Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Hi all, just wanted you to share how much a family of 4 can save per month? What are the basic expenses like rent, utilities, other expenses that are done and about how much are they? Can a family save with only 1 income earner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I'm afraid that question is far to difficult to answer because of variables, ie how much you earn how much is your rent mortgage etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 ok, let's say if there is only 1 income earner getting AUD 70,000 per year. And rent is AUD 1400 per month. What is the savings after tax? What are the utilities, basic expenses that are done? How much on average does childcare cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoannaAch Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 ok, let's say if there is only 1 income earner getting AUD 70,000 per year. And rent is AUD 1400 per month. What is the savings after tax? What are the utilities, basic expenses that are done? How much on average does childcare cost? Based on my experience - none and 70k is not enough to support a family, at least in Sydney. We spend 2k$ per month for a 1-bedroom unit, 700$ on utilities (incl. car insurance, life insurance etc.) and 600$ on car repayments. Child care is the biggest problem; in Sydney it costs around 80-100$ per day, but if both you and your partner go to work and doesn't earn that much you will get child care support from the government (if PR). But don''t hope for to much. However, it strongly depends on your life style - a lot of people would say that it's a lot of money and they will be able to still save each month... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencio Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 It all depends where you guys wanted to settle. Sydney is skyrocketing expensive with rentals whereas Adelaide is the most affordable city. Utility bills are also very different, each state has own charges and fees. To answer your question the forum needs more details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We have a joint income of $2000 per week after tax. We live on the gold coast, and our 2 main costs are rent ($510 a week) and food ($300 a week) and we manage (most weeks) to save $250, $1000 a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 we are planning to move to melbourne.. the problem is that savings won't be much according to your advices and we are currently saving much more where we are. what is the maximum earnings per household to be eligible for child care benefits? How much subsidy will we get for child care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Have a look at the Centrelink website that will explain all the benefits etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I may be wrong but I think after a combined income of $110k all centrelink help stops totally...might have that wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 thanks wattsy1982. Just to confirm is the $110k you mention before or after tax? wattsy1982 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 thanks wattsy1982. Just to confirm is the $110k you mention before or after tax?wattsy1982 like i say i may be wrong but its before tax i think. If you dont get any centrelink help childcare is SO expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 for 2 professionals I guess we can reach $110 before tax, but then the childcare will be too much as we have 2 babies.. it's going to be a tough expense on our income Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Our kindy costs are $86 PER DAY, PER CHILD (pre centrelink discounts) and, to rub salt in the wounds when they are closed on public holidays you still have to pay. (if that day was their kindy day of course) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Our Centrelink family tax benefit stopped once we hit around the $115k mark.....I don't think you can save on one income but obviously depends on the income. For us with 1 child living at home our mortgage is around 2000 a month and we earn about $120k joint. We only save if hubby does overtime which he does frequently and manage to put away around $800 a month After school care costs around $25 a session and around $65 for a full day in school hols. We get 50% of that back every quarter with childcare rebate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 In the UK though, wouldn't a lot of families struggle to save on one income? Usually when families have young children its difficult to build a nest egg, but that's such a short space of time. When they are at school and getting older, there is more chance for you both to work and build that nest egg rather quickly. Therefore wouldn't it be better to choose the best location you can afford without focussing on how much savings you can save at this stage of your life? I understand its nice to have a safety net but $1000 a month with only one worker is quite good going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 In the UK though, wouldn't a lot of families struggle to save on one income? Agreed. Back in the UK we could live on just my wage but not save. Here my wife HAS to work to meet our bills and from that we are saving a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosiew Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 we are planning to move to melbourne.. the problem is that savings won't be much according to your advices and we are currently saving much more where we are. what is the maximum earnings per household to be eligible for child care benefits? How much subsidy will we get for child care? Melbourne is an expensive city and you are unlikely to save anything on $70,000. If only one person if working you will not need childcare. If you are both working you will qualify for a contribution of at least 50 % of your child care fees IF you have a permanent residency visa. You may qualify (again, only if you have the right visa) for some family tax benefit, but these are likely to reduce in another year's time. Look at www.centrelink.gov.au If you come on a 457 visa (employer sponsored) you will not receive any benefits, including for child care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nastasia Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Hi rosiew, thanks for the reply. I do have a permanent visa. I had a look at centrelink and it's quite complicated to understand all these and I thought about asking on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosiew Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Well, only you can work it out because you need to complete all of the questions about assets and income for it to make a proper assessment. You can assume that if you only earn $70,000 that you will get quite a bit of family tax benefit, but it does depend on the age of your children as you will see. With childcare, you should get a 50% rebate plus some extra contribution based on your income. You are not entitled to much childcare unless both parents are working or studying. Your rent estimate of $1400 per month is quite low for most parts of Melbourne unless you will live in a small 1-2 bedroom flat. By the way, you are arriving in the Melbourne winter - get a house with good heating! How well you cope on $70,000 will depend on your spending choices, how much you bring in savings, how quickly you find work and whether you eventually want to buy a house. The median house price here is over $500,000. To work out how much tax you will pay visit ato.gov.au which has the tax rates and medicare levy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic1171 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I earn about $75000 and that's comfortable for me and my son, just the two of us. My breakdown is $2080 every 4 weeks rent for a 4 bed house with pool, $150 electric/month, $150 telstra/month, $800 shopping/month, $160 petrol/month, I don't have a car payment as bought it outright I manage to save a couple of hundred but as I say there's only 2 of us, no child care to pay for. Haven't had a water bill yet so don't know about that yet. I live on the Gold Coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoannaAch Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Have a look at the Centrelink website that will explain all the benefits etc. I think its >140$ before tax for a family with one kid... And there will be some changes for the next financial year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosiew Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I think its >140$ before tax for a family with one kid... And there will be some changes for the next financial year? That's family tax benefit part b which you only really get if one of you has a very low income. And it's only about $60 per week. The cut off for Family tax benefit part a is lower. But given that a lot of people come with savings (which produce interest), overseas assets, child ages etc etc she's really got to fill in the estimator and see what it comes up with I think, in case we give false hope. And as you say, they will be cut back next year, although at this point it is hard to say by how much. I think we can assume that FTB will have an upper limit of $100K and FTA will be harder to get once children are at school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Our kindy costs are $86 PER DAY, PER CHILD (pre centrelink discounts) and, to rub salt in the wounds when they are closed on public holidays you still have to pay. (if that day was their kindy day of course) Its the same in the UK, why do people always think childcare is so expensive here, I paid 29gpb per day in the UK and $91 here roughly the same by the time you get CCR, also had to pay for holidays or if she wasnt there, so no difference really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Childcare here in the midlands seems to be £39 per hour, cant really get it any cheaper around where I live without going to somewhere dodgy. With the 2.2 rule doesn't that make it $85.8 so $91 doesn't seem that extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 If you get the Childcare rebate then I think Childcare is way cheaper here. My local nursery cost £42 a day (going back 7 years). Here our local one is $72 before the rebate which works out so much cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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