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no i don't and even if i did i wouldn't make it public knowledge
still the way property seems to be selling this uncertainty doesn't seem to bother many people.
Are earnings too low / living costs getting too high??
- Thread starter Buffman
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still the way property seems to be selling this uncertainty doesn't seem to bother many people.
no i don't and even if i did i wouldn't make it public knowledge
still the way property seems to be selling this uncertainty doesn't seem to bother many people.
why would it? It isn't like some risk/uncertainty means all of a sudden no one wants to go near an asset class at all
Soldato
Actually, investing in a cash ISA now is pretty much the only investment you've listed that's guaranteed to lose you money. I think there are none (or maybe only one) that are paying a positive return above inflation.
Soldato
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Ha! 40 hours a lot and ouch at 20 days leave?!
40 hours in a factory is a slow week in the factories I've worked in. With compulsory overtime I was doing the equivalent of 5 weeks working hours a month for 5 straight years in one of them.
Currently do 50 hours a week to earn 40 hours money as I don't get paid for 2 hours of my days as it's classed as travelling to/from work and still manage about 10 hours average OT a week so 60 hours is an average week. I get 20 days leave, that's 20 days only at certain times of the year and not whenever I like, in fact last year I only used 15 as I ended the year not being able to use the last 5 and lost them as we can't carry over.
I don't earn anywhere near what I would class as a decent wage, and yet as a single bloke I have a good standard of living renting a brand new 2 bed/2 bath apartment in a decent area, and with careful spending I have a money left over and some savings.
I have no idea what a childless couple on £28k each are doing if they're struggling...
Soldato
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double post
Hope that was because you didn't book in good time and not them telling you they "couldn't" fit it in which despite some trying it on is highly illegal.
It simply means they can't work with money. If you can't make it work on 56k between they two of you, you simply cannot work with money and probably should strongly consider investing in a basic financial literacy education.
Soldato
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It's a small company, there are only four of us on the tools so the general rule is only one off at a time, if it's just a day or two overlap then we can squeeze by with two off, but two people having the same week/fortnight off is a no go. Unfortunately there was someone off for 3 weeks straight towards the end of the year and we were busy so there was nowhere to fit them in.
Contrast that with my mum who is a public sector worker and currently has more holidays and lieu time than she can possibly use!!
Soldato
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I don't really get a fixed break, I do a lot of driving so eat/drink between jobs.
I'd say outside of London the above is a good wage between 2 people.... With kids I'd want more tho!
(or like 45k with one person working..) How much does everyone else think is a "good/comfortable" amount?
And what about with kids?
I'd say outside of London the above is a good wage between 2 people.... With kids I'd want more tho!
How much does everyone else think is a "good/comfortable" amount?
And what about with kids?
Depends on your lifestyle I guess. Your tolerances for risk, fall-back money available to you, long term job prospects, health of the economy and housing market (sick as a dog), long term viability of your job industry, etc etc etc.
Also can't quite remember UK costs (and only left 3 years ago!
), but from memory I'd say anywhere north of 40k OUTSIDE London, and you'll have a comfortable life without counting pennies too much. Although, it's always a good idea to count them anyway. Or at least keep a close eye. But you can also live on far less.Kids I have no idea as I don't have them. But I don't think they're as expensive as everyone makes them out to be. Again you'll be hearing that from people that don't really work optimally with their financial resources so it's hard to get an overall picture. What they THINK their kids need and what the kids actually need, would widely differ. My favourite 'parent' at the moment, and idiot of the month, wants to make his child's 'first Christmas special' and therefore 'saving hard' to give him a 'special Christmas day'. The kid was only born on the 24th last month.... So he'll be 11 months old come Christmas day. And no, I'm not making this up at all. When you have idiots like that out there, it distorts the realities of reality and you're left in fairy world watching how morons operate and complain accordingly. And let's be honest, us morons outrank you clever and morally honest people by many magnitudes
So, unless people can be morally honest and reflective for once, it'll be hard to know how much money kids really require.
Soldato
Depends on your lifestyle I guess. Your tolerances for risk, fall-back money available to you, long term job prospects, health of the economy and housing market (sick as a dog), long term viability of your job industry, etc etc etc.
Also can't quite remember UK costs (and only left 3 years ago!
Kids I have no idea as I don't have them. But I don't think they're as expensive as everyone makes them out to be. Again you'll be hearing that from people that don't really work optimally with their financial resources so it's hard to get an overall picture. What they THINK their kids need and what the kids actually need, would widely differ. My favourite 'parent' at the moment, and idiot of the month, wants to make his child's 'first Christmas special' and therefore 'saving hard' to give him a 'special Christmas day'. The kid was only born on the 24th last month.... So he'll be 11 months old come Christmas day. And no, I'm not making this up at all. When you have idiots like that out there, it distorts the realities of reality and you're left in fairy world watching how morons operate and complain accordingly. And let's be honest, us morons outrank you clever and morally honest people by many magnitudes
So, unless people can be morally honest and reflective for once, it'll be hard to know how much money kids really require.
To put it into perspective, we spend £8,400 a year on childcare. My salary is about £24,000 so you can basically say my wage is £15,600 minus tax. Mrs is on a part time wage to do the school run for my son.
We manage on about £30k and i'd be lying if I said it wasn't a struggle with running two cars to get to work and back. (I work nights in the middle of nowhere, no public transport) The mortgage gets paid, that's the current priority. I have debts to pay off which I accrued after being made redundant. (Bills still need paying right?)
No holidays, don't go to the pub, don't smoke.
Children themselves aren't expensive. Clothes, food and such doesn't cost the world. It's everything else around it that does.
We don't save much if anything, and can't really look forward until my daughter is grown up and that childcare bill goes away. Everything is on hold, live hand to mouth and just make best of it.
Hope that gives a little perspective. It's a case of thinking longer term when the childcare bill goes away and things will be all dandy.
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I'd say outside of London the above is a good wage between 2 people.... With kids I'd want more tho!
How much does everyone else think is a "good/comfortable" amount?
And what about with kids?
I earn 31, my gf is on 21, it's fine for me, and I pay more obviously, but not brilliant for her. But we don't struggle. I'll help her out of she needs it for emergency too. We are outside London, and have no kids.
I don't need any more money for my lifestyle, and tbh, 40 in my job would probably not be worth it as stress would go up accordingly. If we were both on 30 that would be great.
But we use all our holiday days, some for camping and some for abroad. I have my s2000 car which I am completely happy with. Basically I don't want for anything more.
I'm able to save several hundred a month. Plus 10pc pension for me. Gf doesn't save much.
No kids allowed however as that wage would then, by my labelling, go from comfortable to poor
Soldato
I honestly don't understand how people are so bad with money.
Me and my partner earn £50k combined and we're saving £1500 per month whilst renting, easily, to buy a house. We could probably save even more. We can still afford nice things, to go travelling, have a nice-ish car, etc. We're both training in our spare time for more qualifications so that by the time we do buy a house, we'll be earning even more and still able to save.
Sure, we don't have children but then we never would in our situation because it doesn't make sense to until we've got our own house. I think that's the bigger problem - people don't plan for things any more.
My brother and his wife are a perfect example. Within the last few years or so they've moved house twice, bought and changed 4 new-ish cars, bought and sold on 4 pets (one to my mum who felt bad for them), had one child and decided to have another. They then complain that they're struggling because they want to go to Disneyland before their daughter gets too old, yet they've been abroad once or twice a year since before she was born. They've become a running joke at family gatherings because of how bad they are with money despite them earning almost £100k combined. I suspect a lot of families in the UK are similar.
Me and my partner earn £50k combined and we're saving £1500 per month whilst renting, easily, to buy a house. We could probably save even more. We can still afford nice things, to go travelling, have a nice-ish car, etc. We're both training in our spare time for more qualifications so that by the time we do buy a house, we'll be earning even more and still able to save.
Sure, we don't have children but then we never would in our situation because it doesn't make sense to until we've got our own house. I think that's the bigger problem - people don't plan for things any more.
My brother and his wife are a perfect example. Within the last few years or so they've moved house twice, bought and changed 4 new-ish cars, bought and sold on 4 pets (one to my mum who felt bad for them), had one child and decided to have another. They then complain that they're struggling because they want to go to Disneyland before their daughter gets too old, yet they've been abroad once or twice a year since before she was born. They've become a running joke at family gatherings because of how bad they are with money despite them earning almost £100k combined. I suspect a lot of families in the UK are similar.
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1500 a month is impressive.
There is no way we could save that much worth cars, driving to work and rent.
Man of Honour
Sounds like you're working hard and studying too - well done! We were able to save a similar amount when living in London. It's doable, but you just have to be a bit more regimented in your savings, and forgoing some unnecessary things.
There's lots of things we want, but all of those are things we do not need. People confused want and need. Unfortunately a lot of people can't tell the difference and as such are not able to save, as they spend money on things that they don't need.
You can still have a life even when you're saving.
Me and my partner both earn good wages in London with a good amount in savings. Despite this we have pretty much given up on the idea of buying a property. For every £500 we save the property prices go up £1000.
It's impossible and it's incredibly frustrating! I just hope this unsustainable growth crashes so we have a hope to own and not pay someone else's mortgage.
It's impossible and it's incredibly frustrating! I just hope this unsustainable growth crashes so we have a hope to own and not pay someone else's mortgage.
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Agreed, requires planning but also a fairly hefty wage (if you want a fairly decent quality of life). Which is unattainable for some sadly.
An impressive amount of saving! Where are you hoping to buy? I never really counted how much we were saving before I bought our place, but was a good % of our salaries!
We both drive poverty cars however
Have you considered moving out of London? (or are your jobs/industries key to London).
I'd hate the thought of spending 300+k for a 1 bed flat in zone 3 (someone told me that's how much it is :X)
It is illegal for you not to have your holiday, it is a right not a privilege.