Brisbane Budget

[francoisblom]

Hi, I need some inputs on my budget below. We are a family of 5. (# Kids under 8).

 

Any help would be greatly apreciated. 

 

 

Bills & Expenses	Per month	Bills & Expenses
Rent	$2 000.00	rent/mortgage
Groceries	$1 250.00	Groceries
Savings	$300.00	Savings
health insurance	$250.00	health insurance
Petrol	$200.00	petrol
Electricity& Gas	$200.00	Electricity& Gas
Entertainment	$150.00	Entertainment
Transport	$150.00	Transport
Car insurance + Car tax	$120.00	Car insurance + Car tax
life insurance	$100.00	life insurance
Cellphone contract x 2 40$ for one	$80.00
internet	$80.00	internet
council rates	$80.00	council rates
Contents insurance	$60.00	Contents insurance
TV	$25.00	TV
School		School
Safety margin	$152.25
Total Expenses	$5 197.25	Total Expenses

[Eva]

I have a friend in Brisbane with 3 kids ( bit older than yours oldest in Grade 7)  I will send her your list and see if she can give some input. Most people here get paid weekly or fortnightly though and rentals are usually weekly too.

 

[Eva]

Feedback from my friend:

I would up rates to $120 car insurance and car tax? Insurance about $60 per month rego $60 per month per car

Schooling at least $300 per year per child at public school

If both parents are going to work after school care will be $20 per day per child and they'd get 50% back to a maximum of $7,500 per year per child

Holiday car $55 per day per child

We pay $100 a month for house phone and internet combined

Water $120 per month

After school activities are big $$$

Netflix $10 per month

Mobile is $40 with my own device

Clothing etc? Not too sure what they'd like. Kmart is great for kids

Tax benefits A and B have been cut hugely compared to when I was home with the kids

If the household income is over $80k there's no B benefits and when your youngest turns 6 it's cut massively

I'd say for rent in Brisbane yes

Mortgage under $420k yes

Groceries $1250 more than enough

[monsta]

Hey,

 

According to the retailers, the average aussie household spends $150 per week at the grocery shops.

 

You only pay council rates if you own the home

 

$40 is a lot for a cell phone contract... just walk into Aldi and pick up a sim card at the till.... www.aldimobile.com.au

 

Life insurance can come out of your super fund. We were advised (note.. may not be right for you) not to put extra money into a super (pension fund). We would be better paying off our home loan. So, we are saving for a deposit and paying our life insurance out of the compulsary 9.5% we have to put into super. Anyway, most super funds will include some sort of insurance by default.

 

oh and I always share this site  in these situations... just play around with it   as its real numbers from a real aussie bank...  http://www.peoplelikeu.com.au/

[WayneAndMel]

The others have shared some good examples of values but I'd suggest the health insurance, petrol and transport costs could be higher. 

 

Bupa for example is about $380 for us but can vary based on your choices of plan and provider, so if you're going to go with a lower plan it'll be cheaper and might match your expectations.

 

Petrol, to give you an idea I spend about $45 over 8 days for my Honda Jazz. And do you then have two cars?

 

Transport costs can vary too. For example if you're within region 1 and you are only counting on one person riding the trains it will be reasonable. However if you're going to use the Clem underground tunnels or the M1 bridge gantry it'll be $4.39 to $5+ a pop.

 

Some might swear off using the tolls but I find ones approach changes when you're in unplanned situations. Like where you urgently have to get to a meeting when there's been a big accident on your normal route, or need to fetch your toddler in time before the kindy starts fining you $10 for each minute after 6pm.

[dme]

How necessary is health insurance? Is the government care through Medicare not sufficient? 

[monsta]

Good question @dme. There is what they call lifetime loading here. So if you don't take out health insurance while you are in your 30s it will cost you more when you are older. That is the reason most people take out health cover.

 

The thinking is that younger people cost the health insurers less than ealderly people. So, they make money off you in your 30s and don't really when you are in your 80s. But if nobody signs up in their 30s, well then the system has a problem.

 

But, yes, Medicare is sufficient for a large part of the population. Most people in their 20s for example do not have health cover.

 

What is the difference? Well, if you have a babyon Medicare, you will have to go an queue at the hospital for your appointments. So you will loose several afternoons in the queue and you won't get to see the same doctor each time. But, if you have private health care you can book an appointment and see the same obstitician each time. 

 

There are three big downsides to private health care. The first is the excesses. They call it "bill shock" here in Australia. Its all to common to go into hospital and you are out of pocket thousands. Even if you ask them about excesses up front, they will just tell you "it depends if you have any complications that are not covered".  The other down side is you see the same doctors. A doctor may work in the public hospital on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays... but she runs her private practise on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other thing is the public hospitals see more patients.. so they often have a wider range of facilities. For example, there is no neo natal intensive care at Royal North Shore private hospital. But there is one at the public hospital next door. If your baby needs ICU  then they have to transfer you to the public hospital.

 

The big up side to private is really on elective surgeries (ones that you book in for). The wait times at private hospitals are far less. You could be waiting months for a public hospital to have space to repair your netball injury. 

 

Take my family for example. We have health care you pay for the dentist and so we can be a "private patient in a public hospital". That way we get a private room (like in a private hospital) and don't get "bill shock" as everything is covered. We also won't get the "lifetime loading" if we need a health fund later in life.

 

I guess your question should be... do I take out the minimum cover to avoid lifetime loading... or should I take out the premium cover and be ready for excesses?  That depends on your situation... we had a friend who was a midwife back in the USA... she spent a fortune when she had her baby as she had seen all the things that could go wrong. So, its really up to you.

Edited April 6, 2017 by monsta

[Bonny]

@francoisblomYou have received some excellent replies. 

 

Just also note that it quite difficult to convert your thinking from monthly to weekly or fortnightly expenses. But you have to!

 

Rent of $500 a week is not $2000 a month. You have to remember there are 52 weeks in a year and so your rent is actually ($500 x 52)/12 months.

 

That is rent of $2,167 pm. It adds up. In a negative way  So if you only want to pay $2000 pm on rent you should look for a house of about $460 pw