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A good wage

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'm still living at home at doing fine on £11,800/year. it works out at £780/month take home pay after tax. i am looking forward to getting £17,200/year come October though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As for being in the army, some parts have the food charge, some pay as you dine.

    I currently pay around £4.07 ish a day for 3 meals, it works out about £125 a month ish. However if im on leave, on exercise or deployed, then I dont pay for it. It gets deducted monthly.

    Now every now and again I get a little bored with the occasional (but not that often) repetition of food in my mess. So I go get a sandwich for lunch or something, but there is a lot of variation and it doesnt happen much. For that amount a month I do get 3 meals a day every day. Meaning I could spend/save all my wages and not have to starve at any point.

    My accomodation is £50 a month, which gets me not a massive room, but its ok as I have it to myself, and its ensuite with a toilet and a shower.

    As for the GhostGirl comments....................
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kaff wrote: »
    Possibly, but my definition of a good wage affords you unnecessary luxuries.

    If the question was 'what kind of wage do you need to live on', it'd be a hell of a lot less than £40k! My maternity pay works out somewhere in the region of £6k a year, and as part of a couple, it's easy enough to live on, as long as I budget strictly.



    Without a car, it'd take me 3 hours to get to work, and 6 hours to get home. It's only 10 miles away, but the public transport links don't link in the right places! If you live in a rural or semi-rural location, I think a car is a necessity.

    Oh yea definitely a good wage should afford luxuries. I don't know what I was thinking posting that, I think I got sidetracked by another thread or something and was just pointing out what you /need/ to live which isn't necessarily eating out and a car (obviously in many places you need a car, but it isn't a given for everyone).

    But to live well you need a fair bit more. I think in a couple it is different, but I wouldn't say for a lot of people a household income of £20-£30k is 'good', it's certainly adequate. But for paying off the mortgage and the holidays? My household income when I was growing up was about 1.5x-2x that and we weren't rich by any means. That was both parents working.

    For someone living on their own they're going to want to be hitting that 30-40k at some point in their career to be able to relax and holiday, mortgage, and all that. In today's market conditions a salary of 40k would get you a mortgage on a house worth 120-160k? There's not a lot floating around for that kind of money really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My mums income was around the £25K mark (probably less to be honest) and I never went without holidays and her mortgage is completely paid off, i dont think its necessarily always the amount, but more what you do with it
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    have i missed something? are you and mrG a couple??? :chin:

    erm, no. he lives no where near me and i didnt realise he had a baby?

    im in a happy relationship with someone who isnt online thanks.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    haha, theres no need to get offended! i only asked a question!

    its because you quoted thunderstruck's comment about mr g being a squaddie and then went "as a couple, our income is..." soooooo you know, i put two and two together and obviously got five :p and anyway, mr g didn't exactly deny it, look above! :lol:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Touched a raw nerve methinks...

    The concept of buying really, really scares me, even though I am in the top tax bracket. Round my hood, you can quite easily part with £300k for a single bed flat. It boggles the mind.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    haha, theres no need to get offended! i only asked a question!

    its because you quoted thunderstruck's comment about mr g being a squaddie and then went "as a couple, our income is..." soooooo you know, i put two and two together and obviously got five :p and anyway, mr g didn't exactly deny it, look above! :lol:

    I would have thought it obvious that she's far too good a lady for me anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Touched a raw nerve methinks...

    no raw nerve, i just wouldnt want people to think im with him when im so not. im happily engaged with a child whos soon to be one. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No need to sound so repulsed... I'd definitely do G.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No need to sound so repulsed... I'd definitely do G.

    lmao, im just stating im in a happy relationship! I'm sure he'd be quite happy to know you'd do him!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Rent and travel is a bit of a bitch in London, but as I said, if you're disciplined, you really can make good savings every month, and it does all add up.

    Of course we'd all like to spend more on cool stuff - for instance, there's a sale at my favourite shirtmakers with my name on it: www.newandlingwood.co.uk, but I know that if I want to splurge, I'm going to have to wait a month or so, save up the cash and then do it, rather than just bleed my account dry every month.

    I know I sound like an advert, but saving has never been so important - we're all expected to live longer and the state pension is simply not enough given that there will be so many more people drawing it. Everyone needs to plan for the future.

    Ahhh, ive always wanted to walk into New & Lingwood and spend loads of money... :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    depends on what you mean a good wage....

    for having enough to not worry about most kinds of one off bills my wage (19k) would be fine generally anywhere apart from central and inner london, where rents for anything that don't make you want to hang yourself cost over £170/week before any bills and council tax leaving very little so if you have a minor emergency or have to move on the fly you're screwed (for deposits and the like)

    for living comfortably (bills covered, occasional holidays, socialising comfortably) anything over 30k a year is fine really if you live within your means, apart from buying a house of course, but they're stupidly overvalued still anyway, by about 20-30% according to calculated estimates...

    if anyone thinks that having regular bills over 1-1.5k is normal, they're not dealing with their utilities efficiently i'd say
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    One third of your income on rent, living expenses, essential travel etc.
    One third of your income on food, clothing, entertainment
    One third of your income into savings

    It's not easy, but if you're disciplined, you can make it work. Given the huge demographic shifts in this country, savings have never been more important.

    that's the aim, apart from you're stuck on minumum wage, where rent/travel/bills/food will empty pockets quickly

    i earn 1.2k pcm after tax/pension/studentloan atm, £400 is going on the mortgage, travelcard is ~£150, gas/electricity is ~£100(2 bed house), mobile is £60(me and mum), leaving me just £400 for odd sods/entertainment/saving and my mum pays the rest since she's unemployed on state pension atm
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    sepumseeme wrote: »
    Ahhh, ive always wanted to walk into New & Lingwood and spend loads of money... :yes:

    Their shop on Jermyn St is like a wonderful time warp. Hand-written receipts, people bowing and calling you Sir. Love it.
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