Average Salary/Good Salary

Hmm, yeah, I suppose that is quite handy, but have you ever thought about renting a motor for a weekend if you want to go out of town? It might prove cheaper.

Cars probably make sense if you live z4 and out, but I would have thought anything closer in and you might as well use the good public transport. Infact, the only decent public transport in the uk!
 
Why anyone would actually want to live in London amazes me!

On topic, I definitely agree with most comments about the people on this board, I VERY much doubt the majority of us are on 23k let alone higher wages, and probably those posting about 100k being a "good salary" are most likely posting in their batman pj's in their parents houses awaiting their 12th birthday where by salary they mean pocket money.

In the real world we all know that 20k is a decent amount (outside of London) to live on. Just because you may like to shop at waitrose, drink champagne rather than water and lunch on the finest Scottish salmon doesn't equate to a "good standard of living" thats FAR more than good. Good means that you can afford everything you NEED, and some luxaries. By luxary products I'd mean things like having a Sky package, perhaps a season ticket, a holiday that isn't being packed into a over crowed Spanish trash town.

For me I earn about 27k, which I consider a good salary, there are very few times when money is problem. The problem with so many people these days is that they live beond their means, renting 1k PCM flats when they're earning less than me and then they wonder why they're having problems and come forums like this and moan about how you need 50K just to live on!

These people need a good slap, and to really experience what it is to live on next to nothing before spouting on about there ridiculous ideas about required salaries
 
Sinny said:
When i finish my NVQ3 hopefully i should be earning £24k on the industrial side of electronics, with weekend work as well im told i can probably earn £4k depending on how much i do.

I'd be pretty happy on £20k PA but would want atleast £25k by the time im mid to late 30's.
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Given the fact that you're only 19 you probably need to set yourself higher goals for the future - £20k today will almost certainly be worth more than £25k in 15-20 years time. As a rough guide you should aim to get on average at least an inflationary pay rise relative to the salary you are pretty happy with. So in other words if you get £20k then you'll want around 5% rise; if you get £24k then you won't need a rise for a couple of years.
 
dangerstat said:
Why anyone would actually want to live in London amazes me!

On topic, I definitely agree with most comments about the people on this board, I VERY much doubt the majority of us are on 23k let alone higher wages, and probably those posting about 100k being a "good salary" are most likely posting in their batman pj's in their parents houses awaiting their 12th birthday where by salary they mean pocket money.

In the real world we all know that 20k is a decent amount (outside of London) to live on. Just because you may like to shop at waitrose, drink champagne rather than water and lunch on the finest Scottish salmon doesn't equate to a "good standard of living" thats FAR more than good. Good means that you can afford everything you NEED, and some luxaries. By luxary products I'd mean things like having a Sky package, perhaps a season ticket, a holiday that isn't being packed into a over crowed Spanish trash town.

For me I earn about 27k, which I consider a good salary, there are very few times when money is problem. The problem with so many people these days is that they live beond their means, renting 1k PCM flats when they're earning less than me and then they wonder why they're having problems and come forums like this and moan about how you need 50K just to live on!

These people need a good slap, and to really experience what it is to live on next to nothing before spouting on about there ridiculous ideas about required salaries
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I'm sorry, but given the average house price in this country, £27k won't get you much. What if someone wants to have four children, and a bedroom for each? You're looking at a five bedroom house. What if they want a guest room with that - six bedrooms. Nothing particularly unreasonable here. If other families with just two children have their own bedrooms, the same can apply for larger families. Then, you need a larger income. Or you rent - but rent is higher, so you need a larger income.

Someone's going to throw the whole 'material possessions' argument in my face here - but remember, funnily enough it's possible to have material possessions AND everything else. A bit of ambition never killed anyone.

I think the point of this thread is, when referring to 'good salary', how much you need to earn to get whatever you WANT, not just what you NEED. I'm sure you could survive on £6,000 a year in some places. The key word here though, is survive.
 
dangerstat said:
Why anyone would actually want to live in London amazes me!
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Never lived in London myself but I'd say there's plenty of good reasons:

-Outstanding public transport compared to most areas of the country
-Everything is there, so you don't need to go anywhere for shopping etc, just jump on the tube/bus with your bargain oyster card
-Plenty of well paid jobs around
-Ignoring the extremes, living costs are not that excessive compared to other posh areas in the south. I know someone who moved from Bournemouth to London and she says it might even be cheaper.
-Entertainment capital of britain (west end, loads of football clubs, tourist attractions, plenty of things to do)
-Very good transport links to other major cities
-Close proximity to international airports
-Good nightlife

When I was younger I kind of dismissed working in London due to the alleged high cost of living but it seems to be a bit exaggerated to me.
 
Im currently on 16-17k(ish), and interviewing for a job on monday that'll pay 24k. (but with 1h-1h30hour drive either way to get there. :( ).
Unfortunatelly, im not convinced that even thats good enough wage to set up shop on my own, so to speak.
Probably looking at, realistically, 26-30k to do that. Wether thats combined wages or on your own.

I have a target wage that i want to meet before i 'settle' into a job long term, and thats 30k.
 
I respect your point of course N9ne, but at the same time I disagree. Your arguement is a kin to saying "I'd like to have 6 yachts so 27k would not be a good salary for me". The other point I'll pick you up on is this:
"how much you need to earn to get whatever you WANT"
Most people would argue that figure is unbounded. You could be Mr Gates, and I'd bet he'd argue he'd like MORE money so he could do more with his charity work.
 
Sukh said:
Surely 23k or so cannot be average? I would have thought it was closer to 30? and then good from 50-60?
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Technically is is average. Did you know that in the world, that a 14 year old on a paper round for a year is in the worlds top 20% earners.
 
HangTime said:
Never lived in London myself but I'd say there's plenty of good reasons:

-Outstanding public transport compared to most areas of the country
-Everything is there, so you don't need to go anywhere for shopping etc, just jump on the tube/bus with your bargain oyster card
-Plenty of well paid jobs around
-Ignoring the extremes, living costs are not that excessive compared to other posh areas in the south. I know someone who moved from Bournemouth to London and she says it might even be cheaper.
-Entertainment capital of britain (west end, loads of football clubs, tourist attractions, plenty of things to do)
-Very good transport links to other major cities
-Close proximity to international airports
-Good nightlife

When I was younger I kind of dismissed working in London due to the alleged high cost of living but it seems to be a bit exaggerated to me.
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The downsides are massive though (in my opinion) whilst the tube is a great idea, it's hot, sweaty and camped form of transport in my view. I agree of course on the availability of clubs etc.. However I think the UK's other major cities (I've lived in Manchester and Bristol) offer a great range of things to do without the feeling of living in a hamster cage. I think it must come down to individual tastes. Personally I like to be able to step out for 5 seconds and find somewhere relatively quite to have a think for 10 minutes, I've NEVER been able to do that whenever I'm working in London. All major cities in the UK have international airports so I don't really get that point. And it's the same with motorway arguement, in fact it's probably easier to be based in Birmingham or Manchester on that front as your more central and have less congestion (and the associated fees) to deal with?
 
N9ne said:
Right, so starting next year, I need to live near to Central London. I will be covering water, gas, electricity, TV license, internet, phone, mobile phone and some others I've undoubtedly missed out here.

Also, road tax, MOT, petrol on my car.

Also, paying the relatively higher prices to buy food and drink in Zone1-3 London.

I'd also like to not have to live in a dodgy area. I need a one-bedroom flat and of course, a bathroom and kitchen which are not shared (otherwise they may well be filthy!).

How much will my total outgoings be per week? I'm thinking £350-400 a week. I think it is important for people to be able to at least maintain their living standards - if I want all the luxuries (e.g. car, TV, etc.) that I have now at home, then when I move out, I want the same. No point suffering!

So £400 a week (upper estimate?) would be roughly £21,000 per year (incl. rent). This is excluding holidays - say two a year at £1,500 each. I also need to buy a TV and some other things. In total I'm looking to spend roughly £25,000 to £30,000 in one year. This is using income net of tax.

However, getting on the property ladder is important to build your wealth up. A decent property in Zone 2/3 is going to cost £500,000. At the moment I'd be asked for a 25% deposit of £125,000. Oh, and a large income ;).

So anyone saying it's possible to live happily on anything less than £35,000 in Zone 1/2 London should really move out, earn the same amount and see how much better life would be!

For me, I'd want to make £50,000 minimum to begin with, rising to well over £100,000. I'd hate to have to rent my whole life.
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Out of interest do you work yet? and if so in what profession that's going to pay you a starting 50K salary in central London?
 
Living in London is horrendously expensive.

As mentioned a few posts above, I don't know how anyone on less than 25 / 30k can live here. Or even why they would want to.

For the same money you could move away from London, have a much better standard of living and a chance of buying your own house (although if the market carries on, you may do anyway!).

I live in London because I appreciate it. As soon as it stopped offering me what I want, I'll move away. People would rather sit around and complain about how an area is going than moving out and finding somewhere nicer - assuming that is possible.
 
N9ne said:
I'm sorry, but given the average house price in this country, £27k won't get you much. What if someone wants to have four children, and a bedroom for each? You're looking at a five bedroom house. What if they want a guest room with that - six bedrooms. Nothing particularly unreasonable here. If other families with just two children have their own bedrooms, the same can apply for larger families. Then, you need a larger income. Or you rent - but rent is higher, so you need a larger income
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I would assume though that someone who wanted 4 children would have a partner to achieve that with, assuming the 27k that's over 50k between them, again, outside of London that will buy you everything you quoted.

However, for someone to be raising 4 children on their own with no support from a partner/benefits/CSA whilst becoming more likely is still a slim percentage of the population, to suggest we base our ideas of what is an acceptable salary on a single person living with 4 children is completely ludicrous.

Furthermore, my married friends have a mortgage on a 3 bedroom house, car etc... And their combined income is less than £27k.

Apply some common sense to your reasoning.
 
dangerstat said:
All major cities in the UK have international airports so I don't really get that point.
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How many flights a day from Manchester or Bristol to New York? There are something like 30 a day from Heathrow and Gatwick combined, which means if don't have to set up my entire day around when there's actually a flight, not to mention there are none at all to LA or San Francisco...
 
pioneer2000 said:
If you are earning 35k you aren't ever going to be "incredibly poor" and it is not a average / low wage.
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he said london and he's 23

london average is about 30k

discount all the **** jobs and the average for people who worked hard at school is a fair bit higher

given that he is 23 so presumably has 1-2 years experience he is on a fairly average wage (for someone with a degreee, living/working in London)
 
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