What do you consider a 'decent' salary (non-London)

snowqueen555

I'd be comfortable and content on 20k because I'd be able to save at least 50% of my earnings a month.

I literally drooled at the thought of it

jamiemusson

bah, if I had £12k a year I'd be happy.

terra_ferma

Is it being realistic (i.e. genuine lack of opportunities) or low expectations, lack of confidence that makes people settle for low salaries?

Ok for a minority it's a lifestyle choice, they want to prioritise other things, although in my experience you work as hard in junior roles, although probably longer hours in more senior roles.

I would like to work less hard, have more time/energy for life outside work. But low paid jobs are not going to give me that.

What is people's experience?

cmw1212

terra_ferma wrote: »

Is it being realistic (i.e. genuine lack of opportunities) or low expectations, lack of confidence that makes people settle for low salaries?

Ok for a minority it's a lifestyle choice, they want to prioritise other things, although in my experience you work as hard in junior roles, although probably longer hours in more senior roles.

I would like to work less hard, have more time/energy for life outside work. But low paid jobs are not going to give me that.

What is people's experience?

To be honest for me I think it is a bit of all 3, at the moment I can;t be too fussy my JSA says I have to take MW and my confidence is down the pan at the moment and you are right about low paid jobs not being cushy I was far more stressed in a £11k than in a £21k position.

jojo90_2

hmmmm. Not done too well with my budget this week:

£26 on shopping.
£35 on a date.
£16 on taxis.
£25 on BBQ, food, and drink (although just noticed Sainsbuys didn't give me my vodka for half price!!!).
£30 on drinks in the pub.

= £127 for the week.

I probably could have saved £16 on taxis and bought a couple less rounds so saved £20 on the drinks in the pub. Equally Sainsburys ripped me off by £7 on my BQ shopping bill and to be fair I probably didn't need to buy the burgers and rolls so that could have saved £5.50.

So, silly overspend is perhaps £48.50... and I think this is where I'm going wrong day on day! I would have only spent £25 over my £50 budget that way.

getmore4less

This weekly approach won't work for you since you will allways have some weeks with big spends.


I think you need to think longer term, a rolling year is a good one.

Analyse each catagory seperately not as a weekly total.

Do a SOA based on a years income/spends get it ballanced and post it.
http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

So for going out say set your budget at £5k about £100pw then just try to monitor it to around £100pw if you go over 1week then you have to have some weeks with less, do this for about 3 months and see how it goes, keep some extra aside for the xmas party weeks in Dec. if consistantly over set the budget higher

You could say combine this with the £5k holiday budget and trade off, overspend on one underspend on the other, might be easier with £10k to play with, the insentive to cut back on the weekly spends is a better holiday.

(We did this with takeaways, cut back from 1 a week to 1 a month result extra holiday)

Seperate out a seperate budget for dates, when used up stop trying to pull.



How on earth do you manage a budget at work?

[Deleted User]

jojo - it's always worth checking your receipt in the supermarket on the way out of the door .. i've found they're usually wrong about 1 in 4 times (putting stuff through twice, promotions not appearing on the bill ect)

Are you buying rounds for people who don't buy you them back?

SalaryGuru

It is nothing wrong to want more. All I can say "well done!" You are on much higher than average rate. I have no doubts that you are well educated and you know your job very well but you don't know how to manage your money.

If this is your next goal to earn £75.000+ then good luck with that. I'm sure you will achieve one day what you want if you work hard on it.

Nobody wants to live frugal life but you could certainly cut your expenses.

Are you sure you provided an accurate statement? Do you pay rent or mortgage? Where is your property insurance then? Do you go on holidays every month? There are few things that don't quite connect.

In anyway. Have you tried to ask for a pay raise? Why wouldn't you try?

But then you must promise yourself to cut your expenses down and invest your money so you can enjoy your retirement. Good luck and thanks for starting this conversation.

Interesting comments guys!

heretolearn_2

OP, you sound very like my ex, but luckily you have woken up at an early age (while he still never has). Some people have a problem grasping that 'you can't have your cake and eat it'. You don't get to spend your money on a great lifestyle (own flat, nice car, expensive holidays, loads of spending money, loads of clothes, lots of nights out and good social life) AND get to keep your money in the bank. Honestly, you could give my ex a million pounds, he would spend £999,999 and then turn round and moan about being skint and hard up because he's only got £1.

You have what sounds like a fantastic lifestyle. You have loads of money. You have to understand that saving etc is a balancing act. You want to save £500 a month? You can, easily, but you have to stop spending that £500 on something else. Right now, what you want is what you have, keep spending it, and then get more money on top to save. It doesn't work that way. I guarantee that if you did get more money, you'd still not feel satisfied. You have to balance out what you have - and you have a lot.

You are spending a lot of money on luxuries. In your 20s, that's what a lot of people do. They blow it. If you enjoy yourself there's nothing wrong with that and you'll have some great memories. But if you want a different future, it's time now to stop blowing everything and adjust your spending. The only way to save something is to cut some spending, so you need to prioritise for yourself what you are willing to 'sacrifice' to start building money in the bank.

But really, to expect a high-spending lifestyle plus loads of spare cash to save is totally unrealistic for all but the very few top earners, and I hope you do understand that. It's possible you might become one of those people, but you aren't right now, and whinging that £50k isn't enough when you have a very luxurious lifestyle compared to most other people, is quite offensive.

heretolearn_2

To help you get a little perspective, when looking at household income (that's everyone's earnings added up, not just one person's income) - only 5% of households in the UK have an total income over £50k per year. You are already one of the richest people around! Get a grip and stop whinging because you want the lot with jam on!