What would be cost of living for me & my wife and 1 baby: Rent, food & transportation?

Question

Am planning to settle in Melbourne for good, if I rent 2 bedroom flat in outside CBD, without using a car. What sort of salary I should be looking for to live well.

Answer 1

Hi,

Under the following assumptions:

- You'll be working in the Melbourne CBD (if you live outside CBD you might wanna live closer to your work)

- You want to live in  suburb with a good public transport directly to Melbourne CBD (since you decide to have no car and it's wise since you can save a lot of money on living cost)

I have chosen the following suburbs - within 5-10km from Melbourne CBD (Melbourne City is not a big city like London, the city itself is small and anything outside Melbourne CBD we call them suburbs which range from 3-5km for inner city living or further than 5km for suburbs. Anything further than 20-25km we call them outer suburbs.

Eastern Suburbs tend to be very developed, so it's possible to live 19km in eastern suburb and be paying the same price as living 7-8km in the western suburb.

The following suburbs are located in the northern or north west of Melbourne CBD but still considered close and convinient to catch a public transport to  Melbourne City. All has great parks, schools (kinder, primary, highschools),cafes/restaurants/bar strips and good public transports.

Please note that Trams are slower than Trains, although they have its own line/lane, sometimes it merges with cars and follow the same traffic light rules.

Suburbs such as:

- Coburg (approx 9km north of CBD, and there's a direct tram to the city which will take you approx 45 mins).

- Ascot Vale, Flemington, Kensington (approx 4-6km north west of CBD, there's a train line approx 15 mins to city or Trams ranging from 30-40 mins)

- A Blackhorse suburb would be one which is called Essendon (approx 10-12 km north west of CBD, there's a train to the city which will take you approx 15-20 mins to CBD)

The rent for those suburbs for a 2 bedroom flat (sometimes with car park) ranging from AU$300 - AU$350/week.

To live well:

- Be able to eat out once a week to a restaurant and get a take away once a week

- Cover all bills including paying for your wife and 1 baby

- Save a bit of cash for the rainy day

- Have a holiday within the state of Victoria once a year or within Australia once every 2 years

You will need (I'm taking the higher cost and worst case scenario so it's better for you to estimate more than less :-)):

- Rent = $320/week = $16640/year

- Utility Bills (Gas, water, electricity) say approx $60/mth per utility so approx =$2160/year

- Internet and Phone Bills (mobile phone and landline phone say approx $90 for both/mth) = $1080

- Grocery Bill = $150/week = $7800/year

- Entertainment (Movies, buying ocassional books/magazines, buying clothes, renting DVD and getting Take away, etc) = $50/week = $2600

- Savings (for rainy day or that annual holiday)=$100/week = $5200/year

You TOTAL COST OF EXPENSES = $35480/year.

Depending on how much you earn, you might be able to get a family assistance money from the Government.

Without relying on the government, based on the assumptions of living standard and the living expenses above, you'll need to earn approx AU$60,000 to $65000/year (after tax you can bring home approx $35000 to $42000).

You could save or increase your saving more by finding better deals for Utilities and phone/internet as in Melbourne, the companies are very competitive to win your business and it's easy to switch electricity, gas, phone, internet companies to get a better deal. In Addition, the further suburb you live as well as the place conditions, you might be able to pay cheaper rent.

Hope this helps!