If you wait for the price crash...

mitchaa

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

We didn't have welfare paying these sort of benefits when my children were little. It just goes to show how bad things have become if people need these payments to live on. The cost of housing has just been too high over the last few years.

You are aware childcare vouchers are not benefits?

You pay for them through a salary sacrafice at work. Ie...Your salary is £33,000, childcare vouchers = £3,000, you are paid a salary of £30k.

The benefit is paying tax on £30k as opposed to £33k.

But either way the parent still pays for them. (It's a little tax break if you like)

Anyway, childcare should be absoloutly free IMO. It's criminal some parents get it for nothing, but others have to pay for it.

moanymoany

Well it depends on whether people are giving before or after tax incomes. Certainly I only ever think about our income as after tax as that is what is there to use.

mircea, I would be interested to see your soa. £5,000 doesn't seem a lot to be able to save out of the income you give.

I think that out of a joint income of £75k a year it should be possible to save a lot of money. Whether it is £50k or not is irrelevant, by saving like stink for two years it should be possible to clock up a hefty sum.

going2die_rich

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

We didn't have welfare paying these sort of benefits when my children were little. It just goes to show how bad things have become if people need these payments to live on. The cost of housing has just been too high over the last few years.

How bad things have become? It's how bad peoples expectations have become which is the problem. Less than two decades ago, having one tv was the norm, now everyone expects to own several, along with all the gadets you can get your hands on. Supermarkets now have every item in all year round because people demand it, even with the costs associated with having it. It's keeping up with the Jones menatlity that is driving some in to financial troubles and many others due to not knowing how to live within their means. Obviously house prices do play a part, but not all your income goes towards your mortgage, plenty of other costs are assoicated with your lifestyle and how comfortable you want to live.

Generali

mitchaa wrote: »

Anyway, childcare should be absoloutly free IMO. It's criminal some parents get it for nothing, but others have to pay for it.

Nothing is free. Either the user pays or someone else does.

lostinrates

Well, yes, I think of income before tax, so I can o a little song and dance each month about our contribution to the country, lol. What disappears in tax is sometimes enough to mak me feel ill.

Earning 75k BEFORE tax certainly would let you save 50k. (Edit, i missed of the n't off the end of woul, lol. They have to eat, live and spen some stuff as well as save for a house!!!)

Like others in thi thread we are spending little and saving lots, thts how we hope to buy. Also, I think DH will be highly mortageable.

mitchaa

moanymoany wrote: »

Well it depends on whether people are giving before or after tax incomes. Certainly I only ever think about our income as after tax as that is what is there to use.

That's back to front thinking.

You dont tell a mortgage company your after tax earnings do you? I have never once read someone stating their salary as after tax either.

The average UK wage is heavily publicised as being £25,000 for instance. This isn't £25,000 after tax though.

mitchaa

lostinrates wrote: »

Well, yes, I think of income before tax, so I can o a little song and dance each month about our contribution to the country, lol. What disappears in tax is sometimes enough to mak me feel ill.

Earning 75k BEFORE tax certainly would let you save 50k.

Dont you mean AFTER tax :rotfl:

(£75k before tax is actually only around £50k after tax)

WTF?_2

mitchaa wrote: »

Ive no idea how you've managed to work that out. They will only see around £50k pa after taxation.

That means they would have to save 100% of what they earn:rotfl:

Im sure dependant on current outgoings though that they should be able to save £20-25k pa

Hmmm ... While saving 10-12k each per year on a personal income of around 37k is certainly possible it would however require some pretty determined saving and possibly some lifestyle compromises. (That level of pay entails a certain level of lifestyle which is expensive to maintain.)

What with the boom times of the last 6-7 years, most people haven't bothered to even think about cutting back on the luxuries to save. That will all change soon though.


Anyway, the whole point is that of course you end up having to economise and be smart with your money when buying a house. Quite why people nowadays think that they should be able to secure a whopping loan with no deposit and then have their first house filled with furniture and decorated to their preference from day one is beyond me. It shows how detached people have become from financial reality.

mitchaa

Generali wrote: »

Nothing is free. Either the user pays or someone else does.

It should be funded just like school is.

It would obviously cost a lot, but then the governement would save a considerable amount by not handing out benefits to stay at home parents.

The only reason most are stay at home parents is because childcare is too expensive and they're caught in a trap. You work just to pay childcare, so whats the point?

The only way around that is to make childcare free, this way parents can get back to work and then start contributing in taxation, which in turn pays for their 'free' childcare;)

Lotus-eater

going2die_rich wrote: »

If even after having a household income of £60k you only manager to save £5k you must either be living in a very expensive area or maybe have other expensese you haven't mentioned, perhaps private school or something else like that to be draining your income? As if you only save £5k with a £60k income, it would mean anyone on the average income would be in the minus thousands each year.

Do you have a mortgage already? As this would explain why your savings each year are lower than expected, as obviously that would take out a huge chunk of your income. Even renting does that I suppose, but again it depends on the area you are living in, as North of england has different costs to teh south etc.

I'm interested in knowing where your money goes as well. You spend alot on something? Housing or schools as said above?