PerthNow’s Cash Confessions asks ordinary West Australians what their income is and what they spend their money on in a week.
This week, a Perth couple earning around $260,000 a year (combined) reveal what they spend their money on in a week.
Age: Both 42
Lives: Perth’s northern suburbs with their two teenage boys, aged 16 and 17.
Salaries: I earn $118,000 (before tax) working full-time as a primary school teacher. My husband, who is a police officer, earns $109,000 (before tax) full-time which is just his base rate. He has the option to work extra shifts. Last year, for example, he made $145,000 (before tax) once his shift penalties and overtime were included.
Jobs: I’ve been a primary school teacher for 17 years and my husband has served as a police officer for 20 years and we both really love our jobs.
FORTNIGHTLY EXPENSES (family of four)
Mortgage/rent: $0
We paid our mortgage off about four years’ ago, when we were both 38.
We benefitted from excellent financial incentives due to our occupations and being able to work for a period in regional WA. While we worked regionally, we were able to earn extra income by renting out our Perth house.
We ended up knocking it over before we returned to the city and we were able to pay cash for the build and the fit-out of the new home we built. We were also able to finance the professional landscaping from our savings.
Groceries: $600
We tend to have a higher than average grocery bill given that we have two adults and two boys in their late teens who are quite active, as well as needing to accommodate a gluten-free diet in the household.
Phone/internet/streaming services: $200
We pay for three mobile data plans, covering the boys as they are still teenagers. My husband is provided an iPhone 15 and data plan through WA Police and he is allowed to use this phone on and off duty.
He can check work emails at home at his own discretion and is seldom disturbed by work whilst off duty. This is a welcome perk. He has the ability to disconnect the moment he leaves his workplace. We are also probably a bit extravagant with four streaming services to accommodate everyone’s tastes and number of devices!
Insurance: $380 for home, health and cars.
We currently have three cars insured for the household. We are paying the insurance on our son’s car as it has been incorporated into our insurance plan for the first year of his license.
Due to my health condition that has required multiple complex surgeries, we also have a high level of health insurance coverage which we are not looking to reduce or skimp on.
Petrol: $100
We are vigilant about filling up all cars on the day in the petrol cycle that is cheapest (Tuesdays), a habit we have passed on to our son who now has his own car and is working full time.
I am able to walk to work each day which means that we are able to keep car and petrol costs low.
Utilities: $150
We have solar panels and, thanks to the recent state government bonuses with electricity, our bill has usually been in credit for the past 12 months.
We have a solar hot water system and we do not have a dishwasher or dryer. Our garden is low-maintenance and water-wise.
Investments: $1500
We put money into three different investment accounts each fortnight.
OTHER ONGOING EXPENSES
School fees: $8,500 per year (one child)
We just dropped to one set of school fees after our eldest graduated Year 12 last year.
ASSETS/SAVINGS/INVESTMENTS:
House: $750,000
We have paid off our four-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
We knocked down our original house (we paid $265,000 for it in 2005) and rebuilt it in the same year and then moved into the new home after working away in regional WA.
After COVID stopped us from going on a planned holiday, we used the $30,000 money to pay off the remainder of our mortgage with the plan to save up again once borders opened and travel became a possibility again.
Cars: Two cars (Nissan X-Trail and Kia Cerato) and both are less than five years old each and worth approximately $20,000 each. We bought both outright with cash from our savings account with no financing.
Savings: $50,000
Investment accounts: $120,000
Superannuation: $500,000 combined
We have been paying the maximum allowed voluntary contributions to each of our super funds for the past few years since paying off our mortgage.
ABOUT US
We are a married couple with two teenage boys — one is still in a private Catholic school and the other graduated last year. We are counting down until the end of next year when we will be officially done with school fees!
Our combined salaries amount to about $6,200 per fortnight after tax and we both pay the maximum allowed voluntary contribution to superannuation each fortnight.
Our eldest son has just begun working full-time in his first year out of graduating high school so I have returned to full-time work myself.
My husband works full-time and we’ve been together for 24 years and feel very in sync with our financial goals.
Although we are now quite comfortable financially, it is only through years of being disciplined with our spending that we are able to be in this fortunate position.
We are not stressed about the current cost of living or rising interest rates.
We live well within our means and have money left over most fortnights.
These reserves are placed into a series of savings accounts with clear savings goals and to cover budgeted costs such as car registrations, council rates and school fees.
Both of our occupations were stable during the pandemic so we were fortunate to avoid any job insecurity during this time.
Lately, there has been a lot in the news regarding our unions taking action for both teachers and police, and while our jobs are by no means perfect, we both feel that the benefits have far outweighed the downfalls.
Doing country service for both of our occupations while our children were young allowed us to set ourselves up for the future.
Shift work has meant that my husband has been able to be home with the children and take them to appointments.
My job is during school hours and it is difficult to manage taking time off, however, I am able to be home during school holidays which means we’ve avoided the cost of child care.
I do the running around to sports training and after school commitments when my husband is at work. It’s a balance that we have made work to our advantage.
My husband’s fortnightly salary fluctuates depending on shift penalties and overtime. In the last couple of years, Metro Police have been lucky enough to be offered additional voluntary shifts at overtime rates to bolster our earnings. In that time, most of his payslips have had at least a shift or two of overtime payments in them.
My husband volunteered for the opportunity to work in the Kimberley Police District for a fortnight.
Although working away obviously involves sacrifices on both our parts, he is being heavily compensated for travelling for work in a place like this where they struggle to attract staff.
He is eligible for generous meal claims for breakfast, lunch and dinner, too, as well as receiving a regional WA entitlement.
He did a bulk grocery shop on the first day of this deployment that will more than cover his nutrition needs for the fortnight and there is nothing in town to spend money on anyway.
DAY 1: SUNDAY
With my husband halfway through his fortnight away, I use today to get organised at home before the working/school week starts.
I plan our meals for the week and do a grocery shop that should get us through until the weekend, though I may need to pick up more milk and fruit depending on how quickly the boys get through it.
I go to two different grocery shops to get various specials, as well as ensure I have enough gluten-free food as lately it has been quite low in stock at some places.
As we only have three people to feed this week, the grocery bill is slightly lower than normal, however, my husband did do a large shop ($170) of essentials to take away with him for last week and this week.
I do laundry to make sure everyone has school and work uniforms clean and ironed, and I manage to convince the boys to do some vacuuming and tidying up to get the house back in order.
Daily spend: $135 (on groceries)
DAY 2: MONDAY
We are all off to school and work today.
My son drives his car but has parking at work so no cost for him there. I am able to walk to work so I make a coffee at home to take in with me. My youngest rides himself to school.
We all make lunch at home, a habit that’s continued from our time living in regional WA where take away or canteens weren’t a regular option.
I make sure to check with the boys what they’d like to have for lunch during the week before I grocery shop on the weekend so I know they have the food available that they want to eat.
In the evening, my eldest has kickboxing and I head to Pilates.
Daily spend: $20 (Pilates class)
DAY 3: TUESDAY
We all make lunch at home again and head off to school and work.
Everyone being out of the house during the day means that we have very little power usage during the week. Not having to run an air conditioner most days during this really hot summer has definitely been an advantage.
Tuesday is the cheapest day in the fuel cycle and we filled up two of our three cars last Tuesday and only need to fill up once a fortnight.
As I don’t drive to work, and my husband hasn’t been home to drive his car, I convince my son to drive my husband’s car to work today and fill it with petrol on the way home.
Given that he’s not home to drive it in the next week, it’s likely that it won’t need to be filled again for another two to three weeks.
Daily spend: $46.85 (petrol)
DAY 4: WEDNESDAY
My youngest heads off to school early for a sports club held before school.
Although he plays a weekend sport in summer, he also takes advantage of a number of extra-curricular activities before and after school to keep himself active. These are all included in the school fees so there are no extra costs associated.
Our eldest also involved himself in a number of extra-curricular activities when he was at school but now that he has graduated, he’s started attending kickboxing/martial arts three times a week and pays for this membership himself.
My husband prefers running and swimming at the beach so there is no cost involved there.
I go to Pilates twice a week with a friend at a cost of $20 a session.
Daily spend: $0
DAY 5: THURSDAY
It’s payday – my favourite day in the fortnight!
I always organise our bank accounts on payday so that all bills and direct debits will be covered before any spending happens.
My husband’s salary can fluctuate depending on his shifts so sometimes he earns $4,000 a fortnight, or it can go down to $2,800 per fortnight.
My pay is always just under $3,000 a fortnight. This is after tax and after extra superannuation contributions.
Happily, this is a high pay fortnight ($6,678 if both of our incomes are combined) so I spend some time transferring to different savings accounts. I also remember to pay this term’s school fees while I’m logged on to banking.
Daily spend: $2,100 (school fees)
DAY 6: FRIDAY
We all survive the last day of the working/school week and are ready for the weekend.
Before I give myself a chance to fully relax (and end up ordering Uber Eats for dinner), I head to the shops to get some milk and other things we need to get through to the grocery shop on Sunday.
The downfall of heading to the shops straight after school is that my head is still in school mode so I decide to duck into Officeworks and grab a few things I need for my class.
Although we do have a school budget, like most teachers, I find myself spending my own money on things for my classroom.
I justify my spending by telling myself it’s worth it because it makes my job easier in the long run but it’s something I need to keep an eye on so it doesn’t get out of hand.
Daily spend: $94.15 ($38.15 on extra groceries and $56 on school supplies at Officeworks)
DAY 7: SATURDAY
I head to Pilates in the morning, which I’ve found is a great way to start my weekend off on the right note.
This morning I decide to pick up a coffee on the way home.
As summer sport has finished, the boys tend to take their time on weekend mornings but I get them moving and we head out to a late lunch to celebrate a family birthday at a local brewery/restaurant.
Given that we’ve eaten out for lunch, we have dinner at home.
Daily spend: $187.50 ($20 for Pilates, $5.50 for coffee, $112 for lunch for three, $50 for the gift)
TOTAL WEEKLY SPEND: $2,583.50
Reflection
Although the weekly spend total looked quite high, we actually only spent $483 for the week as the school fees came out of our separate budgeting account where we have money put aside for these expenses.
This was a pretty typical spend week, other than the groceries being slightly cheaper than usual.
I do tend to buy bulk on things we use when they are on special, which I think keeps costs down in the long run.
We would probably eat out or get take away about once a fortnight, which we did on Saturday with family.
Now that I’m walking to work, I no longer have the excuse of picking up a coffee on the way to work each day, as well as spending very little on petrol.
We are very focused on saving for the future and ensuring that our kids are set up to be in the best possible situation.
Although we no longer worry about the housing situation and interest rates for ourselves, it is on my mind that our kids will be struggling to find affordable housing in the next eight to 10 years when they are looking to get into the property market.
We want to be able to help them out with what they might need to be secure in the future which is why we put money aside into investment accounts for them each fortnight.
We never had any kind of assistance ourselves. We’ve never received an inheritance, for example. We were just newlyweds at 24 who made good financial decisions but we do want to help our boys.
We have already begun talking with them about responsible budgeting, now that they are both earning money. We are explaining the concept of the 50-30-20 budgeting rule. We want them to also realise that being sensible in the short term and living within their means will pay off in the long term (hopefully!)
Although we are cautious with our money, we don’t feel that we are missing out on any luxuries.
We tend to buy what we need and want with little restriction. We have travelled interstate numerous times within the past year and will likely travel overseas in the near future.
We were able to buy our son a reasonably priced car when he got his license and will do the same for our younger son when he earns his license.
We are extremely proud of what we have managed to achieve, being only 42 years old and having no debt.
While others may be tempted to buy a bigger or better house, or flashy gadgets, we would prefer to live comfortably without worrying about the cost of living.
Hopefully, we’ve set our children up for financial success in the future as well.