Income brackets: what is prception of low/middle high

SandC

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

If you had a wife / husband staying at home with, say, 3 kids, I'm not sure £2k would feel like a fortune, though.

Of course not, but my saying £2k would be fantastic is relating to me and my circumstances not someone elses. The OP question was about perception after all........

beecher

mitchaa wrote: »

I would definitely consider this as a middle income. Split it down the middle and it 'only' equates to £42.5k apiece. How anyone can state that as a high income at an average £42.5k is wrong.

They wouldn't be 'wrong', they would just have a different idea of what low/middle/high equated to. Since £42.5k is double the median wage then I think you'd have a strong argument for saying that it was in fact high. You'd have an even stronger argument in saying that a household income of 4 times the median is not a 'middle' income. To me it comes down to relativity rather than how much you have to spend to service a large mortgage/child care.

SingleSue

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I've never bought a kitchen, agree that £5k is an extraordinary amount to spend on a holiday, and we've bought one sofa (£450, I think, 6 years ago, and it's still lovely).

Children's shoes can end up costing a fortune, even if each pair isn't that pricey, because the damn things get too small so fast!

It gets better as they get older...their feet grow slower.

Eldest was the problem for me, his shoe size would jump 2 sizes every couple of months but I was lucky in that each time he needed new pairs of shoes, Clarkes would have a sale on! He has now reached a size 10 and the growth has slowed right down (thank goodness).

Our new sofas cost us £300 for the pair and they were our first new set since we had got together in 1987...we brought them in 2005!

Our kitchen we managed to find in the local paper for £50 in 1998, a friend fitted it and it is still going strong today.

I must admit to looking rather stupid when my colleague was telling me about her 5k holiday, my mouth stayed open so long in shock the flies could have set up shop in there! :rotfl:

skintchick

lostinrates wrote: »

Do you class 70k the same as multi millions?

This is interesting. DH's salary is in your 'high bracket' and we do find money a concern and certainly don't buy verything we'd like to have. But yes, we are not in fear of being destitute the relief of which is priceless.

Yes, because it is loads of money and as long as you don;t overspend on property you cannot possibly have to worry about essentials such as heating and food. Maybe you'd worry about private school fees or affording holidays in Barbados, but for being comfortable I don;t see how you'd struggle on 70k+ unless you spent money like water on nonsense.

Mr_Matey

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

OH and I earn well over £70k between us, but we are still careful about money and what we do with it.

From our post-tax income, we pay £1,200 a month for rent and water, aprox. £250 a month in other bills, and £2,100 a month for childcare. That takes a reasonable chunk straight away - £3,550 a month, or £42,600 a year.

You pay how much in childcare???:eek:
That's enough to consider staying at home or hiring a nanny.

I'm on a medium to high London income based on most people's comments here, but never really felt like a high earner until recently when my partner started working.

mitchaa

Mr_Matey wrote: »

You pay how much in childcare???:eek:
That's enough to consider staying at home or hiring a nanny.

I'm on a medium to high London income based on most people's comments here, but never really felt like a high earner until recently when my partner started working.

NDG has a FT nanny i believe. I would think FT nursery in the city would just be as nearly expensive?

neverdespairgirl

Mr_Matey wrote: »

You pay how much in childcare???:eek:
That's enough to consider staying at home or hiring a nanny.

We do have a nanny, that's what we pay her.

skintchick

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

OH and I earn well over £70k between us, but we are still careful about money and what we do with it.

From our post-tax income, we pay £1,200 a month for rent and water, aprox. £250 a month in other bills, and £2,100 a month for childcare. That takes a reasonable chunk straight away - £3,550 a month, or £42,600 a year.

Is it worth you working with those childcare costs? If so, then IMO you are loaded! Most people couldn't even contemplate spending two grand a month on childcare! That's more than I used to take home a month before I was made redundant!

neverdespairgirl

mitchaa wrote: »

NDG has a FT nanny i believe. I would think FT nursery in the city would just be as nearly expensive?

Not quite as much, I think.

But it wouldn't really work, for us. The hours are fixed, and limited. Some days we need childcare either later or earlier than those hours. For example, tomorrow I'm in Birmingham Asylum & Immigration Tribunal, and OH is starting a 3 day trial in Watford. With a nanny we get the necessary flexibility in terms of times.

lostinrates

skintchick wrote: »

Yes, because it is loads of money and as long as you don;t overspend on property you cannot possibly have to worry about essentials such as heating and food. Maybe you'd worry about private school fees or affording holidays in Barbados, but for being comfortable I don;t see how you'd struggle on 70k+ unless you spent money like water on nonsense.

No, as I said, we are not at risk of any suffering, and this is priceless.

We most likly will 'overspend' on property in many people's eyes. We currently have no children (thus no expense or decision over fee paying or otherwise). We don't holiday in Barbados! In very general terms we tend to holiday in the country we are in. We do however, have an slight added issue that none of DHs immeadiate family live in UK. DH has seen his family too infrequently in recent years and in the future I imagine our costs relating to that will go up. We do not use central heating.

We do however have expensive hobbies..totally choice, no one forces us to keep animals.

We spend a lot on transport, rent/storage and similarly classed spends, and our pets.

I perceive 70k as very different for say, 2 million a year, or 5 million a year.