Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

sophiesmum_2

If I use MY income I have a higher income than 19% of the population and fall in the 3rd decile:p If I add OH's income to that we have a higher income than 94% of the population and fall in the 10th decile. - can't believe that somehow.

thriftylass

sophiesmum wrote: »

If I use MY income I have a higher income than 19% of the population and fall in the 3rd decile:p If I add OH's income to that we have a higher income than 94% of the population and fall in the 10th decile. - can't believe that somehow.

Might be true though, similar thing happend to me (together in 9th decile group). Had it in my post further up but deleted it again, because it sounds quite pretentious. But good to know it's not just me.

Brighton_belle

It is interesting isn't it: in the original article that proved the link it says:

William was himself shocked when, at a talk given by the Guardian's Polly Toynbee, she said anyone earning over £40k a year was in the top 10% of UK earners. "I had no idea I was in the top bracket, nor did most people there."
Toynbee, co-author with David Walker of Unjust Rewards, isn't surprised by William's reaction. "When you tell people earning £40,000 or over they're in the 10% many are shocked, even embarrassed, saying, 'That can't be right!'," she says. "There's a natural tendency for everyone to think they're ordinary. But people don't realise how strung out incomes are. Over half the population earns £23,000 or below."

I know I don't have a huge income, but I still have much to be grateful for, and this forum is really helping me stretch things further and I don't consider myself on the bread line. I have a warm roof over myself and enough to eat and good friends. Half my income comes from lodgers so I feel relatively safe in the current climate that I won't be losing that job.And of course the figures don't take account of different levels of mtg's many have to pay out on depending on where they live or when they bought.
No you certainly don't have to defend yourself thriftylass. It is no crime to earn a good living. And on this forum, we are all wanting to learn how to live in a frugal but life enhancng way. I love being part of this forum.

purplevamp

Brighton_belle wrote: »

In the guardian today(online) was an interesting link to a site (Economic and Social Research Council) that very easily calculates where you fall in terms of income with regard to the UK population.

http://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/

I fall in the bottom 10% (but in the top haldf of that 10%) which is very interesting to know.

Thank BB - I'm quite surprised by my results as I'm only p/t and OH is a f/t student:

you have a higher income than around 31% of the population - equivalent to about 18.4 million individuals

I am including CB, TC and maintenance, which will stop when DS1 finishes college next year when it will drop to around 17% :eek:

Brighton_belle wrote: »

As for the coffee vs choc cake discussion - I have never eaten cake(just never fancies it). As a child my mum had to get very creative on my birthdays. I have therefore only recently discovered the joy of making them for others. Unfortunatly the same cannot be said of donuts or eclairs:o .

I hate coffee, and have gone off coffee cake as it taste too much like proper coffee these days, but I could eat chocolate cake for England and win a gold medal :rotfl: .

cw18

Brighton_belle wrote: »

No you certainly don't have to defend yourself thriftylass. It is no crime to earn a good living. And on this forum, we are all wanting to learn how to live in a frugal but life enhancng way. I love being part of this forum.

I absolutely 100% agree with all of that :T

My info based on early 2006 is scarey, but what I also have to look at is that we had within a couple of hundred quid of that income for years -- and whilst it was for 2 adults and 1 child in early 2006, pre Sept 2001 it was for two adults and 3 children.

I've just redone my calcs for that, and instead of being above 86% we're now above just 72% -- even after adding in the extra child benefit and allowing for the fact we had a lower council tax (about half until we moved into where we are now in May 2002).

So being at a high figure now doesn't mean you always will be -- even if you stay on the same salary

Frugaldom

Good evening to all

Sophiesmum, I love your recent creation - gift baskets make great bespoke pressies and I think the recipients will be delighted!

I just tried that income website and we fall into the '2nd decile', hence the reason I need to budget in order to ever have any savings. :rolleyes: I find it hard to believe that over 80% of UK households have a higher income than ours, because I feel quite rich! :rotfl: I seriously would not know what to do with the money if I had thousands coming in every month, other than save it, save it, save it. But I need to ask - Sophiesmum - when the time comes for you to go to Malta, will it be really, really difficult to 'let go' and spend those savings? Won't it be a bit :eek: losing the safety net? (Apologies if I've forgotten and you do have your own house to come back to eventually.)

Today, I managed to get outside into what will become the garden. :j (I even took some photos so that I can begin the frugal web page updates.) After collecting up a small bucketfull of (free) coal that was scattered about, I found a couple of logs in the corner of the garden - now chopped and burned. I also retrieved a broken fencepost that will make ideal fire fodder. Despite the wind, I located a secure spot for the new (under £10 in Arg0s sale) whirly gig and have decided that the rusty clothes pole next to the shed will need to go. This will make space for the shed, then the greenhouse will be able to go up alongside the garage. Nobody has been to empty the garage yet, so it's still full of junk but indoors is shaping up - the kitchen larder's now scrubbed, dried, shelves lined and is filling up nicely with all the stockpile items. The hall airing cupboard now has 2 shelves dedicated to stockpiled toiletries. The open fire is making a huge difference to heating and I'm hoping to get the greenhouse built this weekend, so I have somewhere to store logs and garden stuff. This will also let me get all the boxes of sticks moved from the old house, as there's no way I am leaving them behind after gathering them all summer. I guess you could say that I'm looking forward to my first weekend in the new house.

I'm trying my best to keep up with you all, however, my dial up connection is currently 'blasting out' an amazing 26kbs :rotfl: but who cares if it takes half an hour to open a webpage? I have Internet, that's all that matters! :T

Electricity meter man came and replaced the old card meter with one that has a plastic key thing on Tuesday. Since then, I've had all the rooms heated, plus the bathroom heater, dehumidifier, fridge, freezer, lights and computers on, AND have heated 4 tanks of water; all of that has cost about £10 so far! Considering it could cost me that PER DAY in the other place, I think setting up frugalhome in the country will prove to be the best move we could have made, even if it is a bit out of the way, the wind howls, there's no picture on the TV and Internet signals walk here. :rotfl: It is very cosy in front of the log fire and there are candles & rechargeable torches at the ready in case of power cuts.

Sorry to have rabbled on so much - I'm just making the most of being online from here. Going to try and upload a few photographs so I can start watching for progress with next year's self-sufficientish project.

thriftylass

Brighton_belle wrote: »

It is interesting isn't it: in the original article that proved the link it says:

William was himself shocked when, at a talk given by the Guardian's Polly Toynbee, she said anyone earning over £40k a year was in the top 10% of UK earners. "I had no idea I was in the top bracket, nor did most people there."
Toynbee, co-author with David Walker of Unjust Rewards, isn't surprised by William's reaction. "When you tell people earning £40,000 or over they're in the 10% many are shocked, even embarrassed, saying, 'That can't be right!'," she says. "There's a natural tendency for everyone to think they're ordinary. But people don't realise how strung out incomes are. Over half the population earns £23,000 or below."

I know I don't have a huge income, but I still have much to be grateful for, and this forum is really helping me stretch things further and I don't consider myself on the bread line. I have a warm roof over myself and enough to eat and good friends. Half my income comes from lodgers so I feel relatively safe in the current climate that I won't be losing that job.And of course the figures don't take account of different levels of mtg's many have to pay out on depending on where they live or when they bought.
No you certainly don't have to defend yourself thriftylass. It is no crime to earn a good living. And on this forum, we are all wanting to learn how to live in a frugal but life enhancng way. I love being part of this forum.

Well put, totally agree. BTW am well below 40k

Just finished kitchen duty. Got enough chilli/lasagne mix, work lunches (stir fry type things) and squash & sweet potato soup ready for the freezer to last us til the end of the year :T. Only 21 tasks of 32 on my to do list for the weekend to go :rotfl:

cw18

sounds like you're really making yourself at home Nyk

BTW: did you know you can edit your options so that the site doesn't show you avatars, signatures and images -- I've found that on a slow connection this makes one heck of a difference !! I access another forum using the same s/ware on my mobile, and it's almost unusable if I leave these things switched on :eek: I also reduce to 10 posts per page when I'm on my mobile, which also speeds things up (unless loads of posts have been made, which means 'next page'ing several times)

andromache_2

Ooh, that was interesting, thanks BB. I'm having to make various choices at the minute about what I want from a career - how much do I value salary, hours spent at work, intellectual stimulation from the work, kind of working environment, stress levels... etc etc. I know what field I want to be in in a general sense but there is still lots of choice regarding which firm and which area specifically. It puts things in context when I can see that even if I go for the lower-paying firms I will still be relatively pretty well-off. TBH I've always valued work-life balance over salary anyway but this helps to confirm it!

Glad to hear you're beginning to settle in, nyk

redglass_2

Hello Peeps,

What a difference a night's sleep makes. Yesterday I was so tired I was nearly crying and today, after a good night - I feel like this: :j

I think it was Cha97Michelle who asked for the details Costco sent me?

Below I've pasted the relevant bit of their email - hope it's useful:

Individual Membership - Valid to certain employment groups - details listed below. You will need to bring in your latest payslip or professional qualification plus a current home utility bill or bank statement. The annual cost is £25 plus VAT inc. free Spouse Card. An additional card can be purchased at a cost of £12 plus VAT, but it must be someone aged over 18 residing at the same address, of which you must provide proof. This can be done either in writing or in person at the warehouse. A photograph can be done on the Additional Cardholder's first visit to the warehouse.

If you think you may be an employee of a UK or US Gold Card Company, you can call Central Membership to check on 01923 830477. This number is operated 8.15am til 5.15pm Monday to Friday.

Individual Membership is available to the following:-

Current or Retired Employee of:-
Banking/Finance/Insurance
Civil Service/Armed Forces
Education
Fire/Rescue
Local Government
Medical/Health Service
Police Force
Post Office
Airlines

Qualified as:-
Chartered Architect
Chartered/Civil Engineer
Chartered Surveyor
Dentist
Optician
Pharmacist
Qualified/Certified/Chartered Accountant Solicitor Barrister Magistrate Advocate

Current or Retired Employee of USA or UK Gold Card Company - Please contact either Central Membership or your local warehouse to confirm whether the company you work for is a registered Gold Card Company. Retired employees must provide a current pension statement and home utility bill as proof of eligibility.

The membership card can only be used by the individual person named on the card. All additional cardholders will expire at the same time as the Primary cardholder.