Mortgage Rate Rises

krooton said:
I'm at the edge of where more money = more responsibility + more stress + doing less of what I actually enjoy doing as a job.

My rough rule was to try and earn £1k per year of age, but I only managed that from the age of 28 onwards, and now have a decent buffer of like 8 years, but still this week I pulled back massively on our grocery spend and just bulk cooked veggie curry and veggie chili for the week.
Click to expand...

Very similar position.
And similar outlook.


I'm now at point where more money might come with managerial responsibility. And entering the upper tax bracket means even less returns for responsibility.


I didn't get over the 1k =1year of life until 32. But that's Accelerated until now.


Now I value more time. If 8 could work 9 months rather than 12 and get the same yearly cash? That's the next goal.


Ii certainly don't want 100k a year and no time. I'd rather have 50k and lots of time.
 
413x said:
Very similar position.
And similar outlook.


I'm now at point where more money might come with managerial responsibility. And entering the upper tax bracket means even less returns for responsibility.


I didn't get over the 1k =1year of life until 32. But that's Accelerated until now.


Now I value more time. If 8 could work 9 months rather than 12 and get the same yearly cash? That's the next goal.


Ii certainly don't want 100k a year and no time. I'd rather have 50k and lots of time.
Click to expand...

I used to think £20k a year was something amazing, then £30...£40...£50...£60... It isn't, the more you earn, the more you are taxed. My standard of living is the same it was 20 years ago just with a lot more stress.
 
Last edited:
TheOracle said:
I used to think £20k a year was something amazing, then £30...£40...£50...£60... It isn't, the more you earn, the more you are taxed. My standard of living is the same it was 20 years ago just with a lot more stress.
Click to expand...

My standard of living has definitely gone up I think the biggest jump was 20s to mid 30s.

Became much easier to save for house. The deposit built rapidly at that point.

Going to mid 40s was less of an immediate jump. More of a security for future. More to invest, shorten mortgage etc

But I doubt there will be any more big standard of living jumps until mortgage is paid off, however I am going on more expensive holidays . If I earn more it will likely go to reducing down the mortgage.


Luckily I don't want a mega expensive house and that seems to be what sucks most peoples money up who earn more.
Other things that have made me feel. Richer... I haven't got lease car, haven't upgraded eating out, but still shop at tesco etc.


So apart from holidays I'm still living same life I was at 28k
 
TheOracle said:
I used to think £20k a year was something amazing, then £30...£40...£50...£60... It isn't, the more you earn, the more you are taxed. My standard of living is the same it was 20 years ago just with a lot more stress.
Click to expand...

I can't fathom how your standard of living hasn't increased when your salary has tripled.... Do you just save it all?
 
413x said:
Now I value more time. If 8 could work 9 months rather than 12 and get the same yearly cash? That's the next goal.


Ii certainly don't want 100k a year and no time. I'd rather have 50k and lots of time.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on that. I feel like we're in somewhat of a minority, though, based on the number of people who didn't buy all available extra holiday days at the last job I had. These weren't people on the breadline either - £40-60k roles, and still quite a few turning down an extra week off for the sake of a few quid.
 
I’ve seen my salary go up by ~20% but my standard of living hasn’t gone up, I feel poorer.
The thing of it is, the more you earn you have in your mind “I can spend more” or “I can afford to finance that” and it quickly adds up and that percentage is killed and you’re no better off.
 
thezappa said:
I’ve seen my salary go up by ~20% but my standard of living hasn’t gone up, I feel poorer.
The thing of it is, the more you earn you have in your mind “I can spend more” or “I can afford to finance that” and it quickly adds up and that percentage is killed and you’re no better off.
Click to expand...

No matter how much I've earnt I generally save ahead for things, exception being car/house where it's not always feasible.

Buying stuff on finance of paying additional interest simply means you have to earn more to make up for spending extra, having cash up-front is the best idea.
 
TheOracle said:
Inflation I assume

I'm certainly not eating steak every night
Click to expand...
Were you 20 years ago? No way can someone say standard of living hasn't increased. Something (public services etc) have got worse, but everyone has access to better food, drink, entertainment, holidays etc.
 
Paracelsus said:
I'm with you on that. I feel like we're in somewhat of a minority, though, based on the number of people who didn't buy all available extra holiday days at the last job I had. These weren't people on the breadline either - £40-60k roles, and still quite a few turning down an extra week off for the sake of a few quid.
Click to expand...
I've had to sell my last 4 days holiday to get some back to cover the increased winter costs and that. It's mental but basically means had 3 weeks of holiday this year.
 
Goksly said:
Were you 20 years ago? No way can someone say standard of living hasn't increased. Something (public services etc) have got worse, but everyone has access to better food, drink, entertainment, holidays etc.
Click to expand...

They haven’t. In the UK living standards are roughly on par with where they were 20 years ago; which is why we’ve seen such a relative decline compared to our contemporaries.

Other measures are far more interesting however:

 
Last edited:
Goksly said:
Were you 20 years ago? No way can someone say standard of living hasn't increased. Something (public services etc) have got worse, but everyone has access to better food, drink, entertainment, holidays etc.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say that in last 20yrs that feels particularly true although hard fore to judge completely as I would have been 13 then but at 16 having moved out and been on holidays to Canada, most of Europe, Caribbean and such by my early 20s then the last decade has certainly felt tighter and much more of a decrease in living quality since the economy started to recover from the housing recession in 2008.
 
Goksly said:
Were you 20 years ago? No way can someone say standard of living hasn't increased. Something (public services etc) have got worse, but everyone has access to better food, drink, entertainment, holidays etc.
Click to expand...

Yea I don't agree either, I think we have more frivolous (junk) then we used to, but the main things, eh housing, healthcare, jobs/job stability have declined. I know which I'd rather have.
 
HungryHippos said:
No matter how much I've earnt I generally save ahead for things, exception being car/house where it's not always feasible.

Buying stuff on finance of paying additional interest simply means you have to earn more to make up for spending extra, having cash up-front is the best idea.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, I’ve always been a ‘save and pay in cash’ kind of person.
Circumstances changed - new job and needed a new car and some large items needed for a house move have meant finance was the only option. Unfortunately the repercussions of the situation take a long time to fade.
 
Goksly said:
Were you 20 years ago? No way can someone say standard of living hasn't increased. Something (public services etc) have got worse, but everyone has access to better food, drink, entertainment, holidays etc.
Click to expand...

I think there's been a misunderstanding.

The point I was making (rather badly) was regarding my standard of living compared to what I expected it to be at this salary.

60k 20yrs ago would give a better standard of living than 60k today due to inflation and house prices. House prices more than anything.

I remember my boss back then earning 50k and had a BMW, lotus, fireblade and a nice cottage in the countryside.

That aside, is it generally better, worse or about the same?
 
Last edited:
TheOracle said:
I think there's been a misunderstanding.

The point I was making (rather badly) was regarding my standard of living compared to what I expected it to be at this salary.

60k 20yrs ago would give a better standard of living than 60k today due to inflation and house prices. House prices more than anything.

I remember my boss back then earning 50k and had a BMW, lotus, fireblade and a nice cottage in the countryside.

That aside, is it generally better, worse or about the same?
Click to expand...
Why would you think 60k 20 years ago would give you a similar lifestyle as 60k today? A 60k job 20 years ago does not pay 60k today.
 
EvilRob said:
Why would you think 60k 20 years ago would give you a similar lifestyle as 60k today? A 60k job 20 years ago does not pay 60k today.
Click to expand...
No a £60k job 20yrs ago pays £80/85k average but everything else has increased dramatically beyond that wage rise, especially housing which is around 5x to 10x depending on location. Cars are another where costs are over double what they were for same models 20yr ago.

That all means monthly you are significantly worse off than you was 20yr ago. And that is the point trying to get across. You are younger and have targets in mind but you generally need to also then consider the different costs of living and your target should be much higher.

The job I started on 18yr ago paid £18k after coming out of school and getting a years experience so by time 16. Now that same.job pays £19-20k ish for that person. 18yrs ans almost zero change in salary.
 
Curlyriff said:
No a £60k job 20yrs ago pays £80/85k average but everything else has increased dramatically beyond that wage rise, especially housing which is around 5x to 10x depending on location. Cars are another where costs are over double what they were for same models 20yr ago.

That all means monthly you are significantly worse off than you was 20yr ago. And that is the point trying to get across. You are younger and have targets in mind but you generally need to also then consider the different costs of living and your target should be much higher.

The job I started on 18yr ago paid £18k after coming out of school and getting a years experience so by time 16. Now that same.job pays £19-20k ish for that person. 18yrs ans almost zero change in salary.
Click to expand...
This is quite a good calculator to convert the value of money https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator

18k 18 years ago is 30k today. 60k 20 years ago is 101k today. However of course the amount of tax being paid goes up a lot so reality is that 101k needs to be 120k to get the same after tax.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom