Lets talk Income

Yeah, cutting back on all junk and most pre packaged food. Cereal or oats for brekky 5 days a week, sanga or crisp bread with sliced ham, tomato, spices and fruit for lunch, and usually a decent home cooked meal for dinner. Chicken breast is only $6/kg at our butcher, we have a cheap fruit market nearby. We inventoried our receipts for about 6 months from Aldi and came to about $40pw, plus the extras and we were amazed how little we spend. We almost never eat out unless it's an occasion or invite for someone else, we hate being in a crowded restaurant being served an overcooked poor cut of steak by an uninterested teenager, shouting to hear one another, sometimes with a crying baby nearby.
We prefer to go hiking, camping and outdoors activities for recreation, not the movies or most commercial activities. Lots of people are trying to get me into diving so expenses may go up slightly!

We have dogs, I left that expense out but that's about another $1000 for food and vet bills, they keep us entertained most of the time. Cars are 6 and 25yo, the new one on lpg and I do repairs and servicing so they cost little to run.
I can't think of many other expenses, I probably missed some, but don't think they're significant. No PPOR mortgage makes living cheap because I learned to live frugal while paying it off.

 

In the last 3 years we spent $50-60K a year (including average $20K on travel). We travel 3 months a year (well more so me!). Our retirement needs will be a bit less than that.
I've decided it's time to retire even though I don't have $60K passive income. I have built up my Super and that is my backup plan. I haven't calculated that into my income stream. I thought I would work part time for a few more years abut after our last trip overseas I realised I just don't want to do it every week. And I did love teaching.
I think it's different for many posters here (as opposed to the average Joe). What we do with our investing is very rewarding so justified. Most people work for someone else and I think if this question was posed elsewhere you'd get a totally different response. Like "hell yeah". There are millions of people out there drudging through their life working just to get to the next week. Every week is the same. I don't know how they do it.
This is your one shot at life, do what makes you happy. Whether that be working, travelling, spending time with your family or a mixture of all.

 

Hehe, travel will NEVER get boring to me!

 

Isn't the reason many people don't spend much money while working because they simply don't have time to do stuff like travel, eat out all the time, do all sorts of activities, etc?
Surely it must be easier to spend money in retirement than not.

 

I agree. That's why I'm striving for $60k passive income, that'll be heaps for a couple of O/S holidays a year, a 4WD camper for Australia and plenty to keep us happy and traveling. It's interesting when discussing this with the two types of crowd I know, eg investors here and people doing well for themselves don't understand how we live on so little, while people that live week to week from bad choices and no planning think I'm the dumb one because I don't care about job security or increasing my lifestyle spending to match my income, instead preferring to have delayed gratification by retiring long before 50

 

Wonderful philosophy IMO

 

I have. For 2015, essential living expenses (ie. house rates, insurance and maintenance, amenities, medical, dental and groceries, transportation) for my wife and I have come in at approx $19K. Discretionary spending (ie. holidays, appliance replacement, gifts, alcohol, computer games, Netflix, clothes, entertainment, dining out, takeaways, misc spending) has come in at approx $22K, of which holidays made up the lion's share with $12K. Donations came in at $3K and house projects were $7K.

The grand total is $51K, which is nearly half of the much-touted $100K many seek as retirement income. Does being healthy, being more than adequately watered/fed/housed in security and comfort, owning/operating two vehicles to take us anywhere we want, holidaying to India/Nepal/Simpson Desert/Indian Pacific train trip across Oz/Mt Kosciusko/Sydney city, having two awesome dogs, going out for dinner/movies or having takeaway every week, going to concerts a couple of times a year, having enough good quality clothes, updating broken appliances with quality replacements, improving the comfort and energy efficiency of our home, and still being able to help others out financially really sound like we are depriving ourselves?

 

It'd be interesting to see how much a family of 4 or more lives on. Most of the wow numbers posted seem to be for singles or couples. Not including mortgage/rent, we average between $70-80K a year for everything and that doesn't include overseas travel. Reckon it would be easily $20K less without kids. Kids make a BIG difference.

 

There's living and there's LIVING !
Our family of 3 probably spent about 50k in round figures last year while working full time and kid in primary school.
Looking to retire next year on 300k and then really start living, enough of this delayed gratification already.
It's there to be spent and if any is left over it can go to charity.

 

OMG, you sound like you have my lifestyle, but then how come its costing me than double.
I just worked it out, I have 2 daughters currently living at home.

MTR

 

The more the merrier

cliff

 

Ace is that $300K pa purely passive and net/excess rent (after expenses)? If so, am super impressed.

 

That would be passive, but with a mortgage on the PPOR.
It would be reduced a bit if we used funds to fully offset the PPOR mortgage, which we may do to make financial sense unless we really need the full 300.

 

Great success story, not sure how you did it but would love to know.

 

Sounds great to me.

 

i havent even gotten married or had kids yet, 100k would be doable sure but ive no intention of just making do. where is the fun in that.

 

I have noticed the more money we make the more we spend, where does it end??

Not saying it is good or bad.

MTR

 

Nothing wrong with that, espexially if youre continuing to grow.

 

I have a relative who operates a business or three in Thailand. I hear the entertainment industry there for single gentlemen is highly affordable by Australian standards.

 

I thought it was the more money you make, the more money you want to make