# how much do you earn in a year?



## rosalieava

Me and my partner are waiting to TTC. We have agreed that it would be best until we have a bit more money.. we are in no way skint, and could just about afford to have a baby now but we want to earn enough so that we wouldnt have to dip into our savings to much.

So anyway, the pouint in this thread was to ask (obviously if you're comfortable answering...) how much you and your partner want to earn a year before TTC? How much your aiming to have in savings before?

Thanks!:thumbup:


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## nickibrum

We have a joint household income of over 50k. That will be going up soon too as my OH just got a pay rise and I will be getting one next month, though i dont know what yet. 

We aim to save about 2K before ttc and then 600-800 a month while im pregant as i will be taking an 800-1000 pay cut when i go on maternity. Our outgoings are quite high so we need to make sure were covered. Our rent/mortgage alone is over 800! :dohh:


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## Halle71

When I got pregnant with Matilda I had just been made redundant and I knew I wouldn't get SMP and my OH was only on £28k (and we are central London so pretty high cost of living) so I had to carry on paying half our outgoings despite not earning. I managed to save £12k with a small redundency payout and scrimping which, when added to maternity allowance and selling my car took me to about £19k and lasted me 15 months when I went back to work. After household bills this gave me about £100 a week for food, travel, socialising, clothes etc.

This time will be easier as we have a joint income of around £110k but as I will only get SMP as I am in a new job and not eligible for an enhanced package I still have to save up and I am aiming to have £12k by September next year.

Because I am the one pushing to have another baby (and pushed to have Matilda), despite by OH's salary more than doubling in the last couple of years, I still feel I have to pay half of everything.


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## sarahj198

Oh earns just over 24,000 and I earn around 21,000 but I will lose around 300 a month when pregnant as I will not be able to do lone working so no more easy money for sleeping at work! we don't really have any savings but i'm 30 in a few weeks and impatient... were of the view that if you wait til you can afford them you'll never have them lol x we spend quite a lot socialising too which will be reduced when baby arrives so we should be more than ok :)


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## gaiagirl

I think we earn enough to just be able to afford life with a new baby...but obviously I would LOVE to have a bit more of a buffer!

I live in Canada, so I'll post in dollars but I think the conversion is about 1.5...

My DH makes about $45,000 per year. 
I make about $30,000 per year.
We have a rental suite in our basement that brings in about $15,000 per year.

BUT we also have a HUUUUGE mortgage and high household costs :dohh:

We have only about $2000 in savings right now, and my DH is probably going to have a slow winter at work so we might have to use some...

I am a science/biology teacher and have not gotten a lot of full time work yet, but I am hoping in the next year before maternity leave I will get more work and maybe save more!!!!!!!!!!!!

Money is definitely an issue for us, and we want to be financially responsible when we have our first LO, but we also want to start our family SO badly I think we are just going to go for it and hope it all works out :thumbup:


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## bananaboat

Our combined income is about $190k (USD). Doesn't bring us very far since we're on the east coast outside of Boston. It was our goal to have a couple years of mortgage payments saved up before we started TTC and we have met that.

Money is always a hot topic in our household. DH has a lot of anxiety usually based on all the 'what ifs'.


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## mrsswaffer

Well, after living on an NHS bursary of approx £380/month for three years (plus a loan of about £600 every 3-4 months), I am very happy to be on a salary of just over £21k! Phew! DH's parents currently rent our flat and we give them what we can, when we can, so I'll definitely be able to take the bulk of that monthly outgoing now. In baby terms, at the moment, we have about £2k in savings, and I'll be able to put some away each month this year. Next year, when we'll really be thinking about TTC, DH will hopefully get himself a teaching job and will be on just over £21k too (actually, a couple of hundred more than me). So, we're not going to be doing too badly. We'd ideally want our own place when we're both salaried too, but that might come after TTC, or a LO has arrived. Like sarahj198 said, we'll never been financially ready for a baby in the near future, but at least in a year we'll be better off than we are now. :)


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## wwchix

Wow.. I feel so poor compared to you guys... :( Well not poor, for a 20 year old I'm not on bad money. Me and OH are both on around £15k each, and will probably just get by on tax credits and OH's wage.


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## kiki04

bananaboat said:


> Our combined income is about $190k (USD). Doesn't bring us very far since we're on the east coast outside of Boston. It was our goal to have a couple years of mortgage payments saved up before we started TTC and we have met that.
> 
> Money is always a hot topic in our household. DH has a lot of anxiety usually based on all the 'what ifs'.

Holy sh*t how does $190k not get you very far :wacko: If we had that kind of money USD (we are in Canada) we would feel like freaking millionaires! Right now we are living on about $40,000 per year CND. I own a house, we have 3 vehicles, 2 on payments, and can still afford to go for dinners and such :thumbup: Seriously... what do you guys do for a living! I want your job :rofl:


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## Mrs Eleflump

We currently have a combined income of about £46000, before tax. I'll be getting a small pay rise next month, so that will help a little, but we're about to take on a sizeable mortgage :dohh:

Once we've got into our new house (hopefully 6-8 weeks' time, or less?), we'll be trying to save the same that we're saving now, so about £800 a month, if we can, to put aside for baby things and as a little financial cushion 'just in case'. I'm planning on going back to work after having our LO, as I'm the main earner by quite a margin, but there's a possibility I could do 4 long days and have one day off so still be full time or near it. Hubby might go down to 3 or 4 days a week, we'll just have to see what our circumstances are at the time. 

We don't spend loads on socialising/holidays/etc anyway, so even though we won't be saving that money once we have a baby, we're not going to miss it either. We think we're being really extravagant if we have Domino's once a month as it is :rofl:


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## MrsGruffalo

I earn just under £24K per year, and my DH is earning around £21K per year... We have over £15K in savings. I think we're comfortable enough financially to start TTC, but he's panicing about how we'll manage when I'm on maternity leave.


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## AngelofTroy

My OH's salary is close to £25k and mine is just under £16k as a learning support assistant in a special school, however I do extra respite work with a boy with cerebral palsy on a one-to-one basis which brings in anywhere between £300-£700 each month take home. My OH also does some freelance work as a website designer which is sporadic but he can get upwards of £350 a job. 

We're saving for a house deposit at the moment but will soon have that and then we'll start putting some away for future LOs. I will hopefully quit my school job when LO is born but keep my respite work going as it pays well and is in the evenings when OH and our parents would be around to help out. Also it'll be good for me to still have something that's mine careerwise.


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## bananaboat

> Holy sh*t how does $190k not get you very far :wacko: If we had that kind of money USD (we are in Canada) we would feel like freaking millionaires! Right now we are living on about $40,000 per year CND. I own a house, we have 3 vehicles, 2 on payments, and can still afford to go for dinners and such :thumbup: Seriously... what do you guys do for a living! I want your job :rofl:

We certainly live comfortably, but definitely not lavishly! Mortgage, cars, student loans, etc. And we do save a lot (again, going back to DHs anxieties about money). It's actually quite a change for me since it's the complete opposite of how I grew up. But it's all relative - the more you have, the more you spend!

We're actually both in the pharma industry. I am a project manager and DH is a director of finance and administration.


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## frangi33

We're ok but have just moved house so lots of bills and decorating to do, were on about £45k in total and dont have any savings - just bills!


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## kiki04

bananaboat said:


> Holy sh*t how does $190k not get you very far :wacko: If we had that kind of money USD (we are in Canada) we would feel like freaking millionaires! Right now we are living on about $40,000 per year CND. I own a house, we have 3 vehicles, 2 on payments, and can still afford to go for dinners and such :thumbup: Seriously... what do you guys do for a living! I want your job :rofl:
> 
> We certainly live comfortably, but definitely not lavishly! Mortgage, cars, student loans, etc. And we do save a lot (again, going back to DHs anxieties about money). It's actually quite a change for me since it's the complete opposite of how I grew up. But it's all relative - the more you have, the more you spend!
> 
> We're actually both in the pharma industry. I am a project manager and DH is a director of finance and administration.Click to expand...

OK thats it for me... next career.. pharma industry! :rofl:


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## Vicki_Cream

I am almost embarrassed to post what I earn! I have just started a new job, and at the "lowest rung"...so am bringing in just over £13K a year :( Still, this is just a starting block and there is LOTS of opportunities to progress within the company. So I plan to work my little butt off lol ;) OH currently earns £18K but is going to be changing careers soon so will be bringing in at least £20K (probably a few grand higher). He also wants to get his HGV licence so when he does, he will be earning a mint haha ;)

Our lack of fabulous wages is one of the main reasons we are waiting to TTC (that and the fact we both still live with our parents. Oh the joys!) We are going to wait about 2 years, and if for whatever reason money is still pants, we will have to wait some more.


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## UKMumToBe

Combined income with OH is around £65k. He's hoping to get a new job in the next year or so with a £20k increase, and I'm hoping that by the time we get around to TTC, I should be earning closer to £30k, so hopefully between the two of us we should have joint income of around £100k. That would mean monthly income of around £5000 between us. I would hope that we could save around £2k per month while I was pregnant, aiming for around £20k for around the time the baby was born. And then everything I got in maternity pay would also go into savings, and we'd live off his salary (around £3500 a month). I really want to be a SAHM, so it would be good 'practise' that way! I'd feel happy going into it with £10k in savings, but obviously I'd rather have more if possible


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## wwchix

I wish I could get into a good job like you gals! :(


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## LaurenDC

By March at the latest, DH will be getting promoted and have a pay raise so we will definitely be earning over $100K when Baby arrives. Right now we rent (quite high bc we live in a lovely area) and we have a large amt of money in savings, though most will be for down Payment on a house. We live across the Potomac from Washington DC so living costs are high, and we will be moving tO New York when Baby arrives, also high living costs.


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## kiki04

wwchix said:


> I wish I could get into a good job like you gals! :(

Awww you will hun :hugs: You said you are still pretty young right? No one has a full fledged career just out of high school... I am turning 30 soon :nope: and still wouldnt consider my career at its best and I do Business Administration for our provincial government. I also have a second job as a Home Support Worker working with differently abled children with autsim, fetal alcohol syndrome etc etc as well as a client I just let go who was a parapallegic. (sp) What I make is still on the low end here at $30,000 (CND) and my goal is to be somewhere around $55,000-$65,000 myself not including OH, who in his career should be somewhere around the same as my goal. 

Give it time hun... we all start off on the bottom :hugs:


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## Soccergurl3

I am currently making $50000 per year and my husband is making aroun 80 per year. It sounds like a lot of money but we have debts from when my first was born, I was only 19. But before we try for #2 we want to save about 20k in the bank so we don't have to worry about everything. We just have to cut back on things we love to do (eating out, movies, poker nights) a bit :(


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## MrsOjo

At the moment we have just decided to change from TTC#1 to WTT for #1 because I assumed I would have been preggers by now. I was earning an average wage before but decided on a career change which meant I needed to to back to uni full time for a year. My husband was more than happy to provide for us and the plan was for me to get pregnant in the 1st quarter of this year, then just stay at home to have the baby and go back to work when I am ready. OH earns £70k at the mo. 

So to cut the long story short, I have extremely irregular periods, so I saw my doctor, had some tests done, still not diagnosis, now I have been referred to the gynae. After graduating I started looking for work since I was not getting pregnant. It's so har to get a good job these days, so I decided to start looking for internships with specific companies that I wanted to work for, and I finally just secured one to start this month and last for 5months, then they will offer me a perm role after, providing we are both happy.

So, after much thought, we have decided to WTT for 6 months (mar/apr2012).
I think I have been given a great opportunity and want to make the best of, would not be great if I got pregnant in the middle of the internship, also I would not be entitled to any SMP. So, no income for me for the next 5months, but hopefully I will be offered around £25k after, so we will have a joint income of £95k to start saving for the baby, and by the time I have the baby, I will be entitled to at least SMP. 
So that's the new plan now. 

At the moment my husband saves around £800 each month, we are renting in London, so we have a very high cost of living, also my husband bought me a new car as a graduation gift and we usually travel about twice a year. I know we will have to make some sacrifices to our lifestyle once we start trying to have a baby.


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## mummy3

Well we're wtt around 2015 now and thats for #5 but hubby brings home around 110k between his salary + freelance work and we manage just fine with me as a SAHM. Fortunately we have no student debts, only really the house and car. Hubby is only 24 though so his wage will go up:thumbup:


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## Andypanda6570

I don't work and I like it like that, I am a stay at home mom and I have NO desire to work . My husband makes 130 ,000 a year. My boys are big though they are 20,17 and 11. My 20 year old has a full time job and pays his car loan and his car insurance. My 17 yr old contributes 100 a month towards his car and my 11 yr old is more like a 50 yr old trapped in an 11 yr old body, he would work in a heartbeat if it was legal at his age :haha::haha: he is so cute. I live in New York and it is sooooooo expensive here, I want to move but my family wont. I will stay for now, but when I retire I am out of here (I am only 41 though so got a little ways to go for retirement ) I want to retire in North carolina or South Carolina anything is better and cheaper than New York, I mean I love New York but things are just very expensive and a lot of people are leaving cause of that reason Sad :nope:


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## mindgames77

I live in BC, Canada. We make a combined income of around $42,000 per year. 

We own a house, we have no car payments (just paid it off!!) and aside from mortgage, our only debt is $1000 on Future Shop for new laptops.

I am going to school for administrative assistance and all job listings in my area are anywhere from $30k to $50k starting. 

Now that we sold the truck that we had payments on, we will be able to save $500+ a month. 

I think we do ok, but I think we could do better as well!


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## hopeandpray

mummy3 said:


> Well we're wtt around 2015 now and thats for #5 but hubby brings home around 110k between his salary + freelance work and we manage just fine with me as a SAHM. Fortunately we have no student debts, only really the house and car. Hubby is only 24 though so his wage will go up:thumbup:

That's an great salary for a 24 year old! What does he do? (Feel free not to answer, I'm terribly nosy :blush:
My course means that I will only be quailfied at 25:cry: so no money until then :dohh:


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## mummy3

hopeandpray said:


> mummy3 said:
> 
> 
> Well we're wtt around 2015 now and thats for #5 but hubby brings home around 110k between his salary + freelance work and we manage just fine with me as a SAHM. Fortunately we have no student debts, only really the house and car. Hubby is only 24 though so his wage will go up:thumbup:
> 
> That's an great salary for a 24 year old! What does he do? (Feel free not to answer, I'm terribly nosy :blush:
> My course means that I will only be quailfied at 25:cry: so no money until then :dohh:Click to expand...

Hes an electrical engineer for a medical devices company, lol you dont usually get such a high salary but at his job before they misread his cv thinking he had an extra 5 years experience and bless him he looks a lot older than he is :rofl: Good luck with your course hun:hugs:


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## hopeandpray

Lucky guy :haha: although obviously he's been able to keep up to that standard so fair play to him. Thanks :flower:


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## Jenba

Blimey!!!! We are so poor :cry: We live in Devon, England and for some reason well paid jobs just don't seem to come down this far West!!!!! I work part time because we have a little one already and my partner is in a crappy job following 3 redundancies in 2 years!! We have a joint income (before tax) of about £23k. So basically, if we can support ourselves, a five year old and run two cars on that then most of you guys should not have any problems at all!! :thumbup:


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## x0emz0x

I currently earn £14.5k a year as an Administration Assistant. MY OH only works at a nightclub on Saturday nights (he is currently looking for a new job, and has been for over a year!), so only earns around £60 a week. Although I did want to be a young mum (I'm 21 atm), I've now decided I want us both to be earning a decent wage between us before we even start trying (I'm aiming to be on around 18k within the next 3-4 years), and hopefully the OH will have a decent job by then aswell. I want to pay off my debts (I'm VERY bad with money - trying to get out of the habit though) within a year if all goes to plan, and then start saving for a mortgage :) Fingers crossed!!


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## Andypanda6570

Jenba said:


> Blimey!!!! We are so poor :cry: We live in Devon, England and for some reason well paid jobs just don't seem to come down this far West!!!!! I work part time because we have a little one already and my partner is in a crappy job following 3 redundancies in 2 years!! We have a joint income (before tax) of about £23k. So basically, if we can support ourselves, a five year old and run two cars on that then most of you guys should not have any problems at all!! :thumbup:

I hope things get better for you, I am so sorry :hugs::hugs: I know things are hard but I think things will get better for everyone soon. I wish you all the best :hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs:


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## Mazzle

Awwww, BUM. Thought me and OH were being really really sensible in waiting till next year to start, now I feel like we're being selfish bringing a babyinto the world on our meagre wages :(

We have a combined income of £30k ish before tax, and we currently have £3k in savings. We are aiming to have save another £5k by the time we would be actually giving birth. We got married last year AND bought a house, which ate up all our savings, so we've started again...hopefully that amount will be enough to see me through a few months of maternity...


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## mwah_xx

We are doing OKish - in fact looking at it our wages our good, bringing in £90k a year jointly, however with old debts, a penchant for travelling and houses owned with ex-partners, student finance and living in very very expensive London - well! That justabout manages us! Though we are able to save £500 a month and want to have at least £5k before we start trying - heres hoping for bonuses as well..............!


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## cocosmum

my gosh what do you all do with that kind of money. we have a joint income of 20,000 and i feel well off at mo compared to before. no car to run or child care expensives cause our hours fit together we have 2 children and they get everything they need.


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## Breezy

Joint = $50K


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## sarah1989

I'm not working at the moment, just some occasional nanny positions (for friends) & photography positions. 

DH has a pretty decent job, bringing in $24,000 a year. We run a small home business as well, and that brings in about $2,000 a year. Combined we probably make about $28,000. We don't have car loans, or student loans to pay off, so we are fortunate in that aspect. 

In our area (Southern Ontario, Canada) jobs are few and far between at the moment. I am pretty sure the last time I checked the unemployment rate was 10 - 12%.


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## toffee87

Bloody hell, I feel poor. We have earn about £35-36000 a year in joint income.

We only have £200-300 a month to spend on everything other than food/bills/fuel. OH gets a bonus every three months at about £300-700 so that helps.


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## Medzi

Joint for us is $110K a year. We have a good amount of savings right now - but that will likely go to a downpayment on a house eventually.


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## Hayley90

my pay will rise to £24.5k soon, and OH is £25k plus bonuses, so we are easily hitting £53k+ depending on any rises/bonuses i dont know about :lol:

when we had H, i was on £14k a year and he was an apprentice. IT CAN BE DONE. I have about £2k of debt though, clearing that then its baby time :) 

we dont save... we just wait for OH bonus x


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## aliss

Our combined income was $140,000 (Canadian) and went down to $90,000 now that I'm a SAHM. We manage very well! We don't buy new clothes or go on vacations but we have a nice roof over our heads and no money worries.


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## daopdesign

one thing you will learn when you have kids is money doesn't matter :) We do alright and don't want for anything, but that doesn't stop you always wanting the best for your kids :)

During my 20's I was money and career obsessed, urgghh when I look back I do not like that person, I am so much more happier now :thumbup::happydance:


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## Fathertobe1

Hello everyone, I have read through some of your posts which have been helpful to get an idea of how much people feel is a sufficient amount to look after a family. 

I have recently discovered I am going to be a Dad!! :happydance: Admittedly the timing could be better, me and my girlfriend have just finished University and are both unemployed at the moment. I am however confident I will be able to secure a job to earn at least 18K by December when our baby is due. 

Has anyone been in this situation where one partner has to stay at home while the other is earning less than 20K, if so how was it? I can live a without luxury I just want to know that I can make enough to get by. I'm determined to make this work, if i have to earn more i will find a way as I wont let my girlfriend down.


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## alchemy

A lot. We make about $57,000 a year combined pre-taxes, then have almost $16,000 in non-taxable allowances for food, housing etc. Plus neither of us have to pay state taxes. But in two years we move again and I will no longer have my job, so we are using this time to pay off all debts, buy a new and reliable car and build a nice nest egg, because who knows what the job market will be where we end up next?


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## LockandKey

I don't work :blush: I am a SAHM and DH makes almost $100,000 a year, we are renting right now, but can easily put away $1,000 a month into savings, and that's after paying for about $400 for food, $15,500 in rent, cell phone water and electric bills, car insurance, car payment. Right now we are saving up to buy a house and pay for the move. After all those expenses are taken care of I will be wanting him to put away at least $200-400 a month to save up for the next baby, but with DH's health plan through work, we will not have to pay any hospital bills when I go into labor and get admitted


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## goddess25

Our combined income is about $120K per annum but it doesn't go very far here in Vancouver. I saved about $12k for each maternity leave and also got $1600 per month from the government for a year times 2 for mat leave. That just about covered out mortgage payment.

We don't have debts and don't splurge, we are getting by.


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## 9jawife

Between my husband and I, we make about $55K a year (not sure how much that is in pounds.) We would feel comfortable starting a family with that kind of income, BUT neither of us has health insurance right now, so that's something we want to work on. Because individual plans are so expensive, we're thinking the smartest thing to do is wait till I graduate from school and get insurance through my employer.


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## vikster

We have a combined income of £85,000 which should go up in September when I get a pay rise. We have a baby fund pot saved up to use for buying things when we are pregnant which is a big help and also means that we can afford the iCandy peach that I want, ha! X


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## Mrs.Ladybird

Joint Income of around £90,000-£100,000. We can easily put £2000 aside each month for savings. Haven't got any atm as we paid for our wedding ourselves and have been doing the house of over the last few months. x


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## toffee87

Bloomin hec, what do you both do? x


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## Elpis_x

I am *amazed* at how much people on here earn.


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## Girly922

Elpis_x said:


> I am *amazed* at how much people on here earn.

You're not the only one!! I thought we were doing well with a joint income of just under £40,000. I hope I earn as much as some of you one day. :haha:


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## Elpis_x

Girly922 said:


> Elpis_x said:
> 
> 
> I am *amazed* at how much people on here earn.
> 
> You're not the only one!! I thought we were doing well with a joint income of just under £40,000. I hope I earn as much as some of you one day. :haha:Click to expand...

We're on a joint income of about £23,000. But I only work part time. I thought we were doing ok! :haha:


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## lucy_smith

I can not believe how much people earn lol , bf is an electrician I'm a pharmacy technician ( 1year till I'm fully trained) and we work full time and have a joint income of 29,000 before tax !...... we must be going wrong somewhere lol


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## HopefulPony

Girly922 said:


> Elpis_x said:
> 
> 
> I am *amazed* at how much people on here earn.
> 
> You're not the only one!! I thought we were doing well with a joint income of just under £40,000. I hope I earn as much as some of you one day. :haha:Click to expand...

I feel the same! We earn a similar wage and have debts, but can afford the payments and will still be able to when I'm on maternity leave. We know we will manage just fine :) but there are some well off people here!


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## Girly922

Ours is mainly because of my starting income as a nurse, OH is on basic pay for London which sucks. We're both at the start of our careers though. To be honest, I don't think it matters what you earn when it comes to having a LO, especially with the child allowance you get in the UK, it's about the love and time you can give.


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## Applemuff

I am currently looking for work. My husband makes 90,000 a year. We have about 40,000
In savings thanks to wedding gifts...but are planning on using that to eventually put a down payment on a home. It's not easy. We live in New York and the cost of living here is very expensive! makes it very hard to save. We hardly even go to a movie trying to save a little.


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## k.mcmahan2010

I am shocked with how much some of yall earn and yet say you just get by etc! With some of these incomes DH and I would never have to worry about money! lol

I don't work (Just finished my first degree, waiting for it to be finalized so I can apply for a job I feel pretty positive about getting.) DH makes anywhere from US$17000 to US$19000 depending on how much over time he gets in a week. 

I got all my schooling paid for (and got approx $10000 back total, which mostly went for bills when hubby lost his job last year) so I have no student loans, our house is paid off, and so is the car. 

We are currently working on fixing up the house and redoing the insulation etc so we don't save much (although if we had to cut down, we could, easily. We spend way to much on junk that we don't need lol).

I should be making approx US$28000 if I get the job I really want and about $17000 if I get the job position that is currently available...

Either way, we are doing decent now, good if I get the available job, and amazing if I get the job I really want. lol


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## goddess25

On paper my hubby and I combined income is a fair amount, but where we have chosen to live is very very expensive.. $600,000 for a decent house and that is not in the city. For a house in Vancouver the minimum you will pay is a $million and that would be for a tear down. Our taxes are very high here too so by the time we get paid, I get $800 deducted every 2 weeks in taxes, pay the mortgage, pay childcare, run our car,put a little into savings for next mat leave buy food there really isn't much left over.


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## OmiOmen

I am also fairly shocked at how much you all earn and even more shocked that you seem to think you are just getting by! We probably have about £20k coming in, maybe a bit over, and we have a son that everyone calls spoiled. I am actually quite curious to know what you all plan on buying your future children if you think you can not afford them yet? 

Me and my partner are from working class backgrounds though. DH is is his early 20's and started work in a factory on minimum wage and a temporary contract 3 years ago and is now permanent and has moved up 2 pay grades and gets a lot of paid training. We are quite confident he will work his way up to a more management role in the next few years which would give us a really comfortable lifestyle (we live in Derbyshire which is a really cheap place to live). I am in my late 20's and am a mature student at university, higher education was not considered an option for me as a teen so I am having to work extra hard at it now. Next year is my last year at Uni and after that I will be staying at home because we plan to home school my son however I am hoping to work from home....doing what I have no idea. Me and my husband are working really hard to improve our income but since we started from the bottom it is tough going.


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## Quackquack99

I think money varies in different places. For example I'm from the north of england and my rent is so cheap at £300 but then you can go down south and pay over 1000 for the same property. So on paper some people seem to have a good income but in reality it is far less after every expenditure. 
We are lucky that we don't have a car our rent is cheap. I used to be on 24k and my oh is a co-owner of a business now so I really don't know what his salary exactly is. X


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## aliss

goddess25 said:


> On paper my hubby and I combined income is a fair amount, but where we have chosen to live is very very expensive.. $600,000 for a decent house and that is not in the city. For a house in Vancouver the minimum you will pay is a $million and that would be for a tear down. Our taxes are very high here too so by the time we get paid, I get $800 deducted every 2 weeks in taxes, pay the mortgage, pay childcare, run our car,put a little into savings for next mat leave buy food there really isn't much left over.

Yep!!

We had a good income $90k (single income) but Vancouver was so expensive, back when I had a job and our combine income was $140k, we were paying $3000+ in taxes per month, plus mortgage is bloody expensive ($600k now for a fixer upper outside the city!!!).


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## Redhead84

I agree that it's all relative.

My OH is on circa £50k at the moment (but that depends on month to month commission) and I'm consulting part time on £800 a day, but after baba I'll go back to working full time on £120k. 

It's a big pot but still gets eaten up pretty quickly with housing costs (London when I go back to work), child care (we will have no family within 5 hours drive from us), travel, cars (and my OH's love for track days etc), and the list goes on.

That said, we won't be getting our LO absolutely everything just because one website or book says we can't live without this or that product... we'll get the essentials and see how we go from there.

For reference, my OH is a Sales Manager and I'm a corporate lawyer.


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## vikster

I agree with Redhead84 about it being relative and I think that no matter how much you earn, you will always find things to spend money on. Me and my husband have a good combined income as I stated in a previous post (£85,000) but both our jobs have room for progression/promotion and pay rises, especially my husband's job in the pay department.

We have a lovely four bedroomed house with a mortgage to go with it which is bigger than some of our friends in smaller houses but that is our choice. We have nice holidays and nice cars and a good lifestyle but we are not rolling in it because we have bills to pay etc. We work very long hours and have busy and demanding jobs but we want a certain lifestyle and are both ambitious and driven to be successful. I will never moan or grumble about the long hours and demands of my job because we have chosen this path and as my dad always said 'If you want more money, you have to be prepared for more stress and longer hours', which I think is very true. 

I grew up with a very priviledged childhood; we had 5/6 holidays abroad a year, a big house, nice things and my parents had plenty of money. Having said that, I grew up knowing the value of money and hard work. My mum and dad worked full time and had good jobs/careers but we always sat down to eat as a family at night, had a roast dinner every sunday as a family, we had nice gifts at christmas and birthdays but had to earn our extra treats. No matter how busy mum and dad were at work, we always had help with our homework, they attended every parents evening, school play, footie match and most of all, we had lots of love and attention. I work hard to earn money so that I can give my future children a lifestyle like I had as a child (or that is the goal anyway!). My husband had quite the opposite and his parents had very little money and they didn't have the nice things that I had growing up. 
I had lots growing up, my husband didn't but we both had very happy childhoods and were in happy homes with lots of love and secure family units and to me, that is the most important thing over money, nice houses, cars, holidays etc. All I want, and I am sure you would all agree, is that my child/children are loved, safe and happy. 

When we have children, we won't have the option of me being a SAHM because of the lifestyle choices we have made and our parents arnet at retirement age so we will have to fork out for a hefty nursery fee every month but again, this is our choice. I am not saying that you have to earn lots to be 'successful' and I don't think that money equals success but these are the choices we have made.

Regardless of how much we all earn or have coming in every month/year, we all want the best for our kids and will do what ever we can to provide for them.

For reference, I am a teacher at an 11-18 high school, my husband is an account director


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## Pandora11

This thread probably has more '0's on it than any other! Wow... i wonder if some of you successful ladies would like to share some career tips/advice/how you got to where you are etc? :)


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## aliss

Pandora11 said:


> This thread probably has more '0's on it than any other! Wow... i wonder if some of you successful ladies would like to share some career tips/advice/how you got to where you are etc? :)

I had a government job, working as a police dispatcher, my wage was $30/hr. I think it was $20/hr to start., there are different levels so answering 911's is the basic easy job, dispatch supervising is a lot harder and pays more. Long hours (12 hour shifts), overnights (7pm-7am), but you also had to work holidays (ie. Christmas) which was double time for full-timers, bang, you're making $60/hr for 12 hours.... :baby: The tradeoff of course is that you miss holidays, you don't get any sleep, it was hard with a small child so I stopped (I might return to it one day). I was making $65,000 with no overtime but usually $80-90,000 since i didn't have kids and could work a lot.

The money was good, the lifestyle sucked, the job itself was challenging but very rewarding and I always looked forward to work. It doesn't necessarily require college education,although I did my degree part-time while doing the job, it is more of needing to have quick wits, common sense, ability to work under pressure, being able to be rather emotionless. Many of the women didn't even finish high school but were older, lots of street smarts, intelligent. Most college graduates never passed training :rofl:


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## Redhead84

Pandora11 said:


> This thread probably has more '0's on it than any other! Wow... i wonder if some of you successful ladies would like to share some career tips/advice/how you got to where you are etc? :)

I'd be happy to but it depends on what you want to know really.

As a lawyer I've had a defined career path.. university, law school, training with a firm and then qualify.

What has got me here is very simple, lots of hard work, and more than a little sacrifice. My IQ has never broken the bank but I worked hard at school, managed to get myself to Oxford University (where I felt like a fraud for a while), and then I was lucky enough to get a training contract with a big City firm, where I worked insane hours, until I took a break back end of last year to slow down a little with my OH.. other relationships ended over the years because of careers.

One thing I would say is don't let other people tell you you can't. I came from a town that has one of the highest unemployment rates and teenage pregnancy rates in the UK, I went to the world's best university because I didn't listen to those telling me it wasn't possible.

Another great piece of advice came from my rowing coach of all people. One day at training he said "you are all going to fail". When we looked blank and a little hurt he explained himself. He said "ultimately in life we are all doomed to failure. With this in mind, you might as well reach for the stars - You'll end up further up the ladder failing to reach those stars than if you never tried in the first place". I've kept that with me and continue to do so every time I come across something that seems too difficult; break it down and work it out piece by piece (like learning to play the piano).... if you solve it great... if you don't, at least you gave it your best shot.


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## goddess25

I am a transplant coordinator and OH is a bus driver...I earn a reasonable wage as does my husband and it was through very very hard work. We both come from a town in Scotland called Paisley and come from working class backgrounds, which we still are. I did 2 degrees one after the other and emigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 2006.


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## vikster

My tips? Hard work, sacrifice and often having to work longer hours than you want/ get paid for, give 100% and always smile. Like others have said before, I too am no academic genius but I am driven and ambitious and know what I want out of life so have worked my backside off to get it. I am a teacher so my studying had a direct career path but I have worked hard for promotions and in six years have had a 15K pay rise.

It is hard and I work long hours including evenings and weekends because I have marking and planning but I love my job and it is very rewarding.

Think positive and believe in yourself and your own abilities xx


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## MrsOjo

OH and I bring in between 90-100k a year, but this does not go far in London. We are saving for a mortgage, and putting aside some money each month for the baby and when I take maternity ( I'm not preggers yet). I think no matter how much you earn, once you have a child you will learn how to prioritise and make sacrifices for your baby. We always find a way to manage. It may mean one less holiday a year or less shopping sprees. I know that once we have a baby, we won't be going on 2 holidays a year anymore, we will have to leave our flat to move into a bigger place which will have higher bills and I will also have to take time off work. However, I know that the most important gift you can give a child is unconditional love, yes we have a duty to provide a good home and lifestyle for our offspring, but I know we can sacrifice.


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## comotion89

flipping hell do I feel poor with a combined of about 40k after tax lol ah well we get by I was raised on a income of about 8-10k when I was a lil one my mum used to work fir 20quid a night shift back in the 90s (wow)and my mum n dad did a great job had everything I needed and got most things I wanted :D


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## toffee87

I feel poor too! I think my OH is on a good salary at 24k a year. And I'd be over the moon if I got that! I get 10k less a year!


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## annaki

Hello, Me and Husband bring home 65k a year, roughly £3600/month. We can save 1k a month, but we do like our nice things and are at the minute doing up our house.

We were lucky to manage to get on the property ladder 10 year ago and we now have a lovely 4 bed detached house. We have both worked very very hard for what we have. Both northern working class and worked since 15 years old. Im fortunate to be able to consider dropping my hours at work when the baby is here.

We are both late late twenties. :winkwink:


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## eager.4.U

In Euro's my OH makes around £25k a year, in Canadian dollars he makes $20k a year after taxes... 

When I get a job in the field I am in after I graduate College, I'll be making around $40k a year starting pay.. 

So put together we'll be making around $60k..


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## Pandora11

goddess25 said:


> I am a transplant coordinator and OH is a bus driver...I earn a reasonable wage as does my husband and it was through very very hard work. We both come from a town in Scotland called Paisley and come from working class backgrounds, which we still are. I did 2 degrees one after the other and emigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 2006.

two degrees? lol. 

My OH lived in Vancouver as a child and it's his dream to be able to live there again, the place made such an impression on him. X


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## My_First

Its all relative to where you live, though. Where we live our three bed semi cost us 250K (Reading, South East), its the commuter belt to London, therefore salaries are higher, they need to be because the cost of living is higher, plus there is a lot of work in this region of the country.

In scotland or wales, a three bed semi would cost you substantially less, and therefore salaries are less too. I dont think its about comparing salaries, I think a more prudent question would be how much disposable income do you have, that woudl be a more realistic way of looking at how much you need to save.


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## Pandora11

I feel like a complete failure! You all do so well, now i'm more terrified to bring kids into the world with so little money. I can see you've all worked your asses off for what you have, i wish the same could happen for me. 

I moved in with a relative at 16( did well in GCSE) and had no choice but to get a job, I did the usual dead end jobs until i landed a job at an independant travel agents & tour operators, i loved it, it was varied... i did admin, sales, research but then i quit two years later because my boss was turning into a dishonest man and i couldn't work with him. By the time i left i'd practically been running the place, i then took a temp job at the local newspaper hoping it would lead somewhere(i want to be a writer) but it didn't. 

When the job came to an end i couldn't get work anywhere, i was about 20 and all the feedback i got from potential employers was that i was too young/ staff wouldn't respect me or that they just didnt believe i'd had as much involvement in the travel agent as i did. I had no choice but to temp, i went from job to job(some were in great compaines but didn't want to hire permanently). I should say, while i couldn't afford to go to college/6th form when i was younger, i completed a business admin nvq, various travel related certificated/programs and a creative writing course... none of them seemed to mean anything and turned out to be a waste of time/money. 

Anyway, the temping paid the bills but then i met my OH and moved around a bit and then potential employers found my shopping list type CV a HUGE issue. Whilst previously, people were impressed i'd had experience in a variety of roles/offices and it helped me get the next role at a better place etc.. people then saw it as job hopping. I was in an out of work and took anything i could, now i work for the NHS, ok pay but very simple/deadend job. I went from being respected and appreicated by previous collegues to patronised and talked to like i'm a complete idiot/nobody. 
I know how much work i put in over the years, constant overtime, going above and beyond my duties etc etc and it got me nowhere. 
Atm i'm taking A Levels but it's so hard whilst working and doing everything around the house and eventually i might just be able to go to University, but that seems to be way off in the future, i turn 27 in July and i feel like i am such an underachiever. It's so depressing, i always wanted a career, or a job i at least liked but it's still not happening.

My OH on the otherhand graduated from university(with a not so fantastic grade) in 2008 and has done well, he's had a few step backs but in general he's beloved at his company, valued, respected etc etc and he actually likes the jobs he's done. I'm so proud of him but jealous that things have worked so easily for him.

sorry for the rant. And btw i'm very grateful for having a job since many people are struggling, it's just soul destroying commiting a large portion of my life to dead end jobs.


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## freckleonear

Our household income is currently around 15k. Hopefully going up to 24k if hubby gets a big job promotion in August. When we had our first child it was about 10k. I honestly don't think money is a very important factor in having children as long as you can provide for basic needs.


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## aliss

freckleonear said:


> Our household income is currently around 15k. Hopefully going up to 24k if hubby gets a big job promotion in August. When we had our first child it was about 10k. I honestly don't think money is a very important factor in having children as long as you can provide for basic needs.

I agree, kids need food and love. The rest is details. We did fine in caves, we'll do fine today. It's when you think your kid needs this and that and this and that is when you feel like a failure and/or inadequate but that's not a fair pressure. My son has quite a few $$ toys from his grandmother yet loves to play in the dirt instead. Kids have low needs, it's adults who think they need expensive crap.


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## Kiki1993

I start my job in june 42 hours a week and will only be getting at most £1000 a month so £12000 for the year not including tax :( Nursery nurses dont get paid much even though you require a 2 year course so it should be raised tbh!
OH only has a small window route and college but finishes soon so will just be doing his route which only brings in 500 a month, 200 of which at least goes on petrol :dohh: so even combined we are less than what most of you make single ... jealous!! :haha:
But im only 19 so it's not too bad and hopefully I will get a job with the council nursery somewhere before we start trying which is about 14000 -18000 a year in my area but thats pro-rata so not great either :haha: 
Wish my OH would get a proper job where he knows his income, one month he could get 600 and the next only 150 it's not great to start a family :cry: x


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## OmiOmen

Pandora11 said:


> I feel like a complete failure! You all do so well, now i'm more terrified to bring kids into the world with so little money. I can see you've all worked your asses off for what you have, i wish the same could happen for me.

You would honestly be surprised at how little kids can cost. My son gets a lot spent on him but I can see the difference between what he _needs_ and what he gets. 

Also there are no guarantees at the end of it but you can study later in life, I did terrible at school and did a foundation degree to get into university as a mature student. I also have a son though so studying full time is really tough and at the end there is not much I will be able to do with my degree, I would have liked to apply to graduate entry to medicine but it is just not viable with my son.


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## libbyam2003

HEy there! It was very interesting to read about what everyone makes and how taxes and income are different in varying areas! Also, how some countries provide assistance while on maternity leave or in school and others (like mine) do not. I actually was spurred to email my hubby to ask him how much we can save for while I am on maternity leave (WTT for #2). I am in a US govt job and we don't get a paid maternity leave. I am currently trying to not take vacation time so that I can build up enough to take off for maternity leave... that is the biggest reason why I won't have many kids. We make good money... probably $130-150k per year combined depending on how well his mortgage business is doing. Which in our area is good... I chose the South, smaller town, versus bustling DC area when my internship was over because although its more 'boring', I knew the money would go farther even though the govt pays less in smaller towns... it still ends up going farther. But I agree it's all relative. If I was living in DC, my kids would get to experience so many amazing things, even if we had to live on less. So I'll be focused on trying to expose them to everything I can, even if it means taking road trips etc. I am 30 yrs old... when I was 20, I was in school and BROKE. I lived paycheck to paycheck until a few years after college when I found my 'career' job and now I'm married with a baby and in our forever house. For those that are struggling... I just want to say keep on trying and you'll get there!!! :hugs:


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