Money: in one hand, out t'other

hotpot

In over 40 years of work at various jobs I've never once had a bonus or any financial reward above & beyond the wages ....... except for the time we were given a frozen turkey at Christmas, 1973 I think it was! and when the bugger thawed out it stank.

DLM

mellowsun said:

Are you guys in banking/finance?

Yeah. Not in the UK, though. Collective bargaining agreements hammered out bonuses for workers over here. There's quite the barney about socialism in Speakers' Corner at the moment, this is one of its offshoots, too. A lot of these hard-fought bonuses and benefits are being eroded away these days, but it's not quite old hat yet.

Here we have Christmas bonus stats for ex-FRG (West) and ex-GDR (East):

https://www.welt.de/img/wirtschaft/mobile133937812/5081628977-ci23x11-w780/DWO-WI-Weihnachtsgeld-js-Branche-Aufm-jpg.jpg

The blue bars show percentages of a month's salary paid on top as the Christmas bonus.

Metal industry \m/

Motor industry

 Retail

Railway employees (not train drivers)

Banking sector

Public sector (Municipalities)

The sample size used by the Hans Böckler Foundation was a bit small, but you get the idea.

Folks on collective bargaining agreement contracts might also still get a holiday bonus. Stats again by West and East, figures with thousands separated by dots, not commas:

https://de.statista.com/graphic/1/70372/tarifliche-jahressonderzahlung-nach-branchen.jpg

Iron and steel

Wood and plastics

Metal \m/

Paper

Motor

Retail

Construction

Commercial cleaning trade

Wholesale

Chemicals

Confectionery

Agriculture

Coal mining

Some folks thus get their monthly salary paid 14 times a year, and then maybe a performance bonus on top that could be quite a significant sum. On top of that might then also come a profit-sharing arrangement. But the latter two bonus types are less standardised so I'll not find charts as easily.

TimmyO

Col_Decker said:

How does it always happen? Whenever you get a bit of spare cash and you think oooh I'll treat my self to a *whatever* then fate comes along with a big fat fuck you.

In my job I'm fortunate to get a bonus in the June pay packet. Not enough to retire on natch but a very nice extra 1.5 weeks pay. So with money in hand I bought a Bigsby for my tele and a few new clothes. Bosh there goes £250 in a few mins with a few £££ left for treating the mrs or family or maybe just me. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pay day = Friday

Friday PM = Mrs drops the iron, it is fekked. There goes some £

Saturday PM = Oven decided its had enough of life after 12 years and goes poooof. Mrs says buy a new one with bonus money. Thats a big chunk of £££

Sunday AM = Our 7yo drops the laptop. Its totally bricked, off to PC world for repair but as the Mrs needs one for work thats a new one needed. Oh hell not more £££

So 3 days after the biggest payday I've ever had and I'm worse off than ever. First world problems and all that.

Back luck Carol 

joeyowen

A couple of years working in the bank taught me something (actually, a lot of things...)

You get rich people feeling poor, and you get poor people who feel rich
(you also get rich people feeling rich and poor people feeling poor of course)
You get people looking like scruffy gits who are millionaires, and you get stunning looking designer people trying to pay of credit cards.

Your problems are relative to you, and people can give sympathies, or tell you to get a grip

You have my sympathies to an extent, because you work hard for a bonus and it gets eaten up by day to day life (i'm about to experience the same thing). But! always be thankful you have an oven or a laptop that needs fixing

mellowsun

I feel richer now earning about 20k per year than I did when I earnt 5 times as much, because I have more time, enjoy what I do and am less stressed.

Just need to use that time more effectively! I start the day well at 7am but start squandering it in the afternoon. If I can crack the 2nd part of the day, I'll be much more productive.

Apols @Col_Decker for thread derailment!

midlifecrisis

i always think trying to hold on to money is like trying to hold water in your hands, it eventually seeps through your fingers no matter how careful you are, so better off spending it, wisely, fixing things that need fixing, ready for the next handful

Dominic

mellowsun said:

Never worked anywhere where a bonus was paid. Are you guys in banking/finance?

If they were the bonus would run to a damn site more than an iron and a bigsby
try a Porsche and a Country House !

Teetonetal

Drew_TNBD said:

Don't get married. Don't have children.

Simples.

Not quite true.

I imagine the wealthiest people or people with the most free cash are working childless couples.

It's the children that really screw you over.

capo4th

Yes but they make you smile every day despite costing you a fortune!

capo4th

I think most people spend what they earn your lifestyle adjusts to your income. 

Any spare change goes in the ISAs.

CabbageCat

midlifecrisis said:

i always think trying to hold on to money is like trying to hold water in your hands, it eventually seeps through your fingers no matter how careful you are, so better off spending it, wisely, fixing things that need fixing, ready for the next handful

That's just making an excuse. Money only trickles through your fingers if you let it. There is no money goblin that takes it away. If you are careful then money will accumulate.

chillidoggy

Where's that magic money tree when you need it most?

Barney

chillidoggy said:

Where's that magic money tree when you need it most?

Its here...!

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1539272#Comment_1539272

viz

Col_Decker said:

 WezV said:

what broke on the oven?  if its electric, elements cost a lot less than new ovens.  They can blow randomly at any time

Quoted for wizdom. In the last 18 months I've replaced the element twice and the main fan. Now its started cutting out at random times when its on and the beeper has stopped beeping. The Mrs / Boss has decided that its time for the chop.

Seems a little harsh. 

57Deluxe

Yep - a few quid saved and then have to shell out on new discs & calipers for the MGB and other sundry niggles  - and - an MOT advisement on perishing tyres on the 4x4 and suddenly another guitar possibility has gone. Oh and did I mention the Microwave's suddenly blown a hole too?? Bad month June... And I don't work anymore!

DLM

OK, for some more balance on my stats from above: last year 19.2% of folk in the FRG couldn't afford to take a week's holiday away from home. Worse: 19.9% for households with kids, 39.6% of single-parent families.

According to Eurostat, this is an improvement form 34.7% overall in 2016.

The figure for EU states on average has varied between 34% and just under 40% in recent years, so Germans are doing well.

Strangefan

Why isnt your missus helping financially with the three issues that have happened? 

RiftAmps

I've often said that people can smell the money on me.

When I'm skint, nothing needs paying for but the second I get a wad of cash suddenly everyone needs money immediately. I could set my watch by the time it takes for someone to phone me straight after a BACS payment lands in my account.

Fretwired

Money: in one hand, out t'other

That'll be children who love visiting the Bank of Mum and Dad ....

jonnyburgo

My mate earns around 70k a year and is always in some financial crisis, I love them but he and his wife are utter fuckwits with money.