A woman has confessed that despite earning a good wage she has ‘very little spare money’ and claims she is left unable to afford to buy a magazine, go out for meals, or pick up new makeup like she used to
A woman says she struggles to afford “nice things” despite earning £80,000 a year.
As the rising cost of living crisis has had significant impact on the prices of food and drink, fuelling our cars, and housing costs, families across the UK have had to make a number of cut backs in a bid to afford to live. The reality of once being able to spend some of your pay check on treating yourself to something nice is no longer possible for most who are often worrying about money.
But one woman has openly shared that while she earns a very good wage, she claims she cannot afford to enjoy “quick coffees, pastries for breakfast, brunches, magazines, or new lipsticks”, like she used to. “Who the hell has spare money?”, she asked Mumsnet users.
The mum, who wishes to remain unnamed, said: “I earn £81,000 and although I am not on the breadline and understand how lucky I am compared to others, I have very little spare money.”
She added: “I am a single, co-parent and I live in London so my mortgage is a lot. I used to have loads spare and felt ‘well off’ but now I’ve had to cut down on all the little spending I once never gave a thought to.
“If I can’t afford these things I don’t understand how ‘they’ [the government] keep saying that consumer spending is still strong and driving inflation.”
Relating to the mum, one individual said: “I earn slightly more and I am skint. Didn’t have a fixed mortgage so that’s up by £1,300 a month.” Another said: “People’s mortgages vary massively and single parenting in London with a sizeable mortgage is going to be a huge expense.”
Another commented: “I earn £38k and was doing OK until I had to start paying for nursery. I had the most disposable income in my 20s when I was single and renting, as I didn’t put pressure on myself to save up for a mortgage as I knew I’d never afford one by myself. Also I don’t like buying lots of ‘stuff’.”
Another shared: “We have spare money because as a household we earn a little over £100k and we live in the south east, but not in London. We have one UK holiday a year and buy secondhand where we can. We are lucky to have no debt. Most of our spending goes on days out and food.
“Oh and we’re incredibly lucky that we have a few more years left on a low interest rate. Once that goes up, we’ll be feeling the pinch a lot more.”
Another wrote: “Our income is a similar level. We have a small mortgage so feel comfortable. However if we had to rent a comparable house to our own, it would cost is an extra £2.5k a month and we’d be struggling a lot.”
But a number of others pointed out that some are able to live a good life earning less, but not owning a large home. “I earn much less than you and I have no difficulty affording pastries for breakfast,” said one individual.
One other said: “We live in London on a similar income and are very comfortable on that. We have a very small mortgage though.”
Another pointed out: “It’s because you live in an expensive area, salaries down south are inflated to account for this, but probably not to the extent that it levels out with outgoings. You’d probably live more comfortably up north on half that salary.”
Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
