scrubbedexpat100

Additional to above Outgoing:

Phone
Internet
Petrol
Train/bus
Parking
Health insurance
Car insurance

greg123

I earn $54000 and the wife around $12000.We have children and a mortgage but manage quite comfortably....

Amazulu

Rubbish

Sacrifices would have to be made but a liveable lifestyle could definitely be maintained. Someone on that salary would also qualify for a load of mumbo jumbo welfare and tax breaks and would effectively pay little income tax given our seriously imbalanced tax system

How do low and middle income earners manage in your country given that Australia has an overall higher standard of living than the US?

Beoz

Backpack it. Share a room with 2 others and a small house with 10 others. Lots of fun.

rabble_rouser

Yes those are harder to gauge but here's what I spend per week:
Phone - $10
Internet - $20
Petrol - $50
Train/bus - $35
Parking - $0
Health insurance - $0 (doesn't seem worth paying)
Car insurance - $0 (my car is cheap and I am unlikely to total another car)

Total: $115

This is Brisbane not Sydney, its much cheaper.

Beoz

I think you will find that the following are the roughly the same price in both cities.

Phone
Internet
Petrol
Train/bus
Parking
Health insurance
Car insurance

Personally I do not spend $50 on petrol then another $35 on public transport. Not sure what's going on there in Brisbane to give you that type of grief.

Housing is more expensive in Sydney and is probably the only thing and well and truly supplemented by the higher average salaries.

Sorry just had to clear that up before a reader gets the bum steer.

rabble_rouser

I like to get out on the weekends, boating or 4WD that's where the $50 comes from.

From my experience insurance is higher in Sydney. As are groceries.

Also I'm not convinced wages are higher in Sydney either. My wage here is pretty much exactly what I could expect in Sydney.

Obviously there will be quite a lot of millionaires in Sydney that Brisbane doesn't have. I suspect this a factor which 'wobbles' the wage averages to the right - painting a picture that isn't representative for the majority.

bcworld

Nice. I bet everyone thinks that though. Like the (insured) guy that ran a red light and wrote off my OH's car last month. What happens in that scenario when the at fault driver is uninsured? Does your insurance company pursue them to recover costs?

thistlehollyberry

I think the decision will eventually be made based on the adventure potential rather than the salary - the joys of youth. Thanks everyone for the helpful information.

rabble_rouser

True - bad things can happen and its about your attitude towards risk. For me it seems the risk is acceptable. I can well imagine me clipping someone else or rear ending someone, and it probably will happen one day. In that case I will pay if I am at fault. This cost would not exceed the excess on any insurance policy anyway.

I will probably average one incident every 18 years. To date I have had about 2 close misses, and 4-5 parking errors in 17 years of driving so I am probably due a small accident, most likely a parking error.

The edge case where I total someone and need to pay $10K+ would be just rotten luck. Or I might get a snake bite.

I may well change my philosophy towards risk and get less risky with age and decide to take out insurance. We'll see.

bcworld

I'm not sure how you work that out. If you don't have any insurance the amount of any excess is not relevant to you - that's a matter between the insured and their insurer. That insurer it seems is going to seek to reclaim the full cost of the claim from you, not just the excess on the policy!

Geezer123

More expensive being single, if you include the going out costs. A night out usually costs between 150-300 bucks

DC10

Non-compulsory motor property damage insurance is not ideal but on the whole the system of govt-regulated personal injury ("no fault" in some states) cover here is a million times better than the UK. The UK system is all about everyone having to buy commercial insurance (govt forces you into a private contract - hmm) with all sorts of terms, conditions, driver exclusions and huge premiums that encourage the young to go uninsured - then you basically have to go to an ambulance-chaser firm and wait years if you want any sort of personal injury compensation. Terrible way of doing things

thistlehollyberry

That's discretionary spending.

Beoz

Our HR recently did a study on salaries in different locations around the world and whether they were appropriate for the cost of living in that location.

I know for what I do, my salary was bang on the money in what they deemed global comparisons v Sydney (I have no idea what that means with fluctuating exchange rates and all). I also know that the guys living in Brisbane are paid quite a lot less. In addition we had a couple of guys move to Sydney recently as Brisbane is going down the toilet and have been given substantial pay rises to do so.

Even if its the millionaires dragging up the salary, its a benefit to Mr Average living and working in Sydney and the expensive myth that is so prevalent on here is just that - a myth.