The 5 year plan to £50k

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skaif said:
I find that no matter how much you earn there will be things that sap it all away. Whether its bills, wife, kids, house, loans, cars, computer equipment (damn you OcUK) etc. I started on £21k 5 years ago and am now on £40k...still feel like I don't have enough!

£50k nowadays is still a good target but I'm sure I read somewhere that £75k was the best balance of income vs expenditure for a high standard of living and happiness.
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Admittedly without kids but £50k (especially if it's one persons, not household salary) is a perfectly reasonable amount to have a good life. Even with plenty of luxuries and good holidays you can still save plenty. Obviously if you're buying tat every week, and "need" a brand new BMW every year then it's not going to go far, but if you're sensible it's plenty.

That said more would be nice, as always, but I'm certainly not a money over happiness kind of person.
 
nas said:
chances are that many are in circumstances that don't, so I'd say this suggestion doesn't carry much weight.



What may have worked for you, may not work for everyone else either. Pretty biased.
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By and large those circumstances are of your own making. Much of it is just the unwillingness to take the leap.

Yes, it would upset your kids for a little (perhaps), but only short term. Yes, it may be difficult for your spouse to find work (my situation - although oil price is the kicker at the moment). Yes, it may be difficult to leave family and friends. Yes it's a big leap into the unknown - but then most countries brits emigrate to are, in reality, little different day to day than the UK.

In reality those circumstances you speak of can be boiled down into just a few - unwillingness to take the leap (for whatever reason), the lack of opportunity (just can't find a job that will transfer you, or don't have the prerequisite requirements and can't physically be got), or a criminal record.

EDIT: And for most people it's going to be option A - "unwillingness to take the leap". People will just keep putting obstacles in their own way to justify it.
 
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Another forum thread where people who chose one route believe it to be the right route for everyone or the way to guarantee success to a greater extent. There is no guaranteed route inside the UK or out and frankly the opportunity to work abroad for many is limited and hard. I work for a global business, I can work anywhere I wish and spend a lot of time travelling to globe on business. I could within 6 months relocate to the US, Australia, South America, Ireland, Africa and most of Europe etc. It would not improve my earning level but it's my choice and I would determine it on what is important to me.

Working abroad is not for everyone. I know several people who went and came back. Sure they had lovely sun, big houses, pools and all that, but you know what, they realised that the grass isn't always greener. All I would say is never let anyone convince you that you can't do something. The rest is up to you but sometimes you have to accept what you are cut out for, we all do.
 
Housey said:
Another forum thread where people who chose one route believe it to be the right route for everyone or the way to guarantee success to a greater extent. There is no guaranteed route inside the UK or out and frankly the opportunity to work abroad for many is limited and hard.
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Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone said it was 'for everyone' or that there was a 'guaranteed route'. What was said that it is for some people a great and achievable option, and a great career enabler that also broadens your horizons. However, it does, as many have said, require a certain mindset.
 
And that it is achievable for a lot more people than they think, if they can get over the hurdle of walking into the abyss.

There are too many people that insist they would love to work/live abroad, but "can't", where in fact the "can't" is their own mindset, rather than anything really tangible.
 
Well, one of the sales consultants at our place made £32k in commission for August, and 90% of them are complete idiots that can't operate laptops or follow simple technical instructions, however, they can talk **** and have no moral compass selling people things they don't really need.

Anything is possible!
 
First time I look at the forum for a couple weeks, and this thread is back on top ;)

Richdog said:
If I was Fox I would just have this thread closed... no idea why he has left it open as it's just a little embarassing for him.
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Actually, this thread has had some very interesting replies, and didn't immediately devolve into a keyboard swinging contest. So, by my standards, it's a huge success. Almost every single thing I've ever posted here is cringe-worthy. But thankfully I have no reputation to protect, so no harm done :p

Nitefly said:
If you go back in the thread - he said he had saved £40k!! Iirc.
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This is true. But it's not enough to move out, still. 40k really does buy you jack and chit these days.

sHo0sH said:
If you can learn a coding language such as javascript, python, etc this is a feasible plan.

I work in recruitment and have placed developers with no more than personal training, and 4 - 5 years experience in a permanent job into roles paying £350-450/day which is more than double that 50k target. You would however need to put a lot of effort into being good at it, and also pick the right companies to work for, but 50k in 5 years is pretty easy to attain in contract software development, or even contract IT work in general.
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I have dabbled over many years with a few languages. Javascript, Pascal, C, Haskel, Prolog... even assembler, and a bit of reverse engineering for good measure. My current job involves a lot of PowerShell scripting (but that's not programming ;))

I've never applied for a developer job, tho. Strangely enough it was my goal as a teenager to become a developer. But I only dabble, and my code is very likely gosh darn awful.

I'm sure I'd be waaaaay out of my depth if I tried to apply for a dev job. It'd be awful to get a great job like that and then quickly get fired for being crap. And it's that fear that stops me applying... And if you don't try you can never succeed. Yes, I know. But there's motivational talk and there's reality. Sometimes you've heard all the motivations McGuffins and you just can't shake the feeling that you'd be wasting your time to go for it.

Tunney said:
The kicker is that he voted Tory and for the austerity measures that killed his job.
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Where did this come from? If that was about me, well, I've never even voted. For anything or anyone. I actually quite like Corbyn, but probably not enough to vote for Labour ;)
 
Tosno said:
Ah the financial implications, £500 sure start grant, breast milk is free, that's baby fed for 2 years with no cost, weekly food vouchers, child benefits, child tax credits, Seems like a shrewd business move for the plebs you have disdain for :o
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Just quickly mate, the world health organisation suggests weaning a child from six months and predominantly this time is based on protecting children in africa who if their not getting bitty are going to be eating very dirty water and food. Probably can start weaning at four months if child is receptive. By 1.5 years I'd assume most calories come from food. I'd personally still be milking the titties, but I wouldn't think it would be the sole or majority source of calories for the kid.

If anyone wants to see how you really get the big bucks:
NHS doctors pay circular, if you lived in an alternate world and only worked a 40 hour rota you'd never hit >50k till consultancy (i.e 15 years post med school)

http://www.nhsemployers.org/~/media... and Conditions Circular MD 2201625072016.pdf
 
40k is more than enough to get a house though. Mortgage rates are crazy low.

What's the worst that could happen by moving out? You could have all your own space. A sense of independence that might actually inspire change. Then if for some reason you fail to somehow support yourself you can just sell the house and move back to your Mother's.

All you could lose is a bit money in solicitors/agency fees.

The issue here is some underlying issue with social skills away from the keyboard.
 
Now that OP is presumably reading the thread again, well done for saving that dosh!!!!

For what it's worth, I earn what I consider to be quite a lot of money and it would take me forever to save £40k because of my lifestyle - which is expensive out of choice and habits.

So you can be diligent and successful in different ways... and saving up £40k on your aforementioned salary is an achievement in itself, I think.
 
ov_sjo said:
It's probably a lot easier to get to 50k these days compared to when I started out (96)..

My path is below.. it took a while of crap jobs to get there, but had a lucky break in 2000 with a large tech firm.. bear in mind this is London though..
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My route went like this, salaries stated are what I ended the role on. All figures are quoted in pounds using exchange rates valid at the time:

Starting in approx 2006...

  • 1.5 years - Local IT support for professional services company - £21'500

Had offer to move abroad, did a short secondment before being made permanent

  • 2 years - Local IT support for professional services company - £45'000
  • 3.5 years - IT risk for professional services company - £60'000
  • 1 year - Internal IT risk for a large financial services company - £110'000

That's what moving abroad can do a for a career. And all without a degree. And importantly, a VERY fair work-life balance.

You just have to be willing to take a leap of faith (in yourself) into the unknown.
 
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Doing a stint abroad is definitely worthwhile. I've done it and it was a great confidence builder and looks good on the CV. I'd not move abroad permanently though as it doesn't suit me personally.

As for earnings, I find there's a tipping point where you can boost your earnings significantly but you have to weigh up the impact it will have on your work/life balance. I know I could probably do better money-wise but my free time, hobbies and family are important to me and I'd rather not end up on my deathbed wishing I'd worked much less.
 
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