Salaries

[Malans]

Hi everyone. I know this is a tough one to comment on, but realistically, would we be able to manage in Sydney on a salary of around AU$80000/annum (as advertised). Our current scenario is: we live on one income, have 2 kids at private school (a necessity for us here), live in a middle-class area, don't have many "luxuries", but we manage to skim by ... generally

We're planning to move early in the New Year and now I'm stressing as people keep telling me how horrendously expensive everything is in Sydney Am I missing something important I thought I'd done the right research.

I'm on an emotional roller coaster at the moment. Put our home on the market and trying to find a suitable home for our family kitty

[Annelie Siemens]

i would also like to know, but we are going to be living in Perth, but will still be interesting to see.

I personally think that it all depends on your lifestyle that you want to lead, so if you are not materialistic, and it doesn't matter that you don't live in a mansion and drive a fancy car, then you should be ok...........

[Malans]

Hi Annelie

I also seem to think along those lines. I think it may just settle my nerves to hear from someone that's it's a reasonable/liveable amount. But then, even if it is on the low end, I don't think it'll make us change our minds about going

[rozellem]

You will struggle on 80 in Sydney. Def no private school for the kids, lukily not needed here. Especially not for primary. You will realistically have to either look for a job too or count your cents like mad. It does depend on how much capital you bring over. There is a difference between 80 with no mortgage and 80 and still paying a hefty mortage. Are you sure he will be earning this amount? Do a virtual budget and see how you go. Are you on PR? In which case you will get state help for the kids, probably rent and others.

[Malans]

Thanks so much Rozellem. We are on PR. Would I get info on state help from Centrelink? We're not coming over with loads of money, I have to be honest. So we'll need to be up and running on a salaried budget within a couple of months. We're planning on renting for some time until we've got a good feel for things. The majority of positions my hubby's looked at online are between 80 - 100 + benefits. Is 80 seriously on the low end?

[Riekie]

7 Years ago, 80 000 was plenty - even 5 years ago. But I must say, you'll struggle on that in Sydney - especially if you want to keep up your lifestyle (private schools etc). Sydney is the 6th most expensive city in the world to live in - two years ago it was sitting in the 20's. If you are going to be on a single income, I'd definitely look at 100 000+

Sydney is also the 2nd most unaffordable housing market in the world. We live in suburbia and our mortgage repayments are close to R40 000 a month! Unbelievable!

That said, the average salary in Australia is around $1300 per week (mid 60 000 p.a.) and the average income in Sydney is just below 80 000 p.a. - which means there are obviously families earning much more and much less. If you earn less, then obviously you'll have to make adjustments to your spending, standard of living etc. but it does not mean you'll go hungry or sleep on the streets. There are Saffers out there on below $80 000 salaries, doing pretty well and are happy - it just depends on if you want to eat steak 7 days a week or once a week...

There's a lot of help for lower income families, but most of these (if not all) are means tested and if you earn over a certain amount p.a. you are automatically excluded from it - no matter what your expenses are. This is the link to all types of Centrelink benefits: http://australia.gov.au/topics/benefits-payments-and-services/family-payments-and-services/family-payments-and-allowances

Hope this helps - unfortunately there's not a "golden number" to guarantee you'll make it. Each family is different.

[Robbie_P]

Hey,

We also moved over here with 2 kids about 7 months ago. About a month before i was due to fly out to Sydney, i started looking for jobs online.

Some may call this desperate, but I would of quite happily accepted a job for 80k knowing that i could walk into a job from day one and start earning dollars, so i definitely wouldn’t turn down a 80k job offer. If you find that its not enough, you can always start looking elsewhere for a better paying job, while still earning dollars.

You can also perhaps look for a part time job, which will definitely help as well as get government assistance. Having a 2nd income added to $80k would definitely help alot.

Interesting fact i read a while back is that only about 20% of Australians have a household income of $100 000 a year.

I have met a few people since being in Sydney, who don’t earn near 80k, yet they are still surviving and happy.

Regards,

Robbie

[Springjock]

$80k isn't a massive amount, but it IS more than the average person earns. You will be able to afford a decent rental, buy decent food and even have some left over for entertainment. It's not a huge salary, but its not a small one either. If other people can survive on less, I'm sure you will be fine. The issue that faces most Saffers is that you won't be able to afford many of the 'luxuries' associated with SA life e.g. a maid or paying someone to mow your lawn or wash your car.

BOTTOM LINE - get your foot in the door, enjoy the ride and appreciate the beauty, safety and freedom of Australia. Your finances will pick up in due course.

[Tracey Walker]

My take on the situation is that lots of Australian's do earn below 80k a year however they have lived here their whole lives and have slowly accumulated their assets not without the assistance of their family I am sure. We as south africans come here and are virtually starting again with no or very little investments or family to back us up. Personally having lived in Sydney for the last 5 months I honestly can't see 80k being nearly enough to live on comfortably or not! This obviously is just my opinion. Best of luck with your move and keep us posted on your journey.

Regards Tracey

[MrsMupersan]

It definitely is possible to do just fine on $80k. Centrelink give you all sorts of handouts if you have kids, school is free, medical is free. If you're happy starting out in a cheaper rental to begin with, then you should be fine. Springjock's advice is spot on. Rather come over having secured an $80k job, than hold out for the $100k job which may not materialise until you are actually here. It is far easier to find a higher paying job when you are already employed.

[AAAZR]

Jeepers guys...maybe I should take Sydney off my list of possible cities because I know other members that survive with less than 80k in other states...So my conclusion is this:

Either you have very high standards of living or sydney is really just so much more expensive.

I'm hoping its the first since we really like Sydney

X

[zetman]

Either you have very high standards of living or sydney is really just so much more expensive

Unfortunately it's mostly the latter AAAZR. We lived in Sydney for 6 months when we first arrived and ended up moving to Perth. You can make it in Sydney, but have no illusions, it is a very expensive city compared to others - and that fact is not exaggerated. Ultimately you can make it work anywhere, just depends on how close to the bone you want to cut it. $80k a year in Sydney is pretty close to the bone in my opinion. When we lived in Sydney I earned $77k and we only just survived to pay a modest 2 bedroom apartment, one car and basic living expenses without any kids. We had to watch every cent and had no life other than enjoying the freedoms and beauty Aus has to offer. We only had some spending money at the times my wife did part time work. But, ultimately it opened the door for us and just 3 years later we're not looking back.

Tracey Walker has a good point. Many of the Ausies living on low salaries bought their houses years ago and thus have low mortgages and accumulated assets. When you start fresh with limited capital it's a whole different ball game.

@ Malans. Not trying to make it sound too scary. Ultimately you can probably make things work on $80k; but to be honest in the short term you will probably be looking at a step down in terms of lifestyle and will need to do it very lean initially; that's being very realistic. If you can push through that initial slump though, the long term rewards are more than worth it. I recon after about 5 years since making the move most people are better off than they were (and would have been if they stayed in SA). It's like starting a business, you just needs to survive that first 2 years. And there are many who have gone through that successfully, in Sydney and elsewhere.

Edited to add for Malans: if you can manage to land a second income, even just part time to bring in another $20k to $30k a year things do get a little better.

z

[patrice]

Every-ones definition of 'survive' is very different - so depending on your 'survival' needs this will be very different, and therefore our views might not be anything to worry about

Yes - things are rather expensive here, but there are ways of being very smart and economical once you find out the where and when to shop - as one simple example, a roast chicken can cost around $10-15 during the day, but can be bought for only $5 at some places if they have stock after 17h00 as they clear their stocks which can not be held over for sale the next day.....

so remember the 'answer' to this question is different for everyone and may not be a good bench-mark for you

yes - a step down in life-style is likely, but in my humble view, this 'balance' is more than off-set by the huge step-up in quality of life

[Malans]

Thank you so much for all your responses. Definitely need to give this more thought

[K-Vdm]

A friend of my brother has a family member on their way back to RSA - they lived in Sydney for 7 years - he's a CA and she's a Dr. They said it's just too expensive

We stay in Adelaide and hubby earns way less than $80K. This said, he's the only person working, I get an allowance from Centerlink and have 2 kids - 1 in primary school. No we don't have loads to go around, but we are making due with what we've got.

I have no experience on Sydney, but from what I have heard is that it really is very expensive. In Adelaide with $80k you could live very comfortably!

[HansaPlease]

I'd say that if a CA and a doctor can't make it in Sydney, because it's too expensive, then I'd have to assume that the problem lies with them, not with Sydney...

I agree with most, 80k is not great, but there's no way you will go hungry or homeless. To echo what others have said, for people who bought their house in Sydney 15 years ago and are on a $100k mortgage, life would be much easier on 80k than somebody who's converted their rands and come over to Aus to make a new life. Getting ahead and saving will be an issue, but living on 80k will be possible...

[Summer65]

Absolutely, It is not the amount money but rather how you manage it and whether you can stretch the 80k to 90k. Just my thought

[rozellem]

A friend of my brother has a family member on their way back to RSA - they lived in Sydney for 7 years - he's a CA and she's a Dr. They said it's just too expensive

Yip, we know of a couple, both Dr's, who are moving back to RSA. They say that, on their yearly trips to RSA, they cant stand seeing their old colleagues living in massive houses, drive multiple fancy cars and generally be filthy rich! Good example of people trying to live in two countries at the same time, plus keeping up with the flash Jones.

If the death of Steve Jobs taught us one thing, then it is that no amount of money can buy you health, happiness or security. Only the illusion that we can buy these things.

[Short&Tall]

From my limited experience $80,000 should be fine in Melbourne too especially the further you are from the city.

The fact you have secured a job from RSA is pretty good going we only got something when we arrived. I'm with the others if Sydney is where you have to be and you are not tied to that job as part of the visa requirements it is a heck of a lot better coming to a salary than not. You can start looking around for something better when you get here.

Maybe take a look at the cost of renting a house near the place that your OH is going to work - www.realestate.com.au or www.domain.com.au and see what the rent will be like - your biggest expense I imagine.

I have been using this calculator to try and estimate how much we will bring home http://www.paycalculator.com.au/

$80,000 comes out at $1175.00 / week - that's for a single person - remember the above posts re all sorts of rebates etc. there might be other sources of income as well

Good luck

[blondiejhb]

As long as I can have a takeaway on a Saturday and maybe a bit of a barbie on Sunday, I am happy to eat eggs on toast for the rest of the week, as long as I can be in Sydney I will quite happily forego the monthly mani, pedi and facial.

[Malans]

Thanks so much for the replies and your honesty and to those who have made me giggle midst all the stress I think we should just do the best we can from here and then deal with it on that side. I'm quite convinced that in a couple of years' time we'll be a whole lot better off than we would be if we stayed here in SA.

This forum is absolutely incredible Thanks guys.

[pkn]

i am sure those coming back to SA have their Oz citizenship already, Plan B?

[rozellem]

i am sure those coming back to SA have their Oz citizenship already, Plan B?

Yes, the people I am talking about has their Aus passports, so can run back any time.

[Bevmac]

Well, we are in NSW on the North Coast, on a 457 visa, we do not earn anywhere near 80k and we are doing just fine, we came over with just our suitcases 2 children and UNDER $10 000 to our name, (we did not have a house to sell when we left SA so no money from that) we have a very nice rental property here and have furnished our home with 80% new furniture (beds/linen/TV/lounge suite/dinning table etc) and 20% 2nd hand, things like fridge/washing machine/microwave, we have got one 2nd hand car and a bike (Scooter).

We are a one income family, (im struggling to find work in this small rural area) we dont scrimp on anything, i can buy luxuries for my children, something i couldnt do in South Africa, and we have money left over every week in our account, that too was unheard of in SA for us!!

We dont live high on the hog, far from it, but then in SA we didnt either, we didnt have the fancy house/fancy cars/boats etc I never had a maid or a gardener, so maybe thats the difference!!??

We got an exemption from the government for school fees for 2 years because we are lower income earners and we didnt have the 9k to fork out for school fees as they are astronomically high in NSW, sadly the public school here isnt good so we are putting our boys in the Catholic School next year and we will have to pay for that, and yes we will be able to afford it on our low salary. We came here for our childrens future so we have to put them in the best school we can afford, not keep them in a school thats not so good just cause its for free!!

We dont get any other handouts/help from the government to make it any easier!! Even when we get PR eventually i wont expect any handouts either!!

So if you are used to the finer things in life you will just need to adjust things and either find that well paying job or go for a lower paying salary and get on with it you gotta accept that some sacrifices are going to have to be made!!

We live better here than we ever did in south africa, the only downside is i had a horse in SA i cant afford one here YET!!

Money isnt everything, for me the loneliness FAR outweighs having any amount of money!!!!

Like the others have mentioned just get here, then you can look for other better paying jobs!!! Good Luck!!!

[Robbie_P]

Well said Bevmac, i couldnt agree with you more