of kids are managing tbh.

On maternity leave atm and as the higher wage earner (I earn double what DH earns) we are definitely feeling the pinch. We have had one holiday this year- a week in UK self catering and this was only because the accommodation was paid for by a family member. We had planned to do another short UK break in autumn just us and kids but won't be able to afford to now due to food, fuel and energy rises. I've asked to return to work part time but am now worried we may come to regret that if prices continue to climb.
We are being really careful with food shop, buying as much supermarket own brand as poss, limiting longer journeys for days out to save on fuel, take picnic for days out rather than buy sandwiches when we get there, cut tv subscriptions, stopped spending as much on kids clothes- just getting necessities only. Have also had to cut expensive activities in school hols like farm trips etc. It's shit but I know we are luckier than most.

"Home bound all weekend"

Are you in UK ?
What did you do during the Jubilee week? There were lots of organised events

I'm interested in this type of role. May I get in touch with you?

I earn 45k a year; single salary. Just got a promotion so another 5-6k possibly more as waiting on another job. I’ve been doing a lot of overtime lately so that’s enabled me to save for a holiday. I’m saving for a house too

I agree there.
It also assumes children are not dependent once they go to Uni….

Our combined income is probably about £3k per month. We are very comfortable but have no dependant children any more. After bills we have about £500 each a month to do with what we want.

That's really low for a combined salary.

Single salary take home depends on commission but between £1400-£1800pm
Live alone and afford mortgage/car/food but it's tight
Haven't had a holiday in about 15 years
Last big spend was my peloton which is £39pm membership but I don't drink, have a gym membership, sky etc so.. it's my entertainment! Plus I'm never off the bloody thing