Anyone else earn a lot but have no money/debt?

[LPF]

I'm just really stressed about it at the moment and I know people will go - you earn a lot, you should be lucky etc.

Dh earns about 40k and i work 3 days and my salary for that is about 18k. All our money goes on a big mortgage, nursery fees, hundreds on petrol for commuting, car upkeep, all the usual bills, professional subscriptions we have to pay monthly and debts we accrued getting in to our professions. When we look at our payslips, it's unreal how much goes on tax, NI and pensions (we're both public sector so that will probably go up too)

At the end of every month we are up to our overdraft limit and have to dip into credit cards which are going up and up. If there are birthdays/Christmas etc we have to either not buy or dip into credit. Our family lives 3 hrs away and we can't see them anymore because we can't afford the fuel anymore. We've also found out our house is in negative equity and we need some reworking done which we just can't afford.

It's all so suffocating and embarrassing because everyone assumes we earn so much from 2 professional jobs but we are sinking more than ever.

I'm not looking for suggestions or anything, I just wanted to get it off my chest really as I feel sick with worry at the moment - this isn't what I envisaged when everyone told me to go to university to get a 'good job'!!

 

[littleblonde]

it does sound a hard situation to be in. and like you said on paper it looks like your doing well. I dont no what you are looking for. So will just offer hugs. We are on the other end of the scale i guess. We have just 1 income and im a sahm. I never had a well paid job so if i went back to work now my wages would not cover my 2 girls nursery fees so would be completely pointless. We do ok , although we are on the top end of the low earner bracket. i budget well and cut back where i can. but like you said that only goes so far x

 

[oliviarose]

I'm sorry that you are in this situation.

Have you taken a look at all of your outgoings and cut back where you can? Ensuring you are on the best deals?

Also if it is costing so much in nursery fees, travel costs could it be an option for you to give up work? Xxx

 

[LPF]

Thanks for the hugs and sympathy girls! X

We've done all the trimming the fat and getting best deals etc. we are better off with me working by a little bit but I also have to think about the future when lo is a school etc as if I'm out of my profession for a few years I lose my license to practise and we would be in a far worse situation then.

There isn't much we can do about it, just get on and try and minimise the debt where we can but life is very depressing at the moment

 

[Crunchie]

Thanks for the hugs and sympathy girls! X

We've done all the trimming the fat and getting best deals etc. we are better off with me working by a little bit but I also have to think about the future when lo is a school etc as if I'm out of my profession for a few years I lose my license to practise and we would be in a far worse situation then.

There isn't much we can do about it, just get on and try and minimise the debt where we can but life is very depressing at the moment

my DH and I was talking about this other day with another couple, on paper we are earning good money but we have nothing left !!!!

we struggle due to the amount of our mortgage, we have spoke about moving but then my free child care would not be possible and we could be in a even worse situation.

We just keep going and hope that 1 day everything will get a little easier

 

[nugget80]

We are in a similar place... Oh is a teacher and earns good money but then loses around a third of that each month in tax, ni, pension and student loan! I earn so little it was not worth me going back as my wages would not cover childcare. Fortunately we don't have a mortgage and have a council house so rent not extortionate but we still find it hard... I'm hoping to train as a teacher so things will be even harder for a while but hopefully in a few years it will improve... When your income reaches a certain amount I think you are actually worse off! My neighbours both work part time and earn about half as much as my oh yet they have just gone out and bought an almost new people carrier, something we can't afford, but once tax credits are taken into account their disposable income is way more than ours... !

 

[kanga]

I think your standard of living just adjusts up as you get pay rises, and possibly yours has adjusted a bit higher than you can realistically afford. I get your frustration though x

 

[kristel_]

We're the same. We earn 45k between us. Yet we spend 500 a month on petrol just getting to work, and have debt on both cars, after bills and food we're left with sweet f/a. It seems to be the thing that the more you earn the more you spend. Once you're spending the same high amount each month it's very very hard to trim it down! I feel your pain

 

[nickibrum]

hey hun, we were in this place last year- debts were high but i know exactly what you mean. people expect you to be able to do things and actually all your money is accounted for.

Have you asked your mortgage provider if you can take a break for a few months while you sort yourself out, or go interest free for a period so your outgoings are reduced?

Could your husband work from home at all to save on the commuting costs?

Feel for you, its so hard at the moment xx

 

[goddess25]

We are in the same boat over here, I earn $70k per year and DH is on $50k per year. I pay $500 per year to prefessional body and we don't have any debt apart from our mortgage. However we are really struggling to get by, we are trying to buy a new house just now and everything is so expensive here. Its all such a struggle so I can sympathise.

 

[bump2be]

I feel exactly the same way...on paper I earn a lot, but it all disappears in taxes, bills, insurance...it's never ending and the net result is that we feel poor even though we're not! I would love to get rid of the mortgage, but that's a long way off.

 

[BandK]

Same boat, OH makes 60,000/year, I was making 30,000 (before mat. leave) and we struggle...

For f-sakes, FIL lives with us because he is jobless, BIL lives with us because he is going to TRU so we barely pay rent and its still not enough.

OH got himself into so much debt before we got together so he struggles with that every month which leaves me paying for the rest.

 

[womblemum]

On the mortgage front - if the mortgage co won't go for interest only or a payment holiday you could always request a change to half and half: ie half interest only half capital repayment, will still reduce the monthly amount a bit.

Good luck - I do think it is true that if you are nearer the bottom or the top of the income scale you often find it slightly easier than people in the middle = depressing.

 

[pinkandfluffy]

Sending hugs ((hugs))

We were in a similar boat while hubby was an engineer and I had a good job.

Now hubby is having a career change to become a teacher so this year he is a full time student warming nothing, I am working part time in a not so and we are actually financially heaps better off than I remember being before ?! We've just stopped spending somehow though I never thought there was anymore to trim back?!

I hope it improves for you x