How Much Do You Earn? #2

[Littleelf]

for me i just feel like i’ll never come close to these sort of wages i work in retail currently and have no plans on going to uni. it seems impossible to get a good wage without a degree, someone please change my mind because i’m losing hope that i’ll ever make enough money to live without going to uni or being extremely talented

what jobs do you guys have (well paying) that you didn’t need to go to uni for? interested. i don’t want this comment to come across wrong! i’d just love to see my options.

I didn't go to uni, but I've worked very hard in my field (re/insurance) and have completed multiple exams and quilifications within this job. I started at the bottom 11 years ago and have built up alot of experience. And I still don't get paid a huge amount - I could do alot more but I am part time and have a young family so right now this is where I'm at.

No matter what industry you are in you will need to work hard to earn a good living wage unfortunately.

 

[Lulu Goss]

for me i just feel like i’ll never come close to these sort of wages i work in retail currently and have no plans on going to uni. it seems impossible to get a good wage without a degree, someone please change my mind because i’m losing hope that i’ll ever make enough money to live without going to uni or being extremely talented

what jobs do you guys have (well paying) that you didn’t need to go to uni for? interested. i don’t want this comment to come across wrong! i’d just love to see my options.

I didn’t go to uni, I didn’t even do a-levels. I joined a company at 19 doing admin and worked my way up into management. I got my first manager role at 22 (5 years ago now) and my salary is now 42k. All the other managers I work with have degrees but non really relevant to our role and they’re all mid/late 30s or 40s.

It can be done, sometimes you have to just get your foot in the door somewhere.

 

[HoGi]

I didn’t go to uni, I didn’t even do a-levels. I joined a company at 19 doing admin and worked my way up into management. I got my first manager role at 22 (5 years ago now) and my salary is now 42k. All the other managers I work with have degrees but non really relevant to our role and they’re all mid/late 30s or 40s.

It can be done, sometimes you have to just get your foot in the door somewhere.

I could have written this myself.

Left sixth form went straight into work. Joined my current company at 18 worked my way up and got my assistant manager role at 21. I am now a manager on 46k and I'm 32.

Lots of my colleagues, who are the same age or older, have degrees and are either same grade or lower grade than me. Their degrees have no relevance to the role. I got where I am from hard work and putting myself out there, taking on extra etc.

The only people in my office who have relevant degrees are the accountants/investment roles.

 

[takhana]

£44503; 33 days annual leave plus bank holidays - single, no kids, £402 a month mortgage and still skint!

I'm a Band 7 in the NHS but now top of the band and desperate to find something on an 8a - right now the £17 a month in my pocket for a lot more responsibility doesn't really sway me right now...

This is a hidden problem in the NHS I think many people in private companies don't think about. The jump between bands in terms of pay isn't that much but the jump between bands in terms of responsibility is massive in a lot of professions/career paths. My 8A is responsible for setting up the whole county's Enhanced Care Service (for people with a new cancer diagnosis) that guides them through the whole cancer pathway - that's potentially tens of thousands of people a year he has to create a cohesive, multi-disciplinary pathway for whilst managing 10 AHPs all from different professions and mostly not his background profession either.

Yet the job he came from, the band 7, was a lead role over two small wards, managing a group of 5 professionals from his own clinical background and only being responsible for a handful of patients on his caseload each week.

 

[MensaBarbie1985]

This is a hidden problem in the NHS I think many people in private companies don't think about. The jump between bands in terms of pay isn't that much but the jump between bands in terms of responsibility is massive in a lot of professions/career paths.

That's absolutely how I feel - my Band 7 role is non-managerial but there are barely any 8a roles out there that don't require extensive staff management skills so I feel a bit stuck right now! There is a senior version of my role which is an 8a but we are making cuts at the moment so one of them is actually going to lose their job by the looks of it...

It's marginally better than it was when the pay scales used to overlap as at least I wouldn't be getting paid less than others on the band below but seriously having to consider what I want to do next now...

 

[Somersetvibes]

I'm a (self employed) social media manager, earn about 2.5/3kpcm

 

[Justmephi]

Im also curious about peoples debt. My mum often says ‘those people who have everything are normally in mountains of debt’
I wonder if this is true??

 

[LennyBriscoe]

for me i just feel like i’ll never come close to these sort of wages i work in retail currently and have no plans on going to uni. it seems impossible to get a good wage without a degree, someone please change my mind because i’m losing hope that i’ll ever make enough money to live without going to uni or being extremely talented

what jobs do you guys have (well paying) that you didn’t need to go to uni for? interested. i don’t want this comment to come across wrong! i’d just love to see my options.

I am in the Civil Service and have quite a niche (but identifiable) role. I started there as an admin person a long time ago and I’ve been promoted to my job, which I love. I have Standard Grades and Highers and that’s it.

If I worked full time I’d earn £35,600 p/a. The holiday entitlement, flexible working and pension are very good. There’s scope for gaining qualifications but I’m not academic at all really.

The other benefit of working in the public sector is the only reason I’m not earning exactly the same as my colleagues is we didn’t all start at the same day, hence different places on the scale. There’s never been a threat of redundancies that I know of.

When I worked in admin there I was poorer paid than a lot of my friends because I wasn’t in the private sector but it’s playing a long game and especially now I’m a mum, I really appreciate the job security.

 

[Homebird44]

Im also curious about peoples debt. My mum often says ‘those people who have everything are normally in mountains of debt’
I wonder if this is true??

Depends what you'd class as debt? I have a small loan, only £2000 and about £1000 across two credit cards. The mortgage is £180k. My husband has a credit card as we often run out of money for his train fares. He'll get this through work next year and pay it back through his wages. We have nothing compared to others and probably loads compared to others too.

 

[MissTeddy]

Im also curious about peoples debt. My mum often says ‘those people who have everything are normally in mountains of debt’
I wonder if this is true??

My husband and I have no debt besides our mortgage. We pay our credit cards in full each month and only ever live within our means. We are not rich but we are comfortable. However many people around us have more prestige cars and much more expensive holidays and designer goods etc, I do also wonder if it’s all on tick

 

[Monkeybum]

Im also curious about peoples debt. My mum often says ‘those people who have everything are normally in mountains of debt’
I wonder if this is true??

There is also a 'How much Debt are you in' thread that was set up at a similar time

I am in the Civil Service and have quite a niche (but identifiable) role. I started there as an admin person a long time ago and I’ve been promoted to my job, which I love. I have Standard Grades and Highers and that’s it.

If I worked full time I’d earn £35,600 p/a. The holiday entitlement, flexible working and pension are very good. There’s scope for gaining qualifications but I’m not academic at all really.

The other benefit of working in the public sector is the only reason I’m not earning exactly the same as my colleagues is we didn’t all start at the same day, hence different places on the scale. There’s never been a threat of redundancies that I know of.

When I worked in admin there I was poorer paid than a lot of my friends because I wasn’t in the private sector but it’s playing a long game and especially now I’m a mum, I really appreciate the job security.

Very similar as in I'm a civil servant that started straight from college with no degree etc in an admin role.

I worked my way up and into finance and realised that's where I wanted to be. They funded me to do accountancy qualifications which has progressed me even further. So no degree is not a deal breaker, never too late

 

[prozacprincess]

Im also curious about peoples debt. My mum often says ‘those people who have everything are normally in mountains of debt’
I wonder if this is true??

No debt whatsoever. We own our house, 3 cars as we bought a new one last week, travel extensively ( I’m writing this from the living room of a suite in a 5 star resort). What we did do was choose never to have children, and we work long hours within our own businesses. I left school without a single GCSE and put myself through university in my late 20’s.

 

[Bongobonkers22]

£39,000 band 6 nurse. No weekends, bank hols or nights. I feel very lucky to be in this position and not to be struggling as some of my lower paid colleagues are. Hubby works in the transport sector as a manager earning 35k plus bonus and other perks (company car etc).

 

[Lalalaand]

There is also a 'How much Debt are you in' thread that was set up at a similar time




Very similar as in I'm a civil servant that started straight from college with no degree etc in an admin role.

I worked my way up and into finance and realised that's where I wanted to be. They funded me to do accountancy qualifications which has progressed me even further. So no degree is not a deal breaker, never too late

Just found this thread and find it so interesting!

I'm 29, retail management on 30k a year. Its sooo underpaid considering the responsibility.

I will say about the debt thread thread the last time I was on it I wanted to cry as it was full of folk saying they were debt free. Not helpful if you're not in the same place, not sure what it's like now

 

[Elles20]

I've got a huge student loan debt and a huge mortgage being in London.

One thing I regret is going to university. I won't be able to do the exact role I am doing now, but I could potentially be doing something similarly unsatisfying and earn about the same, if not more.

 

[Homebird44]

I wonder if we do the same job! My salary is £45k but I made £79k last year with overtime/ shift enhancements. The railway is the best place to work.

Do you work for TFL or overground railway? My husband is looking at a career change and he said about the rail ways.

 

[Millyve]

£33,650, very happy as I only work 7 hour days pretty good considering I have no qualifications and have worked my way up over the years.

 

[Secretadmirer]

I didn’t go to uni, I didn’t even do a-levels. I joined a company at 19 doing admin and worked my way up into management. I got my first manager role at 22 (5 years ago now) and my salary is now 42k. All the other managers I work with have degrees but non really relevant to our role and they’re all mid/late 30s or 40s.

It can be done, sometimes you have to just get your foot in the door somewhere.

Yep, similar to me. I was told I needed to go to uni, in fact my Mum was disappointed I didn’t as I did a levels intending to go but I just knew it wasn’t for me. I got an apprenticeship at a company, qualified, have worked my way up, have been promoted more than once, love my job and at 28 have a job title and salary I definitely didn’t expect to have at this age so I’m actually glad I started working at 18 because I feel like it’s enabled me to have the experience needed to get to where I am today. They don’t need me to have a degree to see I’ve always been hard working and passionate about my job.

 

[Katgotthekream]

£65k + 10% car allowance and 10-20% bonus. The more you earn, the more you spend though. Am 31, don’t have a degree although did 2 years of Uni and hated it. Have just worked very hard and made strategic moves for promotions

 

[shhh1712]

ive loved reading this thread! Don’t think I’ve seen anyone say they’re a PA? I’m under 30, a PA in the east and earn £29000. We get a bonus half way through the year and a larger bonus in January. It’s a good company and good benefits- healthcare, pension, 25 days holiday etc. I do think I could probably earn more if I left but I don’t think this job is what I want to do for the rest of my life, I also don’t want to change company atm as we want to start trying for a family in 12-18 months time. I really just don’t know what I want to do with my life which often causes me a lot of upset and stress as I feel like I have no direction! I don’t love or hate my job, I just wish I was really good at something which would lead me to something I love and could earn money from.
My partner earns around £8k more than me but has higher outgoings as self employed, we live in an expensive area and used help to buy for our mortgage which we have another 3 years left without having to pay any interest. It does worry me when we want to move our mortgage will probably be twice as much as it is currently because of the HTB scheme! I’m often worrying about money or my credit card and I’m always left without money a good week before payday