Feeling the pinch? Cost of living

That's almost as laughable as Sandy Street SC facing bankruptcy as he has to pay his UNEMPLOYED ex wife $2000/month for her Porsche, $1300/mth in child support, $1150/wk in rent.

How do you structure your affairs so that you can receive income ($63,100/annum after tax) in the form of child support, rent & hire purchase payments but not having it affect your ability to receive payment from the public purse?

Another for the sooky-la-la thread.
 
Scott No Mates said:
That's almost as laughable as Sandy Street SC facing bankruptcy as he has to pay his UNEMPLOYED ex wife $2000/month for her Porsche, $1300/mth in child support, $1150/wk in rent.

How do you structure your affairs so that you can receive income ($63,100/annum after tax) in the form of child support, rent & hire purchase payments but not having it affect your ability to receive payment from the public purse?

Another for the sooky-la-la thread.
Click to expand...

I read that article this morning.... stuff along the lines of the ex-wife was almost being homeless and broke... meanwhile driving around in a $2k p/m leased Porsche. :confused:
 
Francesco said:
I can't believe that people who can pull in that sort of income do not have the tenacity to make ends meet with more innovative thoughts! It seems practically the rest of SS are like-wise stunned or ROFL! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
If we earned that sort of income between us, I can guarantee you that I'd be the richest bloke on this site by now.
 
Wow, just wow. Who the hell takes out a loan to maintain their standard of living?!?

Some people just have no clue though.

I once dated a girl (from a very rich household). She stated that apparently she didn't care about money, but that she thought you needed to be earning about a million dollars a year to maintain a reasonable standard of living and to afford good schools etc :eek:

I got out of that one quick smart.
 
BLTN said:
I once dated a girl (from a very rich household). She stated that apparently she didn't care about money, but that she thought you needed to be earning about a million dollars a year to maintain a reasonable standard of living and to afford good schools etc :eek:

I got out of that one quick smart.
Click to expand...

do you still have her number!?!?!?! :)
 
Wow - just .... wow :eek:

We were on less than half of that with a family of 6 at one stage ... if they had a deposit they'd be better of buying a property with a mortgage and rolling the personal loans into it ... that would give them $5,000/mth free for mortgage repayments ... then hire a nanny at $1,000/wk - get rid of the cleaner ...
 
I don't get why people often don't have time to cook...it takes me about 15mins to prepare a meal (excluding waiting times - but I often do other things during that time).

Granted, it's not Michelin star quality, but it's healthy and cheap, and includes the whole carbs/vegies/meat spectrum.

I sometimes think peoples' taste buds have been so put out of whack by processed stuff that they've convinced themselves 2000mg of sodium is necessary for a bowl of soup.
 
People who struggle on 200k+ have my sympathy, though probably not for the reasons they would want me to feel sorry for them. :rolleyes:

I have heard of folks who take out mortgages to restructure their finances after a change of job/drastic cut in pay (eg. Tony Abbott), but racking up a unsecured debt to maintain a lifestyle and not considering something might be amiss is something I can't quite comprehend.
 
I wonder what this family crying poor-mouth on $245 000 are comparing it to? I'd bet they came from very wealthy families themselves and that $245 000 pa is peanuts compared to what their Daddy's made each year.

It's actually quite sad. To earn $245 000 you'd have to be a high achiever; have worked, studied, trained hard, etc... yet they feel it's not enough :confused:
 
bob246810 said:
I don't get why people often don't have time to cook...it takes me about 15mins to prepare a meal (excluding waiting times - but I often do other things during that time).

Granted, it's not Michelin star quality, but it's healthy and cheap, and includes the whole carbs/vegies/meat spectrum.

I sometimes think peoples' taste buds have been so put out of whack by processed stuff that they've convinced themselves 2000mg of sodium is necessary for a bowl of soup.
Click to expand...

if you tasted my cooking, you'd pay $50 to not get invited to dinner when I cook at home!!:D
 
cimbom said:
For a lot of people in that income bracket, it's largely to do with keeping up appearences as well
Click to expand...

There's a real issue for some in separating luxuries from essentials. I've had work colleagues give me 'sad eyes' when I tell them I don't eat out at fine dining restuarants every week.

Personally I'd rather a steak and salad and beer at the local club, with the kids climbing on my lap, laughing with extended family.
 
Mr. Fabulous said:
/looks up

Hey guys, what's the view like up there on your high horses?
Click to expand...
What's the high horse?

Most here - and I'm one of them - flogged ourselves to death, went without, got no handouts, rah,rah,rah...

And we've all managed to come to a point in life (this site) of moderate success in a number of ways; property being one of them.

Personally; I did it with waaay less income than these sooks, so forgive me for having absolutely NO compassion whatsoever.
 
gottabespotless said:
I wonder what this family crying poor-mouth on $245 000 are comparing it to? I'd bet they came from very wealthy families themselves and that $245 000 pa is peanuts compared to what their Daddy's made each year.

It's actually quite sad. To earn $245 000 you'd have to be a high achiever; have worked, studied, trained hard, etc... yet they feel it's not enough :confused:
Click to expand...

It's madness but its not uncommon. Whatever about the way they built up the loans, they have them now. So if of their $12.5k per month $7.5k is gone on loan repayments and childcare, and a further $2.5k on rent, then I am not surprised that they feel broke. The problem is that they are just not thinking. Again I agree that this seems insane but it happens to some couples because they are working long hours, have young kids, and are living a lifestyle that seems normal to them because everyone else they know is doing it. They are so busy running on the treadmill that they can't see that there are other choices.

The childcare is a crazy number - $5k per month! They need to accept that they just can't afford to live where they're living - sure $245k is a big number, but if your neighbours are earning twice that ...
 
spludgey said:
It's over $230 per day. Surely there are cheaper options!
Click to expand...

Those childcare numbers don't make sense. They would receive half of that back in CCR. They probably racked up the personal loans while she was on maternity leave as she left her eldest child in care (assumption) and wasn't eligible for CCR.

My old workplace was typical of this. One told me I was so lucky I could cope with living in the western suburbs as she'd never be able to afford to buy in her chosen area near her family and friends.
 
Our childcare costs per day after rebate are about $93 for two kids.

The cost for a centre in their suburb seems to be about $122 per day before rebate. So $122 X 2 kids X 5 days X 50 weeks = $61k less $15k rebate = $46k per annum or $3833 per month. Maybe they go to a more expensive centre? $3833 per month is not $5k but it's still an awful lot of money - almost twice what we would pay for excellent full time care in a nice inner city Perth suburb.
 
Childcare in Sydney (and other places) is crazy. Good centres, and even some which are not so good, inner city charge $125+ per day per child. It is so difficult to get into any childcare that they probably chose to keep their first child in care even while Mum was on mat leave rather than lose their spot. People regularly put their kids names down as soon as they know they're pregnant and still can't get a place at their centre of preference.

But yes, at those rates they would be much better off financially with a nanny / au pair.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
If you're still poor at 35, you deserve it!
Replies
15
Views
5K
LeoT
L
Peter_Tersteeg
100 one liners
Replies
7
Views
2K
D.T.
D.T.
The Y-man
The Investor2009 Interview
Replies
1
Views
12K
The Y-man
The Y-man
The Y-man
The LeoT interview
Replies
1
Views
6K
The Y-man
The Y-man
legoskeleton
Seperating with recent property purchase
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
S.T
S
Back
Top