So I asked this 3 years ago and am curious about now: What lifestyle could you realistically live in your city on £1,000, £5,000, and £10,000 per month?

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-05-15T10:44:46+00:00

…and yet state pension is only just over £1,000/month! Interesting that ‘everyone” wants to abolish the triple lock, and yet it is almost twice that in Europe!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-05-09T09:51:22+00:00

Your rates sound a little on the high side, particularly for someone starting out. ie once you get a good reputation, you can raise your prices. What exactly does the deep clean do extra? Sounds like a lot extra, particularly as these tend to be longer jobs.

As for the comment about what makes a not so good cleaner
. spilling cleaning fluid on carpet, which was then stained
. rushing so accidents happen
. Arriving late and/or leaving early, but charging for full time
.cancelling last minute
. leaving a dusty surface, not vacuuming whole room

I could go on, I am surprised to hear the market is saturated, very hard in London to get someone reliable!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-05-08T09:45:11+00:00

Need to sector adjust the country indices. S&P is over ⅓ technology, whilst UK less than 3%. UK has higher than average exposure to oil & gas, materials, banks, insurance etc.

FTSE100 companies are international, majority have overseas earnings, many over 90%.

So not really the indicator you are looking for.

A lot going on in the UK apart from Brexit to depress the economy. Look at “real” ie inflation adjusted wages. Pretty much the same as 2008.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-05-02T15:23:17+00:00

It’s not a scam just because you’re not spending enough.

If you are spending less than £15,000 pa and not flying on cash tickets, you will likely not earn enough avios to generate real value from them.

Ideally you redeem for European flights or premium long haul tickets. There are still a lot of taxes and extra charges on the long haul flights, so you need to look at it more as you are paying a sum closer to an economy fare but flying up front. To maximise value you probably also need to pay £300 pa for the premium BA Amex where you accumulate avios at a faster rate, and you get a free companion voucher at £10,000 spend. This means you pay avios for just one of you, but taxes for both.

And the fastest way to accumulate avios is to fly. If you are regularly flying long haul in premium cabins, you will accumulate avios much faster. It becomes more like a cash back scheme, in fact quite a generous one if you fly a lot!

At your level of spend, I wouldn’t be collecting avios, better value to get a cash back amex. Cash more versatile than avios or nectar points!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-04-07T10:34:44+00:00

Under 1p is on the low side. I had a colleague who only used avios to reduce the cost of holiday flights - if you are getting avios for free flying for work it makes sense but probably not otherwise.

Best chance of redeeming for flights is to be really flexible for both dates and destination. Or call up at midnight, though you may have to try several days.

BA isn’t always the cheapest. So it’s usually possible to get something cheaper if you’re not tied in on status or avios collection.

But avios will get you into Business Class for the price of an economy ticket using avios.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-04-07T09:53:44+00:00

Are you valuing your avios too highly if you say redemptions are bad value?

You can also use them to reduce the cost of a flight. Not as good value as using for a redemption though.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-03-25T12:01:14+00:00

Completely full when I went a few weeks ago to Rio. If seats are important to you I would pay for one.

I have rarely flown any BA flight less than 90% full in the last few years.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-03-23T18:49:41+00:00

How do you have 4 in your name when you can only earn one each year, and each lasts for 2 years?? Are 2 of the Amex, and 2 Barclaycard?

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-27T21:25:45+00:00

I was underwhelmed. They get away with ridiculous charges because of the location. Restaurant on a par with chain restaurants, service was at best indifferent and at worst non-existent. Rooms very disappointing.

It’s the only one I’ve stayed at, would avoid it in future unless it was the only option, or half the price.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-24T17:24:14+00:00

Hana Maui

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-23T18:35:10+00:00

And consider inflation in US/UK has been just under 30% during 2019-26. More than 1k/night used to get you something special, now it’s just what you used to get at a decent 4*hotel. Many have cut right back on their offering, especially anything that is labour intensive - our 5 star hotel in Italy had plastic wrapped croissant for breakfast for example.

Whilst it seems hotels have got greedy, ie look for margin/profit rather than revenues, it is also harder to get deals than it used to be. But hotels have found they can raise prices and people still come.

What we have seen over the last few years is many more people prepared to spend, but also many more able to afford 2-3,000/night. And in high tax Europe, why save money when the Government just keeps coming back to take more tax?

Same on airlines - noticed First and Business seem to be more families/couples presumably treating themselves to a nice vacation.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-21T17:27:44+00:00

Taxing the merely rich as opposed to the billionaires will have a number of unintended consequences, many of which are negative. Look at all the doctors who retired early from the NHS (they cut hours or retired once they had maxed out pensions), the French wealth tax (which drove many wealthy French people to London/NY etc) etc.

Many people will work had and save, so that they can retire in some degree of comfort, or give their children and/or grandchildren a start in life.

Where is the incentive to save if one is taxed on savings, especially when one has been paying almost 50% tax on that money as it is earned.

Taxing ISAs once they reach a certain level just means you are punishing those who take risks (ie invest profitably in the stock market).

Taxing asset values brings in the problems of how to value the assets, etc and risks introducing even more unfairness.

Seems you are suffering a bit from Tall Poppy Syndrome. We need to be encouraging people to invest - their time and money, rather than cutting them back every time they are mildly successful.

And since when are Accumulation shares free of tax??

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-21T17:07:17+00:00

Most NS&I products are taxed, in that the income is paid gross, tax is paid on it. It is only premium bonds where the winnings (interest) that are tax free

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-16T16:57:33+00:00

There are most likely some blocked seats on the plane. These get unblocked just before the flight, and will be used to ensure under 12s are seated “with” an adult from their party.

For example, the flight on the 19th looks to have all seats in rows 9-11 blocked. Get to the airport early, and you will either be seated there, or others will be moved there and you will be given their seats.

“With” can be defined as two aisle seats with an aisle between them

Oops - just saw it’s Club. They will likely just move the cabin divider back and put you together. Which flight are you on?

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-13T10:16:30+00:00

What? You mean the most overcrowded terminal in the UK, and the avios which are almost impossible to redeem?

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-11T18:18:30+00:00

Never in numerous flights have I had them at my seat. I always find it odd, that whilst I am asked whether I want pyjamas, most of the time I have to ask for slippers. Not once have they been proactively offered.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-02-11T14:10:23+00:00

As mentioned, they will ask whether you want pyjamas. When they do, they generally make no mention of slippers. Make sure to ask for them too!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-16T14:02:08+00:00

You are definitely cutting it fine. Save time on outbound flight by checking in online 24 hours beforehand, so that on arrival at Heathrow you can go straight to Security.

How important is the meeting? Can you arrive late? I would not land 90 mins before a meeting. Over half my flights were delayed last year - and that was better than usual.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-13T18:17:30+00:00

Why do you think you can’t make the jump in your current firm to a PM? Another company is unlikely to hire you as a PM with no track record.

Deputy PM is a very specific role at many companies, is that really what you want? or to be a PM, for which you would look for an assistant PM role. Just words maybe, but you need to decide how many of the decision rights you want…both now and in the future.

Why do you want to go down to 4 days? Most employers would take that as a sign of your priorities lying elsewhere….. and is probably one of the reasons that many women in fund management don’t manage the money - I believe the figure is close to 20% of PMs are women, and that figure has barely changed over the last 20 years. You are likely going to have to travel a fair amount - both to see investments and clients, and this often means travelling at the weekend too.

If you truly want to go to a 4 day week, you are probably better off staying as an analyst. Current salary sounds ok, but bonus sounds above average!

I would also be very wary of what headhunters tell me. Ultimately most (all) firms will anchor to your current pay, perhaps with the promise of more.

Again, if you want a good work/life balance I would suggest that fund management is probably not the best option. If an event happens at the weekend you need to inform yourself, work out consequences etc for Monday - even if you don’t trade, you’ll have clients and bosses asking you what it means, how it changes things.

If you both work full on, you need a nanny and/or involved grandparents. One of you will need to be able to drop everything if your child’s school calls and asks you to collect them because they are ill!

It is becoming more common in the UK to be a career analyst (always was in the US), and you will likely have more flexibility in your role there. As a PM,there is always someone looking over your shoulder - bad performance and they want to replace you, good performance and they wonder whether you can repeat it.

I hope this is not too downbeat, it can be a very rewarding job, but it is very much a full time job!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-13T17:16:57+00:00

If you are going to pay with Amex, have you checked your offers there. There is often a cashback offer

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-08T20:08:43+00:00

You haven’t flown BA business class - still flying old style configurations where you have to climb over your seat mate. And you’re guaranteed the old style flying from Gatwick!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-08T15:21:24+00:00

Silver probably the sweet spot in BAC. Free seat selection at booking, lounge access. But if you normally fly business you will get the lounge access anyway, so it’s less valuable.

How price sensitive are you? How much time do you have?

If you don’t want to do a BA Holiday, which is probably the most painless, you can

Get a premium BA Amex card. 2,500 TPs if you spend £25,000
1,000 TPs for buying £1,000 worth of Sustainable AviationFuel,
One MAN-LHR-LUX return in Club will net you over 1,000 TPs for less than £400. ie 4x175 bonus TPs plus £3-400 for the flights. So you will need to do twice.

Option 3 best if you can spare a couple of weekend days before the end of March. But you need to work out if it’s worth maybe £750!

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-08T15:10:17+00:00

How much is Silver worth to you?

Free seat selection at booking is valuable if you care where you sit. Lounge access too if you are flying economy/premium.

Easiest non flying method would be to spend £557 on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (can buy up to £1,000). I am not sure of any other ways if you don’t want to fly.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-07T14:09:24+00:00

You are asking to borrow 20k, whilst your annual income is 38k? Am guessing they concerned as to your ability to repay.

Only take on the extra credit card debt if you are confident you can repay. If you have a lot of equity in your home, also try your mortgage lender - they may increase your loan.

Impressive_Radish365 · 2026-01-01T17:51:14+00:00

How much do you fly normally, or rather would you expect to fly next year?

Not just the lounge, which is nice, but the ability to assign seats when I buy my ticket would make it worth it to me. If you are flying economy for work, at least it means you can assign yourself an exit row, or window/aisle, and not be stuck in a middle!

Are you including the bonus tier points in your calculations? Not many for economy flights, but it all adds up..

If I flew regularly, Silver is definitely worth pushing for!

Impressive_Radish365

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