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[Darren870]

Well here is what the average Australian spends per week according to moneysmart:

Lone person aged under 35
Housing $278
Fuel & power $20
Food & drink $104
Clothing & footware $23
Medical & health expenses $24
Alcohol $24
Transport $142
Recreation $106
TOTAL $869

Now, when I got my mortgage I told the banks I only spent $800 a month, as I had no bills besides food and transport. They kind of laughed but then again they don't really need to know an exact, they are more concerned about credit cards and how much debt you already have. Don't forget your yearly bills though! Insurance? Rego? anything really. You should include these and also bills you will be paying such as utilities. Do you have a credit card?

Figure for utilities you will have the following. (single male living in 1-2br apt)

Electric - $40 per month
Gas - $50 per month
Water - $50 per month
Internet - $70 per month (this varies like crazy)
Home insurance and/or body corp - $130 per month
Council rates - $120 per month.

You should +/- $20 to each of these as obviously it varies and I will assume its only you. Id budget higher then try and get it down as you go. The bigger the house and the more people you add the higher these go.

Its better to add money to the calculator then subtract. You don't want to stretch yourself and honestly its better to have all your home expenses (mortgage, gas, elec, etc) at about 25% of your take home. Most people do 35-40% and that is safe too, but once you get to 50%+ you are asking for a world of hurt.

 

[senahorse]

Thanks for all the details, Super good stuff.

@Darren, I have the 20%, that's not an issue. It's all the small things that I don't know how much will end up costing me. I live at home, so there's no money spent on Gas, Electricity, Water, Internet and so on.

I do buy my own food and there's public transport per month, Aside from that there's nothing else going anywhere that I can think of on a weekly or monthly basis.

Transport: $91 a month.
Food: $30ish a week so let's say $140 a month. That excludes my market adventures every 5 or 6 weeks which is under $200.

What's the average for bills that I would be looking at? So I can remove that from the calculation as well.

Rates is very dependant on area, our is currently around $360/quarter. Water for us is closer to $400 (we have a pool and gardens to maintain), Electricity if we didn't have solar would be around $800/quarter.

You have to take into account other bills you will have, like insurance, Car, Health, House and Contents all adds up. And then other general expenses you have listed.

 

[Darren870]

$800 a quarter? Would you be lighting up the block?

Mine is $50 a month and often I am under that. Sheesh!

 

[senahorse]

Big house, we run aircon a lot. Weekends might see 2 plasmas running simultaneous, pool pump/filter runs every day, water tank pump runs every day. We usually get 2 bills for around 2-300/year, and the other 2 quarters a cheque from AGL, without Solar we would be broke

Edit, where are you getting home insurance for $30/month, ours is $130 and it's a modest policy.

 

[Fredescu]

$800 a quarter? Would you be lighting up the block?

The unspoken cost of PC gaming.

 

[senahorse]

The unspoken cost of PC gaming.

That too...

 

[Fredescu]

Edit, where are you getting home insurance for $30/month, ours is $130 and it's a modest policy.

Yeah ours is more like that, around $120.

 

[Darren870]

Big house, we run aircon a lot. Weekends might see 2 plasmas running simultaneous, pool pump/filter runs every day, water tank pump runs every day. We usually get 2 bills for around 2-300/year, and the other 2 quarters a cheque from AGL, without Solar we would be broke

Edit, where are you getting home insurance for $30/month, ours is $130 and it's a modest policy.

Mine is probably cheaper since its only contents at $30k. I have a town house so the actual structure is covered in my body corp bills of $100 a month. So I guess you could say its $130 actually. Ill edit that

I think the summary of all this is that evlcookie should just continue living at home as its fucking expensive to live on your own

 

[Planet_JASE]

But, once VR comes, you'll be able to VR a huge TV while swimming in a fake pool, eating a virtual feast and rotating through multiple exquisite outfits.

The unspoken savings of PC gaming.

 

[senahorse]

Makes sense, I was hoping I screwed up and could save another $100 a month but fred's and your comments on it confirm no

 

[OfTheOverflow]

But, once VR comes, you'll be able to VR a huge TV while swimming in a fake pool, eating a virtual feast and rotating through multiple exquisite outfits.

The unspoken savings of PC gaming.

Haha, looking at the bright side. If PSVR is any good and acceptable for prolonged wearing I could see it saving costs for running a TV and sound system if you have decent headphones. Have heard 3D movies in VR add theoretically most accurate 3D so that'd be a neat bonus too, even if PSVR is launching w/o support of 3D Blu-ray

 

[evlcookie]

I do have a CC, I don't use it, I got it for the sole purpose of getting a credit rating. Clearly i should be using it ....

I can easily do 20% of a house and have a good amount of money saved, I of course don't want to dip into it just to survive, I would much prefer to live within my means and have the extra savings as an oh shit my legs got blow up i need new robotic legs.

I will have to throw some of these figures into a spreadsheet tonight after work and see what sort of insanity i'm looking at.

Thanks!

 

[Darren870]

Err. I'm not 100% sure how credit ratings work in the AUS. Do you guys even have credit ratings?

What you kinda just described is how it works in the US. You open up a credit card with a low limit, use it and pay it back and overtime the bank increases your credit limit on the card as a sign your credit is improving, your ability to pay it back etc.

In AUS, they actually don't want you to have high limits on your cc. They want you to have low limits as the higher the limit the more trouble you can get yourself into.

I only asked as sometimes its easier to see what your expenses are when its all in one place. People assume their expenses are low, but in reality they aren't, everything adds up.

 

[Danoss]

Does anyone here watch Not Safe with Nikki Glaser? It's a sex/sexuality themed comedy show with two guest comics each week. The reason I mention this is a couple of scenes from the show that were posted up on YouTube—my posting frequency is so low that I wanted to share the first of these a while ago.

Here's what they're about: Nikki Glaser and Kyle Kinane (brilliant stand up comedian) feed lines and directions to porn stars. The visuals are censored, but there are no illusions about what's happening, so don't try and watch these at work, even if you're able. They're region-restricted on YouTube, so I've grabbed the videos in HD format (VP9 and Opus formats, mkv container) and uploaded them for those without VPN access, as well as a YouTube link.

Not Safe with Nikki Glaser - Aural Sex with Kyle Kinane, Jake Jace & Luna Star (YouTube link)
Not Safe with Nikki Glaser - Aural Sex with Kyle Kinane Pt. 2 (YouTube link)

After watching the second one earlier and nearly dying of laughter (you'll know which part when you watch it), I had to stop everything and share.

What's the average for bills that I would be looking at? So I can remove that from the calculation as well.

Others have given you a better idea on average costs than I could. It is hard to gauge what your utilities will cost you without knowing what your usage habits are. When my gran had a string of successive hospital visits late last year and so I was at home alone, the next utilities bills were significantly lower. Water wasn't anywhere near as different as electricity, given how it's metered, but it was noticeable.

I knew this situation would've made an impact, but I was surprised by just how much. When you're only powering one room instead of many, the costs are really low. Cooking for one person also keeps costs down, as I can live off cook a standard meal for dinner and live off reheated leftovers for a few days after. Some leftover meals are freezable (homemade spaghetti sauce, soups, etc.), so there's still some variety and fast, healthy meal solutions.

Just don't forget to factor in some basic home maintenance. Things wear out and break, and there's never a good time for it to happen. If you're handy, it's a lot cheaper if you have the time. You can build a PC, so there's plenty of basic things you can do yourself at little cost with experienced friends and/or the internet. I can't imagine this will be too much of an issue if you don't leave yourself short of savings, but I just felt it worth mentioning.

 

[dity]

God damn I HATE First Choice Couriers.

 

[reptilescorpio]

$50 a month power seems insane. I'm always at the kids/wife to turn lights off/unplug chargers yet we are always over $100 a month.

Someone should buy me a house. At this point we either buy a shitty house that will be too small for our family within 5 years or build one and have a stroke within 5 years due to the stress of meeting the repayments!

 

[Darren870]

$50 a month power seems insane. I'm always at the kids/wife to turn lights off/unplug chargers yet we are always over $100 a month.

Someone should buy me a house. At this point we either buy a shitty house that will be too small for our family within 5 years or build one and have a stroke within 5 years due to the stress of meeting the repayments!

Over $100 a month? Do you have gas? I mean I can understand if you don't have gas, but then again having kids probably adds to it. We pay $60 a month and they read the meter every 3 months so there winds up being some sort of credit usually. Last credit was $36 so it wound up being $48 a month.

 

[Ruthless_Barbarian]

Yeah, I spend like $80 for 3 months of power.

I've been in credit on my power and gas bill for the last 2 years

 

[OfTheOverflow]

Just finishing up at uni and damn is it dark. Didn't factor that in to my walking home plan. Can't wait to get stabbed.

Our power bills are surprisingly expensive considering its just the girlfriend and I. My hidden costs of PC gaming indeed...

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Pffft, power runs us $600+ a quarter, that's what you get building a separate home office granny flat dwelling and young kids. Renos and solar panels for the main house can't come soon enough late this year.

 

[Jintor]

there's a lot of stuff I'm not super into about japan but some shit I like is cities built for bikes/general bike culture, and solar panels flipping everywhere. Like, everywhere.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Over $100 a month? Do you have gas? I mean I can understand if you don't have gas, but then again having kids probably adds to it. We pay $60 a month and they read the meter every 3 months so there winds up being some sort of credit usually. Last credit was $36 so it wound up being $48 a month.

Gas HWS & hotplates, elec oven. We have the PC and lounge TV running most of the day. All the lights are energy savers, turn shit off constantly, etc. Although my wife and baby are at home all day keep in mind. If it was just us at work 8 hours a day and then going out afterwards it would likely be way lower since the house would get a lot less use yeah.

 

[ClivePwned]

Quantum Break turned up today. Been having some fun with the intro level with the guy from cross-eyed guy from Lost, the cross-eyed guy from Xmen II and the cross-eyed guy from GoT.
Then shit goes absolutely nuts. As in absolutely nuts.

 

[Stackboy]

Quantum Break turned up today. Been having some fun with the intro level with the guy from cross-eyed guy from Lost, the cross-eyed guy from Xmen II and the cross-eyed guy from GoT.
Then shit goes absolutely nuts. As in absolutely nuts.

It looks pretty cool, but I think i'll wait until it's around $50. Feels like the kind of game I would only play once.

 

[HolyCheck]

Happy Ausgaf Kebab day everyone!

A tradition that has fallen on the 9th of April for the last 4 years.
Please celebrate by having a kebab for lunch or Dinner, or post drinkypoo's and post a picture of your kebab.

Your involvement in this day means a lot, and your efforts will be going to a good cause.

Thankyou.

 

[Dmax3901]

Anyone getting/got a Vive in here? What does the final price end up being, something close to $1200 AUD I imagine?

 

[r1chard]

Anyone getting/got a Vive in here? What does the final price end up being, something close to $1200 AUD I imagine?

Gonna wait for second gen / price drop thanks.

 

[jambo]

Gonna wait for second gen / price drop thanks.

Yeah, definitely seems like VR will benefit from 4k and up for screen res.

 

[Dmax3901]

Gonna wait for second gen / price drop thanks.

I just don't know. I want it now. But I also don't want it to be redundant in a year.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Yeah, definitely seems like VR will benefit from 4k and up for screen res.

I'd be happier with denser pixels in the display hardware, removing that is key to increasing the immersion for me. 4K and increased PPI probably go hand in hand to achieve that anyway. To date I've tried 4 VR devices and each I can see the pixels, basically the lenses allow you to see really dense pixels e.g. S7 @ 577 PPI.

I haven't tried the Rift or Vive yet so I'm curious how much better they are at hiding the pixels.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Happy Ausgaf Kebab day everyone!

A tradition that has fallen on the 9th of April for the last 4 years.
Please celebrate by having a kebab for lunch or Dinner, or post drinkypoo's and post a picture of your kebab.

Your involvement in this day means a lot, and your efforts will be going to a good cause.

Thankyou.

Sorry Holy, got a Black Burger from KFC before I saw your post

 

[bodyboarder]

Happy Ausgaf Kebab day everyone!

A tradition that has fallen on the 9th of April for the last 4 years.
Please celebrate by having a kebab for lunch or Dinner, or post drinkypoo's and post a picture of your kebab.

Your involvement in this day means a lot, and your efforts will be going to a good cause.

Thankyou.

Damn it, I just had lunch.

Anyone getting/got a Vive in here? What does the final price end up being, something close to $1200 AUD I imagine?

I'd like one, but will wait for gen2/3.

 

[Rizzi]

There's no good kebab place within walking distance of me. :<

 

[MoonGred]

There's no good kebab place within walking distance of me. :<

Spoiler

I've yet to have a good kebab in Australia

How's Black Desert going Rizzi?

 

[Rizzi]

Spoiler

I've yet to have a good kebab in Australia

How's Black Desert going Rizzi?

It's okay. Never really sure what I should be doing.

 

[MoonGred]

It's okay. Never really sure what I should be doing.

I played the trail and was so overwhelmed, nothing made sense in that game. The biggest problem was that there was no class that really stood out to me, might jump in when they release that new Ninja class or whatever it is.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

I ate a red rooster rippa. Does that count

 

[Stackboy]

I ate a red rooster rippa. Does that count

Speaking of Red Rooster, what chain has the best chips? My vote is Red Rooster.

 

[Jintor]

to get a kebab i would have to go to osaka

 

[HolyCheck]

to get a kebab i would have to go to osaka

I had like 4 kebabs in Tokyo.

all of them were old el paso burrito wraps, shaved beef and cabbage.

Get it right Tokyo.

 

[senahorse]

Speaking of Red Rooster, what chain has the best chips? My vote is Red Rooster.

Red Rooster's are great.

Bonus answer: filthy fries from Getta Burger:

 

[MoonGred]

Speaking of Red Rooster, what chain has the best chips? My vote is Red Rooster.

There's something to be said about the shittyness of Maccas chips

 

[r1chard]

I had like 4 kebabs in Tokyo.

all of them were old el paso burrito wraps, shaved beef and cabbage.

Get it right Tokyo.

the hell are you eating kebabs in Tokyo?!


Also, I'm quite partial to the Nandos chips with the peri-peri salt.

 

[Gazunta]

Red Rooster Rippa Roll Defence Force Representing

 

[Rizzi]

Red Rooster's are great.

Bonus answer: filthy fries from Getta Burger:

That looks horrific.

 

[bodyboarder]

That looks horrific.

But tastes so damn good.

 

[OfTheOverflow]

Speaking of Red Rooster, what chain has the best chips? My vote is Red Rooster.

Oooh, gotta say Red Rooster. KFC has let me down too often with some of their chains just fucking them up completely and McD's are consistently pretty good.

 

[ClivePwned]

For a chain, Grill'd makes good chips.

 

[OfTheOverflow]

For a chain, Grill'd makes good chips.

Oh shit I forgot about Grill'd. Yeah, they're no. 1.

 

[Jintor]

pity they're expensive but

god damn

they do good burgers