is 20k a year

[kitty1987]

I survived last year on about 7k and it's not much more now that Brandon is here. We manage ok just cut back on things we don't need

 

[Blah11]

Dont mean to be rude as I dont normally step into this section but fricking hell how can you think 20k whether for one or for 2 people is only doable!!

If hubby I were were on 20k we would be more then doing ok!!

we get by on 8k a yr and this will only go up to about 9k when babies here!!!

me and OH are on 24k combined and we dont have much £ left over for luxurys after our bills and mortgage are paid.

 

[Blah11]

Well it depends, if your on 20K a year you earn too much to qualifiy for any real help, discounted council tax, rent etc so chances are you'll either have a mortgage or be renting privately etc etc. When you have to do everything full whack 20K doesnt go very far

we get some help an thats included in the 8k!
on 8k a yr we pay full rent, full CT etc !!

he is on a low income coz of being in cornwall, but livin expenses in cornwall are horrendus as its a tourist area!!!
he works as much as he can but there is no work here! Summer season next year when babas 6 mnths ill be lookin for summer work but till then we cope!!

not being funny but you obviously have to cut back on a lot of things and most people want some £ left over for entertainment, beauty etc etc and dont want to live in a council house. Our mortgage comes to more than 8k a year and a lot of people have them.

 

[Seraphim]

The only real answer is: It Depends.

It depends on

Partner... do you have one? Does his wage add to yours? Or does he have an expensive career like being a musician
Lifestyle... do you like to go out or on holiday? Get a good haircut?
Mortgage... repayments usually based on previous/higher pre-baby wages
Running Costs... do you have 0-2 cars? Business premises? Horses etc?
Childcare... are you staying at home? Can family help? Will you have to pay for nursery?
Choice... would you call fish fingers food? Or will only the best steak do?
Assistance... will you get extra benefits or consessions due to income or other circumstances??
(I only found out about working tax credits yesterday )
Budget... do you have one? Have you figured out how much ££ you might be down after living on maternity pay? Have you looked at WTC/Child Tax Credits and Child Benefit (every little helps)

Is 20k your take home or salary? (big difference)

20k salary sounds nice, but first you get taxed, then if hubby's wage doesn't match it, and your mortgage is hefty, you want to run two cars, and you have a credit card to pay off, you've got nothing to balance out a drop in wage over mat leave, and you have no choice but to pay for nursery... then earning less and getting all the help that's on offer starts to look not much worse.

You just have to do the sums for your situation.
Makes you feel more in control too.

Good luck

 

[star-dust]

not being funny but you obviously have to cut back on a lot of things and most people want some £ left over for entertainment, beauty etc etc and dont want to live in a council house. Our mortgage comes to more than 8k a year and a lot of people have them.

Surprisngly we dont! and your makin out that livin in a council house is bad? My home is brand new, (3 yrs old this month and I have lived in it from day one) on a brand new estate, that is mainly private bar 5 houseing association homes!) I had no choice but to go into this a few years back, If I had my way Id have a mortage but again its livin in cornwall that makes it impossiable! I would love to move awya but hubby wants to be with his family!

We dont have to cut back, but then I have never been one to spend on haircuts or make up or clothes!! We are going to a concert end of this month and making a weekend of it, and so on! it can be done!

I dont want to get into a heated debate, but from what I can see a lot of it is dependant on what part of the country you are in!

 

[kristy87]

it all depends how much you spend. i earn 21k myself, and oh has own business so can vary. and sometimes we are skint after all the bills are paid

 

[Seraphim]

it all depends how much you spend. i earn 21k myself, and oh has own business so can vary. and sometimes we are skint after all the bills are paid

The joys of being self employed
(so much fun when filling in HMRC paperwork too)

It's also a lifestage thing... 10 years ago we lived on tescos value and pretty much enjoyed it When I look back now, I wonder how we survived... can't say I feel appologetic about not wanting to do it again, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.

Oh... and we've climbed the slippery ladder in the seasonal south west... I think it has pros and cons, especially if your work is variable (like hubby's), on the flip side... have you ever bought a round of drinks in a reasonable size city!? We rented houses all over the south west in the early years... had to move 2.5hrs away to afford our first house... but I remember the premium we had to pay whenever we lived in the city.

 

[Mervs Mum]

It depends on your outgoings

Like PP said location is a big factor too but ironically in recent years wages up here are much more in line with wages down south. So you do get more for you quids generally and have more money. Inner city allowances arent much on top of your salary these days We couldnt afford to live like we do here if we were down south. Hubby's best mate and Mrs live in London and their LO was born 4 days after Hebe. She's already had to go back to work Their mortgage is double ours and their house is a tiny terrace in Brentford and we've got a 4 bed det with double garage etc....yet their wages are comparable. They're thinking of moving back up here.....they'd live in a friggin mansion compared to us if they did!

So...as the Yorkshire Tourist Board says...... COME TO YORKSHIRE!! IT MAY PISS IT DOWN BUT THE HOUSES AND BEER ARE CHEAP ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN GET A COUPLE OF WHIPPETS TOO AND LIVE LIKE A BLOODY KING!! THA KNOWS!! EY UP!!

 

[Seraphim]

So...as the Yorkshire Tourist Board says...... COME TO YORKSHIRE!! IT MAY PISS IT DOWN BUT THE HOUSES AND BEER ARE CHEAP ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN GET A COUPLE OF WHIPPETS TOO AND LIVE LIKE A BLOODY KING!! THA KNOWS!! EY UP!!

 

[maybethistime]

Yeh I think its a good wage me hubbys on 14,000 and Im hoping to get one for 8 at least, but before he got his job we just manged on 12000 a year so I think 20 is more than enough but depends on ur morgage bills etc xx

 

[Blah11]

not being funny but you obviously have to cut back on a lot of things and most people want some £ left over for entertainment, beauty etc etc and dont want to live in a council house. Our mortgage comes to more than 8k a year and a lot of people have them.

Surprisngly we dont! and your makin out that livin in a council house is bad? My home is brand new, (3 yrs old this month and I have lived in it from day one) on a brand new estate, that is mainly private bar 5 houseing association homes!) I had no choice but to go into this a few years back, If I had my way Id have a mortage but again its livin in cornwall that makes it impossiable! I would love to move awya but hubby wants to be with his family!

We dont have to cut back, but then I have never been one to spend on haircuts or make up or clothes!! We are going to a concert end of this month and making a weekend of it, and so on! it can be done!

I dont want to get into a heated debate, but from what I can see a lot of it is dependant on what part of the country you are in!

I never said council houses were 'bad' but some people want to own the house they live in. Please don't try and make me out to be slagging you off b/c I'm not. I'm just defending myself b/c you made me feel like a bit of a spoilt brat when I said 20k wasn't that much.

 

[star-dust]

I never said council houses were 'bad' but some people want to own the house they live in. Please don't try and make me out to be slagging you off b/c I'm not. I'm just defending myself b/c you made me feel like a bit of a spoilt brat when I said 20k wasn't that much.

Im not slaggin you off I just poss read it the wrong way!!! this is type not speak sometimes hard to put a point accross properly! hence question mark next to my council house comment....I wasnt to sure how to take what you said!

I wasnt making you out to be a spoilt brat, If your used to that high an income and that way of life I can see how anything less may be hard to understnad how it can be done if that makes sense? but when you at the other end of the line on a income of less then half of 20k then you can understand why to us it seems a hugemongus amount!

 

[pinkbow]

hmmm 20k in one household aint alot but its better than most i guess as its not actually alot per month and outgoings can be around £800...as some1 said depends on your outgoins for rent mortgage and u get no help from anywhere as classd as high income TUT...

OH earns a good wack more than that tbh, and when i was workin i was gettin about 15k but i left recently as was 2 stressful...and we notice a great diff but still plenty to live on... i guess if ur not used 2 havin more it prob wont be that bad jus bein on 20K...

Guess we are lucky OH has such a high payin job...i duno how u ladies cope on 8k or 9k??!! well done lol

 

[Whisper]

I think £20k for some people is good and for others is not enough.

Truly only you can work out if it is enough, not just for your lifestyle but also for your skills in work and is that a good offer for you?

 

[Abz1982]

Yeah it is good, but then remember you will no doubt have to take out childcare from that as 20k would be a FT wage, so childcare will take £500-£600 of that a month, possibly more.

I was on 19.5k before I was pregnant. After deductions I took home £1100 a month. I had to pay out over £600 of that for living expenses - loan/car/phone/rent. If I go back FT I will have a childcare bill for approx 45-50 hours a week, at £4 an hour - £720 a month. And because oh is on 22k an up we would get no tax credits - well £500 a year thats it. But we would still have the 1.5k a month OH brings home, which will just cover our outgoings and food with leaving a small amount left over to put into savings for emergencies and the savings for the baby. But where we live it isn't cheap to live. It costs me £8 return to go 10 miles on the bus to see my parents!

I am going to look for a PT job of no more than 9k a year as that way I will have more time with my child and we will be comfortably off.

 

[kristy87]

i firmly believe you live to what you earn.


if your used to low income, you manage, if your used to high income, sometimes its hard to scrape by, but you defo live to what you earn xx

 

[lesleyann]

i wish my OH earned 20k... Is that before or after tax though ?

We live on 14k Before tax and the only help we get currently is housing benefit

 

[Conkers]

Depends on what your outgoings are, lifestyle etc.

Between the two of us we probably bring home around £19K a year after tax, nat ins, pension contributions etc. We manage to pay all our bills (although some months its harder) and the kids have nice clothes and toys but there is not usually anything left over for luxuries for us two. We do have a lot of outgoings a month as I agree you live to what you earn - once we have paid off credit cards/loans etc we should be able to live comfortably.
We have lived on a lot less before (and a lot more also) and had to adjust our lifestyle accordingly.

 

[lozzy21]

20k for me would be bloody great. Im on 12k a year and Oh is on 13k a year and we still have about £400/£500 spare after bills,rent and shopping. It all depends on where you are living. As some one said the north east is cheeper than the rest of the country, yes it pisses down mose days and corus are laying off 2,000 jobs but its a great place to live.

 

[WhosThatGirl]

Dont mean to be rude as I dont normally step into this section but fricking hell how can you think 20k whether for one or for 2 people is only doable!!

If hubby I were were on 20k we would be more then doing ok!!

we get by on 8k a yr and this will only go up to about 9k when babies here!!!

I dont think most posters in this topic are talking about US $$ and I am unsure of the conversion, but I will put in my opinion, based on US $$.

I think lifestyle has a lot to do with it. DH and I could never survive with our lifestyle on 20k a year. We pay 29K a year just for our mortgage alone, let alone car payments, insurance, utilities, food, gas, pleasure money, ect. On average our monthly amount going OUT to mortgage/cars/and everything else is about $5500 a month.. so 20K a year would not come near to cutting it for us! However 20k a year might be plenty for somebody who lived in a different area, or in an apartment, ect.

We live in one of the more expensive areas in the US though, so really lifestyle and the region you live in has ALOT to do when deciding if 20k a year is enough to live on.