Is £40,000 really a liveable income for families in the UK?

JoeCrystal

Lokolo wrote: »

The thing is, everyone has a different interpretation as to what's a necessity and what's not which will largely play around with figures.

Nowadays Sky, a 42" TV and a car seem to be a necessity!

Pretty much right. I don't have Sky, nor 42 inches TV and a car... They are just merely luxuries that I do not need or want.

Cheers

Joe

greggymagic

michaels wrote: »

If I didn't have any pesky assets I would get a lot more handouts like council tax benefits etc However even without this my effective marginal tax rate is 72% making em very careful not to earn any more this year to the extent of utilising my pension.

When all the DKs reach school age then DW can go back to work and start to put a dent in the mortgage, I could also start working more than 2 days a week again if the worst came to the worst.

Why dya only work 2 days a week?

beth111

We are a family of 4 living on 26K pa with a morgage of £155k. We also manage to save £300pm. 40k would be great.

sterlingstash

greggymagic wrote: »

Why dya only work 2 days a week?

As implied - the marginal tax rate might be a pivotal factor, which is a good demonstration of the current disincentives within the system meaning someone that is clearly switched on and valuable to the UK economy recieving handouts whilst choosing to limit supply of labour.

I say this totally non-judgementally - as an economist I see this as a rational decision

SteveV2

A very similar position to michaels here.

Self employed so income varies. Averaging around £25k. 2 children, wife is a house wife. 2 cars. Basically have everything we want. Obviously getting tax credits and child benefit.

Still, just pulled up the good old spread sheet and over the last 32 months, we have saved on average £865.15.

This should swing even more in my favor now. 2 months ago our savings became more than our mortgage so starting next month we changed our payments, inline with the current interest rate. Not got the exact figures but the old mortgage payment was £436.98 and is going to around £240.

I would love to be on 40k. Would give me (guesstimate) and extra £600 a month

pinkteapot

greggymagic wrote: »

Why dya only work 2 days a week?

Leaving aside the economic points, maybe he just likes it that way!

I went down from full time to three days a week at the start of August. It's fab. My job isn't my life and I can afford to spend less time doing it and more time having fun, so that's what I did.

Candy53

Well we must be poor then if 40k isn't thought to be enough. We get CB and CT for 1 child who is at college. We live by our means, and have no debt. My hubby got a better paid job in Feb. So, I checked his latest payslip the other day to make sure he wasn't earning too much for the tax credits. Lol! I needn't have worried, he hasn't even earned 20k yet.

We manage to pay all the bills, and run a car, and that's it. We haven't had a holiday for 15 years.

Candy

greggymagic

SteveV2 wrote: »

A very similar position to michaels here.

Self employed so income varies. Averaging around £25k. 2 children, wife is a house wife. 2 cars. Basically have everything we want. Obviously getting tax credits and child benefit.

Still, just pulled up the good old spread sheet and over the last 32 months, we have saved on average £865.15.

This should swing even more in my favor now. 2 months ago our savings became more than our mortgage so starting next month we changed our payments, inline with the current interest rate. Not got the exact figures but the old mortgage payment was £436.98 and is going to around £240.

I would love to be on 40k. Would give me (guesstimate) and extra £600 a month

If you don't mind me asking - what are the child benefits and WTC's worth a month?

Cheers

serious_saver

As a couple we earn less than this and I wouldn't say we were poor. We rent a nice flat (smaller than we'd like but nice all the same), we run two cars, We have an absolutely stunning 40 inch LED TV and Sky!!! Every couple of weeks we go out with friends, every couple of weeks we treat ourselves to a takeaway. Generally if we really want to buy something we can after a little bit of saving.

We don't get any kind of benefits or tax credits so our income from work is all we get.

We are pretty sensible and everything that we buy we do so because we have been thrifty elsewhere. In spite of our spending we have still managed to save enough that we are going to buy our first house soon.

EDIT

If we were to have child I am confident that we would be able to get by reasonably comfortably, even if one of us went part time.

LydiaJ

I think I've got plenty for my family (1 adult & 2 kids). My total gross income from all sources is just a little over £40k, including my part-time salary, widow's pensions, kids' survivors' pensions, widowed parent's benefit (contributions based, so not means-tested), child benefit, and a small amount of tax credits - mostly the childcare element because I pay for after school club so that I can work. It's true that I live in an expensive house and only pay a small mortgage, but that's because I bought it with my life insurance and death-in-service payouts. Since I'm the only adult, obviously one car is plenty. I don't have Sky, and my TV is a CRT one that a friend was getting rid of when she upgraded to flatscreen.