What would you call an average wage?

Absolutely. The issue is when you have faulty pets like me where the insurance won't pay out due to annoying reasons, so we worked out recently that accross 3 pets all getting towards their later years, for special food/medication/insurance to cover the odd unexpected thing, we're at around £600 a month.

Once they die i'm on easy street!
 
Martynt74 said:
Absolutely. The issue is when you have faulty pets like me where the insurance won't pay out due to annoying reasons, so we worked out recently that accross 3 pets all getting towards their later years, for special food/medication/insurance to cover the odd unexpected thing, we're at around £600 a month.

Once they die i'm on easy street!
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Haha, I feel ya, 3 cats, insurance + food alone is just over £300 a month.
 
PermaChanged said:
Because of how expensive it is to live a lifestyle we'd like, renovate a house and bring up a child simultaneously, my partner and I have decided to hold off on children.

I do find it hard to empathise when people with kids complain about how hard life is financially or show any jealousy to the more material things we may have when they've put themselves in that situation.

We're both selling our homes owned independently to buy somewhere together, and that home will be ready for kids within the next 2 years we hope. Living in Guernsey it is nigh on impossible to have your cake and eat it, and do it all at once, we're both earning good money but housing and general cost of living here mean it's all relative - the 3 bed bungalow which we've had our offer accepted on is mindbogglingly expensive.

Edit:



Ahh, so that's what I am - a DINK!
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It is hard to balance. We had our first child at 21 and our second at 33 so have done it half and half. Also got one of each which is lucky.
 
krooton said:
We're a DINK household that apparently is in the top 5% of earners, yet we are by no means well off, kinda crazy that 95% of people are plodding along with even less.
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5th percentile for earnings is £78k, as of 2018-19. If you're both on that then you're pretty well off, tbh. Especially with no kids.
 
I'm on a decent wage but ultimately I will only take what is left in the company profits after ensuring everyone and everything is paid for. It's taken me about 5 + years to come to terms with imposter syndrome / guilt and dealing with the enormity of running a small business and being responsible for people's livelihoods etc. I also was on about 21k up until 25ish.

The stress is huge at points, (sleepless nights, especially after the past 14 months) but I think I'm one of those that has to have a certain level of stress to keep me motivated, after a while the "salary" becomes something that's in the background as it's more about keeping things moving, keeping your colleagues and clients happy on a day to day basis. I knew I had more than enough the moment I stopped checking my bank balance when buying things, I am however still very considered with the things I do buy. My wage covers both me and my wife (she's PT for health reasons) mortgage fully paid and no kids at 37 but we are looking for a larger house purchase later this year which will have me closely counting beans again.

To answer the original question, I'd say £24-29k feels about average where I am (Shropshire).
 
413x said:
People tend to live to their means. More cash. Bigger mortgage. I definitely agree on kids I absolutely would not feel comfortable with kids.
But 95k does sound a lot.

Our household is 69 with no kids (sounds a lot now) but with an 800 ppm mortgage it takes a chunk out.

Cost of living is disgusting. We have a decent 3 bed house but a mortgage of 215 ish left.
Bought in 2020 Feb this is now worth 300. If you were mortgaging with 85 ltv you'd be looking at 255 (another 30k of debt) vs a year ago.
It's a disgrace!

Roll on student debt ending this year!
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Completely agree that you end up living to your means. Mortgage on a £610k house eats up a decent chunk plus doing thing with the kids every weekend etc. Soon adds up!
 
Our household income isn't huge at around £40,000 a year after tax. Our total outgoings for mortgage, bills, food, cars etc are about £1900 a month. We then have about £250 a month each for luxuries such as days out , meals out etc and then we save £1000 a month. I think its all down to where you live really. When i look at the prices of houses down south I just don't understand how anyone can afford them.
 
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Don't they take into account a big jump in interest rate when they calculate how much they will lend you?
Unless we are talking about a double digit interest rate! yikes.
I keep on telling my Mrs we are better off with a smaller mortgage when we move rather then maxing what we can get, exactly for this reason. Interest rate will go up right? Just a matter of time.

I think the Government should work out average wage regionally. As all benefits are based around the average wage it acts as a deterrent for people in the less well off areas where cost of living might be a lot lower to actually actively get themselves out of the dole.
 
neocon said:
Imagine if interests rates went up now, people would be fudged.
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Only if you aren't on a fixed deal and it depends on how much they went up by. They have went up and down over the past few years but more times down than up and only by small amounts.

I've just fixed for 5 years and I'm at 40% LTV so I'd be fine. My mortgage is now pennies as I just doubled the term from 16 years to 32 as rates were so low so I can take the money I'd normally use to pay the mortgage and invest it.

I made 16% on SOLGOLD the other day which was a great win. Better than the 1.25% or so I'd get for overpaying the mortgage.
 
I think the most important thing is to keep spending under control, this can give you the biggest pay rise. Too many people get caught up trying to buy expensive cars and bigger houses, they are then readjusted to this new normal. Lifestyle creep is real.
 
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Percentile point/income for reference:

Total income before tax 2018-19

1 12,100
2 12,300
3 12,600
4 12,800
5 13,100
6 13,300
7 13,500
8 13,800
9 14,000
10 14,200
11 14,500
12 14,700
13 15,000
14 15,200
15 15,400
16 15,700
17 15,900
18 16,100
19 16,400
20 16,600
21 16,800
22 17,100
23 17,300
24 17,600
25 17,800
26 18,000
27 18,300
28 18,500
29 18,800
30 19,000
31 19,300
32 19,500
33 19,800
34 20,100
35 20,300
36 20,600
37 20,900
38 21,200
39 21,500
40 21,800
41 22,100
42 22,400
43 22,700
44 23,000
45 23,300
46 23,700
47 24,000
48 24,300
49 24,700
50 25,000
51 25,400
52 25,700
53 26,100
54 26,500
55 26,900
56 27,300
57 27,700
58 28,100
59 28,600
60 29,000
61 29,500
62 29,900
63 30,400
64 30,900
65 31,400
66 32,000
67 32,500
68 33,100
69 33,700
70 34,300
71 35,000
72 35,600
73 36,300
74 37,000
75 37,800
76 38,500
77 39,400
78 40,200
79 41,100
80 42,000
81 43,000
82 44,100
83 45,200
84 46,200
85 47,200
86 48,600
87 50,100
88 51,800
89 53,800
90 56,200
91 59,100
92 62,400
93 66,600
94 71,800
95 78,500
96 87,700
97 99,600
98 121,000
99 175,000

Badges at reception desk.
 
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