Expected monthly costs - budget preparation

[fab365]

Hi

Does anyone have an excel spreadsheet that they use for monthly budgeting purposes. Im not talking about a budget planner - more a rough budget of what they are spending on per week/month basis in Aus.

I searched the forum and found 2 (1 was a budget planner, and the second was a budget with costings for food)

I am looking for something more along the line of the second option, but with things like Telephone/internet costs , life insurance, private medical aid etc all thrown in.

I.e. What are the average monthly expenses that I would need to cater for - so I can have a reference point to create my own spreadsheet

I do understand this is dependent per state , and per household (size of family) and lifestyle - but it would at least point me in the right direction to see what aspects I would need to consider.

Currently the things I would expect are:

Rental / Mortgage payment

Electricity / Gas / Water / Strata fees

Telephone Line / Internet Bundle

Cellphone contracts

Life Insurance

Private Medical fees

School fees

Entertainment fees

Food

the usual type of things - anybody got their budgets that they are willing to share with me

You can also PM me if you do not want to post it in open forum or whatever

Thanks

[OnYellowBrickRd]

http://www.aussiemove.com/costofliving/

[AllisonW]

Hi there,

We are not in Oz yet but i can share what i have projected based on reading the forum. We are a family of five, with three kids, very laid back and no airs and graces. We have PR so no school fees and will purchase cars cash.

Based on that i have projected:

Rent: 1700 (based on us not living in a fashionable CBD site but out in the burbs...)

Gas: 70

Water: 50

Electricity: 120

Petrol: 350

Car and household insurance: 150

Internet: 120

Groceries / food: 1100

Private health plan: 270

School costs: 50

Cell phones: 100

Extras I have estimated:

Hobbies: 50

Haircuts: 100

Take out: 150

Movies: 60

Life saving cost membership: 20

Use of public pool and other amenities: 40

Gym for family: 100

School extra costs (excursions, tuck etc) 50

Clothes: 100

BUT i am not there yet! So others need to comment. Also we are not doing foxtel because we would rather splurge on the internet and have good internet. Also we arent keen on the home phone at least at first. We dont party the night away so our entertainment costs are cheap, movies, take out etc.

These are monthly estimated costs. I know people speak of the weekly thing but i am not in that mindset yet.

I am not the best budgeter. I tend to pay all the monthly stuff and then have a pool to cover day to day life. Also this is taking in to account that we will have some savings to cover car reg etc so these costs will be covered.

Hope it helps.....

Looking forward to hearing other peoples comments.

I think my biggest savings will be having no woolies food market down the road..... :-)

[AllisonW]

Oh and hubby was sad that booze seemed so pricey.... So i really should budget for that! LOL! I told him he will have to start brewing his own beer.

Thankfully chocolate seems reasonably priced, so I am fine.

[SuzyQ2]

I guess it depends where you will be located. Our rental was in an average area in Perth & our rental was $2,000 per month.

The area will also determine the premiums on your Home Contents & Motor Insurance, plus of course how much you Insure for & the cars your drive. When we first got here I bought a Getz for my son, which I drove until he got his licence & the premium was about $32.00 pm. (insured for market value which was $5000). On the other hand our Suzuki Grand Vitara costs $45.00 pm (also insured for market value @ about $22,000) ...doesn't make sense. However, as with South Africa, there are the 'deal direct' companies & then the Brokers which cost more. I'm a firm believer in the latter & believe that you pay for what you get.

I'm not the best budgeter (never have been). @ Allison .....no Woolies Food Market down the line ...... if you are anything like me, you'll find something. I actually started chopping up fruit, preparing salads & the like & was really quite proud of myself ........ until we bought our own place & I 'stumbled 'across an IGA in my area that I could buy such stuff .....mmm, my fruit chopping days are now limited

Booze is expensive if you convert from rands to $, but once you are earning $'s its not too bad. On the other hand, it also depends what you drink. I can get Old Brown Sherry here in Perth for about $14.00, but I can get the local equivalent for about $6 (depends where I go can go up to $10) for a 6 pack of beer its an average of $16, which if you are earning $'s it's not bad @ all. I guess you really have to do your research. On the wine front, I guess it depends on the taste, plonk is not too pricey, but decent bottles have a bit of a higher tag. Just like in RSA .....

On the take out aspect, it just depends how often you have take out & where you go. Allison I think we pay more than that, plus we also eat out about 4 times a month as well, not to mention entertaining & special occasions. We are a family of 2 adults & 2 teenagers..... hope this helps ....

I can honestly say that & that if both husband & wife work over here you'll probalbly have a betta lifestyle than in SA, whereas in SA you both had to work to have a lifestyle ....

[fab365]

Thanks for the responses all.

Would just like to confirm - have gone to the Aussiemove site - nicely laid out with some comments as well, but it does not make it clear whether he is renting or paying off mortgage (seems like the latter)

So just to confirm - if you are renting - you are not liable for:

1) Council rates

2) Water Rates

But we are liable for the actual usage costs of the services: (like water usage/gas usage and electricity usage)

We are also looking to be in Perth (NOR), family of 4 (2 adlts + 2 children) - so all local knowledge is greatly appreciated

thankfully we are not big boozers

Cheers

[Loutjie]

It greatly depends in which state you'll be living and where you'll be staying. We arrived in Sydney 3 weeks ago...so I can share with you what we have bought and how much it has cost. We're just renting a furnished room for now and not a house or a flat. You can ignore the charges not applicable to you. We did not bring a container just 50kg of luggage each.

Train tickets from airport to City +-$17 each(once) (Airport tickets are always expensive)(

Vodafone simcard $2 each(once)

Airtime (Called cap here) $29 each (once)(just to let your family and friends know)

MyMulti1(Travel in zone1) $43 each (weekly)(travel by train, bus, fairy within zone 1...other zones further from the city are more expensive)

Basic white bead $1 each (Other breads are much more expensive going up to $8)

A Schooner of Beer at a pub $5.70 each ($3.50 during happy hour...yes...beer is very expensive....$100 does not seem that much in a pub)

Pub dinner(steak and chips) $10 - $17

Room rental $300 per week (Bond is usually 4 weeks = $1200 and 2-4 weeks of rent upfront)

A good Cellphone contract $44 per month (You get $300 worth of "airtime" + 1.3 Gig of data + unlimited sms to anywhere in the world)

Weekly shopping $100 per week (For food and the occasional needed item)

In your first 2 weeks you buy a lot of stuff. I would say +- $1000 for 2 adults...(i.e. deodorants, household cleaning...almost everything you could not bring along)

So for now all and all after buying all the initials things we work on a $600 budget per week for 2 adults, if we live comfortably.

$2400 per month

[Fourie Stephan]

Cost of living for us in Darwin ( Per month )

Rent for 3 bedroom house - $2120

Private Health - $180

Mobile Phone - $59

Landline & Internet - $73

Satellite - $70 for our package

Food - $800 ( Family of 3 and we eat like kings )

Household insurance - $27

Funeral cover for whole family - $70

Car - $281 for hyundai getz

Car Insurance - $ 50

Petrol - $100

Electricity - Get bill every 3 months of $550 with aircon always on in Darwin

Don't pay for Water

Don't have gas

Life Insurance is through my Super so I don't feel it

[Nev]

Also remember that your annual car license renewal (The disk on your window) costs $ 600, so you have to keep a bit on the side for that each year

Rent for 1 bedroom apartment - $1450 (Great area close to the city) - Melbourne

Private Health - $560 (For 2 adults) - Hospital + Dental + Optical

Mobile Phone - $29 - Pay as you go, buys the wife just over 3 hours of talk time to South Africa a month

Landline & Internet - $69 - ADSL 2+ 120gig package (welcome to the 1st world)

Food - $700 ( 2 adults - lotsa meat and fancy food )

Car - $460 for Ford Escape

Car Insurance - $ 100

Petrol - $200

Electricity & Gas $100

[Short&Tall]

Budgetting for daily commute by train

here is the Melbourne link - does not provide the prices http://www.metrotrai...Time-Users.html

http://www.myki.com....res/Metro-fares - this does but I think they are old??

So Alison your hubby e.g. Frankstone - CBD commute = Zone1 & zone 2 pass is $55.40 for 5 days.

This is a good site for working out the public transport around Melbourne and how long it is going to take even door to door.

http://jp.ptv.vic.gov.au/ptv/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en

The first few weeks everything seems very expensive but one the $ wages start coming in it seems a lot better.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Short&Tall

[candivw]

Ok a quick breakdown, it's just hubby and I, we are renting in Ellenbrook in Perth.

Rent - 400pw or $1600 a month

Food,-$ 400 a fortnight or $800 a month

Power bills we put $50 a fortnight into our power bill and then we don't get a $200 or $300 power bill every 2 months

Medical cover $70 a fortnight

House contents up to $50k we pay $35 a month

Car insurance for 2 cars $149 a month

Phones 2 x $70 a month = $140

Internet broad band iinet with BOB and VOIP phone $70 50 gig peak 50 off peak

Petrol $160 a fortnight but my Pajero is thirsty and I only travel 4km round trip to work daily so if I still had my Getz it would be $100 a fortnight to fill the Elantra and the Getz, but to fill both cars at the moment it's around $160 or so

We also pay income life protection for hubby $78 a month...

Gas is cheap the bill is every 3 months and it's about $45

Rego is a killer it's $480 per car per year so technically we should be putting away $100 a month to cover this or $50 a fortnight

Edited May 13, 2012 by candivw

[ericks]

Adelaide,

We are a family of three in the South, 3 Bedroom unit / double garage.

Rent = $385 / week

Car reg. = $185 / three monts (2011 Mazda3 Maxx Sport)

Car insurance = $650 / year

Motorcycle reg. = $130 / three months (2012 ZX14R)

Motorcycle insurance = $1200 / year

We are on a 175 but you still have to pay "fees" for state schools = $550 / year

Elect. = $300 / three months (we don't waste!)

Gas = $150 / three months

Water = $0

...

[Fish]

...

Private Health - $560 (For 2 adults) - Hospital + Dental + Optical

...

WOW...are you on a 457 visa and using visitor private insurance?

[Nev]

Yep, on a 457 you don't get state medical and one of the requirements is that you have your own arranged, I will probably be dropping the dental and optical bits which will drop it to $360 per month (They had a really good sales person when i called)

[AAAZR]

Oh and hubby was sad that booze seemed so pricey.... So i really should budget for that! LOL! I told him he will have to start brewing his own beer.

Thankfully chocolate seems reasonably priced, so I am fine.

The price of chocolate and bread was the biggest shockers for me! If you buy Woolworths homebrand the bread is cheap $1 but other than that the bread is usually around $3.50! Chocolate....kit-kat and similar you can expect to pay close to $3. They have specials on the extra big slabs from time to time so I bought one of those because it makes more sense to buy big slab for $3 than something like kitkat for same price.

The food in my opinion is not more expensive than SA!

Edited May 14, 2012 by AAAZR

[ChantelTHL]

I know I do not live in Australia yet, but one thing I noticed during our visists there in 2010, 2011 an 2012, is that the specials are very special!

If you keep your eyes open, plan and buy wisely, you can get your groceries for very cheap. Just an example ... during our recent visit to Sydney, we went to a Coles at around 9 in the evening. Their whole roasted and stuffed chickens were marked down from $10 to $6. This marked down price is about the same price as the chickens we buy from our Woolies. And it was a very LEKKER Chicken! If you buy a few, freeze them and use whenever in pasta etc, you can have a really cheap meal. That's what I plan to do in any case. Other food items are also cheeper later in the evening. Further, 18 double ply toilet rolls were on special for $3. Sure you can stock up on that price item!!!! I have never seen 18 double ply toilet paper for that price in SA - not even on special.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you look out for specials, you can save a lot.

Would love to hear from other in Australia about this.

[candivw]

What I love is the rewards card from Woolies and you can use it in Big W too, you get points every time you use it and you can redeem it for discount on fuel, it saved me $12 one day filling up my truck

[AAAZR]

I know I do not live in Australia yet, but one thing I noticed during our visists there in 2010, 2011 an 2012, is that the specials are very special!

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you look out for specials, you can save a lot.

You are absolutely correct!! At this stage I'm buying mostly products on special because I'm still trying out the different brands . Feels awesome knowing I saved 50% on something I dont really need

A

[herby]

I can second that comment about specials and highlight it as a tip to newbies.

Prices can also vary very quickly and I've seen shops changing prices on items as often as every 15 minutes - depending on demand and the remaining shelf-life on the product.

Just 'cos something's on special now does not mean it'll be on special tomorrow - I saw the price of watermelons change from a late night shopping trip - 10:30pm at Coles it was $99c per kg - to the next morning at 9:30am where it was $2.50 per kg.

[Bronwyn&Co]

Wow Nev! I work for Medibank. That must have been a really good salesperson you spoke to. It might be worth reviewing that policy...! ;-)

Edited June 1, 2012 by Bronwyn&Co

[JackieO]

Wow Nev! I work for Medibank. That must have been a really good salesperson you spoke to. It might be worth reviewing that policy...! ;-)

Im guessing thats with Iman? Who pay EVERYTHING on their top plan. They cover 100% of cost, not 100% of some worked out fee the Dr should be charging, so effectively with IMAN you wont have a gap payment ever.

Not sure how good they are for people with PR. But if you're on a temp visa, go with IMAN.

Once appendix op and you've already covered the extra cost per month. Never mind if you have something seriously wrong.

It the one thing we felt we did wrong. Its insurance and you get what you pay for. Unfortuantely mediabanks top plan doesn't even come close to comparing with IMANS, but it is cheaper.

If I could "do over" I'd much rather pay more upfront for better benefits....

Edited June 2, 2012 by JackieO

[candivw]

We were on IMAN on our 457 no complaints, we have private cover now on PR but I'm considering canceling it....

[Nev]

Hmm

Bronwyn&Co... This is through medibank, if iv got the wrong stuff please let me know what i should be on...

Iv got a medibank working visa hospital insurance

and Basic extra's 70

For my wife and I

[Bronwyn&Co]

Hi Nev I will PM you

[marilizemeyer]

Good day all,

Im a newbee We (my hubby, me and our 4 and 2 year old kids) were granted our Skilled visas with permanent residency last Friday. Jipeee!!!

We are planning on moving to the Queensland area. The higher the better! No more cold winters for us I have noticed that different states or parts of the country has huge impacts on the budget. Anybody know whats going on there and any ideas on a budgeting for a family of 4?? I really need some guidance as we are now looking for work and need to figure out how much we should earn to afford the same lifestyle as here in South Africa.