The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Feb 24th 2007, 10:09 am
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 617
The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Hello all.....
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Feb 24th 2007, 10:14 am
#2
Melbourne Australia
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,169
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Hello all.....
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Welcome in advance to Melbourne
Feb 24th 2007, 10:24 am
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
I'm not going to post my outgoings because I live in a different state, and I'm just buying a house so thing will change in the next few months, BUT my hubby is on $56k + overtime (around $66k total per year) and we manage just fine and still save $500 to $1000 a month.
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
Feb 24th 2007, 10:33 am
#4
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,158
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Forget the gym. Buy a pair of trainers, go outside for a walk every evening or take up running, or buy a bike. Save yourself $1200 a year.
Feb 24th 2007, 10:40 am
#5
Look at moi!!!
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Magnolia, TX
Posts: 2,762
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Nice to hear that Wendy as my hubby starts his job on Monday on about the same money as your hubby. Hopefully we'll manage as well as you do.
Lou
xx
Lou
xx
I'm not going to post my outgoings because I live in a different state, and I'm just buying a house so thing will change in the next few months, BUT my hubby is on $56k + overtime (around $66k total per year) and we manage just fine and still save $500 to $1000 a month.
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
Feb 24th 2007, 11:26 am
#6
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Perth
Posts: 3,453
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
I'm happy to give you our experiences (2 young kids plus wife) because this is something that I worried about a lot.
We arrived in mid 2005.
1. Started on $62K - wife nothing. Rent $400. Things were tight for us but a reasonably large outgoing was eating out (cheap but we have a tendency to over-indulge).
2. Within three months salary went down to $38K ( a long story but basically I could only get part-time work at the place where I was at - and it was a place where I wanted to stay). This was extremely difficult - same outgoings. We shared a cup of coffee at a local coffee once a week as our day out!
3. Jan 06 salary up to $74K. Rent $350. Things a lot easier - a noticeable difference even from $62K to $74K - must be a bit of a threshold for us.
4. Jan 07 salary up to $84K plus wife adding about $15K. Things good. Private health. Eating out regularly. Kids sports. Rent $370. Good foreign holiday in a 5 star hotel once per year (although paid for by tax refund)
Hope that helps - feel free to post questions. From my experience (and we are in Perth where I think the cost of living is probably higher than melbourne) you will be more than fine on $80K. I should say that we will be sending our kids to private education eventually in about 3 years. Could not afford to do that now and can only budget to do it ina few years because we have a second source of income which is not included on any of the above calculations (because we've just invested the profits and haven't received any income as yet). But if you want private ed at top schools you may struggle on $80K
Our story is to a certain extent a bit like the Australianised American dream for us with our earnings mutliplying since those poverty stricken $38K days!
(Still don't have a house here though!)
We arrived in mid 2005.
1. Started on $62K - wife nothing. Rent $400. Things were tight for us but a reasonably large outgoing was eating out (cheap but we have a tendency to over-indulge).
2. Within three months salary went down to $38K ( a long story but basically I could only get part-time work at the place where I was at - and it was a place where I wanted to stay). This was extremely difficult - same outgoings. We shared a cup of coffee at a local coffee once a week as our day out!
3. Jan 06 salary up to $74K. Rent $350. Things a lot easier - a noticeable difference even from $62K to $74K - must be a bit of a threshold for us.
4. Jan 07 salary up to $84K plus wife adding about $15K. Things good. Private health. Eating out regularly. Kids sports. Rent $370. Good foreign holiday in a 5 star hotel once per year (although paid for by tax refund)
Hope that helps - feel free to post questions. From my experience (and we are in Perth where I think the cost of living is probably higher than melbourne) you will be more than fine on $80K. I should say that we will be sending our kids to private education eventually in about 3 years. Could not afford to do that now and can only budget to do it ina few years because we have a second source of income which is not included on any of the above calculations (because we've just invested the profits and haven't received any income as yet). But if you want private ed at top schools you may struggle on $80K
Our story is to a certain extent a bit like the Australianised American dream for us with our earnings mutliplying since those poverty stricken $38K days!
(Still don't have a house here though!)
Feb 24th 2007, 2:19 pm
#7
Proudly Deplorable
Joined: May 2003
Location: Alloha snack bar
Posts: 24,246
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Hello all.....
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
After a fantastic holiday / reccy trip to Melbourne in January, we have decided to make the big move. We are hoping to leave the UK at the end of August and spend a few weeks travelling through some of America, visiting friends, before landing in Melbourne sometime in October.
We have been correlating all the information we gathered whilst out there, and adding more to it from the forums.
I came across and old thread on here about needing a minimum of $80,000 for a family of four.
It was a huge thread, I printed the lot off - a few hundred pages. I got half way through it before I realised that it was two years old and hadn't had a new post since January 2005!
Anyway, the jist of it was that even on that sort of income, things would be tight.
I have been offered a job in Melbourne on a salary of $80k per year, ( with super on top ). According to the ATO calculator, that should net us about $58,800 per year - $4900 per month.
I wondered if anyone from the original $80k thread eventually moved out and can give updated comments on how they are finding costs of living, compared to what they though before they went?
We have come up with a rough budget based on what we saw whilst out there, and information sent from people living in Melbourne. We have budgeted quite high for rent so we can hopefully get something really nice, ( $450 a week ). I would be interested in anyone's comments on what we have listed.
Our budget does not include for saving up for holidays or trips back to the UK or start up costs. We are lucky enough to have been able to save some money up as a contingency fund. What we are interested in is the actual monthly cost of simply living in Australia, and as I say, we'd be very interested in reading any posts from people from the original thread that actually moved out there since that thread was around.
There is only the two of us, no kids or pets.
Cheers.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Feb 24th 2007, 3:45 pm
#9
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 617
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
I'm not going to post my outgoings because I live in a different state, and I'm just buying a house so thing will change in the next few months, BUT my hubby is on $56k + overtime (around $66k total per year) and we manage just fine and still save $500 to $1000 a month.
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
As with anything, it depends what you expect, and also how well you can budget. If you are a big spender, then earning $5000 a week might not be enough, if you are quite thrifty then $1000 a month would be enough (well that's probably under exaggerating, but you get the drift)
Thanks, we are pretty thrifty - but we were somewhat surprised just how expensive general shopping etc worked out when we were over on our reccy.
We know we'll have to be careful, but we don't want to move to Melbourne and not be able to have enough monthly money to enjoy the place a little.
The budget we worked out was pretty 'budget' to start with - not much room in there for luxuries.
The main reason for the post was to hear people like yourselves say that you can manage on that, or less. I didnt really want it to turn into another 'how much do we need type thread, I was very interested in hearing comments from some of the posters from the original thread of two years ago that actually ended up going.
We are a little worried that we'll be too skint to do anything after our research when we were out there - but then it's reassuring a little when folk like yourself can quote lower figure and say you manage fine. I know it's a different state, but it's still good to hear - thanks.
Feb 24th 2007, 3:48 pm
#10
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 617
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Great points - I love running & cycling and we will be taking our bikes and trainers with us. The gym membership will be low on the list of priorities initially, but I do like to push a few weights around - so it will become an essential expense eventually. I like to think of it in terms of it's still cheaper going to the gym a few nights a week that going to the pub! ( not to mention better for your mid-riff )
Feb 24th 2007, 3:50 pm
#11
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 617
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
I'm happy to give you our experiences (2 young kids plus wife) because this is something that I worried about a lot.
We arrived in mid 2005.
1. Started on $62K - wife nothing. Rent $400. Things were tight for us but a reasonably large outgoing was eating out (cheap but we have a tendency to over-indulge).
2. Within three months salary went down to $38K ( a long story but basically I could only get part-time work at the place where I was at - and it was a place where I wanted to stay). This was extremely difficult - same outgoings. We shared a cup of coffee at a local coffee once a week as our day out!
3. Jan 06 salary up to $74K. Rent $350. Things a lot easier - a noticeable difference even from $62K to $74K - must be a bit of a threshold for us.
4. Jan 07 salary up to $84K plus wife adding about $15K. Things good. Private health. Eating out regularly. Kids sports. Rent $370. Good foreign holiday in a 5 star hotel once per year (although paid for by tax refund)
Hope that helps - feel free to post questions. From my experience (and we are in Perth where I think the cost of living is probably higher than melbourne) you will be more than fine on $80K. I should say that we will be sending our kids to private education eventually in about 3 years. Could not afford to do that now and can only budget to do it ina few years because we have a second source of income which is not included on any of the above calculations (because we've just invested the profits and haven't received any income as yet). But if you want private ed at top schools you may struggle on $80K
Our story is to a certain extent a bit like the Australianised American dream for us with our earnings mutliplying since those poverty stricken $38K days!
(Still don't have a house here though!)
We arrived in mid 2005.
1. Started on $62K - wife nothing. Rent $400. Things were tight for us but a reasonably large outgoing was eating out (cheap but we have a tendency to over-indulge).
2. Within three months salary went down to $38K ( a long story but basically I could only get part-time work at the place where I was at - and it was a place where I wanted to stay). This was extremely difficult - same outgoings. We shared a cup of coffee at a local coffee once a week as our day out!
3. Jan 06 salary up to $74K. Rent $350. Things a lot easier - a noticeable difference even from $62K to $74K - must be a bit of a threshold for us.
4. Jan 07 salary up to $84K plus wife adding about $15K. Things good. Private health. Eating out regularly. Kids sports. Rent $370. Good foreign holiday in a 5 star hotel once per year (although paid for by tax refund)
Hope that helps - feel free to post questions. From my experience (and we are in Perth where I think the cost of living is probably higher than melbourne) you will be more than fine on $80K. I should say that we will be sending our kids to private education eventually in about 3 years. Could not afford to do that now and can only budget to do it ina few years because we have a second source of income which is not included on any of the above calculations (because we've just invested the profits and haven't received any income as yet). But if you want private ed at top schools you may struggle on $80K
Our story is to a certain extent a bit like the Australianised American dream for us with our earnings mutliplying since those poverty stricken $38K days!
(Still don't have a house here though!)
Cheers.
Feb 24th 2007, 4:05 pm
#13
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Kingston, Tas
Posts: 2,264
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Great points - I love running & cycling and we will be taking our bikes and trainers with us. The gym membership will be low on the list of priorities initially, but I do like to push a few weights around - so it will become an essential expense eventually. I like to think of it in terms of it's still cheaper going to the gym a few nights a week that going to the pub! ( not to mention better for your mid-riff )
Feb 24th 2007, 6:56 pm
#14
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2004
Location: Umina, NSW
Posts: 2,453
Re: The old "$80000 a year needed" thread, resurrected.
Hello all.....
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Estimated monthly budget:-
Rent 1950
Water 20
Gas 20
Electric 70
Insurance 60
Broadband 60
Phone 50
Mobiles 50
Food & Entertainment 1950
Life Insurance 70
Health Insurance 120
Gym for two 100
Petrol 280
Rego 45
Car Insurance 80
TOTAL 4925 per month.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Think you have under budgeted on your phone bill. But apart from that I woud say fine. I would like to have your leisure budget though
Jo
