On the Breadline on £190k a Year

onlyroz

I went to university with a number of privately educated people - and now none of them can afford to send their own children to private school. I have a friend with a four-year-old daughter, who is now looking at primary school places. She went round her local school and was shocked to find that the class sizes would be 30. "But when I went to school there were only 15 in my class", she spluttered to me. She described the school she visited as being like a zoo. It seems to me that my generation of 30-somethings who were privately educated have a sense of entitlement and expectation for their own children that simply cannot be met in the modern age.

CLAPTON

onlyroz wrote: »

I went to university with a number of privately educated people - and now none of them can afford to send their own children to private school. I have a friend with a four-year-old daughter, who is now looking at primary school places. She went round her local school and was shocked to find that the class sizes would be 30. "But when I went to school there were only 15 in my class", she spluttered to me. She described the school she visited as being like a zoo. It seems to me that my generation of 30-somethings who were privately educated have a sense of entitlement and expectation for their own children that simply cannot be met in the modern age.

wanting at least the same for your children, as you your self had, doesn't make anyone a bad person

gadgetmind

Our daughter was privately educated, our household earnings are less than £190k pa, and we've got substantial pension and ISA savings.

I guess it all depends on your priorities. We don't buy new cars, or flash clothes/handbags, or any other of that conspicuous consumerism nonsense.

onlyroz

CLAPTON wrote: »

wanting at least the same for your children, as you your self had, doesn't make anyone a bad person

I didn't say it did - but these days if you're moderately wealthy it is a choice between a nice house or a private education for your kids. Very few can have both, even if their parents were able to do so, and I imagine that's quite hard to accept.

onlyroz

gadgetmind wrote: »

Our daughter was privately educated, our household earnings are less than £190k pa, and we've got substantial pension and ISA savings.

I guess it all depends on your priorities. We don't buy new cars, or flash clothes/handbags, or any other of that conspicuous consumerism nonsense.

But do you live in a part of the country where you need to spend £300-400k+ to get a modest family home? You'd need a household income of around £100k to afford one, unless you're lucky enough to have generous parents, or receive a big inheritance.

gadgetmind

onlyroz wrote: »

But do you live in a part of the country where you need to spend £300-400k+ to get a modest family home?

We spent that on our family home in 1994.

[Deleted User]

onlyroz wrote: »

But do you live in a part of the country where you need to spend £300-400k+ to get a modest family home? You'd need a household income of around £100k to afford one, unless you're lucky enough to have generous parents, or receive a big inheritance.

That's not exactly real, is it, as people rarely buy a 'family home' as their first home. The housing ladder is at play in areas with expensive 'modest' houses. My house would set you back £425k right now (it's a reasonably ordinary 3 bed semi).. I bought my first house when my wife and I were both earning about national average salary.

ukcarper

ringo_24601 wrote: »

That's not exactly real, is it, as people never buy a 'family home' as their first home? The housing ladder is at play in areas with expensive 'modest' houses.

(and £400k would just about get you a 2 bed terrace near me; maybe a run down ex-council 3 bed semi)

It would get you a 3 or 4 bed detached near me and that's in commuting distance of London 40min.

[Deleted User]

ukcarper wrote: »

It would get you a 3 or 4 bed detached near me and that's in commuting distance of London 40min.

Yep, we're 36 minutes from Euston - Cheapest 3 bed in the village is for sale at £390k (needs LOADS of work), cheapest 4 bed at the moment is £595k

But that's St Albans house prices for you, silly prices. The village is mostly full of pensioners in houses that have ballooned in price over the years. It is 'gentrifying' as the only people who can afford to move here tend to be in high-end jobs

ukcarper

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Yep, we're 36 minutes from Euston - Cheapest 3 bed in the village is for sale at £390k (needs LOADS of work), cheapest 4 bed at the moment is £595k

But that's St Albans house prices for you, silly prices.

We're in Surrey still get 3 beds for less than £300k.