Work in an Amazon warehouse for ~24k. Take things out of one box and put them in another box 10 hours a day. Hate the job and the workplace but it's catastrophically easy work and I have a 5 minute commute.
Not really struggling financially between myself and partner who is on slightly more, but definitely wouldn't say we're well off at all. Just about treading water if anything.
Wish I could find something else tbh, but my degree has turned out to be useless and I can't go back to being a vehicle tech due to spine injuries so fuck knows.
Hello , how old are you is the real question i make 25k at 21
If ur 30 yeah that’s a problem if ur in your 20s or your working towards a goal using this job as cash flow by all means get it
But if your doing nothing sat in a job which isn’t paying why haven’t you got a fire under your ass and got to work the internet is limitless on what you can learn so please learn
Pro tip about Indeed, most the jobs on there are by external recruiters. Most good jobs don't require recruiters, not until at least the 80K mark because the skills required are very niche. If a company is using a recruiter you can assume one or more of the following:
1. the job to pay ratio doesn't line up e.g. you will be doing more than the job spec expects or doing hidden overtime.
2. the company can't keep people, likely due to a toxic environment.
3. the company has allowed a toxic individual to climb high enough into the company and is now making people miserable for no reason.
4. the company constantly makes illogical decisions that means despite their success they throw most of their gains away on bad practises (like needing recruiters for positions that someone with limited skills could do).
5. the company doesn't train you to do the job or gives you any time to actually improve and climb the ladder.
6. the company doesn't give pay rises, especially not in the span of the first 2 years.
7. the company constantly hires new people above you instead of hiring below and training upwards.
8. hiring is only done to replace someone and rarely a head of the company scaling upwards.
Indeed is one of the worst places to judge the job market because the best jobs don't land there, most of them don't even advertise, a lot of the time the job goes to a friend or the company will be proactively hiring for future work and is taking there time searching out new people.
Hospitality, I work about 37-40 hours a week, making £11.50-£12 an hour (profit sharing). It's going good, I'm not exactly swimming in cash but I make enough that I can save occasionally, plus I don't hate my company which helps
I work nights at Amazon. Some days it's okay, but mostly it's just depressing that I'm basically stuck there because nobody else would pay me as well, even if I went out and got a degree.
Like, I get nearly 30k a year as an associate. The jobs I'm more interested in are paying more like 23-24k. Wages are unbelievably wank in this country and it just enrages me every time I look at a job board.
I’m an off-site caterer. I mostly do weddings and business dinners. Made $36,000 last year. I’ve been cooking for over 20 years, but moved to catering four years ago.
At least I know how to be poor, so this whole failing economy thing isn’t really too traumatic.
I’m old poor, and I gotta say, the new poors are freaking out.
25,250 as Access Management Analyst, but do get a extra 5200 in on-call pay, and a salary increase coming to closer match current market prices. Fully remote is a huge bonus imo too.
Also heavily being pushed to do some studying with budget for offsite crash courses.
Have had it easy the last 4 years so kinda peeved at how busy I've started to become. I want more money though as I don't want to be renting my whole life, so I'll carry on.
Chef making 30k, always loved thr job. It's a passion and hobby so you'll find all the decent chefs love what they do. The crap chefs always moan about life being better elsewhere but never go!😂 jobs difficult at times, but it's as hard as you make it or as easy as you like, just be prepared. Get along with colleagues and life is just cruising.
I'm an account handler working in insurance in the south (not London). I'm on £37k and will get an annual bonus in December which I'm told should be £8k-£10k.
I've never earned this much before but I've also never had so little disposable income. 3 kids, mortgage, other bills etc and it all disappears. My wife has her own business but her income is very up and down. It was about £40k last year but currently struggling to make £1k a month which mostly goes on childcare.
We live a decent life but nothing flashy. Lots of credit card debt. One big unexpected bill will ruin us. No idea what we're gonna do in two years when our mortgage will go up and our help to buy repayments start.
10 years ago, young free and single, I was earning about £20k and going out every weekend, holidays to Vegas and a few grand in the bank. Life was easy!
30k in a warehouse. Contracted for 45 hours, but it's "job and knock," so when we've done all our work, we go home. Normal week is 30-35 hours. It's pretty easy work but not too boring. There's a lot of heavy lifting, and I cycle in which keeps me fit. Plus, I get to drive a forklift around, which is pretty fun. I've been there a year, and I'm really enjoying it. I have a maths degree, so I do think about getting a "real" job in an office or something, but I just can't see it being better than what I have now. I'll be on 40 hours for a start and will MAYBE get 30k starting salary. Plus, there will be a lot more stress, and sitting down all day would be so bad for my health. Progression is the only issue. That would be better somewhere else
Started out of Uni in 2021 with a BSc in Computing on £23k working as a technician in a datacentre, it's mostly manual labour; running underfloor fibre, installing racked servers and switches, cabling them in, dealing with customer tickets. I changed jobs in the same company as a Linux admin on a job advertised as "up to £35k" which is why I applied in the first place, but when I was offered the role, it was at £24,500 for "Experience Reasons". When I got there, I realised there was no real management structure and no training on proprietary systems, we were selling hosting space that wasn't even hardware redundant, and they had three people leave in six months. I ended up signing off work for stress for three months as there were a few scary moments I considered walking into traffic to end the feeling of dread, I nearly lost my girlfriend over it. I get twitchy if I hear a Teams notification go off even now.
I got back into my old job at £24,500 on salary, I preferred the guys I worked with, liked being in the same room as my colleagues, I was liked, and I preferred not working five days a week. It's 4-on, 4-off. Longer shifts but there's actually stuff to do and you can set clear boundaries between work and home. We all know we're underpaid, and we openly detest the company and so-called 'middle-management'. We're supposed to be getting a pay rise, fuck knows what that actually means.
Just under 28k and to be honest pretty well. Would be even better but I'll admit that me and my girlfriend (earns about the same as me) are pretty financially irresponsible. Bills are always paid but we do like our clothes, days out at the football, dinner nights etc.
When it was just my income, again just about managed but was never being particularly strict with money. We do live in a fairly low cost area though, I can walk to work and she works from home so no massive travel costs.
Just shy of 29k, I work for my local council in a sort of social care/finance related role. It can be a very challenging role at times and I won't say I love it by any means, but it's the best paid role I've had for a long time and fairly job secure
(Fairly senior) environmental consultant working 3.5 days a week. I earnt just under £30k last year. I've always valued less work over more money but I'm feeling the pinch this year so some of my non-work time is going to have to go!
I work at a commercial plant farm.
I make $19 an hour.
No benefits.
No perks.
I work 7 days a week. 10 hour shifts.
No OT.
I'm tired.
I have a degree in biotechnology.
Last paycheck was 64 hours and $1009
I get paid weekly.
I just saw this was in the uk thread.
sorry I'm at work.
Customer Advisor - £24,800 (perm agency).
I love my job, I love my workplace. I think I should be paid more because my job role doesn’t wholly reflect my title but who doesn’t.
I’m currently working on other opportunities within the company in a hope to move to a permanent role that isn’t agency. This would mean a significant increase in wages but also more relevant to my skill set.
£30k here as an accountant but I work 2.5 days a week.
Used my earnings when I was doing the London commute full time (and then some burning myself out!) to build a big emergency fund and pension savings so that when the time came (now) and I knew it would, I could just cut my hours, avoid all of the corporate bs and not be expected to work for free in my own time to meet ridiculous deadlines as now I’m not there to be asked.
Wouldn’t ever change the position I’m in now, and I know I’m lucky to be in it but it hasn’t been without a majorly stressful 12 years of graft.
Now in my spare time I write, travel, exercise and just get out and about
Advertising copywriting junior on £30k but it's an odd job because you have to spend almost two years getting into it. Hopefully it goes well and onwards and upwards but it won't be fast at all I'd imagine.
Front end web developer, £35k. Based in the midlands, nice work life balance and office/home split. Close to 7 years in the industry so could be earning a lot more but quality of life is more important to me than my job!
I get max around 27k with overtime as a dental nurse and I get paid the higher end of the regular pay (usually minimum to £15 an hour if you are lucky at a private practice or locum, I'm on £13).
Notoriously underpaid for the job, training and responsibilities we have on our shoulders. I worked at an awful nursing home as a carer before I retrained as a dental nurse, I actually took a pay cut to get the trainee job. I could get a little more doing care work but I love my current job more than anything else I've done and my mental health and happiness are more important than an extra £1 an hour right now.
I wish I could earn this but 4 days a week. I've managed to scrape away some savings but still far from getting a house but managed to put the max for a LISA away last year to get the bonus towards getting on the housing ladder perhaps in the future (I'm 40 this year).
I don't know how I'd survive without my husband who earns a lot more yet we live in an expensive part of the country because of the job he has which kept us going. Logically he can work from home and we could live somewhere cheaper and my husband is only starting to realise we could save so much money doing this...but he loves his office and I don't want to make him miserable the same way I was working in care for so long just to get by.
This is pretty hard to read. I'm 2 months from graduating and the number of people here who have struggled to get above 25k after 20 years in work. Half the time not even using their degree. It does not fill me with joy. I've been working minimum wage for the last 5 since I left high school too. To think I'm destined for not much more than I currently earn, that makes my degree feel pointless.
Maybe I should lower my aspirations...
I'm a senior web content manager for a small business. I have no idea why it's senior as I don't manage anyone (I think that was the plan, but shit changes here all the time). Despite being a supposed senior position, I'm only on £25.5k a year. I got made redundant in my previous role back in September and I really struggled to find anything elses so I just made do.
Hopefully the job title alone will at least get other potential employers interested when I start looking for a new job again. In the meantime, I'm actually getting by just fine. I live in a cheap house in a cheap area that's not a shit hole in West Yorkshire.
Technical Designer, I design modular accommodation layouts and electrical loadings.
I didn't need a degree, I earned last year 29,250 I just had a pay bump to 30,480.
I work from home full time, it's a good gig.
Edit: I originally started at a company on 18K, ive been there for 6 years and my wage has gone from 18K to 30K.
I work hard when I need to and have a lot of time to just do drawings and shut my brain off.
I am however still underpaid compared to some other parts of the business.
Girlfriend is a HTLA and she earns around 22K a year and she has it alot harder than I do.
I worked in IT, climbed the ladder and was making £65k in a senior role.
I hardly slept, I was constantly stressed with high blood pressure and worrying about the next problem around the corner or being thrown under the bus by superiors (I even had panic attacks on the way into work).
4 years ago I packed it in when randomly contacted by a recruiter who was only interested in my art, video and creative skills (which I had used for 20 years but only about 5% of my previous roles) now I am a learning designer (£32k) creating cool arty learning content and I love every day.
I am happier than I have ever been in my previous roles, I gladly forfeit the extra 30 odd grand every year to feel this happy.
My children now have a happy dad that is there for them every day, I get to see their school plays, help with homework and generally being the best dad I can be.
This is me currently. Busy working my way up the IT ladder but not sure its worth the stress to be honest. I did graphic design before this and im considering moving back to that. Only problem is i got rid of my portfolio many years ago. Stupid me!
No degree. Started as an apprentice technician 20years ago. Doing autocad drawings for engineering. Was on 7k a year to start. Worked my way up in the company, moved a couple of times. Now on 68k a year plus car. Just gotta work your way up. Hit your annual appraisal targets. Ask in each one what you need to do to progress until they say you’re at top of where you can be. If that happens then move company to a more senior position in there and do same again
Prop maker and set builder for theatre, events, film, television, festivals, etc.
My income various but it's around £27,000. Been doing it roughly 6 years. COVID fucked me hard. It can be inconsistent and unstable but that also means I have a good smattering of time to myself to do whatever I want. No sick pay or benefits but also I work exactly when I want and I don't when I don't.
When I am working, my job rules. Everyone I work with is arty and salty and weird and highly competent.
I could make more money if I pushed harder and maybe did the legwork to transition more into film, where the bigger budgets are. But I live a comfortable happy life in either case.
30k Groundsman/tree surgeon 50 hour week. I’m at rock bottom mentally been doing this shit since I left school at 16 I’m now 42. Every month I juggle money to pay the bills never not paid, and the grind seems endless. Ideally I want a little coffee shop that sells a few cakes and makes a top notch brew but alas I made my bed. 28 years to go….
This makes me really sad how many people are so low paid after gaining further education. I’m definitely going to be letting my baby know when they’re older University is definitely not the only option 👌
I'm turning 40 this year. I am a Product Owner in the music technology sector. I earn £51K a year. My wage is fairly average for a Product Owner in general, it can go higher in other sectors.
I'm probably not as happy as I was when I was earning £30K. Reasons:
- Mortgage is higher than when we were paying rent.
- I now have two children, whereas when I was 29/30 I did not have any children.
- My passion is music, and I play in a band. But the older you get, the harder it is to maintain momentum with a bunch of other people who have also gotten older and have commitments that mean their interest is not as high as it used to be.
- I've taken on a fair bit of debt to afford some music gear that I wanted. Not a huge amount, only about £5000 all told. But I've been paying that off for two years, and honestly, even though I can afford it... it is stressful to manage.
Actually, I really don't know how to unfuck my life. Probably standard mid-life crisis stuff, but I really feel like I want to leave the UK, stop working altogether, and just focus on music for a few years. My wife probably wouldn't be against that either, but like I say... 2 kids.
self employed jeweller and watchmaker around 35-42k a year on the low end, started when i was about 14 stealing my parents vintage forks and spoons with cool designs on the handle and turned them into rings, it’s an amazing job i rent the whole top floor of my parents house got my own bathroom, bedroom and workshop i love the job couldn’t ask for a better life at 19.
Window fitter, 30k, 40 hours week (~30actual) 37 yo
Been doing this 20 ish years, give or take a year or two travelling.
I actually enjoy my job more as time goes on, being outdoors and usually in a new place each day. some things get easier; having the confidence and experience behind me to sort issues out on the spot but the physicality of it doesn't get any easier.
My knees hurt.
Nightshift retail manager, 33k. Only just started this job recently, having retail experience decided to just apply and see what happens.
I also have a civil engineering degree but never pursued it any further because it would pay less at entry level and working Mon-Fri 9-5 doesn't interest me.
Junior engineering consultant. 26k, been there 6 months now. I live with my mum and don’t pay any bills so I am in a really good position. Throwing tons in my savings and still have a lot of disposable income. I do feel like I’m stealing a living bc it’s my first proper job and I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time. Sometimes I wonder why people are trusting ME to consult on anything. But I enjoy the work a lot!
Healthcare Assistant in the NHS. I'm on just over £22k, and I'm just about breaking even each month after stashing a bit away in a rainy day fund. It's a dirty job, but I've done jobs in the past that earned me more, that also broke my spirit. I'd much rather earn a bit less and do a job I a. Enjoy, and b. Know I'm doing some good in the world (I also get free toast in the morning, and get to slyly look at some pretty tasty women in nurses' uniforms every day, which is a bonus).
26k office admin. Job is super chill with good perks, 4 day working week and 1 day WFH where I just get my personal chores done. Can take a 3 month sabbatical which I'll do in 2026, open to anyone who's been at the company for 3 years. I do have 2 other part time jobs, 1 serving job for extra cash and 1 working with SEN kids (used to volunteer but they started paying me).
The more you earn the less you'll have in the UK I'm afraid.
I'm a property maintenance contractor and purposely managed my work to stay under my 40k per year threshold because it's not worth earning any more. I could maybe earn 50-60k on a good year? But then I get taxed 40% on anything over 40k, I'm not working myself to death to pay the government near 50% of my extra profit.
If anyone likes STEM subjects and is reading this before choosing college, structural engineering (a branch of civil engineering focused on structural design for anything in our built environment) pays around £30k starting fresh out of college and within 10years the salary is going to be around £50k for most of those who become chartered. Going up within a business can bring it to around £70k by the 10th year mark if made junior director.
It is no millionaire life by any stretch, but it does allow for an overall comfortable living within the UK.
Currently 25k, working for private clinical company (farmed out screening contracts). Pay goes up to 28k by default in a couple of years. Easy enough job with little stress. The new company who took us over pay decent mileage and other perks but I feel kinda dirty working for a company that takes huge amounts of NHS money and pockets a lot of it
25k and live in Brum, which is cheap to live and once was more so. Lucky to have bought a small house at a good time (with help) when the area was a bit shitty. It's now very nice.
I advise large companies where to find specific bits of tech they need and facilitate that. It used to be actually ordering the stuff from an office environment but after the pandemic the current venture capital organisation in charge enforced yet another round of efficiency savings and I lucked out. They offered people to reapply for their jobs or the jobs of their managers at such miserly rates nobody stayed. I was peripheral to them at the time having been bought alongside a competitor and not yet integrated and said i'd be happy to avoid the whole situation and stay as long as I could WFH permanently, expecting at the very best a redundancy as soon as the plague ended.
Well they never were able to attract anybody decent with the wages they offered, and there isn't a single person left who even understands the difference between a USB and C13. The managers are not "tech people", and the sales people in *two* cases have *no* GCSE's which I honestly didn't even think possible, but does explain the situation. I no longer do any admin, just read things and interpret them for much higher paid people, whose customers are very much "tech people". It takes me an hour or two a day, but I keep the laptop on while I go about my day doing other stuff.
Not sure I could get used to working a normal job now, although there's plenty I could do with the free time if I wanted to earn more. I find I don't though. I don't need anything more and the time has more value when you've lost and reclaimed it. It's not even as if I don't know how, as I did some day-trading for a few months once and did quite well. I spent the gains on ways to enjoy my spare time rather than waste it trying to make more money, and a bit on paying 10k off my mortgage to keep reducing the debts.
You can't afford debts on 25k but if you don't have huge housing costs (because of having help and/or luck) it's not bad. My rent and bills are about a third of my pay, but the amount of free time I have means I spend more, again counter-balanced by WFH.
It's only *easy* with lots of luck, excellent support, having a partner to share expenses with, lacking kids, and frankly not making any mistakes. To be perfectly honest I've had a lot of jobs and lucked out with all of them in similar ways. I've only ever lacked luck in getting paid well, never on quality of life. It's probably a shitty existence if you're paying expensive rent somewhere you don't want to do be, because you can't advance yourself easily without that luck or support. Context is king.
Recent Architecture graduate on 22k, wouldn’t be able to afford to live if I didn’t live at home. Looking for something in the same industry but still creative, not sure what to do yet
Junior editor for a magazine, £28,500. My fiancee earns about the same amount, and combined it's a pretty decent standard of living. Not so great if you're living alone of course.
I work in admin and am on £26,610 a year. I'm in fortunate position of having small mortgage due to when I got on property ladder. My outgoings still leave me with surplus at end of month to spend as I see fit. Am aware that in current climate I'm lucky to be single yet financially secure.
I make 30kish as a self employed sound engineer. My rates have been rising pretty slowly for the 5 or 6 years o've been doing this, meanwhile the cost of everything has doubled. around 2020 I was on a similar wage and would've said I was pretty comfortable. Now i'm on maybe a grand or two more and find I have to take money out of my savings quite regularly.
(living in London, renting with flatmates)
I make 28k in a very small agency in the south west. I edit, film, do motion graphics and design, mostly in that order, with varying levels of involvement between each tasks. I’m a bit anxious about what is next for me, as I’m currently doing so much, but I’m not particularly specialised in any of it if that makes sense. I graduated with graphics design a few years ago, but I’m not a graphics designer.
I’m still trying to find my niche. I think I want to work with a team of designers in the future and animate their designs, work on motion systems and systems in general for mockups, video lockups etc. very digital, video based work. But I have no clue honestly where to look for something like that, and I’m in the process of sorting out my portfolio first, as I’ve found that having a portfolio spread across Vimeo, behance and Instagram is not very helpful or approachable for future employers.
Senior support worker 24 without any overtime. It's draining I'm tired and need a break but I need to work so I keep going, I just want a few days to myself and not think.
Don't get me wrong I love my job but it can be intense with the violence and mental strain
I deal with property damage claims for an insurer. Last year I was doing the same job for £24k and now I’m on £28k. I started 10 years ago on £13500.
I’ll be honest, I hate insurance and don’t want to do it but it pays the bills and I get to provide for my family. Plus points, it’s 9-5 Monday to Friday and I get decent benefits.
I was really lucky and managed to nab a remote IT technician role that pays around £27k. Been here for almost a year now
The work is fine, a bit boring from time to time but that's the life of being an IT Technician for you.
But with bills & rent coming to just over 1000, I'm constantly skint
I’m 55 female and I worked as an Account Manager in my family business for 20 odd yrs and earned 20k in 2014 when I left. After that I was a Customer Account Lead in aerospace earning 26k (2015) the experience I got from that lead to my current role. My advice is try and get a household name on your cv, work hard, be open to any training and new skills ,work for well known companies if you can as it’s a golden ticket to better opportunities. I took the temp job because I wanted their name on my CV and it paid off🤷♀️
Currently I’m a Project Lead in a household name, blue chip company in the midlands. I’ve been here 9 years. I earn 64k a year. I didn’t go to university. Don’t have a degree and only 4 GCSE’s.
My daughter (30) did 7 years in Uni and has a masters. Now works in the NHS with 100k of student debt for a job that pays 28k. Make it make sense!!!
30k corpo rat for 8 years started at 16k. Currently managing customer accounts, orders and shit. Doing my own work independently. Home office split, good work life balance. Too lazy to go for higher position.
This is the most transparent thread on Reddit I’ve ever witnessed! Great to see the honesty!
I’m on minimum wage… I’m a server at a pub/restaurant on £12 ph part time, I’m using my free time to study to up-skill myself using the governments funded courses for older people.
I owned and operated two gyms in central London we were breaking even and getting more clients BUT then covid hit, people left the city, WFH started and I lost my £800,000 I invested… back to square one after 20 years of saving so I could pursue my dream of small business ownership…. All down the plug hole of life….how stupid was I thinking I was gonna make it.
I now have NOTHING I’m selling my house, sold my car, I’m selling my wedding rings too as I have three kids to feed, and I often steal food from work to feed my kids.
I’m too proud to use a food bank.
After reading all the posts here. My eyes are opening to the mess I’m in…. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.
Just keep going, day by day!
Trying to sell the house as I’m on a variable interest rate, and it’s going UP UP UP UP… I’m nearly on 7% interest rate now!! So the mortgage is nearly at £7,000 pm …. Or course my partner works … but we’re going backwards, so we’re desperate to sell!
Good luck to everyone out there. I hope we can all turn our luck around soon.
£21k - Senior PR Account Executive. I’m fully remote and enjoy most aspects of my job and lucky to have a great team but think I could be paid more although I’ve only been at the company for just over 18 months
I teach curriculum music in primary schools to classrooms of children. I've been doing various types of music teaching for many years (workshops, instrumental 1-to-1 lessons). I know how you feel - I'm pretty experienced as a teacher/musician and get good feedback from every school I work in. I have a degree in music from a good uni and qualifications in several instruments and the new company I started working for this year has been great comparatively for pay but obviously still low compared to other jobs. If I could cope with the admin/workload/beuracracy I could be earning another 5-15k as a qualified teacher but my wife is a head of dept and the stress for me is just not worth it
I’m starting a new job soon which pays between 26k and a smidge over 30k depending on hours worked (35 vs 40)… I’m happier as it’s slightly more money than I’m on now, and closer to home (smaller fuel bill), but I feel like I’m years behind where I should be.
I'm a butcher in a bespoke farm shop where we raise our own livestock, 20 years experience in the trade, qualified to the highest level you can be with this profession and I get £34k (+ or - a little depending on festive overtime) for working 18 days a month. This is almost unheard of in my trade, owner of the business is actually a decent dude who pays people well that work hard for him. I know pretty much every other butcher in my area and some of the working conditions/pay are really poor. I kind of fell into this trade by accident and necessity at the time but quickly realised I had a knack for it and with my current setup I feel like I'm in a good place in life
Support worker for people with autism. On around 25k a year depending on over time. Considering I am responsible for 2 vulnerable peoples safety for the entire time I'm at work I think it takes the piss. I've no idea what else I'd do but certainly think the job deserves much better rates of pay
Partner works in Occupational Health. She's Senior in her role on £29.5k - she could move, but her company committed to WFH and she hasn't been into the office in 4 years now, which is worth so much more than the gross figure on her P60.
What we do have to combat, however, is her very minor case of agoraphobia. She definitely handles big crowds, airports, public transport and complex travel plans worse than before the pandemic.
But in terms of Work-Life Balance, I've never seen her happier overall! Has a good relationship with her colleagues, who are all also in a good mood because they have WFH'd for years. They all meet up every month or so for a drink to keep things flowing.
I earn about 28k a year, working nights in a call centre. I always thought earning that much I'd be comfortable, but with no partner also working, I just about scrape by. Cozzy lives has really kicked my ass.
Teacher. 50 hrs a week and ungrateful parents constantly on my case for issues out of my control. Love working with the kids but my god it isn't worth the pay.
I was earning 24k up until 2 years ago. My only advice is to keep punching and keep job huntin. I went from 24k to 30k in 2022 and recently went from 30k to 40k by switching companies. I would have stayed in my previous place if they'd followed up with a payrise that I was promised a year ago, that never happened so I walked.
Decontamination technician for 16 years. On the lowest pay band in the hospital despite the amount of knowledge we need for the job. We used to be one pay band up from the bottom and have incremental pay increases as we gained experience but they did away with the lowest pay band and the pay progression so now we start at the bottom and stay there. And now minimum wage has caught up with us! I've never been on minimum wage before, even as a teenager working in retail!
$27,900 as a “Wellness advisor” I’m really just a bud tender. Problem is where I live you could make over twice the minimum wage and it’s still not enough to support yourself. If I didn’t have a side hustle I’d be on the street
Finally my time to shine!
Left military in 2020 partially disabled.
Get a little money every month that allows me a little.more freedom when working.
I have 2 part times. About 30 hrs with both jobs.
Job #1 @ golf course 18/HR
Very easygoing and lots of cools perks.
Play golf for free and discount from the awesome bar and grill we have onsite. I just answer phones and work the register. Sometimes give a hand with other stuff. Truly beautiful course and really helps my mental to have nature so accessible. Plus im a people person.
Job #2 investigative work for the state. Involves lots of public transit travel so i get to see alot of my state. I also schedule my travel around my needs. Sometimes I travel to a grocery store to shop. To a mall to browse or watch a movie or even to my relatives house to visit. Downside is this goes even for inclement weather which can be rough sometimes. Also 18/HR.
So no health insurance really sucks but the freedom of movement and work/life balance is second to none. I like being home to take care of the apartment/dogs. Neither job drug tests which means I can smoke in peace for my back pain. And I take off w/e I need to. Sometimes I work most of the day but its fine its a happy tired at jobs I like vs the misery is used to experience at manual labor/dead end jobs.
I was thinking about full time but tbh i love the way it is r n. So yeah tool awhile but I found my way. I dont need a shit ton of money I just need some to save and have fun. Having free time and the ability to do what I want without feeling dead inside is most important.
As a manager of the garden maintenance and landscaping department for a well known garden centre I was on just over £30k, now I work for myself doing the same thing, and pay myself £12k, the rest stays in the business. It stings but I’m building something for me which (hopefully) will pay off in the long run. 35 yo by the way
Wow this thread is depressing as fuck. I hate this country. Absolute dog shit that so many people are struggling.
I’m really lucky tbh. I work for a charity doing fundraising in a niche/specialist area that is also my passion and hobby. I’m part time (21 hours) and early £19.8k. Pro rata £33k. My partner is director of his own biz so we have a relatively comfortable life financially. But he works extremely long hours, away from home most of the time. We have a toddler so I’m solo parenting majority of the week.
Both of us have a background in hospitality. Before Covid I ran a 600 capacity student bar/nightclub for 32k working 50 hours a week. Loved it but wanted a better work/life balance. Hospo is dogshit for that. But it does teach you tonnes of transferable skills.
I worknin engineering and stated on 22k worked my way up the chain now im on 42k and next step is supervisor. Its taken 15 years of hard work though you dont get anything for free
Terminal controller at a port. Plan where containers go on vessels/ trains etc cushty job away from the elements after years of outdoor work. And some nice time off on my rotor to enjoy my hobbies
I know 3 people that went from 22k to 30k-50k. They are more broke now despite having the same fixed costs. They just spend more on food deliveries, snacks or other impulsive purchases.
I'm a 2nd line support engineer for an IT company at 30k
Before this job which is very recent I was a Theatre Technician with a specialism in Lighting Control Programming at 24k
Been doing IT/Theatre for 8 years professionally, got my degree in theatre tech in 2017 but have been doing IT since 2014 in work
I left theatre recently going back into IT because of the lack of time with my family working most evenings and weekends
Im in my 30s and finally got a 30K salary. Project Manager. Its not easy and way over worked sometimes, but it's a fun job no two days are the same. Should i be paid more? Hell yeah but is what it is. Been there for 2 years.
I've been a tyre fitter/nuts and bolts mechanic for over 12 years. I earn a little over minimum wage. I genuinely wish I hadn't chosen this role, but I got comfortable with basically zero commute. I'm now looking at a potential shift into either working at a nature reserve or going all in with a friend for waste/scrap collection.
I love working outside and with my hands but the pay is almost always shit. I've accepted the terrible pay and I am just trying to find a job I won't detest for another 10+ years.
23k HR Assistant, want to do my level 5 and move up, to the 30-40k bracket, work said they would pay for my level 5 when I joined now and be tried to them for 2 years, they are backtracking and saying they will pay for my level 3 as my role doesn’t require level 5. I’ve just got a payrise of £120 and for me to do a 9 month level 5 course it would cost me £119 a month and I have a few months left to give them an answer on the level 3, think I’m gonna pay out of pocket for the level 5, not be tied to them and leave as soon as I’ve got the level 5 and something else comes up
I was fortunate enough to get my foot on the property ladder early 2000’s and my mortgage repayments are less than £200 a month now (count my blessings every day) Im on a low wage of 23.5k a year after losing a couple of jobs but can honestly say I’m the happiest I’ve been in many many years after finding a job I enjoy. It’s made me realise money is not everything but enjoying my job is.
Edit: used to be on 32k a year but walked after becoming overwhelmed with depression and anxiety.
Script editor, 31k-50k per year.
31k is just an average salary for a script editor, but it can fluctuate depending on who my clients are, sometimes you get big clients who pay a lot more. It's great, I love my job. Flexible hours, mostly working from home, sometimes I don't even have to do much, the screenwriter(s) has already done a great job
Assistant accountant, about to go up to £27,500 from £25,000; I've been in my current role for three years.
I really enjoy the job, and my accountancy qualification is being paid for by my employer. If a higher paid role in my department came up, I'd probably go for it as we have a planned extension to pay for, and the first quote we got was literally more than we bought the house for five years ago...
Currently earning £21k after expenses as a wedding photographer. Honestly, I love it. Sure, money is tight, but I have TONNES of free time to do whatever I want with and the winter months are kind of like a super long holiday every year. I could work harder and earn a lot more, but I’m a bit of a sloth. I also get paid to shoot a few international weddings each year and just extend those to make them into free holidays, so I get to travel a good amount still. It’s great!
I'm a bin man and earn 26.5k before tax. I'm just a loader, piss easy job. It was pretty damn good until recently, as the council now makes us work our full contracted hours.
I would recommend moving into software sales if you can to anyone in here.
I’m a hiring manager, and while we aren’t hiring anyone without experience right now, we hire candidates with 1-2 years for £40-45k and we are fully remote.
£30k and change, Store Manager for a nationwide wine retailer. 45 hour contract. Back breaking labour, long stretches working solo. Absolutely underpaid for the level of knowledge and amount of work expected from us.
No pay rises given out this year. Assistant managers now earn the same /ph as entry level sales assistants and drivers due to the minimum wage increase. It's insulting.
I earn ~£1.50 more per hour than minimum wage, tham our drivers and part timers, for a huge amount more stress and responsibility. Reduced staffing budgets across the board also, so more work for less pay.
How is it going? Not great! Physically and mentally exhausted all the time, targets that are increasingly harder to hit with less hands in store to achieve them. They are grinding us in to the dirt and seem to think the odd pizza Friday will make up for no pay rises to match the cost of living increases we are all seeing.
lol 25K :L you lucky ol' dog you! I worked in an independent health food store for nearly 7 years. I was at one point offered a supervisor position but due to an unreasonable coworker with a chip on her shoulder i asked to not carry on with the supervisor role half way through the "training". My manager said fine, but i'd obviously have a reduction in pay but i could keep a "small" increase from the base minimum wage rate, which was like 50p or something, while still doing "some" of my duties. This turned out to be basically all of my duties without any of the credit. My official role from that point was shop assistant but i'd have to do everything a supervisor did (opening/closing, wastage, orders, banking etc) complete and utter farce.
On average i'd work 6 days a week sometimes ridiculously 7, my hours varied from 150 to 200 hours a month. It was a rota system aswell so you didn't have set time off sometimes i'd end up doing over 10 days in a row, and the worse were when it was closing late and then opening early because that basically meant i'd have to go home straight to be to be up early enough to get to work on time (which was like 6).
I have one of my former pay slips here:
28/02/2018:
150 hours at £7.50 an hour total before tax £1125 total after tax £1068.94
If you say my average month was 150 hours just for ease of calculation my net yearly income after tax would be around £12.827.28
I’m just on the edge with a summer job I got. I’m hoping to work there permanently and work my way up to boost that salary so fingers crossed. I always heard the jobs I’m looking at, it’s easier to get into once you worked a summer job with them so hopefully I’ll impress and things will look up from there.
If I don’t get any permanent jobs with them, they are the type of job that will look fantastic on my CV anyway so I still have high hopes for the future.
I'm constantly amazed that jobs I'm looking at are paying less than I was getting twenty-five years ago. Freelance rates don't seem to have changed either.
Slot game artist here on 21.5k/year. I only started in 2022 so I'm considered a "junior", hence the shit pay. However sometimes it does bother me when I think about my company making literal millions off poor gambling addicts while I have to save up for months for a new pair of headphones 🙃
The only reason I'm doing it is because at least it's an actual art job. I spend my day drawing 9-5 which is my favourite thing to do, and get paid for it. I'm still lucky compared to my uni mates, who work in McDonalds or Deichmanns with an art diploma.
Is this a decent job? Do you have to know coding etc?
I'm a 2d animator, but since covid work dried up for me so I'm stuck filling shelves at my local tesco.
£21k would be a huge step up for me financially and I'd never considered that as a job option before but it sounds like it could be a good way forward for me (to at least get me out of retail).
30k a year forestry forwarder/ excavator and telehandler operator mostly. Along with other random jobs round the country estate I work on. Its a really cushty job but there's a massive building project near me looking for machine operators and offering double what I'm on now. Seriously tempted to get my construction site certs and switch jobs.
I just got a new job working for a bank in the call centre, incoming calls only, all training provided, starting salary £25k. I have no qualifications really besides my work experience as I was a restaurant manager most of my working life. So yeah, call centre for a bank.
I’m an IT analyst, £27K, just turned 20 last week and been here just under a month. Quite happy where I’m at and getting nearer to paycheck #1. Got 5 years of experience (including weekend and evening work, two apprenticeships and a full time job) in IT, a level 4 in cybersecurity and hope to move into a more cyber security role as soon as I can. My last job (I was at for 5 years) I was more in security but was only paid £15K salary so made the move here and it’s going well so far
22K I'm a secretary in a GP surgery - mainly involves sending referrals and letters to hospitals and consultants. We do a fair few private letters as well when patients ask the GP to write a letter for their benefits/housing/blue badge. They're little money makers for the GPs.
It can be stressful in terms of not wanting to make mistakes. If I don't send someone's referral for suspected cancer or their urgent referral for chest pain that can have drastic consequences. Also, obviously the NHS is on it's knees, the waiting lists are exceptionally long so patients contact us wanting us to fix the situation and we just can't.
It can be interesting, I work with nice people and it's pretty flexible on working times but the money is a major issue.
I work as a GP Driver for the NHS in Scotland. Work 3 nights a week, Fri/Sat/Sun midnight til 8am.
Propped up entirely by the unsocial hours extra pay. I'm £13 base but I get closer to £22 an hour. Last year I earned 28k before tax.
Most shifts I sit about watching shit on my phone, with the odd bit of driving here and there. Some shifts are busy.
Pissed away my school years and college so I've fuck all in qualifications and I'm loathe to leave to either go study or jump into a job with half the hourly rate.
Been here 17 years.
Im on 24k.
Im a "driver liaison" for truck drivers. I book in their deliveries, sort out their problems etc.
I've been in the transport industry for 3 years now and there is thankfully scope for the job to get harder and the wage to increase.
£24k as a planning administrator for a large alcohol company. I buy ingredients and schedule brewing. Casually looking for a new job in a different field.
Chef De Partie ≈ 20k - absolutely not worth it, I fell into cooking, can’t stand the hours or the politics. Some of the people I work with make up for a lot of it because we have a laugh but 4 years ago it was a stop gap income.
I’m sure a more passionate foodie would find it worthwhile though, especially someone younger who was living at home with family.
In the past 18 months I've gone from 27.5 to just under 31.
The difference has been pretty helpful, managed to get myself a better car etc. The cost of living is chipping away and I'm probably overspending but I'm managing.
Going to concentrate on reducing my outgoings over the summer to try and give myself a little more breathing room.
I'm a Local Government employee, I can't get too specific but I look after a budget of £150 million a year, I'm on £30.5K including my very recent pound a day (after tax) pay increase.
all good. Earn about 28k a year but money back for emergency funding, now own a flat . Bills have gotten tighter than i would like the last year but still its good
Quantity surveyor, I colour in drawings pricing work. Long time doing it now (20+ years)
Massive jump up in last 5 years to 43k and car.
Can be stressful but also a good screw
This makes for sombre reading.
My guess is a lot of the people in this thread have been to Uni or at least further education and yet are still on a shade over minimum wage.
Seems like there is no benefit or reward for taking on 50k+- of debt.
It’s not really debt though as you don’t have to pay it back, it’s more like a graduate tax, and you have to start earning £25k to pay anything back. Plenty of research out there indicates that over a lifetime those with undergraduate degrees will typically earn at least £100k more than those without. Although I did see something from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that reckoned 1 in 5 would have been financially better off without going to uni. But 4 out of 5 are, and those odds sound good to me.
Some of the worst jobs I ever had were around the 30k mark. Not high up enough to delegate all my work and receive a huge pay packet, but high enough to be expected to work my arse off and take on everyone else's too
Just a quick thing. If you are living with your partner and are both earning about 25k, then you're far better off than just one of you working and earning 50. I earn 45k and support a family on it, but I get rinsed so much for tax/student loan etc that my take home pay isn't actually miles more. Was pretty disappointed when I saw my pay after I had my big pay rise. My wife has just started a few new jobs so hopefully it might ease it a bit
26y on 44k. Project managing. I’ve never been to Uni and no project management jobs require University. Im at the bottom of the pay band and it only goes up from here, I took this job 18 months ago with no experience and absolutely love it.There are short 1 week courses you can do to give you the edge over other applicants but aren’t necessary at all I.e PRINCE2
Grounds maintenance and tree surgery groundie,
Self employed but pulling in about £480 week (only het paid when i work obvs)
Im managing... just. My partner is on 23k and we're extremely lucky to be rennovating a property instead of paying the rent (shit to live in a building site but hey, its free... kinda)
I just about make ends meet and run a shitbox car but fuck me, when something big goes wrong i am proper fucked. Going back to uni in September for a masters so hoping i can up my career prospects after that... really fucking hoping 🤣🤣
I am currently earning band 3 NHS pay (£22813) as a medical laboratory assistant (MLA) working within blood sciences at Cambridge university hospitals NHS Trust.
The laboratory is a very important part of any hospital as we are directly involved in ~70% of ALL clinical decisions that occur within the hospital. My main role is to run patient full blood counts and coagulation tests on our analysers which can come from Addenbrooke's, Rosie, Royal Papworth and West Suffolk hospital, plus almost every GP surgery within Cambridgeshire. This means our laboratory has to process 15,000 to 20,000 samples a day, everyday with the requirement to meet turn around times ranging between 1 hour and 8 hours depending on urgency. Even though I work indoors I often walk 10-15 km during a shift to ensure that the laboratory is running smoothly. My work shift patterns are often 7:45 AM to 8:45 PM for day shifts and 8 PM to 9 AM on nightshifts. So I only often work 3 or 4 days a week and the days I work are never the same but some days are long and stressful if our machines are not working and unable to process patient samples.
After tax, NI and pension deductions, I spend 65% of my paycheck in rent atm and living in an expensive area drains a lot of free money around very quickly and I had to move away from family and my partner for this job so I have very little life here. My future plans are to become a Biomedical Scientist which is a protected title and requires a person to pass a competency assessment. If I do this I will be able to look at the clinical data provided by laboratory machines and directly help nurses and doctors to help treat patients. Luckily the team I am with I have bonded with really well and the work I do feels very rewarding, I am proud to work within the NHS and I enjoy being able to serve the public the best way I know how to.
I’m an HR assistant and I earn £23.4K. Dont feel it’s worth it at all, especially when you sometimes have to spoon feed managers who are on almost 10k more
I’m a chef and baker at a cafe. It’s going good but it’s hard work, just finished 7 days in a row. I shouldn’t complain because the hours are decent, 8-16:30 but it’s a lot for a small kitchen with 2-3 chefs (myself included).
Graphic Designer 28k. Been with the same company for 15 years, now senior member of staff. They don’t pay well. I live alone too so sometimes things are tight.
I'm a supervisor at a mid-high end chain restaurant. Going on about 2 and a half years, at ~25k (zero hours, so that's variable).
It pays the bills, but I have varicose veins and no social life, and the industry is - a little bit - going to shit atm. It also has absolutely nothing to do with my degree - but that's what graduating during the pandemic does for you.
But I'll be gone in two months and out of the bracket for this question, so who am I to complain, really?
I work in a hospital sterilisation unit. Not owned by the NHS but we’re based in an NHS hospital and are contracted to their trust. Basically we clean and sterilise the surgical tools ready to be re-used for another surgery. I’m one of the team leaders so 1 step above entry level and I’m on 24K a year. Definitely feel under paid though as our contracts are matched to the NHS band they pay their own employees for this job. Which is the same as what they’d pay porters and basic cleaners. Considering our work is vital for both elective and life saving operations and we’re exposed to the same risks contact with blood born pathogens as surgeons I think the NHS staff and us by proxy should be considered at least 1 band higher up the food chain.
I’m a dental nurse and I barely making 24k a year working full time. It sucks working in dentistry as a whole is difficult I’m not surprised so many are leaving the profession.
Jaysua. I'm on what's considered big money now. But when I started they started me on 25k in SWE because I did not go to uni and they didn't believe half of what I told them. I'm self taught cause I wanted to be comfortable.
I didn’t realize I was in CasualUK before reading some of these and I was trying to figure out how anybody in America could be making 20k and not be living in complete poverty. Average rent alone in the US is like 1,400$. Pretty crazy.
Fine I guess. I'm on 26k and money is reasonably tight post-cossie-crisis. My bills are paid and I am decently fed, but its a tight balance between buying things that I need but aren't urgent such as clothes, stuff I want like going to see plays or some cute tchotchke, and saving for things like my fridge dying. Be nice to have a holiday at some point, I've not gone away since before the pandemic.
I read some of these comments, and I feel 80% of you are massively underpaid.
Also, it's kinda sad to see people who have great education and qualifications work in jobs that (no offence intended) low skilled work.
I was working in IT first line from the age of 19, earning 24k, and now I am im a senior infrastructure engineer at 33, earning nearly triple that wage.
Sad state of the job market in the UK and both public and private sector.
I'm on just over 30k, mechanical design engineer. Worked through a fully funded degree apprenticeship with my employer. I feel quite fortunate all things considered.
Jesus guys ask for payrises, you are all worth more than this, i left chefing and started as a builder from day 1 with 0 experience im earning £17-£25 ph depending on the job, take home is 900-1000 pw
Internal Recruiter 36ish-k.
I studied HR for a bit but it's unrelated to the role. So no experience really required
Sort of renegotiated my salary a few years ago
I work at a SEN school as the chef. It's sweet as. I work alone, Get to have a laugh with kids all day and cook what I like plus all the holidays are a bonus... its a chefs dream if they're sick of working 70 hour weeks 😂
28.5k as junior environmental consultant - late 20s.
Spent my teens and 20s working all the time, even through uni when my peers were being supported by their parents. Earned anywhere from 18-26k in retail, customer complaints in a call centre, and groundworking and labouring. Always felt like I'm on the edge of poverty and haven't managed to have any savings.
Recently started this job and I love it - working in a cutting edge field in an ethical industry, it's great. Never earned so much, but with inflation, the debt I've accrued, and cost of living I feel like I'm in the same situation I was in when I was 23 and earning 22k. Looking forward to a pay rise when I've been at the company a bit longer and can lead my own projects. Maybe then I can start saving for a house.
Are US answers allowed? I make 32k. I work for a small full fab factory that creates big machines that mill up asphalt for reclamation. I specifically sell replacement parts and troubleshoot the machines for current customers. Kinda like tech support and sales mix.
Ive been doing it for about 3 years now. I used to make more before lay offs during Covid. How its going? Like a roller coaster. When everything is smooth sailing, I have enough money for everything I need and some extra expenses and extra fun stuff. But when something goes wrong it all falls apart. Right now for instance, I am -$1009 in my account because my insurance dropped the ball and didn't cover a Dr appt that should be covered. So i have to go through hoops to get that covered, meanwhile it over drew my account and all my bills and expenses go through and I get hit with over charge fees. Now my car is making a noise that sounds like gavel when I break. Pretty sure my pads are spent and I am grinding my roters but I cant do anything about it and I still gotta go to work.
But once I dig myself out, if things calm down it will be good again. Living on that that blades edge where any change in life will have you falling off. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to live where I do. I rent a room with a buddy. They have not increased rent a single time since I have lived there. Going on 7 or so years now. And its crazy affordable. if I had to pay market rate for a room id be drowning full stop.
29.9k before tax, working as a HGV trailer inspection technician for a small private company, occasionally do welding and fabrication which i really enjoy, the hours are very flexible as in most days if we get enough done we go home, we also work in pairs so its not boring, been doing this 6 years now and started on 25k.
Its not something i ever thought i would do as my background and passion is IT, but that sector really did a number on my mental health due to my boss being a real dick.
Im 41 now and always had a ton of debt, been on and off some sort of benefits until i started here, my wife makes 23k as an housekeeper so combined we are now comfortable, most debts are off, multiple holidays a year and now saving to put a deposit down on an house.
Lab tech. 24k and pissed that I’ll be making min wage. Comfortable but not wanting to me on that when I’m close to 30. Looking to retrain into Radiography - high demand, 28k start and with chances to learn and go into agency work in the future.
£24,336 per year (NHS band 3)
Administrator in the NHS (community mental health team mostly but also work in inpatient services too). I actually enjoy my job, it's really interesting and i rub shoulders with nurses, consultants, social workers and all sorts of other professionals on a daily basis and they're all really lovely people. I've learned so much just by being in the same room as them. Clinical and community support workers are also on the same pay as me.
For contrast a mental health nurse starts on band 5 which is £28,407 per year. These people have degrees and have done plenty of training and have to pay for a NMC pin every year just to do their job along with the extra responsibility and pressure for 4 grand a year...
Also phlebotomists are on a band 2 which is £22,383 per year, they put needles in people etc. So i'm not doing too bad in the grand scheme of things.
If you want to earn loads of money, don't work for the NHS, the T*ries have ripped it apsrt under everyomes noses. But if you want a job where you can go home and think "i've helped someone today" then it's definitely worth it. Sure extra money would be good, nobody in their right mind would turn down extra money, but the work:life balance i have is perfect for me and more importantly i'm in a job i enjoy going to.
Sure there's some other perks; bank holidays off, weekends off (unless doing overtime), pension, 33 days annual leave on top of bank holidays, up to 6 months full sick pay and we did used to get a round of applause on a thursday evening but that seems to have died off 🙄
I first started in the NHS as an admin apprentice about 13 years ago.
Went from that to band 2, band 4, band 5 and now band 6. All by just picking up more and more tasks and gaining experience, then applying for the right jobs.
I don't have a degree or A-levels, so would really recommend the NHS to anyone with a good head on their shoulders that wants to progress but doesn't have a degree.
Yeh i started similarly, was a DWP scheme thing so did 25 hours a week while still being able to claim benefits and from there i got a band 2 office assistant role, then a band 3 secretarial role, then a band 4 medical secretary/PA role but it was a 50 mile round trip each day to work & back so sacked that in for a band 3 admin role much closer to home and now in the same team but a different office which is a 10 min bike ride to and from work and as i've mentioned loads of times i'm talking to some very senior and very intelligent people every day and i've learned a ridiculous amount just by being there and asking questions.
Have done my first year mental health nurse training before funding got sliced so i'm not formally qualified clinically but know enough about a lot of psychiatric drugs, diagnoses & symptoms, mental health act processes and everything else around mental health services to be able to not only hold my own in a conversation with consultant psychiatrists and mental health nurses but also to be someone that friends and friends of friends come to for quick questions. But i also caveat everything with the fact my advice isn't gospel and to always seek professionals opinions as well. Also i know enough to know when i don't know enough about something so will say i don't know but can find out.
I have A Levels of sorts (2 X D's and 1 X E) but experience is much more valuable in the NHS than qualifications when it comes to working your way up, luckily there are courses you can go on once you're employed in the NHS which i don't think you'd get anywhere else.
Work in an Amazon warehouse for ~24k. Take things out of one box and put them in another box 10 hours a day. Hate the job and the workplace but it's catastrophically easy work and I have a 5 minute commute. Not really struggling financially between myself and partner who is on slightly more, but definitely wouldn't say we're well off at all. Just about treading water if anything. Wish I could find something else tbh, but my degree has turned out to be useless and I can't go back to being a vehicle tech due to spine injuries so fuck knows.
Im on disability
Hello , how old are you is the real question i make 25k at 21 If ur 30 yeah that’s a problem if ur in your 20s or your working towards a goal using this job as cash flow by all means get it But if your doing nothing sat in a job which isn’t paying why haven’t you got a fire under your ass and got to work the internet is limitless on what you can learn so please learn
Pro tip about Indeed, most the jobs on there are by external recruiters. Most good jobs don't require recruiters, not until at least the 80K mark because the skills required are very niche. If a company is using a recruiter you can assume one or more of the following: 1. the job to pay ratio doesn't line up e.g. you will be doing more than the job spec expects or doing hidden overtime. 2. the company can't keep people, likely due to a toxic environment. 3. the company has allowed a toxic individual to climb high enough into the company and is now making people miserable for no reason. 4. the company constantly makes illogical decisions that means despite their success they throw most of their gains away on bad practises (like needing recruiters for positions that someone with limited skills could do). 5. the company doesn't train you to do the job or gives you any time to actually improve and climb the ladder. 6. the company doesn't give pay rises, especially not in the span of the first 2 years. 7. the company constantly hires new people above you instead of hiring below and training upwards. 8. hiring is only done to replace someone and rarely a head of the company scaling upwards. Indeed is one of the worst places to judge the job market because the best jobs don't land there, most of them don't even advertise, a lot of the time the job goes to a friend or the company will be proactively hiring for future work and is taking there time searching out new people.
Hospitality, I work about 37-40 hours a week, making £11.50-£12 an hour (profit sharing). It's going good, I'm not exactly swimming in cash but I make enough that I can save occasionally, plus I don't hate my company which helps
I was making 28K changed job to 35K in August and honestly absolutely no difference except I have no time to myself
I work nights at Amazon. Some days it's okay, but mostly it's just depressing that I'm basically stuck there because nobody else would pay me as well, even if I went out and got a degree. Like, I get nearly 30k a year as an associate. The jobs I'm more interested in are paying more like 23-24k. Wages are unbelievably wank in this country and it just enrages me every time I look at a job board.
I’m an off-site caterer. I mostly do weddings and business dinners. Made $36,000 last year. I’ve been cooking for over 20 years, but moved to catering four years ago. At least I know how to be poor, so this whole failing economy thing isn’t really too traumatic. I’m old poor, and I gotta say, the new poors are freaking out.
I’m an apprentice accountant and feel like my pay is progressing relatively well though it feels I may never buy a house at this rate!
25,250 as Access Management Analyst, but do get a extra 5200 in on-call pay, and a salary increase coming to closer match current market prices. Fully remote is a huge bonus imo too. Also heavily being pushed to do some studying with budget for offsite crash courses. Have had it easy the last 4 years so kinda peeved at how busy I've started to become. I want more money though as I don't want to be renting my whole life, so I'll carry on.
Chef making 30k, always loved thr job. It's a passion and hobby so you'll find all the decent chefs love what they do. The crap chefs always moan about life being better elsewhere but never go!😂 jobs difficult at times, but it's as hard as you make it or as easy as you like, just be prepared. Get along with colleagues and life is just cruising.
I'm an account handler working in insurance in the south (not London). I'm on £37k and will get an annual bonus in December which I'm told should be £8k-£10k. I've never earned this much before but I've also never had so little disposable income. 3 kids, mortgage, other bills etc and it all disappears. My wife has her own business but her income is very up and down. It was about £40k last year but currently struggling to make £1k a month which mostly goes on childcare. We live a decent life but nothing flashy. Lots of credit card debt. One big unexpected bill will ruin us. No idea what we're gonna do in two years when our mortgage will go up and our help to buy repayments start. 10 years ago, young free and single, I was earning about £20k and going out every weekend, holidays to Vegas and a few grand in the bank. Life was easy!
30k in a warehouse. Contracted for 45 hours, but it's "job and knock," so when we've done all our work, we go home. Normal week is 30-35 hours. It's pretty easy work but not too boring. There's a lot of heavy lifting, and I cycle in which keeps me fit. Plus, I get to drive a forklift around, which is pretty fun. I've been there a year, and I'm really enjoying it. I have a maths degree, so I do think about getting a "real" job in an office or something, but I just can't see it being better than what I have now. I'll be on 40 hours for a start and will MAYBE get 30k starting salary. Plus, there will be a lot more stress, and sitting down all day would be so bad for my health. Progression is the only issue. That would be better somewhere else
Started out of Uni in 2021 with a BSc in Computing on £23k working as a technician in a datacentre, it's mostly manual labour; running underfloor fibre, installing racked servers and switches, cabling them in, dealing with customer tickets. I changed jobs in the same company as a Linux admin on a job advertised as "up to £35k" which is why I applied in the first place, but when I was offered the role, it was at £24,500 for "Experience Reasons". When I got there, I realised there was no real management structure and no training on proprietary systems, we were selling hosting space that wasn't even hardware redundant, and they had three people leave in six months. I ended up signing off work for stress for three months as there were a few scary moments I considered walking into traffic to end the feeling of dread, I nearly lost my girlfriend over it. I get twitchy if I hear a Teams notification go off even now. I got back into my old job at £24,500 on salary, I preferred the guys I worked with, liked being in the same room as my colleagues, I was liked, and I preferred not working five days a week. It's 4-on, 4-off. Longer shifts but there's actually stuff to do and you can set clear boundaries between work and home. We all know we're underpaid, and we openly detest the company and so-called 'middle-management'. We're supposed to be getting a pay rise, fuck knows what that actually means.
PhD Student - 18K a year and currently considering how much I need a second kidney. Send help.
£36k tax free. A year. 2nd officer on an offshore ship. 1 month on, 1 month off. 6 months of work in a year total. 25 years old.
I work as a part time farm hand for a school district. 9-2 Monday through Friday. $29,900 a year
Just under 28k and to be honest pretty well. Would be even better but I'll admit that me and my girlfriend (earns about the same as me) are pretty financially irresponsible. Bills are always paid but we do like our clothes, days out at the football, dinner nights etc. When it was just my income, again just about managed but was never being particularly strict with money. We do live in a fairly low cost area though, I can walk to work and she works from home so no massive travel costs.
Just shy of 29k, I work for my local council in a sort of social care/finance related role. It can be a very challenging role at times and I won't say I love it by any means, but it's the best paid role I've had for a long time and fairly job secure
(Fairly senior) environmental consultant working 3.5 days a week. I earnt just under £30k last year. I've always valued less work over more money but I'm feeling the pinch this year so some of my non-work time is going to have to go!
I work at a commercial plant farm. I make $19 an hour. No benefits. No perks. I work 7 days a week. 10 hour shifts. No OT. I'm tired. I have a degree in biotechnology. Last paycheck was 64 hours and $1009 I get paid weekly. I just saw this was in the uk thread. sorry I'm at work.
Customer Advisor - £24,800 (perm agency). I love my job, I love my workplace. I think I should be paid more because my job role doesn’t wholly reflect my title but who doesn’t. I’m currently working on other opportunities within the company in a hope to move to a permanent role that isn’t agency. This would mean a significant increase in wages but also more relevant to my skill set.
£30k here as an accountant but I work 2.5 days a week. Used my earnings when I was doing the London commute full time (and then some burning myself out!) to build a big emergency fund and pension savings so that when the time came (now) and I knew it would, I could just cut my hours, avoid all of the corporate bs and not be expected to work for free in my own time to meet ridiculous deadlines as now I’m not there to be asked. Wouldn’t ever change the position I’m in now, and I know I’m lucky to be in it but it hasn’t been without a majorly stressful 12 years of graft. Now in my spare time I write, travel, exercise and just get out and about
Advertising copywriting junior on £30k but it's an odd job because you have to spend almost two years getting into it. Hopefully it goes well and onwards and upwards but it won't be fast at all I'd imagine.
Front end web developer, £35k. Based in the midlands, nice work life balance and office/home split. Close to 7 years in the industry so could be earning a lot more but quality of life is more important to me than my job!
I get max around 27k with overtime as a dental nurse and I get paid the higher end of the regular pay (usually minimum to £15 an hour if you are lucky at a private practice or locum, I'm on £13). Notoriously underpaid for the job, training and responsibilities we have on our shoulders. I worked at an awful nursing home as a carer before I retrained as a dental nurse, I actually took a pay cut to get the trainee job. I could get a little more doing care work but I love my current job more than anything else I've done and my mental health and happiness are more important than an extra £1 an hour right now. I wish I could earn this but 4 days a week. I've managed to scrape away some savings but still far from getting a house but managed to put the max for a LISA away last year to get the bonus towards getting on the housing ladder perhaps in the future (I'm 40 this year). I don't know how I'd survive without my husband who earns a lot more yet we live in an expensive part of the country because of the job he has which kept us going. Logically he can work from home and we could live somewhere cheaper and my husband is only starting to realise we could save so much money doing this...but he loves his office and I don't want to make him miserable the same way I was working in care for so long just to get by.
This is pretty hard to read. I'm 2 months from graduating and the number of people here who have struggled to get above 25k after 20 years in work. Half the time not even using their degree. It does not fill me with joy. I've been working minimum wage for the last 5 since I left high school too. To think I'm destined for not much more than I currently earn, that makes my degree feel pointless. Maybe I should lower my aspirations...
I'm a senior web content manager for a small business. I have no idea why it's senior as I don't manage anyone (I think that was the plan, but shit changes here all the time). Despite being a supposed senior position, I'm only on £25.5k a year. I got made redundant in my previous role back in September and I really struggled to find anything elses so I just made do. Hopefully the job title alone will at least get other potential employers interested when I start looking for a new job again. In the meantime, I'm actually getting by just fine. I live in a cheap house in a cheap area that's not a shit hole in West Yorkshire.
just turned 20 and earning 30k as as a trailer mechanic, pretty unusual for my age range I suppose
Factory work, mainly operating machines, line set-up and paperwork, recently got pay rise and on £25.6k before overtime.
All these 20k+ jobs and I barely make 16k.
Lucky you, I only make £11k driving disabled children to and from school.
Technical Designer, I design modular accommodation layouts and electrical loadings. I didn't need a degree, I earned last year 29,250 I just had a pay bump to 30,480. I work from home full time, it's a good gig. Edit: I originally started at a company on 18K, ive been there for 6 years and my wage has gone from 18K to 30K. I work hard when I need to and have a lot of time to just do drawings and shut my brain off. I am however still underpaid compared to some other parts of the business. Girlfriend is a HTLA and she earns around 22K a year and she has it alot harder than I do.
I worked in IT, climbed the ladder and was making £65k in a senior role. I hardly slept, I was constantly stressed with high blood pressure and worrying about the next problem around the corner or being thrown under the bus by superiors (I even had panic attacks on the way into work). 4 years ago I packed it in when randomly contacted by a recruiter who was only interested in my art, video and creative skills (which I had used for 20 years but only about 5% of my previous roles) now I am a learning designer (£32k) creating cool arty learning content and I love every day. I am happier than I have ever been in my previous roles, I gladly forfeit the extra 30 odd grand every year to feel this happy. My children now have a happy dad that is there for them every day, I get to see their school plays, help with homework and generally being the best dad I can be.
This is me currently. Busy working my way up the IT ladder but not sure its worth the stress to be honest. I did graphic design before this and im considering moving back to that. Only problem is i got rid of my portfolio many years ago. Stupid me!
That’s great, good for you man!
Thank you. You be the best you you can be to.
£55k-£60k construction. Groundworker / plant operator
Trainee wind turbine lift inspector(and ladders, anchors,safety related items)
Work as a chef and love it. I live alone and don't spend a lot as am frugal. So can save a bit too . 😁
No degree. Started as an apprentice technician 20years ago. Doing autocad drawings for engineering. Was on 7k a year to start. Worked my way up in the company, moved a couple of times. Now on 68k a year plus car. Just gotta work your way up. Hit your annual appraisal targets. Ask in each one what you need to do to progress until they say you’re at top of where you can be. If that happens then move company to a more senior position in there and do same again
I see a lot of non americans here, what is the cost of living in your area? Is 30k a lot there?
30k for an AM time is a pittance. You could easily double that doing the same job.
Prop maker and set builder for theatre, events, film, television, festivals, etc. My income various but it's around £27,000. Been doing it roughly 6 years. COVID fucked me hard. It can be inconsistent and unstable but that also means I have a good smattering of time to myself to do whatever I want. No sick pay or benefits but also I work exactly when I want and I don't when I don't. When I am working, my job rules. Everyone I work with is arty and salty and weird and highly competent. I could make more money if I pushed harder and maybe did the legwork to transition more into film, where the bigger budgets are. But I live a comfortable happy life in either case.
Cyber security analyst with a BSc and MSc in Cyber Security. 35k. I feel like I am severely underpaid for what I have done and do.
definitely underpaid my neck of the woods you would be starting on near double that
Someone I know works for dark trace for 90k as a CSA
30k Groundsman/tree surgeon 50 hour week. I’m at rock bottom mentally been doing this shit since I left school at 16 I’m now 42. Every month I juggle money to pay the bills never not paid, and the grind seems endless. Ideally I want a little coffee shop that sells a few cakes and makes a top notch brew but alas I made my bed. 28 years to go….
This makes me really sad how many people are so low paid after gaining further education. I’m definitely going to be letting my baby know when they’re older University is definitely not the only option 👌
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I'm turning 40 this year. I am a Product Owner in the music technology sector. I earn £51K a year. My wage is fairly average for a Product Owner in general, it can go higher in other sectors. I'm probably not as happy as I was when I was earning £30K. Reasons: - Mortgage is higher than when we were paying rent. - I now have two children, whereas when I was 29/30 I did not have any children. - My passion is music, and I play in a band. But the older you get, the harder it is to maintain momentum with a bunch of other people who have also gotten older and have commitments that mean their interest is not as high as it used to be. - I've taken on a fair bit of debt to afford some music gear that I wanted. Not a huge amount, only about £5000 all told. But I've been paying that off for two years, and honestly, even though I can afford it... it is stressful to manage. Actually, I really don't know how to unfuck my life. Probably standard mid-life crisis stuff, but I really feel like I want to leave the UK, stop working altogether, and just focus on music for a few years. My wife probably wouldn't be against that either, but like I say... 2 kids.
self employed jeweller and watchmaker around 35-42k a year on the low end, started when i was about 14 stealing my parents vintage forks and spoons with cool designs on the handle and turned them into rings, it’s an amazing job i rent the whole top floor of my parents house got my own bathroom, bedroom and workshop i love the job couldn’t ask for a better life at 19.
Window fitter, 30k, 40 hours week (~30actual) 37 yo Been doing this 20 ish years, give or take a year or two travelling. I actually enjoy my job more as time goes on, being outdoors and usually in a new place each day. some things get easier; having the confidence and experience behind me to sort issues out on the spot but the physicality of it doesn't get any easier. My knees hurt.
31 years old, civil servant earning 30k a year. I've got a great pension and 4 day weeks I'm content with how much I earn.
30k a year is not great pay
Nightshift retail manager, 33k. Only just started this job recently, having retail experience decided to just apply and see what happens. I also have a civil engineering degree but never pursued it any further because it would pay less at entry level and working Mon-Fri 9-5 doesn't interest me.
Assistant management accountant 32.5k - Private healthcare
Junior engineering consultant. 26k, been there 6 months now. I live with my mum and don’t pay any bills so I am in a really good position. Throwing tons in my savings and still have a lot of disposable income. I do feel like I’m stealing a living bc it’s my first proper job and I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time. Sometimes I wonder why people are trusting ME to consult on anything. But I enjoy the work a lot!
Healthcare Assistant in the NHS. I'm on just over £22k, and I'm just about breaking even each month after stashing a bit away in a rainy day fund. It's a dirty job, but I've done jobs in the past that earned me more, that also broke my spirit. I'd much rather earn a bit less and do a job I a. Enjoy, and b. Know I'm doing some good in the world (I also get free toast in the morning, and get to slyly look at some pretty tasty women in nurses' uniforms every day, which is a bonus).
£32.5K base, 26 in Midlands. Working in IT. Been at current place approaching 2 years now.
26k office admin. Job is super chill with good perks, 4 day working week and 1 day WFH where I just get my personal chores done. Can take a 3 month sabbatical which I'll do in 2026, open to anyone who's been at the company for 3 years. I do have 2 other part time jobs, 1 serving job for extra cash and 1 working with SEN kids (used to volunteer but they started paying me).
The more you earn the less you'll have in the UK I'm afraid. I'm a property maintenance contractor and purposely managed my work to stay under my 40k per year threshold because it's not worth earning any more. I could maybe earn 50-60k on a good year? But then I get taxed 40% on anything over 40k, I'm not working myself to death to pay the government near 50% of my extra profit.
If anyone likes STEM subjects and is reading this before choosing college, structural engineering (a branch of civil engineering focused on structural design for anything in our built environment) pays around £30k starting fresh out of college and within 10years the salary is going to be around £50k for most of those who become chartered. Going up within a business can bring it to around £70k by the 10th year mark if made junior director. It is no millionaire life by any stretch, but it does allow for an overall comfortable living within the UK.
Currently 25k, working for private clinical company (farmed out screening contracts). Pay goes up to 28k by default in a couple of years. Easy enough job with little stress. The new company who took us over pay decent mileage and other perks but I feel kinda dirty working for a company that takes huge amounts of NHS money and pockets a lot of it
29,100 as an assistant manager. Can be stressful but I have good co-workers.
25k and live in Brum, which is cheap to live and once was more so. Lucky to have bought a small house at a good time (with help) when the area was a bit shitty. It's now very nice. I advise large companies where to find specific bits of tech they need and facilitate that. It used to be actually ordering the stuff from an office environment but after the pandemic the current venture capital organisation in charge enforced yet another round of efficiency savings and I lucked out. They offered people to reapply for their jobs or the jobs of their managers at such miserly rates nobody stayed. I was peripheral to them at the time having been bought alongside a competitor and not yet integrated and said i'd be happy to avoid the whole situation and stay as long as I could WFH permanently, expecting at the very best a redundancy as soon as the plague ended. Well they never were able to attract anybody decent with the wages they offered, and there isn't a single person left who even understands the difference between a USB and C13. The managers are not "tech people", and the sales people in *two* cases have *no* GCSE's which I honestly didn't even think possible, but does explain the situation. I no longer do any admin, just read things and interpret them for much higher paid people, whose customers are very much "tech people". It takes me an hour or two a day, but I keep the laptop on while I go about my day doing other stuff. Not sure I could get used to working a normal job now, although there's plenty I could do with the free time if I wanted to earn more. I find I don't though. I don't need anything more and the time has more value when you've lost and reclaimed it. It's not even as if I don't know how, as I did some day-trading for a few months once and did quite well. I spent the gains on ways to enjoy my spare time rather than waste it trying to make more money, and a bit on paying 10k off my mortgage to keep reducing the debts. You can't afford debts on 25k but if you don't have huge housing costs (because of having help and/or luck) it's not bad. My rent and bills are about a third of my pay, but the amount of free time I have means I spend more, again counter-balanced by WFH. It's only *easy* with lots of luck, excellent support, having a partner to share expenses with, lacking kids, and frankly not making any mistakes. To be perfectly honest I've had a lot of jobs and lucked out with all of them in similar ways. I've only ever lacked luck in getting paid well, never on quality of life. It's probably a shitty existence if you're paying expensive rent somewhere you don't want to do be, because you can't advance yourself easily without that luck or support. Context is king.
Until I moved to the Netherlands where I now get paid less at the moment, I was a painter and decorator, earnt anywhere between 28-32k a year
Recent Architecture graduate on 22k, wouldn’t be able to afford to live if I didn’t live at home. Looking for something in the same industry but still creative, not sure what to do yet
Credit Control 28k. (B2B) I enjoy it will be hopefully moving into management within next 2 yeas as a next step in career.
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Support worker just breaking 20k a year. ~~It's going really really shit~~ fine thanks for asking.
Get yourself in manufacturing, specifically caravans, I rake in 38K a year without over time.
Junior editor for a magazine, £28,500. My fiancee earns about the same amount, and combined it's a pretty decent standard of living. Not so great if you're living alone of course.
2nd year quantity surveying apprentice £31k
I work in admin and am on £26,610 a year. I'm in fortunate position of having small mortgage due to when I got on property ladder. My outgoings still leave me with surplus at end of month to spend as I see fit. Am aware that in current climate I'm lucky to be single yet financially secure.
I would absolutely love 25k, i just quit a job as a data entry clerk that was paying me 20k, now job hunting and desperate for something at least 23k!
I make 30kish as a self employed sound engineer. My rates have been rising pretty slowly for the 5 or 6 years o've been doing this, meanwhile the cost of everything has doubled. around 2020 I was on a similar wage and would've said I was pretty comfortable. Now i'm on maybe a grand or two more and find I have to take money out of my savings quite regularly. (living in London, renting with flatmates)
I make 28k in a very small agency in the south west. I edit, film, do motion graphics and design, mostly in that order, with varying levels of involvement between each tasks. I’m a bit anxious about what is next for me, as I’m currently doing so much, but I’m not particularly specialised in any of it if that makes sense. I graduated with graphics design a few years ago, but I’m not a graphics designer. I’m still trying to find my niche. I think I want to work with a team of designers in the future and animate their designs, work on motion systems and systems in general for mockups, video lockups etc. very digital, video based work. But I have no clue honestly where to look for something like that, and I’m in the process of sorting out my portfolio first, as I’ve found that having a portfolio spread across Vimeo, behance and Instagram is not very helpful or approachable for future employers.
Senior support worker 24 without any overtime. It's draining I'm tired and need a break but I need to work so I keep going, I just want a few days to myself and not think. Don't get me wrong I love my job but it can be intense with the violence and mental strain
I deal with property damage claims for an insurer. Last year I was doing the same job for £24k and now I’m on £28k. I started 10 years ago on £13500. I’ll be honest, I hate insurance and don’t want to do it but it pays the bills and I get to provide for my family. Plus points, it’s 9-5 Monday to Friday and I get decent benefits.
I was really lucky and managed to nab a remote IT technician role that pays around £27k. Been here for almost a year now The work is fine, a bit boring from time to time but that's the life of being an IT Technician for you. But with bills & rent coming to just over 1000, I'm constantly skint
I’m 55 female and I worked as an Account Manager in my family business for 20 odd yrs and earned 20k in 2014 when I left. After that I was a Customer Account Lead in aerospace earning 26k (2015) the experience I got from that lead to my current role. My advice is try and get a household name on your cv, work hard, be open to any training and new skills ,work for well known companies if you can as it’s a golden ticket to better opportunities. I took the temp job because I wanted their name on my CV and it paid off🤷♀️ Currently I’m a Project Lead in a household name, blue chip company in the midlands. I’ve been here 9 years. I earn 64k a year. I didn’t go to university. Don’t have a degree and only 4 GCSE’s. My daughter (30) did 7 years in Uni and has a masters. Now works in the NHS with 100k of student debt for a job that pays 28k. Make it make sense!!!
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30k corpo rat for 8 years started at 16k. Currently managing customer accounts, orders and shit. Doing my own work independently. Home office split, good work life balance. Too lazy to go for higher position.
Dental nurse for 20 years 23k it’s awful but the only thing I know
I work 4 days a week in data protection, 30k.
I make 35 as a chef. It could be less gruelling
HGV driver. Work 6.5 hours, get paid for 8. 35k per year.
Admin assistant for lawyers. 25k, I've been there nearly 9 years now
This is the most transparent thread on Reddit I’ve ever witnessed! Great to see the honesty! I’m on minimum wage… I’m a server at a pub/restaurant on £12 ph part time, I’m using my free time to study to up-skill myself using the governments funded courses for older people. I owned and operated two gyms in central London we were breaking even and getting more clients BUT then covid hit, people left the city, WFH started and I lost my £800,000 I invested… back to square one after 20 years of saving so I could pursue my dream of small business ownership…. All down the plug hole of life….how stupid was I thinking I was gonna make it. I now have NOTHING I’m selling my house, sold my car, I’m selling my wedding rings too as I have three kids to feed, and I often steal food from work to feed my kids. I’m too proud to use a food bank. After reading all the posts here. My eyes are opening to the mess I’m in…. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Just keep going, day by day! Trying to sell the house as I’m on a variable interest rate, and it’s going UP UP UP UP… I’m nearly on 7% interest rate now!! So the mortgage is nearly at £7,000 pm …. Or course my partner works … but we’re going backwards, so we’re desperate to sell! Good luck to everyone out there. I hope we can all turn our luck around soon.
£21k - Senior PR Account Executive. I’m fully remote and enjoy most aspects of my job and lucky to have a great team but think I could be paid more although I’ve only been at the company for just over 18 months
I teach curriculum music in primary schools to classrooms of children. I've been doing various types of music teaching for many years (workshops, instrumental 1-to-1 lessons). I know how you feel - I'm pretty experienced as a teacher/musician and get good feedback from every school I work in. I have a degree in music from a good uni and qualifications in several instruments and the new company I started working for this year has been great comparatively for pay but obviously still low compared to other jobs. If I could cope with the admin/workload/beuracracy I could be earning another 5-15k as a qualified teacher but my wife is a head of dept and the stress for me is just not worth it
I’m starting a new job soon which pays between 26k and a smidge over 30k depending on hours worked (35 vs 40)… I’m happier as it’s slightly more money than I’m on now, and closer to home (smaller fuel bill), but I feel like I’m years behind where I should be.
Wow the pay difference between Europe and USA is huge! That’s how much someone at McDonald’s makes in USA.
I'm a butcher in a bespoke farm shop where we raise our own livestock, 20 years experience in the trade, qualified to the highest level you can be with this profession and I get £34k (+ or - a little depending on festive overtime) for working 18 days a month. This is almost unheard of in my trade, owner of the business is actually a decent dude who pays people well that work hard for him. I know pretty much every other butcher in my area and some of the working conditions/pay are really poor. I kind of fell into this trade by accident and necessity at the time but quickly realised I had a knack for it and with my current setup I feel like I'm in a good place in life
Support worker for people with autism. On around 25k a year depending on over time. Considering I am responsible for 2 vulnerable peoples safety for the entire time I'm at work I think it takes the piss. I've no idea what else I'd do but certainly think the job deserves much better rates of pay
i play guitar in a post punk band. not much money but working by traveling all over the world for 3 or so months a year is pretty ok!
Partner works in Occupational Health. She's Senior in her role on £29.5k - she could move, but her company committed to WFH and she hasn't been into the office in 4 years now, which is worth so much more than the gross figure on her P60. What we do have to combat, however, is her very minor case of agoraphobia. She definitely handles big crowds, airports, public transport and complex travel plans worse than before the pandemic. But in terms of Work-Life Balance, I've never seen her happier overall! Has a good relationship with her colleagues, who are all also in a good mood because they have WFH'd for years. They all meet up every month or so for a drink to keep things flowing.
Wtf I thought I was making low income. I work in the fields (agriculture) making minimum wage. Last year I made 50k and the year before that 40k.
I earn about 28k a year, working nights in a call centre. I always thought earning that much I'd be comfortable, but with no partner also working, I just about scrape by. Cozzy lives has really kicked my ass.
Teacher. 50 hrs a week and ungrateful parents constantly on my case for issues out of my control. Love working with the kids but my god it isn't worth the pay.
I was earning 24k up until 2 years ago. My only advice is to keep punching and keep job huntin. I went from 24k to 30k in 2022 and recently went from 30k to 40k by switching companies. I would have stayed in my previous place if they'd followed up with a payrise that I was promised a year ago, that never happened so I walked.
We're doing crime.
Decontamination technician for 16 years. On the lowest pay band in the hospital despite the amount of knowledge we need for the job. We used to be one pay band up from the bottom and have incremental pay increases as we gained experience but they did away with the lowest pay band and the pay progression so now we start at the bottom and stay there. And now minimum wage has caught up with us! I've never been on minimum wage before, even as a teenager working in retail!
$27,900 as a “Wellness advisor” I’m really just a bud tender. Problem is where I live you could make over twice the minimum wage and it’s still not enough to support yourself. If I didn’t have a side hustle I’d be on the street
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Finally my time to shine! Left military in 2020 partially disabled. Get a little money every month that allows me a little.more freedom when working. I have 2 part times. About 30 hrs with both jobs. Job #1 @ golf course 18/HR Very easygoing and lots of cools perks. Play golf for free and discount from the awesome bar and grill we have onsite. I just answer phones and work the register. Sometimes give a hand with other stuff. Truly beautiful course and really helps my mental to have nature so accessible. Plus im a people person. Job #2 investigative work for the state. Involves lots of public transit travel so i get to see alot of my state. I also schedule my travel around my needs. Sometimes I travel to a grocery store to shop. To a mall to browse or watch a movie or even to my relatives house to visit. Downside is this goes even for inclement weather which can be rough sometimes. Also 18/HR. So no health insurance really sucks but the freedom of movement and work/life balance is second to none. I like being home to take care of the apartment/dogs. Neither job drug tests which means I can smoke in peace for my back pain. And I take off w/e I need to. Sometimes I work most of the day but its fine its a happy tired at jobs I like vs the misery is used to experience at manual labor/dead end jobs. I was thinking about full time but tbh i love the way it is r n. So yeah tool awhile but I found my way. I dont need a shit ton of money I just need some to save and have fun. Having free time and the ability to do what I want without feeling dead inside is most important.
As a manager of the garden maintenance and landscaping department for a well known garden centre I was on just over £30k, now I work for myself doing the same thing, and pay myself £12k, the rest stays in the business. It stings but I’m building something for me which (hopefully) will pay off in the long run. 35 yo by the way
British library. 21k. For the last 12 years. Leading library assistant
Wow this thread is depressing as fuck. I hate this country. Absolute dog shit that so many people are struggling. I’m really lucky tbh. I work for a charity doing fundraising in a niche/specialist area that is also my passion and hobby. I’m part time (21 hours) and early £19.8k. Pro rata £33k. My partner is director of his own biz so we have a relatively comfortable life financially. But he works extremely long hours, away from home most of the time. We have a toddler so I’m solo parenting majority of the week. Both of us have a background in hospitality. Before Covid I ran a 600 capacity student bar/nightclub for 32k working 50 hours a week. Loved it but wanted a better work/life balance. Hospo is dogshit for that. But it does teach you tonnes of transferable skills.
I worknin engineering and stated on 22k worked my way up the chain now im on 42k and next step is supervisor. Its taken 15 years of hard work though you dont get anything for free
Terminal controller at a port. Plan where containers go on vessels/ trains etc cushty job away from the elements after years of outdoor work. And some nice time off on my rotor to enjoy my hobbies
I know 3 people that went from 22k to 30k-50k. They are more broke now despite having the same fixed costs. They just spend more on food deliveries, snacks or other impulsive purchases.
I'm a 2nd line support engineer for an IT company at 30k Before this job which is very recent I was a Theatre Technician with a specialism in Lighting Control Programming at 24k Been doing IT/Theatre for 8 years professionally, got my degree in theatre tech in 2017 but have been doing IT since 2014 in work I left theatre recently going back into IT because of the lack of time with my family working most evenings and weekends
Im in my 30s and finally got a 30K salary. Project Manager. Its not easy and way over worked sometimes, but it's a fun job no two days are the same. Should i be paid more? Hell yeah but is what it is. Been there for 2 years.
I've been a tyre fitter/nuts and bolts mechanic for over 12 years. I earn a little over minimum wage. I genuinely wish I hadn't chosen this role, but I got comfortable with basically zero commute. I'm now looking at a potential shift into either working at a nature reserve or going all in with a friend for waste/scrap collection. I love working outside and with my hands but the pay is almost always shit. I've accepted the terrible pay and I am just trying to find a job I won't detest for another 10+ years.
23k HR Assistant, want to do my level 5 and move up, to the 30-40k bracket, work said they would pay for my level 5 when I joined now and be tried to them for 2 years, they are backtracking and saying they will pay for my level 3 as my role doesn’t require level 5. I’ve just got a payrise of £120 and for me to do a 9 month level 5 course it would cost me £119 a month and I have a few months left to give them an answer on the level 3, think I’m gonna pay out of pocket for the level 5, not be tied to them and leave as soon as I’ve got the level 5 and something else comes up
I was fortunate enough to get my foot on the property ladder early 2000’s and my mortgage repayments are less than £200 a month now (count my blessings every day) Im on a low wage of 23.5k a year after losing a couple of jobs but can honestly say I’m the happiest I’ve been in many many years after finding a job I enjoy. It’s made me realise money is not everything but enjoying my job is. Edit: used to be on 32k a year but walked after becoming overwhelmed with depression and anxiety.
£25k as head mechanic at a go kart track but my manic bipolar episodes have put me in horrific debt so still struggling real bad lmao
Script editor, 31k-50k per year. 31k is just an average salary for a script editor, but it can fluctuate depending on who my clients are, sometimes you get big clients who pay a lot more. It's great, I love my job. Flexible hours, mostly working from home, sometimes I don't even have to do much, the screenwriter(s) has already done a great job
Assistant accountant, about to go up to £27,500 from £25,000; I've been in my current role for three years. I really enjoy the job, and my accountancy qualification is being paid for by my employer. If a higher paid role in my department came up, I'd probably go for it as we have a planned extension to pay for, and the first quote we got was literally more than we bought the house for five years ago...
Currently earning £21k after expenses as a wedding photographer. Honestly, I love it. Sure, money is tight, but I have TONNES of free time to do whatever I want with and the winter months are kind of like a super long holiday every year. I could work harder and earn a lot more, but I’m a bit of a sloth. I also get paid to shoot a few international weddings each year and just extend those to make them into free holidays, so I get to travel a good amount still. It’s great!
I'm a bin man and earn 26.5k before tax. I'm just a loader, piss easy job. It was pretty damn good until recently, as the council now makes us work our full contracted hours.
I would recommend moving into software sales if you can to anyone in here. I’m a hiring manager, and while we aren’t hiring anyone without experience right now, we hire candidates with 1-2 years for £40-45k and we are fully remote.
I work in a customer service based role in finance. £27k shit is stressful but it pays the bills.
£30k and change, Store Manager for a nationwide wine retailer. 45 hour contract. Back breaking labour, long stretches working solo. Absolutely underpaid for the level of knowledge and amount of work expected from us. No pay rises given out this year. Assistant managers now earn the same /ph as entry level sales assistants and drivers due to the minimum wage increase. It's insulting. I earn ~£1.50 more per hour than minimum wage, tham our drivers and part timers, for a huge amount more stress and responsibility. Reduced staffing budgets across the board also, so more work for less pay. How is it going? Not great! Physically and mentally exhausted all the time, targets that are increasingly harder to hit with less hands in store to achieve them. They are grinding us in to the dirt and seem to think the odd pizza Friday will make up for no pay rises to match the cost of living increases we are all seeing.
lol 25K :L you lucky ol' dog you! I worked in an independent health food store for nearly 7 years. I was at one point offered a supervisor position but due to an unreasonable coworker with a chip on her shoulder i asked to not carry on with the supervisor role half way through the "training". My manager said fine, but i'd obviously have a reduction in pay but i could keep a "small" increase from the base minimum wage rate, which was like 50p or something, while still doing "some" of my duties. This turned out to be basically all of my duties without any of the credit. My official role from that point was shop assistant but i'd have to do everything a supervisor did (opening/closing, wastage, orders, banking etc) complete and utter farce. On average i'd work 6 days a week sometimes ridiculously 7, my hours varied from 150 to 200 hours a month. It was a rota system aswell so you didn't have set time off sometimes i'd end up doing over 10 days in a row, and the worse were when it was closing late and then opening early because that basically meant i'd have to go home straight to be to be up early enough to get to work on time (which was like 6). I have one of my former pay slips here: 28/02/2018: 150 hours at £7.50 an hour total before tax £1125 total after tax £1068.94 If you say my average month was 150 hours just for ease of calculation my net yearly income after tax would be around £12.827.28
I’m just on the edge with a summer job I got. I’m hoping to work there permanently and work my way up to boost that salary so fingers crossed. I always heard the jobs I’m looking at, it’s easier to get into once you worked a summer job with them so hopefully I’ll impress and things will look up from there. If I don’t get any permanent jobs with them, they are the type of job that will look fantastic on my CV anyway so I still have high hopes for the future.
I'm constantly amazed that jobs I'm looking at are paying less than I was getting twenty-five years ago. Freelance rates don't seem to have changed either.
Slot game artist here on 21.5k/year. I only started in 2022 so I'm considered a "junior", hence the shit pay. However sometimes it does bother me when I think about my company making literal millions off poor gambling addicts while I have to save up for months for a new pair of headphones 🙃 The only reason I'm doing it is because at least it's an actual art job. I spend my day drawing 9-5 which is my favourite thing to do, and get paid for it. I'm still lucky compared to my uni mates, who work in McDonalds or Deichmanns with an art diploma.
Is this a decent job? Do you have to know coding etc? I'm a 2d animator, but since covid work dried up for me so I'm stuck filling shelves at my local tesco. £21k would be a huge step up for me financially and I'd never considered that as a job option before but it sounds like it could be a good way forward for me (to at least get me out of retail).
30k a year forestry forwarder/ excavator and telehandler operator mostly. Along with other random jobs round the country estate I work on. Its a really cushty job but there's a massive building project near me looking for machine operators and offering double what I'm on now. Seriously tempted to get my construction site certs and switch jobs.
I just got a new job working for a bank in the call centre, incoming calls only, all training provided, starting salary £25k. I have no qualifications really besides my work experience as I was a restaurant manager most of my working life. So yeah, call centre for a bank.
I’m an IT analyst, £27K, just turned 20 last week and been here just under a month. Quite happy where I’m at and getting nearer to paycheck #1. Got 5 years of experience (including weekend and evening work, two apprenticeships and a full time job) in IT, a level 4 in cybersecurity and hope to move into a more cyber security role as soon as I can. My last job (I was at for 5 years) I was more in security but was only paid £15K salary so made the move here and it’s going well so far
Self employed architect here, I earn roughly 27k a year. I probably should be earning more but I wake up at midday and live on a canal boat.
22K I'm a secretary in a GP surgery - mainly involves sending referrals and letters to hospitals and consultants. We do a fair few private letters as well when patients ask the GP to write a letter for their benefits/housing/blue badge. They're little money makers for the GPs. It can be stressful in terms of not wanting to make mistakes. If I don't send someone's referral for suspected cancer or their urgent referral for chest pain that can have drastic consequences. Also, obviously the NHS is on it's knees, the waiting lists are exceptionally long so patients contact us wanting us to fix the situation and we just can't. It can be interesting, I work with nice people and it's pretty flexible on working times but the money is a major issue.
I d say most people in the catering and hotel business are within that pay range. And believe me.... It s a funking hard job.
I work as a GP Driver for the NHS in Scotland. Work 3 nights a week, Fri/Sat/Sun midnight til 8am. Propped up entirely by the unsocial hours extra pay. I'm £13 base but I get closer to £22 an hour. Last year I earned 28k before tax. Most shifts I sit about watching shit on my phone, with the odd bit of driving here and there. Some shifts are busy. Pissed away my school years and college so I've fuck all in qualifications and I'm loathe to leave to either go study or jump into a job with half the hourly rate. Been here 17 years.
Im on 24k. Im a "driver liaison" for truck drivers. I book in their deliveries, sort out their problems etc. I've been in the transport industry for 3 years now and there is thankfully scope for the job to get harder and the wage to increase.
Steel mill scheduler, degree educated (company sponsored so no debt) 38k plus O/T if I want it. Moved from job to job within the industry.
£24k as a planning administrator for a large alcohol company. I buy ingredients and schedule brewing. Casually looking for a new job in a different field.
My partner is on 27k on the bins. Local council, decent perks, 6 hours a day roughly (job and knock). They've never been happier or healthier.
Chef De Partie ≈ 20k - absolutely not worth it, I fell into cooking, can’t stand the hours or the politics. Some of the people I work with make up for a lot of it because we have a laugh but 4 years ago it was a stop gap income. I’m sure a more passionate foodie would find it worthwhile though, especially someone younger who was living at home with family.
What? Idk about UK but starting ME in the US in a steel mill is around 70k...after 10 years 130k
In the past 18 months I've gone from 27.5 to just under 31. The difference has been pretty helpful, managed to get myself a better car etc. The cost of living is chipping away and I'm probably overspending but I'm managing. Going to concentrate on reducing my outgoings over the summer to try and give myself a little more breathing room.
I'm a Local Government employee, I can't get too specific but I look after a budget of £150 million a year, I'm on £30.5K including my very recent pound a day (after tax) pay increase.
Reading this makes me realise how overpaid I am for what I do.
all good. Earn about 28k a year but money back for emergency funding, now own a flat . Bills have gotten tighter than i would like the last year but still its good
Quantity surveyor, I colour in drawings pricing work. Long time doing it now (20+ years) Massive jump up in last 5 years to 43k and car. Can be stressful but also a good screw
This makes for sombre reading. My guess is a lot of the people in this thread have been to Uni or at least further education and yet are still on a shade over minimum wage. Seems like there is no benefit or reward for taking on 50k+- of debt.
It’s not really debt though as you don’t have to pay it back, it’s more like a graduate tax, and you have to start earning £25k to pay anything back. Plenty of research out there indicates that over a lifetime those with undergraduate degrees will typically earn at least £100k more than those without. Although I did see something from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that reckoned 1 in 5 would have been financially better off without going to uni. But 4 out of 5 are, and those odds sound good to me.
Some of the worst jobs I ever had were around the 30k mark. Not high up enough to delegate all my work and receive a huge pay packet, but high enough to be expected to work my arse off and take on everyone else's too
My husband is an Information Assistant in a university library. He earns £25K a year.
27k as a semi skilled mechanic. Started the trade 9 years ago at age 43. No qualifications just picked it up as I went along.
Just a quick thing. If you are living with your partner and are both earning about 25k, then you're far better off than just one of you working and earning 50. I earn 45k and support a family on it, but I get rinsed so much for tax/student loan etc that my take home pay isn't actually miles more. Was pretty disappointed when I saw my pay after I had my big pay rise. My wife has just started a few new jobs so hopefully it might ease it a bit
26y on 44k. Project managing. I’ve never been to Uni and no project management jobs require University. Im at the bottom of the pay band and it only goes up from here, I took this job 18 months ago with no experience and absolutely love it.There are short 1 week courses you can do to give you the edge over other applicants but aren’t necessary at all I.e PRINCE2
Grounds maintenance and tree surgery groundie, Self employed but pulling in about £480 week (only het paid when i work obvs) Im managing... just. My partner is on 23k and we're extremely lucky to be rennovating a property instead of paying the rent (shit to live in a building site but hey, its free... kinda) I just about make ends meet and run a shitbox car but fuck me, when something big goes wrong i am proper fucked. Going back to uni in September for a masters so hoping i can up my career prospects after that... really fucking hoping 🤣🤣
I am currently earning band 3 NHS pay (£22813) as a medical laboratory assistant (MLA) working within blood sciences at Cambridge university hospitals NHS Trust. The laboratory is a very important part of any hospital as we are directly involved in ~70% of ALL clinical decisions that occur within the hospital. My main role is to run patient full blood counts and coagulation tests on our analysers which can come from Addenbrooke's, Rosie, Royal Papworth and West Suffolk hospital, plus almost every GP surgery within Cambridgeshire. This means our laboratory has to process 15,000 to 20,000 samples a day, everyday with the requirement to meet turn around times ranging between 1 hour and 8 hours depending on urgency. Even though I work indoors I often walk 10-15 km during a shift to ensure that the laboratory is running smoothly. My work shift patterns are often 7:45 AM to 8:45 PM for day shifts and 8 PM to 9 AM on nightshifts. So I only often work 3 or 4 days a week and the days I work are never the same but some days are long and stressful if our machines are not working and unable to process patient samples. After tax, NI and pension deductions, I spend 65% of my paycheck in rent atm and living in an expensive area drains a lot of free money around very quickly and I had to move away from family and my partner for this job so I have very little life here. My future plans are to become a Biomedical Scientist which is a protected title and requires a person to pass a competency assessment. If I do this I will be able to look at the clinical data provided by laboratory machines and directly help nurses and doctors to help treat patients. Luckily the team I am with I have bonded with really well and the work I do feels very rewarding, I am proud to work within the NHS and I enjoy being able to serve the public the best way I know how to.
Scientist - 26k. Not great 😔
I’m an HR assistant and I earn £23.4K. Dont feel it’s worth it at all, especially when you sometimes have to spoon feed managers who are on almost 10k more
I’m a chef and baker at a cafe. It’s going good but it’s hard work, just finished 7 days in a row. I shouldn’t complain because the hours are decent, 8-16:30 but it’s a lot for a small kitchen with 2-3 chefs (myself included).
Graphic Designer 28k. Been with the same company for 15 years, now senior member of staff. They don’t pay well. I live alone too so sometimes things are tight.
I'm a supervisor at a mid-high end chain restaurant. Going on about 2 and a half years, at ~25k (zero hours, so that's variable). It pays the bills, but I have varicose veins and no social life, and the industry is - a little bit - going to shit atm. It also has absolutely nothing to do with my degree - but that's what graduating during the pandemic does for you. But I'll be gone in two months and out of the bracket for this question, so who am I to complain, really?
I farm gold in world of warcraft and sell it. Making about 1k per week playing a game lol
I have no idea how it is possible to get by on that. It astonishes me that anyone can
I work in a hospital sterilisation unit. Not owned by the NHS but we’re based in an NHS hospital and are contracted to their trust. Basically we clean and sterilise the surgical tools ready to be re-used for another surgery. I’m one of the team leaders so 1 step above entry level and I’m on 24K a year. Definitely feel under paid though as our contracts are matched to the NHS band they pay their own employees for this job. Which is the same as what they’d pay porters and basic cleaners. Considering our work is vital for both elective and life saving operations and we’re exposed to the same risks contact with blood born pathogens as surgeons I think the NHS staff and us by proxy should be considered at least 1 band higher up the food chain.
I’m a dental nurse and I barely making 24k a year working full time. It sucks working in dentistry as a whole is difficult I’m not surprised so many are leaving the profession.
Jaysua. I'm on what's considered big money now. But when I started they started me on 25k in SWE because I did not go to uni and they didn't believe half of what I told them. I'm self taught cause I wanted to be comfortable.
I didn’t realize I was in CasualUK before reading some of these and I was trying to figure out how anybody in America could be making 20k and not be living in complete poverty. Average rent alone in the US is like 1,400$. Pretty crazy.
Fine I guess. I'm on 26k and money is reasonably tight post-cossie-crisis. My bills are paid and I am decently fed, but its a tight balance between buying things that I need but aren't urgent such as clothes, stuff I want like going to see plays or some cute tchotchke, and saving for things like my fridge dying. Be nice to have a holiday at some point, I've not gone away since before the pandemic.
I do as I'm told for 25k pa. I know how to do my job but I have no idea how it works. (Electronics technician)
I read some of these comments, and I feel 80% of you are massively underpaid. Also, it's kinda sad to see people who have great education and qualifications work in jobs that (no offence intended) low skilled work. I was working in IT first line from the age of 19, earning 24k, and now I am im a senior infrastructure engineer at 33, earning nearly triple that wage. Sad state of the job market in the UK and both public and private sector.
I'm on just over 30k, mechanical design engineer. Worked through a fully funded degree apprenticeship with my employer. I feel quite fortunate all things considered.
Jesus guys ask for payrises, you are all worth more than this, i left chefing and started as a builder from day 1 with 0 experience im earning £17-£25 ph depending on the job, take home is 900-1000 pw
How did you manage to land that job with no experience and £17ph minimum straight away?
Internal Recruiter 36ish-k. I studied HR for a bit but it's unrelated to the role. So no experience really required Sort of renegotiated my salary a few years ago
I work at a SEN school as the chef. It's sweet as. I work alone, Get to have a laugh with kids all day and cook what I like plus all the holidays are a bonus... its a chefs dream if they're sick of working 70 hour weeks 😂
28.5k as junior environmental consultant - late 20s. Spent my teens and 20s working all the time, even through uni when my peers were being supported by their parents. Earned anywhere from 18-26k in retail, customer complaints in a call centre, and groundworking and labouring. Always felt like I'm on the edge of poverty and haven't managed to have any savings. Recently started this job and I love it - working in a cutting edge field in an ethical industry, it's great. Never earned so much, but with inflation, the debt I've accrued, and cost of living I feel like I'm in the same situation I was in when I was 23 and earning 22k. Looking forward to a pay rise when I've been at the company a bit longer and can lead my own projects. Maybe then I can start saving for a house.
£24k bike mechanic, 37.5hrs Very much wasting an engineering degree, but unstressed and relatively happy - do have to work one weekend day each week
Are US answers allowed? I make 32k. I work for a small full fab factory that creates big machines that mill up asphalt for reclamation. I specifically sell replacement parts and troubleshoot the machines for current customers. Kinda like tech support and sales mix. Ive been doing it for about 3 years now. I used to make more before lay offs during Covid. How its going? Like a roller coaster. When everything is smooth sailing, I have enough money for everything I need and some extra expenses and extra fun stuff. But when something goes wrong it all falls apart. Right now for instance, I am -$1009 in my account because my insurance dropped the ball and didn't cover a Dr appt that should be covered. So i have to go through hoops to get that covered, meanwhile it over drew my account and all my bills and expenses go through and I get hit with over charge fees. Now my car is making a noise that sounds like gavel when I break. Pretty sure my pads are spent and I am grinding my roters but I cant do anything about it and I still gotta go to work. But once I dig myself out, if things calm down it will be good again. Living on that that blades edge where any change in life will have you falling off. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to live where I do. I rent a room with a buddy. They have not increased rent a single time since I have lived there. Going on 7 or so years now. And its crazy affordable. if I had to pay market rate for a room id be drowning full stop.
I’d love to make 0ver £20K pa net but am on min wage.
29.9k before tax, working as a HGV trailer inspection technician for a small private company, occasionally do welding and fabrication which i really enjoy, the hours are very flexible as in most days if we get enough done we go home, we also work in pairs so its not boring, been doing this 6 years now and started on 25k. Its not something i ever thought i would do as my background and passion is IT, but that sector really did a number on my mental health due to my boss being a real dick. Im 41 now and always had a ton of debt, been on and off some sort of benefits until i started here, my wife makes 23k as an housekeeper so combined we are now comfortable, most debts are off, multiple holidays a year and now saving to put a deposit down on an house.
Lab tech. 24k and pissed that I’ll be making min wage. Comfortable but not wanting to me on that when I’m close to 30. Looking to retrain into Radiography - high demand, 28k start and with chances to learn and go into agency work in the future.
Senior residential carer -28k I love my job but the pay is fucking dreadful for what I actually contribute
£24,336 per year (NHS band 3) Administrator in the NHS (community mental health team mostly but also work in inpatient services too). I actually enjoy my job, it's really interesting and i rub shoulders with nurses, consultants, social workers and all sorts of other professionals on a daily basis and they're all really lovely people. I've learned so much just by being in the same room as them. Clinical and community support workers are also on the same pay as me. For contrast a mental health nurse starts on band 5 which is £28,407 per year. These people have degrees and have done plenty of training and have to pay for a NMC pin every year just to do their job along with the extra responsibility and pressure for 4 grand a year... Also phlebotomists are on a band 2 which is £22,383 per year, they put needles in people etc. So i'm not doing too bad in the grand scheme of things. If you want to earn loads of money, don't work for the NHS, the T*ries have ripped it apsrt under everyomes noses. But if you want a job where you can go home and think "i've helped someone today" then it's definitely worth it. Sure extra money would be good, nobody in their right mind would turn down extra money, but the work:life balance i have is perfect for me and more importantly i'm in a job i enjoy going to. Sure there's some other perks; bank holidays off, weekends off (unless doing overtime), pension, 33 days annual leave on top of bank holidays, up to 6 months full sick pay and we did used to get a round of applause on a thursday evening but that seems to have died off 🙄
I first started in the NHS as an admin apprentice about 13 years ago. Went from that to band 2, band 4, band 5 and now band 6. All by just picking up more and more tasks and gaining experience, then applying for the right jobs. I don't have a degree or A-levels, so would really recommend the NHS to anyone with a good head on their shoulders that wants to progress but doesn't have a degree.
Yeh i started similarly, was a DWP scheme thing so did 25 hours a week while still being able to claim benefits and from there i got a band 2 office assistant role, then a band 3 secretarial role, then a band 4 medical secretary/PA role but it was a 50 mile round trip each day to work & back so sacked that in for a band 3 admin role much closer to home and now in the same team but a different office which is a 10 min bike ride to and from work and as i've mentioned loads of times i'm talking to some very senior and very intelligent people every day and i've learned a ridiculous amount just by being there and asking questions. Have done my first year mental health nurse training before funding got sliced so i'm not formally qualified clinically but know enough about a lot of psychiatric drugs, diagnoses & symptoms, mental health act processes and everything else around mental health services to be able to not only hold my own in a conversation with consultant psychiatrists and mental health nurses but also to be someone that friends and friends of friends come to for quick questions. But i also caveat everything with the fact my advice isn't gospel and to always seek professionals opinions as well. Also i know enough to know when i don't know enough about something so will say i don't know but can find out. I have A Levels of sorts (2 X D's and 1 X E) but experience is much more valuable in the NHS than qualifications when it comes to working your way up, luckily there are courses you can go on once you're employed in the NHS which i don't think you'd get anywhere else.