Cost of living

[partnership]

Not sure if this is the right forum. If we wanted to live in brisbane whilst waiting on parental visa how much would we need to live on. Rent one or two bed in suburb two people not totally breadline but not too extravagent. I know we can only do the 12 months in 18.

[VERYSTORMY]

Hard one as everyone's expectations are different.

 

Personally, I think and "ok" lifestyle, in a decent but not spectacular area would be about $100k a year.

[partnership]

Hard one as everyone's expectations are different.

 

Personally, I think and "ok" lifestyle, in a decent but not spectacular area would be about $100k a year.

 

Jeez

I hope you are talking about going out every week on that figure! How does any one manage to be in oz while waiting on a parental visa if that's the case.

[VERYSTORMY]

No. Not at all - we are the to bed by 9pm type. there are good reasons why people generally don't stay in Oz waiting for a visa.

 

To maybe put it in perspective, our lifestyle is about the same now living in a small country village south of Glasgow earning £30k a year as when I earned $120k a year.

[Gbye grey sky]

Jeez

I hope you are talking about going out every week on that figure! How does any one manage to be in oz while waiting on a parental visa if that's the case.

 

VS is not typical. Firstly he was living in Perth, rather than Brisbane, which may be much more expensive.

 

As a family of 3 running 2 cars we budget $6000pm in total. We have no mortgage or rent as we own outright but our daughter's private school fees and associated costs would be the equivalent of $500 a week which I estimate would be your rental costs on an apartment. We live very well on that.

 

For two of you with a car I would personally budget at between $4000 and $6000 a month depending on the lifestyle you want. There are a lot of free options here but also plenty of opportunities to spend money of course.

[TiaCapan]

I was managing on $60k pa before tax, paying $360 pw rent, running a car and paying approx 10,000 per year for study.

I never starved and was able to go on outings etc.

[VERYSTORMY]

VS is not typical. Firstly he was living in Perth, rather than Brisbane, which may be much more expensive.

 

As a family of 3 running 2 cars we budget $6000pm in total. We have no mortgage or rent as we own outright but our daughter's private school fees and associated costs would be the equivalent of $500 a week which I estimate would be your rental costs on an apartment. We live very well on that.

 

For two of you with a car I would personally budget at between $4000 and $6000 a month depending on the lifestyle you want. There are a lot of free options here but also plenty of opportunities to spend money of course.

 

But, add on an average rent of 500 a month, which is a Brisbane reasonable, which is $26000 a year and I am not far off.

 

So yes, it might be a bit lower, or a bit higher, but I think it is a reasonable mid estimate. To put it another way, back in 2008 I was warned by pretty much every one we could not survive in Sydney on 75k. They were right. I didn't listen and it cost a mass of savings to keep us alive.

[NickyNook]

ASIC reckons that a retired couple currently needs $663 a week for a 'modest' lifestyle and $1143 a week for a 'comfortable' one.

Those figures assume no housing costs so rent needs to be added.

 

My husband and I are retired, we have no housing costs and our weekly spend is somewhere between the two figures above. We live in Sydney, stint on nothing and would regard ourselves as very comfortable.

[Gbye grey sky]

But, add on an average rent of 500 a month, which is a Brisbane reasonable, which is $26000 a year and I am not far off.

 

So yes, it might be a bit lower, or a bit higher, but I think it is a reasonable mid estimate. To put it another way, back in 2008 I was warned by pretty much every one we could not survive in Sydney on 75k. They were right. I didn't listen and it cost a mass of savings to keep us alive.

 

No, you are way off, sorry. My $4000 to $6000pm includes rent of $500 a week. I tried to be reasonable to you in the face of your totally ridiculous answer to the OPs question. To say that £30,000 in the UK is equivalent to $100,000 in Brisbane is ludicrous.

 

I know people here who spend upwards of $100 a week just on coffee, plus drinking alcohol out is pricy here (rightly so in my view). But if you make your own coffee and use bottle shops rather than pubs then you spend nowhere near $100,000 a year. The vast majority of Brisbanites do not take home anywhere close to $100,000 a year and many of these have families.

[srh82]

So I would say $3000 in rent and $3000 living costs per month is reasonable for Brisbane. And I live here. No kids, 2 cats...run one car. Fairly quiet existence.

[partnership]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Have looked online at the area I want to live and could get somewhere nice for 350 pw or if I went basic about 250. Speaking to my son I figure if we said 4000 pm then should be ok so this is in line with gbye grey skys estimates. To be honest it is all conjecture but am trying to look at all my options. Waiting on the proposed new visas in July to see

[Skani]

The reference to ASIC by NickyNook above comes from this:

 

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/superannuation-and-retirement/how-super-works/super-contributions/how-much-is-enough

 

I certainly find their calculations accurately represent my situation on a single (widowed) income in the modest - comfortable range ...and the same when we were a couple.

[Guest]

We are about to rent our apartment out for mid 300's in one of Brisbane's more affluent areas. Would have been about 400 a year ago but they have built so many apartments it has hit rentals. Certainly a renters market if you shop around.

 

As for other living costs it's very subjective. I know a lot of brits struggle as they still shop like they do in Tesco's. Seasonal pricing wildly fluctuates and ready meals are very expensive. I've always been better off here and paying off mortgage at record pace despite eating out and holidaying a lot

[Peachy]

Hard one as everyone's expectations are different.

 

Personally, I think and "ok" lifestyle, in a decent but not spectacular area would be about $100k a year.

 

Completely disagree with this!! We rented a large 4 bedroom house in a nice area for $480 a week in Brisbane. With a rental you don't pay the council rates and pay reduced water. For 2 people, with no dependents, you would manage just fine on $6,000 a month. Our biggest costs are now mortgage, school fees & school clubs/sports (which a retired couple wouldn't have) and feeding 4 of us (with 2 boys who empty the fridge!). Travel costs not very expensive. You may have higher electricity fees if you are home more of the day and have the aircon on.

 

Many families of 4+ live comfortably on far less than $100k a year.

 

I am also not sure about the comparison of £30,000 to $120,000 a year. Whilst I don't want to go into my salary, I was a very high earner in the UK. I have taken a 50% reduction in earnings by moving out of the private sector into government. My lifestyle is the same over here (probably better - more meals out, much cheaper travel, kids in private school). Perhaps Perth is rather more expensive but the OP is asking about Brisbane.

[Petals]

I am a a widow not on a pension and I run two cars, have a large property and two large dogs and four cats and I do what I like and I guess I spend around the average for comfortable which Skani put up. Petrol is cheaper here, you can spend a lot on food by going to the local supermarket or shop around at farmers markets etc. Brisbane particularly has lots of cheap fruit and veg places where you can stop and buy. Being a warmer climate more options for eating out cheaply as well. Once people turn 60 they are entitled to a seniors card and this gives reductions in lots of shops etc, pictures and other places. We all have cut our coat according to the cloth.

[srh82]

VS I don't know how you can say you are comfortable in the UK on £30k/year. You must be living mortgage free.

 

£30k definitely not equivalent to $100k LOL.

 

Yes rental market for apartments isn't great at present.

[Collie]

Accomodation is your biggest expense and will vary depending on what/where you live.

I think $3-$4k per month + accomodation would give you a comfortable lifestyle.  I had a very nice lifestyle on that in Sydney, not out every night but 1-2 times per week and went to plenty of gigs.events etc.  My car expenses were pretty low as I lived in inner Sydney, walking distance to a lot of social options and had good public transport on my doorstep.  Actually went 3.5 years without a car and used a car share scheme when i needed one (Go Get)

[doubter]

On 11 March 2017 at 8:08 AM, srh82 said:

VS I don't know how you can say you are comfortable in the UK on £30k/year. You must be living mortgage free.

 

£30k definitely not equivalent to $100k LOL.

 

Yes rental market for apartments isn't great at present.

£30k in UK depends where you live people do and are managing on that. Where I live housing is cheap not London rates 

[doubter]

I managed with about $4500 every 4wks living on the Gold Coast and my rent was $1640 every 4wks. No water or council rates to pay included in rent. I also salary sacrificed with employer so had money back on rent and electricity bill (never understood  that but always had all my electricity bill money back once paid from good accountant ?)  2 kids in state schools so no private fees and 1 car. Once you realise you need to shop around  you bring your grocerie bill down. We used to go to one of those big freezer outlets where you have to put a coat on to go in to buy all sorts of meat cut to size. Much cheaper and more for your money than Coles and Woolworths. Aldis was also cheaper for some items and finding a good market for fresh produce might save you money. We were also entitled to family and rent assistance as permanent residents back in 2010, bit like tax credits in the UK. Can't remember exact amount but probably made our income up to about $5000 every 4wks. I seemed to have far more disposable money in Australia then than I did in the UK but I didn't have medical insurance relied on Medicare.