PerthNow’s Cash Confessions asks ordinary West Australians what their income is and what they spend their money on in a week.
This week, a 26-year-old Perth receptionist on $66,300 a year who lives on her own reveals what she spends her money on in a week.
Age: 26
Lives: City of Cockburn
Job: Administrator for a small family company (not my own family!)
Salary: $66,300pa (or $2,036 per forntnight/ $4,072 per month after tax)
Savings: $110,000
My savings are a combination of savings, leftover inheritance and building grant incentives which I use to offset my mortgage. This money rarely gets touched.
Monthly expenses:
Mortgage: $2048
Phone: $35
Streaming: $17 for Netflix and $14 for Spotify
Health insurance: $33.80
Groceries: I don’t have an exact budget set aside for groceries
About me:
I’m 26 and I work full-time as a receptionist for a small company.
I built my first house at the start of 2020 during the building boom when the government incentives came out for first homebuyers.
Although my building experience was an absolute trainwreck and very stressful, I am so glad I built when I did because the cost of houses and land have definitely skyrocketed since then.
Although I currently live alone, I do have a partner of two years who will move in towards the end of this year.
My main goal at the moment is finding a new job with a better salary because I’m not able to put much into savings at the moment.
I could help myself out by getting a roommate but after living in share houses and then back in with a parent, I am thoroughly enjoying being on my own for my mental health and it’s a financial sacrifice I am OK with for now.
I’d say the only reason I own my own home and have some savings in the bank is because I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a house at the right time with a fairly large deposit from my dad, who passed away when I was young. My dad left me $230,000 which I was given when I turned 18.
I had no idea what to do with the inheritance and I felt too young to make a big financial decision, so I put the money in a term deposit for a few years to gain some interest.
When I was around 20 years old, I bought my first car for $6,800 and that’s the car I still have now. In 2020 I decided to take advantage of the building grants and get into my own home because the interest rates were really low at the time and the price of building was still reasonable.
I put down a $200,000 deposit and the total cost for the home and land was around $550,000. My mortgage is currently $340,000.
Once the building process started, the grant money was put straight into my bank account which was a total of $45,000.
I transferred that into an offset account to help with the interest repayments and while I waited for the build to be completed, I bought a few things for the house but didn’t spend much on them. The build took three years and I was fortunate enough to be able to move in with my mum over that time, which helped me save a lot of money in rent and I was able to put as much as I could towards my savings.
My current take-home pay after tax is $2,036 each fortnight. My fortnightly mortgage repayment is $1,070 and I put $210 towards my bills account, although at the moment it doesn’t seem enough. That leaves me with $756 per fortnight (or $378 per week) for food, petrol, eating out, wants and other activities.
I’d say I’m quite good with money in the sense I don’t succumb to a lot of impulse buys.
I’m not one for any ‘luxury’ fashion items and I love a good discount! I haven’t bought new clothes in the longest time and when I do buy them, I’m always second-guessing if I should make the purchase.
I don’t drive a fancy car and it’s pretty economical on fuel. I eat out maybe one or two times a week, depending on if I get dinner with friends or my partner.
I’m pretty good with cooking dinners at home and I rarely get take-away. I always make my coffee at home but, on occasion, my partner and I will order food in on the weekends.
At some point, my partner and I would like to find a house that’s both of ours, whether we build or buy. We would love a big block. I knew when building this house that it wasn’t my forever home but I hope to keep it as long as I can financially and then rent it out in the future.
Day 1 – Thursday
Today was payday and I have automatic transfers that put $1,070 into my mortgage and $210 to my bills account.
That leaves me with $756 for the fortnight. I got a few things from Coles today like fresh fruit, eggs and milk which came to $42.08.
Total daily spend: $42.08
Day 2 – Friday
I try to make a conscious effort to do my weekly food shop after work on the Friday rather than on the weekend as the shops are quieter then.
Today’s spending was a combination of items from Aldi after I saw some great deals, such as bulk fillet steak that I could cut into seven portions, and then I went to Coles which have the other things you might need – simple stuff like breadcrumbs and deli meats. I bought a fair bit of meat at Aldi today due to the specials and I will freeze it and use it the following week for my meals.
Most of the time I’ll cook my meals so that I also have leftovers for lunch at work and I like to have a small back up in the freezer of lunches in case I have been out the night before and need something at short notice.
I really don’t like buying lunch everyday because it can really add up. I actually forgot one lunch this week – which is rare for me to do – so I had to buy it but most of the time I do my best to bring my own in to work.
I don’t set aside a certain budget for my groceries. I would say it fluctuates with how much I spend but I’m always conscious of the brands I’m buying and what specials are on. There are times I will also pop back to the shops to grab a few more things like fruit and milk during the week if needed.
Total daily spend: $105.87
Day 3 – Saturday
The only thing I spent today was $25.96 at Bunnings for some plants for my yard. I ripped the ugly plants out of my front verge and stuck some nicer ones in their place. I really enjoy gardening and am quite a homebody. I don’t really go out to the pub for drinks. I love pottering at home.
Total daily spend: $25.96
Day 4 – Sunday
I was home all day again and had a pie from the freezer for lunch and dinner was another steak.
Total daily spend: $0
Day 5 – Monday
I spent $22.80 at Coles for a few additional things and $11 on a pork roll lunch. I usually try to avoid buying my lunch but today it just slipped my mind. I made spaghetti bolognese for dinner because I had all the ingredients from my Friday shop.
Total daily spend: $33.80
Day 6 – Tuesday
Like every day, I left for work at 7am and didn’t get home until 4pm. I didn’t spend anything today. The lunch I took to work was leftover spaghetti bolognese and I made a chicken, salad, mayo and cheese wrap for dinner.
Total daily spend: $0
Day 7 – Wednesday
I didn’t spend anything today, lunch was a chicken wrap and dinner was another steak with salad as that was from the steak I had bought in bulk earlier in the week.
I didn’t see my boyfriend at all this week because he’s FIFO.
When he is in town, we’ll have a date night and we tend to split the cost of dinner if we go out, otherwise, we make dinner together at home. If we do a barbecue he’ll do the meat and I’ll do the sides.
On date night, we generally bring home Grill’d or Nandos or we’ll eat out somewhere that’s pub style. We don’t go anywhere fancy other than once in a blue moon, maybe for an anniversary, but it’s rare.
Total daily spend: $0
TOTAL WEEKLY SPEND: $1,487.71
Note: My weekly spend would actually total $207.71 if I don’t include the mortgage and bills transfers. The main cost was food. I also didn’t need to fill up my car this week but will need to next week which will cost me around $50 or $60.
Reflection:
Looking back, I think I spend a fair bit on groceries for one person and I think I could definitely reduce what I’m spending a little bit. I try every week to meal prep and then the laziness takes over which I want to improve on!
I think, overall, groceries are the main area I spend the most money on, apart from the mortgage, and I try to put a little bit of money away each pay and lately I’ve just let the remaining money sit there until next pay and then I can put away a bit more into savings or put it towards things like non-necessities (just stuff I would like to have).
I don’t like to restrict my everyday spending too much or put too much into savings only to then have to transfer money back for things like groceries and fuel.
I know I am very fortunate to be where I am and I didn’t write about my situation to try and boast because I have read about the cost of living crisis and issues with the building and construction industries and I know a lot of people who have suffered as a result and who are still struggling financially or waiting years for their homes to be completed.
I wrote into Cash Confessions because I have found it interesting to see what people’s situations are and how their everyday life differs from others.
I think I definitely live within my means with my current salary but I also feel very limited in this current economy, as though so many things are out of reach, and I know a lot of people are feeling the same way.
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