What do we need to earn to survive?

[KalahariHarry]

Good day all.

I have read a lot about "settling in cash requirements" and "cost of living".

What i am trying to do is paint a WORST CASE SCENARIO picture for us.

Myself and my partner, and by then new born baby will be going to Canberra on state sponsorship hopefully in about 12 - 18 months.

I have a Bcom marketing/business management degree (But have mostly been working for myself - not a lot of Corporate experience), A realistic earnings expectation for me would be 60-75K AUD.

Monique is a restaurant/events manager for a winefarm in Stellenbosch and i have researched her potential income as 40-65K AUD.

I realise if we together earn 140K AUD, that would be a good living. But lets say worst case we arrive and do not want to spend capital "waiting for the right jobs". Can we feasibly get by on earning 40K AUD each (as this really is the bear minimum one would earn i think). I mean take whatever job, settle in a bit and then keep job hunting for better jobs.

80K AUD between us equates to 52800AUD after tax and that equates to 4400AUD per month.

Bear in mind i will buy us each a basic car cash when we arrive, so we wont have car payments.

Our costs would be:

Renting a furnished 2 bed townhouse/ and bills

Food

Fuel and other transport

Car and home insurance

Internet

The minimum entertainment - just enough to keep us sane.

Can we achieve this, please share your opinions, be as realistic and objective as you can. Like i say its really trying to see if we can survive in a worst-case-scenario without spending capital that we would later want to use as a deposit for our first home.

My view is although not your ideal job, at least surviving while spending an employers money.

Thanks all. Any input will be appreciated.

Trevor

[Erik]

Keep in mind that child care is apparently very expensive and you might end up relying on only one salary so one of you can look after the baby. Just a thought to keep in mind. We will be in a similar situation...

[AndreaL]

Daycare is going to swallow up a lot of Monique's salary, you could be paying $80 per day in childcare. There is a 50% childcare rebate at the moment, but that may well change, so you have to weigh up if a few dollars is worth not spending that early time with your child.

You also have to be realistic in that getting ANY type of job may not happen instantly, you are competing with other people for that bare minimum job, so factor in a few months getting by on savings........things don't move quickly here.

The minimum wage is $636 per week, it may well be better to stay at home with bub and access family tax benefit part b and live on your wage. It is really hard to offer advice because there are so little certainties, but good that you are trying to plan for all contingencies..........whichever of you is able to secure the better paying job, the other can care for the little one until you establish if you actually gain anything by that partner working.

[KalahariHarry]

Hi AndreaL,

Thank you so much, can you possibly explain more about how "family tax benefit part B" works?

Of course i will make provision for a few months sustainability, but just trying to be thorough. :-)

t

[HansaPlease]

Can you live on $80k? Absolutely, yes. It will be a basic existence, but it's possible, many families in Aus do it. Ok, many of the families have the benefit of having bought their properties back when prices were cheap and therefore have low mortgages, and often they have the help of their parents, etc, but it's still possible.

As others have pointed out, your biggest challenge will be what to do with the baby, send him/her to child care or let the one who earns less stay home or only work part time. It's tough being working parents without the support of friends and family, but many of us do it.

What sort of work do you actually plan to look at?

[KalahariHarry]

Hi HansaPlease,

Thank you for the reply. Like i say i have a Bcom degree in marketing and business management. I am applying with occupation "Marketing Specialist" Hopefully i get a positive Vetassess. I have been running myself and my brothers business in Cape Town, we own 3 Scratch/Dent/Panel shops. I have a lot of experience in Marketing the business and of course a lot of experience managing up to 20 staff, procurement, Customer management/retention etc. To answer your question i would probably look at a business unit manager/marketing position, however i would have to do what i would have to do at first just to settle. State sponsorship would be for Canberra.

T

[HansaPlease]

Ok, with any luck I think you may be able do better than 60/75k, but it's good that you're being prudent just in case... Best of luck!

[AndreaL]

Hi Trevor

If you look here you can see the different options provided through the dept. of human services, it probably isn't much, but can mean that your partner at least has the option of staying home with the little one if that is what you want. Some payments are not available until you have lived here for 2 years, by which time you are usually on your feet.

The thing to do is register with centrelink when you first arrive. If for example you could not find work, I am sure you would be able to access some assistance.....you may qualify for rent assistance or something.

Most payments work on your income.

You might be lucky and walk straight into work, but at least know that if you don't and are struggling, there is usually some form of help. The hardest part of finding work for a new migrant is not having Australian work experience, i.e. not being a known entity.

Have you done much research into job opportunities in Canberra? Being the seat of government there are many government based jobs and you need citizenship for those.

You may find that you have to take an entry type position, but generally your prospects for advancement here are pretty good and can happen quickly.

Hopefully someone from Canberra can comment and give proper insight into work prospects there.

We arrived on a temporary visa, with minimum 457 wage and no access to medicare or any type of assistance....it was darned hard, but somehow we got through it, and each successive job was better and earned more.

So, yes in the start it might be hard, but I like your thinking, get yourself out there, land a job, any job and be earning some dollars and it takes the pressure off whilst you look for something more suited to your skill-set.

I'm not 100% how easy it is to find furnished accomodation and what you will pay for that ( I assume you aren't bringing a container) but you should be able to get basic furnishings either by buying through Gumtree etc, a local buy/swap/sell site, pre-loved store etc that may work out a better deal than paying for furnished accomodation.

Often, fellow South Africans will loan you some items until you get on your feet, so get to know who is in your area.

We started out with a mattress and a mat that the kids sat on, and somehow have accumulated more junk than we ever had in RSA in a few years.

Good luck, and fire away with any questions you have.

[KalahariHarry]

Thank you Andrea, Very insightful, i appreciate all the info everyone...

[AndreaL]

Trevor

Don't let my role as "the prophet of doom" put you off.....only joking, but I like that you are thinking with a sensible head.

How is Cape Town today, I've just phoned my folks in Edgemead and they say it is cold.

[Gerhardk]

You can live on $80k. Keep in mind that you will probably not require two cars, you may not require any cars since there are public transport.

In terms of daycare, it is about $80 per day per child (I have 3 little kids in daycare) but as noted above you get 50% back as child care rebate. Depending on family income you may qualify for child care benefit that phases out at around $160k per annum family income. Keep in mind your SA income will be taken into account in the financial year that you move. Considering no family close and baby getting sick, not liking daycare etc it is very normal for women to take 1 - 3 years career brake. The less the family earns the more benefit (there are some other hoops to get through).

Free entertainment are plenty. Parks, libraries, public events.

[wendym]

^{Very useful information here. My only concern is the huge percentage of tax and deductions on a AUD40k salary. Is it as high as 34%? Wow, this super high}

Edited June 7, 2013 by wendym

[HansaPlease]

^{Very useful information here. My only concern is the huge percentage of tax and deductions on a AUD40k salary. Is it as high as 34%? Wow, this super high}

Absolutely not. You'll pay far leas tax than that. That tax rate is for high income earners and even then only a portion is taxed at that rate.

Your first 18k is tax free, then it goes up from there.

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/00322113.htm

Edited June 7, 2013 by HansaPlease

[wendym]

Absolutely not. You'll pay far leas tax than that. That tax rate is for high income earners.

Okay. Feeling a lot calmer now. Just went into a bit of a panic mode. For us, it is likely that we would both have to initially settle for lower salaries while my OH sorts out his plumbing licensing.

[rozellem]

I would definitely not buy two cars off the bat. Yes, buy one, but then see how you go. I hardly know anyone with two cars in Sydney ( and Canberra town planning is much better). Let the one who goes out working take public transport. The car would just sit at work anyway and cost you parking fees. Unless the job is waaayyy out somewhere off the beaten track, there will be reasonable public transport. Say you get a marketing job with loads of local travelling to do, wont you get a company car or similar?

Good thing you looking at worts case $$$, but ease off with the second car till you find your feet and figure out how things work. I know its difficult to imagine (being a South African) but the car thing here is just so different.

[HansaPlease]

Agree about being able to cope with one car if you're in a big city. We managed with one car for 5 years and only last year bought out second. Even then, the family car sits in the garage for most of the week and gets taken out on weekends and holidays and we use the second car for ferrying the kids to daycare and parking at the train station during the week, rather than the nice car getting destroyed by the hot Aussie sun.

It's definitely a luxury having 2 though, we could easily live with one.

In smaller towns with less public transport, 2 cars become more necessary.

Edited June 7, 2013 by HansaPlease

[KalahariHarry]

Hi Guys,

@ RozelleM

I hear you on the car issue, having lived in London,Dublin and the USA i know what public transport should be like and what it usually is like in 1st world countries.

I will seriously reconsider buying 2 cars.

@ Hansa

Thanks for that the figures on that site put me at ease.

EG 40K @ 34% x 2 incomes at that level equates to 52 800AUD of 4400AUD per month after tax

Having taken the actual tax brackets into account

A 40k salary equates to 40 000 - 4547 = 35 453AUD x 2 of the same incomes = 70 906AUD after tax and this equals 5908AUD monthly

I think that is surely a livable amount, not fancy, but a decent living.

@ WendyM

5908AUD looks a lot better than 4400AUD per month

Again, this is sort of worst case scenario - i would have some back up cash, but do want to save it for that first AUS property (big deposit)

I imagine i would only be able to have a decent enough credit record to get a home loan after 2 yrs or so.

[Sunnyskies]

News tonight said average Ozzie family spends $204 per week on groceries. We spend more but if there are only the two of you plus bubs that should be ok.

On the car front we survived 9 months on one car, but then had to get a second. Works ok if you do the same thing together on the weekends, but my husband is a water sport nut and had to get to the beach every weekend.

[KimAnn]

Hi I would like to know what a year1-3 teacher would earn. I would love to move to Australia. I am a single mom and have 3 children. 2 would be studying and one going into year 8. Would we survive on a teachers. I hear taxes are really high. What would one have to put aside for medical expenses. Sorry for all the questions. thanks and God bless to you all.