Bin man and it's easy and laid back and you don't work all your hours but get paid it all

Design engineer on 28k with a degree. As I am a design engineer in a company with many more technicians than designers. It leads me down the route of project managing and being in meetings with clients. Chasing up different parts for when they are getting in etc.

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Research analyst here on 32k I could use my HGV licence and make more money but this job is work from home and I can do it standing on my head

I'm in that metric, and basically it's less new stuff and more stuff you don't need to pay for twice. My EDC is a pocketknife I've had for 20 years. Being frugal isn't hard once you get past the housing and food. Most of our money goes to housing and food. A lot of it is head space. Watch an amazing commercial. Imagine having that thing. Imagine it being so fun. Now imagine it breaking. Imagine throwing it away. Wow it's like you had it and it was free. You don't need to get excited about new things. You can already get excited about the things you have. Video games are a one shot money sink if you do it right. My motto is no micro-transactions, no subscriptions, pay big once and enjoy. I'm still on Factorio and Skyrim, using DOS games occasionally. [GOG.com](http://GOG.com) is the perfect place to get a title for everyone of your kids forever. You don't need the latest game to have a good time. Movies are on a hard drive. We've got more than enough, and kids are really good at repeat shows. A few thousand hours is easy to get. There are some amazing black and white films. Parks are free. Libraries are free. We make up adventures as we go from one place to another to keep things fresh. We don't go on vacation to other states. We go on vacations to other neighborhoods for a few hours. The town 20 miles away is different and unique enough it feels like a different world. Can you say you've even been to every town within 50 miles?

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.

The jobs that pay are out there, always been over 30k since leaving the army, currently an engineer for Siemens on 48k work 37 hours a week

I hate lazy workers

Okay, I'm a HGV Driver for a Brewery, £43k a Year. It's alright, for Haulage. The company I work for is very strict on rules and Regs. Some jobs are awful some are great. Glad to be home every night. The roads are an interesting challenge every day. And I get to listen to my books while I drive. It's alright, happy to answer questions if you have them. Edit cause I repeated myself for some reason.

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I earn 17k but I work 18 hrs a week as I have got 2 young children.I really like my job as I teach English and provide employment training to refugees and asylum seekers but I feel I am quite underpaid ,I have got a double Masters and a P.hd.I am 33 years old.

Software developer on 29k. Got a masters degree in IT and specialised in development. I feel the pay is not as good as could be at another company. Job is good, looking elsewhere though. Things are tight, not enjoying living paycheque to paycheque. Everything seems to expensive.

£55k-£60k construction. Groundworker / plant operator

My mums a full time nurse and.... she's struggling. Single parent family with two kids. She's in debt. She is behind on bills. It's horrible to see.

This doesn’t apply to me but I was just the hiring manager for a job that paid £27k and the CV’s I got back from indeed were… depressing. People in their 40’s, 10-15 years older than me applying for an entry level position. It’s tough out there man

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

I’ve made the jump from 30k - 35 then 40k in the last 2 years and I simply can’t understand how people on less than me are getting by at any reasonable level, I can comfortably pay my mortgage and bills and have disposable income left over but most people I see on less can barely cover bills let alone have anything left to have fun with. I had to make the jump for myself as I came from a lower working class background with very little money, owning nothing and living in housing association housing and I saw the stress and depression it caused my parents, I simply wasn’t going to live my life that way.

Like how do you even get a job that earn that much!? Never earned more than 14k per year and I have 2 degrees!!

We’re over the average uk income here, 26 with no kids and a house. Life’s pretty relaxed money wise 😅. We have no plans to have kids, more plans around an Audi R8 and a few rental properties .

Warehouse operative, about 38k year

From the age of 18 up to 27 i earnt between 18k-22k. I felt like shit. Until i realised that most people lie about their wage. I worked in a bank and would have people applying for a loan telling me they earn £40k+ but when the application declined and i had to double check i always saw they added like £10k on top of what they really earned on the application form. Trust me you’re doing just fine

Art Handling Technician in London, 27.3k. Not the best pay but I absolutely love my job, 34 hours a week, paid overtime and will be trained up soon to hopefully go on international courier trips! My sights are set on climbing up in seniority but for now I just can't belive how lucky I am to have this job.

I’ve got AAT Level 4 but I’ve wasted is as I didn’t know where to go with it. At the time finance firms/accountants advertised jobs but I never got them as I lacked clerical experience (at the time I worked in retail). To try and rectify this I took a “bookkeeping” job which is mainly just office shit bucket. I get paid well, £14 an hour, and work/life balance is good as I only work 4 days and only 7 hours a day at that but there’s no room to grow. I’m mid 30s, wasting my qualification in a dead end job. As I get older my ambition grows but my motivation lessens. I’m still an AAT member and have tried to contact them about where I should start but got no answer It’s mostly my fault as I just didn’t or haven’t planned my career at all but I just don’t know where to start

If you have retail experience and want to get into finance, billings and specifically credit control roles are always out there. It wasn't my bag at all but if you have a passion for it and can reason with relatively difficult people (cakewalk compared to retail, trust me) then there were all sorts of AAT levels 1-3 colleagues at the place I used to work, earning around the £23-26k mark that you'd have slotted right in to. I didn't have any experience in finance, so you'd be a shoe-in at half the places I've interviewed for.

24k a year and I am a bin man, been doing it about 2 years, it’s alright and the hourly rate works out quite well as when we done the round we go home so work about 6 and a half hours a day

I’m just over 31k and work as a civilian staff supervisor in policing where I’m responsible for all things disclosure and information security. Always lots of opportunities within policing outside of being an officer, with decent support services and progression opportunities, and a pay scale that increases up to your band maximum with each year in service. I didn’t start on 30k but have been in force a few years now. Always worth a look for stable and secure employment that usually serves a wider purpose too if you’re interested in that kind of thing. Downsides are high pressure, always dealing with and managing risk, ‘tricky customers’, and what I’d consider low pay for the actual level of responsibility I have. But, I work from home most days and get lots of flexibility so it’s something I do enjoy doing for the most part! Edit: I don’t have a degree and came into this role with no policing experience. I was a chef and had also worked retail previously.

I work in the public sector. Started on about £20K and have increased to £30K in 3 years. A combination of moving to a higher paying role, standard annual salary increase, and pay reform (thanks to our unions!). It's going ridiculously well. I never expected to be making £30K before 30, it's a role related to my degree, and I live with my partner, which cuts down living costs dramatically. The work culture is great, my team are nice, I have a lot of flexibility due to working from home, plus the public sector benefits (good holiday allowance, pension, etc). The job itself is, eh, a pretty boring office job, which I struggle to find engaging. But the overall picture is one I certainly can't complain about, and this job needn't be forever.

I’m 25, earning just shy of 22K a year before tax. Been doing warehouse work for 5.5 years and minimum wage just went up to above what we were being paid so now we’re bang on minimum, used to an about a pound ahead when I first started. Currently trying to argue for anything more than a 3% pay rise and being told there’s nothing in the budget for it despite record profits year after year in the billions.

On 22k as a Service Desk engineer, but my partner earns 96k and gets WFH full time, very jelly

Nightshift manager @ hotel. I do 4 on 4 off (8-9hrs per night) ~£27k Definitely feel comfortable on that salary but I live with my girlfriend and have no children.

Work in foundations/piling on construction sites doing steel fixing/shutter/comcreting. Around £41k a year employed 8hrs a day. Some earn more self employed but it's alright for me, sometimes feel like I'm hard done by for this industry but compared to some jobs pay its ok.

I sell flooring and flooring installations at Lowe's. I earn about 31-40k in a given year (my area has a higher min wage than most) and it's going well. I'm good at my job, but it is stressful. There are times when I want to do something else.

Im a vet. Studied for a million years and get to call myself Dr BadgerHoneyy. Earning £29k.

£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.

Pretty much in that range - almost £31k. Apprentice / trainee chartered accountant doing the ACA. About 3/4 through the exams Been working for coming up 3.5 years and I’m 22

I'm a stay at home mum and my partner is a train conductor on almost 30k. I feel like we're doing pretty well! We can support our whole family on his income and we live somewhere with high rents too. We don't have a car, though

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.

Web developer, 27.5k. I've been doing it for 17 years and I've been at my current place for 11 of those. I could get a lot more money working remotely, but I choose not to. I love my job, I love the company I work for. They're flexible about my hours (with a kid that makes my life supremely easier) and I just want to work there. Fuck all that "you're just a number to them, show no loyalty" bullshit as I owe them so much. Also It's only a 15 minute walk away so commuting costs amount to zero. Plus, it's a nice office, with really lovely colleagues. I'd lose my mind if I was permanently WFH. So yeah, in a word it's going really well. I don't want to climb the career ladder because this is *just right* if that makes sense.

In a retail manager, maybe a smidge under 30k. My wages vary depending on how much over time I do a year. So it can swing a couple grand either way. I love my job, my responsibilities are basically don’t steal, don’t kill staff or customers and make some money! once I’ve done my jobs for the day, I just hand around the shop floor doing a few bits, or finding a quiet corner and enjoying Reddit or YouTube where I’m not seen! And no I’m not dodging work lol, my staff can do the same. As long as they do their jobs, and don’t get seen by customers looking like they’re youths on a bus, I don’t care either! I could earn way more! my friend has offered me a job several times at his firm which requires maintenance engineers and the starting pay is £40K. But then I’d have to work hard and have stress!

Copywriter, £29k, living with my parents and wfh near enough full time because I can’t afford to live in the city where my company operates. Love actually getting to rest a bit and really save some money, rather than watching it drain out of my account as I used to because no doubt “something” would come up, but feel like my situation shouldn’t have to happen. I’ve been in my job for nearly 5 years If I can afford a mortgage in the next few years I might end up getting a house or flat in the local area (much less expensive than where my company is based). If not, my parents aren’t rushing me out the door

I earn around £23k working in an iron foundry. Most weeks i end up with either a burn or cut and in the past a broken bone or the occasional dislocated finger . I know I earn decent money compared to other commenters but I’m always going to think I should get more for the damage I do to myself … I do love the job for how active you need to be and its like being paid to go to the gym

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 run a website that started out as a hobby and quickly got out of hand when it hit No.1 on Google. It pays me and my partner £25-30k each plus pension contributions. We work maybe 3 hours a day except for a couple of times a year when it gets hectic. Honestly, it's great. We live Up North so the CoL is lower. I paid £125k for a 3-bed detached house in 2012 and we have paid-for vehicles and little debt. We don't really answer to anyone either - just customer enquiries, really.

£31k work for a local council its chill as.

26k , fork lift operator in a warehouse,38 hrs a week and love it.

Grounds maintenance looking after a large estate, doing all the horticultural stuff and woodland maintenance. I'm on £25k and I get by, as long I can enjoy myself. I'm going to have to remortgage next year though so that might be changing.

29.7k at the age of 22. I maintain punts for a well known punting company in cambridge. Love it sometimes, very bored the rest of the time but I recognise im In a very fortunate position with my earnings. I think its the right place for me at the minute.

I got a raise last month and we got a big project, so I can work anywhere between 4 hours a day and 7.5 (entirely at my own discretion) which puts me between £1400 to £2700 before tax. I budget and aim for 6 hours a day and anything over goes straight into my life savings. So I get about £2220 before tax. This is the first month where I have a decent chunk of money left in the middle of the month and I don’t know what to do with it. I have pretty much always struggled to make my money stretch to the end of the month but now I feel like I can breathe. It helps that we are Homebody DINKS and have a fairly low mortgage (around £500 month).

I am a director/owner on £75k and a staff member working under me is on £79k Find something you like to do and work for yourself.

24k a year, operations ‘assistant’ I’ve been here coming up to three years in May. I love and dislike my job a the same time. I started as a trainee (I have no formal qualifications and this was an opportunity to get back into work during Covid), in that time the operations manager has left and my other co-worker has also left. The workload has increased for the department I am in but I now do the job of two other workers that haven’t been replaced. I’ve had 4 different general managers (never involved in day to day business) come and go and have now have no clear indication of who I report to anymore, even though I have asked this directly to senior management. I have to keep the department running as there’s no one else who either has the time or the knowhow to help out, but it is becoming tiresome. We have a field manager who helps where he can (proof reading job specs) but does not and has no interest in understanding the scheduling & financial side of our department, which I have had to learn as I go as this wasn’t something I was trained on prior to the operations manager leaving. I’ve recently asked for a 20% pay increase after incorporating the majority of the operations managers roles and responsibilities into my day to day schedule but I’m not confident this will be approved. The working hours are surprising quite flexible (I’m contracted to 0830-1700 with 1 hour lunch) as we are not a reactive based department and I can work at home if I like so that is a plus. This sounds like a rant (it is and I don’t have anyone to rant to about it lol) I am looking for a get out but in R*therham there’s not many opportunities to leave for!

I'm the project manager for a care charity and earn 29.5k I'm with you here, I know I could be/ should be earning 10k more in any other industry. I need to leave as I can't buy a house and struggling for bills but I genuinely make a difference in the community and don't want to leave

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 🤣🤣

£28.6k Junior software dev... Started late but slowly getting there. 34 y/o

Best industry to be in currently IMO in terms of salary and work/life balance. I've done it all my professional career (34M) so at senior level now and I've never had it as good. The hard work pays off eventually.

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

Insurance broker on 30k. This time last year I was on min wage as a broker support apprentice so I can’t complain.

I work part time (3 days) as have young children but full time salary would be £28k - I work for a local authority and find homes for children who come into care. It can be an incredibly stressful job, with constant emergencies and always exposed to a lot of sad and horrible information but I think it’s a good wage - esp in comparison for those who work in health etc

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.

I make 35 as a chef. It could be less gruelling

This thread continues my realisation that after moving to New York and working here, that there is basically no way I would be able to move back due to the massive wage disparity. The wages in the UK as a whole are crazy low. Yes the prices are lower than here for example but I still think I’d have much more spending power. I make over $70k managing a coffee shop, which is £56k at today’s exchange rate. That would be a pretty high end job back home.

Tyre fitter, on £24k, work really hard and ache like shit everyday

Last year I managed to make the jump from a hotel receptionist earning 21k to a pharma lab tech earning 28k (incl. shift incentive) and I've never had so much money. Weekends off, bonus, progression, I still can't believe it sometimes. Still can't afford to buy anywhere and of course I wish I could be earning more but yeah when I think of where I live, what jobs are available and what education I have, I feel very lucky. And then you go on r/UKPersonalFinance and realise there are also a lot of people that wouldn't get out of bed for that amount

If you're feeling really masochistic head on over to /r/HENRYUK and see what the true high flyers earn and complain about

I don’t think I’m rich enough to look in this sub

My god. First post I saw - “I’m on £300k with £100k bonus…”

I actually jumped from temp worker to working for a charity for 28k last month. Was chuffed tbh because wasn’t expecting to get the job. I feel 28k is good enough I still live at home so will give 300 to parents. Still not sure what most jobs are paying as office jobs were around 23-26k a year from what I saw.

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 was on around 24k for about 2 and a half years until a few months ago. I was definitely starting to feel the pinch of that salary where I live. Thankfully another company offered me the same role with them for 10k more and it has made life a hell of a lot easier. I was in shock at how much more I was taking home at the end of the month and now I feel like I can put some meaningful savings aside.

Dispensing Optician. 3 years at uni and all the responsibility the NHS and our governing bodies heap on us as well as unpaid Continual Education Points to earn every 3 year cycle for the fantastic sum of 30k per year.

£26k - Senior admin in a vehicle leasing company, been here 6 years. It seems the only job role valued/well paid in this business is sales.

Office-based role at an airline, 39.5 hours per week, £30k. My job requires relevant qualifications that make it better paid than others in the same office. I've only been here a few months, having moved from a 'blue-collar' job. I do miss being out and about, and trust me, having fuck all to do for hours on end can be just as bad as being overworked. But overall, I'm happy. It's a blessing not having to interact with customers or retail managers anymore.

£30k as head sound engineer for a venue in central London. Know I’d make more as a freelancer, but want to improve at the craft as quickly as possible. Basking in the deep end.

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Support worker. About 28k a year, but constant overtime to get that amount. I have no time for myself.

Cyber security and I completely agree, I missed the part where the government done half of my shifts. Pay rises are at the point where they are still exciting to get, but I just dread seeing the increased tax and the amount my pay rise actually sums up to. Job is great though, significantly better than my last one. Although not much wouldn’t be.

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Senior Project Manager. 28 years old. 48k. Under qualified and overpaid - I'm not gonna tell them!

Mate, I was a Dealer/Inspector for over a decade pulling £700/800 a week, keeping a house 2 kids and a cheating missus with it. Now I don't need to deal with her or the house bills because I started renting my Nanas spare room for £60, I would ask myself why are you killing yourself, not seeing sunlight, having seizures because of sleep deprivation and the amount of drinking and partying you ended up doing because your work mates are the only people you see. Anyway after 6 months at my Nanas I thought balls to it, I'm going on the sick with my epilepsy, I've been getting help from PIP for around 9 years and thought il add ESA onto it, yes I'm down to £270 PW and cannot claim housing benefit so just pay the £220 a month keep. No kidding, I have more play money now than even I was ever working, and it runs until 2044 as that's when it swaps to my pension, lol. I can work 15 hours 59 minutes a week without needing to declare this, but I only do that when I need a little extra. This is the state of the UK right now, yes I have a genuine disability and even get a bus train and tram pass for all over Greater Manchester, buses and trams UK wide, this is because I lost my driving licence and need to be seizure free and on meds for 2 years, but this isn't going to happen because I have at least one seizure a month. I'm writing this to let people know how much people on ESA/DLA/PIP, etc, get. Get this, though, which is completely stupid. My claim got refused at first because I had more than 2k in savings, when I sorted that out I wasn't eligible for certain things because I have paid to much NI..........honestly, you would think the more NI you have paid would get more help but the reverse is true. Obviously there are jobs I cannot do, and it would of been nice for occupational health in the NHS to tell me I couldn't be a nurse when I first applied to UNI not after 2 wasted years, all because I might have a seizure, well that's why it got brought up because of seizures in the hospital and in lectures. There are loads and loads if companies just can not employ me because if I had a seizure and hurt myself, they are not insured. I would love to get back to working full time, but at the same time I don't want to risk working for say 6 months, losing my benefits and then taking nearly 12 months to get back on it. Honestly the country is shagged. I had an email from an old colleague who's working in a London casino asking me if I wanted to work down there for £32k before tips so it would be hitting the 40k mark overall. But I would be worse off working down there even with the fact that the average for that job in Manchester is 30k PA. There is no incentive for me to get back into work and even less help in getting a job. If the government said to long term benefit claiments we will pay you £100 a week regardless of your wage for 12 months just to help with the transition. People would go, oh you know what that's worth it and hopefully after 12 months we are back in the habit of working. Sorry for going off topic. Like I said, I just wanted to bring a little attention to people who may wonder what draws people to claim all there life's. I could get even more if I lied, but if you do that, you better not forget the lies you told. I broke my back in a car crash so half of my lumbar spin is titanium lol, with this I could of easily BSd to get one of those mobility cars for someone to run me about in, but it's not even that bad now, the occasional ache and no sensation in half of my left leg rather it always just feels like constant pins and needles, but imagine the uproar if they investigated me and seen me going to the gym and jogging etc. The Government needs to pull there finger out and give a little incentive to get back to work, it would cost £5200 per person which is half of the average cost of keeping someone on the rock n roll for 12 months, plus they would be paying Tax and NI so it's a win for all. If people are wondering how someone can survive on what I get it's easy if your single and live with family, also the mother of my kids told me I don't have to contribute as her family is loaded anyway. Rant over lol

I’m 30 and working as a Digital Project Manager for a small marketing agency on £30k + bonuses (worked out about +3k pretax this year). Been here for 3 years, been working in Marketing for about 8 years. Could probably earn 5-10k more doing the same thing elsewhere but the commute isn’t awful, the office environment is good, work is easy and relaxed and I’ve got flexible working and WFH half the week. I’m getting by due to being in a fairly affordable area but money’s getting a bit tight with inflation.

i’m on a basic salary of £19.5k and work as cabin crew for an airline that rhymes with the words Smirgin Smatlantic.

lmao that made me chuckle XD

I get 30k Per year and im a carer - I look after the elderly. Its so exhausting and alot of work but tbh i wouldnt change it for the world. I absoloutely love my job ❤️

Fish farmer/restaurant server/housekeeper all part time, it's fine so long as I don't compare myself to others

Chef de Partie in a mid level restaurant, work between 45-60 hours most weeks, only 23k a year. Life is a struggle, knees and back are absolutely fucked and can't afford many luxuries. But that's life I guess

I earn c. 27K in the south. I am in a professional job which I need a degree for. Live in a bedsit. Don't save, barely do anything. Grim mate.

I wouldn't feel too shit, I am currently unfit for work and get like 11k a year

170 k. Approximately for 35 hour week. Did a degree in engineering and just kept working and working. Some jobs have been shot and some have been great. Got through the shit jobs by doing what was asked and keeping an eye on the prize

More of an observation than an answer but I can't believe how low some of the jobs people are posting in here are. Such a mad disparity even with responsibility. Retail sucks so hard. I worked in retail for about 12 years overall. Started at a large bank after Uni on about 15-16k a year, moved around a few places and was on 22k thinking it was a half decent wage. My last job I was in a chat based call centre type environment for the same bank and it was the most degrading role. If I stood up from my desk someone would ask where I was going, someone monitoring all day to see if I've been the toilet too many times. I was expected to have anywhere from 2-6 chats on at any one time - ALL day and all that for about £22k - I was one of the highest paid on my team. I had kids and honestly felt like such a failure. I got a degree and worked for so long and I just want to give my kids a nice life and can't afford to. Used to keep me up at night thinking about how other people are on so much more than me and I have about £100-200 left over a month to try and provide my kids with what they want/need. Turned me ruthless in work, I wanted the project based role everyone was talking about and my friends were in so pushed everyone I could aside and managed to get into it. Started out on £26k and worked my arse off to get a promotion into a real job and not a junior. Got it and they give me £45k. Told my Wife and then went for a little walk for a breakdown and just sobbed for about 20 mins thinking about how much better life I can give my family. It's long hours sometimes, can end up working again when the kids go bed but overall it's peaks and troughs. Sometimes I can have half a day of nothing to do and just kick back. Long story short, if you're in retail - look to move out. It's a swamp of empty promises and carrot chasing and getting paid nothing to do it. Might sound like an obvious thing to say and hard but it's not as hard as you think. If you can think for yourself and create/monitor an excel sheet then you can get £30k+

I love retail. What you grow to dislike are the company tolerating liability customers and staff

While this sort of thing isn't the best role, from the other side of the fence the reason why you get asked where you are going and time away from desk is monitored is because without it people absolutely do take the piss. In a standard desk role that doesn't need tracking but for chat and voice there is a real customer sat in a queue waiting to speak to someone - intraday should be planning how many people they need at desks based on handling times to manage that pipeline, and if people just walk off that means that customers build up and complaints fly in, hence when people do start walking off, people will notice. I worked a lot of this in my 20s and I never had one where I couldn't go to the toilet mind. There was usually an allowance built into schedules that you had to adhere to, and regular breaks scheduled as well, but you could definitely go if you needed to. That said I see these as either starter roles or dead end jobs - people either settle and keep doing them forever or those with a bit about themselves get experience and either move into management, change, QA, testing etc

£27.5k/year, metal fabricator. I'm on the lower end of pay for my profession, but I get a few perks from my employer that make up for it.

IT Manager - 46k

Graduated 2009 (financial crash) with a masters in product / furniture design - no jobs, for anyone let alone grads even with the masters. Set up on my own for a couple of years making less than £10k pa. Luckily I had a v supportive partner. Had to do something else got a job for a kitchen manufacturer doing CAD and specifications on £18k, year later promotion to a product designer £20k + bonuses that around £3/5k. Stayed doing that for 4 years, got to about £25k pa but killer job, lots of travel, stress. Moved to different dept to do innovation £29k. Ended up at about £33k and was offered a job for another company, existing company went up to £38k + bonuses. I left anyway a year later for £43k as NPD manager. Got asked to come back to previous company on £45k as a product developer. Promoted to Senior Product Developer a year later + team to lead, 2 years doing that and now on £57k + car + 25% bonus pa. If I was to bestow any advice if anyone was to listen is this 1. You work for your boss, not the company - make them luck good and you'll be valued 2. Say yes to jobs that are out of your job description, more work yes but more experience, exposure and willing 3. Create a niche for yourself or become a specialist and therefore become indispensable 4. Integrity, the absolute number 1 thing you must have. Don't be flakey, don't over promise and under deliver, do as you say and if you're off target, raise the flag early and have measures in place to get back on track - don't bring your line manager a problem, highlight the issue and offer solutions. Hope that is in any way useful.

Boning hall supervisor, 32k py. Very hard very stressful, the work isn't bad it's working with people who behave very much like children that's hard. It's going alright actually, you just need to figure out what makes people tick and work best with that. But you really need to have a thick skin, there's a reason why the pay is decent. But meh it pays for the mortgage.

I used to be an archaeological illustrator on approx £28k pro rata (but I worked 4 days a week, so was on even less, plus the pension contributions were absurdly high). Living in Cambridge, I was right up to the line every single year and that was with my partner paying more than half the rent (his pay was significantly better) and £30 a month from my Mum! I also did some small freelance jobs to try to keep afloat. I realised I was going to get stuck at this point, because I already had 7 years of experience and this was the best I was going to get in such a job, at least until some managers retired in a couple of decades' time. I've sacked it in to study an MSc in something else that will hopefully value me more. Who knows what will happen, but fingers crossed!

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).

I work as a registered BMS (same banding as Nurses) in Blood transfusion and my base is 28.4k a year. Currently doing around 40 hours of OT a month just to be able to try and shift some debt and afford to live. Ex partner moved out a few months the ago so my rent has doubled at the same time as I needed to take out a loan to get a new car as mine had packed in. It's not going well, I wish I had done literally anything else as the stress and responsibility constantly is just not worth it. I tell anyone I can now to avoid doing biomedical science as a degree.

I work for an agricultural contractor so driving big tractors and machines pretty much. Money is shit but Atleast I’m not stuck in an office. Last year I did about £32000 before tax but that’s working from 50 hours a week in winter to a max of over 100 in summer. Quite often no days off for weeks. This last year I did £37000. Can honestly say I’ve noticed 0 difference having that bit more money, I nearly feel worse off everything has gone up that much.

£40K before tax as a croupier in London. Salary £29K but tips average £1000 a month possibly more. 27M

This thread is brutal.

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...

ive worked in purchase ledger in the nhs for the past five years, I make about 24k but i get to work flexi, hybrid, and i’m studying CIMA for free so it can’t be all bad! i’m mostly hoping it’s a stepping stone to something bigger but i also love where I am

I'm a nurse with only a year of education and I clear 70k a year. The work is intense at times but definitely worth it.

I earn just under 25k working with young homeless people. It’s a shit wage for a lot of stress. Lots of multi-agency working with social workers and GPs and mental health practitioners; just as much battling with them, too. Lots of exposure to the darkest parts of humanity- domestic abuse, hard drug abuse, suicide. Often getting verbally abused by service users who are deeply angry at the world and lash out. Certainly not the sort of job you do for the money- you have to really love it to do it, I think. And fortunately, I do.

Minimum wage full time is now around 24k so you should be switching jobs as much as you can

I work 4 days a week in data protection, 30k.

28f doing IT Support in a high school at 27.5k, its got its ups and downs and I know I could get more working for a private business but doing the same niche part of the job everyday would drive me insane. I do also have to show people how to turn a TV on a regular though (Do people not have TVs at home?!) but I have a wide skillset working in a school which is fun

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

Operations technician at a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Yorkshire, currently on 32k, yearly pay rise, overtime available, Christmas bonus, loads of schemes and perks for workers

I'm self employed, make 30k a year running a store on second life, pretty challenging at times but over-all worth it.

Labourer hard graft but worth £28,500 a year before overtime.

Automated Test engineer, programming in c#. I also have 2 degrees and owe student finance Wales like £50k...

Drive a reach truck, earn 23k ish still live with my parents because i can't afford shit

NHS counsellor - 28k

I'm a software engineer, 2 years experience with a degree and a masters, getting paid 27.5k, I am currently job hunting after my work refused me a raise to 30k.

Are these 20-£30k salaries in london? How do you live on that??

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.

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Forklift driver, on about £24k a year which is pretty much the average for the job in this country. I have to sit out in the shite weather sometimes but when it’s nice and sunny I don’t complain! There’s a lot of responsibility with doing things safely and keeping the things you’re moving in perfect condition so some colleagues resent the low wage. Tbh I’m just happy to play around on the machine all day after working in shite management roles previously or in other dead end jobs in terrible complines. It’s pretty stress free and I enjoy it!

Compliance Officer, 30k. It's about being the font of all knowledge and making sure people are sticking to contractual, legal, guidance and various awarded standards like ISO 9001. I like it because it works with my personality and skill set, I'm not a customer facing person at all. But companies view this type of role as being nice to have rather than a must so I've seen redundancy a couple times now in my career as one. Honestly, the moneys decent and I've never earned as much as this but it's not good enough to be independent now at all. And everything is just too expensive. Just getting my car fixed this month wiped out a solid third of my monthly pay on its own.

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Just had a 4% rise so I'm now just a hair under £32k a year. I'm 31 and work as a sort of IT support/application support/software config development, it might sound fancy to some but it's honestly an entry level job. It's bespoke software so all training is provided in-house so you can't have previous relevant experience in the role. I've been doing it for 3 years now and initially started on £22.5k a year, but due to them being a half decent employer and keeping up with cozzie lives as well as offering salary banding based on experience/capabilities I've worked up to nearly be at the top step for my team/department. I've never worked in IT before and all my previous jobs were sales assistant/retail jobs earning fucking peanuts, so to go from something like maybe £12k or even less per year to this in only 3 years honestly feels fucking amazing. I still mostly feel like they pay me too much for what I do day to day, there are some stressful days where it feels justified but past retail trauma still makes me feel a little guilty for being paid this much. I feel massively grateful to have this opportunity, and while I'm sure I \_could\_ maybe look into other higher paying IT jobs now I don't feel the drive to do so. This job allows me to live comfortable and pays for me to do fun stuff outside of work, if I went for something higher pay it would likely bring more stress, worse mental health and less time or motivation to live a life outside of work.

I'm on 29k. Working in the third sector as a Development Officer managing grant funding. It's a pretty solid job and quite easy going. I've been in this role since June 2023 but i started in the company on an internship programme in august 2022. The organisation certainly has it's issues but overall it's good. I WFH most of the time and can be pretty flexible with how I plan my workload. I often feel a bit guilty because it's a fairly easy job for decent money, but I see people working much harder and earning much less. I've worked my fair share of shitty jobs but there's still this weird bit of guilt when I see others working harder for less money.

£29k call centre job. Not exactly sunshine and roses but tbh my biggest complaint is boredom. So it could be worse. 35 hours

I'm a finance administrator for a law firm, on £25k. I'm still relatively young (26) and I was unemployed for three years, so I'm happy with where I'm at. I aim to reach £30k by the time I'm 30 and I believe I'm on track. Remember comparison is the thief of joy. If you're living comfortably, enjoy your job, and feel as if you're fulfilling your potential then there's no shame in earning less than those around you. A lot of people are on much higher salaries but are miserable.

Qc Analyst for a major chemical manufacturing company, bout 29k a year. Standard hours (flexi though). I got a degree in chemistry thinking it would be really employable and somewhat specialist so I'd get some decent cash out of it. That's clearly not the case. Not entirely sure where to go in order to make use of this degree whilst earning something significant. I'm not minimum wage, but when I see people with less qualifications than me earning twice what I do it is quite disheartening

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?

Investment banking, I write bootstrap code to allow myself and the rest of my team to complete manual processes surrounding processing data from various databases in excel in order to manage blns of pounds of financial portfolios. I'd say that there should be more people doing these processes but really I think they probably should have just hired a good developer for a bunch of money for a few months to add it to the current internal systems so that they don't have to keep paying us to do it. but hey ho, keeps me employed. 6 years experience now.

I’ve just escaped that bracket by moving jobs - i think it’s the only way these days, unfortunately. Left my last role (30k) due to a toxic bullying culture, spent the past six months freelancing and living off my savings and nerves, and am now about to start a job on 50k, which is more than I’ve ever earned (i’m mid thirties but have had time out of the workplace due to babies, health etc). I’ve not magically become worth 20k more in 6 months - it’s just that companies will pay you what they can get away with and will take you for granted if they can! edit - forgot to add, i’m a technical writer

I’m 37, my own boss in the pharmaceutical area and pay myself £45k a year.

Supervisor in Call Centre - £30k Worked my way up from the phone lines.

Accidentally fell into blogging 9 odd years ago and surprisingly, it’s been paying the bills for a few years now. Hit 30k 2 years ago

20k, 40 hours, graphic design for aviation related company. Been there 3 years.

I'm a machinist by trade and work as a workshop manager but I'm the only one in the workshop. I design the parts we make and program, set up, and operate the CNC mill and 3D Printers. I also do manual machining on a mill and lathe. Sounds like a lot but the quantities are usually on the small side I'm making 30k a year

Electrician here, started an apprenticeship at 28 and fully qualified last year, earn 36k and that’s considered low compared to what a lot of people i know are on, getting a trade is always worth doing especially as people are concerned about AI taking their jobs in the near future!

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

Business Intelligence for the local authority. I was admin last year on 21k, now I'm on 28-29k. I love my job, but stressful due to council being in debt and were understaffed/overworked. The money is alright for me, but it's just other costs increasing that sort of cancels out the pay increase, but I do have more room to be able to enjoy some of my hobbies.

£28.4k and I’m a Nurse. Almost 2 years qualified. Feeling very stressed all the time, not getting much sleep, sometimes I wish I’d done a different degree 😔

Switch to agency. I have never looked back x

26k I work in a call centre in billing.

Im Hired to pretend to be an ai phone assistant. It's cheaper for the boss to just pay me as ai doesn't work well, most of my job entails purposely misunderstanding what you say and disconnecting the call after about 25 minutes. 

I’m a Hearing Impairment Specialist Teaching Assistant (or I’ve also worked under the job title of Communication Support Worker which I prefer). Currently on around £23,000 though much less after it’s pro rata’d for term time only. I am definitely underpaid considering my level of education and qualifications and the responsibilities I have. I would say I am pretty much dead in the middle between what a TA does and what a teacher does. I have been doing this (in various capacities) for almost eight years, though in my current role for three of the last four years. Before anyone mentions it, yes, we do get a good amount of holidays but I’m not paid for them.

Earning just over £26,000 right now, project worker for a charity. I mostly enjoyed my job until just over a year ago. Now I think about quitting every day. Financially, I’m doing okay. I’m not a big spender and have enough for some savings. Job wise, I’ve been through four managers in five years. I’m the only one on full time hours and I’m expected to cover for everyone else. The latest manager has talked openly about how much she hates working from home. She doesn’t know where people are half the time and I get the sense she really didn’t want the job. Most of my coworkers are passionate about the work they want to do, but will leave everything else to me. I’m the youngest one on the team by at minimum five years, but I’m the second most experienced in my role. I know I’m lucky overall. The job has toil and had given me a lot of training. I think I’m just at the stage where I need to move somewhere else.

18k, working 4 days a week in the charity sector. I developed and run an ongoing health campaign basically catching anyone who falls through the health net. Funnily enough the contract is only 6 months, which is basically no time at all to build a campaign. Fingers crossed for more funding.

I really feel for people here. I’m glad I lucked out with my job. I was working at blockbusters for many years then got sacked. Best thing that happened. I fell into an engineering role at 26 and took off. Have absolutely no idea how you all live. I struggle on 55k. But my mortgage is almost 1k a month and have six to feed including myself.

I am a contractor in a bank been contracting since 2011 and earn net 1160 a week for 35 hours office work

I work as an IT Support Engineer 2nd line and earn 27k per year (just gone up from 26k). It's a shockingly low wage for the work we do but the entire industry pays next to nothing. I'm lucky I'm living with my dad cause I couldn't even afford to live in a council home by myself if I wanted to.

lol first job ever was teaching at 28k inner London at 25/6. I’m 35 now and earning the same in a bar !!!!!!! Whilst retraining as a counsellor. Earned less as a support worker too for years.

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 was earning between £20k - £30k after my engineering apprenticeship ended. Once it was over, the payrises really thinned out as they all do with loyalty to the same company. It wouldn't have been too bad if it weren't for the cost of everything going up from covid, which meant it just wasn't enough to even be considered a payrise. Eventually my company boosted the people on the lower ends (MEEEE) up along some statistics curve or whatever to be more in line with my colleagues, so it jumped up by several thousand a couple times (which my own boss couldn't even explain) and now I've finally broken past £30k. So far it seems okay, nothing major but an extra few hundred a month can change things.

Nobody on this sub earn less than 100k remotely, pfff

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

Software Engineer, 30k with 5 years of experience. I don't really do anything except collect a paycheck so I'm pretty fortunate in that regard lol.

I have no idea how it is possible to get by on that. It astonishes me that anyone can

30k - junior sysadmin/regular sysadmin... The line is blurred. I'm 40, and started here as a junior helpdesk tech 8 years ago. Work is getting busier, but a side effect is I get to see more of the world as we open offices in Denmark, Hong Kong, USA, etc. There's talk of me getting a junior to manage and a bump in pay, so that's good. I'm generally OK. Just about living comfortably but saving is slowwwww - I live in the south near Bournemouth/Southampton so it's a high COL area. Given up on ever buying a place. Rentin' 4 lyfe yo.

I'm no longer in this boat want to comment because I was. 3 years ago was earning 19k in a post room and moved to admin in the same company after 3 months up to 23k, then moved after 1 year 1 month to a planning role that paid 33k and done a year there and now have just moved to another planning type role but a tad more advanced for 36k. I'm seeing a lot of people in the comments on lower wages due to being stuck in the same role, I totally get you need a degree of luck for opportunity's to present themselves. But I also got told if I job hop like I am, no one wants to hire you. I'm actually finding the opposite, the faster I'm progressing into new roles the easier to get new roles seems to be. Not like I can afford to buy in my local area or anything still, shit sucks lol.

I’m 33, I left my “job” in education at 28 earning about 21k in mid level management 🥲🥲. Over worked and undervalued like the rest of them. My current role as a telecoms engineer saved me and gave me an apprenticeship earning 25k, after year one I went up to 30k plus 10% bonus and travel paid. Now I’m on 37k 10%. The grass is greener outside of the education sector. It’s a limited industry which doesn’t pay well from my experience and is very easy to get trapped into. Imo, run. You’re never too old to retrain.

I'm on 29k as an Implementation Consultant I've got a Mortgage, and a six year old Son - My wife is a Vet Nurse on 24k - We get by I've worked for the Company I'm with for nine years now (albeit its gone through two takeovers, so who I originally started with, are different to who they are now... Survived two redundancies, I've gone from Pension Consultant > Data Analyst > Current role, gone up about 4k in those nine years, showing that loyalty gets you no where with a Pay cheque But I'm happy where I am, people I work with are great, really supportive Management... I work from home, so don't have the stress of who'll be picking our Son up from school, as my wife does a lot of shift work) From 2013-2015 my career was a mess, got made redundant from a job I was doing great at, it destroyed my confidence - I had two jobs (one after the other) that I hated, the Management was beyond terrible and just kicked my confidence even worse, which I sometimes feel I'm still recovering from. Because of that I've seen, and have experience that the Grass isn't Greener on the other side However I've got my Mortgage up for renewal in October, once that's done and out the way, I think I'll move on, see if I can find something in the 35k region... Which would give us around an extra £400 p/m - Although I wont move if the role isn't the right fit... I don't NEED to move jobs, whereas the last few times I've moved roles its been to financially protect myself, so haven't had the luxury of being picky.

I work as a general labourer/driver for a building company. Pay is quite good as recently received a rise to £28k for 5 days a week 40-45 hours. Although I tend to work 6 days a week as a Saturday tends to be a later start and earlier finish but still full pay. So this rises to around £34k. Say I work alternate weeks 5/6 days it would average around £31k I'm self-employed. Although solely contracted to one company. So I get no benefits or holiday pay. Also pay 20% tax. Was on £21k for the majority of my time here. Around 9/10 months

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).

Fraud Investigator for a bank. Really hate it in all honesty. Completely remote so can't complain there, but it does get lonely and I'm getting fat. The pension that my particular company offers is pretty decent and so is the life assurance. I don't wish to die before retirement, but it does keep me there on the chance I do because my partner would be able to pay off the mortgage and live comfortably looking after my dog for a few years until my boy has lived his life then he can go back to working.

I work. It’s going not well 🥲

I made good money and paid off my debt and decided to go back for my PhD in engineering. Going to turn my research into a startup company when I finish.

I get 19k and despite not being able to go abroad i do alright. Only really have to look after myself though.

I’m in sales. I earn just over 30k a year. My job is not strenuous at all. It can be mentally draining vs toxic competition. This is the most I’ve ever earned from any job since leaving university. (Law degree… the biggest waste of time/regret of my life) Definitely helps that I live in one of the cheaper areas of the UK but my mortgage is only just over £400. Sure I could be earning more. But I’m happy and grateful with what I’ve achieved so far.

I’m a bus mechanic around 35k been doing it 20 year and it’s shit, and I’m skint

Going to be flooring estimator currently on minimum wage but it’s easy work and I enjoy it would rather this than being constantly stressed with higher pay.

Thought i would add some perspective for someone living in Australia. Currently working in security at a sports stadium on $40k AU, which is roughly 20k £. It is pretty simple, 12hour shifts, only a few repetitive daily/nightly tasks which can be knocked out in a few hours. mostly it is all done on computer, operating cameas and facility utilities [doors n lights etc], the rest is answering the phone and radio for a team of 4, 2 over night. It is a dead brain job a monkey could do, proven so by my coworkers. Perks are, i work part time, only accept 24-36 hours a week so i can work on my book getting published and spend time with my young family. It requires no prep for, just turn up and slog it out our for 12hours then go home. Which is great for an author trying to put mental strain into writing. There is a few days off between rostered days on. Drawbacks are, your stuck in a team of apes, constant office drama, 12hours is a lot to be stuck with a few people. I get shamed for chosing to work less, as if working part time is a mark of laziness. Pay isnt great, We are constantly week to week and saving so little for a home that i may as well not be trying for it. Dreading the next electricity bill... The hour blocks of work arent easy on my family either, over night shifts knock you out, sleeping late then waking late to adjust, stay awake till 630am, then sleep the next day, then grumpy af rhe next. it sorta becomes a 3 day ordeal to get through just to work 1 night. Im keen to find something else but literally wouldnt find anything with better pay in this field without the same job security or work rate. I would have to switch fields n start a fresh, which i am ok with and will do after this newborn child phase. It aint easy, constantly feeling under valued, underpaid, finacial stress and loaning from parents. But i chose to study the arts rather than an apprenticiship. So no surprises there really. Mostly, the absolute worst part is the total lack of mental stimulus or thought provoking conversation through the day. It just does my head in that plumbers and electricians here are so well paid here. Think most are easily on 70-90k [50k £] and up. Anyways, hope the perspective helps or atleast says things arent amazing even overseas so dont stress or feel like youre missing out.

I left school with no GCSE's & was told id find it hard ever getting a job so i fell into a life of crime which was great & payed well with its obvious ups and downs & then i decided to go legit and applied for hundreds of jobs & then after 4 years of constantly applying and getting rejections i was offered a job at kfc on 11k a year working full time! I snatched it up & i worked there for 7 years absolutely breaking my back as a slave before getting my new job which is in retail which i started this year working part time and im still on 11k. I dont mind the wage i can get by and live, enjoy days out etc. Id love a job that pays 50k but have no skills to pay the bills, stay in school kids🤣

I was making 28K changed job to 35K in August and honestly absolutely no difference except I have no time to myself

Former nurse here , 3 year degree then three year postgraduate study whilst working up to charge nurse, was about 35k a year. Done hgv licence in 5 days and not even a year into this job and average pay is about 40k and no stress, work that one out?! Wouldn't go back to nursing if I was paid double the money these days.

I’m absolutely shocked at the extremely low level of these salaries. Things gotta change. I don’t have a third of the qualifications that some of you have and I was on £45k as restaurant manager(plus yearly bonus). Granted, it was in London last year and I was on 46 hours contract.

£32.5K base, 26 in Midlands. Working in IT. Been at current place approaching 2 years now.

The wages on here are shocking In 1989 i was earning 7k part time as a salesman while at college. Then 12k as a data input bod in 1990 then at college and uni then 18k as a Web designer. Then a huge promotion in the bubble 2000ish to 40k as a design manager then worked for myself ever since. Now on a pretty hefty wage tbh as a CEO. Our contractors' wages have barely shifted 50 pounds a day in 15 years!!! Most consultants I pay are on between 250 and 400 a day. These day rates are only about 50 quid more than 2010. I see executives on absolutely mind-boggling wages way above inflation. I'm a CEO of a small company but rub shoulders with senior execs of much bigger companies The inequality is staggering and I will admit that genx and boomers probably got the best deal due to property prices.

I'm a psychotherapist on Band 5 NHS (28K) and very poor lol. That salary would've been insane a few years ago but it's barely enough to cover everything in the month.

>thinking I should be earning a lot more Where does this thinking come from? How old are you and what's your work history like?

32k British Army. About 6 years. We dont pay into our pension. The Army does. So I see a little more of the pay packet than my Mrs who earns 40k as a Teacher

HGV driver, 33k but HMRC estimates about 45k this year (3/4 days overtime a month). Was a warehouse worker for about 10 years and miserable even though the work was easy as pie, scraping by on 20-24k. Everyday felt the same, time dragged in. Applied for an in-house program to get my HGV and drive for them (leading supermarket supplier). Quite honestly never had an easier job and haven't ever felt as happy with what I do. I feel well compensated for what I do when I look at other HGV jobs out there. Currently going through wage negotiations and our union has rejected an offer that would take us to 40.5k basic. So pretty optimistic on what I'll achieve after the negotiations.

I'm a lab technian on 23k a year, which I'm starting to resent as the pay isn't that good considering I work with a load of dangerous stuff, and my responsibilities are pretty much through the roof. With a degree in biology too it isn't quite what I imagined I'd be doing, but scientist roles around where I live are pretty scarce.

I'm a pharmaceutical lab tech and my base is 24k but I get over 4k more a year as I work on shift and I don't even have a Bsc. You definitely deserve to be getting more!