How much do you earn?

kitkatt1982

Hi, I know this is a sensitive and personal question for some people but I'm really interested to know what people's household incomes are and how well they manage on them?
I ask as a married mother of three with a mortgage. On paper our income looks ok but in reality although we get by and pay our bills we never seem to have any disposable money despite my husband working away all week and me budgeting quite efficiently I believe. We don't have many treats (smoke or anything) our holidays are from the Sun paper and I buy most things second hand, shop at Lidl and don't have debt.
Yet people we know seem to all have nicer houses, new cars, regular holidays abroad, always eating out and going for nice weekends away. Don't get me wrong I'm glad for what we have and know we're better off than a lot of people but I just don't get how others afford it and can't really ask what they earn to pay for it all!
Our total household income after all deductions (tax/NI/child maintenance for husband's son) including wages, child benefit, maintenance for my son is £31500.
Thanks for any thoughts!

Notaker

Single, living alone in a 3 bed semi / mortgage.

£32000-36000 salary.

Don't want to be too specific.

kitkatt1982

How do you find you manage on your income (and to future responses)? Would you say you're struggling, coping on a budget, comfortable, having a few luxuries, or living an extravagant lifestyle?
I'd probably put us in the coping on a budget category currently.

SallySunshine

A lot of what you perceive is all smoke and mirrors.
Leased or work cars, credit card holidays and meals out.
Sad but a lot of what you think of people living a perfect life isn't always the true story.

Don't be to envious of others lifestyle, it can be gone in a heartbeat, it used to be called
"Keeping up with the Jones's"

Hearing lots of stories about this of people who I thought had it all.
Just keep living within your means and you will never be one of these sad stories.

meer53

Asking other people how they manage isn't going to help you, post your SOA on the DFW board for help. Someone elses budget is irrelevant to your situation. Plus those other people are probably in debt for their cushy lifestyle.

kitkatt1982

Hi thanks guys. I'm not envious by any means (sorry if I came across that way), I'm happy with what we have and grateful that what we do have we've worked hard for. I guess it's more curiosity, I know everyone's situations are very different, just would like to hear others' perspectives on how they feel they get by on their incomes and whether we're earning less than others or whether they maybe just have different priorities.
Sorry meer53 I don't know what SOA means? I think DFW is the debt free wannabe board? X

YorkshireBoy

kitkatt1982 wrote: »

I don't know what SOA means?

Statement Of Affairs*...because it's not just about what comes in, it's also about what goes out.

When you've done a SOA (if you choose to do so), how much cash do you have left...

1. On paper, and
2. In reality

The difference between the two numbers is what you need to address.

* http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

20aday

I earn between £21,000-£22,000.

I'm single but rent a room from a long-term friend; once I've finally stopped smoking (something I really need to do!) I'm hoping the money wasted on those will help me save for a mortgage deposit in the future.

Chapuys

I earn £31,000 per year but after a hell of a number of deductions at payroll (including tax) I come out with £20,400.

I manage my income by having a bills current account which I have set to automate everything (sending rent, bills and savings to where they need too go) and then it forwards me weekly 'pocket money' to a second current account which hasn't an overdraft. I try not to spend over that amount in the week. I tried to copy the idea of Squirrel.me but doing it myself and not paying the fees.

bobobski

For what it's worth I earn between £45k and £55k (as another poster said, I don't want to be too specific) but I'm a single person living alone. This means a lack of joint income but also a lack of dependants. I whole heartedly agree with the advice above to post your SOA on the DFW board. I haven't done so myself but have looked at the advice given on there from time to time and the forumites on that board are brilliant at asking you specific questions about specific aspects of your budget - they also genuinely want to help and don't judge. I thought I was good at budgeting until I set up an actual budget that tracks every single penny (personally I use YNAB but others prefer free to use software), and since then - along with more regular posting on MSE and joining the Save £12k challenge - my monthly savings have quadrupled.

So as above, it's as much about what goes out as what comes in.

LuxuryWoman

Housing costs and childcare are the 2 biggest bills most people have.
The people who appear to have more spare cash than you may have much lower housing costs or grandparents looking after the children.


On any street of similar houses some people may be paying £200 a month on their mortgage, others £2000 depending on when they bought the property. Due to low interest rates a lot of people have seen their monthly mortgage payments slashed to near nothing and so either have a lot more cash to spare or carried on paying the same amount every month, so this paid the mortgage down much faster.
My mortgage payment was at one point over £800 a month, when interest rates went down my payment went down to £190.


Others spend on the plastic, others have inherited money.


What you earn is almost neither here nor there, it's what you spend that counts.