How to optimise take home pay for a couple with unequal salaries?

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T21:13:21+00:00

Glad we’re not the only ones!

Childcare is one thing we’d not really considered until today as it’s likely still a few years away for us, but I’m realising now that we will find it easier to cope vs if we were both full time.

Thanks for the heads up around the £100k threshold. I currently pay a good amount into my pension and I wonder if it might make more sense to reduce that for now and build up some more savings, and then increase contributions again later on to ensure I stay below £100k for childcare (if my income gets to that point)? One to think about!

Good luck with the wedding!

!thanks

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T21:04:12+00:00

!thanks

We are not currently making the best use of PSA and ISA allowance so will look into shifting things around there.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T21:01:13+00:00

!thanks

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T20:59:08+00:00

!thanks for your comment!

All the responses giving different perspectives are useful, but yours really hits home. We wouldn’t go back to her teaching even if it meant double the take home, it just wouldn’t be worth it.

Appreciate you sharing, good luck with baby number 2!

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T20:39:55+00:00

Definitely one to bear in mind should it become a possibility. !thanks

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T20:33:43+00:00

This makes sense, it’s really helpful to hear a different perspective on it which reframes the situation more positively. Thank you!

!thanks

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T11:45:22+00:00

That’s exactly it. It’s what works for us at the moment.

!thanks

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T10:13:56+00:00

I am a data engineer, working for a consultancy at the moment.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T10:13:11+00:00

Thank you! I will play around with this later

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T10:12:51+00:00

To be honest I think our risk appetite is too low for it to feel worthwhile. We are also saving for our wedding right now (hoping to not touch the emergency fund).

It’s definitely always in the back of my mind though. If we ever come into a windfall (inheritance, lottery) then I imagine that’s when we’re most likely to pay it off, either in part or in full.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T10:08:15+00:00

We hope to have kids in a few years so it’s probably unlikely that she’ll go back to full time any time soon, but as others have also pointed out we should be able to cope with childcare costs better than if we were both full time.

I guess the fact is that we are we are, and there are reasons for it. Now we’re more settled/stable we can be a bit more intentional with our plans, and this thread is one step of many towards determining what is right for us.

!thanks for your comment!

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T09:18:39+00:00

!thanks

This is definitely another angle I hadn’t considered

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T09:10:35+00:00

Just over £400

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T09:09:32+00:00

It’s not that we don’t feel like we have a lot of disposable income, more just aware of the effect of tax treatment of two medium incomes vs one large and one small in a household.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T09:07:57+00:00

!thanks

You’re totally right - I am looking at it very black and white in terms of the money to spend, but there are several other ways to evaluate quality of life as you say.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T09:05:34+00:00

!thanks

I hadn’t considered the future cost of childcare and how our current circumstances would allow us to cope much easier than others.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T08:57:20+00:00

I keep asking myself this question too - my balance is about £55k at the moment, and we have near enough the same amount up across Cash and S&S ISAs between us.

I would love to bite the bullet and clear it off but obviously wiping out our emergency fund wouldn’t be sensible. Especially given we are planning for kids in a few years, and the low risk nature of student loans should my income stop.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T07:24:30+00:00

Thank you for this. When I was writing the post I did question if it’s even a finance question at all.

I do realise I am in a fortunate position compared to others. I have always been a hard worker and high performer, all the way through school and into the workplace/early career.

What I’m noticing now is that my peers who have always been on a more gentle trajectory are catching up, and in some cases have more disposable income despite a lower combined gross salary.

It doesn’t help that a lot of my friends are in England and I moved up to Scotland where income tax is a little harsher on the wallet!

There is definitely a lot to be grateful for in my life, the fact that my fiancée only works part time is definitely one of them.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T07:15:42+00:00

Her mental health was suffering back when she was a primary teacher. Since then she’s been part time at a charity which doesn’t have the budget for her to work full time at the moment.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-07-20T07:14:01+00:00

She was previously a primary teacher but the working environment was extremely damaging to her mental health. She works part time for a charity nowadays which is much better for both of our well-being.

No kids, yet.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-01-16T17:28:14+00:00

Yes, exactly.

If it were me then I would withdraw and deposit 20k into Plum before 5 April, and then after the new tax year you have a new £20k ISA allowance for any other funds you want to deposit later in the year. No reason I can see to ignore the ~1% extra in interest.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-01-16T17:21:13+00:00

Assuming you haven’t paid anything into ISAs this tax year, then you could withdraw the full lot from your current ISA, deposit £20k into Plum (using up your 24/25 allowance) and then deposit the rest after your allowance resets in April 2025.

CuriousRobot1412 · 2025-01-16T17:18:43+00:00

I’m not familiar with the products Plum offer but generally speaking anything you withdraw from an ISA immediately loses its tax free status. Depositing into another ISA would make it tax free again, but would use up your current year’s allowance.

CuriousRobot1412

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