The true cost of living

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        El Cap on 05/05/2017 - 15:14

        I live in Brisbane, and for rent, I am paying a bit over double what you are paying. And it also for an apartment that was built long time ago, like 20-30 years.

        I have to some how rain in some expenses as I don't think I have saved any over last 6-12 months.

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  miicah on 05/05/2017 - 13:53

  Food is killing you dude, we spend around $600/month on two people, including an average amount of alcohol, two cats and a dog.

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  snivy on 05/05/2017 - 14:51

  Your travel… it's 6500 per year? Do you fly out every weekend?? I can do two holiday trips to America/Europe with that amount! Maybe, also go easy on the gadgets?

  Based on your spending I won't say you live a humble life though, it's actually very "comfortable", although it may seem average in Australian standard. I'd say 20k/year for rent + 20k/year for expenses is what you need for a happy comfortable life in Australia, that's roughly like your spending.

  But living by yourself is definitely always going to be more expensive, you can easily halve some of the cost by sharing with someone else, if you don't mind that.

  Just curious, you didn't include car rego and insurance etc, which easily adds $1000-2000 per year into your calculation?

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  kat123 on 05/05/2017 - 15:46

  +1

  number one tip:
  https://flatmates.com.au/value-my-room
  a housemate will also normally split bills including, Gas, Water, electricity, Internet. (maybe also subscriptions)
  Can also be a great personal growth experience, last time my housemates were annoying me I did some maths and realised living with others saved me over $10,000 a year plus the reduction in bills, well worth the occasional annoyance.

  Living with others is not ideal, but will force you to appreciate the luxury of living alone later in life, and allow you to make additional mortgage repayments to achieve this sooner.

  I have also found it good for personal growth,I have learnt to better establish boundaries, and set clear expectations, to negotiate and when to let things go that annoy me. These skills have crossed over well to other areas of my life, Further I am now good friends with a few ex housemates (Both of who ended up moving out to live with a partner)

  I highly recommend giving it a go.

  https://flatmates.com.au/info/how-much-can-you-save-by-swapp…
  http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/renters-co…

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  nobarginsarehere on 05/05/2017 - 20:04

  You are spending a lot of money on dine out food

  You already know this, but it's the most obvious place to reduce expenses; stop being lazy

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  Thenarrator on 05/05/2017 - 21:18

  +1

  now imagine if you lose your job. missed 1 interest payment. Would the bank possess your home?

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  btst7000 on 05/05/2017 - 22:08

  Get a budgeting program like YNAB, and you can track this data every month.

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  Tasmaniac on 05/05/2017 - 22:28

  I think you spend a bit to much on food. You gotta enjoy life though right !?.

  Also your health insurance company is paying costs, making profit and still saving enough to cover your hospital stays. You be playing the odds better by putting half your payments in a savings account.

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    idonotknowwhy on 06/05/2017 - 00:43

    I've been thinking this too. But I heard some private surgeons only operate on people with private health cover, even if they're willing to pay in full up front.
    I don't want to risk losing a testicle or something so I pay through the nose even though I'd rather just put the money in savings…

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      Tasmaniac on 06/05/2017 - 01:55

      I agree, if you invested those payments at 10% though for 20 years you'd have $42,000.

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  Ghogger on 06/05/2017 - 00:25

  +3

  I've been tracking every expense I've incurred since moving to Germany on October 1 2015. I keep it in a spreadsheet and update daily.

  The long term average is 29€ per day, I don't have a mortgage though.

  This includes rent, food, partying, uni fees, gym, gifts, internet, phone travelling (I travel a lot, including back to Australia in September, then in December, then in March).

  I've found the best and healthiest way to cut down on expenditure is COOKING. I almost never eat out - make lunch and take it with you, eat more fruit, wraps, sandwiches. Cook your own dinners. Australians have become accustomed to the restaurant eating out lifestyle which is oppulent and wasteful.

  If you want a copy of my spreadsheet you can see my expenses for the pay 1.5 years and see where you can cut down?

  Monthly expenses (averaged over 1.5 years)

  Rent = 400€
  University = 50€ (this includes free transport)
  Supermarket = 95€
  Socialising+eating out = 75€
  Clothes = 20€
  Travel (biggest expense after accomodation = 120€
  Phone/internet = 23€
  Other (presents and other purchases incl. ozbargain) = 65€
  Gym = 20€

  Total = 868€ ($1250)

  Now I don't by any means live a boring life, I go out a lot, I entertain friends at home a lot, I travel more than anyone else I know. Granted, living in Germany is cheaper, but not by this huge margin.

  Also, I don't drink coffee $$

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    movieman on 08/05/2017 - 07:32

    Yea,can you please send a copy

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      Ghogger on 08/05/2017 - 07:45

      Sure just PM me

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  idonotknowwhy on 06/05/2017 - 00:40

  Short-term hacks:

  Netflix and Stan:
  If you can do without the recommendations, cycle through credit cards with free trials and sharklasers.com email addresses.
  -> This can be improved by creating free (no fee) bank accounts with debit cards such as ING Direct, MEBank, Macquarie, etc
  -> This can be further improved by using a referral code for ING, get $100 for free lol

  You can alternate stan and netflix, one per month and go for over a year like this :)

  The $75 in unknown transactions is a bit of a worry…

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  deej on 06/05/2017 - 04:31

  You really need a new job and to earn more money.

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    Ghogger on 06/05/2017 - 06:16

    +2

    And then he will be back in a year asking how to better save his $7000 a month income. More money doesn't always equal more savings if you aren't spending wisely haha

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  grabngo on 06/05/2017 - 06:52

  +1

  it is not a matter of how much u are earning.
  It is a matter of how much u are saving by cutting down the expenses.
  For a single person,u seem to be treating yourself a bit lavishly IMHO

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  DiscoJango on 06/05/2017 - 10:08

  my minimum monthly spend (all total costs) is about $3k, and thats being kinda tight. i cant see myself doing any less, other than switching to eating migoren and crackers for every meal.

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  Black Brown Blue on 06/05/2017 - 11:10

  +1

  Few things I can suggest:

  • Internet-I pay 50 for 100gb Tpg (50peak + 50 non peak) on no contract. 1 person will rarely need unlimited. If you do need they have unlimited for 60.
  • Netflix and Stan - I don't have them but I still watch a lot of tv shows through other means. I may be getting Netflix soon.
  • Health insurance - No! No! No! Eat healthy and stay fit. Personally until you have a family or partner or a health condition. it's not worth it.
  • Food- I spend around 300 per month on groceries and make all meals at home and occasionally go out once a wk or forthright.
    Bank fees- My bank waives the $4 fee if I deposit more than 1k pm.
  • Travelling - Reduce that if you can from once a month to every 2 or 3 months.

  It's hard but it will means that you will put those saving into your loan and you will be paying less interest to the banks. One last thing is look for a gf/bf/wife/husband, it will make a lot of difference in the long run. This is the hardest one but that's life.

  Cheer up. You will be fine buddy. Once you own that house you will be proud of yourself.

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    raging on 06/05/2017 - 16:10

    I think health is essential regardless of how fit you are, you could easily hurt yourself in many other physical ways.

    If you're under 30 and Medicare levy surcharge doesn't apply, I would put the money otherwise paid towards health insurance aside. Offset account is a good idea but remember to keep track so you know if you were better off or worse off if you did have to pay out of pocket for any reason.

    If your over 31 there's a 2% loading for each year you don't have health insurance,you need to calculate this yourself. If a Medicare levy surcharge applies that's another consideration.

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  Mrgreenz on 06/05/2017 - 14:12

  No car?

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  Trying2SaveABuck on 06/05/2017 - 14:57

  Seems about right to be honest maybe you could put a put more money slowly in your offset and get a better interest rate for owner occupier

  thus reducing your loan commitments.

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  potm on 06/05/2017 - 16:02

  Car rego and insurance?
  Home insurance?
  There may be other periodic costs you need to apportion.

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  cheapskatechick on 06/05/2017 - 19:23

  Umfortunately, your salary of $64k is not going to leave you much room for a large amount of increased savings. You may be able to save $50 per week with the tips above but keep at it. What you can save, you can INVEST. Be smart and read all you can. Choose your investment wisely. Even a small amount can become a much larger sum once the element of risk is involved. Or ask for a pay rise, man. Good luck.

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  fozzie on 06/05/2017 - 20:51

  Look on the bright side, you are buying your place and still manage to save $500. That's not bad imo.

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  gimli on 06/05/2017 - 21:29

  +3

  if you don't visit this site for a month the savings are enormous!!!!!

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  DisneyPrincess on 06/05/2017 - 21:32

  It's been a few years since I left the government, but used to be able to salary sacrifice mortgage & utilities. Definitely worth looking into, that'll make a big difference.

  (http://www.remserv.com.au/mobile/what-can-i-salary-package)

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  astroe on 07/05/2017 - 23:13

  +1

  Your food budget seems like a lot considering it involves doing it yourself - if you went on YouFoodz on one of their plans (as an example), it's $208.95 a week which is $835.80 a month vs your $622.88 a month when you have to cook and do it all yourself - or $29.85 a day vs your $20.76 a day.

  Move to a bank that doesn't charge monthly fees - i.e. NAB, Macquarie Bank, ING Direct etc.

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  huntress_love on 15/10/2017 - 23:33

  Those Cal are just crazy, can't believe you make 64k and barely have savings!
  Do you have time? as the saying it's time or money. If you make high $ per hour, then spend your time doing that, otherwise spend some time saving instead.

  FOOD at $20.76 per day, you can be getting subscription lunch and dinner.
  Cooking fresh food should be much lower, or spend time getting flybuy or WW points (multiple cards, bonus email or offers) and cut your grocery bill more. They all have a return policy.

  Health only need extra cover for dental, optical and stuff(massage), mine is $50.

  Digital how much do you use, get cheaper internet. I'm on mobile data max about 30gb use. Currently about $30 for the past 6 month with Kogan ovo $1 offers. Or half price starter kit. Voda good for data with short expiry (8gb for a day for $5 but really $2.5 start kit cost) optus $10 sim for $1 for 7 day expiry data) again takes time and effort to manger.

  Mobile phone I average $5 per month max. Amaysim 6 month $21. Then repeat if available, maybe a 3 month offer with cashback or starter kit.

  Can you ride bicycle to work, or to the station. Personally hate waiting time. Also get my daily exercise.

  Can you be bothered changing gas electricity provides? Powershop no contract $75, lumo $50 referral a friend. I manage my for the family, so get it both way, mum, sister, etc. I do it couple of time a year. Always switch back to the best rate when bonus runs out.

  Definitely need a few CC to maximize offset and collect points. Amex and MC or visa when you can't use Amex.

  If you can be bothered, there's a few things I do, but does take time and effort. Personally it's a hobby for me, most people wouldn't go to the trouble for some things.

  Also I get very good deal on food from OzBargain. Free food from Farmers direct and after a few month they'll send more offers when you don't buy.

  Have you considered Airbnb you're spare room, bye bye mortgage. Can help you with that, pm me.

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