30 years old - am I spending too much of my salary?

Gambler

K_P83 wrote: »

Agreed.

In a morning i have porridge before work to set me off.

My workmates who complain about having no money have a bacon, sausage & egg bun they buy from a nearby shop in the morning at a cost of £2.50. They see it as only £2.50, so what's the harm. I see it as £2.50 vs my breakfast which probably costs pence (as i buy a big bad of porridge), PLUS as we're paid weekly, i see it as not £2.50 for them, but £15 as we work 6 days per week.


I have packed lunch for work. Couple buns of chicken or egg. The chicken is bought in bulk & frozen. A couple of apples, banana, pineapple pieces.

For lunch - they're having £5 lunches from the same shop. That's £25 per week that i'm not spending.


And they're complaining about having no money....:eek:

I bet they smoke too

MoneySaverLog

K_P83 wrote: »

Agreed.

In a morning i have porridge before work to set me off.

My workmates who complain about having no money have a bacon, sausage & egg bun they buy from a nearby shop in the morning at a cost of £2.50. They see it as only £2.50, so what's the harm. I see it as £2.50 vs my breakfast which probably costs pence (as i buy a big bad of porridge), PLUS as we're paid weekly, i see it as not £2.50 for them, but £15 as we work 6 days per week.


I have packed lunch for work. Couple buns of chicken or egg. The chicken is bought in bulk & frozen. A couple of apples, banana, pineapple pieces.

For lunch - they're having £5 lunches from the same shop. That's £25 per week that i'm not spending.


And they're complaining about having no money....:eek:

£7.50 a day for breakfast and lunch 6 days a week is £45 a week :eek:

dtsazza

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

£7.50 a day for breakfast and lunch 6 days a week is £45 a week :eek:

...which is £2,250 a year. In fact you'd need to earn about £3,300 gross to pay for it (assuming 20% tax, 12% NI).

Small things every day can add up to be big expenses, especially when you think about them in the context of a pay-rise.

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

I think you need to turn around your thinking and decide what you are actually saving for. There is no point putting a dent in your lifestyle if you are just saving up in order to amass a pile of money. You might as well just save up some emergency money, put enough into a pension plan and then enjoy yourself.

If you are saving up for something in particular, such as a house, then your savings are driven not by how much you have left each month after your outgoings but how much money you need to save, over what period and what you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it.

racing_blue

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu wrote: »

There is no point putting a dent in your lifestyle if you are just saving up in order to amass a pile of money.

Well, at risk of sounding mercenary, amassing a pile of money - capital- is exactly the point! Capital gives you all sorts of options. Just by existing it gives you more money, so you don't have to keep going out to work if you don't want to. Or you can store it in a house to live in etc etc

weesmiler

Wow, £87k would pay off my mortgage and buy me a brand new car..and that's just the deposit you're thinking about!

My best advice is to keep a spending diary, write down absolutely everything you spend, create a detailed budget and save a regular amount.

But life is for living, and you live in central London on a good wage...so enjoy it while you can!!

guitarman001

Firstly, what is the problem with high rent and house prices? The media say all the time that the market is 'recovering' when prices go up, so why are we not HAPPY paying MORE for rent and mortgage? Of course the answer is that increasing housing costs are NOT good (just like rising petrol and food prices are not good) - it's plain greedy people who already own that want these inflated prices to stay as they are. The blight on this generation now are tuition fees and (mainly) housing costs, in whatever form they take. I've taken to living at home, almost 28 now. I save 50% of my £1828 net and student loan and to be honest I don't know where THAT goes!

Monthly breakdown (rounded up):
£150 rent to parents
£60 lunches
£150 per month petrol
£40 per month going out with friends
£20 per month sport (gym hall rental)
£150-200 (say 200) when I visit girlfriend on weekends
£25 phone bill (though I do get cashback)
£350 per month toward big holiday / car repairs / presents for the year

Total ~£1000 rounded up. So save £828 a month which sounds about right. And this is on a decent gross salary (well, low 30s). I couldn't imagine having to pay all the other 'normal' bills, food costs for a family (I never want a family largely because I don't think I could ever properly afford it), electricity, gas, council tax etc (would have b*gger all left!!)... my girlfriend has paid off a flat and she STILL shells out about £800 a month just in bills (including food) and the like! I thought about doing the 'adventure' thing and go working in Europe for a while but it'd be financial suicide while I could live at home and save for a few more years (foolishly lost ~£16k in rubbish share deals despite having two Masters degrees and studying the markets in my spare time - NEVER again) - actually the plan will be to move in with the girlfriend for a bit (giving her more like £500 rent to help out) and save some money toward a bigger house, hopefully paying it off before 35 so that I can save for a decent pension and actually have a LIFE. If we're lucky.

I'm desperate for more money - I do well to save what I do (though doesn't feel like it.. good post earlier about paying money for good food, you've got to take care of your health. Saying that, I spend a bit too much on lunches). I work hard and would hope to become senior engineer, maybe even look into a business degree if an employer would sponsor it. I know people making INSANE money. E.g. £120k per year after tax contracting on the rigs, even more doing recruitment for rig jobs, and I know both a banker (bonus same as his salary which is substantial) and IT contractor for a bank (£450 a day). I thought IR35 was meant to stop people being able to pay less tax? These contractors are paying less tax than basic rate (typically only 21% or so) despite having £100k+ salaries (they get paid through their own limited companies)! So the money's OUT there.. at the same time, I know people not on very much at all - and then again some people doing jobs getting good money you wouldn't think about (maintenance engineer for a brewery with overtime, binman (honest!), train driver). The OP seems to be getting a good wedge (what career? Same qu to Jegersmart!) but as ever the cost of living, particularly rent, is a scam. Best try to get rid of that as soon as possible. I don't know how younger generation will cope - I've been paying off £15k student loan for over 5 years, never mind a £45k+ loan and quarter of a million for a one-bed shoe-box..! I seriously considered doing one of these oilfield jobs but the labour can be back-breaking, even with a degree - and the onshore work doesn't make up for the higher cost of living in those areas (Aberdeen, London). I've made my bed and will lie in it.

It's all relative as people always say on these threads. Engineers at my work on £50k+ (not bad for Scotland) wishing they had more money while others I know would be overjoyed with the amount. Often higher salary means longer working hours so hourly you can be paid less than you think if no overtime is involved.

I think London is a con - OP's savings are pretty decent regardless and hopefully if you can make more efficiencies and save more, you can afford to move elsewhere and buy a mansion, working only to pay into your pension pot and for lifestyle. I could get a job in the South of England paying between £40-50k for my level, but it's too costly down there and quality of life (IMO) ain't so great - too busy.

Crikey that was probably a bit of a misdirected rant but I hope it was of some help....

guitarman001

racing_blue wrote: »

In my house, we aim to spend no more that 50% of net income.

Practically impossible for the majority of people working in the country, however thanks for the book recommendation!

guitarman001

MiddyMum wrote: »

Is it only me that thinks this thread is a wind up?

Why? If it's because of the large sums of money... then I admit I also used to be shocked. No more, however - I know too many personal stories to be shocked by either extreme of the wealth chain. If not, why do you think it is a wind up?

MiddyMum

guitarman001 wrote: »

Practically impossible for the majority of people working in the country, however thanks for the book recommendation!

Completely agreed with your above posts, its why I will be moving up north. As the low rent will enable me to save half my salary (saving for a house deposit). I would not be able to save for a house deposit if I lived in the South east, it seems only in certain areas of the midlands or the north I will be able to do so. I think its soul destroying, paying out 70% of your earnings on rent (quite common in london apparently). I would literally have no life, I know some people call up north " grim " but I will not be forced to just " exist " in the South East.