To think mumsnet posters must have a lot of £££

[TwoBabas]

General observation from reading posts on here is that there seem to be an awful lot of posters claiming either themselves or their partners are eating salaries of 100k plus.

Now am I being very naive or are people over exaggerating their financial situations. What type of job would put you in that range? Doctor? Headteacher? Lawyer?

Most people I know are skrimping by and don't have a lot to piss in.

But then perhaps I'm living amongst the not so wealthy sector.

Are people telling the truth do you think?

@Livingoncaffeine completely agree!

Yep - it's lavish.

I guess everything is relative, and Goldencup hasn't got the kind of wealth of Rishi S or Jacob Rees-Moggs - but still £9k a month after tax looks lavish to me.

We have £3k a month (combined incomes) and I consider us to be comfortably well off.

I actually find style and beauty full of kind, imaginative women… there are the occasional handbag braggers but they are mostly ignored!

£3K is twice ft minimum wage isn't it ?
Does that include universal credit ? Because unless you have one earner on circa £50K it should (assuming you have DC).

I would describe comfortable as being able to cope with for eg: new boiler, new washing machine or significant car trouble without problems.

which is full of women talking about their husbands and their high levels of security vetting, with just the odd poster talking from their own direct experience. It’s so depressing

That'll be because the women with clearance aren't daft enough to discuss their clearance online!

@Goldencup Thanks for your concern, but no, we don't have children - they have grown and flown the nest. And we have never claimed Universal Credit.

We have paid off our mortgage though, and I work 30 hours a week.

Lots of people in the UK earn less than £50k a year - it's really not that unusual.

And I should add - can live very comfortably. And yeah - I could afford a new washing machine outright and have plenty of savings if we needed a new boiler.

I can understand rationale behind their moaning, 200k before tax is take home 115k, if you deduct pensions even less. Sometimes it is disheartening to give away 50% of your earnings. UK professionals nowadays choose to not strive for more, because the tiny difference in lifestyle is just not worth the hassle. The amount of work it takes to reach 200k is insane. However, our taxation system encourages low progression which in result affects economic growth and I totally see why your friends are unhappy about their income.

I can't get over is that there's all these women in £100,000-plus jobs, with husbands earning similar, and yet they can't find anything more interesting to do than Mumsnet?
I'd be out at the theatre - opera - private views ... not wasting time flicking through here because there's nothing on telly.

It's all relative though, that's the thing.

My dh earns more than £100k but I don't always feel particularly wealthy tbh. With all our outgoings it's not like I'm swanning around in private jets and buying designer handbags every 5 minutes. We have (huge) bills to pay. And there's only so much opera/theatre a person can take!

Yes its extremely dim of them

😂😂

I what way is it lavish? 3k left, but if you think about clothing, haircuts and all other bits, they probably have to ration on those now and then. Having place to live and doing one hobby after school is not something out of this world. I grew up in low income household and although it wasn’t riding lessons and 5 bed house, I did multiple hobbies as a child and enjoyed my smaller home.

Because Ive been on both sides, I am conflicted with 100k+ earning in London, it really isn’t giving you dramatic change in life, and you’re taxed like crazy. And the amount of work/studies/extra learning it takes to get there can easily take away good chunk of life in your 20s 30s.

If you think mumsnet is bad then try Blind! I think I earn a reasonable wage until I see all the posts on there of kids in San Francisco 2 years out of uni on $350k. It's all relative to areas and what's normal there. Fwiw, I don't think anyone is lying on MN about their earnings. It's hard to afford the average house prices in nice areas of London/Home Counties on less and London wages are higher than the rest of the country!

Ultimately, it's down to your own perception and outlook on life. It's frustrating seeing people on £200,000+ not thinking they're "well off", and interesting when you see people on £50,000 saying they do, but at the end of the day, the people in the latter group are likely the happier ones, which is ironic really.

Exactly that, because I think lifestyle in UK is very close of those on 50k and 200k. People on 50k are not on poverty line and they can afford some luxuries, dinner out and holidays. It's a happy medium and you don’t need to work as much. They might have few worries about bills now and then, but nothing major. Yes on 200k you buy more expensive house and have more leftover (although depends on the mortgage), but the lifestyle you have to lead to sustain that is not that much different of a 50k earner.

And the reason why so many 200k+ earners are less happy, is because once you get there, you realise that there is nothing more to it, but extra space in the house that you don’t need.

We are not a 100k family but hit top 10% household income. DH does have two friends of which one is an insufferable prick who work in the city in banking and earn mega bucks, way over 100k.

We have long term friends that met while both working in the petro chemical industry and both must be on around 100k. She is the highest earning woman I know.

This is so true. We're higher earners (combined 160k) and could have bought a bigger house, could buy fancy handbags, go on quite lavish holidays or drive a fancier car. But none of that stuff really interests us. We plough lots into pensions and live quite a simple life. It does frustrate me when people on higher incomes complain when it really does come down to choices you make. No-one needs a Range Rover unless you're a farmer etc but they're a status symbol - a marketing ploy people want to buy into. Same with all expensive items - there's a cheaper alternative, you've just chosen to buy the one that says 'I have money'. I get it to an extent but it is a choice.

But not very comparable to trying raise 2 children and pay a mortage. In 10 years I fully intend to be in your position, paying little tax with no mortgage or dependent children ( bills will be lower too) you are comparing apples with oranges.

God I must be a pauper. Our family income is £24K but I still manage to save though. No car though, and house costs £4K a year. What are people spending all this dosh on?

You can have a gift wrapping room next to the "where did my time with the children go" room

My husband earns a wedge (250kish) but you would never know it.
We live in an ex council house and I work in the NHS. We probably look like a low earning family!
Most people don’t discuss their income.

Exactly this! A lot of personal sacrifice comes to reaching that income and personally I don’t think it is 100% worth it. And although a lot of people don’t understand what are we complaining about, but in London 200k pre tax doesn’t make an impact one desires for the work they’ve put in to achieve it. You’re not rich enough to afford luxury life in London and pay 90k tax on it, but not poor enough to complain. Is it all worth it? It depends.

@Wanderergirl - yes. I made a conscious choice to earn less money on that basis. Life is actually pretty short, childhood even shorter and the level of boredom you achieve with material possessions as you get older is significant. What is exciting and novel at 25 is not so at 35 or 45. But count myself lucky to have these choices at all.

And that’s one of the biggest debates in UK tax system. We have low productivity and progression is on a standstill, been so for past 20 years. Big question is how could they close the gap in taxation, so it is worth for people in the middle to progress, rather than choose earn less/work less. At the moment tax system is not advantageous enough for many to strive.

Maybe give the council house back to the council then.