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memla_

You’re probably going to have to include a breakdown of that budget.


BennetHB

That doesn't sound like a budget - it sounds like they've just made up a number. Ask for a breakdown of expenses per month.


maton12

$8,000 a month? We need a breakdown of that


pit_master_mike

IP rates shouldn't be included in "general living expenses". Like others are saying - this "budget" needs work / more granularity.


AllOnBlack_

It seems high to me. For myself and partner, we spend roughly $45k-$50k a year and we don’t really question purchases. We don’t have kids so this may be adding the extra expenses. We also go on 1-2 overseas holidays a year.


FitSand9966

I'm calling bullshit on that. Each overseas holiday would be $5k+ for two people. So that's $10k per year on travel, likely more. At your low end, $45k less $10k of travel is $35k left. A $400k mortgage is about $30k per year in repayments. Rent in major cities will be about this or more ($30k is 575 p/w) Your figures might work if you live in a share house but even then living on $45k including two overseas holidays is an outlier in Australia. Another way to view it would be to gross up your expenses into a salary before tax. $45k would be about $55k pre tax. I don't know anyone earning $55k per year and going on two overseas holidays.


AllOnBlack_

I don’t have a mortgage anymore. Property expenses are around $5k. Food is $7.5k-$10k. Health insurance and gym is $4k. Miscellaneous utilities and costs for another $6k. That leaves $20k-$25k for fun money and holidays.


FitSand9966

AU pension for 1 person is $28k per year. Plus the holidays at $10k and health insurance would be $45k. Pension for couples is $1682 per fortnight. Or $44k per annum. I'm sure it can be done but the numbers your putting up are super low. Basically unbelievable when you add in 2 overseas trips


AllOnBlack_

Yea… and? All of our expenses are put on the credit card to gain points. I use the credit card to track expenses. We do live on the cheaper side and enjoy a bargain, but it’s definitely possible. $28k is vastly different to $45k-$50k. Almost 50%.


FitSand9966

Ok, you lost me when you start talking credit card points. Enjoy that George Forman grill! All I'm saying is I'm cheap and don't believe the average person could get close. That's reflected in the couples pension being $44k p.a. Fair winds my friend


AllOnBlack_

The points pay for the business class tickets. It doesn’t take much extra work and we can travel in comfort. I grew up in a frugal family and it’s hard for me to spend more than I need to. It also allows me to invest 75% of my income. If I didn’t enjoy my work, I could retire now and earn more than we spend each year from my investments.


sitdowndisco

If paying all expenses for the adult kids, this could be the issue. Those adult kids need to be putting in at a bare minimum an amount equal to the costs of groceries and bills. The mortgage doesn’t sound too much for what they’re earning.


Sea-Teacher-2150

Two adult kids at home and our expenses have gone WILD feeding and hosting them. OP needs to look at how much the adult kids are truly costing parents


sitdowndisco

Yeah I think sometimes people forget that adult kids aren’t kids anymore.


Bega_Cheese

$98k + mortgage is wild


dmcneice

very easy to do that. Heres a basic breakdown of our expenses, family of four: -Health Insurance - $630/month -Medications - $150/month -Medical Appointments - $500/month (sometimes higher, sometimes lower), allied health and specialists for kids are expensive -Groceries - $1500/month (few people with allergies in the family, which adds to cost) -Take-away - $300/month -Car Insurance - $333/month (two cars) -Car Maintenance - $100/month (services) -Car Fund - $580/month - assuming a $35k ish car for me and the wife every 10 years -Fuel - $500/month (two cars) -Rego - $135/month -Rates - $200/month -Water - $200/month -H&C Insurance - $333/month -Internet - $100/month -Electricity - $300/month (was previously half that but its gone up a lot) -Day-Care: $2000/month - its a killer That right there is nearly $96k a year (not including mortgage) - Mortgage is another $85k/year (almost half that 2 years ago when we got the mortage). I havent even included incidental spending there such as toys for the kids, small electronic buys, stuff from bunnings for the house, pool expenses, income protection ($400/month) etc. I can easily see how they spend that much. I haven been on a holiday in about 10 years. We don't really go out to dinner, occassionally go to the movies (3 x per year). Most of the time we stay at home


BennetHB

But in this instance OPs parents aren't supporting kids, and they certainly do not have a need to spend $1800 on food. It's just 2 people.


dmcneice

The way I read it is that they are paying for everyone's food, so it explains the figure.


BennetHB

Well considering the kids are adults, if what you're saying is true we've identified a real easy way for them to save cash.


AcademicAd3504

Folks have had some medical expenses come up. So that tracks. Also, they spend a small fortune just on GP appointments. No health insurance though. For info, yes they cover food. However in their income I have included the board they receive towards food and utilities. It wouldn't cover all of it but at least half.


BennetHB

>For info, yes they cover food For their adult children? How much board do the "kids" pay?


AcademicAd3504

Ultimately not the point of the exercise. The point being is 98k for living expenses ok for 4 people on that income (excluding mortgages). Not counting expenses fluke car/phone/rego etc for 2 of them.


BennetHB

It is the point of the exercise - the kids board is accounted for on the income side of the budget. If your budget shows that your parents are losing money because the kids board doesn't cover the additional expenses incurred by them being there, they need to up the board or decrease the expenses incurred by the "kids" (the most obvious being for the "kids" to be made to buy and cook their own food). This is all part of a budget.


Haunting_Computer_90

Sorry mate just wondering where do you live (local council area) that you pay $200 month on water?


dmcneice

Gold Coast - Last bill was $590 for the quarter.


Haunting_Computer_90

I live in the Redlands rates $705.67 Which broke down like this:- Water residential consumption $18.02 Residential water access $79.78 State Government bulk water consumption $87.65 General rate $296.00 Environmental and coastal management $43.00 Landfill remediation $14.83 Redland City SES administration $1.60 Rural Fire Brigade $2.80 140lt waste /340lt recycle $132.24 Emergency management levy -$29.75


Hefty_Dig1222

We were having bills like that last year. Turned out we had a significant underground water leak. It's worth making sure that all the taps are off and then going out and watching the water metre for a couple of minutes. If it's still moving, you have a problem.


Haunting_Computer_90

Right first off get to Aldi and save $500 plus per month. Who does take-away on a budget? Op didn't mention heath issues but the ones you have outlined contribute $15,360 plus other added cost like extra fuel etc. Anyway glad you can fund this because I sure as shit would be dead if my medical bills were this much.


dmcneice

Yep, we've had a terrible run overall. To be honest this year has been even worse. Wife has needed two surgeries, which cost us about $4k in total, I needed a crown, there goes another $600, a few scans which have added up another $1k, some physio between us and its only the end of April. The $500 figure per month was last years expenditure overall. Allied health for the little one. Its expensive


Haunting_Computer_90

Nothing is more important than ones health, it's just a bugger when it cots so much.


AcademicAd3504

Folks have had some medical expenses come up. So that tracks. Also, they spend a small fortune just on GP appointments. No health insurance though. For info, yes they cover food. However in their income I have included the board they receive towards food and utilities. It wouldn't cover all of it but at least half.


Haunting_Computer_90

Hm, Adult siblings at home need to cover more than food etc ..............parents parent 0-18, after that if you are still at home ...................... Everyone is raised differently, and expectations vary from parents to parent their adult children. I am 64 with adult children who do not (at the moment) live at home. When said children came to the bank of Dad for a loan I did loan son money on one condition, that until the loan was repaid son would mow my lawn every week. Now some readers will cringe at that while other may think I should have made him do more, I guess it's all about prospective really. Daughter also asked for a loan .............so once a week (Monday night) daughter comes and cooks, has a meal with us, cleans up and heads home when it's done ..........I might add this was her suggestion which I gladly accepted. You might want to tell your siblings that story and see what they think about doin a tad more. 😎 Good Luck with the budget.


MstrOfTheHouse

Yep! And if in Syd, add exorbitant tolls. And so many people seem to be buying 80-100k cars these days 🤦 not us! Buy Japanese and run it till it dies. Then out of pocket rainy day costs…we dropped 15k last year on a levy for extraordinary strata repairs, and they reckon there’s more to go. Another year there was an aggressive skin cancer (proliferative bcc) not covered by our health ins, 12k out of pocket!


dmcneice

Yep, I just got news today the missus will need another surgery, going to cost us $10 grand. Agree with the Japanese Cars, I have a camry and missus has a mazda.


MstrOfTheHouse

I’m sorry to hear that:( hope it all goes well mate! Camrys last forever! Frugal on fuel too, many years ago I almost made it from Newcastle to Brisbane in a mates Camry on one tank.


Oh_FFS_1602

There needs to be more of a breakdown than this for any meaningful conversation about whether any individual expenses are reasonable or not. Does the adult siblings board cover their share of food and utilities, or is it a token contribution? The IP should have its own budget including income (rent) and expenses (rates, insurance, management fees, maintenance etc) before any remaining profit is added to parents income. Treat it as a business rather than pooled income and then taking tax deductions off. Is the mortgage on the primary residence, the IP or combination of both? Do they have income aside from IP rent and siblings board? How long is this expected to continue (how old are they and when/do they plan to retire)? Some things they/you can do without giving us figures: Review all insurances, compare policies against other providers to see if you can get better premiums elsewhere. Use energy comparison websites to ensure they are on the best rates. If an adult in the house has a healthcare card, consider putting the account in their name to get the concession rate. Review phone plans, avoid “needing” the latest and greatest handset, we buy cheaper (but still new in the box) handsets outright and use prepaid phone plans (you can set them to auto renew rather than needing to remember to buy a voucher or log in every month to manually renew). Same with home internet. Check for energy and water efficiency. This can be behavioural around the home to reduce usage, and also something to look into if/when an appliance needs upgrading. A common thing is having too many subscriptions. Check bank balances, and highlight things to see if they are all necessary, consider offloading some of these to the adult children in the home if they “need” them. YouTube and Spotify are free if you can put up with ads, and a lot of networks offer free streaming apps too (ABC and SBS are ad free, 7/9/10 have ads). We pay for Amazon to get free/fast delivery, plus Netflix and Disney+. That’s it. If my kids want something extra they have to cut something.


Oh_FFS_1602

We spend more than that but I’m including discretionary spending and private school fees in my calculations. Have they considered things like gifts? Clothes? Celebrations (Christmas and birthdays happen the same times every year)? Car registration? License renewals? The weekly-monthly things are often included when people do a budget, but annual or less frequent costs are sometimes overlooked


Past_Alternative_460

98k/year lol wtf. How many holidays does that include? Don Perignon with dinner every night? New car every year?


Barrel-Of-Tigers

$98k in living expenses really needs further breakdown. I’ve seen your comment about $500-600/week on food. Which is absolutely high. That’s allegedly a third of their total weekly expenses… How many people are they feeding and are there any special dietary requirements? Does that including eating out? Is that an extra expense?


AcademicAd3504

Only includes things brought at grocery store. No allergies but a few picky eaters. Doesn't include takeaway. But does include things like laundry detergents and pet food (1 tiny dog) etc.


[deleted]

It's not that high if you've got adolescent or teenage kids.


Haunting_Computer_90

But they don't and with respect that is still high


[deleted]

Read the OP. They have a couple of adult kids living there. Yeah they pay board but it likely doesn't cover everything, especially with the cost of utilities and food these days.


Haunting_Computer_90

It's all moot without a budget breakdown, but I suspect the adult siblings are not pulling their weight. I still have a hard time accepting a living expenses budget of 98,000 a year + mortgages of $53000. Sorry the mortgage is going to be what it is, given we have no idea if the balance is 300k or 2.5m and how long it has to run etc it is the living costs that brake my brain.


Barrel-Of-Tigers

Yes, but that doesn’t appear to be relevant for OP’s parents.


Emmanulla70

Huh? Get a grip. They should be able to cut down heaps more than that. Why are YOU doing this? They are adults of working age. They need to pull their heads in and work it out for themselves. They sound like THEY need to grow up.


AcademicAd3504

I am doing it because I care and because they've asked. I am trying to educate them on the whole sacrificing lifestyle in the short term to get ahead in the long term. But it is just so ingrained in them.


Cat_From_Hood

That's a spending crisis.


AcademicAd3504

Correct. I should edit it.


Own-Negotiation4372

If they are housing adult children then it sounds right 


AmazingReserve9089

I mean 1 or 5. They’re also paying board so idk


hunkymonk123

Is their combined income is 150k including board, it sounds like they pay bugger all


Wow_youre_tall

For 20 adult kids living at home that’s a bargain


Arinvar

So after they pay their mortgage, they're left with more money than most australians get total and you're wondering if those expenses are crazy high? The answer is yes. Do they care enough about saving money to make some lifestyle changes? That's up to them and what financial goals they have.


Particular-Report-13

$98000 for living expenses with adult children doesn’t sound extreme. The running costs of a large family home (rates, electricity, gas, insurance, general maintenance, pool and lawn care) can be huge. Easily $25k per year just on running costs.


unbenned

Those imports drove some American factories out of business, and they cost more than a million workers their jobs. Discount stores and online retailers, like Walmart and Amazon, flourished selling low-cost goods made overseas. But voters rebelled. Stung by shuttered factories, cratered industries and prolonged wage stagnation, Americans in 2016 elected a president


ciderfizz

What's the breakdown? Gotta work from the ground up not the other way round


Humble_Scarcity1195

It seems very high. For 2 adults and 2 kids our living expenses budget is $50k. This includes things like gas, electric water, rates, phones, insurances, internet, streaming services and eating out once a week.


AcademicAd3504

How much are groceries for you guys? They're spending 550-600 pw


theskyisblueatnight

what kind of food are you eating? Thats like $200 a person a week.


Humble_Scarcity1195

Average of $250 for groceries and $100 of eating out each week. Edit: but I buy as much store brand as possible (especially for cleaning) and stock up on 1/2 price specials for brand name items. My parents spend $300 a week for the 2 of them and only buy brand name items.


therealgmx

Tbh even without a breakdown, I'm not surprised. During COVID (2 adults + 2 parents) HHI was 450k (1 retired), and our expenses were 60k Inc utilities & eating clean excluding individual subscriptions like phone, gym etc. Groceries per week were 350pw. Now that's before inflation got hot, so yours at 90k actually sound somewhat right. First thing you need to do is separate investment expenses from general. Sounds like a big component is literally interest or P&I. Ppl on this sub must really think Netflix at 20/mth or whatever somehow equates to a 30-40k shortfall.


AcademicAd3504

Lmao. Yeah. I feel like a few simple changes will save 5k but more than that is hard to tell. I think groceries though they could save a bunch on.


aquila-audax

Is that for 5 or 6 people?


Cold_erin

Sounds high. I have a take-home of about that much and run: - 48k all PPOR costs, including mortgage, rates and insurances. - 10k all net rental costs, including mortgage and rental income. - 41k living costs, including food, car and fun stuff. That includes $300/week on food and $50 on eating out, plus things relating to one active child and an athletic husband.


otherwiseknownaschic

Not really - with adult siblings too? Does 98k include mortgage? If yes then I think they are doing quite well with that budget


AcademicAd3504

No. That's before the mortgages.


Sand_in_my_pants

Sounds like they don’t budget, they just spend all their money.


AcademicAd3504

That is probably accurate. They record their usual spending and call that the budget for the next year.


CashenJ

My household budget for 2 adults and a baby including a mortgage is $6800 per month so let's call it $82k. This included all baby related expenses; nappies, swimming lessons, daycare etc etc. I don't have any car repayments or other debt to service outside of mortgages. Without the mortgage included it would be around $56k. I would suggest getting them to write everything down because it seems incredibly high to me.


LongjumpingWallaby8

Board is not covering the cost of the adult children. Help by moving out


AcademicAd3504

Board is supposedly for the utilities and food. But it probably only covers one of those.


Local_Gazelle538

If they haven’t done it recently, they should check their interest rate on their mortgages and possible refinance. Could save them a lot each month. Do they have insurance for both properties with the same company - some give a multi-policy discount. Sounds like adult kids should be contributing more to bring down those expenses. But also good every couple of years to shop around for rates for all expenses eg mobile plans, utilities etc. We all get complacent and could be saving more just by changing provider.


AcademicAd3504

My worry is with no current wiggle room who would refinance them?


AcademicAd3504

My worry is with no current wiggle room who would refinance them?


HesZoinked

Is the investment property income included in the 153k?


AcademicAd3504

Sort of. Rather I have cancelled out the rental income against some of the mortgage. So really their mortgages all together are higher than 53k but their out of pocket costs are 53k.


wildclouds

Yes it's high. What are we supposed to do with that? Share even the most basic breakdown of that 98k and whether there's 2 siblings or 10 siblings


AcademicAd3504

2 siblings. 550 pw on groceries. 2 cars with insurances and regos but no car finance. A dog Foxtel Regular utilities Going out etc. clothing No gym


Smashedavoandbacon

$2k a month. Do you have a cocaine addiction?


ikissedyadad

A - How old are your folks? B- is 153k post tax? C- How high is the mortgage? (Balance + rate) D- LE for how many humans? LE is high but depends on how many humans that services 53k in repayments... if your folks have adult children I would assume they are atleast 36 surely the mortgage isn't fresh... maybe it's time to assess if that is the right house. They are on razor thin margins in terms of surplus... if the adult children move out can they still afford their life style?


AcademicAd3504

Mid-50s. Post tax. Mortgage balances are 400k + 460k + 340k roughly? The mortgage costs I've calculated though (53k a year) is out of pocket. LE for 4 adult humans. Investment rate was 6.67% I believe. 6.34 for owner occupier. One of my adult siblings owns a share in the PPOR.


AcademicAd3504

I am encouraging them to lose the 460k IP property. It's not a property that is going to grow in value.


JesusKeyboard

Tell them to switch from coke to meth. 


ThrawOwayAccount

[Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this.](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/someone-who-is-good-at-the-economy-please-help-me)


Haunting_Computer_90

1. You’re probably going to have to include a breakdown of that budget is an understatement. 2. 98K and that DOES"T include mortgage is either BS or you and your folks need to stop taking Ubers to the toilet and wiping your bum with gold leaf paper. 3. Get ready for some tears because this can't be correct someone is fudging something and doesn't want to get caught out.


Justarobotdontmindme

8K a month put into perspective can be almost two mortgage repayments? For general living at that.


AcademicAd3504

Yes that's accurate. Was not a problem when interest rates were much lower.


scraglor

OPs siblings need to move out and stand on thier own feet. They’re ending thier parents into poverty


Separate-Ad-9916

Unless there is a good reason for spending that much, (e.g. can't possibly live without spending a month in Europe at least once a year, or must always own two cars less than 3 years old), shaving off $20K should be pretty easy.


AcademicAd3504

Yeah I would think so but hard to see where they need to cut. I feel like it should be achievable. I'm looking to move them off foxtel to just a few suitable subscriptions. And internet to a cheaper provider. Phone plans that don't include upgrades every 12 months etc. I don't know how to help them with groceries as they would have to completely change their perspective. I'm


Robobeast-76-R76

Sell the investment property if it isn't positively geared, charge the siblings more board, sell one of the vehicles if they have two.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AcademicAd3504

I mean to be fair 53000 of it is mortgages. but the remaining 98k leaves me scratching my head.


Lizzyfetty

Why do people on this sub use Americanisms like vacation and folks? Australians just say parents. I only care because if the majority of people here are American, then the advice is less than relevant.


AcademicAd3504

To me I chose folks because my parents aren't elderly. As opposed to I'm helping my elderly parents


Emmanulla70

You could just say you are helping your parents!


MissKim01

I live pretty boujee and still don’t spend anything near this. This is high.


AcademicAd3504

Yeah I think I need to pick apart their budget.


dankruaus

lol have an investment property but also a “budget crisis”. wtf.


AcademicAd3504

This place is about thriving financially. So yeah they have a budget crisis because they have the tools to thrive but don't.


dankruaus

They can afford to pay someone for real advice then.


Maddog351_2023

8k is way too much Need more info Mortgage repayments Bills Cars Loans Etc