So obviously this can be a personal subject so not asking anyone to divulge actual figures, but you hear people say they are earning what they consider to be "good money" and they still find it hard to meet all costs. Then you hear people talking about others and would consider someone in a particular profession to be "earning good money". Obviously everyone has different financial commitments but I'm wondering how people sum up their household income. Do you go by the lifestyle you have as to wheather you earn a good sum or do you look at your assests (or lack of) as a measure of your earnings. So whether you have access to it or not, what do you consider is a good income for a family?
A couple of irl scenarios that have me thinking-
A year ago we were on about $80k which was the same as dh boss. We have a fairly modest mortgage of well under $200k but with normal household expenses, bills, food, petrol etc we had nothing left for any extras. Dh boss on the other hand always have new stuff, always going on holidays, run two very nice luxury cars, regularly going out to restaurants etc. I realize that with their business some stuff would go through that, but still it often had me wondering how they managed.
Second irl story- I met a woman this morning that was telling me about a support group of fifo mums, she commented that there were a lot of 4 children families in the group. We talked about that and how it must be the only way to afford a large family was for partners to work away lol! I know that is definatley the case for us, when I found out I was preg with #4 it prompted dh to look elsewhere for work and more money.
Just my Friday afternoon ponderings. So anyone else wanna share? Do you have a good income but spend it all on investments leaving nothing for luxuries or are you just flat put making enough to meet expenses each week?

We are on a fairly good income well DH is anyway, we are what you would class as high income earners or at least the government tends to think that as we are at the cut off for everything. We have an above average mortgage of over $400K and we have a fairly new car too. My DH used to work away but when I found out I was pregnant with DS I told him he had to come home, so when he does work away that wage goes up considerably.
We tend to live within our means and we do have the latest gadgets and new stuff within reason. I have found lately that his wage doesn't stretch as much as it used to and we sometimes find ourselves short some weeks but we have put ourselves in that wituation with our mortgage and car loan so I can't really complain. DH works very hard so I can stay at home and he can buy the things he wants.
Ruby can I ask where your DH is working as I know you are in W.A?

Lol I posted this on your other thread smile

As you know my DH does fifo, for any job that he considers we don't look at anything paying less than 150k a year... At his current job he is on 235k a year but has just received a payrise so as soon as that goes through it will up it a fair bit...

We are renting, we are still paying off our car, we don't have credit cards and we both have bad credit because we both defaulted on personal loans in our younger days laugh so I suppose you could say our money is for luxuries and not investments at this stage...

We enjoy our money, we buy nice things and we never have to budget for anything which is a bonus. This year we are saving so that we can get our bad credit cleared and buy a house... Most people expect that we have heaps of money in the bank but we don't lol we like to spend!

I'm really grateful that we haven't been affected by the rising cost of living, although I'm always shocked when we receive our electricity/gas bills etc, it IS getting expensive and I feel bad for those on a low income, how do they ever get ahead? sad

I think for a family to live comfortably these days you would need to be earning at least 80k a year smile

We have an above average mortgage of over $400K and we have a fairly new car too.

see thats a standard mortgage pretty much for North shore of auck. most houses we look at are about $450k.

as you said it all depends on the person - we earn good money compared to some but we really don't. we earn the least out of all our friends, even when I was working we earn't less as a couple compared to alot of DH single friends. But I do feel we have more to show for it - we've travelled overseas a few times, gotten married and now raising a family compared to them who have no savings and go out boozing every week.
however I don't actually think we earn good money, we rent and its cheap as its through DH's job - we definitely couldn't afford a mortgage (esp in Auckland on 1 income), but we have alot in savings as I think I'm good at budgeting. we are kind of comfortable - JUST (very tight budget) but we don't go without essentials, with things that we want we don't just go out and get it we have to think why do we want it and is it actually needed, an extra $10k a year would be nice to take away the stress and it means we would save more - even then we wouldn't be on the same as friends.

As you know my DH does fifo, for any job that he considers we don't look at anything paying less than 150k a year... At his current job he is on 235k a year but has just received a payrise so as soon as that goes through it will up it a fair bit...

WOW see that's crazy money to me! even $100k is crazy money to me. (sorry if that comes across as rude, I don't mean it to)

I think that's why my DH thinks about FIFO sometimes - move to Aus, get some good cash for a few years then move back here and buy a house.

Geez I think the average mortgage in W.A is just over $300K but I think the average house cost is over $400K. I always thought N.Z was cheaper than OZ

We're a low income family, and I don't think we're making "good money", but "enough money".
DH's a chef, works too many hours and people are often mistaking us for a high income family because of his profession. He gets $40,000 pa, which for us in enough.
We rent, have one car (paying that off), I'm a SAHM and we get by just fine - I'm very good with money, so we're not struggling, and we have money for little luxuries like going out for lunch/dinner etc. But, to afford to go on holidays, we'd have to give up those little luxuries for a while so we can save.

I have absolutely no idea what kind of money the people around me are making, and up until recently, DH thought he was getting heaps of money and that we were quite well off roll eyes I'm the one that handles our finances, and he has absolutely no clue, so I had to sit him down with our budget and show him why we can't just go out and get a mortgage and a second car!

i consider us to be on OK money. dh works full time and i work part time. we are on about $120k (not including rental income).

we do OK but we have a budget which we follow to the letter. if we didnt, we'd be stuffed.

we have a low mortgage on our home but have just purchased an invesment property for $350k.

we dont waste our money. we have a plan for the future for us and the kids and as both of us like to budget, it works out really well for us.

we have 2 kids and will not have anymore. mostly cos 2 is enough for us but we also know that we could not afford to have a third.

good money to me is $200k.

Lol I posted this on your other thread smile

As you know my DH does fifo, for any job that he considers we don't look at anything paying less than 150k a year... At his current job he is on 235k a year but has just received a payrise so as soon as that goes through it will up it a fair bit...

We are renting, we are still paying off our car, we don't have credit cards and we both have bad credit because we both defaulted on personal loans in our younger days laugh so I suppose you could say our money is for luxuries and not investments at this stage...

We enjoy our money, we buy nice things and we never have to budget for anything which is a bonus. This year we are saving so that we can get our bad credit cleared and buy a house... Most people expect that we have heaps of money in the bank but we don't lol we like to spend!

I'm really grateful that we haven't been affected by the rising cost of living, although I'm always shocked when we receive our electricity/gas bills etc, it IS getting expensive and I feel bad for those on a low income, how do they ever get ahead? sad

I think for a family to live comfortably these days you would need to be earning at least 80k a year smile

What is your partners roster like? What does he do, if you don't mind me asking?

WOW see that's crazy money to me! even $100k is crazy money to me. (sorry if that comes across as rude, I don't mean it to)

I think that's why my DH thinks about FIFO sometimes - move to Aus, get some good cash for a few years then move back here and buy a house.

smile it depends what kind of job you do though lol DH is a saftey advisor and there is amazing money in that, but he works hard for that money, he is looking after alot of people ensuring their safety and what not, plus he studies externally through uni, getting all his degress done!!

What is your partners roster like? What does he do, if you don't mind me asking?

He's a saftey advisor, 3 weeks on 3 weeks off smile

Geez I think the average mortgage in W.A is just over $300K but I think the average house cost is over $400K. I always thought N.Z was cheaper than OZ

Nah I think NZ housing is ridiculously overpriced and in Auck there's a housing shortage, plus with the property boom that we had a while back people think they can get heaps for their houses so price them super high.
I think the avg price in Auckland is about $500k but it all depends on what area - south and west are cheaper than east and north. most place around here that are 300k are usually 2 bdrm units from what I've seen, or in really really crappy areas.

smile it depends what kind of job you do though lol DH is a saftey advisor and there is amazing money in that, but he works hard for that money, he is looking after alot of people ensuring their safety and what not, plus he studies externally through uni, getting all his degress done!!

yeah that would be a tough job - lots of pressure too. DH is a chef so he would be looking at that, even then he'd still earn about 80k from what we've looked at 2weeks on 2 weeks off. Still more than what we are on here.

He's a saftey advisor, 3 weeks on 3 weeks off smile

That is a really good roster, I wish DH got rosters like that. My DH has basically been told he is getting sent to work away again, it sucks so much his roster will be 26 days on 9 days off.
Where is he working at the moment?

Last year I was earning 65k.
Hubby is an apprenctice and is earning a little less than 40k. So that was good money for us.
I was getting paid fortnightly and would put 1k (pretty much $500 a week) away (it went towards our wedding).

I got made reduadant and has been unable to find another job, so i m astudying on centerlink benifits. ($182 a fortnight) we are struggling so much! We have no credit card or loans (we had bought a house but sold it earlier on last year - for no profit sad we had to sell becuase it was run down) so the main bills we have are rent, electiricty, food, daycare (althought I was also paying full price when I was working as we were not entirled to CCR/CCB) so daycare is alot cheaper and gas plus petrol and car rego etc.

When I was working we could afford to rent this house, but now we can't it seems like at the end of the fortnight (the off week I don't get centerlink) we are asking one of our mums to borrow $50 in which I get my C/L we pay them back. Once we move out of this house (4 weeks!!) we will get something a bit smaller and cheaper and by my caculations we will be fine then for money smile Plus DH gets a pay rise. still not much but everything helps!!?

That is a really good roster, I wish DH got rosters like that. My DH has basically been told he is getting sent to work away again, it sucks so much his roster will be 26 days on 9 days off.
Where is he working at the moment?

Usually only management get good rosters like that tongue

He works on Barrow Island, really enjoys it up there actually. I think you have to make the most of it though, I try not to let the time apart get to me, I guess I'm just used to it now lol

yeah that would be a tough job - lots of pressure too. DH is a chef so he would be looking at that, even then he'd still earn about 80k from what we've looked at 2weeks on 2 weeks off. Still more than what we are on here.

Yeah 80-100k for chefs usually, which is really good money compared to what they normally make! He should go for it, once you get used to it it's not too bad, plus even time rosters are awesome grin

Ruby can I ask where your DH is working as I know you are in W.A?

we are very lucky and don't do it hard like other FIFO families. He works just out of Collie and we're lucky enough to have him home every weekend smile This project won't last for much longer sadly and then we'll have to look at real fifo options. We've already discussed his time away and he wouldn't do any more than 2 weeks away, unfortunately that ratio isn't as good money as some of the longer ones and it'll be be hard to take the pay cut and the extra time away. I think he is keen to get on barrow next.

Lol I posted this on your other thread smile

Sorry! Don't know what happened there!

Dh boss on the other hand always have new stuff, always going on holidays, run two very nice luxury cars, regularly going out to restaurants etc. I realize that with their business some stuff would go through that, but still it often had me wondering how they managed.

just wanted to add that on $80k it is probable that some of their luxuries are on credit and not with cash. i'd rather be living on cash than on credit.

My god your families all earn excellent money compared to us!!

My DH works full time and I'm a SAHM together with centrelink we earn about $50k.

We struggle...I'm seriously considering moving to WA for DH to get a FIFO job. Im going to be studying at uni next year so will be good to have him home for 'weeks' at a time.

We have debt...and rent so we are forever forking out dead money.

Usually only management get good rosters like that tongue

He works on Barrow Island, really enjoys it up there actually. I think you have to make the most of it though, I try not to let the time apart get to me, I guess I'm just used to it now lol

Yeah I have heard that, he is going to Barrow Is. too as a supervisor but his swing is still 26/9 which is better then what he used to do. Some jobs were 4-6 weeks on and a week off. I guess that is why they earn the big bucks though.

wow, my dh earns like $40k a year plus bonuses ect, Im on about $12k through work, but also get ftb payments (about $120 p/f) and we seem to do fine. We own our cars- they were bought second hand, we dont have a morgage, our rent is $260 per week. Dh has a personal loan with about $1000 left, and i have a credit card about $1000 (had to pay vet bills sad)I tend to pay the bills from my wage and dh pays the rent and tries to save about $200-$300 a week from his pay.
We dont really budget as such, but we dont over spend either, we try to live within our means.
We dont exactly have a high income, but we certaintly are not struggling.

Yeah I have heard that, he is going to Barrow Is. too as a supervisor but his swing is still 26/9 which is better then what he used to do. Some jobs were 4-6 weeks on and a week off. I guess that is why they earn the big bucks though.

Yeh 4-6 weeks away would suck! 3 weeks is the most we've had to do thankfully. What company is he working for, I should tell DH to keep an eye out for him laugh

When we were a double income family we were on $140k a year, to me that was good money and that was six years ago. We had a very enjoyable lifestyle, paying a mortage, overseas holidays, regular dinners out, new clothes, thought nothing of spending $150 on a pair of shoes or $400 on a suit for work, basically whatever we wanted we bought and we had money in the bank.

For the past six years we've been a single income family on $94k a year, to me that is still a good income but it now funds a family of 4 and we do have to watch our money. That said DH's income affords that I can be a SAHM, we can pay the mortgage and the bills but we dont go out for dinner, we dont have fancy holidays and I really have to watch the budget. Between mortgage payments, life insurance, car insurance, health insurance, rates, water & sewerage, electricity, phone, car rego, maintenance, swimming lessons, school costs etc... we have to watch our money... but I'd rather watch the money than have to work, I want to be with the kids at this time. There's no way I buy expensive shoes or clothes now.

I cannot imagine blowing a $200K + income, if you invested some of that now the rewards in the future would be fantastic. Make hay while the sun shines I reckon!

My god your families all earn excellent money compared to us!!

My DH works full time and I'm a SAHM together with centrelink we earn about $50k.

We struggle...I'm seriously considering moving to WA for DH to get a FIFO job. Im going to be studying at uni next year so will be good to have him home for 'weeks' at a time.

We have debt...and rent so we are forever forking out dead money.

Depending on the company and what he is qualified to do, he could probably still get a job over here. There are plenty of guys that my DH works with that aren't from W.A.

Yeh 4-6 weeks away would suck! 3 weeks is the most we've had to do thankfully. What company is he working for, I should tell DH to keep an eye out for him laugh

He works for a company called Fremantle Construction. At the moment he is in Perth but he is doing a course at the end of Feb so he will probably be up there either end of March(after our holiday) or start of April. He is a formwork carpenter.

He works for a company called Fremantle Construction. At the moment he is in Perth but he is doing a course at the end of Feb so he will probably be up there either end of March(after our holiday) or start of April. He is a formwork carpenter.

Sounds good! I've been meeting so many fifo people lately it's crazy grin

just wanted to add that on $80k it is probable that some of their luxuries are on credit and not with cash. i'd rather be living on cash than on credit.

yeah, dh did say he was pretty sure they were up to their eyeballs. Even still, that money has to be paid back at some point! I couldn't live like that.

I often ponder on this subject.
At the moment my DH and I are struggling financially... well we call struggling. We have to scrape enough together to pay bills, but they get paid. We have had to sell a few things- like my Dh's V8 but we have two more cars and a ute which is my DH's 'project'.

Normally we have money to pay our expenses and eat well and then have money left to go on family outings and holidays for example. If we woke up on a beautiful Sat morning and decided to travel an hour to the beach we don't have to consider where the money for gas is coming from.

I have lived in situations where I have REALLY struggled from week to week like when I was a single mum on a benefit.... my parents paid my phone bill for me because I couldn't afford it after paying for all my other expenses. But I have been very happy poor and very happy living comfortably and just tighten when it is nessecary.

I would consider myself well of in the fact that if I came across a family that had no food for dinner I have in my house at all times the food to make an extra meal. Other people would consider us to be lower on the economic scale.

So for me 'good money' is enough to feed, clothe, and put a roof over my families head. Extras are a bonus. smile
I don't think that a number can be put on it because one person could feel very wealthy on 50k while others could feel extremely hard done by.

yeah, dh did say he was pretty sure they were up to their eyeballs. Even still, that money has to be paid back at some point! I couldn't live like that.

i work in insolvency and the amound of bankrupts we have that drive BMW's and Lexus is amazing. the cars are worth $40k and they owe $50k on them. just crazy. and crazy credit card debt.

i couldnt live like that either and i cant imagine anyone being truly happy living like that. the stress would kill me i reckon.