Author Topic: Australian spending habits - an infographic  (Read 13470 times)

limeandpepper

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Australian spending habits - an infographic
« on: June 01, 2013, 01:37:23 AM »
Just thought this might be interesting for some of the Aussies (and also non-Aussies!) on this board:

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/budgeting/spending/australian-spending-habits

Meals in restaurants - lower than I thought it would be. Bakery products - astonishingly high, especially in comparison.

It's also curious to see how having kids affect the expenditure of couples, and how it changes again as the kids grow up.

The comparison between different states intrigued me too - e.g. SA residents spending significantly less on holidays.

The data also made me kind of want to try out SA or TAS for the lower cost of living - I've visited both places and enjoyed them... but sigh, the boyfriend isn't as keen.

gooki

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2013, 01:48:42 AM »
Astonishingly high spending. $100,000 a year as the average spend for a couple with older kids.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2013, 04:46:34 AM »
Yeah, and the average lone person under 35 apparently spends more than I take home in salary after tax. Granted, I do also earn less than the average person.

happy

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2013, 05:39:36 AM »
With 2 kids between 14-24, I don't feel so bad...I'm doing way better than the near 100k. What they didn't show is when the amount starts to drop....ie how old to do they have to be to start costing less?

omni

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2013, 05:48:24 AM »
Census data is also interesting
http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0

Median family income for families with children is 2310/week. This is pretax. If there are 2 income earners earning equal amount at 1155/week each, take home is 924/week each or 1848/week for both.

omni

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2013, 05:59:33 AM »
With 2 kids between 14-24, I don't feel so bad...I'm doing way better than the near 100k. What they didn't show is when the amount starts to drop....ie how old to do they have to be to start costing less?
happy looks like some of the data is available here http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6530.02009-10?OpenDocument just not shown on infographic.

I attached a screenshot of the relevant part of the Excel sheet.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2013, 06:42:50 AM »
Nice find, omni! :)

Nudelkopf

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2013, 06:45:49 AM »
Median family income for families with children is 2310/week. This is pretax. If there are 2 income earners earning equal amount at 1155/week each, take home is 924/week each or 1848/week for both.
So, $1848/wk earnings for a couple. While spending $1700-1900/wk, they aren't really giving themselves much leeway!

happy

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2013, 08:05:06 AM »
Thanks Omni, thats great.

Yikes! looks like gonna get worse  for me before it gets better: that dependent and independent number is even higher.

Looks like once you are over 65 you magically become almost Mustachian....interesting.

AdrianM

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2013, 08:29:45 AM »
Good find Omni.

Couple with kid under 5, 1 year of spending  =$ 77,168  F*#k me those are after tax dollars too.

And only $26 a week on piss. Not good.

Have to show the wife just how good we have it.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2013, 08:36:41 AM »
Yeah I am quite surprised at the alcohol expenditure, because I know many people in their 20s and 30s who spend way more than that. Maybe the bar-hopping people are more balanced out by the homebodies than I imagined. Also, according to the chart, the highest alcohol expenditure is for couples with dependent and non-dependent children. Hmm. I guess it's because they're all of drinking age at that point. ;)

happy

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #11 on: June 01, 2013, 08:38:15 AM »
Might be the only refuge the longsuffering parents have left :)

gooki

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2013, 03:21:23 PM »
Looks like once you are over 65 you magically become almost Mustachian....interesting.

I suspect it becomes a forced decision for many folk. That and maybe wisdom finally kicks in.

Interestingly enough it's an across the board reduction in expenses. Not solely housing.

Still can't believe the average spend on food is $380 a week for one family. That's insane.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2013, 03:25:41 PM by gooki »

omni

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2013, 05:08:44 PM »
Housing looks a little surprising to me too. Would have thought it'd be more - e.g. on a 500k home at 5% interest, that's already $480/week, and for it to get more expensive as the family grow.

Transport and recreation also looks to be on the high side.

meadow lark

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2013, 11:34:36 AM »
You guys spend almost as much on shoes as childcare.  I am slightly confused - I'll just assume you guys all are beautifully shod.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2013, 06:12:25 PM »
Housing looks a little surprising to me too. Would have thought it'd be more - e.g. on a 500k home at 5% interest, that's already $480/week, and for it to get more expensive as the family grow.

Transport and recreation also looks to be on the high side.

Yeah, I thought housing would be higher. Maybe the people with fully-paid-off homes, as well as those who live with family rent-free brought the figures down? And transport - I guess that includes car repayments, parking etc. Wonder if it includes taxi fares? Still very high though. Recreation, I can actually see how it got to that number, if it covers eating out, drinking, movies, holidays and just about anything else that counts as fun.

You guys spend almost as much on shoes as childcare.  I am slightly confused - I'll just assume you guys all are beautifully shod.

Well, I guess pretty much everyone wears shoes, but not everyone has kids, and some who do, stay at home to look after them. The figure would be way higher otherwise, childcare is not cheap in this here parts...

Jules13

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #16 on: June 16, 2013, 08:16:58 AM »
This is really interesting.  We live in the states, but used to live in Oz (my hubby is Australian) and still travel there often.  Would be interested to see how much they save in comparison.  I'm guessing not much.  We, personally, don't know many savers in Oz.  But, it's also an expensive country.  Just ordered and shipped 4 pairs Levi's to a cousin.  With shipping, he still saved over $100.  The weekly food spend made me feel better about what we spend!  $380/week....WOW!!

Jules13

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #17 on: June 16, 2013, 08:24:20 PM »
Agree on the quality of life but I have to disagree on the salaries, SnackDog.  I mean, granted I don't know any engineers, but I know many in other field/occupations and nobody makes even close to that.  $400k??  Even those in the mining industry who  get paid ridiculous sums of money don't make that (I know some of them too).  My husband is in IT here in the states and makes more than he could make in Brisbane, which is only slightly lower than what he would make in Sydney.  He checks often. 

I'd be interested to know where you got your information.  I mean, geez, if that were the case, people in Australia would be falling all over themselves to become engineers.

But, yes...quality of life....you are too right about that.  It's a superb place to live...and visit.

minimalist

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #18 on: June 16, 2013, 08:32:06 PM »
Australia is expensive but a wonderful quality of life and spectacular salaries.  Experienced engineers can easily earn $4-500K/year.  The whole recession skipped Australia.

Bullshit. Experienced engineers make $100k-150k. No one makes $500k easily.

SnackDog

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #19 on: June 17, 2013, 02:49:14 AM »
How do I know? First hand!  I was both employing and recruiting them in Perth.  Salary $350k, bonus $100k, car allowance $50k cash.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #20 on: June 17, 2013, 03:41:30 AM »
Experienced engineers can easily earn $4-500K/year.  The whole recession skipped Australia.

How do I know? First hand!  I was both employing and recruiting them in Perth.  Salary $350k, bonus $100k, car allowance $50k cash.

Nice one. We get it, you worked in Perth for a few years and hobnobbed about with the 0.01%, that doesn't mean that's the norm.

From the reputable Australian job search website Seek, there are currently 622 jobs in Perth advertised in the Engineering field. Out of those, apparently 103 pay at least $200k a year. Out of those 103 jobs, how many would pay $350k+? Probably not that many. They would also most likely be FIFO contract jobs. So, no, I wouldn't say any experienced engineer could "easily" earn that kind of money. Only a very, very small minority. Additionally, there were significant layoffs during the GFC, so no, I wouldn't say the whole recession skipped Australia, even if generally speaking we did do relatively okay.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2013, 03:47:40 AM by limeandpepper »

happy

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #21 on: June 17, 2013, 04:21:29 AM »
+1 lime and pepper.

and minimalist
Quote
No one makes $500k easily.


happy

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #22 on: June 17, 2013, 04:38:40 AM »
Clearly your company is the only one paying such salaries......
FWIW, I just did a search and couldn't come up with anything over 200k. So if they exist I'm not sure how anyone would find them.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #23 on: June 17, 2013, 04:46:01 AM »
We're obviously dealing with a troll here. One whose personal experience apparently trumps job search websites, and even government-collated figures.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6302.0Main%20Features7Nov%202012?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6302.0&issue=Nov%202012&num=&view=

Yes, Australia does have good salaries in general, and Perth does have a higher average salary than other states, but the fact is, most people are not making outrageous salaries.

TomTX

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #24 on: June 19, 2013, 05:08:54 AM »
We're obviously dealing with a troll here. One whose personal experience apparently trumps job search websites, and even government-collated figures.

I don't know if Australian government is more efficient, but my experience in the USA is that the government numbers are often quite out of date.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #25 on: June 19, 2013, 06:03:16 AM »
We're obviously dealing with a troll here. One whose personal experience apparently trumps job search websites, and even government-collated figures.

I don't know if Australian government is more efficient, but my experience in the USA is that the government numbers are often quite out of date.

Yes, because one person's experience and a random web article is so much more reliable.

marty998

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #26 on: June 19, 2013, 03:43:31 PM »
I used to work in a little accounting office doing tax returns. Biggest group certificate I saw was for an investment banking analyst for a tick under $1m. But there was one petroleum engineer who was on $450,000 (this was in 2005). So the comment from Snackdog about sky high wages is not totally over the top.

All I know is that I certainly picked the wrong career :)

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #27 on: June 19, 2013, 09:49:35 PM »
I used to work in a little accounting office doing tax returns. Biggest group certificate I saw was for an investment banking analyst for a tick under $1m. But there was one petroleum engineer who was on $450,000 (this was in 2005). So the comment from Snackdog about sky high wages is not totally over the top.

No one is disputing that those sorts of salaries are possible. What we're disputing is that ANY experienced engineer can just rock up to WA and instantly start earning 500k+ salaries EASILY. ;)

SnackDog

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marty998

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #29 on: April 07, 2014, 04:26:35 PM »
If you were on an offshore rig for several weeks at a time having to cook meals to feed hundreds of big beefy blokes so they can keep a multi billion dollar oil well pumping out the sweet stuff then yeah I reckon the chef should be paid well for his or her trouble.

There is a genuinely good reason for the big $$$. It's not like the cook is flipping burgers at the local Maccas.

Most people wouldn't last a couple of days on an oil rig. It's genuinely solid hard work.

Cassie

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #30 on: April 07, 2014, 08:57:37 PM »
My hubby is a PE civil engineer with years of experience in many areas. I will have to look into this. Maybe he will need to un-retire for a few years. He has always wanted to go to Australia.  If will be interesting to see if the incredibly high salaries are true or not.

EngineerMum

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #31 on: April 11, 2014, 08:30:33 AM »
I sure WISH snack dog was right. As an experienced engineer in Perth, I can tell you I'd LOVE to be in one of his jobs if his numbers are real. Heck, I reckon I could convince my hubby to let me go FIFO for a year for $500k. However, I buy the APESMA and IEAust salary surveys every year, and my salary is well and truly mid-range for Perth engineers - and it's under $150k. I know engineers here who have had to move out of the city to get any job, and others who haven't found a new job yet having been made redundant when their companies didn't manage to come out of the GFC unscathed. So my anecdata suggests Snackdog may be exaggerating a little.

Cassie

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #32 on: April 11, 2014, 04:35:28 PM »
You know what they say when something sounds too good to be true-it probably is !!  Thanks for the real info.

SnackDog

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Re: Australian spending habits - an infographic
« Reply #33 on: March 30, 2017, 04:42:43 AM »
Looks like mining salaries are coming down in Australia.  A paltry $109,000 for unskilled new hires to learn to drive a truck.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/91017971/australian-mining-boss-gina-rinehart-turns-to-netballers-to-cut-costs-at-roy-hill-mine

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!