tanglewood Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Hi, need a bit of help understanding if my salary will give us a good standard of living. I am in the final stages of being offered a job in Perth. We haven't left the UK yet everything has been done from here as for me moving without work with Perths current economic uncertainty was too risky. I know there are lots of posts on the cost of living but wanted to get an idea based on my circumstances. We have 2 kids aged 2 and 4. The salary is $130,000 and doing some research I think we will probably be paying up to $550 a week in rent with weekly food bill around $300. My wife won't be working for a year or two so child care costs etc will come from the one wage. She has an australian passport and so do the kids so I'm expecting to pay around $300 per week after rebate for them both. I will commute into the city by train so that will probably be around $50 to $100 per week. All other bills like gas, elec, internet, water, fuel, healthcare etc I think will come to approx $800 per month. In total I think we will spend about $5,500 per month on living costs. Just wondered if this sounds about right for a family of 4 or are there some hidden costs I'm not taking into account. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 What visa will you be on as that makes some difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolac34 Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Just to clarify - if your wife isn't working why would you have any childcare costs? Childcare is about $95 per day per child before the rebate - and you are entitled to $7,500 per child per year to cover childcare costs. Your commute into the City - depends where you will be renting, a return from Cockburn for example is $7.64 per day, 5 days a week is $38.20. You can have a look on the transperth website for the different zoning and stations to see what your costs would be, but $100 seems steep per week. Gas we pay $50 a month, Elec $100 a month, water $100 a month (but you wouldn't have water rates if renting, only usage which is only about $20 a month). Internet is pricey, expect to pay around $80-$100 per month for this depending on your plan. Fuel - depends where you are driving, we spend about $70 a weekish on fuel, but we commute by car into the City every day. Healthcare is another one depending on your policy, we pay nearly $300 a month for this a couple, but have quite high coverage, it can be done a lot cheaper. Food, probably right, we spend nearly $200 a week and there is only two of us, but we chuck whatever we like in the trolly, so could be cheaper if we tried harder. Other things that spring to mind: Cars? Will you buy outright? You'll need insurance and rego costs Foxtel? Not necessary, but free to air TV is pretty dismal Home contents insurance? Quite expensive out here $130k is a decent salary - is that plus super? Certainly enough to get you started on anyway, but don't be surprised with how quick it gets eaten up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanglewood Posted May 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Thanks for your replies. I am a permanent resident under the spouse visa. Both kids are citizens by descent so they have australian passports. I probably put it wrong in regards to childcare, they both attend pre school here so it would be for them to continue that learning in the same environment so it would be whatever the equivalent in Australia is for the learning levels of a two n half and four year old. We will also buy a car outright as a family car and I will cycle to the train station to commute. Salary is 130,000 base so excludes super. Cheers. Edited May 6, 2015 by tanglewood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkiwd Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Your 4 yr old will be at Kindy at school so will get 2 days one week and 3 days every other week for free. We both work and do fine on a household income a fair bit less than yours, we have 2 kids too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanglewood Posted May 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Thanks nikkiwd, do you mind if I ask how much you roughly spend per week on shopping with two kids? I haven't taken into account other things like clothes etc for them but from the sounds of things we should be fairly ok with the one wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOL Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Mate, don't worry. Just come over to Perth, start working, pay a close look to your expenses the first months and you will know what it will cost. You can't calculate everything, but with that salary and if you are not trying to live like a king, you will have a fine life (which is subjective of course). This isn't meant as a "stop asking questions" kind of post. It's meant as a "stop worrying" kind of post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realitynotincluded Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Is not everyones circumstances this is just straight forward deductions.... your superannuation that you see on this is what your employer will be paying you roughly.............. PLEASE do not take this as exact calculations it is very basic on $130.000 and there might be perks with the job etc.....plus u might have private medical etc... [TABLE=class: resultTable] [TR=class: head] [TH]Pay [/TH] [TH]Weekly [/TH] [TH]Fortnightly [/TH] [TH]Monthly [/TH] [TH]Annually [/TH] [/TR] [TR=class: foot] [TH]Net Income [/TH] [TD]$1,619.00 [/TD] [TD]$3,238.00 [/TD] [TD]$7,015.33 [/TD] [TD]$87,895.00 [/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: sub] [TH]Gross Income [/TH] [TD]$2,500.00 [/TD] [TD]$5,000.00 [/TD] [TD]$10,833.33 [/TD] [TD]$130,000.00 [/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: sub] [TH]Superannuation [/TH] [TD][$237.50] [/TD] [TD][$475.00] [/TD] [TD][$1,029.17] [/TD] [TD][$12,350.00] [/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: subs] [TH]Total Taxes [/TH] [TD]$881.00 [/TD] [TD]$1,762.00 [/TD] [TD]$3,818.00 [/TD] [TD]$42,105.00 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Income Tax [/TH] [TD]$881.00 [/TD] [TD]$1,762.00 [/TD] [TD]$3,818.00 [/TD] [TD]$39,505.00 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Medicare [/TH] [TD]($50.00) [/TD] [TD]($100.00) [/TD] [TD]($216.67) [/TD] [TD]($2,600.00) [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Other taxes and Levies1 [/TH] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Tax Offsets2 [/TH] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [TD]$0.00 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] 1 You have a Medicare levy of $2,600.00. In addition, if you do not have a private health fund you will be liable for an additional Medicare surcharge of $1,625.00 . The calculation on the Medicare levy assumes you are single with no dependents. 2 You are not entitled to a Low Income Tax Offset, but there may be other offsets that you may be eligible for. This calculator is an estimate. Hi, need a bit of help understanding if my salary will give us a good standard of living. I am in the final stages of being offered a job in Perth. We haven't left the UK yet everything has been done from here as for me moving without work with Perths current economic uncertainty was too risky. I know there are lots of posts on the cost of living but wanted to get an idea based on my circumstances. We have 2 kids aged 2 and 4. The salary is $130,000 and doing some research I think we will probably be paying up to $550 a week in rent with weekly food bill around $300. My wife won't be working for a year or two so child care costs etc will come from the one wage. She has an australian passport and so do the kids so I'm expecting to pay around $300 per week after rebate for them both. I will commute into the city by train so that will probably be around $50 to $100 per week. All other bills like gas, elec, internet, water, fuel, healthcare etc I think will come to approx $800 per month. In total I think we will spend about $5,500 per month on living costs. Just wondered if this sounds about right for a family of 4 or are there some hidden costs I'm not taking into account. Cheers. Edited May 7, 2015 by realitynotincluded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druid Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 The numbers on the table courtesy of Realitynotincluded are pretty spot on, and $130k is a good salary for Perth, don't take any notice of the Medicare stuff just yet as they are worked out once a year when you do a tax return, but by the time you do the tax return they are generally wiped out by the tax man owing you money, if your wife is not going to work then why do you need child care, If you are PR then schooling is free, rents are coming down and rentals are in abundance at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanglewood Posted May 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Thanks all for taking the time to add those details, it's a big help in understanding what we might be spending and what our disposable income will be. We don't live extravagantly but like many others contemplating the move want to make sure we're not financially worse off and we're able to do the things we want without constantly thinking of money. I think that's a big factor in settling and enjoying life over there. I can't calculate the emotional aspect of moving but having a good idea of what our finances are will help with the final decision to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOL Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Ah no worries. I thought you already decided and you were in the "oh my god - what have I done - will I manage - what if hell breaks loose - what if what if what if" phase of migrating:biglaugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanglewood Posted May 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 No not at that point yet .. Haven't actually been formally offered the job yet but the what ifs certainly start to build eh if the finances are right then the rest will fall into place I'm thinking. Kids are a good age now for the move and the life style is a no brainer so the big thing was to get an idea how far that sort of wage would go. We live a comfortable life here and want to do the same there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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