In my posts below I discuss average wages. I think they're an important set of statistics - numbers we need to be concious of. How else are we to know if we are doing well, okay, badly or worse?

Where did I get these numbers from? From the Office for National Statistics; website here. When searching for the data, I asked myself why the ONS wasn't presenting these numbers in a friendlier way? Why was it geek's-only territory? After all, we all need these numbers if we are to make good decisions.

Today, I read that the ONS has been panned by an MPs' committee. Rightly so in my view. The data exists. It's data we all need. It's data that would allow us to inject a little more logic when deciding on important personal-finance matters. Make it easier, not harder.

Read the article here.

The premise of this blog is that personal-finance fundamentals ain't rocket science. Ultimately, personal-finance rests on a simple idea - spending must match income. Or that spending must not exceed income.

The beauty of this principle is that it allows one to make calculations starting at either end of the equation. One can look at income and identify how much there’s available for spending. And it works just as well in reverse: estimate likely spending, and hey presto, one has identified the income required to meet said spending. Not rocket science as I've mentioned.

This site is good for personal-finance articles. But, some of the articles could be clearer.

This article seems interesting, but it's not written up very well - not sure I'm getting all the stats. But it's worth reading though. Again, it shows the disconnect between what we would like to have in a bank account and the reality of our meagre savings. We seem to agree that (an average of) £93,000 is an amount that, if we had it, would make us feel secure about managing to pay any bill that we might be faced with. But in reality (excluding pension savings) we have circa £1,228 to call on.

How likely is it that any of us will ever have £93,000 in a rainy day fund (excluding pension provision that is)?

So, lets summarise. Full-time employees (full-time means at least 30 hrs a week) earn on average as follows:

1. Average hourly wage:        £12.76
2. Average weekly wage:     £506.00
3. Average monthly wage: £2,208.00
4. Average annual wage: £26,500.00

The above stats come from the Office for National Statistics. Here. Except number three above which I've extrapolated from the other figures. It might not be exactly right - but it's right enough for us.

The last post was about average earnings per hour. The post before that about earnings per year.

Now, average earnings per week.

In April 2012 the average weekly earnings of a full-time employee (before tax is paid) was £506.

These figures (as do the figures in the previous posts) come from the Office for National Statistics (here).

In our last post we said that the average yearly earnings of a full-time employee is £26,500.

How much does the average full-time worker earn per hour? Answer: in 2012 the average hourly wage is £12.76.

So, the average worker is earning £26,500 per year and is doing so by earning £12.76 for an hour worked.

The average earnings of full-time UK employees is £26,500. Here. Gross. Tax has to be deducted from this amount to calculate a take-home figure.

Pension delusion. Here & here.

One, two, thee. Testing.