If you were a millionaire

[Babylon]

What?

 

No couple could live normally for less than 40K a year. 16k is not even 1.5k a month - my house tax would take over 2 months of that!

 

And then you're not taking into account inflation and the rise in the cost of living. compare prices and wages  25 years ago to now. your 16k will be worth the equivalent of 6k if you're lucky in 25 years. On top of that increased life expectancy and the probable desire to live a little more luxuriously given you're not working anymore.

 

40K means 25 years.

 

If my wife and I can't earn £1m in the next 25 years I'd consider myself something of a failure.

 

.

 

You don't think two people without a mortgage could live "normally"on £16,000 a year? Define normal, it might not be normal to you, but it's normal to many people. Once you've taken off all their bills and mortgage payments I'd bet there are many people out there getting by with much less than £800 a month spare cash.

 

My Council Tax is about £1400 a year. Gas Electric about £1000, £3000 food. After most standard bills you'd have about £10,000 a year left for Leisure activities.

 

I wasn't taking into account inflation and the cost of living, because the £800,000 in the bank/shares/property would also grow very nicely if invested correctly.

 

I know, without question I could live on that. As a couple we own all our cars outright and are mortgage free on a decent house at the age of 36. We don't owe a penny to anyone and that's been managed with my Mrs only earning minimum wage and me earning around the national average, plus a bit of extra during my spare time. That's in a skilled job, but one that's sadly over saturated with people wanting to get into it.

 

If you're smart with your money, you can achieve a lot, I know it. I could work part time for the rest of my life now if I wanted. But, If you expect to jet around the world on £10k a year buying fancy clothes, eating out every night etc. Then no, you probably couldn't live on 16k a year.

[AyewJoking]

I'd share it out between my family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(after Ive looked after myself first, should have about 50k left easy)

[Countryfox]

I'd put it all on red.

 

 

Have loads to drink ....   Put the most they will let you on red ....  Let it ride on black ....   put it all on even ...   let it ride on odd.

 

Happy days as it will then pay for a lovely first class med cruise for two .....!!

 

Don't do it again !!

[Bobby Hundreds]

Improve my golf.

[simmo1977]

Improve my golf.

 

Emissions?

[Alf Bentley]

My favourite band has something to say on this issue:

 

[Freesolo]

I would attempt to Climb Mount Everest via the North Ridge after adequate training and having climbed one 8000m peak before.

[FrankieWorthoYaggedMyWife]

bin the mrs and surround myself with groupies and hangers on..

id fly through as many whores as was phyiscally possible and shove the rest up my nose

[Bettsj2]

Probably wouldnt do anything.

[Freesolo]

bin the mrs and surround myself with groupies and hangers on..

id fly through as many whores as was phyiscally possible and shove the rest up my nose

Be dead within a year.

[simmo1977]

But what a year it would be.

[stix]

Be dead within a year.

Best. Year. Ever.

[Guest]

You don't think two people without a mortgage could live "normally"on £16,000 a year? Define normal, it might not be normal to you, but it's normal to many people. Once you've taken off all their bills and mortgage payments I'd bet there are many people out there getting by with much less than £800 a month spare cash.

 

My Council Tax is about £1400 a year. Gas Electric about £1000, £3000 food. After most standard bills you'd have about £10,000 a year left for Leisure activities.

 

 

 

 

You really only spend £3000 a year on food?  that's £8 a day. Including celebrations? Gas and Electric £2.50 a day. Do you ever eat out? The cars you don't have on HP (like me) where did you find the cash to buy them outright? Do you have Sky or a telephone subscription? What about fuel for your cars? A holiday once a year maybe? No maintenance on your house/cars/belongings? What about insurance? That's a few grand on its own.

 

I have no reason to disbelive your personal situation Babylon, In fact I believe you but there is no way a "normal" couple on only £16,000 a year have nearly 10 grand spare cash to play with with each year. unless they are buddhist monks.

 

I've thought about cashing in my fixed assets for some time, that'd be around a million but having done the "early retirement" thing back in my 20's I learned that money don't go as far as you think it will. 20 years tops for a mill.

[Guest MattP]

FIF you have managed to out-Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg in this thread.

[Guest]

FIF you have managed to out-Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg in this thread.

 

I do my best. 

[Babylon]

This is getting confusing as we're mixing real life with the make believe surviving on 16k a year... but I'd try and answer them all.

 

You really only spend £3000 a year on food?

Our average shop is around £70 and we shop around three times a month, that includes your usual house stuff like bog roll. (We have no kids)

 

Including celebrations?

Celebrations would come out of the leisure money.

 

Gas and Electric £2.50 a day.

My gas and Electric is currently only £640 a year, Id put it up a bit as I'd be home a lot more.

 

Do you ever eat out?

Every week. Although that would come out of the leisure money again if I had this pretend 16k.

 

The cars you don't have on HP (like me) where did you find the cash to buy them outright?

The cash for our cars was taken from savings. As was the money for large deposit for the house and renovating it from top to bottom.

 

Do you have Sky or a telephone subscription?

I have just the basic sky package and netflix. I never watched anything even when I was paying out £100 a month. So it's just £40 all in now.

 

• What about fuel for your cars?

• A holiday once a year maybe?

• No maintenance on your house/cars/belongings?

• What about insurance?

• £80 a month max

• I've had three this year... Paris, Rome and Turkey next week... but I wouldn't expect to keep that up. Plus it comes out of the leisure money.

• Leisure money... anything big could be taken form the 800k in the bank and replaced slowly by cutting back on other bits.

• House and car Insurance £800 a year for two cars and the house (we'd only need one car so that would go down)

 

I have no reason to disbelive your personal situation Babylon, In fact I believe you but there is no way a "normal" couple on only £16,000 a year have nearly 10 grand spare cash to play with with each year. unless they are buddhist monks.

 

It might not be 10k it could be 8k, but I could still survive on it if I wanted to. It's about expectations of how you want to live. Could I keep up eating out every week, having three holidays a year, going down the city, buying what I want when I want. No of course not. But I think I could live a pretty decent life pottering around in the garden not worrying about work having the odd meal or holiday. In fact... I'd buy a place near the seaside and rent the place out half the year. 

 

I've been a saver since the age of about 10. If I was given pocket money or birthday money I'd spend half and bank half. My Mum and Dad didn't have much money for us as kids, If I wanted something special my dad would take money from his company but I'd have to pay him back in full using paper round money, birthday money from Grandparents etc. I knew the value of money and how to save at a very young age. I'm glad I did as it put me in the situation I'm in now.  That and insisting we overpaid the mortgage massively each month when we bought the house.

 

I've also invested since my early 20's and always got my money working for me.

[Rincewind]

Its not whether you can exist on 16k sometimes you have to. Mine is probably around that. (140 pm) and  I exist. although I have reductions in rent and CT. I pay all my other bills though myself. I do not often buy extras and live quite cheaply re food etc. If I had a family to support it would be different and would struggle on 16k  but as I said some families have to. It is harder to come down from a higher income than to always having the lower. When my work finished I had to cut down spending by up to £300 a month. Not as easy as it sounds. I am happy with what I have. I  I was a millionaire I would still be the same. 

[Guest]

This is getting confusing as we're mixing real life with the make believe surviving on 16k a year... but I'd try and answer them all.

 

Our average shop is around £70 and we shop around three times a month, that includes your usual house stuff like bog roll. (We have no kids)

 

Celebrations would come out of the leisure money.

 

My gas and Electric is currently only £640 a year, Id put it up a bit as I'd be home a lot more.

 

Every week. Although that would come out of the leisure money again if I had this pretend 16k.

 

The cash for our cars was taken from savings. As was the money for large deposit for the house and renovating it from top to bottom.

 

I have just the basic sky package and netflix. I never watched anything even when I was paying out £100 a month. So it's just £40 all in now.

 

• £80 a month max

• I've had three this year... Paris, Rome and Turkey next week... but I wouldn't expect to keep that up. Plus it comes out of the leisure money.

• Leisure money... anything big could be taken form the 800k in the bank and replaced slowly by cutting back on other bits.

• House and car Insurance £800 a year for two cars and the house (we'd only need one car so that would go down)

 

 

It might not be 10k it could be 8k, but I could still survive on it if I wanted to. It's about expectations of how you want to live. Could I keep up eating out every week, having three holidays a year, going down the city, buying what I want when I want. No of course not. But I think I could live a pretty decent life pottering around in the garden not worrying about work having the odd meal or holiday. In fact... I'd buy a place near the seaside and rent the place out half the year. 

 

I've been a saver since the age of about 10. If I was given pocket money or birthday money I'd spend half and bank half. My Mum and Dad didn't have much money for us as kids, If I wanted something special my dad would take money from his company but I'd have to pay him back in full using paper round money, birthday money from Grandparents etc. I knew the value of money and how to save at a very young age. I'm glad I did as it put me in the situation I'm in now.  That and insisting we overpaid the mortgage massively each month when we bought the house.

 

I've also invested since my early 20's and always got my money working for me.

 

So if I understand you could live normally as a couple (no kids , no animals) on 16k a year because you have a lot of money in the bank to pay for all the nice things/ necessary things/emergencies in life when you need or want them.

 

That sounds reasonable.

 

We could live on 16k a year after selling our fixed assets and using them along with our savings quite nicely too.

 

I thought the thread was about the luxury life you could suddenly live if you won a million. I wrongly read the thread title.

[Jattdogg]

Enjoy ladies from every country i can visit. Ya not likely as a married man huh? ok fine.

Def would split time between canada and england more often so i could see more city games as well as my brother. But it depends on how many millions i had. 1 or 2 wouldnt be enough to stop working and do that. 25 sure.

[Babylon]

So if I understand you could live normally as a couple (no kids , no animals) on 16k a year because you have a lot of money in the bank to pay for all the nice things/ necessary things/emergencies in life when you need or want them.

 

That sounds reasonable.

 

We could live on 16k a year after selling our fixed assets and using them along with our savings quite nicely too.

 

I thought the thread was about the luxury life you could suddenly live if you won a million. I wrongly read the thread title.

It was about that, but you said something about not being able to give up work winning a million. If you won a million, paid off your 200k mortgage you'd have 800k to make work for you. That's why I said I believed I could.  You couldn't live a millionaires lifestyle though.

[MooseBreath]

How are your investments doing Babylon? I've taken a 10%ish hit in the last couple of months. Proper crash time soon I hope.

[jonthefox]

You really only spend £3000 a year on food?  that's £8 a day. Including celebrations? Gas and Electric £2.50 a day. Do you ever eat out? The cars you don't have on HP (like me) where did you find the cash to buy them outright? Do you have Sky or a telephone subscription? What about fuel for your cars? A holiday once a year maybe? No maintenance on your house/cars/belongings? What about insurance? That's a few grand on its own.

 

I have no reason to disbelive your personal situation Babylon, In fact I believe you but there is no way a "normal" couple on only £16,000 a year have nearly 10 grand spare cash to play with with each year. unless they are buddhist monks.

 

I've thought about cashing in my fixed assets for some time, that'd be around a million but having done the "early retirement" thing back in my 20's I learned that money don't go as far as you think it will. 20 years tops for a mill.

 

 

Isn't that called being a student and living at your mums?. 

[Rincewind]

This is kinda related.

There is a film on now called The Box. A couple struggling with finances are offered a million dollars but they have to something first that is not entirely legal.

[Vardinhio]

FIF are you some kind of playboy millionaire?

[Samilktray]

I literally thought FIF was a woman but he/she isn't.