Do you think £20,000 is a good enough salary?

Charlotte17

Paully232000 wrote: »

I thought you were talking about your salary as a comparison.

I don't have a salary I am on JSA

fairy_lights

Well that's how much I earn and I feel like I'm doing well. My OH earns about £30,000 though so combined we have what I consider to be a very good income, but if I was single and living alone most of my salary would be eaten up by rent and bills and it wouldn't feel like such a good wage at all.
I really think it depends on your circumstances.

Snakey

The question to ask yourself is, is it the best job on offer that you can get? Taking all other things into account e.g. commuting time, level of stress and how well you deal with stress, hours worked, opportunities for progression, how much you enjoy the work, how well you get along with your colleagues and, perhaps most importantly, what you could get elsewhere for a similar or better role.

I could be happy on £20k, but that sort-of isn't the point. I wouldn't actually accept a job for £20k unless it was part time and/or my dream job because I could do better and would be a fool to undersell myself.

Paully232000

Also to take into consideration is whether you are in receipt of working/child tax credits which would boost your income past the £20K, so to earn from employment £20K and then add benefits to this, would increase this salary.
So again, I suppose the answer is, it depends, as, although being a larger family on 20K, you cannot compare this to a single person as it would not be the same amount received each month for the same employment wages.

welshbookworm

The equally important factor as to whether it is a good wage or not is the sum
Income - compulsory spending(rent rates fares fuel etc) = able to enjoy life or not.

bugslet

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/66845143#Comment_66845143

Helps if you already have 200k knocking about though.

System

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

My take has always been "I want national average salary and half as much again to allow for extra costs of being single". That comes to, I think, £26k as national average and bring it up to, say, £40k because I have the extra costs of being single.

What is the national average excluding the top 5% of earners though (these are probably millionaires) which increases the average quite alot

Perhaps the average is around only £20k if you exclude the millionarires?

Paully232000

bugslet wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/66845143#Comment_66845143

Helps if you already have 200k knocking about though.

I never pay attention, in the main to previous posts, just based on the info in the post I am in.
Otherwise you could get confused as to his parents giving him a 25% share for £10K, or buying his grandads council house.

Paully232000

berbastrike wrote: »

What is the national average excluding the top 5% of earners though (these are probably millionaires) which increases the average quite alot

Perhaps the average is around only £20k if you exclude the millionarires?

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

have a look here and it will give a rough idea of income distribution. and although there are obviously millionaires in the top 5%, I wouldn't be surprised if to get into the top 5% you don't have to earn anything like a million £/year.

marleyboy

Charlotte17 wrote: »

But it is not a lot for a person who is single at all.

Take home on £20k is £1,379.56 a month

Less rent where I live £800 leaves £579

Zones 1 - 4 here in London travel is £177 a month leaving you with £402 to pay for food, council tax (which in my borough is about £90 a month for a single person occupancy) gas, electricity, clothes, savings, etc

Not a lot at all if you ask me.

But thats because of YOUR circumstances. NOT necessarily the Ops. As has been said repeatedly. It all depends on your circumstances.

Where I come from, its adequate for any single person in a flat.