What's your total annual income - anonymous poll

[Elpenor]

No you're not the only one.
We've recently switched from OH's fly by the seat of your pants and if you've got it spend it frontloading of expenditure but run out halfway between paydays no budget method of living, to my spreadsheet and recording everything method - and we're managing better as a result.

People who earn like a lot probably don't need to, but we don't get all our bills paid without someone working out a budget and keeping track of income and expenditure.

I’ve used a spreadsheet ever since I can remember. When I earned a good deal more than I did now I still used one.

I have the advantage of knowing my exact net pay a few weeks in advance which helps a lot with forecasting.

 

[mentalchik]

My income is too tight to not keep track of what's in tne bank.......don't have spreadsheets but i know exactly whats going out and i routinely check my balance nearly every day....come out with approx £18000 a year

 

[Numbers]

I’ve used a spreadsheet ever since I can remember. When I earned a good deal more than I did now I still used one.

I have the advantage of knowing my exact net pay a few weeks in advance which helps a lot with forecasting.

We have a spreadsheet but we don't use it week by week or month by month - we update it if/when anything changes (if we book holiday or something), it is handy to have.

 

[BigMoaner]

How do you know you've enough to cover bills etc though without knowing about your household budget? How much you've got coming in, what's going out when, whether you want to transfer money to a savings account or whatever? Am I the only person with a spreadsheet...?

No, spreadsheet man here. Consult it every day. Every penny of outgoings accounted for on it and then removed once they go out.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Spaces in starling are turning out awesome for budgeting. Especially stuff that has to paid yearly and I can transfer a percentage a month and it each sits in its own pot.

Edit. Also they count as your total balance, unlike a seperate account. So if I'm "overdrawn" I'm not paying intrest provided there's more in spaces then my overdraft.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

I would say the typical UK salary in software development, when you take average seniority and all the rest, is anywhere between £50-80k. Your "company you've heard of" filter often pushes it upwards a fair bit but it's not universal.

I think it probably depends a lot on who your recruitment department see as the main competition for hiring. If you're fishing in the same pool as Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. then you need to be on par with what your prospective employees could get if they went there. I suspect a lot of UK firms are only hiring UK talent (for UK prices) rather than recruiting internationally.

 

[kalmatthew]

I think it probably depends a lot on who your recruitment department see as the main competition for hiring. If you're fishing in the same pool as Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. then you need to be on par with what your prospective employees could get if they went there. I suspect a lot of UK firms are only hiring UK talent (for UK prices) rather than recruiting internationally.

Or fish in the same pool off above average but way below FAANG but actually treat you well and offer work life balance...

 

[marty21]

Is that usual? Mrs Loom and I have a very clear idea of how much each of us have saved and are earning. I don’t see how household budgeting and financial planning conversations could happen otherwise.

I don’t think it’s overly romantic to believe that all money in a marriage is essentially joint, whoever happens to be looking after it.

I knew what Mrs21 was earning when she was working , we both worked for the same council. We have a joint account for bills , both whack money into that, and a joint savings account. But I have no idea what each have in savings, etc . We have our own bank accounts too , never saw the point of a joint account for everything.

 

[marty21]

Some of my friends have elderly parents who're having to get to grips with budgeting and paying bills etc for the first time due to the death/incapacity of their long-term partners. I'm really surprised some people here have never done any household budgeting as I thought this was something that just affected the older generation. (Not everyone in the older generation but quite a number from my recent experience.)

My mum was lucky in a way , she did all the finances as dad couldn't be arsed , so when he died , there wasn't much adjustment. But in my work (social housing) I have come across many people who were confused & terrified when their partner died as they did all the finances .

 

[Dom Traynor]

Tbh I'm quite lucky at the moment that neither my partner nor I need to budget as we earn more than we need, we own our house, and we have frequent holidays and no kids etc and have savings but both of us come from poor families and her from a developing country so we are both very conscious of the need to save and invest in case anything goes wrong. We have separate and joint accounts, but her money in particular is her own as she also supports an entire village which she built in her home country. I have no dependents so it tends to be me who pays for our fun gadgets and little luxeries.

 

[Epona]

I knew what Mrs21 was earning when she was working , we both worked for the same council. We have a joint account for bills , both whack money into that, and a joint savings account. But I have no idea what each have in savings, etc . We have our own bank accounts too , never saw the point of a joint account for everything.

My parents do everything with all their money in joint accounts and it works for them, but for us it would be a disaster- no way am I letting someone who can't control themselves in the sweets or crisps aisle have access to all our funds - wouldn't work for us at all to have one shared pot for all our finances. Terrifying thought tbh.

 

[pbsmooth]

Tbh I'm quite lucky at the moment that neither my partner nor I need to budget as we earn more than we need, we own our house, and we have frequent holidays and no kids etc and have savings but both of us come from poor families and her from a developing country so we are both very conscious of the need to save and invest in case anything goes wrong. We have separate and joint accounts, but her money in particular is her own as she also supports an entire village which she built in her home country. I have no dependents so it tends to be me who pays for our fun gadgets and little luxeries.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

My income is too tight to not keep track of what's in tne bank.......don't have spreadsheets but i know exactly whats going out and i routinely check my balance nearly every day....come out with approx £18000 a year

Ah, that's a very good point. I have my gross earnings in my head as being what I earn, rather than net salary. Although I know roughly what goes into my bank account every month.

I need to make that mental adjustment, thank you. Now you mention it, it's obvious. No wonder I've always been so rubbish at managing my money.