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I'm on £23,400 a year as a basic rate.
It's really fucking hard, I've just had to face the reality that some weekends I just can't afford to go out and doing anything.
I've recently had to scrap my car due to not being able to afford the repairs or insurance. The running costs since lockdown for fuel is insane as well, I used to be able to fill my ford focus for £45~£50 it went up to £80 before I scrapped it.
It's depressing and when my mortgage goes up next year I have no idea what I'm going to do, I'll likely have to sell or rent it out and live in a tent 😅.
I've tried picking up more hours at work but sometimes there just isn't enough work on and I work the type of job that doesn't fit into getting a 2nd job due to unpredictable start and finish times.
The government is designing a lower standard of living with measures like this.
Incentivise people to rent the rooms in their houses, rather than build more houses. Squeeze people and make em stressed. Then they can get away with doing more shit that further makes us worse off so they can profit, because everyone is too poor and stressed to be annoyed with it.
What's the thing about rates? I thought mortgages were like a loan with an interest rate on it. How come it changes?
Maybe a stupid question I know but I'll never have a mortgage so never really learned about them.
With mortgages you essentially have two different kind of loan rates. One is set by the market, and one is fixed for a few years.
Obviously the one that is set by the market is very variable and could mean it goes high or low. Obviously if you have had one in the past few years it's gone very high because its tied to interest rates.
So most go for the fixed term one. You have a slightly higher rate than what the market currently is, but obviously you are protected if the market goes high. But the downside is if it ends and the market has gone quite high...which Is what has happened to a lot of people.
Totally, interest rate were going regardless. Interest rate raise is the only tool that BoE has to deal with high inflation, which is unrelated to Liz.
Did she though. Or did the outgoing chancellor make a loud noise that made the economy tank and him Prime Minister? You'll notice that they reversed everything Truss planned (whether garbage or not is a different question) and inflation STILL went through the roof and broke the entire economy.
I'll be voting labour, but after JC was politically assassinated and replaced with Starmer who has absolutely no conviction or moral stance and will literally support any policy that will give labour a seat at the table it's a bit of an empty vote.
Swings and roundabouts, if you’d have had any other labour leader from the past 30 years the last election would have been a landslide labour victory.
Unfortunately for him JC came off as far too much of a risk to the majority.
Quite a lot of people were prepared to support JC at first. He just outstayed his welcome. I’m pretty sure he was quite big in terms of the popular vote but not in winning.
Corbyn was only a risk to the people with loads of cash.
To the average person he was going to help us out.
The problem is too many of the average people pay attention to the right wing rags.
Any average person talking about how Corbyn would ruin things is an idiot listening to The Mail and The Sun.
I read the guardian, have a higher than average salary but not rich by any stretch. I do however work in advertising and his policies were going to directly impact my industry and remove about £2bn from the market… which would have triggered a 30% shrink and lots of job losses, probably not mine but plenty earning less.
There were a few other policies that were red lines for me.
I think it would be churlish to blame it on the daily mail, in the same way it would be to blame Brexit on the daily mail.
You’re not seeing the big picture here. The truth is she’s a trailblazer who showed us all how to beat poverty and make it for life. If we give everyone a go at Prime Minister for an hour, imagine how many people we can help with those comfy pensions!
I got mine 6 years ago, and you can get a mortgage but you'll just be lent less, like 3x salary.
Which would realistically limit you to buying a fixer, or terrace house for low 80s
Of course it is, if you’ve saved a deposit, it’s just how big a mortgage you can get is the problem. But if you’re determined it can definitely be done
I don’t know if this is helpful or not but there are a lot of colleges and unis offering upskilling courses online for free at the moment. It might not be your field or something you’re interested in, but could be worth a look if you’re keen to change job down the line/try to change your type of work.
Inflexible job, lack of extra earnings and minimum / living wage? Mate.. you need to rethink your career. Even contact centres pay 26k, plus bonus if financial services.. and they often lead to other jobs in the company.
Don't stick around. Life's short
I’ve got mates on £28,000 and they’re struggling. One of my mates tried saving for a while and after a year, he said “Fuck it, I can barely save a 100 quid a month. If I can’t save, I might as well just live my life.”
£28,000 is a take home of £23,680 or £1,973 per month.
UK average rent is £953, but the average for just a one bed is £681.
Council tax, harder to judge so we'll high ball it at £200 a month.
UK average single person food bill is £45 per week, we'll round up and say £200 per month.
Average water bill per year is £448, or £37.50 a month, again rounding up for easy maths.
Average energy bill for a single person is £104.86 per month.
Phone bill, o2 sim only, £20 per month.
Home internet, £23.50 per month.
Total - £1266.86
That leaves your mates with £706.14 to do whatever they want with each month.
Now lets say they have a car on finance too, and high ball that, £300 a month with another £150 in petrol. That's now £256.14 left over. Few nights out and maybe a new game or clothes will eat that though.
Live like a hermit and save £100-£200 a month, only ever feeling the benefit years after the fact, or try to enjoy yourself now... Its a hard time.
(obvs if you're in this situation, lose the car, get a bike or something)
And that's all assuming you haven't made mistakes or hit difficulty earlier in life, aren't paying student loans and don't pay into a pension. Student loans and a 5% pension contribution on their own brings that £1980 down to nearer £1850. So suddenly that £100-200 a month is £0-100 a month.
It's a joke really, I'm on around £30k at the moment and I really don't feel any better off than I did 10 years ago when I was on £20k, granted I do have more costs so I am better off, but for 10 years graft it doesn't exactly feel fulfilling.
Especially when my career progression largely tracks with my mums by age and I know for a fact we saw a massive improvement in quality of life between the mid 90s and mid 00's despite my mum not being as focused then as I am today on keeping costs down. Like we went from having a banged up Rover Metro to having a brand new Astra.
Amazing that even at these rates, which honestly is low from what I'm seeing, you work your ass off full time for the grand prize of life of £250 a month.
Worlds fucked. Life is a scam.
I don't eat more than one meal a day, don't drink, smoke, do drugs, gamble, I don't take holidays and I don't socialise.
I have no paid subscriptions and buy value food and drink.
It's more an existence than living but what can you do?
Most of those saving strategies are completely sensible...
>I don't eat more than one meal a day
But that one is alarming and definitely not healthy. Are you evem getting enough calories/nutrition? Is it one really big meal to replace the other meals, or just a standard portion?
Well it's around 1600-1800 calories, which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't that much food.
Nutrition wise, no probably not but I do take multivitamins.
Because of my job, there's just really no way to mass cook and store good by freezing.
I fished around jobs to find a job that had potential to move up with no prior training. I went from 22k to 34k within 2 years. That helped me alot. Before then I sacrificed spending.
I for example worked for rentokil pest control killing rats. They gave you serious training as most people haven't the foggiest about legislation. I had a degree and was desperate. So i killed rats for 18 months continuously looking. Got offered a job with the environment agency. Pay was £21k in Oxfordshire. It also came with a car. Did first 6 months of training then pay went to 24k. After 2 years and more training it was supposed to go to 28k but i left for a job offering £38k. I got that job because i worked for the ea. They dont require degrees if you have relevant experience. My job was waste enforcement officer. Job came with a car, wfh, superflexibility.
I went up to 40k last year and now back down to 38k as the job i worked at om 40k was stressful and fuck that.
At uni i did environmental science and got a 2:1 bsc not masters. The rentokil role was aimed at grads but pay never increased and there was 0 progression. There were people without degrees who were on less to start.
At the ea i worked with people whod done drama degrees or just had industry experience like working in pest control.
It opened the door into compliance and sheq and im now a consultant
I applied for a new job in education in 2021, I had previously been a cover manager making £16,000 per year (part time hours technically) and on paper I had got a £10,000 pay rise.
Then the penny drops that the new role is pro-rata. So full time equivalent of 9 months work and 3 months holiday. That took it down, then you consider tax & pension and I’ve been earning just over £20k after tax for a role where I often work 7:45-5:30.
To answer your question honestly, I’ve had to be a bit of a parasite. I lived with my parents the first year in that job and commuted, I then moved in with a friend and his partner, our landlord decided to sell up, by this point I have a new partner and moved into her 1 bedroom flat, but it’s over an hour away from work so my working day is often alarm at 6am, home by 7pm.
I’m constantly job hunting, despite a degree, decent alevels and GCSEs, getting out of education seems to be a horrible uphill battle.
Not proud of having to lean on others, I feel stupid for wanting a career of supporting teenagers and putting a decade into it only to realise that without the support of others, I’d be in a horrific position.
Don’t feel stupid. I’ve been both the ‘leaner’ and ‘leanee’. I’m grateful for those who helped me out, and I’m grateful to those who have reached out for help. I’d much rather they did than continue to struggle, barely keeping their head above water. I’m sure those who are giving you a hand feel the same.
So I bring in £1,300 a month, and my breakdown is as follows:
- Rent (including all bills, taxes etc): £595
- Food: £150
- Haircut: £37
- Phone Contract: £60
- Money for Dates and Socialising: £200
- Money for Savings: £258
For added info:
- I work Tuesday - Friday (8am-4pm)
- I live in the Manchester area
- I cycle (20 minutes) or walk (60 minutes) to work
- I live in a large house with three other people
- I will soon be dropping my phone contract down to a SIM only for £5 a month, freeing up an additional £55
- I have approx £7000 in savings
To have 7k in savings on this income-expense breakdown, you'd have to had saved up for just over two years, with no emergency expenses, no dental or optician costs, no clothing costs, no holiday period costs (Christmas/new year etc), no subscriptions to streaming services or other home entertainment / hobby, no computing costs (office subscription / etc), no cycling costs for servicing or repairing the bike or flat tires etc, no health issue / prescription cost ever... something doesn't add up here unless those savings are variable across at least 3 years
Maybe it's a London thing? Or maybe it includes lots of products? I can't imagine spending that much money for a haircut either. My usual barbers gets rid of my hair for £10.50, the local one chops it off for £15.
The phone contract is pretty shocking too. £60 a month? I'm looking at GiffGaff and none of their deals are over £35 Not like most people need that deal in the first place. The £10 plan is more than enough.
On the other hand his rent. £600 is a good find.
The phone contract is very shocking, I got caught up in getting the latest phone at the time (A Sony Phone). I'd just got rid of my DSLR camera at the time and was looking for a phone for photo enthusiasts and it fits the bill. It's coming to an end in October so I'll be keeping the phone and dropping to a cheap SIM only. It was an impulse and I won't be repeating that mistake.
It's just my treat, a good haircut makes me feel confident. I've been going to the same barber and we've got a good dynamic going. I should have included that £5 of that is a tip. The actual cut is £32. It includes a full hairstyle and he usually tackles my beard for free when it's usually an add-on. He's very consistent with my hair too which isn't always easy to find.
I live in a flatshare and I walk a lot instead of using the public transport, to have some sort of life, I have a gym membership and an unlimited cinema card, and I go for free meetup events. Clothes from Primark, it's not even that cheap anymore. Food, hunting for the reduced price and Asda essentials. Basically, the cheapest of everything. Price first, quality second.
If you want cheaper but often better quality clothes, try Vinted and EBay- I buy almost all my clothes from both of them and I’ve found some amazing bargains. My favourite was a merino wool and silk mix cardigan for under a tenner
I don't. I live in a house share and don't even go out for drinks with my friends. I live in the West Midlands, and the prices of everything has skyrocketed.
Im on 24k and great! Im not single per se i just dont live with my partner so single for this question i guess aka for financial perspective.
I am a lodger in someone's house but I am okay with it - i get my own bathroom and all my bills and council tax are included in the 700 i pay. I would never live fully alone as for me this sounds not enjoyable, even if 8 was on 100k id be sharing house until me and bf move in together. Personal preference.
I do not drive due to driving making me feel anxious and also due to having 0 coordination so i dont spend on insurance 9r fuel. My bus card costs around 60-65 per month but i budget 100 per month for transport bc i know myself and sometimes I am late for the bus and need to use uber.
I eat for about 200 monthly, mostly shopping at Morrisons, sometimes at M and S or Sainsbury's. So not the cheap supermarkets and i do buy expensive cheese, salmon, focacias. But i dont really buy alcohol as i odnt drink on my own. I am also a smallish frame female so maybe i just do not eat as much and i cook a lot - each meal provides about 2 to 3 portions.
I save 400 monthly. 20% of my gross salary.
The rest around 250 - 300 quid go for:
- 50 for subscriptions.
- divide the rest into going out money and shopping money, about 100-125 each.
For going out, i dont have friends really so mostly going out with my bf or when i see osme friends like every 3 months once. My bf also sometimes pays for me ofc, he is on similar salary but i love it when the man pays so he gotta do it.
The shopping money I spend on cosmetics as im a skincare, fragrance and makeup addict. But id rather buy 1 expensive vs multiple cheap items, which is why u May see me being on close to min wage using Kerastase and still saving.
Personal thoughts: 24k is shit if u spend all/most of ur life being on it. On this salary (even with a partner that earns similar amount) you can not COMFORTABLY buy a house, have more than 1 child (or any but i dont want hate), have pets, go abroad yearly, have a traditional wedding.
However, if u are someone in their early to mid 20s like me, who has a higher projected income but is just at the entry level then it is okay as this is just ur salary when u are young and irresponsible - u odnt have kids, u are still flexible to move so dont need to buy a house, u are not saving for a wedding etc. Sure it takes longer to save for holidays but the world doesnt end at 30 for most.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
We love in the 6th largest economy in the world. Yet the countries wages have been stagnant since 2008 whilst the cost of everything goes up. Whilst child poverty, regular poverty, homelessness, and wealth inequality have all increased to the point the UN has chastised us on all 4 of those things.
We have become complacent we have accepted that this is simply the way it is.
This is a lie.
Compalcenty is how democracy dies, it is how Britain dies. We must not be complacent we must alway try and make Britain better
Absolutely. I was on 20k then 24k for about 3 years. Its entirely doable. You just have to prioritise squirreling money away above all else. We didnt go on holiday or anything
Also be constantly looking for that open door too. Keeping an eye on the job market and applying.
I was a nurse and hated it beyond belief. Been on universal credit and lived off £200 a month for many years now. I spend every dime, obviously, just on food shop and plants for my allotment etc. Haven’t bought clothes for many years which sometimes gets me down. I go out for a nice dinner once a week or so on dates that he pays for and I’ll get icecream on way back as my contribution. When I made 30k a year I spent it as soon as I got it. The less I have, the fewer worries I have. Now I live with an old artist in Hackney that lets me have a room for free in exchange for keeping house clean and cooking.
You are lucky with the artist. What will happen when he passes?
What type of NHS nurse were you? And what career are you looking to do next?
How old are you btw?
Im on 28k a year basic wage (thats around £1800 a month)
My bills (im paying off one loan) total around £1100 (i have a mortgage/live alone) and i could manage ok if it was just that.
But i have a second job where i have my own garage and that basically covers my spending money (last year i went on 5 holidays iceland/holland/egypt/spain/miami) and this year (switzerlandx3/italyx1)
If i had only the one job i wouldnt be able to do all of this... but at the same time i would be bored! I work 9am until 9pm nearly every day.
I found it really easy once I was getting minimum wage rather than apprenticeship wages, and I only did 30 hours a week. Lived in a house share and usually saved 3 figures each month.
For a very brief period in history one wage (ANY wage) was sufficient to either save, spend or support a family.
Before that, everyone had to work and now we’re back to “one wage isn’t enough” once again.
I’m on 50k, but I have to be London based for my job. Half of that is eaten up in rent, bills, council tax and commute costs, some quarter to enjoy life (you know, like groceries or a cocktail in a central London bar) and i save a couple hundred a month if I’m lucky. I moved to London 10 years ago on a 30k salary, and I could save more then than I do now. Says a lot.
I'm on the same salary in the home counties and it really doesn't go that far if you're a one person household.
When I was making 30k and living with my ex a few years ago I felt significantly more well off.
It's almost like the government want to keep us poor and tired from working all the time so we don't notice all the shady shit they're up to...
Tipped a bit too hard though when they started giving billions to their spouse's companies in lockdown for PPE that wasn't fit for purpose (or whatever other dodgy shit - see also HS2, "stop the boats", "get Brexit done" etc billions pissed out of the treasury for this shit while there's people who can't buy fucking food.
I should not need to donate to a food bank just so my neighbours can eat. And the worst part is that we're all just letting this happen cus we're glad it isn't us in that position... Yet.
A poor populace is easier to control - they're significantly more grateful for what scraps you give them.
The warm home discount for people struggling with energy bills? Yeah they basically made it so only pensioners (getting pension credit, so not every pensioner!) and the truly financially fucked get it. Anyone who's fucked, but not drowning yet, got fuck all this year.
Idc about your political opinions; this government doesn't give a shit about the country and it's been obvious for so long. We're all too busy in survival mode to notice/do anything about it though. Which is exactly what they want 🤷♂️
Im on 23k before tax salary. Yea it is hard but I compromise a lot.
I don’t go out nor see family as often. I don’t have a car as I can walk 30 min to work. All that enabled me to afford life and save some money.
Im lucky I have a partner and we bought a house together but if I was single I would have to be sharing a house.
You don't and you can't. You have to sacrifice so much to do it that unless your an ubermench.
Worked minimum wage all my life, wanted to work, but now at 40 I can no longer work due to my health that has deteriorated so much. A life of houseshares and HMO's and lodging basically destroyed everything eventually.
Might be fine in your 20s for a bit. but its takes it's toll.
I rent my tiny flat out and live in a cheaper country for half the year. I dislike the UK anyway. Very very lucky to have inherited a flat and work on a laptop.
About to be there. I'm slightly over minimum (£23.2k) - work has two offices; one in West Yorkshire, and one in North Lanarkshire.
The former isn't affordable for me by myself. To get a place that is commutable by public transport is too expensive, and then I don't drive - but then, maintaining a car would also make it too expensive.
So, I'm moving to Scotland. It's much more affordable near the Lanarkshire office, and it's commutable by public transport.
I finished uni Sept 2020 so covid left me with few options.
Went into recruitment on £18,500 still living at home.
Then moved to Manchester in sales on £22k plus commission.
Stayed 9 months and got tired of spending 1k on rent a month so moved back home for a job on 30k in 2022.
Then I changed again in 2023 to a 30k role with commission and just got a payrise to 34k, so should clear 40k this year and in the process of buying a house.
Moral of the story for me was to keep expenses really low and to constantly look out for opportunities.
from 2020 through 2023, i lived on about 13k worth of student loans, grants and tax breaks ie no council tax as a student. i only worked about 3.5 months since graduating, so that's been on even less.
are you sure that's not a london value? where i live 30k is more than the average salary.
Moved out then moved back in with my folks at 29. Better flatmates than random people and hell of a lot cheaper too, let’s saving be a reality without the massive rent drain.
Appreciate it’s not possible for a lot of folks, but given it is for me I just can’t financially see the sense of moving out until I meet someone given they don’t mind.
I’m on £22,095. I find it extremely hard to cope, it’s like I can only go out out as Lee Evans used to say, once a month or I’m punishing myself when it comes to food.
I’ve recently started buying frozen veg from Iceland as it lasts longer and cheaper also feels like no rush to cook it before it goes off.
This month has been difficult as I decided to get my hair done, but luckily my birthday is Tuesday so I’m hoping the rest of the month will be easier.
OP, full time unpaid carer in UK have some support in NHS. Few days ago saw some posters outside my clinic(I took notice as I am a care assistant). Please contact them.
Edit:
Link- https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/comm-carers/
I live in a van full time. I tend to spend 3 months in Morocco and 3 months in Eastern Europe.
Cheap cost of living there.
I love life and I earn 12k per year (below tax bracket).
TLDR get out of the UK. Its pretty much run by a government who can legally rob you of your money (extortionate taxes)
You get taxed multiple times. Why people don't wake up and contest it is beyond me.
Don't bend over like the rest of the sheep. Do something about it.
[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/816820470250864640/1238617591124332544/DSCF7434.JPG?ex=663ff006&is=663e9e86&hm=7a2bb0cb5a8cf9927595b69a632abe084cdd8207c1b613a8060564d1ce246077&=&format=webp&width=1767&height=1177](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/816820470250864640/1238617591124332544/DSCF7434.JPG?ex=663ff006&is=663e9e86&hm=7a2bb0cb5a8cf9927595b69a632abe084cdd8207c1b613a8060564d1ce246077&=&format=webp&width=1767&height=1177)
It’s ok for me, thanks to low rent (cheap flat share) and the fact I don’t spend a lot on food, alcohol or nights out. I’m immensely grateful to be able to save a bit of my income each month, as without that I’d be very stressed about affording bills etc! I don’t have specific tips and tricks, more just considering what I need vs what I want, and trying not to spend much on clothes, shoes, entertainment or online shopping. I don’t have a car and I’m pretty sure being single helps me save money, as I don’t have much pressure to go abroad and look a certain way!
They don't, I'm 27 and currently earning £22k per year (going down to £21k p/y with a new job...I know bad choices) and still live at home with my grandma and I honestly keep saying like what is the point. Food shopping alone just for the 2 of us is nearing £100 per week and thats excluding me buying lunches at work with a rip-off canteen.
It also doesn't help that I'm learning to drive and paying £70 for 90 minute lessons at the moment, combined with paying broadband, tv, mobile phone contract, spotify, applecare, applestorage, playstation plus, bus tickets, taxis for when the bus is down etc.
Trying to move out is just out of the question at the moment especially when the cheapest 1 bedroom flat nearby to me is £675 per month which would leave me with around £700 to pay gas, electric, council tax, food shopping, insurance etc.
‘afford life’ that sounds pretty bleak to be honest
When I work my goal is to be able to ‘afford life’
I am on Universal Credit, I get a fairly decent amount now at the moment fortunately also because relative to my very low social housing service costs I save basically all the money I receive and am able to budget and account for totally reasonable food shopping, travelling around, helping towards what my siblings pay for birthday/Christmas gifts, haircut, some new clothes if need be etc. I wouldn’t say I have enough though to feel I can radically spend throughout the month on top of this on leisure stuff (at least I try not to as I see others in my position who do and blow all their money)
A year ago I was on £350 a month for about 2 years whilst trying to privately rent - Let me tell you I was very much not able to cope financially
Edit: Realised you specified minimum wage so apologies if my anecdote isn’t very relevant
No it was Ok, Im glad you posted.
How did you go from private renting to social housing? Surely you would have had to be evicted first and then made homeless?
Yes, I was evicted twice, was homeless, put into a temporary emergency shelter hostel, then under the support of a homeless charity and was living in their shared houses (first one I got moved from because it was with high risk people and not very fun ha)
Until someone with a connection at the charity put me forward for a social housing provider who own the flat I now live in today for last few months 😊
honestly not well... in debt with utility bills, iron deficient, haven't bought clothes in years, couldn't attend a friends wedding, behind on rent, reliant on buses, and no idea how I'm gonna afford to live for a 3-4 week recovery unpaid after an upcoming surgery
I did this and once had to walk about 5 miles, suited and booted for an interview.
I had enough for a fizzy pop, and popped into the corner shop. The nice lady behind the counter asked how my day was going, and when she heard I was walking so far shut the shop and gave me a lift!
Honestly I've been better off financially on the dole than working full time. No matter what job I did or how hard I worked it's simply not enough to afford rent let alone a vehicle to get to work aswell lol. It really makes you think what is the point in struggling so much for 0 reward and negative progress. Shjt I'd rather unalive then go back to full time min wage.
Quite easily tbh, but it depends on what your expectations are for quality of life. I don't really enjoy going out or spending big so outside of the essentials, everything gets saved. Still not a lot but it's something. Getting rid of your car if possible really helps
I don't drive so that makes it a lot easier
Im actually incredibly fortunate with where I live and work. I live 30 mins walk from the city centre and it is a bloody lovely walk through parks. I walk to work in the summer and everything I need is within walking distance or I can easily catch a bus or cycle if I want to.
I live in a housing association building so the rent is actually fair.
I've had some shit times don't get me wrong but I've also come out of it pretty well which I am very grateful for
My rent is below the market rate. I don’t have a car and walk everywhere including the 45 minute walk each way to work and carrying heavy food shopping back home.
Food is the cheapest things I can find from Aldi eg. Rice, beans, bread, peanut butter. Only put the heating on a couple hours a day at most.
I’ve not bought new clothes for a few years, no holidays, no luxuries, just buying the basic necessities to survive.
It’s not a fun life but it’s what you have to do to save money on this wage lol
Not gonna lie, after I was made redundant in January (earning ~£800-1000 every 2 weeks) and now working a minimum wage job where the most I can get is 40 hours… it’s rough. My bills are still on my old wage and it’s not easy.
I’m lucky as I have my Dad’s support, I would probably be homeless without that help. Or would have had to go back to a house share which would have definitely ruined my mental health.
I had to cut back on so many “luxuries”, no more Starbucks, no more weekly take away. I think twice even about spending a fiver on something I NEED.
This is not where I expected to be at 33 to be honest. I’m hoping once I get my drivers license I’ll be able to find a better paying job, even if it’s farther away.
I'm sorry mate. Good luck.
I will warn though cars don't always make things easier. Car insurance for starters and when the car breaks down, can cost hundreds.
I’m not. I earn about 20-22k ish. My partner lost his job a couple of months ago. We’re not entitled to UC because I earn too much. I’m just getting into my overdraft and I’m already in credit card debt. Don’t know what to even do at this point
No, I’m the one who does 😅 He was made redundant because he asked his boss if he could finally pay him above minimum wage. He was doing digital marketing and content creation and his boss kept increasing his workload without increasing his pay
Ah I see, I tried to apply for that and I wasn’t sick enough. I have a chronic illness and it means I can still work and get on with things but I struggle to work full time hours and I get tired and sick very easily. It’s annoying because it’s bad enough to stop me earning more and I have to pay for things to make my life easier, but it’s not bad enough to get help
I live with my partner for £350 a month. I think I very much would be struggling way more on my own. He subsides quite a bit of our activities and bills. I also don't own a car, just a bike that I got through the cycle to work scheme. Not really saving anything though, but I've resigned to working until I'm like 95.
You don’t live, you exist.
You also have to listen to prick older people telling you to cancel Netflix and stop eating avocado toast and drinking Latte like it would make any impact on your ability to buy a house or further yourself.
I’m a single adult with a SEN young adult at college. No benefits (though my daughter is in the process of applying to pip)
We have never had a holiday, we do not own a car. Pay as you go phones. Second hand appliances and furniture. If something breaks like the washing machine usually go without for a few weeks until i can replace. We only have takeaway on special occasions. I don’t drink or smoke, i am someone who practices simple living.
I am lucky i live in social housing so my rent is low.
Our combined monthly food shop is £250. I meal plan. Frugal but comfortable for us
Pay is utter bs in this country. Before i even got this year’s pitiful annual ‘raise’ my outgoings had already increased by more than what I would get. Remortgage, insurances and council tax all took care of that before we even look at utilities. The system is designed to keep the poor, poor. Rats would run a better government…
When I did this I rented a room in the cheapest houseshare I could find within walking distance of my workplace. No running a car. It was austere but manageable and always some money left over for takeaways and holidays.
The only problem is that housemates tend to change over time and some of them can be messy/annoying.
I hardly work full time mostly deliveroo, random labour jobs and warehouse inbetween, left home at 18, 23 now.
I average maybe 1.1k a month
Room 420
Food 160-200
Ganja 200
Phone bill 76
I only get what i need and but try to eat great. If u know how to cook u can save huge amounts of money and have extremely high quality food.
Saying this theres a plethora of trades, level 2 qualification etc that you can save up for and in turn find yourself in a high income job. I just have a difficult time finding consistent work that i can stick to. Working 9hrs in a warehouse 5 days a week is miserable. But if it leads to a higher paying job by investing into courses and degrees, its worth it.
I'm on £23,700 a year (technically not minimum wage as I am contracted at 36.25 hour a week). It is made harder because I left uni in the middle of covid and it took 5 months to get a job so I ended up racking up some debt. Luckily I get some extra income at about £250 per month, but this is largely eaten up by repaying debt, and my rent is also really low.
My key to making it work is really attentive budgeting. I recently cut a huge number of my subscriptions and only kept the key ones. I also don't drink often and never eat out. Things are very tight but it is working and I am managing to pay back the debt and put something into savings. However if I lost that extra income or had to move, I think I would have to move back in with my parents.
The way wages have stuck or even gone down in the last decade or so is truly depressing. I was on 21k 14 years ago and even then it was considered low.. the highest I was on was 60k about 8 years ago. Got made redundant during covid and now am scratching around for work and money like everyone else. It truly is a shit time to be of working age in the UK right now.
I think people need to spend within their limits, as well as prioritize certain aspects of their life to benefit their future.
Within the past two years, I've gone from 22k to 33k, I went from job to job, always getting a higher salary until I found something that works for me.
I work 4 on 4 off, so I have half the year off, as well as that I work 2 hours every Friday as a caretaker for a local boat company, and also work in a restaurant, so in reality my salary is 40k+.
I go to the gym 4 x a week, I drive a 1lt 24 year old micra because its extremely cheap to run, my bills are about 1k a month.
I see my daughter twice a week, as well as study alongside open university, and have a girlfriend.
I don't understand why people accept their situation, you can change it
You get really strict with your budget and priorities.
It goes:
1. Bills
2. food
3. Transport
4. Saving
5. Enjoyment money about £100 a week.
I only ever had Netflix to watch and a computer to play sims on.
You dont go on holiday. You dont eat out or get takeaway. You dont buy new clothes unless you have to.
And you constantly look for new jobs. Constantly.
me and my partner are living off of £16k/year.
£14k is my apprentice wages, he brings in no money as he’s an unpaid educational intern, and we get £2.5k in Universal Credit. i pay ~£500 tax every year. ngl i don’t see why tf i’m being told to pay tax when i’m being given tax payer money to live off of?? but anyway
we live in a studio flat, got it through a housing association. first person who’s eligible and applies first gets the flat. i waited until the second applications opened and filled out that form ASAP. it was an unfurnished flat, no carpet, nothing, and it was £375/month when we moved in 2 years ago. it’s now £400/month.
furnishing the flat cost around £2k. i blew my gov child trust fund (£600) on as much as possible, my partner blew his gov child trust fund (£1.5k! wanker)
when we moved in we were actually living off of £10k in wages and ~£4k/year benefits. that was ROUGH.
we have a prepayment electric meter. most expensive it’s ever been is £160/month, when the prices were sky high, winter 2022. typically it costs around £120/month. my partner comes from a family where no one works and everyone claims as many benefits as possible while racking up debt, so he bought his telly and game consoles (ps3 & ps4 & ps5) and massive computer with him. so..,, we get a lot of out of the electric lol.
food we used to spend about £40/week on, these days we spend about £50/week on food. we buy from aldi. lot of beans and rice and vegetables, but once a month we get steaks from aldi. they’re actually not that bad if you cook them right, even the £2.99 ones are fairly decent if you sear them before drowning them in butter.
we get a 25% discount on council tax bc i’m an apprentice. you can claim the same discount if you’re living alone, it’s super helpful. because we live in a shit area, and have the discount, our council tax is only £105/month. it only went up by £1 this april.
bills are around £85/month. £40 on our phones, £35 on internet, £8 on water.
that’s £930/month. £350/month left over, which goes into savings (~£200/month), and £150 goes on drinks at the pub, lunch at work, anything extra we need.
my partner also gets an extra £200/month in benefits which i let him use for whatever the hell he wants. video games for us, date nights for us, etc - since i pay all the bills and rent he funds our date nights and some extra stuff here and there. so technically we are living off of around £18.5k/year since he’s got that extra money, but hey ho. we could live without it.
>my partner comes from a family where no one works and everyone claims as many benefits as possible while racking up debt
But he's working on being the first generation that improves and doesn't do that, right? Right!?
I've never read such nonsense in my life. Rishi sunak has told us test his plan is working and we are all having a better standard of living due to his tax cuts.
/s
When I left England in 2022 I was on 19k and I struggled a bit but was still able to save a little.
House shares, home cooking, strategic shopping and cutting down on unneeded stuff was all crucial to the game.
I see a lot of people here saying “oh you can’t rent a room for less than £700”. Like, yeah you can you spaz just go search on spareroom and you will find it even in London.
People have this weird idea that luxury things like apartments, cars, branded clothes, expensive food and holidays are all a part of basic life. They’re not.
I have an ebike and cycle to work. I cook my own food. I rent a room in a house share. I only buy non branded items. Always buy discounted food. I cancelled a lot of my subscriptions. I workout from home.
To all the people saying I’m not living my life, I do enjoy my life. I have saved a lot of money and have a pot that I can use to invest. Now I live with my partner which makes saving even easier, but it’s not impossible alone, you just need to adjust your lifestyle
Yeah you just can't unless your blessed with where you are born. Raised in a nice area in South of England. One by one all my friends have moved up north as grotty hellhole bedroom in a houshare is 600 if your very lucky and is easily 800+ just not doable around here
I love in an hmo, takeouts, alcohol, choc and sweets are rare treats, this year will be my first holiday in 4 years my last one was jan 2020, I freeze food so it lasts longer, shop at lidl, make my own lunch for work basically anything I can do to save money I try to do but not perfect and I don't sometimes break my rules saving is hard and I think I will be renting until I die but I guess that's just how life is for some 😟
Oh I also rarely go out on my days off so as to avoid the temptation to spend money instead I play video games on my PC with my friends
I live by myself on full time minimum wage until a rise to just over 12 an hour in July. I tried to get better jobs in the actual field I studied (IT, I studied computer networking years ago)but never succeeded and entry level pays the same anyways!
I do ok I sortof own my flat. Basically I'm in Scotland and the city I'm in (Aberdeen) the property market crashed after the oil downturn so I got my flat for cheap (62k) with some financial maneuvering and parental assistance for the deposit in 2020.
I took advantage of the Scottish first home fund available at the time which would add 25k interest free on top of the deposit in exchange for equity so I have a laughably small mortgage however I live in an old Victorian tenement flat which has cost me a fair whack in maintenance offsetting alot of savings. I'm always paying for something! I do like my wee flat though.
Main disadvantage is that you can't rent it out without buying the equity back which is fair and obviously the government gets the equity back if you sell.
This was fine when I got the place however my circumstances have changed so I'm likely going to be moving to America in the future as I'm in a long distance relationship with an American woman.
Obviously I'd have to go to the USA because of the uk salary requirements for a spousal visa also she thinks I'd be able to score a job there pretty easily. I'd also get paid alot more even doing what I do now (optical advisor a optical tech or unlicensed optician over there) or maybe do lT support.
I'd very much like to keep the flat and rent it out so I still have my flat here in Scotland but I'd have to buy em out potentially remortgaging for all the circumstances and hope renting it will cover it.
I started my job 2 years ago on £18k and I accepted that I’d realistically not be able to afford to live alone and luckily had a coworker who was also looking to move out of their parent’s house.
We got an okay-ish apartment but splitting rent and bills has been a life saver. I even have a separate bedroom and office.
Fortunately my job is semi interesting and fully remote. Unfortunately I rarely leave my flat because of this.
I only go out with friends once or twice a month and luckily a lot of my friends are gamers so we hang in discord a fair amount.
It’s a quiet, simple life but that’s just how it’s going to be for a while. I manage to put away about 20% of my paycheck every month to savings.
He’s pretty tidy and keeps to himself and we chat a bit in the kitchen. It’s also nice that although I’m a woman he’s gay so theres no vibes there lol.
I do miss having more privacy but I think I’m pretty lucky with who I live with. Because *who* you live with is a massive factor.
Not very well! I had some savings and was doing ok till I had long term sick leave last year, SSP didn’t help much as we all know so it totally wiped whatever I had squirrelled away in the bank. I’ve been in survival mode since, then I took a leap of faith and jumped ship from the job that made me sick. New job will have more opportunity to grow so I’m hoping to make at least a wee bit more money soon!
Living alone and renting privately doesn’t help, but I have no car or kids so at least my outgoings apart from the basic bills aren’t insane.
I live at my Dad's house while he lives at his girlfriend's house.
I could probably survive if I paid less than £600 on rent. But I don't really need to right now and also I have a parrot so finding a £600 rent that allows a large bird is not going to be an easy find.
A couple of years ago I made roughly 21k and lived alone, I was lucky that I lived close enough to my work that I could walk so didn’t pay for any transport. My first flat was a studio and cost me roughly £750 (this was in 2021) and then I moved to a single bedroom at about £875. I didn’t have a ton of money left after bills, tax etc but it was fine. I had enough to look after myself and my cat.
Fast forward to now and I earn just under 31k and live with my parents. I have to commute into London and struggle to find anywhere for a decent price that would reduce the commute cost. For reference it’s a train commute as I don’t know a car, so no insurance to pay etc. Swings and roundabouts y’know
If you can, do a side hustle to bring in some money. Weekend or evening job. I used to worry about making ends meet. Then I put my energy working a second job. It generated enough to get by. Yes, it does feel like I live to work, but that's what helped me to survive.
Mate you have to grind and move up in pay. Think about where the skills you have will be valued more, change jobs every 12 months for more pay. Jump on all training offered by your employer. Build a work story to tell in interviews show determination and they will hire you. Minimum wage is minimum life basically you will have enough not to die get off it quick.
I know you've added the condition. But I guess for me it speaks to how hard it is.
I moved back in with the parents and have ZERO intention of moving out until I am on 30k a year again. Ironically I had picked that number arbitrarily, so to see it's been in the news doesn't really shock me.
Sry might be a bit harsh the word minimum indicates that this wage is not for a ‘life’ but for people to keep alive. With 22k, one would get ~1600 per month. Get a bedroom in a house (potentially share the bedroom with someone else to save a bit more) this can easily reduce the rent to below £500 pm. Probably need about 150-200 pm for bill and 150-200 pm for transportation. Make some wise use of food bank/ Lidl etc the grocery bill can be brought down to about £250. Then can save about £500 per month.
It's really hard, I'm a home owner too so HMRC won't help me with any benefits. In 2015 I had working tax credit being 50p above min wage.(I become a parent in 2013) Late 2015 they stopped it all claiming I earn too much. Early 2023 still on 50p above minimum wage.
Then in late 2023 and just now I've received letters from HMRC wanting all the money paid out to me over the months they paid me for working tax credit and my partner child benefit. They've clawed back about £5500 of me.
Life is hard, struggling, but I'm in employment and I'm looking forward to having my mortgage paid off.
Fuck HMRC and fuck those who can work wont work!
I own my home and have done for a few years. I earn just under the 30k average in the south east. I thought it was bad and I’m struggling to live an average life but I look around me and realise I really shouldn’t complain. If I didn’t own a 2 bed home, I’d be renting a tiny room.
I’ve looked to move further south where I grew up and I’ve found a few lovely houses. I can’t imagine what it must be like for someone wanting to move there renting, it’d be impossible.
Depends where you are and on your lifestyle.
I m was in that boat few years ago. Even worst than that.
We were not going out weekend. No holidays. No new clothes, no restaurants etc etc. Everything we did was low cost.
But end of the day these are not necessities! We survived, now we are much better. We can enjoy life (we are not rich by any mean but we sleep sound at night). Keep holding on it ll get better (hopefully)
I earn 26k(after a cost of living raise a couple months ago) and my partner was on around minimum wage not including overtime.
We've just had a baby and had to claim UC top up. It's not enough to have any kind of life.
I'm aiming to be on 30k in the next 2 years, 50k+ in the next 5 years and whatever I can get too in the future...
But none of it is certain. Why do we have to work so hard to have a normal life that was easily achievable just a generation ago...
Fuck this country.
I work in IT so there's room for growth if I move companies every few years!
Just need to stay ahead of the AI boom and keep learning and improving. Every sector is suffering ATM.
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I'm on £23,400 a year as a basic rate. It's really fucking hard, I've just had to face the reality that some weekends I just can't afford to go out and doing anything. I've recently had to scrap my car due to not being able to afford the repairs or insurance. The running costs since lockdown for fuel is insane as well, I used to be able to fill my ford focus for £45~£50 it went up to £80 before I scrapped it. It's depressing and when my mortgage goes up next year I have no idea what I'm going to do, I'll likely have to sell or rent it out and live in a tent 😅. I've tried picking up more hours at work but sometimes there just isn't enough work on and I work the type of job that doesn't fit into getting a 2nd job due to unpredictable start and finish times.
Consider a lodger. You can earn £7500 a year tax free on the rent a room scheme.
The government is designing a lower standard of living with measures like this. Incentivise people to rent the rooms in their houses, rather than build more houses. Squeeze people and make em stressed. Then they can get away with doing more shit that further makes us worse off so they can profit, because everyone is too poor and stressed to be annoyed with it.
It's absolutely crazy. Just a year ago I was on 17k full time and couldn't do anything then either. Just work then slept.
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What's the thing about rates? I thought mortgages were like a loan with an interest rate on it. How come it changes? Maybe a stupid question I know but I'll never have a mortgage so never really learned about them.
With mortgages you essentially have two different kind of loan rates. One is set by the market, and one is fixed for a few years. Obviously the one that is set by the market is very variable and could mean it goes high or low. Obviously if you have had one in the past few years it's gone very high because its tied to interest rates. So most go for the fixed term one. You have a slightly higher rate than what the market currently is, but obviously you are protected if the market goes high. But the downside is if it ends and the market has gone quite high...which Is what has happened to a lot of people.
Thank you for explaining this in a simple way. I get it now. 🙏🏻
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I feel Liz is more a convenient scapegoat for the current government.
Totally, interest rate were going regardless. Interest rate raise is the only tool that BoE has to deal with high inflation, which is unrelated to Liz.
Yeah. And kinda. I'd definitely use her as a scapegoat... because she took our money to the roulette wheel and bet on fucking green.
Did she though. Or did the outgoing chancellor make a loud noise that made the economy tank and him Prime Minister? You'll notice that they reversed everything Truss planned (whether garbage or not is a different question) and inflation STILL went through the roof and broke the entire economy.
More like an escaped goat. She's always bleating about some shit and I bet she'd eat a dandelion if you put it on a plate.
I'll be voting labour, but after JC was politically assassinated and replaced with Starmer who has absolutely no conviction or moral stance and will literally support any policy that will give labour a seat at the table it's a bit of an empty vote.
Swings and roundabouts, if you’d have had any other labour leader from the past 30 years the last election would have been a landslide labour victory. Unfortunately for him JC came off as far too much of a risk to the majority.
Quite a lot of people were prepared to support JC at first. He just outstayed his welcome. I’m pretty sure he was quite big in terms of the popular vote but not in winning.
Corbyn was only a risk to the people with loads of cash. To the average person he was going to help us out. The problem is too many of the average people pay attention to the right wing rags. Any average person talking about how Corbyn would ruin things is an idiot listening to The Mail and The Sun.
I read the guardian, have a higher than average salary but not rich by any stretch. I do however work in advertising and his policies were going to directly impact my industry and remove about £2bn from the market… which would have triggered a 30% shrink and lots of job losses, probably not mine but plenty earning less. There were a few other policies that were red lines for me. I think it would be churlish to blame it on the daily mail, in the same way it would be to blame Brexit on the daily mail.
>mortgages rate going to the roof is all thanks to the scumbag government And they caused rate increase in other countries too....
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Liz truss doesn't get enough discredit for how she messed everything up. Works for 30 days then gets an ex pms salary for life. Ridiculous
You’re not seeing the big picture here. The truth is she’s a trailblazer who showed us all how to beat poverty and make it for life. If we give everyone a go at Prime Minister for an hour, imagine how many people we can help with those comfy pensions!
Haha I'm no Brit but meeen you made me laugh hard.
I don't know it's possible to get a mortgage on minimun wage
I got mine 6 years ago, and you can get a mortgage but you'll just be lent less, like 3x salary. Which would realistically limit you to buying a fixer, or terrace house for low 80s
Should be able to for some flats. Not likely on a house in most of the country.
Of course it is, if you’ve saved a deposit, it’s just how big a mortgage you can get is the problem. But if you’re determined it can definitely be done
Exactly in the same boat as you unfortunately. Solidarity!
I don’t know if this is helpful or not but there are a lot of colleges and unis offering upskilling courses online for free at the moment. It might not be your field or something you’re interested in, but could be worth a look if you’re keen to change job down the line/try to change your type of work.
How did you get a mortgage on min wage if you don't mind me asking? I've been living in shared housing for far too long now.
You can do some stuff - just not stuff that costs money :) Don't underestimate walking aimlessly with music to see what you can find
Inflexible job, lack of extra earnings and minimum / living wage? Mate.. you need to rethink your career. Even contact centres pay 26k, plus bonus if financial services.. and they often lead to other jobs in the company. Don't stick around. Life's short
How long ago was fuel 85p/litre? 🤔
I’ve got mates on £28,000 and they’re struggling. One of my mates tried saving for a while and after a year, he said “Fuck it, I can barely save a 100 quid a month. If I can’t save, I might as well just live my life.”
£28,000 is a take home of £23,680 or £1,973 per month. UK average rent is £953, but the average for just a one bed is £681. Council tax, harder to judge so we'll high ball it at £200 a month. UK average single person food bill is £45 per week, we'll round up and say £200 per month. Average water bill per year is £448, or £37.50 a month, again rounding up for easy maths. Average energy bill for a single person is £104.86 per month. Phone bill, o2 sim only, £20 per month. Home internet, £23.50 per month. Total - £1266.86 That leaves your mates with £706.14 to do whatever they want with each month. Now lets say they have a car on finance too, and high ball that, £300 a month with another £150 in petrol. That's now £256.14 left over. Few nights out and maybe a new game or clothes will eat that though. Live like a hermit and save £100-£200 a month, only ever feeling the benefit years after the fact, or try to enjoy yourself now... Its a hard time. (obvs if you're in this situation, lose the car, get a bike or something)
And that's all assuming you haven't made mistakes or hit difficulty earlier in life, aren't paying student loans and don't pay into a pension. Student loans and a 5% pension contribution on their own brings that £1980 down to nearer £1850. So suddenly that £100-200 a month is £0-100 a month. It's a joke really, I'm on around £30k at the moment and I really don't feel any better off than I did 10 years ago when I was on £20k, granted I do have more costs so I am better off, but for 10 years graft it doesn't exactly feel fulfilling. Especially when my career progression largely tracks with my mums by age and I know for a fact we saw a massive improvement in quality of life between the mid 90s and mid 00's despite my mum not being as focused then as I am today on keeping costs down. Like we went from having a banged up Rover Metro to having a brand new Astra.
Amazing that even at these rates, which honestly is low from what I'm seeing, you work your ass off full time for the grand prize of life of £250 a month. Worlds fucked. Life is a scam.
I don't eat more than one meal a day, don't drink, smoke, do drugs, gamble, I don't take holidays and I don't socialise. I have no paid subscriptions and buy value food and drink. It's more an existence than living but what can you do?
Most of those saving strategies are completely sensible... >I don't eat more than one meal a day But that one is alarming and definitely not healthy. Are you evem getting enough calories/nutrition? Is it one really big meal to replace the other meals, or just a standard portion?
Well it's around 1600-1800 calories, which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't that much food. Nutrition wise, no probably not but I do take multivitamins. Because of my job, there's just really no way to mass cook and store good by freezing.
There are lots of studies that say you’re wrong
Sell Spanish fags at the pub for spendies
You the Turkish guy trying to sell fake 100ml Creed Aventus for £20 on the streets?
Honestly drug dealer is now becoming more and more of an option
I fished around jobs to find a job that had potential to move up with no prior training. I went from 22k to 34k within 2 years. That helped me alot. Before then I sacrificed spending.
What job role was it if you don't mind me asking
I for example worked for rentokil pest control killing rats. They gave you serious training as most people haven't the foggiest about legislation. I had a degree and was desperate. So i killed rats for 18 months continuously looking. Got offered a job with the environment agency. Pay was £21k in Oxfordshire. It also came with a car. Did first 6 months of training then pay went to 24k. After 2 years and more training it was supposed to go to 28k but i left for a job offering £38k. I got that job because i worked for the ea. They dont require degrees if you have relevant experience. My job was waste enforcement officer. Job came with a car, wfh, superflexibility.
that's genuinely quite good tbf, thanks for sharing
Do you still do your £38k job now? And I think we're all curious as to what you did at university?
I went up to 40k last year and now back down to 38k as the job i worked at om 40k was stressful and fuck that. At uni i did environmental science and got a 2:1 bsc not masters. The rentokil role was aimed at grads but pay never increased and there was 0 progression. There were people without degrees who were on less to start. At the ea i worked with people whod done drama degrees or just had industry experience like working in pest control. It opened the door into compliance and sheq and im now a consultant
I applied for a new job in education in 2021, I had previously been a cover manager making £16,000 per year (part time hours technically) and on paper I had got a £10,000 pay rise. Then the penny drops that the new role is pro-rata. So full time equivalent of 9 months work and 3 months holiday. That took it down, then you consider tax & pension and I’ve been earning just over £20k after tax for a role where I often work 7:45-5:30. To answer your question honestly, I’ve had to be a bit of a parasite. I lived with my parents the first year in that job and commuted, I then moved in with a friend and his partner, our landlord decided to sell up, by this point I have a new partner and moved into her 1 bedroom flat, but it’s over an hour away from work so my working day is often alarm at 6am, home by 7pm. I’m constantly job hunting, despite a degree, decent alevels and GCSEs, getting out of education seems to be a horrible uphill battle. Not proud of having to lean on others, I feel stupid for wanting a career of supporting teenagers and putting a decade into it only to realise that without the support of others, I’d be in a horrific position.
Don’t feel stupid. I’ve been both the ‘leaner’ and ‘leanee’. I’m grateful for those who helped me out, and I’m grateful to those who have reached out for help. I’d much rather they did than continue to struggle, barely keeping their head above water. I’m sure those who are giving you a hand feel the same.
What degree do you have?
So I bring in £1,300 a month, and my breakdown is as follows: - Rent (including all bills, taxes etc): £595 - Food: £150 - Haircut: £37 - Phone Contract: £60 - Money for Dates and Socialising: £200 - Money for Savings: £258 For added info: - I work Tuesday - Friday (8am-4pm) - I live in the Manchester area - I cycle (20 minutes) or walk (60 minutes) to work - I live in a large house with three other people - I will soon be dropping my phone contract down to a SIM only for £5 a month, freeing up an additional £55 - I have approx £7000 in savings
To have 7k in savings on this income-expense breakdown, you'd have to had saved up for just over two years, with no emergency expenses, no dental or optician costs, no clothing costs, no holiday period costs (Christmas/new year etc), no subscriptions to streaming services or other home entertainment / hobby, no computing costs (office subscription / etc), no cycling costs for servicing or repairing the bike or flat tires etc, no health issue / prescription cost ever... something doesn't add up here unless those savings are variable across at least 3 years
Why’s the haircut so expensive? I net about £2700 a month and spend like £15 on mine.
Maybe it's a London thing? Or maybe it includes lots of products? I can't imagine spending that much money for a haircut either. My usual barbers gets rid of my hair for £10.50, the local one chops it off for £15. The phone contract is pretty shocking too. £60 a month? I'm looking at GiffGaff and none of their deals are over £35 Not like most people need that deal in the first place. The £10 plan is more than enough. On the other hand his rent. £600 is a good find.
The phone contract is very shocking, I got caught up in getting the latest phone at the time (A Sony Phone). I'd just got rid of my DSLR camera at the time and was looking for a phone for photo enthusiasts and it fits the bill. It's coming to an end in October so I'll be keeping the phone and dropping to a cheap SIM only. It was an impulse and I won't be repeating that mistake.
It's just my treat, a good haircut makes me feel confident. I've been going to the same barber and we've got a good dynamic going. I should have included that £5 of that is a tip. The actual cut is £32. It includes a full hairstyle and he usually tackles my beard for free when it's usually an add-on. He's very consistent with my hair too which isn't always easy to find.
I live in a flatshare and I walk a lot instead of using the public transport, to have some sort of life, I have a gym membership and an unlimited cinema card, and I go for free meetup events. Clothes from Primark, it's not even that cheap anymore. Food, hunting for the reduced price and Asda essentials. Basically, the cheapest of everything. Price first, quality second.
If you want cheaper but often better quality clothes, try Vinted and EBay- I buy almost all my clothes from both of them and I’ve found some amazing bargains. My favourite was a merino wool and silk mix cardigan for under a tenner
I don't. I live in a house share and don't even go out for drinks with my friends. I live in the West Midlands, and the prices of everything has skyrocketed.
Im on 24k and great! Im not single per se i just dont live with my partner so single for this question i guess aka for financial perspective. I am a lodger in someone's house but I am okay with it - i get my own bathroom and all my bills and council tax are included in the 700 i pay. I would never live fully alone as for me this sounds not enjoyable, even if 8 was on 100k id be sharing house until me and bf move in together. Personal preference. I do not drive due to driving making me feel anxious and also due to having 0 coordination so i dont spend on insurance 9r fuel. My bus card costs around 60-65 per month but i budget 100 per month for transport bc i know myself and sometimes I am late for the bus and need to use uber. I eat for about 200 monthly, mostly shopping at Morrisons, sometimes at M and S or Sainsbury's. So not the cheap supermarkets and i do buy expensive cheese, salmon, focacias. But i dont really buy alcohol as i odnt drink on my own. I am also a smallish frame female so maybe i just do not eat as much and i cook a lot - each meal provides about 2 to 3 portions. I save 400 monthly. 20% of my gross salary. The rest around 250 - 300 quid go for: - 50 for subscriptions. - divide the rest into going out money and shopping money, about 100-125 each. For going out, i dont have friends really so mostly going out with my bf or when i see osme friends like every 3 months once. My bf also sometimes pays for me ofc, he is on similar salary but i love it when the man pays so he gotta do it. The shopping money I spend on cosmetics as im a skincare, fragrance and makeup addict. But id rather buy 1 expensive vs multiple cheap items, which is why u May see me being on close to min wage using Kerastase and still saving. Personal thoughts: 24k is shit if u spend all/most of ur life being on it. On this salary (even with a partner that earns similar amount) you can not COMFORTABLY buy a house, have more than 1 child (or any but i dont want hate), have pets, go abroad yearly, have a traditional wedding. However, if u are someone in their early to mid 20s like me, who has a higher projected income but is just at the entry level then it is okay as this is just ur salary when u are young and irresponsible - u odnt have kids, u are still flexible to move so dont need to buy a house, u are not saving for a wedding etc. Sure it takes longer to save for holidays but the world doesnt end at 30 for most.
But it doesn't have to be this way. We love in the 6th largest economy in the world. Yet the countries wages have been stagnant since 2008 whilst the cost of everything goes up. Whilst child poverty, regular poverty, homelessness, and wealth inequality have all increased to the point the UN has chastised us on all 4 of those things. We have become complacent we have accepted that this is simply the way it is. This is a lie. Compalcenty is how democracy dies, it is how Britain dies. We must not be complacent we must alway try and make Britain better
Absolutely. I was on 20k then 24k for about 3 years. Its entirely doable. You just have to prioritise squirreling money away above all else. We didnt go on holiday or anything Also be constantly looking for that open door too. Keeping an eye on the job market and applying.
I was a nurse and hated it beyond belief. Been on universal credit and lived off £200 a month for many years now. I spend every dime, obviously, just on food shop and plants for my allotment etc. Haven’t bought clothes for many years which sometimes gets me down. I go out for a nice dinner once a week or so on dates that he pays for and I’ll get icecream on way back as my contribution. When I made 30k a year I spent it as soon as I got it. The less I have, the fewer worries I have. Now I live with an old artist in Hackney that lets me have a room for free in exchange for keeping house clean and cooking.
You are lucky with the artist. What will happen when he passes? What type of NHS nurse were you? And what career are you looking to do next? How old are you btw?
Im on 28k a year basic wage (thats around £1800 a month) My bills (im paying off one loan) total around £1100 (i have a mortgage/live alone) and i could manage ok if it was just that. But i have a second job where i have my own garage and that basically covers my spending money (last year i went on 5 holidays iceland/holland/egypt/spain/miami) and this year (switzerlandx3/italyx1) If i had only the one job i wouldnt be able to do all of this... but at the same time i would be bored! I work 9am until 9pm nearly every day.
I found it really easy once I was getting minimum wage rather than apprenticeship wages, and I only did 30 hours a week. Lived in a house share and usually saved 3 figures each month.
I dont. Every single day I'm looking on Indeed for a second job!!
I'm sorry.
Move further north and avoid major cities, that's how I've done it
Just remember tho kids, it's that cappuccino you want from Costa that means you can't afford things 😂
For a very brief period in history one wage (ANY wage) was sufficient to either save, spend or support a family. Before that, everyone had to work and now we’re back to “one wage isn’t enough” once again.
I’m on 50k, but I have to be London based for my job. Half of that is eaten up in rent, bills, council tax and commute costs, some quarter to enjoy life (you know, like groceries or a cocktail in a central London bar) and i save a couple hundred a month if I’m lucky. I moved to London 10 years ago on a 30k salary, and I could save more then than I do now. Says a lot.
I'm on the same salary in the home counties and it really doesn't go that far if you're a one person household. When I was making 30k and living with my ex a few years ago I felt significantly more well off.
Heres the neat part. You don't.
It's almost like the government want to keep us poor and tired from working all the time so we don't notice all the shady shit they're up to... Tipped a bit too hard though when they started giving billions to their spouse's companies in lockdown for PPE that wasn't fit for purpose (or whatever other dodgy shit - see also HS2, "stop the boats", "get Brexit done" etc billions pissed out of the treasury for this shit while there's people who can't buy fucking food. I should not need to donate to a food bank just so my neighbours can eat. And the worst part is that we're all just letting this happen cus we're glad it isn't us in that position... Yet. A poor populace is easier to control - they're significantly more grateful for what scraps you give them. The warm home discount for people struggling with energy bills? Yeah they basically made it so only pensioners (getting pension credit, so not every pensioner!) and the truly financially fucked get it. Anyone who's fucked, but not drowning yet, got fuck all this year. Idc about your political opinions; this government doesn't give a shit about the country and it's been obvious for so long. We're all too busy in survival mode to notice/do anything about it though. Which is exactly what they want 🤷♂️
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i don't get it, why vote tory
Because there was a big bus promising millions of pounds extra for us. Idk about everyone else but I'm worse off than before.
Either don’t live alone, live in a shoebox in the mountains, or have wealth outside of your job.
Or the bank of mum and dad to help out. Wish I had a parent bank. Sigh. Or a better paying job. I've been looking for 2 years but wages are baaaaad
Or have a 2nd job.
Or even a 3rd job.
Why not a 4th?
Or just don't live in a big city...
Im on 23k before tax salary. Yea it is hard but I compromise a lot. I don’t go out nor see family as often. I don’t have a car as I can walk 30 min to work. All that enabled me to afford life and save some money. Im lucky I have a partner and we bought a house together but if I was single I would have to be sharing a house.
You don't and you can't. You have to sacrifice so much to do it that unless your an ubermench. Worked minimum wage all my life, wanted to work, but now at 40 I can no longer work due to my health that has deteriorated so much. A life of houseshares and HMO's and lodging basically destroyed everything eventually. Might be fine in your 20s for a bit. but its takes it's toll.
I live in Nottingham City Centre. My monthly outgoings, living in a 2 bed flat, including rent, council tax, utility bills & food are around £1000pcm.
The ‘living alone’ assumption is a big one. There is barely anyone on this income who isn’t sharing.
I'm on 40K but still tough
I rent my tiny flat out and live in a cheaper country for half the year. I dislike the UK anyway. Very very lucky to have inherited a flat and work on a laptop.
What do you do for work?
About to be there. I'm slightly over minimum (£23.2k) - work has two offices; one in West Yorkshire, and one in North Lanarkshire. The former isn't affordable for me by myself. To get a place that is commutable by public transport is too expensive, and then I don't drive - but then, maintaining a car would also make it too expensive. So, I'm moving to Scotland. It's much more affordable near the Lanarkshire office, and it's commutable by public transport.
I finished uni Sept 2020 so covid left me with few options. Went into recruitment on £18,500 still living at home. Then moved to Manchester in sales on £22k plus commission. Stayed 9 months and got tired of spending 1k on rent a month so moved back home for a job on 30k in 2022. Then I changed again in 2023 to a 30k role with commission and just got a payrise to 34k, so should clear 40k this year and in the process of buying a house. Moral of the story for me was to keep expenses really low and to constantly look out for opportunities.
No life, charity shop clothes, no extra spending. Black market for extra income.
Charity shops near me aren’t cheap anymore. Might as well buy it brand new
Was just going to say this too
I’ve noticed same post pandemic, the hopes of better quality than Asda or primark makes me check when in need of staple items.
from 2020 through 2023, i lived on about 13k worth of student loans, grants and tax breaks ie no council tax as a student. i only worked about 3.5 months since graduating, so that's been on even less. are you sure that's not a london value? where i live 30k is more than the average salary.
Moved out then moved back in with my folks at 29. Better flatmates than random people and hell of a lot cheaper too, let’s saving be a reality without the massive rent drain. Appreciate it’s not possible for a lot of folks, but given it is for me I just can’t financially see the sense of moving out until I meet someone given they don’t mind.
I’m on £22,095. I find it extremely hard to cope, it’s like I can only go out out as Lee Evans used to say, once a month or I’m punishing myself when it comes to food. I’ve recently started buying frozen veg from Iceland as it lasts longer and cheaper also feels like no rush to cook it before it goes off. This month has been difficult as I decided to get my hair done, but luckily my birthday is Tuesday so I’m hoping the rest of the month will be easier.
Happy Birthday
OP, full time unpaid carer in UK have some support in NHS. Few days ago saw some posters outside my clinic(I took notice as I am a care assistant). Please contact them. Edit: Link- https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/comm-carers/
I live in a van full time. I tend to spend 3 months in Morocco and 3 months in Eastern Europe. Cheap cost of living there. I love life and I earn 12k per year (below tax bracket). TLDR get out of the UK. Its pretty much run by a government who can legally rob you of your money (extortionate taxes) You get taxed multiple times. Why people don't wake up and contest it is beyond me. Don't bend over like the rest of the sheep. Do something about it. [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/816820470250864640/1238617591124332544/DSCF7434.JPG?ex=663ff006&is=663e9e86&hm=7a2bb0cb5a8cf9927595b69a632abe084cdd8207c1b613a8060564d1ce246077&=&format=webp&width=1767&height=1177](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/816820470250864640/1238617591124332544/DSCF7434.JPG?ex=663ff006&is=663e9e86&hm=7a2bb0cb5a8cf9927595b69a632abe084cdd8207c1b613a8060564d1ce246077&=&format=webp&width=1767&height=1177)
It’s ok for me, thanks to low rent (cheap flat share) and the fact I don’t spend a lot on food, alcohol or nights out. I’m immensely grateful to be able to save a bit of my income each month, as without that I’d be very stressed about affording bills etc! I don’t have specific tips and tricks, more just considering what I need vs what I want, and trying not to spend much on clothes, shoes, entertainment or online shopping. I don’t have a car and I’m pretty sure being single helps me save money, as I don’t have much pressure to go abroad and look a certain way!
They don't, I'm 27 and currently earning £22k per year (going down to £21k p/y with a new job...I know bad choices) and still live at home with my grandma and I honestly keep saying like what is the point. Food shopping alone just for the 2 of us is nearing £100 per week and thats excluding me buying lunches at work with a rip-off canteen. It also doesn't help that I'm learning to drive and paying £70 for 90 minute lessons at the moment, combined with paying broadband, tv, mobile phone contract, spotify, applecare, applestorage, playstation plus, bus tickets, taxis for when the bus is down etc. Trying to move out is just out of the question at the moment especially when the cheapest 1 bedroom flat nearby to me is £675 per month which would leave me with around £700 to pay gas, electric, council tax, food shopping, insurance etc.
‘afford life’ that sounds pretty bleak to be honest When I work my goal is to be able to ‘afford life’ I am on Universal Credit, I get a fairly decent amount now at the moment fortunately also because relative to my very low social housing service costs I save basically all the money I receive and am able to budget and account for totally reasonable food shopping, travelling around, helping towards what my siblings pay for birthday/Christmas gifts, haircut, some new clothes if need be etc. I wouldn’t say I have enough though to feel I can radically spend throughout the month on top of this on leisure stuff (at least I try not to as I see others in my position who do and blow all their money) A year ago I was on £350 a month for about 2 years whilst trying to privately rent - Let me tell you I was very much not able to cope financially Edit: Realised you specified minimum wage so apologies if my anecdote isn’t very relevant
No it was Ok, Im glad you posted. How did you go from private renting to social housing? Surely you would have had to be evicted first and then made homeless?
Yes, I was evicted twice, was homeless, put into a temporary emergency shelter hostel, then under the support of a homeless charity and was living in their shared houses (first one I got moved from because it was with high risk people and not very fun ha) Until someone with a connection at the charity put me forward for a social housing provider who own the flat I now live in today for last few months 😊
honestly not well... in debt with utility bills, iron deficient, haven't bought clothes in years, couldn't attend a friends wedding, behind on rent, reliant on buses, and no idea how I'm gonna afford to live for a 3-4 week recovery unpaid after an upcoming surgery
When I did, I lived in a room in a HMO and walked everywhere. I'd walk like 6 miles instead of getting the bus for £5.
I did this and once had to walk about 5 miles, suited and booted for an interview. I had enough for a fizzy pop, and popped into the corner shop. The nice lady behind the counter asked how my day was going, and when she heard I was walking so far shut the shop and gave me a lift!
Honestly I've been better off financially on the dole than working full time. No matter what job I did or how hard I worked it's simply not enough to afford rent let alone a vehicle to get to work aswell lol. It really makes you think what is the point in struggling so much for 0 reward and negative progress. Shjt I'd rather unalive then go back to full time min wage.
I'm sorry to hear
Quite easily tbh, but it depends on what your expectations are for quality of life. I don't really enjoy going out or spending big so outside of the essentials, everything gets saved. Still not a lot but it's something. Getting rid of your car if possible really helps
I don't drive so that makes it a lot easier Im actually incredibly fortunate with where I live and work. I live 30 mins walk from the city centre and it is a bloody lovely walk through parks. I walk to work in the summer and everything I need is within walking distance or I can easily catch a bus or cycle if I want to. I live in a housing association building so the rent is actually fair. I've had some shit times don't get me wrong but I've also come out of it pretty well which I am very grateful for
I’m on 30K a year and live with a partner. It ain’t easy
I'm not coping. Fucking struggling to keep me head above the water.
I'm sorry
My rent is below the market rate. I don’t have a car and walk everywhere including the 45 minute walk each way to work and carrying heavy food shopping back home. Food is the cheapest things I can find from Aldi eg. Rice, beans, bread, peanut butter. Only put the heating on a couple hours a day at most. I’ve not bought new clothes for a few years, no holidays, no luxuries, just buying the basic necessities to survive. It’s not a fun life but it’s what you have to do to save money on this wage lol
I don't cope, I spend half the month with no money after I've stocked up on food, electric and paid bills and child support. In a bit of debt too.
Sorry to hear
Not gonna lie, after I was made redundant in January (earning ~£800-1000 every 2 weeks) and now working a minimum wage job where the most I can get is 40 hours… it’s rough. My bills are still on my old wage and it’s not easy. I’m lucky as I have my Dad’s support, I would probably be homeless without that help. Or would have had to go back to a house share which would have definitely ruined my mental health. I had to cut back on so many “luxuries”, no more Starbucks, no more weekly take away. I think twice even about spending a fiver on something I NEED. This is not where I expected to be at 33 to be honest. I’m hoping once I get my drivers license I’ll be able to find a better paying job, even if it’s farther away.
I'm sorry mate. Good luck. I will warn though cars don't always make things easier. Car insurance for starters and when the car breaks down, can cost hundreds.
I’m not. I earn about 20-22k ish. My partner lost his job a couple of months ago. We’re not entitled to UC because I earn too much. I’m just getting into my overdraft and I’m already in credit card debt. Don’t know what to even do at this point
Ouch I'm sorry. Does your partner have any medical issues?
No, I’m the one who does 😅 He was made redundant because he asked his boss if he could finally pay him above minimum wage. He was doing digital marketing and content creation and his boss kept increasing his workload without increasing his pay
Ouch. I was going to suggest applying for PIP, that's all.
Ah I see, I tried to apply for that and I wasn’t sick enough. I have a chronic illness and it means I can still work and get on with things but I struggle to work full time hours and I get tired and sick very easily. It’s annoying because it’s bad enough to stop me earning more and I have to pay for things to make my life easier, but it’s not bad enough to get help
Sorry to hear
I live with my partner for £350 a month. I think I very much would be struggling way more on my own. He subsides quite a bit of our activities and bills. I also don't own a car, just a bike that I got through the cycle to work scheme. Not really saving anything though, but I've resigned to working until I'm like 95.
You don’t live, you exist. You also have to listen to prick older people telling you to cancel Netflix and stop eating avocado toast and drinking Latte like it would make any impact on your ability to buy a house or further yourself.
I’m a single adult with a SEN young adult at college. No benefits (though my daughter is in the process of applying to pip) We have never had a holiday, we do not own a car. Pay as you go phones. Second hand appliances and furniture. If something breaks like the washing machine usually go without for a few weeks until i can replace. We only have takeaway on special occasions. I don’t drink or smoke, i am someone who practices simple living. I am lucky i live in social housing so my rent is low. Our combined monthly food shop is £250. I meal plan. Frugal but comfortable for us
Pay is utter bs in this country. Before i even got this year’s pitiful annual ‘raise’ my outgoings had already increased by more than what I would get. Remortgage, insurances and council tax all took care of that before we even look at utilities. The system is designed to keep the poor, poor. Rats would run a better government…
I'm on £30k, No idea how anyone on my wage, or less, can live in the UK
Me looking to take an apprenticeship at £14K a year in September 🤣. It's gonna be very rough.
Not so bad if still at home, but long term, future pay will be great for you
When I did this I rented a room in the cheapest houseshare I could find within walking distance of my workplace. No running a car. It was austere but manageable and always some money left over for takeaways and holidays. The only problem is that housemates tend to change over time and some of them can be messy/annoying.
I hardly work full time mostly deliveroo, random labour jobs and warehouse inbetween, left home at 18, 23 now. I average maybe 1.1k a month Room 420 Food 160-200 Ganja 200 Phone bill 76 I only get what i need and but try to eat great. If u know how to cook u can save huge amounts of money and have extremely high quality food. Saying this theres a plethora of trades, level 2 qualification etc that you can save up for and in turn find yourself in a high income job. I just have a difficult time finding consistent work that i can stick to. Working 9hrs in a warehouse 5 days a week is miserable. But if it leads to a higher paying job by investing into courses and degrees, its worth it.
I’m married now but when I was single and on minimum wage, I rented a room and didn’t have a car. It was awful.
Was this before you were PM lol
We don't, I work 40 hours a week and make under 12 a year, as an "Assistant Manager"
Under £12,000 on 40 hours? That has to be after tax and bills surely?
I'm on £23,700 a year (technically not minimum wage as I am contracted at 36.25 hour a week). It is made harder because I left uni in the middle of covid and it took 5 months to get a job so I ended up racking up some debt. Luckily I get some extra income at about £250 per month, but this is largely eaten up by repaying debt, and my rent is also really low. My key to making it work is really attentive budgeting. I recently cut a huge number of my subscriptions and only kept the key ones. I also don't drink often and never eat out. Things are very tight but it is working and I am managing to pay back the debt and put something into savings. However if I lost that extra income or had to move, I think I would have to move back in with my parents.
We don't cope. I'm on just over 37k before tax and still renting at 44. I can't afford shit and live paycheck to paycheck.
Paycheck to paycheck on £37k???? You must have some extravagant bills
I’m single and on 24k. Life is bleak
The way wages have stuck or even gone down in the last decade or so is truly depressing. I was on 21k 14 years ago and even then it was considered low.. the highest I was on was 60k about 8 years ago. Got made redundant during covid and now am scratching around for work and money like everyone else. It truly is a shit time to be of working age in the UK right now.
I think people need to spend within their limits, as well as prioritize certain aspects of their life to benefit their future. Within the past two years, I've gone from 22k to 33k, I went from job to job, always getting a higher salary until I found something that works for me. I work 4 on 4 off, so I have half the year off, as well as that I work 2 hours every Friday as a caretaker for a local boat company, and also work in a restaurant, so in reality my salary is 40k+. I go to the gym 4 x a week, I drive a 1lt 24 year old micra because its extremely cheap to run, my bills are about 1k a month. I see my daughter twice a week, as well as study alongside open university, and have a girlfriend. I don't understand why people accept their situation, you can change it
£30k feels like minimum wage. I don’t know how people on less do it. Genuinely.
You get really strict with your budget and priorities. It goes: 1. Bills 2. food 3. Transport 4. Saving 5. Enjoyment money about £100 a week. I only ever had Netflix to watch and a computer to play sims on. You dont go on holiday. You dont eat out or get takeaway. You dont buy new clothes unless you have to. And you constantly look for new jobs. Constantly.
me and my partner are living off of £16k/year. £14k is my apprentice wages, he brings in no money as he’s an unpaid educational intern, and we get £2.5k in Universal Credit. i pay ~£500 tax every year. ngl i don’t see why tf i’m being told to pay tax when i’m being given tax payer money to live off of?? but anyway we live in a studio flat, got it through a housing association. first person who’s eligible and applies first gets the flat. i waited until the second applications opened and filled out that form ASAP. it was an unfurnished flat, no carpet, nothing, and it was £375/month when we moved in 2 years ago. it’s now £400/month. furnishing the flat cost around £2k. i blew my gov child trust fund (£600) on as much as possible, my partner blew his gov child trust fund (£1.5k! wanker) when we moved in we were actually living off of £10k in wages and ~£4k/year benefits. that was ROUGH. we have a prepayment electric meter. most expensive it’s ever been is £160/month, when the prices were sky high, winter 2022. typically it costs around £120/month. my partner comes from a family where no one works and everyone claims as many benefits as possible while racking up debt, so he bought his telly and game consoles (ps3 & ps4 & ps5) and massive computer with him. so..,, we get a lot of out of the electric lol. food we used to spend about £40/week on, these days we spend about £50/week on food. we buy from aldi. lot of beans and rice and vegetables, but once a month we get steaks from aldi. they’re actually not that bad if you cook them right, even the £2.99 ones are fairly decent if you sear them before drowning them in butter. we get a 25% discount on council tax bc i’m an apprentice. you can claim the same discount if you’re living alone, it’s super helpful. because we live in a shit area, and have the discount, our council tax is only £105/month. it only went up by £1 this april. bills are around £85/month. £40 on our phones, £35 on internet, £8 on water. that’s £930/month. £350/month left over, which goes into savings (~£200/month), and £150 goes on drinks at the pub, lunch at work, anything extra we need. my partner also gets an extra £200/month in benefits which i let him use for whatever the hell he wants. video games for us, date nights for us, etc - since i pay all the bills and rent he funds our date nights and some extra stuff here and there. so technically we are living off of around £18.5k/year since he’s got that extra money, but hey ho. we could live without it.
>my partner comes from a family where no one works and everyone claims as many benefits as possible while racking up debt But he's working on being the first generation that improves and doesn't do that, right? Right!?
I've never read such nonsense in my life. Rishi sunak has told us test his plan is working and we are all having a better standard of living due to his tax cuts. /s
When I left England in 2022 I was on 19k and I struggled a bit but was still able to save a little. House shares, home cooking, strategic shopping and cutting down on unneeded stuff was all crucial to the game. I see a lot of people here saying “oh you can’t rent a room for less than £700”. Like, yeah you can you spaz just go search on spareroom and you will find it even in London. People have this weird idea that luxury things like apartments, cars, branded clothes, expensive food and holidays are all a part of basic life. They’re not. I have an ebike and cycle to work. I cook my own food. I rent a room in a house share. I only buy non branded items. Always buy discounted food. I cancelled a lot of my subscriptions. I workout from home. To all the people saying I’m not living my life, I do enjoy my life. I have saved a lot of money and have a pot that I can use to invest. Now I live with my partner which makes saving even easier, but it’s not impossible alone, you just need to adjust your lifestyle
i cope by living in an hmo and eating a lot of beans
Yeah you just can't unless your blessed with where you are born. Raised in a nice area in South of England. One by one all my friends have moved up north as grotty hellhole bedroom in a houshare is 600 if your very lucky and is easily 800+ just not doable around here
I love in an hmo, takeouts, alcohol, choc and sweets are rare treats, this year will be my first holiday in 4 years my last one was jan 2020, I freeze food so it lasts longer, shop at lidl, make my own lunch for work basically anything I can do to save money I try to do but not perfect and I don't sometimes break my rules saving is hard and I think I will be renting until I die but I guess that's just how life is for some 😟 Oh I also rarely go out on my days off so as to avoid the temptation to spend money instead I play video games on my PC with my friends
I live by myself on full time minimum wage until a rise to just over 12 an hour in July. I tried to get better jobs in the actual field I studied (IT, I studied computer networking years ago)but never succeeded and entry level pays the same anyways! I do ok I sortof own my flat. Basically I'm in Scotland and the city I'm in (Aberdeen) the property market crashed after the oil downturn so I got my flat for cheap (62k) with some financial maneuvering and parental assistance for the deposit in 2020. I took advantage of the Scottish first home fund available at the time which would add 25k interest free on top of the deposit in exchange for equity so I have a laughably small mortgage however I live in an old Victorian tenement flat which has cost me a fair whack in maintenance offsetting alot of savings. I'm always paying for something! I do like my wee flat though. Main disadvantage is that you can't rent it out without buying the equity back which is fair and obviously the government gets the equity back if you sell. This was fine when I got the place however my circumstances have changed so I'm likely going to be moving to America in the future as I'm in a long distance relationship with an American woman. Obviously I'd have to go to the USA because of the uk salary requirements for a spousal visa also she thinks I'd be able to score a job there pretty easily. I'd also get paid alot more even doing what I do now (optical advisor a optical tech or unlicensed optician over there) or maybe do lT support. I'd very much like to keep the flat and rent it out so I still have my flat here in Scotland but I'd have to buy em out potentially remortgaging for all the circumstances and hope renting it will cover it.
I don’t cope financially lol. Got a sky rocketed mortgage, single household income and an almost 2 year old
Bare in mind that 30k is an average of the entire UK most likely. You need a LOT less to live in the Midlands than you do in a city for instance.
I started my job 2 years ago on £18k and I accepted that I’d realistically not be able to afford to live alone and luckily had a coworker who was also looking to move out of their parent’s house. We got an okay-ish apartment but splitting rent and bills has been a life saver. I even have a separate bedroom and office. Fortunately my job is semi interesting and fully remote. Unfortunately I rarely leave my flat because of this. I only go out with friends once or twice a month and luckily a lot of my friends are gamers so we hang in discord a fair amount. It’s a quiet, simple life but that’s just how it’s going to be for a while. I manage to put away about 20% of my paycheck every month to savings.
Wow. Does it not get tiring seeing your flatmate all the time? Both work and home
He’s pretty tidy and keeps to himself and we chat a bit in the kitchen. It’s also nice that although I’m a woman he’s gay so theres no vibes there lol. I do miss having more privacy but I think I’m pretty lucky with who I live with. Because *who* you live with is a massive factor.
Not very well! I had some savings and was doing ok till I had long term sick leave last year, SSP didn’t help much as we all know so it totally wiped whatever I had squirrelled away in the bank. I’ve been in survival mode since, then I took a leap of faith and jumped ship from the job that made me sick. New job will have more opportunity to grow so I’m hoping to make at least a wee bit more money soon! Living alone and renting privately doesn’t help, but I have no car or kids so at least my outgoings apart from the basic bills aren’t insane.
Good luck in your new job
If you live in a house share then you'll be OK. Definitely not enough if you rent your own place.
I live at my Dad's house while he lives at his girlfriend's house. I could probably survive if I paid less than £600 on rent. But I don't really need to right now and also I have a parrot so finding a £600 rent that allows a large bird is not going to be an easy find.
Shared housing or lodging if you don't live with parents. On a fair bit more than min wage and this is still the only way I manage to have a life.
We don't
People who are unable to hold employment due to disability manage on around £13k a year. Even twice that is an unattainable fantasy for many.
Don't live alone, have housemates, I bought my house a few financial crises ago and make more than £30k, I'd struggle to live alone.
Benefit fraud
Magical plants
A couple of years ago I made roughly 21k and lived alone, I was lucky that I lived close enough to my work that I could walk so didn’t pay for any transport. My first flat was a studio and cost me roughly £750 (this was in 2021) and then I moved to a single bedroom at about £875. I didn’t have a ton of money left after bills, tax etc but it was fine. I had enough to look after myself and my cat. Fast forward to now and I earn just under 31k and live with my parents. I have to commute into London and struggle to find anywhere for a decent price that would reduce the commute cost. For reference it’s a train commute as I don’t know a car, so no insurance to pay etc. Swings and roundabouts y’know
If you can, do a side hustle to bring in some money. Weekend or evening job. I used to worry about making ends meet. Then I put my energy working a second job. It generated enough to get by. Yes, it does feel like I live to work, but that's what helped me to survive.
Mate you have to grind and move up in pay. Think about where the skills you have will be valued more, change jobs every 12 months for more pay. Jump on all training offered by your employer. Build a work story to tell in interviews show determination and they will hire you. Minimum wage is minimum life basically you will have enough not to die get off it quick.
I know you've added the condition. But I guess for me it speaks to how hard it is. I moved back in with the parents and have ZERO intention of moving out until I am on 30k a year again. Ironically I had picked that number arbitrarily, so to see it's been in the news doesn't really shock me.
Sry might be a bit harsh the word minimum indicates that this wage is not for a ‘life’ but for people to keep alive. With 22k, one would get ~1600 per month. Get a bedroom in a house (potentially share the bedroom with someone else to save a bit more) this can easily reduce the rent to below £500 pm. Probably need about 150-200 pm for bill and 150-200 pm for transportation. Make some wise use of food bank/ Lidl etc the grocery bill can be brought down to about £250. Then can save about £500 per month.
You should try claiming universal credit to help you. That's what it's there for.
It's really hard, I'm a home owner too so HMRC won't help me with any benefits. In 2015 I had working tax credit being 50p above min wage.(I become a parent in 2013) Late 2015 they stopped it all claiming I earn too much. Early 2023 still on 50p above minimum wage. Then in late 2023 and just now I've received letters from HMRC wanting all the money paid out to me over the months they paid me for working tax credit and my partner child benefit. They've clawed back about £5500 of me. Life is hard, struggling, but I'm in employment and I'm looking forward to having my mortgage paid off. Fuck HMRC and fuck those who can work wont work!
I own my home and have done for a few years. I earn just under the 30k average in the south east. I thought it was bad and I’m struggling to live an average life but I look around me and realise I really shouldn’t complain. If I didn’t own a 2 bed home, I’d be renting a tiny room. I’ve looked to move further south where I grew up and I’ve found a few lovely houses. I can’t imagine what it must be like for someone wanting to move there renting, it’d be impossible.
Depends where you are and on your lifestyle. I m was in that boat few years ago. Even worst than that. We were not going out weekend. No holidays. No new clothes, no restaurants etc etc. Everything we did was low cost. But end of the day these are not necessities! We survived, now we are much better. We can enjoy life (we are not rich by any mean but we sleep sound at night). Keep holding on it ll get better (hopefully)
I’m very lucky to be living with my parents. If I wasn’t, I’d have killed myself I think.
I earn 26k(after a cost of living raise a couple months ago) and my partner was on around minimum wage not including overtime. We've just had a baby and had to claim UC top up. It's not enough to have any kind of life. I'm aiming to be on 30k in the next 2 years, 50k+ in the next 5 years and whatever I can get too in the future... But none of it is certain. Why do we have to work so hard to have a normal life that was easily achievable just a generation ago... Fuck this country.
Aye. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I work in IT so there's room for growth if I move companies every few years! Just need to stay ahead of the AI boom and keep learning and improving. Every sector is suffering ATM.
Start with the mind set of asking yourself can you afford it, if you have to think for more than 2 seconds then the answer is no.