What's a good salary

romperstomper said:
Depends where you live ,if in London you would expect to be on a much higher wage .

In the SW the wages are much lower but with fairly high house prices so its a raw deal .
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Same for Cambridge really. High prices and no Cambridge weighting. Wages aren't that low here though.
 
As well as all that IT has a lower barrier for entry. To become qualified in a lot of other industries you need to be educated to degree level. (eng, architect, etc). In IT if you are good (and with a cetrain amount of luck) a degree isn't needed.
 
I once read that 46k is the threshold to put you in the top 10% of earners. It's a nice target to aim for, but as has been said, if you want a property in the SE then it doesn't look so attractive.
 
In the next 5yrs I hope to be closer to 60-70k all going well.... Only then will I be satisfied that I'm earning a decent wage really.
 
IT wages of 100k+ are only contract or very high up people in huge companies. most it people will not see above £45k a year imo.
 
Have to say, I completely disagree that however much you earn it's 'never enough', that implies that there is an expectation that your earnings will always dictate the life you lead.....sure you can get better quality things up to a point but above that you're literally just paying money for the sake of it I find. I'll have just as much fun with mates sitting in a Wetherspoons as in some swanky over-priced bar, it's the experience which brings me happiness rather than the amount spent.

Have lived in London for almost 5 years now on £15k, £25k, and £30k+ and have never wanted for anything in all that time and had an absolutely brilliant time :) Currently living in a house-share so rent + bills is less than a quarter of my income, which is always nice....but that said my salary has always been largely incidental, I aim to improve myself as the main objective, the increased salary simply follows.
 
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Freefaller said:
Hehe - no but I do spend a lot on good food (cheese has too much saturated fat, and though I love it I've pretty much cut it out of my life :( I'm into my gym and bodybuilding so it's a bit of a no no).

I just find London extremely expensive I guess.
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I know what you mean mate, I am a huge fan of good food and being in Aberdeen the steak up here is awesome, I easily spent £10 on a fillet steak for me to eat last night and I have to stop myself spending so much money on food.

The main problem I have with money at the moment is travel, with my GF in Newcastle I travel down almost every weekend and then splash out when I am home as I don't get to see that many people, but I suppose thats the price I pay for moving away for work.

Anyway I have 2+months of offshore pay coming soon and it will only be another 2 yrs till I move contract :D

Then any money concerns I have go with it.

KaHn
 
Rich_L said:
Have lived in London for almost 5 years now on £15k, £25k, and £30k+ and have never wanted for anything in all that time and had an absolutely brilliant time :) Currently living in a house-share so rent + bills is less than a quarter of my income, which is always nice....
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Most people who live in a normal property do not pay less than 25% of their salary on bills. So your not a typical person, no wonder you do not want for anything tbh.
 
KaHn said:
I know what you mean mate, I am a huge fan of good food and being in Aberdeen the steak up here is awesome, I easily spent £10 on a fillet steak for me to eat last night and I have to stop myself spending so much money on food.

The main problem I have with money at the moment is travel, with my GF in Newcastle I travel down almost every weekend and then splash out when I am home as I don't get to see that many people, but I suppose thats the price I pay for moving away for work.

Anyway I have 2+months of offshore pay coming soon and it will only be another 2 yrs till I move contract :D

Then any money concerns I have go with it.

KaHn
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It's about prioritising - food to me is very important and I only buy good quality food, hence my food bills for me alone come to around £50-60 a week. I also eat a lot ;)

I don't really drink, and seldom go out in town (London just bores me a lot of time and is excessively expensive).

I don't buy lots of gadgets etc... My money goes towards holidays, food, and clearing student debts and old loans.

I can pay the rent and the bills - and for the moment that's all I need/want. :)
 
Morba said:
Most people who live in a normal property do not pay less than 25% of their salary on bills. So your not a typical person, no wonder you do not want for anything tbh.
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That's now though, before I often had £300-400 disposable income a month in London and still had a brilliant time. :p

But for example, I could live in a much 'nicer' area and pay twice that, easily. Or live on my own (much more) or with less people and pay more. However I do fully acknowledge that through hook and by crook I'm sharing a nice house with 3 mates who all get on brilliantly and so life is pretty damn good, with the benefit of stashing away cash and funding various flights away :D

Freefaller said:
Yes but Rich... you're just on the awesome train all the time, so life's good! ;)
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I think you may have the answer there :p
 
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Tunney said:
£40k + £0k might not be much but two £40k incomes in the same household makes life pretty comfortable.
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80K would be more than comfortable in most places. £6,200 or so a month?

This type of thread is like the age old "How long is a piece of string" argument,

Me and the wife can live like relative kings on less than 80k between us.
 
LordSplodge said:
80K would be more than comfortable in most places. £6,200 or so a month?

This type of thread is like the age old "How long is a piece of string" argument,

Me and the wife can live like relative kings on less than 80k between us.
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£80k is a hell of a lot less than £6200 a month after tax, NI, pension etc...
 
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