How much is decent wage?

DonDaddyD

I was looking thinking over finances yesterday and looking at house prices, cost of things etc. Then I came across the phrase 'a decent wage'. So I got to thinking what is a decent wage that a person could realistically live on.

They say that the average Londoner earns about £25,000. Is this what is considered a decent wage?

I want to be clear on this, I'm not asking how much you earn (because frankly I don't care I have family and friends who earn 6-figure salaries and others who earn less than £12,000per year).

What I'm asking is what do you think is a decent salary to start living independtly. This means: Owning/renting a home (with someone or by yourself), car, bike, general upkeep, holiday twice/three times a year, a night out everyother week.

Wallace1492

London is a different kettle of fish. Very dear down there.
Up here, £15k would be the minimum to start you off.

always_tyred

DonDaddyD wrote:

I was looking thinking over finances yesterday and looking at house prices, cost of things etc. Then I came across the phrase 'a decent wage'. So I got to thinking what is a decent wage that a person could realistically live on.

They say that the average Londoner earns about £25,000. Is this what is considered a decent wage?

I want to be clear on this, I'm not asking how much you earn (because frankly I don't care I have family and friends who earn 6-figure salaries and others who earn less than £12,000per year).

What I'm asking is what do you think is a decent salary to start living independtly. This means: Owning/renting a home (with someone or by yourself), car, bike, general upkeep, holiday twice/three times a year, a night out everyother week.

What you have to bear in mind about an "average wage" DDD, is that there are no negative salaries to counterbalance the astronomically high salaries. Therefore, "above average" (which in London I expect is a bit more than £25k) represents a much smaller number of people than "below average".

Median would be better. I imagine that the median wage would be more like £20-25k across the UK.

I know that's a completely different question to what a decent salary means.

bigmat

Depends where you live, what your lifestyle expectations are etc. I think you can get around 4 x salary for a mortgage these days (very roughly speaking) so in London where you wouldn't get a lot for under £200k, you're looking at £50k if you want to buy on your own. Saying that, if you live in Newcastle and your name is Obafemi Martins then you'll struggle to make ends meet on £75k a week!

always_tyred

Wallace1492 wrote:

London is a different kettle of fish. Very dear down there.
Up here, £15k would be the minimum to start you off.

But then it even differs between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I believe that Edbug has Oxfordish property prices, whereas Glasgow doesn't, at least not as widely. I reckon you need to have benefactor parents and a salary of about £20k to get a place in Glasgow. Even in the sticks prices start at about £80k for anything not directly on the MARYHILL ROAD.

DonDaddyD

AT and Matt

I understand that it differs for each person, differing even more so based on where you live. DDD in Norbury/Croydon would be minted if on £25,000 comapared to a DDD living in Wimbledon. Even though they're only about 5miles from each other.

I think everyones answer (number) is going to be different. I'm more interested in the rationale.

andy83

My wage is not massive but i dont drink or smoke, and very rarely go out, rather either go on bike or just stay at home, its really hard going out when your teetotal

Im lucky that my gf has a good job but we still pay all bills 50 50

I think if you can do whatever you want to do and be happy then what you earn is a decent wage

spen666

DonDaddyD wrote:

I was looking thinking over finances yesterday and looking at house prices, cost of things etc. Then I came across the phrase 'a decent wage'. So I got to thinking what is a decent wage that a person could realistically live on.

They say that the average Londoner earns about £25,000. Is this what is considered a decent wage?

I want to be clear on this, I'm not asking how much you earn (because frankly I don't care I have family and friends who earn 6-figure salaries and others who earn less than £12,000per year).

What I'm asking is what do you think is a decent salary to start living independtly. This means: Owning/renting a home (with someone or by yourself), car, bike, general upkeep, holiday twice/three times a year, a night out everyother week.

you seem to be expecting a high standard of living- owning house, car, bike(s) and holidays 3 times per year etc.

You can't always have everything you want

Sewinman

DonDaddyD wrote:

I was looking thinking over finances yesterday and looking at house prices, cost of things etc. Then I came across the phrase 'a decent wage'. So I got to thinking what is a decent wage that a person could realistically live on.

They say that the average Londoner earns about £25,000. Is this what is considered a decent wage?

I want to be clear on this, I'm not asking how much you earn (because frankly I don't care I have family and friends who earn 6-figure salaries and others who earn less than £12,000per year).

What I'm asking is what do you think is a decent salary to start living independtly. This means: Owning/renting a home (with someone or by yourself), car, bike, general upkeep, holiday twice/three times a year, a night out everyother week.

I think that is an aspirational rather than decent life style. There are lots of variables too - holiday where? Home where? Type of car/bike etc?

Also it depends if you are single or not. If you are single you would need a lot more.

How long is a piece of string basically.

always_tyred

Sewinman wrote:

How long is a piece of string basically.

Ahh, there's a program on the iplayer about this at the moment.

42, apparently.

Oddjob62

An aquaintance of mine was moaning the other day about having to survive on his meagre 60k sallary (plus company car) until he gets his bonus (which should pretty much double his take home for the year). It's a tough life for some eh :roll:

Oddjob62

Always Tyred wrote:

42, apparently.

Ahh, but what's the question?

DonDaddyD

you seem to be expecting a high standard of living- owning house, car, bike(s) and holidays 3 times per year etc.

You can't always have everything you want

Not really. Depends on where you go. My last Holiday cost £180+ for a week in Spain in a full board 4 star hotel, in September.

Sewinman wrote:

I think that is an aspirational rather than decent life style. There are lots of variables too - holiday where? Home where? Type of car/bike etc?

I don't think its aspirational. I think people can live to that standard. You're right about the variables they shape what you do and the quality of what you buy, but you buy them do those things nontheless.

Also it depends if you are single or not. If you are single you would need a lot more.

Girlfriends can cost a lot.

How long is a piece of string basically.

Twice the length of half a piece of string. (That answer is great insight into how my mind works).

Clever Pun

DonDaddyD wrote:

AT and Matt

I understand that it differs for each person, differing even more so based on where you live. DDD in Norbury/Croydon would be minted if on £25,000 comapared to a DDD living in Wimbledon. Even though they're only about 5miles from each other.

I think everyones answer (number) is going to be different. I'm more interested in the rationale.

Errm have you seen house prices in Croydon???

in my view 25K isn't a very good wage inside the M25 if you plan to buy anything, other than clothes and beer

Wallace1492

Always Tyred wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

London is a different kettle of fish. Very dear down there.
Up here, £15k would be the minimum to start you off.

But then it even differs between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I believe that Edbug has Oxfordish property prices, whereas Glasgow doesn't, at least not as widely. I reckon you need to have benefactor parents and a salary of about £20k to get a place in Glasgow. Even in the sticks prices start at about £80k for anything not directly on the MARYHILL ROAD.

Well, a decent flat just off Maryhill Road at £65k - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23995171.html?pageNumber=3&fromSummary=true&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2FMaryhill.html%3Findex%3D20 However, you probably could rent for a lot less.

redddraggon

I currently get £13,290 per annum (I don't pay income Tax or council tax either)

So that's basically £1107.50 a month.

Rent (inc bills) = £450
Food = £100

So I basically then have £550 a month to save, and spend on bikebits, beer and other stuff not accounted for. As you can tell I don't have a car, or anything else to worry about.

So I reckon that's a pretty decent starting point, I could live on less as I did as an undergraduate, but I'd rather not.

amnezia

Average wage for the City of London is around 50k

if you want to own a flat nearby then thats probably a good starting point.

Sewinman

DonDaddyD wrote:

Girlfriends can cost a lot.

True but there are many savings to be had. A car split between two. Cooking for two. Renting/buying a place to stay etc etc.

You need a pretty high maintenance bird to negate all that!

DonDaddyD

Clever Pun wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

AT and Matt

I understand that it differs for each person, differing even more so based on where you live. DDD in Norbury/Croydon would be minted if on £25,000 comapared to a DDD living in Wimbledon. Even though they're only about 5miles from each other.

I think everyones answer (number) is going to be different. I'm more interested in the rationale.

Errm have you seen house prices in Croydon???

in my view 25K isn't a very good wage inside the M25 if you plan to buy anything, other than clothes and beer

Actually not for a long while. How much for a 3bedroom terrace with Garden these days?

I guess I was working on the basis of renting moreso than buying.

DonDaddyD

Sewinman wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Girlfriends can cost a lot.

True but there are many savings to be had. A car split between two. Cooking for two. Renting/buying a place to stay etc etc.

You need a pretty high maintenance bird to negate all that!

Mummble, mummble, grummble combined that with high maintenance boyfriend mummble mummble grumble.

But comparitively speaking, most my close friends went to Private School and then some went on to Uni's (Durham, Royal Holloway, Sussex etc). They've all got decent jobs/careers/professions and we all earn around the same amount... weird that.

I think all would say that given our age under 30:

£60k exceptional.
£40 - 50k was really good.
£30 - £40k was good (where most of us would expect to be).
£25 - £30k decent/respectable

I didn't factor or consider age into this.

Headhuunter

I don't actually believe that London is that much more expensive to live in, day to day, than many other parts of the UK. Prices in supermarkets across the UK don't differ considerably, gas and electric prices the same.

Accomodation costs, whether you're buying or renting, are higher, however it is very possible to rent relatively cheaply if yuo're willing to be creative. For example many people coming to London ignore any area which is not on a Tube line, which means they miss out almost the whole of south east London. They end up in extortionately expensive areas which are full of graduates fresh off the boat, like Clapham, where they end up spending 70% of their salaries on rent.

Where I live, It's possibly to rent a 2 bed flat for £7-800 per month (I think - not sure on current prices as I have bought my place), I live 5 mins from an overland train station in zone 2 which is 2 stops from London Bridge, 3 from Waterloo and 4 from Charing Cross, yet for many people it wouldn't even feature and in fact many have never heard of it.

Eating and drinking out can be expensive in London, but equally, if you do your research, it doesn't always have to be.

When I arrived in London 10 years ago, I earned £18000 per year and even managed to save a bit of money.

The problem with London is the sheer choice and quantity of things to spend your money on. Where any other city has 2 or 3 fancy restaurants, London has 2-300. Fancy bars? Some towns have a couple of nice spots where you may spend a lot of drink, London has streets and streets of them. However as I mentioned, there are plenty of cheap places that ain't half bad out there if you look around. People get blinded by the glitz and glam and forget to shop aruond.

Of course if you want to BUY a home in London, you probably need at least £30-40000 and a good deposit to get anything half decent in zone 2 or 3. But if you're just renting then I think it's perfectly feasible to live on £20-25000.

Clever Pun

DonDaddyD wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

AT and Matt

I understand that it differs for each person, differing even more so based on where you live. DDD in Norbury/Croydon would be minted if on £25,000 comapared to a DDD living in Wimbledon. Even though they're only about 5miles from each other.

I think everyones answer (number) is going to be different. I'm more interested in the rationale.

Errm have you seen house prices in Croydon???

in my view 25K isn't a very good wage inside the M25 if you plan to buy anything, other than clothes and beer

Actually not for a long while. How much for a 3bedroom terrace with Garden these days?

I guess I was working on the basis of renting moreso than buying.

I bought a 4 bed semi detached for just shy of 300 2 1/2 years ago, it's about the same possibly a little higher now.

always_tyred

redddraggon wrote:

I currently get £13,290 per annum (I don't pay income Tax or council tax either)

So that's basically £1107.50 a month.

Rent (inc bills) = £450
Food = £100

So I basically then have £550 a month to save, and spend on bikebits, beer and other stuff not accounted for. As you can tell I don't have a car, or anything else to worry about.

So I reckon that's a pretty decent starting point, I could live on less as I did as an undergraduate, but I'd rather not.

So you are a PhD student?

Your equivalent wage is around £18-£20k. You are much more comfortably off than someone working in a bank on about £14k, but paying all those taxes.

The whole point about doubling PhD stipends was to make them less financially disasterous in comparison to other graduate opportunities.

TheStone

I think most people would struggle to live in London on much less than 30k.
That's renting, going out a bit and one holiday a year.

If you want to buy a house, 50k+ minimum.

Kids, more, but I think you get a fair bit from the govt. Benefits, tax credits etc.

I've heard that if you're out of work with 3 kids, you'd get around 23k in benefits and cash.
That's over 35k of taxable wage, so probably a good starting point.

DonDaddyD

Headhuunter wrote:

Where I live, It's possibly to rent a 2 bed flat for £7-800 per month (I think - not sure on current prices as I have bought my place), I live 5 mins from an overland train station in zone 2 which is 2 stops from London Bridge, 3 from Waterloo and 4 from Charing Cross, yet for many people it wouldn't even feature and in fact many have never heard of it.

Where do you live? What area?

I agree with everything you said by the way.

Headhuunter

DonDaddyD wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

Where I live, It's possibly to rent a 2 bed flat for £7-800 per month (I think - not sure on current prices as I have bought my place), I live 5 mins from an overland train station in zone 2 which is 2 stops from London Bridge, 3 from Waterloo and 4 from Charing Cross, yet for many people it wouldn't even feature and in fact many have never heard of it.

Where do you live? What area?

I agree with everything you said by the way.

I live in Brockley, SE4

redddraggon

Always Tyred wrote:

So you are a PhD student?

Your equivalent wage is around £18-£20k. You are much more comfortably off than someone working in a bank on about £14k, but paying all those taxes..

Aye. I'm not sure I would have done (be able to do) a PhD if it wasn't for the funding.

I also decided to stop in halls this year too whereas my all friends who graduated and stopped in Manchester decided to get individual flats in the city centre, so I am definitely better off than them. All I needed was a desk, internet, bed and a place to put my bike, I wasn't fussy.

For the next academic year I am going to try and get myself a position as a Tutor in one of the halls, for free accomodation

Zachariah

When you consider that only the top 10% of the entire country has a household income over £40K, you realise what a ridiculous situation we're in. (I don't subscribe to envying high-earners, but I do wonder what sort of reality people inhabit who, as described above, consider £120K a low wage)

A 'Decent' standard of living is entirely subjective, and as you've all said already, is also dependent on where you live. Maybe the OP could clarify a little. I'd be happy on zero wages if I had somewhere comfy to sleep and could grow my own food.

DonDaddyD

Zachariah wrote:

When you consider that only the top 10% of the entire country has a household income over £40K, you realise what a ridiculous situation we're in.

Surely its got to be more than that, surely. Everyone I know living with someone else brings in more than that collectively.

(I don't subscribe to envying high-earners, but I do wonder what sort of reality people inhabit who, as described above, consider £120K a low wage)

Who said £120K was a low wage?

A 'Decent' standard of living is entirely subjective, and as you've all said already, is also dependent on where you live. Maybe the OP could clarify a little. I'd be happy on zero wages if I had somewhere comfy to sleep and could grow my own food.

Interesting you said that. Could I up shop go live on my Grandads land work the fields and live off it. I would like to say yes, but I'm a product of this society and would miss sci-fi and my X-box.

Truth is I can't clarify. I just picked up on people saying they earn "a reasonable salary or decent salary" and I got to thinking what is a decent/reasonable salary?

graeme_s-2

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think all would say that given our age under 30:

£60k exceptional.
£40 - 50k was really good.
£30 - £40k was good (where most of us would expect to be).
£25 - £30k decent/respectable

I didn't factor or consider age into this.

Hmmm... maybe these are London skewed, but they sound very high to me. My sixth form school mates are all a year or two shy of 30, and all went to University. I suspect that one or two might be in the 30-40 bracket, maybe one in the 40-50 bracket (but he lives in London), the bulk in the 25-30 bracket and then a few who are probably off the bottom of your chart.

I would say for most of the country 25-30k is a good wage, more than a lot of people ever earn their entire working lives. I guess while your view might be skewed by London wages, mine might be skewed by living in the West Midlands. We're at 30% unemployment at the moment. with 10.9% of 18-24 year olds claiming Job Seekers Allowance. How many of them do you think can realistically aspire to earning more than £25k a year by the time they're 30?

Here's some food for thought:

Excellent BBC article on average UK weekly incomes
How does your income compare to the rest of the UK? - an online test from the above article.

I did the test for my household income (I'm an administrator at a University, my girlfriend's a Physiotherapist in the NHS, I'm 28, she's 27, we earn roughly the same amount and fit into your 25k-30k bracket, we don't have kids). This was the result "you have a higher income than around 89% of the population - equivalent to about 53.3 million individuals."

DonDaddyD

Very good point Graeme_S, when I lived in Derby (Uni) I learned quickly how my view was skewed. Skewed further still to changes in my life.

I just did the test:

you have a higher income than around 97% of the population - equivalent to about 58.1 million individuals.