Richard01 Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Hi everyone Been reading the forum with much interest, keen to know, from your own experiences, what level of income you would say is 'healthy' By that, I mean that we are not extravagant, but we like to have a nice home, eat out probably once a week, takeaway once a week etc etc I was thinking around $100k PA seems sort of OK for a 4 person family Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Depends where you will be living. In Adelaide that would be fine, pretty good even, but in Sydney for example....not so sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Yes depends very much on where you are. That figure would be chewed up pretty easily in Sydney or Melbourne but not as quickly in Adelaide or Brisbane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 You would be pretty well off in Tasmania. As the others have already said ............... it depends where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Bang on the money for what you're after in outskirts of Perth for the lifestyle you describe I'd say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 You would be ok with that figure around Brisbane. Also remember if you have children and are on a PR visa, Centrelink would pay a small amount of Family Tax credit to you as well, which can help a lot whilst your getting up and running and the bills are never ending. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Everyone adjusts to their income. I've known a family of 6 manage on $35,000 pa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 In Sydney, even in the outer suburbs life would be pretty drab on $100k total household pre-tax income, unless you had a considerable amount of money to put down on a house to reduce the mortgage etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard01 Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Thanks for the replies so far, I had to ask because I know a family that struggle, but survive on around $50k, yet another one, that seem to live a similar lifestyle struggle on 170k I guess its all down to lifestyle choices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 i think its all relative to how you consider things as essential or necessary, in the uk i know several people who claim to be struggling on the equivalent of about £30K for a family of 4, we (family of 4) have an income of about £26K and would say we are comfortable, not loads of spare cash to splash etc but the kids don't go without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 If you own your own home then that is good money. Otherwise the major determining factor is likely to be how much your rent or mortgage payment is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 If you own your own home then that is good money. Otherwise the major determining factor is likely to be how much your rent or mortgage payment is. Entirely that And it's therefore completely location dependent Sydney is not more expensive than other places in Aus for essentials of life like groceries, utilities and transport. But the housing is very expensive. It's very easy to drop $4-$5K a month on housing costs in this city and that's $60K a year after tax. Which leaves precious little from $100K gross, and certainly not enough to live on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booma Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Entirely that And it's therefore completely location dependent Sydney is not more expensive than other places in Aus for essentials of life like groceries, utilities and transport. But the housing is very expensive. It's very easy to drop $4-$5K a month on housing costs in this city and that's $60K a year after tax. Which leaves precious little from $100K gross, and certainly not enough to live on it depend what you think of as sydney as well. my hubbys nephew is in penrith area & manages on just over $65ish before tax with a young family. they are ozzies so get family payments of the govt as well but even so they bought a fab house in a nice area. they manage well but dont live extravagant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 (edited) it depend what you think of as sydney as well. my hubbys nephew is in penrith area & manages on just over $65ish before tax with a young family. they are ozzies so get family payments of the govt as well but even so they bought a fab house in a nice area. they manage well but dont live extravagant. I think my point is that people need to look at their monthly housing outlay Obviously if you have 80% equity your mortgage outlay is going to be well reduced. As you say, many people do live in Sydney on less than $100K but it's much more possible if one has a house that is paid for or virtually paid for. As a new migrant paying rent it's much harder, as a new migrant buying a house with a "normal" deposit, say 20%, again it's going to be hard For comparison, I just looked up houses for rent in the worst part of Sydney where no one would want to live - Macquarie Fields. 3 bedders are about $380-$400 a week, 4 bedders $400-$450 a week. So that would be $20-$25K a year after tax for somewhere not very pleasant. Take a sliding scale anywhere from that to what you could easily pay if you wanted to be in a nicer area, closer to the city, closer to the coast, whatever and you could say that rent in Sydney is going to cost from $20K to (say) $60K a year, net, for a family It's just like London - people live there on small salaries too, but not in 1m GBP houses they don't, unless they bought them aeons ago Edited March 9, 2016 by northshorepom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROCKYROCKS Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 100K equates to a take home pay of $6084 per month, If you assume a weekly rent or mortgage payment of circa $500 per week, then that level income is doable. What I would say is, you won't live like a king or anything of the sort but you will do more than OK. $500 a week rent will preclude you from living in the most desirable areas of any Aussie city but it gets you some very nice rental property further out in the burbs. Our income in 2009 was circa 90-100K, that was with 2 then laterally 3 kids, we lived fine and didn't feel cash strapped. We did have to be careful though. I'm happy to share that when we doubled our income and our outgoings went up slightly we still saved circa $50K per year, but like some posters have mentioned above I did have many colleagues that struggled to survive on $200k. We felt we were living the dream and went on 3 holidays a year. Two of which were Bali & Thailand, with one at home in Oz. Some people on expat forums insist you need 180K minimum to live as a family of four, it's simply not true. My view is 100k is doable however 120k is probably the sweet spot, this is accounting for having the average rent or mortgage payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard01 Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 100K equates to a take home pay of $6084 per month, If you assume a weekly rent or mortgage payment of circa $500 per week, then that level income is doable. What I would say is, you won't live like a king or anything of the sort but you will do more than OK. $500 a week rent will preclude you from living in the most desirable areas of any Aussie city but it gets you some very nice rental property further out in the burbs. Our income in 2009 was circa 90-100K, that was with 2 then laterally 3 kids, we lived fine and didn't feel cash strapped. We did have to be careful though. I'm happy to share that when we doubled our income and our outgoings went up slightly we still saved circa $50K per year, but like some posters have mentioned above I did have many colleagues that struggled to survive on $200k. We felt we were living the dream and went on 3 holidays a year. Two of which were Bali & Thailand, with one at home in Oz. Some people on expat forums insist you need 180K minimum to live as a family of four, it's simply not true. My view is 100k is doable however 120k is probably the sweet spot, this is accounting for having the average rent or mortgage payment. This has to be one of the best replies I have ever read, thank you rockyrocks, and your personal info very much appreciated, I believe it will help others too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 (edited) I agree with the prior posters about housing. Its always going to be your biggest cost unless you have not mortgage at all. Our spreadsheet shows we spend $33,000 per year on after tax funds servicing a $300,000 mortgage. Double that for a $600,000 mortgage and you can pretty much double your repayments. And what does $600,000 buy you within 50 km of Melbourne/Sydney CBD these days??? Take out car costs, rates, utilities, insurance, food, schooling and you are looking at a small amount left over to have fun. But most people manage to live on what they have. Its comes down to 'you make do' Edited March 11, 2016 by dmjg Sp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Kerr Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 It is the same as anywhere in the world. With the building trade in the uk , I'm having one of my best years EVER. this means we are spending more. I get home and the wife's treated us and the boys. LIVE TO YOUR MEANS. Earn more spend more. If you have to be careful to succeed then at least your winning. people leave from war torn countries with nothing. They just have to give it there all,sometimes becoming bigger and better the those in comfortable positions....... bloody hell I better stop panicking and get my arse out there. I've been worrying about the exact question ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 100K equates to a take home pay of $6084 per month, If you assume a weekly rent or mortgage payment of circa $500 per week, then that level income is doable. What I would say is, you won't live like a king or anything of the sort but you will do more than OK. $500 a week rent will preclude you from living in the most desirable areas of any Aussie city but it gets you some very nice rental property further out in the burbs. Our income in 2009 was circa 90-100K, that was with 2 then laterally 3 kids, we lived fine and didn't feel cash strapped. We did have to be careful though. I'm happy to share that when we doubled our income and our outgoings went up slightly we still saved circa $50K per year, but like some posters have mentioned above I did have many colleagues that struggled to survive on $200k. We felt we were living the dream and went on 3 holidays a year. Two of which were Bali & Thailand, with one at home in Oz. Some people on expat forums insist you need 180K minimum to live as a family of four, it's simply not true. My view is 100k is doable however 120k is probably the sweet spot, this is accounting for having the average rent or mortgage payment. Not entirely true. $500 a week rent will get you a nice(ish) property in pretty much any area of Adelaide, although you would struggle to purchase a property in those areas for the same kind of outlay. The rest of the post I agree with 100%. Having survived on $54k with rental payments of $420 a week, managed on $85k with the same rental payments and lived well on $135k paying just over $600 a week on the mortgage I would agree $100k would be doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movingback Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Not entirely true. $500 a week rent will get you a nice(ish) property in pretty much any area of Adelaide, although you would struggle to purchase a property in those areas for the same kind of outlay. The rest of the post I agree with 100%. Having survived on $54k with rental payments of $420 a week, managed on $85k with the same rental payments and lived well on $135k paying just over $600 a week on the mortgage I would agree $100k would be doable. Agreed on the above for Adelaide, but not for Sydney. I make about $80,000 in Sydney, and as a singleton in a shared house with an average social life, I do ok. But buying a house or unit - no chance. If I was on 100,000 I don't think it would be much different in Sydney. You could maybe swing a 1bedroom apartment in Campbelltown on that income (to buy) but then whats the point in living in Sydney? I honestly think, to buy a unit in Sydney, in an area you'd want to live and without any other backing, you need at least an income of $140,000. Its a big part of why I'm leaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROCKYROCKS Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 We are moving back circa June 2016, I'm about to review my old 2014 bank statements and build a rough budget. We are now a family of six as opposed to the mere five we were when we left, once I pull the figures together I'll be happy to share them. I agree with some of the comments above, people are fleeing hellish situations worldwide and most build new lives in the Western world. Pulling a budget together will give a general indication of fixed costs etc. but there are the incidentals that catch you out. Cups of coffee, extra takeaways and bread/milk runs! Also I stand corrected on Adelaide housing costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrom81 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Agreed on the above for Adelaide, but not for Sydney. I make about $80,000 in Sydney, and as a singleton in a shared house with an average social life, I do ok. But buying a house or unit - no chance. If I was on 100,000 I don't think it would be much different in Sydney. You could maybe swing a 1bedroom apartment in Campbelltown on that income (to buy) but then whats the point in living in Sydney? I honestly think, to buy a unit in Sydney, in an area you'd want to live and without any other backing, you need at least an income of $140,000. Its a big part of why I'm leaving. yeah agreed. I'm on a similar wage ($120k) and do not have a car, share a flat (eastern subs/bondi) etc to ensure I have enough spare cash to enjoy the city and what it has to offer, restaurants, shows, gym, nights out etc. basically prioritising. I have no intention of buying here or indeed staying much longer as the cost of living is a rip off now. I'm off home up north in the UK as soon as my citizienship ceremony is boxed off, til then ill crack on and enjoy Sydney. not Campbelltown though, i'd rather live in a swamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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