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Anyone else sick of rich/privileged people moaning
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Original post by OU Student
But people who work aren't having to buy things like textbooks, etc.
That is dirt cheap compared to council tax, paying back your loan etc.
Original post by voran
Just because you have children does not mean your children are automatically entitled to a rich and spoiled lifestyle.
For sure, nobody should believe they are automatically 'entitled', I was just reflecting that things can look different when people are older, parents, etc, in terms of what they consider to be a minimum acceptable standard of living. Of course, lots of people have different expectations and assumptions depending on what they had growing up, etc.
Original post by Jimbo1234
That is dirt cheap compared to council tax, paying back your loan etc.
You keep saying statements but I don't see any actual calculations.
Original post by voran
You keep saying statements but I don't see any actual calculations.
I don't either. I'm sure I was told (or read somewhere) that some people spend £200+ on textbooks, with some costing around £60 or so.
Hold on a second?
I'm currently in full time employment & studying with the OU. I don't earn much (about 17k), and I'm currently paying my mum £200/week rent. Plus buying stuff (food etc). Oh, and I also pay £480/month in taxes.
If I was to go to a brick uni tomorrow, I wouldn't qualify for any grant money, due to mum's wages; our household income is (including mine) ~70k. BUT mum hasn't bought anything for her self (and I mean ANYTHING; no shoes, no clothes - not even new underwear) for three/ four years. Neither have any of the rest of us. We're skint, simple as.
All the money goes on the mortgage, and gas, electric - standard bills. We don't have a fancy house or a 'privildged lifestyle'. Council tax is a killer, and the water bill for last quater was £500+.
I get it, you're all on 6k a year, and that doesn't sound like much. But, on the other hand, you're living in cheap accomodation (in that the renting year is normally reduced, even if the cost itself isnt - I am aware there will be exceptions) and it's tax free income. It's also pretty much expenses free too; I spend upwards of £150/month on my commute alone, and I'll bet no student alive spends that much.
And as mentioned by somebody else before, expenditure goes up with income. And OP, i very much doubt a 12k/year job would be that much better. It works out at £211 a week, or about £900 a month. And average rents in Essex (where I am, dont know about you) for a rubbish flat are roughtly £550 a month. http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php
I appreciate you're skint. But so is everybody else.
I'm currently in full time employment & studying with the OU. I don't earn much (about 17k), and I'm currently paying my mum £200/week rent. Plus buying stuff (food etc). Oh, and I also pay £480/month in taxes.
If I was to go to a brick uni tomorrow, I wouldn't qualify for any grant money, due to mum's wages; our household income is (including mine) ~70k. BUT mum hasn't bought anything for her self (and I mean ANYTHING; no shoes, no clothes - not even new underwear) for three/ four years. Neither have any of the rest of us. We're skint, simple as.
All the money goes on the mortgage, and gas, electric - standard bills. We don't have a fancy house or a 'privildged lifestyle'. Council tax is a killer, and the water bill for last quater was £500+.
I get it, you're all on 6k a year, and that doesn't sound like much. But, on the other hand, you're living in cheap accomodation (in that the renting year is normally reduced, even if the cost itself isnt - I am aware there will be exceptions) and it's tax free income. It's also pretty much expenses free too; I spend upwards of £150/month on my commute alone, and I'll bet no student alive spends that much.
And as mentioned by somebody else before, expenditure goes up with income. And OP, i very much doubt a 12k/year job would be that much better. It works out at £211 a week, or about £900 a month. And average rents in Essex (where I am, dont know about you) for a rubbish flat are roughtly £550 a month. http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php
I appreciate you're skint. But so is everybody else.
Original post by OU Student
I don't either. I'm sure I was told (or read somewhere) that some people spend £200+ on textbooks, with some costing around £60 or so.
Original post by voran
You keep saying statements but I don't see any actual calculations.
So neither of you even spent a second to google rent in places or council tax?
Well here is a link : http://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/9433/Council-tax-charges
Enjoy that - £1000 minimum per year on council tax.
Original post by OU Student
I don't either. I'm sure I was told (or read somewhere) that some people spend £200+ on textbooks, with some costing around £60 or so.
You can find alot of textbooks etc online scanned lol, ok its underhanded but for a student...
Also uni librarys should provide most if not all of what you need, I've never had to buy a text book so far, some were even given to me as part of the course (course materials)
but thats the joy of IT most of the content is on the net unsuprisingly lol
Original post by Jimbo1234
So neither of you even spent a second to google rent in places or council tax?
Well here is a link : http://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/9433/Council-tax-charges
Enjoy that - £1000 minimum per year on council tax.
Well here is a link : http://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/9433/Council-tax-charges
Enjoy that - £1000 minimum per year on council tax.
£12,000 - £1,000 = £11,000.
£11,000 is a lot more than £6000
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Jimbo1234
So neither of you even spent a second to google rent in places or council tax?
Well here is a link : http://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/9433/Council-tax-charges
Enjoy that - £1000 minimum per year on council tax.
Well here is a link : http://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/9433/Council-tax-charges
Enjoy that - £1000 minimum per year on council tax.
What's the point when it's different prices everywhere? And yes, I am aware of how much roughly council tax and rent is where I live.
I'm not sure why the two are being compared. A full time student on £6000 a year isn't entitled to any benefits. Someone working and earning that amount will be.
Original post by voran
I recently read an article about a woman moaning that her £75,000 joint income was not enough.
This seems implausible. I note that you didn't link the article when requested.
This thread is just full of whining and bitterness and self-pity. I'm sure you make complaints that would seem obscene to people in many parts of the world, OP. What is complaint-worthy is completely relative. You don't get to set the bar by saying "no-one who isn't as poor as me is allowed to complain about anything but I am".
Original post by TimmonaPortella
This seems implausible. I note that you didn't link the article when requested.
I posted it on the first page.
Original post by OU Student
What's the point when it's different prices everywhere? And yes, I am aware of how much roughly council tax and rent is where I live.
I'm not sure why the two are being compared. A full time student on £6000 a year isn't entitled to any benefits. Someone working and earning that amount will be.
I'm not sure why the two are being compared. A full time student on £6000 a year isn't entitled to any benefits. Someone working and earning that amount will be.
Just do the maths on costs a student pays - food, student rent, and utilities. That is it as few will run a car due to being within walking distance.
Now do the same for someone with a job.
Original post by voran
£12,000 - £1,000 = £11,000.
£11,000 is a lot more than £6000
£11,000 is a lot more than £6000
You have never worked have you?
Original post by OU Student
I posted it on the first page.
It doesn't seem especially whiny. I'm not sure exactly what its purpose is, mind.
I did write this all out once already, but it lost it, so here goes again.
I’m currently working full time (& studying with the OU), and so’s the rest of my household, and we (between us) on paper earn ~70k/yr. But, we’re seriously skint. Hear me out.
Living on 6k a year is rubbish, fair enough. But, it’s a tax free 6k. Being tax free makes a huge difference. I earn, gross, £1750 a month. I actually take home £1,212 after paying taxes (national insurance, income tax etc). Also, the more you earn, the more tax you pay; and that’s percentage-wise, not just pounds and pennies. Remember the 50p-in-the-pound debate? Yeah.
The majority of students live on/ near where their campus is. So you have virtually no travel costs. Whereas I currently pay upwards of £150/ month just to commute to work. Lucy for National Rail, not so brilliant for me.
Student rents are cheap (because even if the room itself isn’t, the renting year is reduced (in most cases) making it cheaper). Where as I pay £200/ week rent (to my mother) and I buy everything that you’ll assume my mum buys for me (food, shampoo etc). And chip in 1/3rd of all of the bills. So essentially, I live on £20 a week for luxuries (like tobacco, alcohol, travelling to see my boyfriend, and chipping in for the milk at work).
It’s not like mum doesn’t need the money though; she’s on a good wage, yeah, but then (as previously mentioned) expenditure goes up with income. And as she’s a teacher, her income has not increased with inflation (& she hasn’t had a pay rise in forever). So the standard of living has gone wayyy down on what it was (and that wasn’t brilliant, even 5 years ago).
As above, Council Tax is a killer, and the gas/ water/ electric situation isn’t easy either (and keep rising). Electric bill for last quarter was £500+ - and we’re careful to unplug stuff, and do things like charging mobiles at work to keep the costs down at home.
Dear OP: You would actually (probably) be worse off if you left uni, and got a job on 12k a year and tried to live on your own. Honest, you really would. Google “salary calculator” and type it in. You’ll take home just over £914 a month. So, with average rents for a shabby-as-hell flat in a dodgy estate in Essex (where I live) being around £500-£550, that’s over half your money gone. Then add in water, electric, TV license, heating, council tax, travel costs, food, toiletries, house insurance . . . . you see my point?
You’d actually have less money. And you wouldn’t be able to afford to live away from your parents. Who probably couldn’t (but this is just a guess, so fair enough) be able to afford to keep you without you paying rent. So even if you move back home, you’re skint.
So by my maths, you’re doing alright on your 6k.
I’m currently working full time (& studying with the OU), and so’s the rest of my household, and we (between us) on paper earn ~70k/yr. But, we’re seriously skint. Hear me out.
Living on 6k a year is rubbish, fair enough. But, it’s a tax free 6k. Being tax free makes a huge difference. I earn, gross, £1750 a month. I actually take home £1,212 after paying taxes (national insurance, income tax etc). Also, the more you earn, the more tax you pay; and that’s percentage-wise, not just pounds and pennies. Remember the 50p-in-the-pound debate? Yeah.
The majority of students live on/ near where their campus is. So you have virtually no travel costs. Whereas I currently pay upwards of £150/ month just to commute to work. Lucy for National Rail, not so brilliant for me.
Student rents are cheap (because even if the room itself isn’t, the renting year is reduced (in most cases) making it cheaper). Where as I pay £200/ week rent (to my mother) and I buy everything that you’ll assume my mum buys for me (food, shampoo etc). And chip in 1/3rd of all of the bills. So essentially, I live on £20 a week for luxuries (like tobacco, alcohol, travelling to see my boyfriend, and chipping in for the milk at work).
It’s not like mum doesn’t need the money though; she’s on a good wage, yeah, but then (as previously mentioned) expenditure goes up with income. And as she’s a teacher, her income has not increased with inflation (& she hasn’t had a pay rise in forever). So the standard of living has gone wayyy down on what it was (and that wasn’t brilliant, even 5 years ago).
As above, Council Tax is a killer, and the gas/ water/ electric situation isn’t easy either (and keep rising). Electric bill for last quarter was £500+ - and we’re careful to unplug stuff, and do things like charging mobiles at work to keep the costs down at home.
Dear OP: You would actually (probably) be worse off if you left uni, and got a job on 12k a year and tried to live on your own. Honest, you really would. Google “salary calculator” and type it in. You’ll take home just over £914 a month. So, with average rents for a shabby-as-hell flat in a dodgy estate in Essex (where I live) being around £500-£550, that’s over half your money gone. Then add in water, electric, TV license, heating, council tax, travel costs, food, toiletries, house insurance . . . . you see my point?
You’d actually have less money. And you wouldn’t be able to afford to live away from your parents. Who probably couldn’t (but this is just a guess, so fair enough) be able to afford to keep you without you paying rent. So even if you move back home, you’re skint.
So by my maths, you’re doing alright on your 6k.
Yes, you may have to survive on £500 a month. But, assuming your income is received via student finance, this is money that you haven't had to earn or work for. It's given to you, so that you can improve your career prospects. You're incredibly lucky that you get the chance to have an education, regardless of how little money you might have to spare.
The "rich/privileged" people in this article aren't spoilt brats who've been given a trust fund (although I have nothing against those who are- it's none of my business) they're a working couple who earn their own money with the aim to provide a good quality life for their children.
I earn a decent wage, and I believe that we adapt to live within our means. When I graduated, at first, I was earning very little- but I survived. Now that I earn a lot more, I know that it would be a shock if I had to go back to the way I was before. I know I'm lucky, but I also know that I've worked very hard to get to where I am, and of course I wouldn't mind being paid a little more! Everyone wants something more, needs something to work towards, otherwise what would the motivation be to improve?
EDIT: Also, after having to live on my own and learn how much everything costs, I know for an absolute fact that, despite my decent wage, I was better off being a student.
The "rich/privileged" people in this article aren't spoilt brats who've been given a trust fund (although I have nothing against those who are- it's none of my business) they're a working couple who earn their own money with the aim to provide a good quality life for their children.
I earn a decent wage, and I believe that we adapt to live within our means. When I graduated, at first, I was earning very little- but I survived. Now that I earn a lot more, I know that it would be a shock if I had to go back to the way I was before. I know I'm lucky, but I also know that I've worked very hard to get to where I am, and of course I wouldn't mind being paid a little more! Everyone wants something more, needs something to work towards, otherwise what would the motivation be to improve?
EDIT: Also, after having to live on my own and learn how much everything costs, I know for an absolute fact that, despite my decent wage, I was better off being a student.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by HippieSkirt23
I actually take home £1,212 after paying taxes (national insurance, income tax etc).
Holy hell. You live on 2.5x what I live on. Check your privilege.
Original post by voran
Holy hell. You live on 2.5x what I live on. Check your privilege.
There's a difference between being privileged and working bloody hard for your wage. I do know that students (well the majority of them) work hard for their degree, but the fact still remains that the student loan is not "earned", it is "given". You are so so lucky to live in a country in which education is open to the majority. Why do you think you have the right to be given more money for free?
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