Wages

I get paid £54k a year. My wife earns about £8k.

I can assure you that I do not feel well off or find it easy to have any money left at the end of the month.
Saying that I have made the following lifestyle choices:

I have 5 kids
I have numerous pets
I allow my older children to have contract mobile phones
I shop where I feel like, I don’t feel that I have to buy certain foodstuffs because they are cheaper or on offer.
I can afford to let my kids take part in activities like swimming lessons, football teams etc which when added up costs nearly £200 a month.
I can afford to have a drink most nights.

I don’t mind paying slightly more tax if it is going to be spent wisely. What I do object to is that if I earn £50k and my wife earns 8k, we pay significantly more tax than a couple who both earn £29k.

 

I've also kept out of this, given I've been outrageously fortunate in business respects and was able to sort of retire at 47 (though I suspect I'll do something else when I work out what that is now i don't have to do any caring) .

I was only saying to my other half a few days ago... I have no idea how people get on the property ladder in London. When I moved to London 18 yrs ago i'd been able to get £50k in savings together and took a 90% mortgage and it felt really dicey taking on all that debt.

Now, you buy a 2 bed house on a 4x multiple round here, you'd probably need an individual income of £200k and a £90k deposit (couples multiples may be a bit different). And there are far more expensive areas and obviously much bigger houses. A one bed flat you're probably talking either side of 400k. Similarly, rent for a 2 bed house is around £3k a month.

£50k will go a really long way in some areas, and in others, it will hardly touch the sides.

 

https://x.com/bladeofthes/status/1801257258707263945?s=46&t=j20zR706pmXrBtdI_7p-NQ

 

Re point 2.
Whilst I agree your assessment of net pay against gross pay includes tax and NI. What it doesnt appear to include is the tax relief against pension contributions. And that can be up to 100% of your earnings. I believe up to a max of £60k. So at the lowest rate. For every £1k that goes into the pot. Only £800 needs paying in. There are many loopholes that can be used by people on high earnings. And low for that matter.
Eg
I paid 10% of my salary into the pension scheme. Of which 20% was tax relief. So in effect out of a salary of £30k. £3k went into the pot. But only £2.4k was paid. A saving of £600.
If for example I'd paid 30% (and some do and more) in effect £9k into the pot. At 20% tax relief I would contribute £7.2k and save £1.8k.
Hope that makes sense. In many circumstances based on the type of pension you are in. It's better than any savings plan. Only difference it's dead money till you are allowed to withdraw. 55yrs of age is the earliest, set to rise to 57 in 2028.

 

Are you claiming part of your wife's allowance. Circa £1.3 pa. In effect circa £260 net. Backdated a max of 3 yrs. So anyone in the position where their spouse is on less than around £10k over the last 3 tax years will get a refund of around £700.

Edit.
Apologies. Only applies to anyone on less than £50.2k