A woman earning £156,000 per year insists she is not "wealthy" and has imposed a ban on shopping at M&S and getting Botox to save for a house. Amelia Brown, 33, identifies with the HENRY bracket—high earner, not rich yet—referring to people who earn a decent salary but have not accumulated significant assets or wealth.
Salary and Savings Strategy
Amelia has boosted her income by £111,000 over a decade, starting from £45,000 in Australia. Despite a monthly gross pay of £13,000, her take-home pay after tax and pension contributions is £6,924. She aims to save £200,000 in two years to purchase a three-bedroom freehold home with a garden in London, where she plans to raise a family with her partner. Currently, she has £35,000 in savings.
To achieve this, Amelia has cut out M&S shopping, stopped buying new clothes, and halted Botox treatments. She also avoids eating out frequently and has deferred buying a car. Her strategy involves paying herself first each month—covering essential costs and then saving or investing the remainder. Additionally, she generates extra income through content creation, which boosted her take-home pay by 20% last month.
Understanding the HENRY Bracket
Amelia, who works as a head of growth in the tech industry and lives in Stoke Newington, London, explains: "I heard about HENRY on a UK subreddit and thought, 'oh yeah, I’m in this bracket.' It’s people earning a decent salary but who haven't been earning long enough to accumulate assets or wealth, or don't come from generational wealth." She acknowledges the £100,000 tax trap, where earnings between £100,000 and £125,000 are taxed at 60%, and above that at 47%. Living in London, she says her salary doesn't go as far as people might think, but she remains grateful for her position.
Investment and Frugal Living
Amelia has always been interested in investing. She bought her first investment property in 2017 and has been active in the stock market for five years. She maximizes her ISA each year and focuses on tax-efficient savings. Her pension contributions have been reduced from 20% to 10% to free up cash for her house deposit. She also sets aside money for luxuries like travel, therapy, and aesthetics through sinking funds.
Her monthly budget breakdown is as follows: net pay £13,000, take-home after tax and 10% pension £6,924. Expenses include a joint account for rent, bills, shared meals, groceries, and cat care (£2,500), investments in stocks and shares ISA and crypto (£1,800), savings (£1,000), sinking funds for travel and therapy (£500), leaving £1,124. This remaining amount is allocated to eating out (£200), non-shared groceries (£200), gym membership (£175), French lessons (£75), transport (£100), gifts (£200), and any surplus for unexpected costs.
Advice to Others
Amelia advises others to "be honest" about their finances. For high earners, she recommends ruthlessly cutting expenses. For most people, she suggests finding opportunities to increase income and setting clear financial goals. Her journey from turning down a PhD in mechanical engineering to earning a high salary reflects her focus on career acceleration and smart saving.
