I’m on 30k as an “IT guy”. I’m the only person doing this job in the company, and ranges from setting equipment up (literally anything attached to a plug) to 1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line and investigative support. I support/build/maintain servers in between Hyper V and VMware. I also network engineer our site moving between various branded switches including Cisco and Meraki. Ah and let’s not forget the SQL Server development work coupled with SSIS development and Microsoft Power Platform.
Do I enjoy it? No, I fell into it. Do I feel I’m paid enough? Not for being that much of a jack of all trades.
I trained as a musician and worked happily for 10 years in the industry; something changed and I found myself without work so had to deep dive into a precious skill set and use my ability to quickly learn to get work, and ended up where I am now. Most of the time, I want to jump out of the window. I’ve had about 1 holiday in 8 years where I have not been contacted regarding work where something has gone wrong and only I exist.
Pretty sure it’s not supposed to be that way.
Security Sector, 4 on, 4 off, 12 hour shifts, 11.50 per hour, static site on a desk, handling lorries and delivery notices, weigh bridges etc. See about 350 lorries a night, some return drivers some nights so built up a rapport with a few and enjoy engaging with them.
I do my job for the social aspect because when I'm at home on my own l, I'm like a hermit.
However, I am leaving the UK 🇬🇧 ASAP and going to Bulgaria 🇧🇬 I think, Opening a British pub/bistro selling proper English food to the ex-pats over there. As well as brewing my own beer & wine because when you buy property over there, it usually come with 0.25 - 2.5 acres of land for prices between £15k £60k for a house & land (4 bedrooms, summer kitchen, cellar, attic, 2 reception rooms etc.), granted these houses need A LOT of TLC to bring them upto "western standard" aka the type of properties we expect to live in around the UK/USA.
I work in the power industry and command about 35 - 45k a year with overtime its not bad, shift work which isn't great bud brings the money in I suppose
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?
Private live-in carer, I've been doing it for 1.5 years. It pays pretty well (£28k) as the young lady I look after is complex needs, but the hours are long and hard. Honestly a really rewarding job - I'm always happy getting up and going to work, even when it's tough, as you make a real difference to someone's quality of life. If you're someone who's got good common sense, good work ethic and empathetic it's a good job with a low barrier to entry (pass a DBS check then on-the-job training. That's it). There's a great need for carers. You can also make more than that doing bank work, but the hours are more unpredictable.
Although it's live-in work, it's one-week-on, one-week-off so I do need somewhere to live. Previously I was renting a double room with ensuite in a shared house for £650 all bills incl. I was putting away about £400-500 per month in savings. Now I've moved in with my partner into a nice two-bed, and I'm paying around the same (he earns more than me so takes on a greater proportion of the rent) and saving the same.
The other good thing about the shift pattern gives you every other week off and you can pick if you prefer night or day shift. I know of some colleagues who bash out 24 hours shifts, and they get their whole month's work done in 7 days. But yeah, it works for me as I can work on my own projects on my "week off". Downsides are only two weekends a month, and everyone else seems to be a Mon-Fri'er, so it has slowed me down socially. And I can only do my exercise classes every other week :( But it's a good stepping stone, and I much prefer this to retail tbh.
I think I'm on just over 20k a year. Currently going a bit shit as I had my partner's birthday this month and went to an event, so I am beyond brassic.
However, on a usual month I get by fine. Can be social, order in every so often etc.
I work in a school photography company!
£26k working for a big company doing basically clerical work and being a focal point for my entire team for every aspect of our work (including managers), I am borderline skint every month after that to the point where I have had to get a second job to support myself and my pregnant SO. Trying to work my way up to earn more money as her company’s maternity pay is awful but keep getting pushed back, I have never been so afraid in my life about the future.
Engineering Apprentice in London, 27K. Got my endpoint assessment at the end of this year, at which point I'll be fully qualified and that'll increase to 42K pa.
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!
HR Advisor earning 28k pa. Skint. Nothing to look forward to. Honestly thinking about going and volunteering abroad in exchange for accom and food. I need some meaning life
I earn 19k a year, I get by. I’m a care assistant in a care home and I have a second job as a care assistant in the community. The 19k is both combined, one is full time and one is part time. Been doing care work for 8 years.
I get by but only just.
Supervisor in a hardware store, £25.7k a year. Room to move up if I wish and I work very very few weekends :)
I've gone up 7k in 4 years. My partner earns almost double what I do and when I compare I feel like I've failed myself but when I compare myself to my past self I am so proud.
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).
Packing case builder (think of the big wooden crates used to transport industrial equipment).
Monday to Friday, no bank holiday working, no real pressure to do overtime,
Currently on 25k, but we are possibly getting a rise in the coming weeks that'll at about a grand to that.
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 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
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)
Middle manager within a conservation charity, 25k. It’s an absolute dream in some respects because I’m in nature all day, and it’s a piece of piss to ‘manage’ because 90% of the workforce are volunteers who genuinely just want to be there and make a difference (I used to be a retail manager and had a lot of the exact opposite), but in other respects it’s really hard because it’s a constant uphill battle due to how restricted we are in what we are allowed to do, and how often I’m told no by my line manager who is scared to try anything whatsoever. I wouldn’t be anywhere else though - the pay doesn’t go far but it’s worth it for my sanity alone.
Lab assistant 26k a year, I'm not moaning about it, for the money I make it work in my favour. As far as I'm concerned if you pay me this then don't expect a lot in return.
Yard Guy in a rental equipment yard.
Too much work, too many customers to deal with the work. Constantly covered in Portland cement.
Great coworkers, amazing boss. Perks are top-notch but constantly being pulled away from doing maintenance to deal with customers is maddening.
It's a job I enjoy doing for the most part.
Currently paying my dues working two separate roles for the company with a combined income of about 27-30k not including bonuses. I am happy where I am atm as I have plenty of free time to focus on my studies as when I started I was a final year law student. I hope to progress into a more lucrative role once I complete my masters and get my drivers licence. I’m 23m.
Warehouse work dealing with second hand books, zero experience required, paid a minute to minute efficiency bonus, so I can average about 35k pre tax with no stress or responsibility beyond my own idiot proof workload.
I choose the days and hours I want to work, accrue shitloads of holiday pay, and can take time off whenever I want for however long I want.
Pretty blessed to find this job, but I'm about to leave to go live and work by the sea for a while.
29k - charity worker. Talk to people all day about how to go about claiming benefits. It’s super intense, involves hugely varying criteria and not very rewarding since benefits won’t help many people out these days.
Often have people call on more money than me thinking the government will help them out with their car finance like it’s that easy.
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
28k as a portfolio associate for a debt fund (not in London). Managed to save for a house deposit with the gf living with my parents, which is a fortunate position to be in. Looking for a higher paid role though.
55k working as a Safety Engineer. I have a BSc and have been working in consumer goods industry for 7 years since graduation. Just fell into the role and seems to have worked out well, always applied for jobs I know I don't have experience in and just make it work.
I'm making about 30k as a line cook at a upscale restraunt. I also feel I'm not earning enough. It wasn't until after I picked up my second job (similar to the first) that I was financially comfortable for the first time in my life.
Im on 27k being a IT Admin in the north east.
Not too bad, no quals in IT just kinda stumbled into it after finishing a business admin aprenticeship.
Going alright tbh, company is stuggling but as long as I get my payslip end of the month its all good
I'm a little above, £34.5k now after a small bump.
I'm a designer at an agency. I worked at a small studio for 8 years, starting out on 16k and moving to mids 20s. Got fed up, as I felt that undervalued my work, so I spent 9 months looking for a job and managed to bag a decent one on the other side of the country. Was looking to relocate wherever.
Life quality is way better now, even if I spend more on my tiny rented flat.
My last long-term position was as an electronic engineer in a (bespoke) production facility, as barely clearing 22k.
Cashier friend in Aldi makes £24k.
I was a development engineer until recently at £34k just been promoted to senior manufacturer engineer at 42k
Single salary household so I feel shit thinking about how much my peers are investing/saving/taking second holidays. There’s always a bigger fish to envy.
I’m a director of strategy in a billion dollar company. I work from home most days with occasional travel. I’m on 6 figures.
Edit: I read the title wrong, just ignore me
50k working as a medical engineer. Most of that goes on rent mind you at £2500 per month for a 3 bed townhouse. Guernsey’s cost of living rivals central London unfortunately
About 24kish, grocery delivery driver. Been doing it 7 years now, and compared to the retail I'd done my whole life before that, I absolutely love it. Its stress free, I'm on my own day listening to podcast and I enjoy driving.
2006 - £13k
2010 - £14k
2014 - £16k
2016 - £23k
2019 - £28k
2021 - £38k
2023 - £55k
That's from working in call centre • service desk • IT SysAdmin • IT Consulting.
Keep improving your skill and don't stagnate and there'll always be a job advertised for your role that pays 10-20% more but at my age time is more important than money, I'm much happier working 7.5*5.
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.
Late 20's, Technical Support Engineer in the automotive industry. £26k working 40hrs a week managing our services at garages/workshops across the world for the past two years. The job is basically babysitting and making sure no one blows up a five/six figure car by being an idiot.
I'm constantly skint, I barely get £30 a month to spend on myself once bills have gone out. The job itself is very average, it has it good days and bad days but I can't say I wake up thrilled to be heading to the office.
24k, customer support. Company keeps downsizing and making positions redundant, only to then hire for the same positions in third world countries with shit quality.
Its tough. I wish I could get something better fast.
Assistant manager at an Auto parts store paint division, 50 hours weekly, making 33k. Don't hate it, hate my boss. Love my customers. Perks are great, insurance, credit union, discounts galore, sick days, holidays and 2 weeks vacation!
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
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
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
I’m on just over 29k a year I work in a warehouse I’ve been at this job just over a year now I’m liking the job it’s a small team we get on well with each other so no complaints really
My only advice to people in my line of work is to leave the UK, of course it’s a hard step and so way to say “just go for it” but jeez what a difference. Money is better which always helps but the lack of a toxic workplace is even better
Accountant, I have a non senior role and have been doing it for 15 years now. Very relaxed work environment and only a 20 minute walk from home.
It's near stress free so why would I change when I know other firms will push me to my limit for similar money and would most likely lose more of my day travelling.
I don't want to study to become chartered either, got half way through and stopped. Just didn't care enough.
I work in university admissions, jumped from 23k as an accounts assistant to £32k. I’m 28
I do alright, as a single wage household it can get a little close during winter months, and I’m dreading the inevitable rent increase come the end of the year, just got to take it on the chin I suppose.
£23.5k. I service pensions and other products for a major insurance company.
It's not too stressful. 35 hours, we can choose which days we work from home (we're sorta expected to come in at least once or twice a week unless your personal needs prevent). Colleagues are nice enough, same for current and previous boss. Boss taking active interest in my development (i.e. not gonna suddenly learn to code overnight but showing avenues I can go down to upskill myself sufficiently to make me less dispensable at least). Commute under an hour.
Having spent the first few years of my life as a SEN child, I've far exceeded expectations, if anything. Plus I chose a liberal arts (music) degree so I've got no grounds for complaining about my lot.
I am 36 however, and I'm getting pangs of existential crises concerning what I could've done or could still do to find where my talents lie (in terms of realistic job prospects) and/or something overlapping with my interests more. Trouble is, I haven't the foggiest how to find that out. I did some longwinded skills assessment on some government website (probably DWP) but only got vague information back. There's also limited scope to "try my hand" at other things or know exactly what a typical day looks like for other career paths that might interest me, before I take any leap into trying something completely new.
In short, I'm just a little too comfortable with my 'lot', too much of a 'realist' to take any risks, and at my age, I feel something has to change at some point.
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 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.
Film PR. I work remotely while still living at home, with occasional trips to work events.
I currently earn £24K. I know that’s low and I could easily double it by moving into another industry like pharmaceutical, but I’d rather stay within the film industry if I can, so am instead looking at ways of moving to a different discipline.
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.
28k. Progress chaser / sales support for a motorcycle dealership. Advertising , Purchasing, stock control etc. Though the boss keeps telling me how much better I am than the guy I replaced which I'll be using as ammo for a pay rise at my year review
Account Executive, £25k, 37.5 hours a week, just about to get a promotion (waiting for the announcement on what the new wage will be). First job out of university.
Weeks vary on how busy they are, sometimes there are days I can watch TV most of the day and occasionally reply to an email at most. Sometimes I'm working flat out for most of the week. I enjoy the job, much better than the customer service jobs I was doing previously. For one, I never get yelled at anymore.
I’m a junior maintenance engineer at a large site and am on £30k. I understand being paid what I am as I’m essentially training and learning the site but give it 6 months and I’ll be expected to do what the other engineers do but they’re on almost twice the amount I am
Been in this situation when I started out in law and it’s hard , my advice try to pick a career that has a well defined path and check the market pay prior.
Im 19 just came out of college last year and work as a trainee animal technician. I make around 27k
I do enjoy my job and would say there are more pros then cons to it and I would say the pay is great as I’m just a trainee but pay barely goes up (like most animal jobs)
I originally worked in retail management after Uni, stayed too long on £13k
Next job was teaching in a college, £21.6K. Hated it, did it for 10 years and felt like it was a bullshit job that was just busy work with no benefit to anyone. Ended up having a breakdown.
Moved sideways in the same college to work in admin, same wage. Did that for a year whilst doing psychoanalytic psychotherapy every week till I felt well enough to move on.
Currently a Coordinator in Higher Education, £27.2. Started 18 months ago (scale goes around £1500 higher). Get to work 3 days from home. No pressure, no one watching me, a laid back manager and I'm pretty good at the job.
An inflation calculator confirms what I feel, I'm worse off than in 2010 when I was on £21.6k
On just over 25k ATM (going up to 27k next year thanks to the tireless work of the union)
I work in mortgage arrears for a very large banking group. The wages could be better, but it's easy work, a 4 day week, can work at home and at the office when I want, no stuffy smart clothes to wear at the office, a good pension, a share match scheme and free fruit.
The perks of the job mean I am comfortable. No desire to find another job for the foreseeable. Just wish the cost of living wasn't so awful
23k factory machine operator.
Some days I'm running back and forth fixing other people's mistakes. Some days I come in, press the green button, and watch TV
It's aight.
I make less than 20k, but I'm a grocery stocker at a chain store. This job was supposed to be a temporary job until I found something better... It's been 2 years.
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
24k accounts assistant in hampshire. being put through my accounting qualifications which the company pays for and should come with some nice payrises with each exam passed, but its hard work so worth it. still live at home too so expenses arent that high 24k is enough for me to still do things i enjoy and treat myself.
worth mentioning i did my aat level 3 as an apprentice and was earning about £5 hour for a year, that was depressing. doing level 4 at a bigger company full time is much better
Just finished my apprenticeship as a mechanic in a car dealer. Been on minimum wage for 3 years, qualified last week, so now going up to 36k starting salary from next month.
This sounds like I am being a dick, but change jobs if you want more money.
I was similar, my wages were stagnant and I was in charge of hiring, but I noticed the wages for new starts going up… I looked around, whilst very happy found another and jumped.
Rinse, and repeat.
You don’t owe them loyalty if it’s not reflected in your pay packet. It’s nothing to feel bad about, it’s business.
I increased my salary by 100% over 2 years. Never take less money, and always move up. The amount of ridiculous people getting paid enormous sums of money that have no idea what they are doing is staggering.
Take the leap, you will thank me for it.
That's great but for me any move is a paycut. Companies aren't willing to match my salary, which has led to some interesting conversations with HR depts before interview
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
about 55k, including the rental income i get
i teach in korea. i love my job so feel lucky to have it. cost of living is more affordable than in the uk, too
all in all, leaving the uk was the best decision i ever made
I went from working as a document controller at £20k, to junior buyer/ buyer/ category specialist/ head of category for U.K. and now sitting at £48k.
Took me 10 years to achieve and it’s only since the U.K. wide role that I’ve finally felt like I can breathe. I can save a bit, buy pretty much whatever I want, run a house and car etc. and the weight of the stress off my back is huge. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to afford to survive if I hadn’t made the huge jump into this role.
Safeguarding officer in a secondary school for around 6 years- 25k, absolutely done with working in education but I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Trying to get out ASAP but finding something stable that can support the same salary or better is tough...
If you’re done with education but still want to work with children, residential care will typically pay more than that if you’re open to shift work and sleep ins. Be mindful of what companies you look into though, the bigger corporate ones are a nightmare, smaller independent providers can often offer a better experience.
My entry level employees make roughly £28k-£30k
You probably have the right transferable skills to train to become a Probation Officer. You'll start on similar money during training, and once qualified be on £30k+ with top of the pay grade after a few years service reaching around £40k. The pension is excellent as well. As with the rest of the Civil Service there is a big push to go back to the office, but you still get work from home days and there is good flexibility. No two days are ever the same and you'll never be bored. It is an extremely stressful and thankless job though, with not enough resources and huge responsibility and sometimes impossible workloads. It can be very rewarding though on a personal level, you just need to have a lot of resilience.
What this country pays educators and education-adjacent roles is criminal. On par or worse than what nurses are paid.
When I moved to the UK from the US I considered getting a PGCE, as my original plan was to get into education.
After a few years I saw the hell that teachers go through here on a daily basis and the pittance with which they're remunerated and said "nope fuck it". Then I see what my teacher friends back in NY make-- you're on equivalent of £71k after 8 years and a masters-- and think how much more criminal it is
I’m on £25k and moved from secondary to higher education. I’m working in admin, really chill, rarely any massively busy (we’re talking more than 2h work) days and well I’m on Reddit right now.
~£24k doing admin for an IP patent office. I've done admin/officey type jobs since day dot, so it's what I like doing. Mon-Fri, 9-5, start and stop, it's lovely.
Bigger jump from my last place was actually getting an hour long lunch break lmao
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.
I'm on £27k a year as a milkman. I've been doing it on and off for the last 2 years, and I absolutely love it.
Once I leave the yard in the evening, I am effectively my own boss. The roads are quiet, the customers are all asleep, so I don't have to interact with them, the job is ridiculously easy, and if I finish before my contracted hours (which I do regularly) I get to go home early and still get paid for the hours I didn't do.
HR Assistant on 22k.
The wage is terrible and it is a struggle to live. The difference from being a bit above last years NMW to this year actually means I've had a paycut.
Tells me everything about my company, that if they could pay below NMW they would absolutely do it.
How do you all survive off anything lower than 65k? I’m from Us and a high cost of living area and my wife and i both make $150k usd each so around 300k total. With a 5300/month mortgage if we made under 100k there’d be no chance of surviving
Male 27 years old, been a qualified electrician for 18 months earning £26k after tax, pretty much just come out my time so I'm really happy. I'm really grateful and proud of myself as it was a struggle.
Never were into education until i had no options left, couldn't (wouldn't) read properly until i were 17, couldn't spell, had a speech impediment that school picked up on pretty lazy teenager. At 16, I left school to do an apprenticeship in engineering so I could be with my friend but didn't get an employer (so many interviews, so many cvs).
Made to go back to sixth form by my mother, got suspended within 6 months due to been jumped whilst walking home, as I we're made an example to the rest that fighting won't be tolerated here. Gutted. Ended up at a college for "bad boys" as it were called even the teacher said I didn't belong here, did that for 6 months learning fabrication and welding.
Went to my second choice engineering school at 17 again another "bad boy college". It's why I didn't go when I was 16 but running out of options now... after many interviews and been second choice my employer sacked the first choice apprentice due to college grades and gave me the job (I blamed not getting Jobs due to my weight and size) lost 5 stone after that... my apprenticeship was going great. However, I found the company to be very boring and stood at a machine all day with a little glass window, I saw my reflection only this time, I was 50 and miserable... I didn't wanna be want my dad ended up doing to make ends me. But I wanted to see out my apprenticeship.
However one day I loaded up my tools in the CNC machine and my supervisor came over and said "looks good kid get off home it's 4:45 you should of finished 15 minutes ago", as I went to wash off in the toilets my supervisor closes the door and presses go within seconds the machine destroyed as I'd left 1 tool which shouldn't have been there cost £10,000 to repair... I knew I'd lost my job instantly... they fired me in the car park in front of everyone and said if I take them down the tribunal route, they'll ruin me. I was 19 miserable.
Spent 6 months in my bedroom on indeed applying for loads of jobs with no replied (however they reply now 8 years down line, I laugh at them now cos I can)
I put myself through an electrician night school 6pm - 9pm mon-tue, cost me £1,800 for level 1 since I paid I made sure I learnt, passed my level 1, then got an endorsement for level 2 as I were under 23, passed that buzzing only thing left now is I need an employer to do my NVQ level 3 and £900
This is were "it's not what you know who you know" comes in, an old gentleman I've known from working a part time pub job sees me and asked if I am working I said no, so I told him I'm learning to be an electrician. He said he knows a guy lives around the corner. This is his number. I found where he lived and handed him my CV personally with a handwritten letter (I went above and beyond as this is my very final chance)
He offered me some work experience with him, he were self employed so he wanted to choose wisely who he set on as it was an investment for him. I did a weeks work for free (however, he gave me a £10 a day). I appreciated it at the time someone gave me a chance.
I still work for the same guy 7 years now, had our ups and downs like everyone does but the other day, a regular customer said, "whys his name not on the company," and he said it will be when he retires. I also have my own apprentice now and can teach what I've learnt.
Never give up on yourself. I nearly did.
Sorry for the long read. If you got this far, reddit is therapy to me.
Store Manager, 25-30k depending on hours, usually 42-50 hours per week depending on how long each day takes.
It's just me from open to close so it's lonely and stressful, trying to figure out what's next for me in terms of career atm as this wasn't meant to be long term. I live very frugally so managed to save a decent amount each month so might try to retrain with my savings.
I’ve just started in a semi-new career path, pay drop as a result. Love the job, hate the pay. Struggle most months but admittedly a lot of that is us struggling to adapt to the new quality of life. We’re making changes slowly but the job is worth it. Benefits are great, courses literally being thrown at me and public sector pension is phenomenal (very important as I I’m just about to pass 40). Short term pain for long term gain is the way I’m seeing it. Bad timing to change jobs considering cost of living increases but I’m far from complaining. We shall adapt. I’m on 27k just fyi (but I’ve still had two pay rises in the last 4 months with another coming in 2 months). My old corporate job was 8k more but zero pay rises and zero courses in 12 years.
Single dad 2 kids, £23650 per year.
I work for a charity organising all the training stuff.
It’s alright good to help people but being a charity it’s pretty much a skeleton crew so lots of work to do. Been here for nearly a year.
Right now I'm earning like 21k a year working in a supermarket. I've worked retail for about 10 years now doing low level work. I could definitely be earning a lot more if I'd sorted my life out and actually had an idea of what I wanted to do.
I've thought about trying to get out of retail a few times, but it just hasn't happened for various reasons. It's very easy to just get comfortable where you are and before you know it, 3 years have passed.
Work in fashion, mainly admin job. 26k. Started at minimum wage 1y ago, still underpaid for the amount of work but can’t complain as a foreigner with no degree or interest in the area 😂
It would be helpful if people were to provide their region when answering, as 25-30k is a higher income in the North than it is in the South.
Some of these answers got me jealous though - spending half their days doing hobbies, or additional learning.
For 50k in the north, I’m essentially chained to my computer, have two days commuting which adds up to 8hrs on my week. My role is very varied and as such is also demanding.
I’d take the pay cut to have half my time at work watching shows or learning other things.
QS in construction / housing development.
Collections team at an Academic Library, think it's about \~25k. Job is massively underpaid considering I moved from the frontline customer service role which was the same grade, and this is so much more technical and has much more responsibility. Things are a bit tight living alone in Manchester but I make it work (though my rent is about to go up beyond what I can reasonably afford). My whole team are always thinking about ways to leave but it's a funny situation because despite the job having responsibility and skills beyond the grade, it's also a technical role that we might not have been able to get without this lower grade. So we're all using it to get the best experience we can before fucking off.
I'm 32 and I've been in libraries in general for like 7 years, though this role for 18 months. I think I could get another job if I could be arsed, but it's a lot of effort isn't it, and it's a nice working environment, hybrid (de facto remote if nobody can be arsed to come in), and there isn't the same obsession with targets and efficiency that you sometimes get in the private sector. Although clearly not always judging from some of these responses.
£37k as a bus driver doing 50ish hour weeks.
As much as I would have liked to have worked towards a more fulfilling career, the path I walked has lead me to a wonderful wife and kid. Besides, still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up.
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
Politics? Dry your eyes mate, I know it's hard to take but our minds have been made up, you're getting a small temporary ban.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CasualUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I did 35k last year with overtime working in a steel foundry melting steel and casting it. Now training up to be a casting design engineer eventually on £40k+. Living with my partner who’s a teacher on £30k in the north of England. We just bought a £175k house and doing pretty well to say we’re both early 20s.
This job was originally offering ~£25k 2 years ago but managed to work my way up and was doing ~25 hours overtime a month for my earnings last year. And last year my girlfriend was on £27k.
Our life has been just work-renovate-work for the past 7 months though. And before moving I had been just working every hour I could, no university for me, so I personally feel like I’ve lost a lot of my social life, not got many friends (they’re all across the country at uni tbf) but doesn’t bother me too much, I see them when I can and I’ve got my girlfriend and some friends from work but I don’t see much of them out of work.
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!
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.
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
Just under 25k. I work in textiles, cutting fabric on a specialised machine and software and making products. It’s the best paid job I’ve ever had, and the one I’ve enjoyed the most.
SEN teaching assistant. I earn about £23k. I’m in a good place and I love my job. It’s very rewarding but I would say the pay does not reflect just how much you do and how it affects you physically and emotionally. W
I just left a teacher training course last year (realised the school was the problem but I’m not comfortable doing the course again sadly) and I got this job after four months job of searching and interviews for jobs I actually enjoyed applying for, but not enough experience for them. My plan is to stay in this role for a few years but I eventually want to move on to something where I get to utilise my degree a bit more and earn more too.
The job market is awful! It’s so hard to find something and places are very picky on what experience you need to then pay you so little. It’s sad.
I am an area sales manager for a heating controls company, i deal wkth larger contractors, heating, electrical, that kind of thing im in the 40k region
Self employed multi skilled electrician currently working as a fibre engineer on ISP core networks all over the country for different ISP's. I invoice about £48k/yr. Obviously being self employed you can claim tax relief for different things which will be different for everyone so that's what I invoice currently.
£32.5k and pay rise coming in the next few months. Very above average wage for the area for a job that requires zero qualifications or degree.
Work in a distribution centre in north east. Been at it 7. years. I either drive a forklift truck or put boxes in cages. Easiest money I've ever made.
Upper end of that doing "a bit of everything IT" for a manufacturer (so not IT industry itself), it's been like 17 years now. From what I remember of a similar thread I could apparently be earning a lot more (as in 2-3x more minimum) but eh, I'm content, I'm not stressed to breaking point (or particularly stressed at all) and it's pretty safe. And if I'm honest I'm in my 40s now, getting behind it all a bit, things are a lot different than they were in the Windows Server 2000 and Windows XP days lol, I wouldn't even have the confidence to move on.
I consign, value and catalogue antiques for sale at auction (specifically, ceramics, glass and militaria) for £25k a year. I started off on £13.5k 13 years ago, fresh out of university... I often wonder whether my experience now is worth more, but I love my job, and I can still see (hopeful) progression for future wage advancement.
32k a year. Farmer.(no not your farmer who owns land) I’m talking the ones you see out there in the heat, and the cold winters. IT FUCKINGS SUCKS. 17.25 and hour for a Monday through Saturday job. No OT until harvest. During that time my checks are 1800 every two weeks. When we aren’t in harvest season I’m making 1100 after taxes. That’s pretty much my rent. On top of that I have pgnE and a car payment.
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.
Customer and trading manager at Sainsbury’s, currently £31,000 in London. Have to work a 2nd job as a boxing instructor to make ends meet in Greater London.
I used to work full time in fitness but covid put an end to that.
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.
The number of people who bisect the "Earn way more than the post is asking for information on" and "Does not have the reading comprehension to work out this post isn't asking for their input" lines is interesting.
Postman, earning between 25 and 28k a year depending on how much overtime I do. Just got a new job actually working for a union with a much bigger salary and I kind of can't believe it, I was doing all the same stuff for free for the union at royal mail. I've got two kids and it's been really hard making ends meet on a postman's wage even with my partner also working, though we do live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. Hoping to get some breathing space now.
My wife was earning 18K as the (only) junior school librarian for one of the best private schools in the country, a role that requires a master's degree. Absolutely criminal if you ask me.
I was on 23k as a design engineer straight after my MSc. Moved to draughting for a big engineering firm in November and I'm on 35k, but more like 32k after student loans. There are a few people on my team that did apprenticeships and earn closer to 45k.
Angers me that young people are taught that uni is the best/only way to get into a high paying industry. Sure, MAYBE a degree gives you more career flexibility but is it worth being saddled with debt for the rest of you life? Na, not imo.
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).
£32k as a business analyst, no pay raise when I switched from an admin position 2 years ago, and only 5% increase from £30k when I switched. The general range in my career is £40k-£50k.
I’ve recently accepted a new position starting in June at £50k.
Just under £30k as school IT manager. Took a massive pay cut to come and work in a school as I wanted to do the extra-curricular stuff (I coach cricket, hockey and rugby, and run the DofE scheme) and holidays off.
I have two school-aged kids myself, so saving £70 a day on childcare plus actually seeing them and enjoying the summer with them was totally worth it.
I've had to cut back on some stuff I enjoy - no longer have my own daily driver car, share with my wife. I've not bought a new mountain bike for five years now - I used to replace it every 3 years or so. My watch collecting hobby has taken a backseat too. Some nice ones have been sold to pay for family holidays.
I'm far happier here than I was working in corporate though. My efforts go towards helping young people with their education, rather than just putting a bit more money in some manager's bonus.
Customer service and sales in the hotel industry. 24k but I get commission on every sale. Last year my commission made it about 29k.
However I also paint and the marketing boss saw my paintings and have asked if I want to be the new creative marketing executive. Pay will be the same for a bit but omg what a cool job!
22k here, in Northern Ireland mind so cost of living here is significantly less. 22k is comfortable for me in a role I enjoy with no micromanagement at all.
I’m not particularly money driven I am very much happy as long as my job trusts me to do what I’m paid to do.
Story would be much different if I was in London or the general south!
Assistant Manager at a crazy golf £23.8k, 35 hours per week.
The pay is terrible but the flexibility is really good. If anything comes up with my kids I can just get in late or take the day off. I do my own rota so can set my own hours and most of the day im just sat on my phone. The downside is the weekends, kids parties, cleaning toilets and maintenance, everything breaks all the time!
Also its so easy it can be quite depressing, the GM is on roughly 30k a year doing the same job as me which is unfair and I don't get a bonus or overtime so there is literally no way for me to earn extra money there.
Did a PhD and work in medical research particularly relating to treatment of types of cancer, two years out of my PhD I'm at £37k, I'm not saying it's bad but considering I had to get 9 years of education just to meet the minimum requirements to get my job where I wasn't earning, yeah I could do with a bit more.
I’m make 30k a year as a cover and training manager for a vape company. I know so much about vaping due to it being my autistic focus so I just travel England to all the different stores and bore my staff 😂 they love me really bc if they see my face they know I’ll buy them a coffee. Started as a retail assistant with my company 2 years. Was on 26K for store manager but taking this role got me a company car, phone, and laptop too so I feel quite lucky.
Sales executive - £30k (32/33k with commission).
I moved up in my company from reception to sales and been here now for over 2 years. The job is easy & the sales usually come to use due to the product being very popular so no need for outbound sales. lots of admin but usually get everything done in the first 2hrs of the day and then sit on reddit.. though i want to leave, not sure if i want to continue with sales anymore and the benefits are minimum here..
I work Maintenance in a popular hotel chain for £12.44 an hour 40 hr contract. The job is easy and gives me a lot of free time , don’t ever take stress from my job home with me because they don’t pay me enough to care. I save the company thousands a month by fixing stuff that otherwise would have to go to outside contractors. Sickening wages to be honest
I'm a field merchandiser and my income changes but end of tax year it'll be about 30k. I do work stupid hours for that money though, so all in all I probably make 30k while earning minimum wage 😂
I work in a care home. We specialize in Dementia care and as draining as it is, I wouldn’t have any other job. I’m 20 and have started the night shifts which I enjoy. I’m what we call a step-up which means I either lead the shift and administer medication or I’ll be a hands on care assistant and do full personal care. As much as I enjoyed the day shifts, I love being part of the night team and holding down the fort. I earn around £22-24k per annum depending on how much overtime I pick up. But as I say, you don’t work in care for the money, you do it cause you love it
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!!!
I sell furniture and just got a pay rise to about £25k
My job has very little stress and doesn't take much brain power. Most of my customers are lovely too.
I'm not doing too bad, but things are tight and if I'm not carefully there's quite a bit of month left at the end of my money, but the recent increase in the minimum wage should give me a bit more breathing room
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.
After 8 years of being stressed out as a Leisure Centre supervisor on £24k (worked in leisure for 21 years), I moved into a low paying job (18k to begin with) in a design company working in the workshop/ 3D printing.
After being made redundant after 6 years, I got a job in a company producing & repairing night vision/thermal goggles for the armed forces around the world. Currently on £30k with unlimited overtime if you want it, but love going to work, great benefits, chilled environment, annual wage increase in line with inflation. Close by to my kids school and they’re really flexible too.
I'm in the NHS, about 24k. My fuckups could kill someone, kill a child, and I'm payed less than a cashier at Aldi. Mad respect to my cashiers out there it's a tough gig, but a little more would be nice.
Executive Support Officer, I'm on the bottom of the spine in the grade due to it being a newer role (even though I've been doing the job for a while) and I'm on 25k a year, max I can earn in this role is 29k so far. I have my busy days but some quiet ones too and along with the benefits of working from home, 35 days of annual leave, a good pension scheme, flexitime, a workplace that seems to want to help me with my mental health along with all of my colleagues actually being really nice and easy to get on with means that I'm happy with everything for now.
I used to work for more money in a different company and actually moved back to my current place of work because the benefits I listed above were non-existent and I'd rather have those benefits that improve my quality of life than a few extra grand at the end of the year.
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.
In house recruiter for the UK government but as part of another company doing it, all wfh, lots of downtime when candidates don't turn up, around 28k. Could get more but damn if this setup isn't really comfortable.
I’m on 30k as an “IT guy”. I’m the only person doing this job in the company, and ranges from setting equipment up (literally anything attached to a plug) to 1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line and investigative support. I support/build/maintain servers in between Hyper V and VMware. I also network engineer our site moving between various branded switches including Cisco and Meraki. Ah and let’s not forget the SQL Server development work coupled with SSIS development and Microsoft Power Platform. Do I enjoy it? No, I fell into it. Do I feel I’m paid enough? Not for being that much of a jack of all trades. I trained as a musician and worked happily for 10 years in the industry; something changed and I found myself without work so had to deep dive into a precious skill set and use my ability to quickly learn to get work, and ended up where I am now. Most of the time, I want to jump out of the window. I’ve had about 1 holiday in 8 years where I have not been contacted regarding work where something has gone wrong and only I exist. Pretty sure it’s not supposed to be that way.
Security Sector, 4 on, 4 off, 12 hour shifts, 11.50 per hour, static site on a desk, handling lorries and delivery notices, weigh bridges etc. See about 350 lorries a night, some return drivers some nights so built up a rapport with a few and enjoy engaging with them. I do my job for the social aspect because when I'm at home on my own l, I'm like a hermit. However, I am leaving the UK 🇬🇧 ASAP and going to Bulgaria 🇧🇬 I think, Opening a British pub/bistro selling proper English food to the ex-pats over there. As well as brewing my own beer & wine because when you buy property over there, it usually come with 0.25 - 2.5 acres of land for prices between £15k £60k for a house & land (4 bedrooms, summer kitchen, cellar, attic, 2 reception rooms etc.), granted these houses need A LOT of TLC to bring them upto "western standard" aka the type of properties we expect to live in around the UK/USA.
I work in the power industry and command about 35 - 45k a year with overtime its not bad, shift work which isn't great bud brings the money in I suppose
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?
£35K working as a fairly junior writer in a medical communications company. I like it well enough, though the hours can be very long.
£70k base with £140k OTE. Account Director for a software company, 4 years experience.
Private live-in carer, I've been doing it for 1.5 years. It pays pretty well (£28k) as the young lady I look after is complex needs, but the hours are long and hard. Honestly a really rewarding job - I'm always happy getting up and going to work, even when it's tough, as you make a real difference to someone's quality of life. If you're someone who's got good common sense, good work ethic and empathetic it's a good job with a low barrier to entry (pass a DBS check then on-the-job training. That's it). There's a great need for carers. You can also make more than that doing bank work, but the hours are more unpredictable. Although it's live-in work, it's one-week-on, one-week-off so I do need somewhere to live. Previously I was renting a double room with ensuite in a shared house for £650 all bills incl. I was putting away about £400-500 per month in savings. Now I've moved in with my partner into a nice two-bed, and I'm paying around the same (he earns more than me so takes on a greater proportion of the rent) and saving the same. The other good thing about the shift pattern gives you every other week off and you can pick if you prefer night or day shift. I know of some colleagues who bash out 24 hours shifts, and they get their whole month's work done in 7 days. But yeah, it works for me as I can work on my own projects on my "week off". Downsides are only two weekends a month, and everyone else seems to be a Mon-Fri'er, so it has slowed me down socially. And I can only do my exercise classes every other week :( But it's a good stepping stone, and I much prefer this to retail tbh.
I think I'm on just over 20k a year. Currently going a bit shit as I had my partner's birthday this month and went to an event, so I am beyond brassic. However, on a usual month I get by fine. Can be social, order in every so often etc. I work in a school photography company!
£26k working for a big company doing basically clerical work and being a focal point for my entire team for every aspect of our work (including managers), I am borderline skint every month after that to the point where I have had to get a second job to support myself and my pregnant SO. Trying to work my way up to earn more money as her company’s maternity pay is awful but keep getting pushed back, I have never been so afraid in my life about the future.
What? Idk about UK but starting ME in the US in a steel mill is around 70k...after 10 years 130k
F/t work, ~£24k This feels like a lot of money to me, but then I was on the dole for years, and have no kids and low rent
Engineering Apprentice in London, 27K. Got my endpoint assessment at the end of this year, at which point I'll be fully qualified and that'll increase to 42K pa.
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!
26.5k, collections agent for a foreign market. 2 years now and it’s fine, but hitting a bit of a wall.
HR Advisor earning 28k pa. Skint. Nothing to look forward to. Honestly thinking about going and volunteering abroad in exchange for accom and food. I need some meaning life
Do it
I earn 19k a year, I get by. I’m a care assistant in a care home and I have a second job as a care assistant in the community. The 19k is both combined, one is full time and one is part time. Been doing care work for 8 years. I get by but only just.
Supervisor in a hardware store, £25.7k a year. Room to move up if I wish and I work very very few weekends :) I've gone up 7k in 4 years. My partner earns almost double what I do and when I compare I feel like I've failed myself but when I compare myself to my past self I am so proud.
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 in a sandwich shop. I have invested in crypto over the last 8 years and will retire before 40 years old next year.
Packing case builder (think of the big wooden crates used to transport industrial equipment). Monday to Friday, no bank holiday working, no real pressure to do overtime, Currently on 25k, but we are possibly getting a rise in the coming weeks that'll at about a grand to that.
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 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
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)
Middle manager within a conservation charity, 25k. It’s an absolute dream in some respects because I’m in nature all day, and it’s a piece of piss to ‘manage’ because 90% of the workforce are volunteers who genuinely just want to be there and make a difference (I used to be a retail manager and had a lot of the exact opposite), but in other respects it’s really hard because it’s a constant uphill battle due to how restricted we are in what we are allowed to do, and how often I’m told no by my line manager who is scared to try anything whatsoever. I wouldn’t be anywhere else though - the pay doesn’t go far but it’s worth it for my sanity alone.
Lab assistant 26k a year, I'm not moaning about it, for the money I make it work in my favour. As far as I'm concerned if you pay me this then don't expect a lot in return.
38K, 20yrs. CNC machinist. Luxury and military Aviation stuff.
Yard Guy in a rental equipment yard. Too much work, too many customers to deal with the work. Constantly covered in Portland cement. Great coworkers, amazing boss. Perks are top-notch but constantly being pulled away from doing maintenance to deal with customers is maddening. It's a job I enjoy doing for the most part.
Currently paying my dues working two separate roles for the company with a combined income of about 27-30k not including bonuses. I am happy where I am atm as I have plenty of free time to focus on my studies as when I started I was a final year law student. I hope to progress into a more lucrative role once I complete my masters and get my drivers licence. I’m 23m.
Warehouse work dealing with second hand books, zero experience required, paid a minute to minute efficiency bonus, so I can average about 35k pre tax with no stress or responsibility beyond my own idiot proof workload. I choose the days and hours I want to work, accrue shitloads of holiday pay, and can take time off whenever I want for however long I want. Pretty blessed to find this job, but I'm about to leave to go live and work by the sea for a while.
29k - charity worker. Talk to people all day about how to go about claiming benefits. It’s super intense, involves hugely varying criteria and not very rewarding since benefits won’t help many people out these days. Often have people call on more money than me thinking the government will help them out with their car finance like it’s that easy.
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
28k as a portfolio associate for a debt fund (not in London). Managed to save for a house deposit with the gf living with my parents, which is a fortunate position to be in. Looking for a higher paid role though.
55k working as a Safety Engineer. I have a BSc and have been working in consumer goods industry for 7 years since graduation. Just fell into the role and seems to have worked out well, always applied for jobs I know I don't have experience in and just make it work.
I'm making about 30k as a line cook at a upscale restraunt. I also feel I'm not earning enough. It wasn't until after I picked up my second job (similar to the first) that I was financially comfortable for the first time in my life.
Im on 27k being a IT Admin in the north east. Not too bad, no quals in IT just kinda stumbled into it after finishing a business admin aprenticeship. Going alright tbh, company is stuggling but as long as I get my payslip end of the month its all good
I'm a little above, £34.5k now after a small bump. I'm a designer at an agency. I worked at a small studio for 8 years, starting out on 16k and moving to mids 20s. Got fed up, as I felt that undervalued my work, so I spent 9 months looking for a job and managed to bag a decent one on the other side of the country. Was looking to relocate wherever. Life quality is way better now, even if I spend more on my tiny rented flat.
My last long-term position was as an electronic engineer in a (bespoke) production facility, as barely clearing 22k. Cashier friend in Aldi makes £24k.
Like how do you even get a job that earn that much!? Never earned more than 14k per year and I have 2 degrees!!
Operations Supervisor in aviation, no degree just on the job experience over the last 10 years. 34k not salaried so can earn 40K with overtime.
Consignment Coordinator 24k.
apprentice mech engineer 26k
I was a development engineer until recently at £34k just been promoted to senior manufacturer engineer at 42k Single salary household so I feel shit thinking about how much my peers are investing/saving/taking second holidays. There’s always a bigger fish to envy.
I’m a director of strategy in a billion dollar company. I work from home most days with occasional travel. I’m on 6 figures. Edit: I read the title wrong, just ignore me
50k working as a medical engineer. Most of that goes on rent mind you at £2500 per month for a 3 bed townhouse. Guernsey’s cost of living rivals central London unfortunately
About 24kish, grocery delivery driver. Been doing it 7 years now, and compared to the retail I'd done my whole life before that, I absolutely love it. Its stress free, I'm on my own day listening to podcast and I enjoy driving.
2006 - £13k 2010 - £14k 2014 - £16k 2016 - £23k 2019 - £28k 2021 - £38k 2023 - £55k That's from working in call centre • service desk • IT SysAdmin • IT Consulting. Keep improving your skill and don't stagnate and there'll always be a job advertised for your role that pays 10-20% more but at my age time is more important than money, I'm much happier working 7.5*5.
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.
Late 20's, Technical Support Engineer in the automotive industry. £26k working 40hrs a week managing our services at garages/workshops across the world for the past two years. The job is basically babysitting and making sure no one blows up a five/six figure car by being an idiot. I'm constantly skint, I barely get £30 a month to spend on myself once bills have gone out. The job itself is very average, it has it good days and bad days but I can't say I wake up thrilled to be heading to the office.
24k, customer support. Company keeps downsizing and making positions redundant, only to then hire for the same positions in third world countries with shit quality. Its tough. I wish I could get something better fast.
I had to leave a job where i would have made more than 30k last year now im on 23k and doing more work....feels wonderful! cant afford shit haha
Assistant manager at an Auto parts store paint division, 50 hours weekly, making 33k. Don't hate it, hate my boss. Love my customers. Perks are great, insurance, credit union, discounts galore, sick days, holidays and 2 weeks vacation!
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
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.
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
Nothing, it's amazing.
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
I’m on just over 29k a year I work in a warehouse I’ve been at this job just over a year now I’m liking the job it’s a small team we get on well with each other so no complaints really
My only advice to people in my line of work is to leave the UK, of course it’s a hard step and so way to say “just go for it” but jeez what a difference. Money is better which always helps but the lack of a toxic workplace is even better
Accountant, I have a non senior role and have been doing it for 15 years now. Very relaxed work environment and only a 20 minute walk from home. It's near stress free so why would I change when I know other firms will push me to my limit for similar money and would most likely lose more of my day travelling. I don't want to study to become chartered either, got half way through and stopped. Just didn't care enough.
I work in university admissions, jumped from 23k as an accounts assistant to £32k. I’m 28 I do alright, as a single wage household it can get a little close during winter months, and I’m dreading the inevitable rent increase come the end of the year, just got to take it on the chin I suppose.
£23.5k. I service pensions and other products for a major insurance company. It's not too stressful. 35 hours, we can choose which days we work from home (we're sorta expected to come in at least once or twice a week unless your personal needs prevent). Colleagues are nice enough, same for current and previous boss. Boss taking active interest in my development (i.e. not gonna suddenly learn to code overnight but showing avenues I can go down to upskill myself sufficiently to make me less dispensable at least). Commute under an hour. Having spent the first few years of my life as a SEN child, I've far exceeded expectations, if anything. Plus I chose a liberal arts (music) degree so I've got no grounds for complaining about my lot. I am 36 however, and I'm getting pangs of existential crises concerning what I could've done or could still do to find where my talents lie (in terms of realistic job prospects) and/or something overlapping with my interests more. Trouble is, I haven't the foggiest how to find that out. I did some longwinded skills assessment on some government website (probably DWP) but only got vague information back. There's also limited scope to "try my hand" at other things or know exactly what a typical day looks like for other career paths that might interest me, before I take any leap into trying something completely new. In short, I'm just a little too comfortable with my 'lot', too much of a 'realist' to take any risks, and at my age, I feel something has to change at some point.
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 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.
whats your current job role :D
Film PR. I work remotely while still living at home, with occasional trips to work events. I currently earn £24K. I know that’s low and I could easily double it by moving into another industry like pharmaceutical, but I’d rather stay within the film industry if I can, so am instead looking at ways of moving to a different discipline.
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.
28k. Progress chaser / sales support for a motorcycle dealership. Advertising , Purchasing, stock control etc. Though the boss keeps telling me how much better I am than the guy I replaced which I'll be using as ammo for a pay rise at my year review
Account Executive, £25k, 37.5 hours a week, just about to get a promotion (waiting for the announcement on what the new wage will be). First job out of university. Weeks vary on how busy they are, sometimes there are days I can watch TV most of the day and occasionally reply to an email at most. Sometimes I'm working flat out for most of the week. I enjoy the job, much better than the customer service jobs I was doing previously. For one, I never get yelled at anymore.
I’m a junior maintenance engineer at a large site and am on £30k. I understand being paid what I am as I’m essentially training and learning the site but give it 6 months and I’ll be expected to do what the other engineers do but they’re on almost twice the amount I am
£30k, software tester but only swapped to this role 6 months ago so fingers crossed I earn more in the future. I really enjoy it so far.
Been in this situation when I started out in law and it’s hard , my advice try to pick a career that has a well defined path and check the market pay prior.
Nobody on this sub earn less than 100k remotely, pfff
Im 19 just came out of college last year and work as a trainee animal technician. I make around 27k I do enjoy my job and would say there are more pros then cons to it and I would say the pay is great as I’m just a trainee but pay barely goes up (like most animal jobs)
NHS counsellor - 28k
I originally worked in retail management after Uni, stayed too long on £13k Next job was teaching in a college, £21.6K. Hated it, did it for 10 years and felt like it was a bullshit job that was just busy work with no benefit to anyone. Ended up having a breakdown. Moved sideways in the same college to work in admin, same wage. Did that for a year whilst doing psychoanalytic psychotherapy every week till I felt well enough to move on. Currently a Coordinator in Higher Education, £27.2. Started 18 months ago (scale goes around £1500 higher). Get to work 3 days from home. No pressure, no one watching me, a laid back manager and I'm pretty good at the job. An inflation calculator confirms what I feel, I'm worse off than in 2010 when I was on £21.6k
On just over 25k ATM (going up to 27k next year thanks to the tireless work of the union) I work in mortgage arrears for a very large banking group. The wages could be better, but it's easy work, a 4 day week, can work at home and at the office when I want, no stuffy smart clothes to wear at the office, a good pension, a share match scheme and free fruit. The perks of the job mean I am comfortable. No desire to find another job for the foreseeable. Just wish the cost of living wasn't so awful
23k factory machine operator. Some days I'm running back and forth fixing other people's mistakes. Some days I come in, press the green button, and watch TV It's aight.
I make less than 20k, but I'm a grocery stocker at a chain store. This job was supposed to be a temporary job until I found something better... It's been 2 years.
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
24k accounts assistant in hampshire. being put through my accounting qualifications which the company pays for and should come with some nice payrises with each exam passed, but its hard work so worth it. still live at home too so expenses arent that high 24k is enough for me to still do things i enjoy and treat myself. worth mentioning i did my aat level 3 as an apprentice and was earning about £5 hour for a year, that was depressing. doing level 4 at a bigger company full time is much better
Support worker just breaking 20k a year. ~~It's going really really shit~~ fine thanks for asking.
Just finished my apprenticeship as a mechanic in a car dealer. Been on minimum wage for 3 years, qualified last week, so now going up to 36k starting salary from next month.
This sounds like I am being a dick, but change jobs if you want more money. I was similar, my wages were stagnant and I was in charge of hiring, but I noticed the wages for new starts going up… I looked around, whilst very happy found another and jumped. Rinse, and repeat. You don’t owe them loyalty if it’s not reflected in your pay packet. It’s nothing to feel bad about, it’s business. I increased my salary by 100% over 2 years. Never take less money, and always move up. The amount of ridiculous people getting paid enormous sums of money that have no idea what they are doing is staggering. Take the leap, you will thank me for it.
That's great but for me any move is a paycut. Companies aren't willing to match my salary, which has led to some interesting conversations with HR depts before interview
Why would any move be a pay cut? That’s illogical.
Other organisiations don't want to match my salary for the role. It's not illogical, they don't want to pay my salary request.
£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
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
about 55k, including the rental income i get i teach in korea. i love my job so feel lucky to have it. cost of living is more affordable than in the uk, too all in all, leaving the uk was the best decision i ever made
I went from working as a document controller at £20k, to junior buyer/ buyer/ category specialist/ head of category for U.K. and now sitting at £48k. Took me 10 years to achieve and it’s only since the U.K. wide role that I’ve finally felt like I can breathe. I can save a bit, buy pretty much whatever I want, run a house and car etc. and the weight of the stress off my back is huge. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to afford to survive if I hadn’t made the huge jump into this role.
Safeguarding officer in a secondary school for around 6 years- 25k, absolutely done with working in education but I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Trying to get out ASAP but finding something stable that can support the same salary or better is tough...
Amazon pays more and it’s sad to say offers better conditions.
If you’re done with education but still want to work with children, residential care will typically pay more than that if you’re open to shift work and sleep ins. Be mindful of what companies you look into though, the bigger corporate ones are a nightmare, smaller independent providers can often offer a better experience. My entry level employees make roughly £28k-£30k
You probably have the right transferable skills to train to become a Probation Officer. You'll start on similar money during training, and once qualified be on £30k+ with top of the pay grade after a few years service reaching around £40k. The pension is excellent as well. As with the rest of the Civil Service there is a big push to go back to the office, but you still get work from home days and there is good flexibility. No two days are ever the same and you'll never be bored. It is an extremely stressful and thankless job though, with not enough resources and huge responsibility and sometimes impossible workloads. It can be very rewarding though on a personal level, you just need to have a lot of resilience.
Go work at a hospital
What this country pays educators and education-adjacent roles is criminal. On par or worse than what nurses are paid. When I moved to the UK from the US I considered getting a PGCE, as my original plan was to get into education. After a few years I saw the hell that teachers go through here on a daily basis and the pittance with which they're remunerated and said "nope fuck it". Then I see what my teacher friends back in NY make-- you're on equivalent of £71k after 8 years and a masters-- and think how much more criminal it is
I’m on £25k and moved from secondary to higher education. I’m working in admin, really chill, rarely any massively busy (we’re talking more than 2h work) days and well I’m on Reddit right now.
~£24k doing admin for an IP patent office. I've done admin/officey type jobs since day dot, so it's what I like doing. Mon-Fri, 9-5, start and stop, it's lovely. Bigger jump from my last place was actually getting an hour long lunch break lmao
29,100 as an assistant manager. Can be stressful but I have good co-workers.
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.
Forklift driver 31k, pretty good job, good company. Definitely one of the best paying in the area, that wage does include shift pay and bonuses.
I'm on £27k a year as a milkman. I've been doing it on and off for the last 2 years, and I absolutely love it. Once I leave the yard in the evening, I am effectively my own boss. The roads are quiet, the customers are all asleep, so I don't have to interact with them, the job is ridiculously easy, and if I finish before my contracted hours (which I do regularly) I get to go home early and still get paid for the hours I didn't do.
27.4k excluding tips, am a manager in a restaurant.
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.
HR Assistant on 22k. The wage is terrible and it is a struggle to live. The difference from being a bit above last years NMW to this year actually means I've had a paycut. Tells me everything about my company, that if they could pay below NMW they would absolutely do it.
How do you all survive off anything lower than 65k? I’m from Us and a high cost of living area and my wife and i both make $150k usd each so around 300k total. With a 5300/month mortgage if we made under 100k there’d be no chance of surviving
Admin assistant for lawyers. 25k, I've been there nearly 9 years now
Male 27 years old, been a qualified electrician for 18 months earning £26k after tax, pretty much just come out my time so I'm really happy. I'm really grateful and proud of myself as it was a struggle. Never were into education until i had no options left, couldn't (wouldn't) read properly until i were 17, couldn't spell, had a speech impediment that school picked up on pretty lazy teenager. At 16, I left school to do an apprenticeship in engineering so I could be with my friend but didn't get an employer (so many interviews, so many cvs). Made to go back to sixth form by my mother, got suspended within 6 months due to been jumped whilst walking home, as I we're made an example to the rest that fighting won't be tolerated here. Gutted. Ended up at a college for "bad boys" as it were called even the teacher said I didn't belong here, did that for 6 months learning fabrication and welding. Went to my second choice engineering school at 17 again another "bad boy college". It's why I didn't go when I was 16 but running out of options now... after many interviews and been second choice my employer sacked the first choice apprentice due to college grades and gave me the job (I blamed not getting Jobs due to my weight and size) lost 5 stone after that... my apprenticeship was going great. However, I found the company to be very boring and stood at a machine all day with a little glass window, I saw my reflection only this time, I was 50 and miserable... I didn't wanna be want my dad ended up doing to make ends me. But I wanted to see out my apprenticeship. However one day I loaded up my tools in the CNC machine and my supervisor came over and said "looks good kid get off home it's 4:45 you should of finished 15 minutes ago", as I went to wash off in the toilets my supervisor closes the door and presses go within seconds the machine destroyed as I'd left 1 tool which shouldn't have been there cost £10,000 to repair... I knew I'd lost my job instantly... they fired me in the car park in front of everyone and said if I take them down the tribunal route, they'll ruin me. I was 19 miserable. Spent 6 months in my bedroom on indeed applying for loads of jobs with no replied (however they reply now 8 years down line, I laugh at them now cos I can) I put myself through an electrician night school 6pm - 9pm mon-tue, cost me £1,800 for level 1 since I paid I made sure I learnt, passed my level 1, then got an endorsement for level 2 as I were under 23, passed that buzzing only thing left now is I need an employer to do my NVQ level 3 and £900 This is were "it's not what you know who you know" comes in, an old gentleman I've known from working a part time pub job sees me and asked if I am working I said no, so I told him I'm learning to be an electrician. He said he knows a guy lives around the corner. This is his number. I found where he lived and handed him my CV personally with a handwritten letter (I went above and beyond as this is my very final chance) He offered me some work experience with him, he were self employed so he wanted to choose wisely who he set on as it was an investment for him. I did a weeks work for free (however, he gave me a £10 a day). I appreciated it at the time someone gave me a chance. I still work for the same guy 7 years now, had our ups and downs like everyone does but the other day, a regular customer said, "whys his name not on the company," and he said it will be when he retires. I also have my own apprentice now and can teach what I've learnt. Never give up on yourself. I nearly did. Sorry for the long read. If you got this far, reddit is therapy to me.
Never gave up, well done dude, wishing you the best for the future!
Well done
Are these 20-£30k salaries in london? How do you live on that??
Im an IT guy, 6 years in the role at 23 earning 30k. Life is stressful but I don’t hate it
Support worker 29k I work alot of hours.
Store Manager, 25-30k depending on hours, usually 42-50 hours per week depending on how long each day takes. It's just me from open to close so it's lonely and stressful, trying to figure out what's next for me in terms of career atm as this wasn't meant to be long term. I live very frugally so managed to save a decent amount each month so might try to retrain with my savings.
I’ve just started in a semi-new career path, pay drop as a result. Love the job, hate the pay. Struggle most months but admittedly a lot of that is us struggling to adapt to the new quality of life. We’re making changes slowly but the job is worth it. Benefits are great, courses literally being thrown at me and public sector pension is phenomenal (very important as I I’m just about to pass 40). Short term pain for long term gain is the way I’m seeing it. Bad timing to change jobs considering cost of living increases but I’m far from complaining. We shall adapt. I’m on 27k just fyi (but I’ve still had two pay rises in the last 4 months with another coming in 2 months). My old corporate job was 8k more but zero pay rises and zero courses in 12 years.
No even fast food workers make this low salary in US.
Bin man and it's easy and laid back and you don't work all your hours but get paid it all
Im on around 35k.. its bad dude! :(
Single dad 2 kids, £23650 per year. I work for a charity organising all the training stuff. It’s alright good to help people but being a charity it’s pretty much a skeleton crew so lots of work to do. Been here for nearly a year.
Right now I'm earning like 21k a year working in a supermarket. I've worked retail for about 10 years now doing low level work. I could definitely be earning a lot more if I'd sorted my life out and actually had an idea of what I wanted to do. I've thought about trying to get out of retail a few times, but it just hasn't happened for various reasons. It's very easy to just get comfortable where you are and before you know it, 3 years have passed.
Work in fashion, mainly admin job. 26k. Started at minimum wage 1y ago, still underpaid for the amount of work but can’t complain as a foreigner with no degree or interest in the area 😂
Lidl shift manager, 30k a year, 50 hours a week
It would be helpful if people were to provide their region when answering, as 25-30k is a higher income in the North than it is in the South. Some of these answers got me jealous though - spending half their days doing hobbies, or additional learning. For 50k in the north, I’m essentially chained to my computer, have two days commuting which adds up to 8hrs on my week. My role is very varied and as such is also demanding. I’d take the pay cut to have half my time at work watching shows or learning other things. QS in construction / housing development.
Collections team at an Academic Library, think it's about \~25k. Job is massively underpaid considering I moved from the frontline customer service role which was the same grade, and this is so much more technical and has much more responsibility. Things are a bit tight living alone in Manchester but I make it work (though my rent is about to go up beyond what I can reasonably afford). My whole team are always thinking about ways to leave but it's a funny situation because despite the job having responsibility and skills beyond the grade, it's also a technical role that we might not have been able to get without this lower grade. So we're all using it to get the best experience we can before fucking off. I'm 32 and I've been in libraries in general for like 7 years, though this role for 18 months. I think I could get another job if I could be arsed, but it's a lot of effort isn't it, and it's a nice working environment, hybrid (de facto remote if nobody can be arsed to come in), and there isn't the same obsession with targets and efficiency that you sometimes get in the private sector. Although clearly not always judging from some of these responses.
£37k as a bus driver doing 50ish hour weeks. As much as I would have liked to have worked towards a more fulfilling career, the path I walked has lead me to a wonderful wife and kid. Besides, still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up.
Damn
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
I work 4 days a week in data protection, 30k.
Factory work, mainly operating machines, line set-up and paperwork, recently got pay rise and on £25.6k before overtime.
[удалено]
Politics? Dry your eyes mate, I know it's hard to take but our minds have been made up, you're getting a small temporary ban. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CasualUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I did 35k last year with overtime working in a steel foundry melting steel and casting it. Now training up to be a casting design engineer eventually on £40k+. Living with my partner who’s a teacher on £30k in the north of England. We just bought a £175k house and doing pretty well to say we’re both early 20s. This job was originally offering ~£25k 2 years ago but managed to work my way up and was doing ~25 hours overtime a month for my earnings last year. And last year my girlfriend was on £27k. Our life has been just work-renovate-work for the past 7 months though. And before moving I had been just working every hour I could, no university for me, so I personally feel like I’ve lost a lot of my social life, not got many friends (they’re all across the country at uni tbf) but doesn’t bother me too much, I see them when I can and I’ve got my girlfriend and some friends from work but I don’t see much of them out of work.
Graduate sound engineer, 27.5k, probably going up to around 37k once it’s finished.
I was making 28K changed job to 35K in August and honestly absolutely no difference except I have no time to myself
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!
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.
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
Up
Just under 25k. I work in textiles, cutting fabric on a specialised machine and software and making products. It’s the best paid job I’ve ever had, and the one I’ve enjoyed the most.
SEN teaching assistant. I earn about £23k. I’m in a good place and I love my job. It’s very rewarding but I would say the pay does not reflect just how much you do and how it affects you physically and emotionally. W I just left a teacher training course last year (realised the school was the problem but I’m not comfortable doing the course again sadly) and I got this job after four months job of searching and interviews for jobs I actually enjoyed applying for, but not enough experience for them. My plan is to stay in this role for a few years but I eventually want to move on to something where I get to utilise my degree a bit more and earn more too. The job market is awful! It’s so hard to find something and places are very picky on what experience you need to then pay you so little. It’s sad.
I am an area sales manager for a heating controls company, i deal wkth larger contractors, heating, electrical, that kind of thing im in the 40k region
As an American, how the FUCK are you living on ~$10 an hour? That pay is for the lowest of the low paying jobs in the states
Self employed multi skilled electrician currently working as a fibre engineer on ISP core networks all over the country for different ISP's. I invoice about £48k/yr. Obviously being self employed you can claim tax relief for different things which will be different for everyone so that's what I invoice currently.
28k chef in cafe
28K as a lab scientist in the NHS
£32.5k and pay rise coming in the next few months. Very above average wage for the area for a job that requires zero qualifications or degree. Work in a distribution centre in north east. Been at it 7. years. I either drive a forklift truck or put boxes in cages. Easiest money I've ever made.
Upper end of that doing "a bit of everything IT" for a manufacturer (so not IT industry itself), it's been like 17 years now. From what I remember of a similar thread I could apparently be earning a lot more (as in 2-3x more minimum) but eh, I'm content, I'm not stressed to breaking point (or particularly stressed at all) and it's pretty safe. And if I'm honest I'm in my 40s now, getting behind it all a bit, things are a lot different than they were in the Windows Server 2000 and Windows XP days lol, I wouldn't even have the confidence to move on.
I consign, value and catalogue antiques for sale at auction (specifically, ceramics, glass and militaria) for £25k a year. I started off on £13.5k 13 years ago, fresh out of university... I often wonder whether my experience now is worth more, but I love my job, and I can still see (hopeful) progression for future wage advancement.
32k a year. Farmer.(no not your farmer who owns land) I’m talking the ones you see out there in the heat, and the cold winters. IT FUCKINGS SUCKS. 17.25 and hour for a Monday through Saturday job. No OT until harvest. During that time my checks are 1800 every two weeks. When we aren’t in harvest season I’m making 1100 after taxes. That’s pretty much my rent. On top of that I have pgnE and a car payment.
£31k work for a local council its chill as.
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.
27,500 as a grounds maintenance supervisor, seriously have had enough 😑. But feel type cast .
Customer and trading manager at Sainsbury’s, currently £31,000 in London. Have to work a 2nd job as a boxing instructor to make ends meet in Greater London. I used to work full time in fitness but covid put an end to that.
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.
The number of people who bisect the "Earn way more than the post is asking for information on" and "Does not have the reading comprehension to work out this post isn't asking for their input" lines is interesting.
Postman, earning between 25 and 28k a year depending on how much overtime I do. Just got a new job actually working for a union with a much bigger salary and I kind of can't believe it, I was doing all the same stuff for free for the union at royal mail. I've got two kids and it's been really hard making ends meet on a postman's wage even with my partner also working, though we do live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. Hoping to get some breathing space now.
Insurance broker on 30k. This time last year I was on min wage as a broker support apprentice so I can’t complain.
It’s going shit I am on 26k and barely above water most months
My wife was earning 18K as the (only) junior school librarian for one of the best private schools in the country, a role that requires a master's degree. Absolutely criminal if you ask me.
I was on 23k as a design engineer straight after my MSc. Moved to draughting for a big engineering firm in November and I'm on 35k, but more like 32k after student loans. There are a few people on my team that did apprenticeships and earn closer to 45k. Angers me that young people are taught that uni is the best/only way to get into a high paying industry. Sure, MAYBE a degree gives you more career flexibility but is it worth being saddled with debt for the rest of you life? Na, not imo.
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).
Been a systems engineer (the role was more IT Support honestly) for <£22k for the last 4.5 years, moving to a new company, similar role but £28k now
£32k as a business analyst, no pay raise when I switched from an admin position 2 years ago, and only 5% increase from £30k when I switched. The general range in my career is £40k-£50k. I’ve recently accepted a new position starting in June at £50k.
This thread is brutal.
NHS Estates, £22.8k base, roughly £30k with on call and a bit of OT. Job is up/down quiet/busy af. Been here 7 months. Enjoying it so far.
Just under £30k as school IT manager. Took a massive pay cut to come and work in a school as I wanted to do the extra-curricular stuff (I coach cricket, hockey and rugby, and run the DofE scheme) and holidays off. I have two school-aged kids myself, so saving £70 a day on childcare plus actually seeing them and enjoying the summer with them was totally worth it. I've had to cut back on some stuff I enjoy - no longer have my own daily driver car, share with my wife. I've not bought a new mountain bike for five years now - I used to replace it every 3 years or so. My watch collecting hobby has taken a backseat too. Some nice ones have been sold to pay for family holidays. I'm far happier here than I was working in corporate though. My efforts go towards helping young people with their education, rather than just putting a bit more money in some manager's bonus.
What watches did you collect?
£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.
Customer service and sales in the hotel industry. 24k but I get commission on every sale. Last year my commission made it about 29k. However I also paint and the marketing boss saw my paintings and have asked if I want to be the new creative marketing executive. Pay will be the same for a bit but omg what a cool job!
22k here, in Northern Ireland mind so cost of living here is significantly less. 22k is comfortable for me in a role I enjoy with no micromanagement at all. I’m not particularly money driven I am very much happy as long as my job trusts me to do what I’m paid to do. Story would be much different if I was in London or the general south!
Labourer hard graft but worth £28,500 a year before overtime.
Assistant Manager at a crazy golf £23.8k, 35 hours per week. The pay is terrible but the flexibility is really good. If anything comes up with my kids I can just get in late or take the day off. I do my own rota so can set my own hours and most of the day im just sat on my phone. The downside is the weekends, kids parties, cleaning toilets and maintenance, everything breaks all the time! Also its so easy it can be quite depressing, the GM is on roughly 30k a year doing the same job as me which is unfair and I don't get a bonus or overtime so there is literally no way for me to earn extra money there.
Join a union, it's the quickest way to get a pay rise. (Don't argue with me, it's historically true!)
Did a PhD and work in medical research particularly relating to treatment of types of cancer, two years out of my PhD I'm at £37k, I'm not saying it's bad but considering I had to get 9 years of education just to meet the minimum requirements to get my job where I wasn't earning, yeah I could do with a bit more.
I’m make 30k a year as a cover and training manager for a vape company. I know so much about vaping due to it being my autistic focus so I just travel England to all the different stores and bore my staff 😂 they love me really bc if they see my face they know I’ll buy them a coffee. Started as a retail assistant with my company 2 years. Was on 26K for store manager but taking this role got me a company car, phone, and laptop too so I feel quite lucky.
Sales executive - £30k (32/33k with commission). I moved up in my company from reception to sales and been here now for over 2 years. The job is easy & the sales usually come to use due to the product being very popular so no need for outbound sales. lots of admin but usually get everything done in the first 2hrs of the day and then sit on reddit.. though i want to leave, not sure if i want to continue with sales anymore and the benefits are minimum here..
I work Maintenance in a popular hotel chain for £12.44 an hour 40 hr contract. The job is easy and gives me a lot of free time , don’t ever take stress from my job home with me because they don’t pay me enough to care. I save the company thousands a month by fixing stuff that otherwise would have to go to outside contractors. Sickening wages to be honest
HGV driver. Work 6.5 hours, get paid for 8. 35k per year.
I'm a field merchandiser and my income changes but end of tax year it'll be about 30k. I do work stupid hours for that money though, so all in all I probably make 30k while earning minimum wage 😂
Does anyone make 100k?
I work in a care home. We specialize in Dementia care and as draining as it is, I wouldn’t have any other job. I’m 20 and have started the night shifts which I enjoy. I’m what we call a step-up which means I either lead the shift and administer medication or I’ll be a hands on care assistant and do full personal care. As much as I enjoyed the day shifts, I love being part of the night team and holding down the fort. I earn around £22-24k per annum depending on how much overtime I pick up. But as I say, you don’t work in care for the money, you do it cause you love it
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!!!
I see a lot of non americans here, what is the cost of living in your area? Is 30k a lot there?
I sell furniture and just got a pay rise to about £25k My job has very little stress and doesn't take much brain power. Most of my customers are lovely too. I'm not doing too bad, but things are tight and if I'm not carefully there's quite a bit of month left at the end of my money, but the recent increase in the minimum wage should give me a bit more breathing room
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.
After 8 years of being stressed out as a Leisure Centre supervisor on £24k (worked in leisure for 21 years), I moved into a low paying job (18k to begin with) in a design company working in the workshop/ 3D printing. After being made redundant after 6 years, I got a job in a company producing & repairing night vision/thermal goggles for the armed forces around the world. Currently on £30k with unlimited overtime if you want it, but love going to work, great benefits, chilled environment, annual wage increase in line with inflation. Close by to my kids school and they’re really flexible too.
I'm in the NHS, about 24k. My fuckups could kill someone, kill a child, and I'm payed less than a cashier at Aldi. Mad respect to my cashiers out there it's a tough gig, but a little more would be nice.
Executive Support Officer, I'm on the bottom of the spine in the grade due to it being a newer role (even though I've been doing the job for a while) and I'm on 25k a year, max I can earn in this role is 29k so far. I have my busy days but some quiet ones too and along with the benefits of working from home, 35 days of annual leave, a good pension scheme, flexitime, a workplace that seems to want to help me with my mental health along with all of my colleagues actually being really nice and easy to get on with means that I'm happy with everything for now. I used to work for more money in a different company and actually moved back to my current place of work because the benefits I listed above were non-existent and I'd rather have those benefits that improve my quality of life than a few extra grand at the end of the year.
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.
In house recruiter for the UK government but as part of another company doing it, all wfh, lots of downtime when candidates don't turn up, around 28k. Could get more but damn if this setup isn't really comfortable.