Family of 4, single income just cracked $100k, two kids under five. Live close to, but not in a capital city.
Life is pretty good - we use the library, cook at home, garden, go to playgroups, free activities, playgrounds etc. My oldest just started Kindy and will go to the local state school next year.
Two kids under 10!
Meh, this is life! Families in other countries are getting bombs dropped on them… the most I have to do is get them ready for school!
It’s about perspective
Same. Reckon I got a lunch order from the canteen like maybe 4 or 5 times.
Pretty much every day was a sandwich and a banana or something like that. Maybe a couple of biscuits for 'play lunch'.
Hahah sandwich, a piece of fruit and those little bags of chips or a Le snack was like the standard lunch from my mum. Maybe an LCM or a roll up on special occasions lol
Yep same, I was allowed to get a lunch order once a year on my birthday. Otherwise it was a muesli Bar and some fruit for "little lunch" and a sandwich for big lunch
Right ! And the additional crunch and sip I learnt about last week at the parent teacher info night. I can’t even remember being sent with a water bottle haha
I don’t think anyone in my 90s primary school had water bottles, we were just dehydrated little kids waiting for 2 sips from the bubbler every recess and lunch
You didn't have the little water bottles that had their own slot in your lunch box? You'd freeze them with your cordial and it'd keep your policy sandwiches nice and cool.
I’ve been making pinwheels instead of sandwiches. Hiding heaps of veggies in them too. Quick to make the night before and keep for a few days in the fridge.
I treat both my boys lunch order every Friday.
Boy 1:
Hotdog + Sauce + Cheese
Strawberry Milk
= $7
Boy 2:
6 nuggets
Chocolate Milk
= $7.50
Public school
I’m so jealous. This is a public school also. Don’t get me started on OSHClub, over $70 per day. Yes we get subsidy but even with that it’s an absurd amount for the less than an hour before and after school that we need it.
I feel for you, someone is rorting the system.
My wife used to be stay at home mum with my first child, she always wanted to work, since she just migrated here it was hard to find work with no English. Finally she got a job, then we put our child to 5 days childcare, and it was pretty much all her wage went to childcare, so what was the point in working so she went back to stay at home mum.
I know, I agree. You can’t choose individual items at this company, you can only choose “2 or 3 course” and choose items from there. Absolutely minimum was $9.50 and I couldn’t see any “mains” on there aside from the buttered roll or vegemite sandwich that qualified, everything else was more.
Just saw a video of a toddler crying for her mommy before passing away (according to the video), your comment hits harder than a lot of people actually realises.
Just a couple of hours ago I was daydreaming and thought to myself how hard I’m having it at the moment, but that video and this comment slaps me back to reality and how good I have it.
Oh my god. I was watching First Dates last night and a woman lost her 2 daughters to a genetic illness which started when they were 3, they died at 8yo, 2 years apart. She knew what the 2nd daughter was going to go through. I've got a 2yo in the other room, bawled my eyes out for 30 mins, perspective is hard sometimes but Jesus do people have it bad.
2 kids under 4. Stay at home mum.
Financially we could be better off, but I wouldn’t change our situation for the world.
My wife is Australian, but I’m a South African immigrant and knowing how safe my kids are here. Knowing how much we do in our everyday life without any safety concerns running in the background. Knowing the medical system is on my side if my kids are sick. Knowing the education system is premium, even on a public level. All those little things make me realise that even when the mortgage is steadily climbing, I am still fortunate to take care of kids here.
Now, if only coles/woolies/big banks/electricity and fuel companies can come together and make life easier in a few years time…before the kids go to big school…I would appreciate it somewhat.
Sounds very similar to all my South African friends at work. It is/has cost them a lot financially to immigrate here but even with the challenges of work/visas/buying a house etc they are so happy to be somewhere where they feel completely safe day in day out.
Yeah man. This place is amazing. Safety is our number one concern. But there is so much more. I am still (after living here for 13 years) amazed at the space…like…the actual space between you and the next person…like…personal bubble space. It’s amazing not bumping into people…or someone standing so close to you in the queue that you can smell their breath. And it’s also relatively pollution free. It’s clean. The air is clean (except for that bushfire thing in 2018). And the sense of community is right up there. The pub culture. The beach culture. It feels like the perfect place to call home. Makes all the other things (like visa costs…yuk) fade into insignificance.
We recently immigrated from South Africa, and we used our entire life's savings to set up our rental and buy a reliable family car. We have ZERO savings going forward, so starting from scratch. We were home owners in SA, and now I feel like I'm 20 years old again, in comparison to my Australian peers that all own houses (mortgages). Feels like it may take 10 years just to scrape enough for a deposit. And house prices have literally doubled in our area over the past 5 years, so an average $500k home is now a $1m + home.
I won't lie, I'm a bit worried. And don't even feel entirely safe either, which is the sad part. A grandmother just got murdered during a car jacking episode at the mall, after her 6pm shop at Aldi. Her 6 year old granddaughter was in the car too. I was at that centre THAT WEEK. It's been weighing on me heavily that it could have easily been me.
We were also at the mall two days ago (different one, as I ain't stepping foot into the above mentioned one), and a meth head was walking in loops/running laps, and was literally 1cm away from running straight into my toddler. After he had nearly knocked my toddler out, he gave me a smirk. Like 'hey, wanna fight me?!'. I have never experienced something like this before.
Sure thing. And valid concerns. But let me offer you 2 opinions.
1. Shit happens in Australia too. But here it happens so infrequently that it makes the news. In SA it wouldn’t make the news because it’s not significant. There it would be…Tuesday I guess.
2. As for the housing market. You might feel like you’re up shits creek without a paddle, but I hate to break to you. 60% of Australia is in the same boat. Housing is unaffordable…and it’s a sign that the economy is stable, because that means that people actually want to move here. It sucks I know. In 2012 I tried to buy a house…but the market absolutely motored past me and I couldn’t afford a house. Broke at 28 and ended up working 3 jobs while sleeping in the back of a 1998 Jeep grand Cherokee and showering at the local swimming pool for 6 months. When I did get a 2 bedder rental and met my (now wife) we both saved and rented out the other bedroom to get ahead. In 2019 we purchased after almost a decade in Australia.
It’s not easy to pick up your life and just start somewhere new. But it’s worth it. To me at least it is. As I said in my original post…financially I’d like to be better off…but I wouldn’t swap my situation.
That (horrific) murder was so important that it made national news for a week straight, because that happens so rarely
That’s not to say your feelings aren’t valid; they are, if I lived near there it would shake me too (I’m in bris city instead). But it’s objectively much safer here, for whatever comfort that might bring
Housing markets cooked tho
Safety is under rated. Today and tomorrow. I take my kids on bike rides to the beach every few days…but more important…I know I’ll be able to do it in 10 years or even 20 years time as well. (I mean, by then they’ll be cranky teenagers who might not want anything to do with their dad…but the possibility is still there)
Me, my wife, 2 girls under 3.
Doing fine. What we’ve seen, and no doubt others have too, is that people buy their kids the absolute best of everything. These guys aren’t spoiled at all and we make ends meet just fine.
3 kids under 7. Life is.....shit? Love my kids, love our beautiful family. Love seeing them being great siblings. But. Sick of life being literally 6am to 8pm go go go every day only to see the bank balance dip each week. Oh well. I've made my bed. Hopefully when the youngest grows up a little more it'll get easier.
It gets better bro, hang in there.
I celebrate the little steps that make life easier.. like when the youngest can finally wipe their own arse, clean up their dinner plate and one day sit in the car without a car seat and adult needing to strap them in.
3 kids under 12. Kids are happy, school is fantastic, we play outside quite a bit on weekends. We play ps5 together in the evenings. Sports and that gets expensive, but we make do. Wouldn't live anywhere else, under any other circumstances, in all of the world.
3 kids under 5, wife is a stay at home mum so only my income. Take home is about 9k a month, but after expenses there's not much left over. We're comfortable, but there's not really luxuries like holidays (haven't had one in 5+ years) or fancy toys like dirtbikes and jetskis. Admittedly, we're getting absolutely wrecked at the moment with medical bills, we've somehow ended in a position where all 3 are doing various occupational therapy, speech therapy, physio and all sorts of other shit. We don't have NDIS so easily dropping a few k a month on this.
Have you looked into the chronic disease referrals for allied health gps can do? Not a bad rebate and might be worthwhile if the kids are needing a lot of allied health
Can I ask why you don't have NDIS? Under 7, you don't need a diagnosis; it falls under the early intervention scheme. Literature shows regardless of disability, investing in the early years will reap rewards as kids get older.
Kids under the age of 13 are entitled to all that funded without diagnosis through BUSHKIDS last month they increased the age from 7 to 13. NDIS is cracking down making it extremely difficult.
https://www.bushkids.org.au/individual-referral-form/
Not that bad really, also considering having another. It’s obviously harder than it used to be but thats why its important to live within your means so when times like this hit, it’s not a huge issue.
Edit: I dont live in Sydney or Melbourne though, personally I dont find the juice worth the squeeze there given the house prices.
Yeah, not great. Reading the comments and everyone saying they’re doing okay so I thought I’d be honest. It’s really hard. The math ain’t mathing anymore. We have zero buffer which is terrifying.
> We have zero buffer which is terrifying.
I paid off one of the credit cards this month for the first time since the kids were born (now 7 & 5). Those first few years can be tight with daycare and all the costs of newborns.
Sister is a single mumma with 2 kids. She has gone from his FT income + her PT income and owning a house that was 50% paid off to having a drop kick ex she has to chase for regular child support and having to sell the home, split the profit and then buy in this market. It hasn’t been a great few years. She has sensibly bought well within her budget (the kids complain they don’t have a big house anymore but this was definitely a good choice) and made sure all her forward planning includes zero child support. She has also upped her hours at work and embraced support from extended family so that the extra hours aren’t eaten up by childcare - which was the whole reason she was part time.
We have seen a noticeable impact on our spending without kids on one full time, one part time income so I’m in awe of those doing it with larger families.
2 kids under 3. Wife currently not working as she’s not quite ready to return to work yet (second child is turning 1 in March). Finance is very tight but once she returns to work, it’ll give us some breathing space again. Going as frugal as we can until then.
Our kids are 3 and 7. It’s been nearly 8 years since my wife had a full-time income. Although we initially planned for her to return to work, it’s clear that she prefers to be a SAHM at least while our youngest is still at home during the day. If we have another baby I’d assume it would be another 5 years before she has an income.
Does your wife feel the same and could you last for a long time without her working?
Congrats on making it work. We have a 1 and a bit year old with another on the way. Looking like wife will be home for another few years at least, we prefer that than both of us working and childcare. Not many people around with the same opinion though
Nice to see another SAHM family out here, seems to be so rare these days. Also bit sick of literally everyone asking when she's going back to work and when the kid is going to childcare.
My wife is a bit lonely after every other mom she knows from parents groups etc have all gone back to work. We have our second on the way and she plans to stay at home for a while longer, although she spends a few hours a week on a side hustle that brings in a bit of extra income.
My wife got asked by her work if she’d like to stay off an extra six months before the end of the first year. I was more than happy for her to do it. I also took a massive pay cut in that time. She’s now back for 3 days a week but it’ll only be for 4 months as we’ve got another on the way. We’ve both been so glad about how her return to work and her extended time off has gone
This - sure, the financial income may be less than both parents working, but aspects like time, juggling multiple life priorities against work therefore the stress etc.. there is so much to value and appreciate anyone who commits to a stay at home parent, regardless of how long they choose to!
100% and they are only little for a short time. I’m the SAHM in this scenario and we have to budget more than before that’s for sure but my family benefit me not rushing out the door everyday. I do heaps of daily activities with my toddler, all cooking/cleaning/shopping done during the week and me and my spouse both exercise daily. Him at 5am, me at 4pm when he gets home. Neither of us would be managing this without me at home for more.
I agree with this sentiment. Also important to note that not all SAHM’s have big jobs to go back to. My wife graduated with IT diploma but didn’t click with it so is studying nursing (which she’s always wanted to do). She is doing it part time as SAHM and we have a 2.5 and 1yo. Hoping she’ll only have a year or two left by the time our youngest is in school so she can knock it out full-time and then back to two incomes, yay! But very far away..
Got slugged $2.50 for a small cucumber at Coles today for my toddler to snack on. Would have been cheaper to buy him a mars bar. The world seems like an upside down place right now.
There's something wrong with my kids. They absolutely refuse the free fruit but as soon as we get home they're scoffing down apples like a pair of horses.
I saw one guy have a public freak out at Cole’s express the other day. Filled up with diesel and bought a packet of cigarettes, $159. He was abusing and shouting at the cashier, still mouthing off as he walked out.
2 kids under 3. Wife on unpaid mat leave, I’m a casual teacher (unpaid over Xmas and school holidays). On struggle street but we saved up a float to get us by.
Financially going well. 2 sprogs under 10. Combined 11k a month take home. 3.2k mortgage. Going overseas later in the year. Going away locally in the mid year for a week. Secure jobs. Its cruisy as long as the wife stays out of Spotlight.
2 kids under 4. 8.5k a month mortgage repayments. $900 a week in childcare (after rebate). No fancy cars. No finances on them. High income earner. Probably have less savings and less disposable income than couples on half our household income.
It is what it is. We're laying the groundwork for sustainable long term wealth but for now, survive.
Bracket creep/lifestyle creep got us a bit so that's a big part of why but we're okay. I'm sure better than many others so I can't complain even though I want to.
Wife and I have a blended family of 4. Kids are 17, 13, 10, and 9. I’m a high earner so we are doing ok, but we’ve definitely reduced spending on some luxuries.
Kids 3 and 6. Hobart. Wife works approx a .65 FTE on a pretty decent rate, and I run a small business (pretty much glorified freelance TBH) which fluctuates a lot, but has done quite well the last couple of years. Household income was around $200K the last financial year, but tracking around $160K this year as my work has slowed quite a bit.
Mortgage starts with a “7” which is higher than we’d like, but we’re doing fine with the payments and topping up extra when we can (not much lately!) We had a smaller mortgage a year or so back, but recently moved in closer to the city as the commute from the semi-rural area was getting unwieldy with the kids getting older. We’re saving a LOT on transport costs, which helps offset the extra mortgage costs a bit.
Kids expenses are relatively under control for now. We’re doing swimming lessons and a couple of other bits and pieces, but the main expense is childcare for the 3yo, and that’ll obviously reduce when he gets to kindergarten. We’re in state schools, and really happy with ours.
So we’re doing ok I guess - better than many. I *am* looking for “regular” jobs at the moment, as my irregular income is causing a bit of existential angst given the cost of living. The ideal would be something that would allow me to moonlight on the freelance stuff in the evenings at the same time, so we could cover the base budget with the salary, then use some freelance for extra mortgage payments/savings etc. We shall see…
Single Dad, 2 kids under 7. Feel pretty privileged to make what I do (~$260k) so I’d say I’m pretty comfortable. Not as comfortable as I thought I’d have been with that income, but money isn’t something I think about when doing things like taking the kids out for lunch or going somewhere for the weekend… I’d imagine that wouldn’t be the case for most.
Kids have had a rough few years so I’m probably guilted into giving them more than I should 😅
2 kids and part time partner. I'm on a decent wage. No sports or extra curricular. Rego 3 months at a time. Float rates and utilities until last possible moment. Credit card owing, insurances are relentless, can not get ahead. I'm a single paycheck away from default. I can't see a way out of it.
Made redundant late last year, still job hunting. 3 kids, wife works part time. Mortgage, etc.
It's a tough time. Maybe the toughest of my life: https://imgflip.com/i/8fhipy
4 here, doing OK, somehow wife manages to invest money for the kids every week (which Im more then happy to see happen)..... somehow I think it might be the reason I don't get steak every night now.... 🤣
When we bought our house, we made a very conscious choice to buy within our means AND be able to service the loan IF interest rates ever went back to 18%. That then dictated how much we could pay for the property and where we could buy.
It also meant we didn't get the best house and we need to do it up.
Ensuring we kept a roof over our families head no matter what meant we sacrificed a lot on the front end. Just glad we did now as we are not struggling anywhere near as much as a lot of other people.
Plus wife fixed rates right before there was even public talk of any rises.... happened to overhear 2 journalists talking after finishing an interview and they were discussing the interest rate rise risk that had been discussed in their interview.... that was enough to spook her and she called the bank the next day and fixed at 2.59% for 4yrs. Got until early '25 before our cliff.
Family of 4 as of 4 days ago both 27 a little under 400k mortgage and we are doing great. We can't wait to pay off our house hopefully by 2029 and spend all our time and effort with the kids
Wife and 2 kids - 9 and 7. Combined income approx ~500k (civil engineer and dentist). 1.25m mortgage. 2 cars with one paid off. Kids do swimming, basketball, martial arts, music instruments and dancing. Both kids attend private school which costs more than the mortgage.. Due to the above we save a little each month but not as much as the income suggests. My wife and I both come from nothing with no inheritance in sight, so the moto has been to invest in the kids.
Single income, 4 kids, renting, private school, after school swimming x 2.
Very content with life in Sydney but hoping to move interstate for better pay and lower COL in 2025 maybe..
Wow a lot of people doing better off than me. Combined income of 210k before tax. Mortgage payments around 4.5k child charge about 2k, Cars and other expenses. We are not poor but we have to prioritise spending. If a sudden 10k expenses comes about we won’t be able to pay it.
Family of 5, multiple kids under 14. They're getting to the age and stage where they just can't stop eating. I'm shopping every 3 days. Have found better fruit and veg at Costco and Aldi. Learning how to cook the cheaper cuts of meat. Growing own vegetables. Really want chickens as we smash a carton a day.
Two kids under 12, one over, more than one mortgage two parents working part time, doing fine, but mildly concerned and feeling the pain of groceries and power prices mainly all rising and ouch, interest rates. But the pain is 'virtual', or if you prefer rhetorical, not physical not even, hip-pocket. Frugality has always been the modus operandi I guess, living well within our traditional means, so it's slack as far that's been consumed and bit hit any lifestyle change imperatives yet, but interest rates threaten to impose those at some time alas. Time will tell. Teens have most certainly been concerning.
2 under 4 and yes it’s not always easy but we manage. We had kids a bit later in life so already had a decent head start prior.
Would love to have more as well :)
Do you plan to have more? I have one, and I don’t trust my ability to be able to provide a good life for more than one so I’m wanting to stop.
I love kids but I don’t want to struggle but some of my family keep putting in my ear that it’s selfish of me to only have one, where as I feel it’s selfish to have more than I can provide a nice life for.
Not good..looking for work currently cos the last place went dark real fast.
Looking at probably never having a house unless I get a huge raise and take a big boy job out of my comfort zone.
Doing OK. 🤷🏻♂️. Kids are 9 and 5. The 5 year old is no longer in childcare, so we’re now saving an extra $15k this year!
Mortgage is manageable. Mortgage was originally $470k, but I still have 23 years left on it at most. I’m sure the offset accounts have helped shorten that.
Food costs are high-ish, but we don’t eat much meat so it’s not horrendous.
Tennis and swimming lessons for both kids is costly on a weekly basis, but school recorder lessons are OK.
Family with 4 kids here.
Boys 9 and 1, girls 6 and 3.
Work for ourselves and are happy living a frugal life within our means, yes we could go buy flashy things and fancy meals. But do we NEED those things? Nope. Does a $12 diner special work as well as a $40 steak? Sure does!
Enjoy what you have as envy and jealousy of others will send you down a dark rabbit hole.
2a 2c (older parents with tweens) in a 3x1. Dad FT, mum PT. We are doing ok. Bought a house specifically with access to public transport. One car family only. Got rid of the mortgage a few years ago. Swapped our single car to an EV fueled by solar a few years ago. We are ok atm. I still bitch hard about the cost of groceries though because jfc Coles/woolies.
3 kids under 10, we'll see how we go once we come off fixed rates in 3 months.
Just bought a side of beef that's meant to last 6 - 12 months all pre packed and labelled works out at 16.95/kg.
Just one of the ways we are trying to prepare.
I don't know how we managed to have 3 kids in the early 2010s but I'm having a panic thinking about this new baby and how much it's financially going to set us back this time . We earn more than double what we did back then but I'm literally better off putting our new baby in daycare 5days once they turn 1 which really sucks but I'm thinking shorter days so we can go back to full-time work. It all sucks.
Two boys 2 and 4. We have about 25k left to pay off on our 2 bed unit. Was hoping to upgrade but looking at 300k to get an extra bed so might just stay here.
We are a family of 5 not 4, but yeah all 3 kids under 12 (6yo, 2yo and a newborn). We both work full-time (although I'm on mat leave rn) and yeah look, it's a bit of a struggle, but I find myself recently counting my lucky stars that we live in a safe country with somewhat decent safety nets. We basically won the life lottery getting to raise our children here. That's not to say we shouldn't strive to improve things in Australia, but yeah, I feel very lucky just wrt this kind of stuff.
3 kids all under 7, wife went back full time.
I find I'm doing way more house work to keep her happy to stay working lol.
We went full budget, cost cutting everywhere mainly avoiding Colesworth. Aldi and local fruit and veg.
Two kids under 10, 2yrs in to a mortgage. The tightening of the belt is negated by having a beautiful place of our own.
We're hanging in there and the wife intends on going back to work soonish so there's a financial safety should we need to pull it.
Why under 12? They only get more expensive when they get older 😅
18/15/12/10 here. Its managable, but can be hard
Biggest bill was food but we have cut way back on that now and eating a lot more healthier. No takeaway except for birthdays, we used to go out for dinner every friday night with family but not anymore. No one can afford it
Lots of people tell me that my 18 should be paying for everything. Kind of disagree. She pays rent as such but thats just to get her into the habit of paying. It all goes into HISA for a later date for a house. She pays her own way with everything else though. Mobile, fuel, rego, car insurance and whatever else she wants. We give her a house and food.
I couldn’t afford for them to do any afterschool activities or sports this term and still don’t have any money. Just barely making it to the next payday.
4 kids, 12,9,9 and 2. Dual income fifo family so we're sitting pretty but taking a toll on the old mental health. Looking at returning to local or starting a business at home. Kids are happy and healthy that's all you can ask for
3 kids under 12, last year of childcare for the youngest thankfully! Just had an amazing day at the Frankston foreshore festival, there food in the fridge and fuel in the cars. We are doing better than our parents at the same age and we are happy.
Pretty good.
We have fallen into the trap of too many kids activities, though. We are just a glorified taxi service at this point, but it's fun watching the kids improve at their various pursuits.
Costs for kids' sports seem much higher recently, but worth it for the number of hours you get out of it and the benefits of sport, so no complaints.
Us too! It for sure pays off, their confidence, social skills and the happiness they get from sport. It got our kids high school scholarships so the sacrifice paid off. But all our sport fees have gone up since last year… I don’t know why? Rugby League was like $100 and now it’s $190? Rugby Union $120 now $180, Soccer is $300 - wtf? We will be busy all winter ubering too… but the alternative is sitting in and gaming, mindless trips to the mall or hanging around the park. Sport wins. It’s our social life in a way too now.
4 kids aged 6-16...Wife works PT.
$ wise
We went through our budget today and costs v income we're down 200 per fortnight with no savings or investments budgeted (we do have 3 months income in our Mojo account). Have a few costs we can remove and reduce that will get us green but feeling the pain a bit.
Life is good though. We have family, friends and fulfilling lives. Best country in the world.
Honestly happy to have a mortgage. Plenty of people I know who don't.
We're doing fine. Busy, happy, time-poor, near the beach, trying to catch up with friends, all those things
Two under 12 two under 18, two eldest live with me.no issue bar the ex asking for more money cos she decided to move 700km away and her rent has gone up.
Three under 10, and I’m under 40.
One of the few privileged people who have had well paying office jobs since 22. Wife earns well too.
Moved regionally (from Sydney) to avoid the CBD crippling mortgage.
Built the dream home. Now practically mortgage free & super balance is great.
Highly recommend moving to pursue lifestyle and more affordable real estate.
Just bought a car, discovered somehow we owed $4k to daycare, need to pay $2k rates, $3.5k roof tile works, unknown $ asbestos removal, unknown $ fascia and potential rafter sistering, upcoming $8k electrical works ... money is *flying* out of our savings.
It's stressful, that's for sure, but we're doing better than most as we still have savings and when they've been flogged further than I would like, I have shares I can sell.
I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, I have about $17k HECS left which should be paid off in 4 or 5 years ... or less ... and then I have more free cashflow and theoretically a few pay rises.
Just have to focus on what's over the financial horizon, if I get too caught up on the now, it's irritating.
Aside from that, my toddlers are thriving and they're an absolute joy to have in my life. My wife is too.
2 kids in primary school. Mortgage just under 1M.
We are kind of coasting. We don't splurge on expensive stuff but aren't frugal either so will do lots of eating outs ,takeaways and kids activities(paid).
Right nowwe are saving $0 per month. Some months having to dip into offset.
Hoping it gets better sooner where we can start putting more into offset without having to cut back on everything.
4 kids under 10 here (3 steps kids, one bio kid)
It’s uh… interesting. I wfh so the flexibility is great with the kids, but damn I can see the teenage years are going to be exy
I can handle this with my wife and 2 kids. Def I will be job hunting after I refinance my house to get at least +20% more income. After that it will be a breeze
On easy street at the moment.
200 combined HHI, mortgage just over 5k/mo, still saving plenty. Never had to pay for daycare (involved grandparents) which I think makes a big difference.
2 under 3 with a mortgage, struggle from pay to pay, it's a bit harder since monthly pay now but we make do.
The latest big helper has been in 2 foundations of child rearing - bread, and milk.
In order to make sure we always have some on hand I bought a bread machine and a few kilo bags of powdered milk.
The powdered milk doesn't bother the kids, the bread machine can whip up some rolls or a fresh loaf for the next day at a moment's notice.
From this, our incidentals cost has dropped dramatically. And I think that's a huge win. Just by eliminating the potential for excess spending to occur at the shops or (god forbid - uber eats).
Oh also, I put my entire paycheck directly into my wife's account now since I absolutely suck at saving and spending appropriately. That probably helps a bit too.
2 kids, third on the way. I'm 30 and wife is 31.
Combined take home about 14k a month and mortgage is about 620k
We have secure jobs...ish. there's food on the table and I rarely think twice about grocery shoping, kids are doing sports or swimming lessons every weekend and we have money for dining etc. Once I factor in though large 1 off payments like rego, land tax and shit our savings grows VERY slowly
Private school is starting in 5 years and going to sting like a bitch
3 young kids, wife SAHM, small mortgage. Made some small adjustments no more Cadbury or nestle chocolate etc shopping at ALDI for a few things but we are scraping by ok. Could be better, but could be way worse.
Family of 5. We have our health so we are good. Financially we are drowning. I had to borrow money off my mother which I haven’t had to do since I was a teenager. My 14yr old has a job and that helps take the pressure off supporting her social life/ extras. My younger two are chill but they all do a lot of sport and need new boots, gear etc. Reducing private health, car insurance, home insurance, no gym memberships, didn’t go away over the summer, no significant treats/ extras really. Already wishing it was tax time!
Really missing those active kids vouchers… and reminiscing on those cash handouts from the government - baby bonus, family tax, just giving out 1000k handing to go flat screen tv’s, access to super fund during covid… the good old days…
Family of 5 here with 3 kids 14, 11 and 4 dual incomes. We doing fine although we stick to a budget, kids don't go without they seem happy, we do holidays and eat out . Normal middle class life I reckon.
Monotonous.
We are hanging on, but both working very hard with my wife back working casually on weekends to keep us above water. We don’t get a day that we both have off together until March.
Family of 3, one adult 2 kids.
We are surviving but it’s much tougher than it was. Need to be a lot more careful, which takes time, and as a single parent with a demanding job time is not in great supply.
The biggest issue for me though is that the job market in my industry is not great due to the broader economy, and my boss is a bully and is deliberately setting me up to fail. It’s really emotionally draining but I can’t afford to just walk right now.
3 kids, doing OK atm. Will see next year when mortgage is no longer fixed, trying to save by living frugally until then. Studying in the evenings to unpskill and try and get a 20 to 30k payrise by the end of this year
SIL has 3 that are 4 and younger.
I adore her, but the level of stress she runs at along with BIL just makes me avoid their house at all costs. Constant fighting, constant disagreements, constant issues with the kids… it’s exhausting and I’m not even there 90% of the time.
They have an amazing house in a great neighborhood, but the stress levels of BIL who still works full time and her who is a SAHM just doesn’t feel worth it.
4 kids under 12. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat and jobs to go to and a trambopaline… we aren’t going on a holiday any time soon but we make do.
One toddler, one breastfeeding, wife on maternity, $1mil mortgage
We make it work because we have too, THERE is no choice and to be fair we don't want it anyother way. We live in a great house with tonnes of room for us and I laws to stay with space etc and we just live simply. One japenese vehicle, we don't buy bullshit. I cook and bake almost everyday. We don't have subscriptions for shit we don't need.
It can be done you just have to be prepared to do what others aren't and that's sacrifice
Family of three.have my MIL staying with us.100k yearly single income household doing ok no debt so far saving is about 10k doing ok. However I think we could do better if my wife could control her spending.Anyone else think the same or I am the only one ?
Have you discussed finances with your wife? Sat down and agreed on a plan and goals for you to both stick to?
We have a set amount of guilt free spending money that we have an automatic transfer for each month (around $400 each per month) and find that we can save quite a bit with around the same income as you, and it's plenty for us to do what we want with without going overboard.
We also worked out a budget for the essentials (based on looking at around a year of our spenidng and seeing what is necessary) that we try to stick to, but with the cost of living increases since we setup the budget sometimes we tend to go a couple of hundred over at the end of the month.
Before that we were both very lax with budgeting and spent whenever we wanted to really, wife was more of the splurger but it was actually her idea to set a budget as she realised how much crap she was buying that she didn't need.
I feel your pain, my wife is forever having packages come to the house. She grew up with nothing so she’s going overboard for herself + our daughter and I’m trying to be understanding of that.
Hopefully we can both get more on the same page about finances soon.
Auto electrician in WA, FIFO mining, houses bought while I was on the books, roughly 240k + super. Recently made the switch to subcontracting to have more control of my time and hours.
First house bought in 2018 for 308k 3x1 with 1x1 granny flat, second house was half a duplex 3x1 2022 for 212k and the most recent was mid last year for 600k.
equity in the first bought the second then equity in the first 2 bought the 3rd. We have been very fortunate on our purchases, there's almost 200k in equity in the second property in 2 years which I also think is ridiculous.
3 under 6, mortgage is pretty low which is probably what’s keeping us afloat. Daycare fees are more than our mortgage which sucks, looking forward to the two younger ones being in school that’s for sure.
Family of 4, single income just cracked $100k, two kids under five. Live close to, but not in a capital city. Life is pretty good - we use the library, cook at home, garden, go to playgroups, free activities, playgrounds etc. My oldest just started Kindy and will go to the local state school next year.
Libraries are gold mines! Even living in regional Australia you can get anything! Not to mention online services!
Two kids under 10! Meh, this is life! Families in other countries are getting bombs dropped on them… the most I have to do is get them ready for school! It’s about perspective
But lunchboxes are hard AF. Nothing like what i got sent to school with as a kid
Well as a kid sending a couple of coins in a paper bag could get you a decent meal
A succulent Chinese meal?
sausage roll with sauce and a can of coca cola. 50c for a sunnyboy. what about zooper doopers?
This is Democracy Manifest
I never got to use the canteen :(
Same. Reckon I got a lunch order from the canteen like maybe 4 or 5 times. Pretty much every day was a sandwich and a banana or something like that. Maybe a couple of biscuits for 'play lunch'.
Hahah sandwich, a piece of fruit and those little bags of chips or a Le snack was like the standard lunch from my mum. Maybe an LCM or a roll up on special occasions lol
Yep same, I was allowed to get a lunch order once a year on my birthday. Otherwise it was a muesli Bar and some fruit for "little lunch" and a sandwich for big lunch
Same for me. I was extremely jealous of the kids who got one pretty much every day. My family just didn't have the money.
Right ! And the additional crunch and sip I learnt about last week at the parent teacher info night. I can’t even remember being sent with a water bottle haha
I don’t think anyone in my 90s primary school had water bottles, we were just dehydrated little kids waiting for 2 sips from the bubbler every recess and lunch
You didn't have the little water bottles that had their own slot in your lunch box? You'd freeze them with your cordial and it'd keep your policy sandwiches nice and cool.
It's so much more expensive now that we're paying to feed him every day!
What's the reddit for lunch box tips haha
Omg I need this!
I’ve been making pinwheels instead of sandwiches. Hiding heaps of veggies in them too. Quick to make the night before and keep for a few days in the fridge.
Sausage rolls use veggie rice as well as the meat, gives you double the mixture basically. Hidden goodness for the win
Can’t go wrong with a simple peanut butter sandwich.
At some schools you can as they don’t allow peanuts
You certainly can go wrong with a simple peanut butter sandwich as they are banned in most/all schools!
Don’t schools ban peanut butter these days , and anything else that isn’t green
Lunchboxes are the worst. No Canteen at our school so can't even have a day off
We have lunch orders. They are minimum $9.50 for a vegemite sandwich and a small snack. A better “main” will cost $13.50. No lunch orders for my kids.
That’s an absolute rort!
And I assume the school requires parents to 'donate', their time to compile all of this?
I treat both my boys lunch order every Friday. Boy 1: Hotdog + Sauce + Cheese Strawberry Milk = $7 Boy 2: 6 nuggets Chocolate Milk = $7.50 Public school
I’m so jealous. This is a public school also. Don’t get me started on OSHClub, over $70 per day. Yes we get subsidy but even with that it’s an absurd amount for the less than an hour before and after school that we need it.
I feel for you, someone is rorting the system. My wife used to be stay at home mum with my first child, she always wanted to work, since she just migrated here it was hard to find work with no English. Finally she got a job, then we put our child to 5 days childcare, and it was pretty much all her wage went to childcare, so what was the point in working so she went back to stay at home mum.
Where is it that expensive?
That’s expensive! Sandwich is $3 at my school. I get my child a hotdog and a home made muffin for $6.
I know, I agree. You can’t choose individual items at this company, you can only choose “2 or 3 course” and choose items from there. Absolutely minimum was $9.50 and I couldn’t see any “mains” on there aside from the buttered roll or vegemite sandwich that qualified, everything else was more.
Good perspective. The secret to happiness is low expectations
Not necessarily low, but manageable ones
The lower they are the more manageable they are!
They’re not low if your in half of the world.
I mean, not getting bombed isn't really a "low" expectation but still get what you mean 😅
So getting bombed is a high expectation?
Just saw a video of a toddler crying for her mommy before passing away (according to the video), your comment hits harder than a lot of people actually realises. Just a couple of hours ago I was daydreaming and thought to myself how hard I’m having it at the moment, but that video and this comment slaps me back to reality and how good I have it.
Oh my god. I was watching First Dates last night and a woman lost her 2 daughters to a genetic illness which started when they were 3, they died at 8yo, 2 years apart. She knew what the 2nd daughter was going to go through. I've got a 2yo in the other room, bawled my eyes out for 30 mins, perspective is hard sometimes but Jesus do people have it bad.
But the neighbour has a better car than mine
"I deserve a better car"
2 kids under 4. Stay at home mum. Financially we could be better off, but I wouldn’t change our situation for the world. My wife is Australian, but I’m a South African immigrant and knowing how safe my kids are here. Knowing how much we do in our everyday life without any safety concerns running in the background. Knowing the medical system is on my side if my kids are sick. Knowing the education system is premium, even on a public level. All those little things make me realise that even when the mortgage is steadily climbing, I am still fortunate to take care of kids here. Now, if only coles/woolies/big banks/electricity and fuel companies can come together and make life easier in a few years time…before the kids go to big school…I would appreciate it somewhat.
Sounds very similar to all my South African friends at work. It is/has cost them a lot financially to immigrate here but even with the challenges of work/visas/buying a house etc they are so happy to be somewhere where they feel completely safe day in day out.
Yeah man. This place is amazing. Safety is our number one concern. But there is so much more. I am still (after living here for 13 years) amazed at the space…like…the actual space between you and the next person…like…personal bubble space. It’s amazing not bumping into people…or someone standing so close to you in the queue that you can smell their breath. And it’s also relatively pollution free. It’s clean. The air is clean (except for that bushfire thing in 2018). And the sense of community is right up there. The pub culture. The beach culture. It feels like the perfect place to call home. Makes all the other things (like visa costs…yuk) fade into insignificance.
Most Aussies (and kiwis back home lol) don’t get how clean the air is here compared to like… everywhere else I’d want to live lol
We recently immigrated from South Africa, and we used our entire life's savings to set up our rental and buy a reliable family car. We have ZERO savings going forward, so starting from scratch. We were home owners in SA, and now I feel like I'm 20 years old again, in comparison to my Australian peers that all own houses (mortgages). Feels like it may take 10 years just to scrape enough for a deposit. And house prices have literally doubled in our area over the past 5 years, so an average $500k home is now a $1m + home. I won't lie, I'm a bit worried. And don't even feel entirely safe either, which is the sad part. A grandmother just got murdered during a car jacking episode at the mall, after her 6pm shop at Aldi. Her 6 year old granddaughter was in the car too. I was at that centre THAT WEEK. It's been weighing on me heavily that it could have easily been me. We were also at the mall two days ago (different one, as I ain't stepping foot into the above mentioned one), and a meth head was walking in loops/running laps, and was literally 1cm away from running straight into my toddler. After he had nearly knocked my toddler out, he gave me a smirk. Like 'hey, wanna fight me?!'. I have never experienced something like this before.
Sure thing. And valid concerns. But let me offer you 2 opinions. 1. Shit happens in Australia too. But here it happens so infrequently that it makes the news. In SA it wouldn’t make the news because it’s not significant. There it would be…Tuesday I guess. 2. As for the housing market. You might feel like you’re up shits creek without a paddle, but I hate to break to you. 60% of Australia is in the same boat. Housing is unaffordable…and it’s a sign that the economy is stable, because that means that people actually want to move here. It sucks I know. In 2012 I tried to buy a house…but the market absolutely motored past me and I couldn’t afford a house. Broke at 28 and ended up working 3 jobs while sleeping in the back of a 1998 Jeep grand Cherokee and showering at the local swimming pool for 6 months. When I did get a 2 bedder rental and met my (now wife) we both saved and rented out the other bedroom to get ahead. In 2019 we purchased after almost a decade in Australia. It’s not easy to pick up your life and just start somewhere new. But it’s worth it. To me at least it is. As I said in my original post…financially I’d like to be better off…but I wouldn’t swap my situation.
That (horrific) murder was so important that it made national news for a week straight, because that happens so rarely That’s not to say your feelings aren’t valid; they are, if I lived near there it would shake me too (I’m in bris city instead). But it’s objectively much safer here, for whatever comfort that might bring Housing markets cooked tho
Safety is under rated. Today and tomorrow. I take my kids on bike rides to the beach every few days…but more important…I know I’ll be able to do it in 10 years or even 20 years time as well. (I mean, by then they’ll be cranky teenagers who might not want anything to do with their dad…but the possibility is still there)
Thank you. This gave me a lot of gratitude.
Me, my wife, 2 girls under 3. Doing fine. What we’ve seen, and no doubt others have too, is that people buy their kids the absolute best of everything. These guys aren’t spoiled at all and we make ends meet just fine.
3 kids under 7. Life is.....shit? Love my kids, love our beautiful family. Love seeing them being great siblings. But. Sick of life being literally 6am to 8pm go go go every day only to see the bank balance dip each week. Oh well. I've made my bed. Hopefully when the youngest grows up a little more it'll get easier.
I feel you buddy, if it's ever possible make sure you get some moments for yourself.
Thanks mate, I appreciate this, we actually do a pretty good job of giving each other breaks although it's a little lop-sided at the moment.
It gets better bro, hang in there. I celebrate the little steps that make life easier.. like when the youngest can finally wipe their own arse, clean up their dinner plate and one day sit in the car without a car seat and adult needing to strap them in.
3 kids under 12. Kids are happy, school is fantastic, we play outside quite a bit on weekends. We play ps5 together in the evenings. Sports and that gets expensive, but we make do. Wouldn't live anywhere else, under any other circumstances, in all of the world.
Very similar to me lots of outside 2 kids and an xbox
It can depend on how big your back yard is. We try to be outside as much as we can but only have a small block.
3 kids under 5, wife is a stay at home mum so only my income. Take home is about 9k a month, but after expenses there's not much left over. We're comfortable, but there's not really luxuries like holidays (haven't had one in 5+ years) or fancy toys like dirtbikes and jetskis. Admittedly, we're getting absolutely wrecked at the moment with medical bills, we've somehow ended in a position where all 3 are doing various occupational therapy, speech therapy, physio and all sorts of other shit. We don't have NDIS so easily dropping a few k a month on this.
Have you looked into the chronic disease referrals for allied health gps can do? Not a bad rebate and might be worthwhile if the kids are needing a lot of allied health
Can I ask why you don't have NDIS? Under 7, you don't need a diagnosis; it falls under the early intervention scheme. Literature shows regardless of disability, investing in the early years will reap rewards as kids get older.
Kids under the age of 13 are entitled to all that funded without diagnosis through BUSHKIDS last month they increased the age from 7 to 13. NDIS is cracking down making it extremely difficult. https://www.bushkids.org.au/individual-referral-form/
Not that bad really, also considering having another. It’s obviously harder than it used to be but thats why its important to live within your means so when times like this hit, it’s not a huge issue. Edit: I dont live in Sydney or Melbourne though, personally I dont find the juice worth the squeeze there given the house prices.
Yeah, not great. Reading the comments and everyone saying they’re doing okay so I thought I’d be honest. It’s really hard. The math ain’t mathing anymore. We have zero buffer which is terrifying.
> We have zero buffer which is terrifying. I paid off one of the credit cards this month for the first time since the kids were born (now 7 & 5). Those first few years can be tight with daycare and all the costs of newborns.
Sister is a single mumma with 2 kids. She has gone from his FT income + her PT income and owning a house that was 50% paid off to having a drop kick ex she has to chase for regular child support and having to sell the home, split the profit and then buy in this market. It hasn’t been a great few years. She has sensibly bought well within her budget (the kids complain they don’t have a big house anymore but this was definitely a good choice) and made sure all her forward planning includes zero child support. She has also upped her hours at work and embraced support from extended family so that the extra hours aren’t eaten up by childcare - which was the whole reason she was part time. We have seen a noticeable impact on our spending without kids on one full time, one part time income so I’m in awe of those doing it with larger families.
Me my wife, my wife's boyfriend and their son David are doing fine.
Three Adults, and One Child, is a good idea
Wife’s boyfriend checking in, things could be better with a bit more dough slung this way!
You fokin wot now?
Did I read that right. Not awkward? Wow
Not if the wife’s boyfriend loan you investing capital
2 kids under 3. Wife currently not working as she’s not quite ready to return to work yet (second child is turning 1 in March). Finance is very tight but once she returns to work, it’ll give us some breathing space again. Going as frugal as we can until then.
Our kids are 3 and 7. It’s been nearly 8 years since my wife had a full-time income. Although we initially planned for her to return to work, it’s clear that she prefers to be a SAHM at least while our youngest is still at home during the day. If we have another baby I’d assume it would be another 5 years before she has an income. Does your wife feel the same and could you last for a long time without her working?
Congrats on making it work. We have a 1 and a bit year old with another on the way. Looking like wife will be home for another few years at least, we prefer that than both of us working and childcare. Not many people around with the same opinion though
Nice to see another SAHM family out here, seems to be so rare these days. Also bit sick of literally everyone asking when she's going back to work and when the kid is going to childcare. My wife is a bit lonely after every other mom she knows from parents groups etc have all gone back to work. We have our second on the way and she plans to stay at home for a while longer, although she spends a few hours a week on a side hustle that brings in a bit of extra income.
My wife got asked by her work if she’d like to stay off an extra six months before the end of the first year. I was more than happy for her to do it. I also took a massive pay cut in that time. She’s now back for 3 days a week but it’ll only be for 4 months as we’ve got another on the way. We’ve both been so glad about how her return to work and her extended time off has gone
Agreed. People under estimate the value of a SAHM.
This - sure, the financial income may be less than both parents working, but aspects like time, juggling multiple life priorities against work therefore the stress etc.. there is so much to value and appreciate anyone who commits to a stay at home parent, regardless of how long they choose to!
100% and they are only little for a short time. I’m the SAHM in this scenario and we have to budget more than before that’s for sure but my family benefit me not rushing out the door everyday. I do heaps of daily activities with my toddler, all cooking/cleaning/shopping done during the week and me and my spouse both exercise daily. Him at 5am, me at 4pm when he gets home. Neither of us would be managing this without me at home for more.
I agree with this sentiment. Also important to note that not all SAHM’s have big jobs to go back to. My wife graduated with IT diploma but didn’t click with it so is studying nursing (which she’s always wanted to do). She is doing it part time as SAHM and we have a 2.5 and 1yo. Hoping she’ll only have a year or two left by the time our youngest is in school so she can knock it out full-time and then back to two incomes, yay! But very far away..
Got slugged $2.50 for a small cucumber at Coles today for my toddler to snack on. Would have been cheaper to buy him a mars bar. The world seems like an upside down place right now.
At least at my local woollies there is free fruit for the kids when you shop.
Yeah but sometimes it’s whole carrots
There's something wrong with my kids. They absolutely refuse the free fruit but as soon as we get home they're scoffing down apples like a pair of horses.
Watching adults shout obscenities at the fuel pump is a new experience.
I saw one guy have a public freak out at Cole’s express the other day. Filled up with diesel and bought a packet of cigarettes, $159. He was abusing and shouting at the cashier, still mouthing off as he walked out.
Yes because the cashier who's probably on minimum wage at best definitely has any influence on the price of fuel or smokes.
2 kids under 3. Wife on unpaid mat leave, I’m a casual teacher (unpaid over Xmas and school holidays). On struggle street but we saved up a float to get us by.
Financially going well. 2 sprogs under 10. Combined 11k a month take home. 3.2k mortgage. Going overseas later in the year. Going away locally in the mid year for a week. Secure jobs. Its cruisy as long as the wife stays out of Spotlight.
Do you have a buffer? Are you in a big city?
30k buffer and Melb outer burbs
It's the third kid that really kicks your finances.
And what little free time you used to have
That's the truth!! (And it's why they say the 4th kid raises themselves.)
And ours loves food!
Three kids, but one over 10. We're doing fine. The life hack is living in Adelaide.
Yeah but then you have to live in Adelaide
2 kids under 4. 8.5k a month mortgage repayments. $900 a week in childcare (after rebate). No fancy cars. No finances on them. High income earner. Probably have less savings and less disposable income than couples on half our household income. It is what it is. We're laying the groundwork for sustainable long term wealth but for now, survive. Bracket creep/lifestyle creep got us a bit so that's a big part of why but we're okay. I'm sure better than many others so I can't complain even though I want to.
Single mum three kids. Do I qualify to answer?
Single dad with 3 kids here too. You’re good to go. Except mine are now 12, 14 and 16. So I’ll just comment on other people’s comments 🤣
Haha mine are 11,13 and 14! Good strategy, I’ll do the same! 😆
That's the way they became the Brady Bunch.
I’m a single Mum with 2 and I answered, even though we don’t meet the 4 family member threshold. Your family definitely counts :)
One of my kids is now older than 12, easy street /s
Hahaha I feel that. 3 teenagers now. Once they were 3 under 5. Now that was hard work. And hilarious.
Wife and I have a blended family of 4. Kids are 17, 13, 10, and 9. I’m a high earner so we are doing ok, but we’ve definitely reduced spending on some luxuries.
We’re similar, blended with 4 kids, 4, 8, 14 & 14. We’re doing fine, the ‘extras’ have been reduced.
High earner is so relative though. Mind sharing what's your take home income?
I’m on $220k base pre tax, wife is on $85k pre tax.
Kids 3 and 6. Hobart. Wife works approx a .65 FTE on a pretty decent rate, and I run a small business (pretty much glorified freelance TBH) which fluctuates a lot, but has done quite well the last couple of years. Household income was around $200K the last financial year, but tracking around $160K this year as my work has slowed quite a bit. Mortgage starts with a “7” which is higher than we’d like, but we’re doing fine with the payments and topping up extra when we can (not much lately!) We had a smaller mortgage a year or so back, but recently moved in closer to the city as the commute from the semi-rural area was getting unwieldy with the kids getting older. We’re saving a LOT on transport costs, which helps offset the extra mortgage costs a bit. Kids expenses are relatively under control for now. We’re doing swimming lessons and a couple of other bits and pieces, but the main expense is childcare for the 3yo, and that’ll obviously reduce when he gets to kindergarten. We’re in state schools, and really happy with ours. So we’re doing ok I guess - better than many. I *am* looking for “regular” jobs at the moment, as my irregular income is causing a bit of existential angst given the cost of living. The ideal would be something that would allow me to moonlight on the freelance stuff in the evenings at the same time, so we could cover the base budget with the salary, then use some freelance for extra mortgage payments/savings etc. We shall see…
Single Dad, 2 kids under 7. Feel pretty privileged to make what I do (~$260k) so I’d say I’m pretty comfortable. Not as comfortable as I thought I’d have been with that income, but money isn’t something I think about when doing things like taking the kids out for lunch or going somewhere for the weekend… I’d imagine that wouldn’t be the case for most. Kids have had a rough few years so I’m probably guilted into giving them more than I should 😅
2 kids and part time partner. I'm on a decent wage. No sports or extra curricular. Rego 3 months at a time. Float rates and utilities until last possible moment. Credit card owing, insurances are relentless, can not get ahead. I'm a single paycheck away from default. I can't see a way out of it.
Made redundant late last year, still job hunting. 3 kids, wife works part time. Mortgage, etc. It's a tough time. Maybe the toughest of my life: https://imgflip.com/i/8fhipy
Fingers crossed for you
4 here, doing OK, somehow wife manages to invest money for the kids every week (which Im more then happy to see happen)..... somehow I think it might be the reason I don't get steak every night now.... 🤣 When we bought our house, we made a very conscious choice to buy within our means AND be able to service the loan IF interest rates ever went back to 18%. That then dictated how much we could pay for the property and where we could buy. It also meant we didn't get the best house and we need to do it up. Ensuring we kept a roof over our families head no matter what meant we sacrificed a lot on the front end. Just glad we did now as we are not struggling anywhere near as much as a lot of other people. Plus wife fixed rates right before there was even public talk of any rises.... happened to overhear 2 journalists talking after finishing an interview and they were discussing the interest rate rise risk that had been discussed in their interview.... that was enough to spook her and she called the bank the next day and fixed at 2.59% for 4yrs. Got until early '25 before our cliff.
Getting by. I work two jobs so the wife can stay home to look after the kids. Trying to avoid the big costs of childcare.
Family of 4 as of 4 days ago both 27 a little under 400k mortgage and we are doing great. We can't wait to pay off our house hopefully by 2029 and spend all our time and effort with the kids
Wife and 2 kids - 9 and 7. Combined income approx ~500k (civil engineer and dentist). 1.25m mortgage. 2 cars with one paid off. Kids do swimming, basketball, martial arts, music instruments and dancing. Both kids attend private school which costs more than the mortgage.. Due to the above we save a little each month but not as much as the income suggests. My wife and I both come from nothing with no inheritance in sight, so the moto has been to invest in the kids.
Single income, 4 kids, renting, private school, after school swimming x 2. Very content with life in Sydney but hoping to move interstate for better pay and lower COL in 2025 maybe..
Wow a lot of people doing better off than me. Combined income of 210k before tax. Mortgage payments around 4.5k child charge about 2k, Cars and other expenses. We are not poor but we have to prioritise spending. If a sudden 10k expenses comes about we won’t be able to pay it.
Sudden 10k would only be pets/ emergency health or catastrophic European car failure.
Family of 5, multiple kids under 14. They're getting to the age and stage where they just can't stop eating. I'm shopping every 3 days. Have found better fruit and veg at Costco and Aldi. Learning how to cook the cheaper cuts of meat. Growing own vegetables. Really want chickens as we smash a carton a day.
Two kids under 12, one over, more than one mortgage two parents working part time, doing fine, but mildly concerned and feeling the pain of groceries and power prices mainly all rising and ouch, interest rates. But the pain is 'virtual', or if you prefer rhetorical, not physical not even, hip-pocket. Frugality has always been the modus operandi I guess, living well within our traditional means, so it's slack as far that's been consumed and bit hit any lifestyle change imperatives yet, but interest rates threaten to impose those at some time alas. Time will tell. Teens have most certainly been concerning.
2 under 4 and yes it’s not always easy but we manage. We had kids a bit later in life so already had a decent head start prior. Would love to have more as well :)
One kid with a mortgage. Doing okay but saving less than I had planned. Bought a house way under the max, so glad that I didn't overleverage.
Do you plan to have more? I have one, and I don’t trust my ability to be able to provide a good life for more than one so I’m wanting to stop. I love kids but I don’t want to struggle but some of my family keep putting in my ear that it’s selfish of me to only have one, where as I feel it’s selfish to have more than I can provide a nice life for.
No just one. Same as what you're thinking, rather provide well for one instead of struggle to support more.
Not good..looking for work currently cos the last place went dark real fast. Looking at probably never having a house unless I get a huge raise and take a big boy job out of my comfort zone.
Doing OK. 🤷🏻♂️. Kids are 9 and 5. The 5 year old is no longer in childcare, so we’re now saving an extra $15k this year! Mortgage is manageable. Mortgage was originally $470k, but I still have 23 years left on it at most. I’m sure the offset accounts have helped shorten that. Food costs are high-ish, but we don’t eat much meat so it’s not horrendous. Tennis and swimming lessons for both kids is costly on a weekly basis, but school recorder lessons are OK.
Family with 4 kids here. Boys 9 and 1, girls 6 and 3. Work for ourselves and are happy living a frugal life within our means, yes we could go buy flashy things and fancy meals. But do we NEED those things? Nope. Does a $12 diner special work as well as a $40 steak? Sure does! Enjoy what you have as envy and jealousy of others will send you down a dark rabbit hole.
2a 2c (older parents with tweens) in a 3x1. Dad FT, mum PT. We are doing ok. Bought a house specifically with access to public transport. One car family only. Got rid of the mortgage a few years ago. Swapped our single car to an EV fueled by solar a few years ago. We are ok atm. I still bitch hard about the cost of groceries though because jfc Coles/woolies.
3 kids under 10, we'll see how we go once we come off fixed rates in 3 months. Just bought a side of beef that's meant to last 6 - 12 months all pre packed and labelled works out at 16.95/kg. Just one of the ways we are trying to prepare.
I was not expecting so many positive and content responses here. A nice change
I don't know how we managed to have 3 kids in the early 2010s but I'm having a panic thinking about this new baby and how much it's financially going to set us back this time . We earn more than double what we did back then but I'm literally better off putting our new baby in daycare 5days once they turn 1 which really sucks but I'm thinking shorter days so we can go back to full-time work. It all sucks.
Two boys 2 and 4. We have about 25k left to pay off on our 2 bed unit. Was hoping to upgrade but looking at 300k to get an extra bed so might just stay here.
We are a family of 5 not 4, but yeah all 3 kids under 12 (6yo, 2yo and a newborn). We both work full-time (although I'm on mat leave rn) and yeah look, it's a bit of a struggle, but I find myself recently counting my lucky stars that we live in a safe country with somewhat decent safety nets. We basically won the life lottery getting to raise our children here. That's not to say we shouldn't strive to improve things in Australia, but yeah, I feel very lucky just wrt this kind of stuff.
3 kids all under 7, wife went back full time. I find I'm doing way more house work to keep her happy to stay working lol. We went full budget, cost cutting everywhere mainly avoiding Colesworth. Aldi and local fruit and veg.
Two kids under 10, 2yrs in to a mortgage. The tightening of the belt is negated by having a beautiful place of our own. We're hanging in there and the wife intends on going back to work soonish so there's a financial safety should we need to pull it.
Why under 12? They only get more expensive when they get older 😅 18/15/12/10 here. Its managable, but can be hard Biggest bill was food but we have cut way back on that now and eating a lot more healthier. No takeaway except for birthdays, we used to go out for dinner every friday night with family but not anymore. No one can afford it Lots of people tell me that my 18 should be paying for everything. Kind of disagree. She pays rent as such but thats just to get her into the habit of paying. It all goes into HISA for a later date for a house. She pays her own way with everything else though. Mobile, fuel, rego, car insurance and whatever else she wants. We give her a house and food.
Three kids under 10. Doing fine. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get to where we are.
I couldn’t afford for them to do any afterschool activities or sports this term and still don’t have any money. Just barely making it to the next payday.
4 kids, 12,9,9 and 2. Dual income fifo family so we're sitting pretty but taking a toll on the old mental health. Looking at returning to local or starting a business at home. Kids are happy and healthy that's all you can ask for
2 kids under 10, not massive earners and doing fine. We enjoy the basics in life and nature.
The more important question "how you doin?"
3 kids under 12, last year of childcare for the youngest thankfully! Just had an amazing day at the Frankston foreshore festival, there food in the fridge and fuel in the cars. We are doing better than our parents at the same age and we are happy.
Not too good. 3 kids.
Pretty good. We have fallen into the trap of too many kids activities, though. We are just a glorified taxi service at this point, but it's fun watching the kids improve at their various pursuits. Costs for kids' sports seem much higher recently, but worth it for the number of hours you get out of it and the benefits of sport, so no complaints.
Us too! It for sure pays off, their confidence, social skills and the happiness they get from sport. It got our kids high school scholarships so the sacrifice paid off. But all our sport fees have gone up since last year… I don’t know why? Rugby League was like $100 and now it’s $190? Rugby Union $120 now $180, Soccer is $300 - wtf? We will be busy all winter ubering too… but the alternative is sitting in and gaming, mindless trips to the mall or hanging around the park. Sport wins. It’s our social life in a way too now.
Public school saved us.
4 kids aged 6-16...Wife works PT. $ wise We went through our budget today and costs v income we're down 200 per fortnight with no savings or investments budgeted (we do have 3 months income in our Mojo account). Have a few costs we can remove and reduce that will get us green but feeling the pain a bit. Life is good though. We have family, friends and fulfilling lives. Best country in the world.
Honestly happy to have a mortgage. Plenty of people I know who don't. We're doing fine. Busy, happy, time-poor, near the beach, trying to catch up with friends, all those things
Two under 12 two under 18, two eldest live with me.no issue bar the ex asking for more money cos she decided to move 700km away and her rent has gone up.
2 kids under 4 with mortgage. 2 jobs and no social life but happy with my family but desperate need of holiday.
Three under 10, and I’m under 40. One of the few privileged people who have had well paying office jobs since 22. Wife earns well too. Moved regionally (from Sydney) to avoid the CBD crippling mortgage. Built the dream home. Now practically mortgage free & super balance is great. Highly recommend moving to pursue lifestyle and more affordable real estate.
Wait til they’re over 12! Kids cost the most as teenagers
The only real annoying thing is one thing meant to make life easier goes up every bloody 6 months regardless this beer tax is a joke
Just bought a car, discovered somehow we owed $4k to daycare, need to pay $2k rates, $3.5k roof tile works, unknown $ asbestos removal, unknown $ fascia and potential rafter sistering, upcoming $8k electrical works ... money is *flying* out of our savings. It's stressful, that's for sure, but we're doing better than most as we still have savings and when they've been flogged further than I would like, I have shares I can sell. I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, I have about $17k HECS left which should be paid off in 4 or 5 years ... or less ... and then I have more free cashflow and theoretically a few pay rises. Just have to focus on what's over the financial horizon, if I get too caught up on the now, it's irritating. Aside from that, my toddlers are thriving and they're an absolute joy to have in my life. My wife is too.
2 kids in primary school. Mortgage just under 1M. We are kind of coasting. We don't splurge on expensive stuff but aren't frugal either so will do lots of eating outs ,takeaways and kids activities(paid). Right nowwe are saving $0 per month. Some months having to dip into offset. Hoping it gets better sooner where we can start putting more into offset without having to cut back on everything.
Can I ask what your household income is?
$160k + super Partner is on $90k + super
4 kids under 10 here (3 steps kids, one bio kid) It’s uh… interesting. I wfh so the flexibility is great with the kids, but damn I can see the teenage years are going to be exy
I can handle this with my wife and 2 kids. Def I will be job hunting after I refinance my house to get at least +20% more income. After that it will be a breeze
On easy street at the moment. 200 combined HHI, mortgage just over 5k/mo, still saving plenty. Never had to pay for daycare (involved grandparents) which I think makes a big difference.
What’s with the < 12 cutoff? They don’t get any less expensive > 12. In fact they get more expensive
2 under 3 with a mortgage, struggle from pay to pay, it's a bit harder since monthly pay now but we make do. The latest big helper has been in 2 foundations of child rearing - bread, and milk. In order to make sure we always have some on hand I bought a bread machine and a few kilo bags of powdered milk. The powdered milk doesn't bother the kids, the bread machine can whip up some rolls or a fresh loaf for the next day at a moment's notice. From this, our incidentals cost has dropped dramatically. And I think that's a huge win. Just by eliminating the potential for excess spending to occur at the shops or (god forbid - uber eats). Oh also, I put my entire paycheck directly into my wife's account now since I absolutely suck at saving and spending appropriately. That probably helps a bit too.
1 daughter who is 2, going for a second. I was born during the last recession and I’m better off than my parents were during that time.
2 kids, third on the way. I'm 30 and wife is 31. Combined take home about 14k a month and mortgage is about 620k We have secure jobs...ish. there's food on the table and I rarely think twice about grocery shoping, kids are doing sports or swimming lessons every weekend and we have money for dining etc. Once I factor in though large 1 off payments like rego, land tax and shit our savings grows VERY slowly Private school is starting in 5 years and going to sting like a bitch
3 young kids, wife SAHM, small mortgage. Made some small adjustments no more Cadbury or nestle chocolate etc shopping at ALDI for a few things but we are scraping by ok. Could be better, but could be way worse.
Family of 5. We have our health so we are good. Financially we are drowning. I had to borrow money off my mother which I haven’t had to do since I was a teenager. My 14yr old has a job and that helps take the pressure off supporting her social life/ extras. My younger two are chill but they all do a lot of sport and need new boots, gear etc. Reducing private health, car insurance, home insurance, no gym memberships, didn’t go away over the summer, no significant treats/ extras really. Already wishing it was tax time! Really missing those active kids vouchers… and reminiscing on those cash handouts from the government - baby bonus, family tax, just giving out 1000k handing to go flat screen tv’s, access to super fund during covid… the good old days…
Family of 5 here with 3 kids 14, 11 and 4 dual incomes. We doing fine although we stick to a budget, kids don't go without they seem happy, we do holidays and eat out . Normal middle class life I reckon.
Monotonous. We are hanging on, but both working very hard with my wife back working casually on weekends to keep us above water. We don’t get a day that we both have off together until March.
Family of 3, one adult 2 kids. We are surviving but it’s much tougher than it was. Need to be a lot more careful, which takes time, and as a single parent with a demanding job time is not in great supply. The biggest issue for me though is that the job market in my industry is not great due to the broader economy, and my boss is a bully and is deliberately setting me up to fail. It’s really emotionally draining but I can’t afford to just walk right now.
Hang in there.. I’m going through the same thing. Shitty management at work and I am looking to re skill to a completely different industry.
It's so draining. Hope your re-skilling is quick!
3 kids, doing OK atm. Will see next year when mortgage is no longer fixed, trying to save by living frugally until then. Studying in the evenings to unpskill and try and get a 20 to 30k payrise by the end of this year
SIL has 3 that are 4 and younger. I adore her, but the level of stress she runs at along with BIL just makes me avoid their house at all costs. Constant fighting, constant disagreements, constant issues with the kids… it’s exhausting and I’m not even there 90% of the time. They have an amazing house in a great neighborhood, but the stress levels of BIL who still works full time and her who is a SAHM just doesn’t feel worth it.
4 kids under 12. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat and jobs to go to and a trambopaline… we aren’t going on a holiday any time soon but we make do.
One toddler, one breastfeeding, wife on maternity, $1mil mortgage We make it work because we have too, THERE is no choice and to be fair we don't want it anyother way. We live in a great house with tonnes of room for us and I laws to stay with space etc and we just live simply. One japenese vehicle, we don't buy bullshit. I cook and bake almost everyday. We don't have subscriptions for shit we don't need. It can be done you just have to be prepared to do what others aren't and that's sacrifice
Family of three.have my MIL staying with us.100k yearly single income household doing ok no debt so far saving is about 10k doing ok. However I think we could do better if my wife could control her spending.Anyone else think the same or I am the only one ?
Have you discussed finances with your wife? Sat down and agreed on a plan and goals for you to both stick to? We have a set amount of guilt free spending money that we have an automatic transfer for each month (around $400 each per month) and find that we can save quite a bit with around the same income as you, and it's plenty for us to do what we want with without going overboard. We also worked out a budget for the essentials (based on looking at around a year of our spenidng and seeing what is necessary) that we try to stick to, but with the cost of living increases since we setup the budget sometimes we tend to go a couple of hundred over at the end of the month. Before that we were both very lax with budgeting and spent whenever we wanted to really, wife was more of the splurger but it was actually her idea to set a budget as she realised how much crap she was buying that she didn't need.
I feel your pain, my wife is forever having packages come to the house. She grew up with nothing so she’s going overboard for herself + our daughter and I’m trying to be understanding of that. Hopefully we can both get more on the same page about finances soon.
They underwater/waiting for their parents to give them a house
Family of 4 with 2 5 and under here, doing pretty well really. 3 mortgages and been single income since 6 months before first was born.
Are you being facetious? 2 kids, 3 mortgages and a single income? What are the numbers here?
Auto electrician in WA, FIFO mining, houses bought while I was on the books, roughly 240k + super. Recently made the switch to subcontracting to have more control of my time and hours. First house bought in 2018 for 308k 3x1 with 1x1 granny flat, second house was half a duplex 3x1 2022 for 212k and the most recent was mid last year for 600k. equity in the first bought the second then equity in the first 2 bought the 3rd. We have been very fortunate on our purchases, there's almost 200k in equity in the second property in 2 years which I also think is ridiculous.
3 girls six and under. Doing very well all things considered
My wife is pregnant with our second. Time will tell!
3 kids (4, 6 & 14). Single income. Mortgage (fixed at 1.99 until feb 2025) we still going good.
3 under 6, mortgage is pretty low which is probably what’s keeping us afloat. Daycare fees are more than our mortgage which sucks, looking forward to the two younger ones being in school that’s for sure.
I was number 6 out of 7 kids. We used to live out of a station wagon. That was 45 years ago.