Hi, could anyone tell me is $1000 a week wages before tax doable. We are a family of four. We have done a lot of research and with house prices being so high and rents due to increase we are now wondering can we afford it. Thanks for any advice from Laine.

My OH earns $1056 per week before tax and we manage. Also if you're on a PR visa you will be able to get family tax benefit and rent assistance.

It does depend on lots of things though like, where you live, if you can budget well, what you expect/want out of your move etc. Only you'll know the answer to that one

Can you afford it WHERE? Perth, probably not. Tasmania, probably. It depends totally on what your lifestyle is like. Do you like to go to pubs every night? Do you drink tons of beer at home? Do you smoke? How far will you drive to work?
A little more information for us might be helpful.

Biggest factor would be your rent/mortgage outlay mate.
A 300k mortgage is going to be approx 2k a month repayments.
3 bed house rental is about half that (but rents climbing fast all the time here)
This is based on what I know from living here in Melbourne.

$4K wages a month before tax is going to give you approx $3,200 after tax.
http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downlo...07-05-2007.pdf

So add your estimated household budget to your rental or mortgage accomodation costs and do the math there for a good starting point.

Cheers

B

For a family of four I would say you will struggle, and have a shite lifestyle.

Unless YOU DONT

DRIVE
SMOKE
DRINK
EAT OUT
CINEMAS
SEND YOUR KIDS TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL

another income helps

I do all of the above, except private schools

on a $1000 a week, you must cutting it fine

here is my budget say when living in brisbane

3 bed unit $350 p/w
food $150 p/w
electric $20
tels $40 inc 2 mobiles PYG
Gas $5
rego $25 2 cars
ins $15
fuel $100
School $25 x 52 (over a year)
2 cartons of piss $60
4 wines $30
pub money & meal $100
Add car costs $15
add in budget $100 for weekend out and about, fishing money

my total is around $1060

sure I have forget something

I love that, made me laugh

Hi,
Thanks for the replys I forgot to say we are going to perth. No one smokes one of us drinks a bit but not out everynight just wine in the evening. Drive to work will be quite far probably about 45 min drive.Company have said maybe $22 a day for travel. Our lifestyle here is basically the same but wages here much higher. Our morgage here is quite low and we are far from rich but get by comfortably. Do you think we would struggle there then. I know money is not the be all and end all but you do need it to live on and we :curse:are suppoused to be going there for this better life. But will it be that much better if we are struggling to make ends meet.

hi, is this figure based on just one of you working?

I used to take home about $600 a week, rent a four bed house for $270 a week, buy all the food pay all the bills run a car and still be able to party, go to the cinema, eat out now and again (in fact we lived on junk food alot).

I was the only earner but we had more money in our pockets than here in England earning almost twice that.

Its all about what you want and how you live, remember its all about quality of life not quantity.

your super/pension/investments?

I think driving 45 minutes each way to work you can budget about $200 monthly in petrol if you drive a small car. Don't forget to add in parking if you work in the city. Food is expensive here and we spend about $240 weekly on groceries for 2 adults and a 13 year old girl and 11 year old boy. Rent for a 3 bedroom house will be probably about $350 weekly and then you have the extras like Foxtel and internet. Don't forget to add in your private medical insurance, which is about 100 per month. If you are making over $50k annually you will need private or you will pay a 1% surcharge at the end of the tax year. At the very least you will need ambulance cover but if you have children then basic private plus some extras is a good idea.

In all honesty, I think you will struggle on $1000 per week for a family in Perth. In Adelaide, you could get by ok, but here it would be tight. If your partner is able to work part time, it will certainly make things easier for you. At the moment I'm working 3 days per week and it really takes the pressure off.

50k is for single 100k for family before you pay the surcharge

Oh, I must have read it wrong. I was looking at the Medibank brochure this morning. Mind you, it was before the coffee kicked in.