Not happy with what im earning

Vampireskiss

Im 31,in a permanent job, earning 31k a year,should I be happy with what I have, I just feel im on crap money?My loan repayments take a 360euro chunk a month

Otis Driftwood

Vampireskiss wrote: »

in a permanent job earning 31k a year

My best friend is also 31 is earning €10608 a year and has a mortgage substantially more than €360 a month.

Whats your point?


Most people would like to earn more money but what can you do.If its such an issue for you then quit your job,there are more than a few that would walk across broken glass for 31k per annum.
:rolleyes:

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Not exactly sure what you want anybody to say op... It's almost like you are trolling.

Reminds me of that guy who posted "I took a massive pay cut, I am down to 3 days a week and I only get 30K a year, so I am on social welfare too".... Seriosly...

mikemac

Your loan repayments are you own issue, you got into debt but not everyone has this issue

Have you annual appraisals every year? If so I'd imagine it's coming up this month or next month so now is the perfect time to mention it.
A pay rise depends on:

• Your performance
• How well the company is doing

You could be the greatest worker your manager has ever seen but your manager doesn't see wage budgets, that may be done by another department.
So if your manager tells you they can't adjust your salary it's probably true, all they can do is fight for you.

Don't get bitter though, work even harder for your department and maybe look at extra qualifications you do part-time.

And realy, I've seen far too many threads started by you in this forum.
It's great you ask for advice but they you ignore it all! JuanVeron45
I feel I've given good advice here, are you going to ask the same question in a few weeks?

mood

What do you do? We can't comment without knowing. If you change job you could get less money because of the recession.

jimmyw

Sick of people moaning over nothing when there are people far worse. When I was working I was on about 20 odd k per year which I thought was good and 400 mortgage which is nothing compared to some people. Now I have no job and still the same mortgage but I cant complain.Look at the two couples on the LLS last night, they are in deep s**t. Count yourself lucky your in a job.

Firetrap

It's not 2006 any more when people could hop from job to job if they didn't feel they were earning enough. It's an employer's market now and there are plenty of people out there who have lost their jobs, have had their hours cut or have various pay cuts. If you think you are worth more than 31k, then why not go look for another job. There are plenty of them out there :rolleyes:

Pythia

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im 31,in a permanent job, earning 31k a year,should I be happy with what I have, I just feel im on crap money?My loan repayments take a 360euro chunk a month

Did you go to college?

mood

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im 31,in a permanent job, earning 31k a year,should I be happy with what I have, I just feel im on crap money?My loan repayments take a 360euro chunk a month

Minus you loans you still have over 2k per month. I could easily live on that!

Vampireskiss

mood wrote: »

Minus you loans you still have over 2k per month. I could easily live on that!

No I dont, maybe gross its over 2k but I get 1880 net into my hand every month and after the loan its 1520

I work in a lab and I have a degree in science

dellas1979

Strange post.

Look, either you are grossly over valuing yourself or the company you work for is seriously under valuing you.

In 2009/10, the worst economic crisis this country...sorry scratch that....the worst economic crisis the world has seen, I would be thinking that you are in the first option.

As another poster said, if you think you are worth more, in which case option B applies, approach your company for or how you can get a pay increment.

Are you a glass is half full or glass is half empty kind of person? Sounds like the latter, and, to boot everyone has degrees, masters, PhDs hanging around our necks - you may think yourself that you are the bees knees and the cats pjamas but what makes you so special?

Victor McDade

Asking for a payrise would seem like an obvious step

Catmologen

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im 31,in a permanent job, earning 31k a year,should I be happy with what I have, I just feel im on crap money?My loan repayments take a 360euro chunk a month

Have you considered doing a professional qualification? Best way to maximise your earning potential imo.

Fukuyama

I agree with everyone else here about broadening you horizons by either looking for another job (although during a recession....) or getting a qualification.

Another option might be to look at how much you're spending to see if you can cut-back a little. Especially in the run-up to Christmas. There's tonnes of tips on the interweb that can help you save Maybe you don't feel you;re getting enough because your spending too much or too much of your paycheck never makes it into your pocket in the first place.

petes

Vampireskiss wrote: »

No I dont, maybe gross its over 2k but I get 1880 net into my hand every month and after the loan its 1520

I work in a lab and I have a degree in science

I haven't looked in to this yet but have you calculated that correctly? It just doesn't look rights for 31k per year.

NothingMan

Seriously?
I have a degree and then got an extra professional qualification while working. I do a mon - fri, 9 - 5:30 and I work hard and have basically gotten a promotion without the payrise in the last year so now I have to work all over the place with a lot more responsibility for 26K. And I have a lot more outgoings than 300 odd euro. Basically after rent and bills I keep myself about €150 a week and throw the rest into the credit card.

And I would consider myself damn lucky and living a very nice quality of life. If I hadn't seen some of your posts before and you seem to be a genuine poster, I wouldn't even take this post seriously.

MysticalRain

dellas1979 wrote: »

Strange post.

Very strange indeed. The OP never mentioned what the actual job is or how they can add value to their company's bottom line that presumably nobody else can. What makes the OP so special that a company would want to pay them more?

NothingMan

Insurgent wrote: »

I haven't looked in to this yet but have you calculated that correctly? It just doesn't look rights for 31k per year.

You're right, before tax it's €2583, so after tax per month should still be over €2000. Unless their contributing a lot to a pension fund perhaps. I'm on 26k and after tax I get almost what they're getting. And I pay 3% to a pension and a little to a social club fund.

Newaglish

Vampireskiss wrote: »

No I dont, maybe gross its over 2k but I get 1880 net into my hand every month and after the loan its 1520

I work in a lab and I have a degree in science

Are you sure you're on 31k per month? How much is your gross per month?

NET you should be earning approximately €2,161 (depending on your circumstances) per month.

To answer your original question - yes, I think it may be a little low for someone with a full degree over the age of 30. However, it also depends on what age you finished college, when you started working and how much experience you actually have. Also, I don't work in a science background so it's possible that wages are lower in that industry (although I'd be surprised if they were that low).

To some of the other posters - just because there are some people on the dole in this country doesn't mean that everyone has to throw away any ideas of their own career, working conditions or pay. I'm half expecting someone to come along and suggest that the OP volunteer for a pay cut due to the current economic situation.

p

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im 31,in a permanent job, earning 31k a year,should I be happy with what I have, I just feel im on crap money?My loan repayments take a 360euro chunk a month

If you want to earn more money, figure out how you can make your company more money and they will pay you more. Do that through training, becoming more efficient, a better worker, moving into management. Or, if you ultimately can't do that, try apply for a job where your skills will be more valuable to another company.

Many people pay 500 euro to rent mediocre apartments, 360 is a good deal compared to that.

But seriously, why the hell are you asking this on a forum? Whether you earn 'enough' is all related to your skills, training, attitude, career, location and other opportunities available to you. Add you own costs, loans and family situation to the mix and it varies a huge amount.

AARRRGH

Vampireskiss wrote: »

I work in a lab and I have a degree in science

How long have you had the degree?
How long have you been in this job?

We really need more information if we are to advise you correctly.

Many people who have good jobs in the science industry (excluding IT) typically have a masters or Ph.D. You should consider improving your qualifications.

Vampireskiss

Catmologen wrote: »

Have you considered doing a professional qualification? Best way to maximise your earning potential imo.

Are you refering to a masters or phD

mood

AARRRGH wrote: »

How long have you had the degree?
How long have you been in this job?

We really need more information if we are to advise you correctly.

Many people who have good jobs in the science industry (excluding IT) typically have a masters or Ph.D. You should consider improving your qualifications.

I agree that we can't give the best advice with such little information and with out knowing the industry well. However, there are some good comments here. Some maybe be appropriate, some may not be. It's up to you to pick up on one which may help you. If it turns out that you can't get a pay rise or new job now you could always do a course that will help you when the economy picks up.

Vampireskiss

NothingMan wrote: »

You're right, before tax it's €2583, so after tax per month should still be over €2000. Unless their contributing a lot to a pension fund perhaps. I'm on 26k and after tax I get almost what they're getting. And I pay 3% to a pension and a little to a social club fund.

Actually your right, the reason I calculated it wrong was because I get paid every 2 weeks.

My gross is 1185 every 2 weeks

total deductions 256.50

So my net is 929.00 every 2 weeks

and net a year is 24154

My biggest problem I suppose is that I am just so bad with money, I live from pay cheque to pay cheque,alot of my money goes on drinking and takeaways and if I want something I just buy it without thinking twice.

I have no savings and im paying off that loan I mentioned earlier 178 euro every 2 weeks and this will take 4to5 years to payoff and rent is the only other expense at 220 euro a month plus bills.

There may be an opourtunity to go on shift next year which will boost my gross by 10k

But I need to fix my spending habbits, does anyone have any advice here

I get a little angry with myself that I have a fulltime job with decent pay and I cannot afford a car or I have to get loans from my parents here and there for dental bills etc and I never go on holidays for that reason either.

Does anyone have any advice?


Also as a matter of interest I pay 60 euro every 2 weeks on pension, is that small ,average or large for this?

mood

Drink a little less on nights out and go out a little less.

Start cooling your own meals. If you can't cook learn. Not only will it cost less but it's better for you health in general.

Bring in lunch to work. Say you spend €10 per day on lunch, that's €50 a week which adds up to €200 per month. That's a lot!

Shop in Dunnes/Tesco/Aldi not Supervalu etc. Bulk buy things like toilet paper etc.

Review you mobile phone option. There could be a better bill pay option for you. Do you really need Sky or whatever if you have it?

If you smoke stop.

There are a lot of thing's we all spend too much on. I'm sure other will have some suggestions.

Catmologen

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Are you refering to a masters or phD

Neither, I was thinking more along the lines of Accountancy or Tax. What is your degree in? If its a business related then you may be eligible for examination exemptions from the professional bodies.

keane2097

Catmologen wrote: »

Neither, I was thinking more along the lines of Accountancy or Tax. What is your degree in? If its a business related then you may be eligible for examination exemptions from the professional bodies.

He has already stated that he has a science degree and works in a lab.

Catmologen

keane2097 wrote: »

He has already stated that he has a science degree and works in a lab.

Didnt see that,still doesnt mean the op couldnt re-train in another discipline. I know plenty of people that have done it.

amen

retraining is an option but at 31 it could take anothere 2-3 years.

Would be better finding out what his peers are on (other grads from his year) and figure out what he is earning based on them.

In the early 90's a good rule of thumb ws to earn IR30,000 by 30 but thats all changed now.

Have you looked at moving out of the lab or into a supervisory role?

mood

Retraining also costs a lot. Maybe an evening/part course in management could help gain a supervisory role in the future. Or maybe see if you could learn more at work. Maybe the company would send you on a course.

Sehnsucht

Vampireskiss wrote: »

So my net is 929.00 every 2 weeks and net a year is 24154

OP this still makes no sense at all! My pay is 29k and my net salary is exactly 24701.56. Are you sure you're claiming all your tax credits (ie. rent, trade union subscriptions etc)??

The money you're on is grand, there are so many people who would take your arm off for that wage. If you're bad at budgeting go talk to Mabs or just sit down and make out a realistic budget. The only reason people are 'bad' with money is the lack of willpower. OP I have a mortgage and all the bills that go with that and I still manage to save €125 a week at least!

Your rent is very low so you really should be able to pay more off your debt. Drinking too much and spending your money on takeaways is just like flushing your paycheque down the toilet.

I earn less than a lot of my friends but have a lot more money for savings and holidays because I budget. You can defo do it, just sit down and work out what you could save if you cut out the wasteful habits, I bet you'll get a shock when you see how much you're blowing every month.

mood

Sehnsucht wrote: »

OP this still makes no sense at all! My pay is 29k and my net salary is exactly 24701.56. Are you sure you're claiming all your tax credits (ie. rent, trade union subscriptions etc)??

The money you're on is grand, there are so many people who would take your arm off for that wage. If you're bad at budgeting go talk to Mabs or just sit down and make out a realistic budget. The only reason people are 'bad' with money is the lack of willpower. OP I have a mortgage and all the bills that go with that and I still manage to save €125 a week at least!

Your rent is very low so you really should be able to pay more off your debt. Drinking too much and spending your money on takeaways is just like flushing your paycheque down the toilet.

I earn less than a lot of my friends but have a lot more money for savings and holidays because I budget. You can defo do it, just sit down and work out what you could save if you cut out the wasteful habits, I bet you'll get a shock when you see how much you're blowing every month.

I agree. It's not about being stingy, it's about being clever. I know I would rather an annual holiday than stuff my face with takeaways! There is lot a of good advice here. You should be able to take some of it on board and make some changes regarding you spending habits and/or you career.

ogriofa

Hi,
My advice would be to stay where you are and not make any waves for a bit.

As was said earlier, if there's training you can avail of, do that, that'd be a great idea. In company training, or if your in a Multi-national, a course on your intranet... think strategically.
Good luck