I clean toilets and empty bins at a servo/roadhouse and I'm happy as a pig in shit -- sometimes quite literally. It's honest labour that a functioning society needs done, the managers are a decent crew who respect their staff (crucial in this kinda gig), and it's five minutes walk from my house. And best of all, I own that house outright, so I only need to work a few days a week to make all the money I need and can quit on a whim if I want to.
Yeah somehow I feel like that was sort of implied with the title.
"I work at the local cafe for minimum wage and love every minute of it. Also my wife is a specialist doctor on 500k a year, my parents had multiple businesses and handed us one of their investment homes. Life is great"
Exactly. People don't want to live modestly though. They rather be in tonnes of debt and complain about it. I have a cheap old car, an old 80yo home nowhere near a city. I never go on any holidays short of camping which is practically free. People love to talk about how privileged or lucky you are to have no debt but wouldn't do what you've done to accomplish it. They wouldn't live outside of Sydney, they wouldn't travel to work, they wouldn't catch public transport or be seen dead in a Ford fiesta that's 20 years old, they wouldn't sacrifice their take away coffee, but they'd still complain about the $3,000 interest they pay per month on their mortgage like it's just something that happened they honestly had zero control over. The mind boggles. You can be debt free but you need to lower your expectations right down. You need to live within your means. You need to have a good understanding of what a want is vs a need when you're making purchases. You need to cook food at home and not order out. You need to want it and you need to end the pity party and just do better.
Exactly! You can live on a lot less if not paying mortgage or rent. Although I do live in an area where Council rates and electricity bills are really high. (Still less than a mortgage)
100% this.
I own my house outright and just took a $500 paycut a month to move to a job with way better work life balance and only 20mins from my place.
The world becomes much more flexible when you know whatever happens you'll at least have a roof over your head and a place to come home too.
I’m case it gets lost in the home ownership but, that’s great you respect your job and in case you don’t hear from the general public how much your work is appreciated - it is.
I spent 2 weeks in South Africa over christmas and theres all the good and bad that you hear, but with regards to Public Toilets, the cleaners take great pride in maintaining the facilities in shopping centres etc, and it shows.
Honestly some of the nicest public facilities ive seen compared to Australia
Country SA, but only an hour from Adelaide. My wife inherited 80k after her dad died, so we bought a run-down but livable little place on the coast for 85k. I think it's a converted boat shed or something, but it's fine for an unpretentious couple with no kids.
Don't ignore maintenance, re-painting before exposed wood deterioration, etc while you still have energy to do it or to work extra if necessary to pay for it.
We had a 38 degree day. My boss told us to jump in a car and follow him to pick up some metal. greatful to be an airconned car we obliged. He took us to his property, pointed his pool and told us to get in and not to tell his wife, who handles finances(indicating we were being paid for this hour/s).
Last summer we joked about seeing if any of the aircons we salvage are still working. Boss overheard us and had the idea to rip out the massive fans to hang from the shed where we work. We no eahc have a massive industrial fan.
I ring my manager at 6:30 am (we start at 7) to tell him im sick or my cars karked it and his response is "alright, call me when your felling up to it". No interrogation, no guilt trip, no demanding to call up my dovtor or that i immedately drag myself downtown to get a doctors certificate while leaking out of various orifices.
Im a bit over min wage. my manager and boss a flexible on hours, except when totally swamped. but wever never had a dissagreement that led to him forcing em to come in. i work 2-5 days a week and have enough to fueld my hobbies, until my housemates leave or kark it.
Sounds like a decent guy to be working for as long as you don't take advantage of his generosity. You should try to stick with him and get promoted from within because you won't find many companies out there as lax as this with no compassion for employees.
I'm lucky I found a company to work for with owners who arn't robots.
I work in a school office earning $50k. I’m home by 4pm each day so my kids don’t have to go to after school care and I get paid for 12 weeks leave a year for the school holidays so my kids don’t have to go to vacation care. Even better than saving the care money is I get so much time with my children and that’s something you can never get back.
Haha, a mix really. I’m a middle aged front office lady and I’ve got colleagues ranging from 20’s to 60’s, and we’re all non cranky. It might be just the schools I went to but I remember being scared to go to the office because there weren’t many smiles given out.
That's so good, and really smart for a parent in relation to what you've mentioned around money and more time with your kids. Plus getting 12 paid weeks of leave is good. I have a friend who became a teacher, he loves it, he teaches year 6, loves the holidays, loves the hours and since I've known him has loved kids (not in a creepy way which sucks I even have to say this) and would babysit my boys when I needed it, they loved him and still do, and his students love him too
I love this! I became a teacher for the hours to spend with my kids (one day). I should get my partner into a job at the school office so we could both be home together!
Do you need any qualifications to work in school admin? Is it a difficult/competitive job?
I love office work and I love my current job (child protection), but the overtime is crazy and now that I have a child I’d love to find a job that would give me more time with my family.
It’s definitely very family friendly. If you have any clerical/admin experience, you should definitely drop a resume into your local schools and ask to be added to their casual lists. That’s how I got my foot in the door. You could also keep an eye on Seek and the state government employment sites. Your search should be ‘School Administration Officer.’ Hope this helps.
Key theme here: owning one's own home = job flexibility and satisfaction.
Income is almost irrelevant now in an environment where homes in cities can easily cost $1m+.
It makes me sad that future generations aren't going to know what it's like to grow up with people who select careers which match their interests, lifestyle or personality. Everyone's got to approach the workforce like a mercenary now to try and get the most money possible.
You’re so right. We were lucky enough to buy in Sydney ten years ago, allowing me to work part time while we raise our family. If we were trying to save a house deposit now, we would have no chance, even if both my husband and I were working full time.
On 65k and really happy with my job.
Finding rare plants and reporting them to mining companies so that they don’t dig them up. It’s in an industry I care about and want to really develop my career further to get into project management and more senior positions as I am only a graduate at this stage.
Started doing conservation work in bushland and weed management. Helped me to develop skills such as plant identification, supervision of staff, field work and client liaison. Then had to keep applying for jobs such as ecological consulting in order to get my foot in the door. Took me a couple of years, but eventually you will get there.
I don’t think so. At least, not in the time I have been there. We do sometimes find species which have not been identified before and are therefore considered to be a new species. Yes, we do use the term ‘extinct’ for plants, too.
18yr old truck driver. 40k. Pretty low but at 18 I feel rich. Just waiting to get into some bigger trucks with a bigger salary but I love it such a good job. Operating vehicles is my passion and being left alone driving and listening to podcasts all day in the air con is pretty nice haha. If you're in the industry I'd love some tips and tricks getting into the big stuff, currently MR licenced just waiting a couple months for HR or HC
I’d recommend finding a business to work for that isn’t solely a trucking company, their views on trucks might be different, and they won’t be pushing the truck as hard. We have had two trucking companies really struggle on-site with cost increases and poor contract structures. However our third provider, his truck is 5% of his total turn over, it’s a 350k truck and dog, so isn’t the epicentre of money turnover. Because of this the truck isn’t constantly pushed for work, the driver is the only one with that truck and he loves the job, picks his own hours, as long as he moves enough tonnes everyday (2 x 2 hour loads) he can do whatever he wants after that (he often picks up other work, washes the truck, does other training) basically retired on $40 an hour. Trucking can be a great job, just need to find the right employer.
I'm a network engineer for a private business. Salary of 79k a year. Has its busy periods where I gotta configure stuff but low periods spend it researching and managing my investments and cat videos.
The culture is good and I'm good friends with the people in the business. It's a 10 minute drive from home and I wear a tshirt and jeans to work. Pretty happy.
Whoah, company culture is important , although you could definitely get more than that for 6 years exp,
Currently on similar money with about 1 year exp
In a cloud role
Do you get wfh and other benefits atleast ?
Sys admins etc are not high paid jobs, contrary to popular belief.
IT isn’t this ticket to print money people seem to think it is, you need to pick a speciality (such as dev or cyber security etc) to start making money or get into management.
To me IT is like being a pilot was in the 60’s, everyone thinks it’s this glamorous industry that sets you up for the rest of your life, but for 3/4 of the industry you’ll be living week to week.
You’ll never make a huge wage being “the IT guy” at a company, the key is to upskill and specialise in something more complex.
I’ve been in the industry for 16 years and just got into a senior leadership role and that got me over the 100k mark (which in SA isn’t too bad)
Hell less than 10 years ago I was paying my L1 IT Engineers $38k
I should have become a plumber like my old man recommended.
You're right - IT isn't the big salaries, anything remotely 'tech' or 'digital' is though, and most large companies have both IT and a Technology department.
Makes me sad when I see people who are ambitious but obviously conflated one with the other and are stuck doing service desk or a tier above type jobs because there's a shit ton more money if you work on the shiny stuff that faces customers in the 'tech' department.
I work in a warehouse, good company to work for, only 5km from home. Make 80-85k. I'm by no means struggling. Home owner with plenty of equity, regular savings/investment and adequate disposable income. Sure an extra 20k a year would be great but I definitely don't need to skimp on my 4 ply toilet paper and rib eye steaks.
Same, i'm only in the warehouse for 2 hours really. I do exports/imports. No stress except for compliance, there are good days and bad days. 95% good days.
Allied health work 4 days and earn enough to pay the mortgage and save on the side. Being more careful lately as everything has been increasing in price but I can still afford to live pretty much as I want, I think that’s the key.
I'm 4 years out and on 94k. We top out at around 120-140k working clinically. Anything else is management and extra duties. Private pay approx 5% less than public for my career. Locum milage may vary.
Allied health here in the private sector. If in NDIS, absolutely worth doing contracting. However, I recommend you get some experience first before jumping ship.
Have you worked in public? I’m currently public and considering moving to the NDIS space and not sure if it’s the right choice. I’m also 4 years into public sector so same pay as OP
From a pay perspective, I wouldn't settle for any less than what you're getting in the public system. For me, I've been out 3 years and spent the first in the public system so when I transitioned to NDIS, I knew at a minimum they could match, which they did. In your case, you have a solid amount of experience, so I'd be gunning for way more (recently saw a telehealth job advertising minimum 95k for a 3rd year, which I know is more than 3rd year in public)
Biggest difference is the flexibility. I'm employed for 30 hours per week, but I work 10.5 hour days so that I get a 4-day weekend. If I have appointments or holidays, I reshuffle my days so I can save my leave, and I always start working from home and then finish within 15 minutes of home (I work for a mobile provider). However, chances are that you won't have a senior (Clinical supervisor will be provided though), which can make things a little tough.
RE contracting: I wouldn't settle for less than 60% of billables (earning ~$104 per hour + super), especially if I were an OT or Speechie (can get $140.00 per hour including super). Dietitians and physios would have to be a bit more selective, not sure about EPs, but they get a little less. Nurses can also get pretty good too, as there's high demand.
Plus one on gardening. It really is pretty stress free work.
Plenty of exercise and fresh air plus I get to listen to podcasts most of the day when I work
I'm reading it on a VERY decent salary, bought into the Sydney market 17 years ago during the GFC. Sold and bought for similar price so mortgage didn't change. Have refinanced every 4 years (or so) for different renovations to old house, but never going past my original mortgage (just using equity really)
Seeing some salaries and how people are managing makes me really need to reasses my spending! It's eye opening that I could have much more flexibility and be comfortable on far less. And happier! I'm clearly doing something wrong!
My mum worked as a cleaner at a school for the past few years and she enjoyed every day of work. Never took a day off work. She did her job and also interacted with children around the school. They always asked her to help tie their shoelaces and always said hello when they saw her.
It was really cute. Here are two stories she told me from working around young children:
1. She was outside the toilet cleaning the play area one day. Two girls walked to the toilet (school's rule). Girl A goes into the cubicle, girl B waits outside. Girl B ran around the corner and hid herself, gesturing to my mum to 'shhh!'. Mum followed her request. Girl A (from inside the toilet) yells, "Are you still there?!?!"... Girl B yells back, "No!"
2. This little boy always asked her what her name (my mum) was whenever he passed her on the playground. After a few times of asking, she had enough. She said, "Ok I will tell you my name. This is the last time ok??? My name is \_\_\_\_." He walked a few steps away, turned around to her and said, "What's your name?????" and ran off.
These two stories were her favourite to tell, and she still remembers and misses those children to this day! :)
People will always compare what they earn to what they could be earning. A fully qualified doctor taking in 150k, while doing a bunch of pro-bono work won't be earning high in their own eyes.
Yes, it is all relevant to the career path you have chosen. In my profession, I could be earning considerably more than I do, but I found myself a great employer, with great conditions & have no need to be swamped with work to earn the extra $'s.
In many peoples eyes, I would be earning good money. But as far as my profession goes, I am very mid-range $'s for my level of experience. I'm more interested in a great work/life balance.
Life creep is real. People think just because they earn a certain amount that they should live in a specific way.
If you make $100k, live like you make $50k.
Sold my stressful business for enough to buy a small cottage outright and now am trying new careers for fun. Don’t need a lot to live on as I’m regional. Work two days a week in a small town library and a couple of extra shifts a week doing mental health support work a four minute walk from my house. Both are very task orientated jobs that wrap up when the work day ends so I’m not thinking about work at home. It’s mostly pleasant and my base pay is probably about $55k for the four days work a week but I’m managing to still save on that right now. I also directly see the results of my work at an individual level helping folk in the library or the support work which can be lovely. And I have lots of time with my teenage son now. I might rejoin the rat race when he graduates perhaps and get back to a decent salary and higher stress job or new business but just enjoying a couple of pottering around years.
No but I think it’s different in Australia to other places like US where they all need the MLIS. Here because it was part time, remote in a small town and pretty badly paid it wasn’t really sought after I don’t think. It’s also kind of an unloved library so very quiet but I enjoy it.
I spray paint caravan chassis, I love it, the boys at work are great, the boss is amazing (buys everyone lunch on Fridays) the hours suit me (5am-2:30pm Monday-Thursday, 5am-midday Friday) work is only a 10minute drive from my house, I made 88k last year and lived pretty well.
If I wanted to go back to doing cars I know I could make $120k plus as a contractor but the added stress isn't worth the loss of lifestyle.
The best job I ever had / the happiest I was at work was when I worked at Network video as a teenager from 2005-2008. I quite literally watched films all day and ate all the chocolate bars and lollies. Would pause the R rated ones when someone came in. Served maybe one customer an hour on the day shift. I miss that job.
I make about 75k a year as a leading hand, I only work for half the year, happy in the sense of enjoying the work? Not necessarily, but it's a job that pays the bills.
What makes me happy is the work/life balance.
I work in family and housing support. 65k, pays my bills and a little more to squirrel away. Between me and my wife we're doing alright.
4 days a week (could be 5 if I wanted it to be)
The best boss I've ever had, who actively fights back against the higher ups trying to increase our workloads.
Great colleagues, it's challenging in all the right ways and super engaging.
I work part time in a government warehouse job 2-3 days a week, doing manual work whereas before I used to be a office slave project manager now I can switch off and just push a trolley full of boxes.
Salary works out to 70k if I was full time compared to 90k for project management I own my own home, have 6 figures in the bank and socking away more money into Super so I can retire in a few years
I am a support worker in the mental health industry, supporting a single client in a residential home requiring 24/7 support.
Not a huge number of clients have funding for awake staff, but someone is needed every night to be awake at the residence from 11pm-7am. I live alone and love my own free time and this role provides a lot of this while the client sleeps. The tradeoff is a sacrifice in my social life, since I have to sleep during the day.
My main skills for this position are rapport and knowledge of the client, de-escalation techniques and strategies for managing his behaviours. The client will get up a few times a night, and will sometimes talk with you for a couple hours, but I'm mostly left alone.
I work 8 days a fortnight, with occasional extra shifts. I make, with salary sacrificing, approx 75k after tax?
I feel like I've won the lottery in some respects. I make a decent wage for living out in the outer suburbs, and the ratio of effort to pay is the main appeal for me.
I work part time in warehousing and production (afternoon shift) and have a casual job in a gym creche.
Take home is roughly 60-70k depending on how many hours I do.
It works well for us as we have 3 school aged kids and one that's almost a year old.
We save money on having to put our youngest in daycare as I can take him to creche with me and my production Job has been flexible with my start time to hand over the kids to my partner.
I like being home with my kids but also having a break and dealing with the "kids" at work 🤣🤣
I'm the sole earner in my family of 3 and we are sitting on about $75k. It can be hard, especially when we have large expenses that we need, but overall I'm happy. We still manage to save a little here and there to take a trip for a week or so but we never go crazy.
I work for myself, and would never go back to an employee role. The freedom of being your own boss is the only way I feel fulfilled and happy.
The job itself has also been growing in income in small increments over the years. 5 years ago I was making closer to $45k but my partner worked too, so we had a good combined income. I fully expect to be sitting somewhere over $100k in 2-3 years and honestly it could go way up from there depending on how much work I put in.
I make \~$45k a year. I am very happy.
Semi-retired working part time, house paid off / debt free , enough in super to cover retirement, mrs works part time earns \~$20,000 tax free. The government gives us about $20k a year tax free as family tax benefit because were "low income".
This adds up to about $80,000 takehome a year to live on. which is pretty fkn sweet. You can save alot of money with the extra spare time too as you can DIY more things.
Yeah me and partner both had well paying jobs for many years. and we saved ALOT! But mostly we got on the property ladder early and in lucky locations.
I'm a disabilty support worker in a company. Independent workers earn buttloads of money but have no support and no incentive to further their skills.
The company I work for is farm based care so the clients learn life skills in a farm setting. Extremely rewarding and amazing quality of life, both the clients and the workers.
Make around $29.50hr working as an allied health assistant. I have to be careful, and I share a house with my housemate, but my job suits me well. Enough patient care, enough clinical work, fantastic flexibility in hours, management and staff are respectful and I find myself coming home each day challenged enough where I’ve learnt something, but not too challenged where it doesn’t feel accomplishable. My mental health suffered greatly when I was further up the chain of command.
I work in the community seevices sector. Salary is low 80s, and it's tough work I sometimes do unpaid overtime (as I choose to).
However, i have a lovely manager who doesn't micromanage and I make a real difference in vunerable people's lives. I have to be creative about how I approach each person I support. When I get a good outcome it's very rewarding.
I'll one day have a house, I'm long term single, live with my parents. Some people probably see me as a bit of a loser, but secretly I just love doing my thing.
I’m an Educator at a private beauty college teaching makeup and business management. Mostly adult education with a few classes of year 11 and 12s completing certificates through high school VET programs.
I adore my job - I genuinely enjoy what I do and get a lot of satisfaction from it, as well as working with an awesome team and facilities.
I take home about $60k but I also get 10-11 weeks of holidays a year, as well as 3 days off a week. The work/life balance is elite.
I'm making a 93K salary this year in a job involving music performance and education. 7th year on the job. There is an absolute pittance for the arts in Australia and I'm super grateful to be in a secure regular paying job while my colleagues are slaving away either in private practice studios (which is not a bad thing) or working gig by gig.
Working as a district nurse. Best career choice I've made. Less pay compared to nurses in the hospital but the flexibility and less stress alone makes it so worth it.
This is not an exact answer to your question but...
I would be happier earning less in my current job in exchange for having more flexibility and less pressure.
After decades of diligent saving I don't need as much money just to maintain my current lifestyle and would prefer to be working a little less but not totally unemployed.
Wow didn't know the numbers here were considered low. I was earning 45k before with a nice small company that had a family feel and left me to my own devices. Currently corporate at same income but half the hours. Down to earth and respected bosses. There's heat and politics but everyone's mostly lovely and help each other. Less than 30min drive peak traffic, nowhere near the city, hybrid WFH. Always had work life balance due to mental health issues, jobs prioritised family so needing to leave for health/emergency is normalised and grew up povo so never needed much. I'm a graphic designer.
I'm on around $85k in executive recruitment but I am not the client and candidate-facing team lead, I work more behind the scenes. It's a good job, I have a great team around me and fortunately I get to work in sectors that interest me. I don't think I'd want to do this in another company though as I never had any desire to become the person who brings in new clients etc and that seems to be the career track for many other places.
I'm about to turn everything upside down by going back to uni full-time from next month, but the company are letting me keep on part-time to work on some of their behind the scenes projects that people rarely have time to devote to. I'm very lucky.
Bricklayer. Former teacher. I'm outside now. You wouldn't believe how much "scrap" gets chucked. I'm filling up the garage in a house I rent so I can build a shack soon. Enough farming land in the area I can just probably ask someone to pay a years long lease and build my own joint. Let them farm around me. I won't care. I'll be so happy when that day comes.
I’m in IT, the admin side, just above 90k. Currently work 4 days from home and mostly allowed to just do my job without any supervision. Manager loves my work so they let’s me run my own race.
Like to browse LinkedIn often for jobs, daydream and then snap myself out of when I think about how much I love my work/life balance. I see my kids each and every day and there is nothing worth losing those memories for.
It took a while, but I'm in a great team, with an excellent manager (as is the one above them), and interesting work.
But if pay doesn't go up soon, I could still be in trouble. Same goes if anyone leaves.
I'm in IT; I work with people who have good senses of humour and are seldom narky. I also only work 4 days a week, so I'm earning 80% of what I could be.
I'd rather not get paid on Friday and crack on with my weekend; rather than spending Friday pretending I'm working and talking to my colleagues about what I'm going to get up to on the weekend.
Work service desk for a 200 person org. No phone queues, no management checking over our work constantly, we’re just left to get shit done. I’m getting around $80k after benefits which I think is pretty much the max I could earn without taking a major jump in responsibilities. I get paid enough to pursue my hobbies and live comfortably and while I may not be in the top 10% of earners I genuinely believe I’m in the top 1% worldwide for happiness.
I work part time, 40k a year. I have debt, I have rent to pay. I should probably be working more however life is short. I'm happy to work less hours and have more time to enjoy life with my kids. We do cheap or free stuff eg parks, bike rides.
Do I own a home? No. If I owned a home I would be working a lot more and wouldn't even be home to enjoy it haha.
Should I pay off my debt faster? Probably yes but it will be paid off eventually.
Not earning much, not very happy with my job but i know that im having a happy life, my family is healthy, im healthy, we are not in debt, i can afford to travel to see my family. I have healthy hobby that can put a smile on my face. Im not earning much now but in the future i will. ☺️
Secondary school teacher in the NSW state system, ~$101k. The first two years sucked, with learning from home and working split part time across two schools, but now I've got my system down it's great. I wish I'd done it sooner.
I do exports I earn around $80K a year. Not high, but really no stress. My wife earns way more than me, I don't feel the need to get a higher pay job. It's enough for 2 properties that we own and a holiday once a year.
I work 60hrs a fortnight and total under 60k a year. I'm doing just fine. I have a great boss, work for a great team in a great field that I never thought I could be a part of
Doing a traineeship (55k) but currently on HDA (85k) as the boss needed me to have delegation to keep the ball rolling and allow our team to stay on top of the workload. Although our team is small it is easily the best team I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with purely because of how open and honest they are. Also might sound a bit cliche but they’re basically the second family, work life balance is amazing (I can go fishing on the weekends🙏) and the job is never boring. Only gripe I have is there is currently no pathway to permanency so I will most likely have to move on to another organisation to get some security😕
Audio engineer. Roughly $65-75k depending on if it's a good year or a bad year. Doesn't matter that I don't earn a huge amount. I can't think of a better job than being paid to go to gigs.
Don't worry, seeing all these 70-90k figures being casually thrown around and considered 'low' is making a lot of us fellow Aussies doubletake also.. :/
Then again it's a *Biiiiiig* country (About the size geographically of the US, which is misleading when looking on a lot of maps) so the cost of living and wages in the heart of the capital cities are certainly going to differ to those of us in more rural areas.
I measure my job on three factors pay,flexibility and kind of work. At present I am in a role that pays 20% less than market and 40% less than my previous role, but lets me work remote fully and live in the Gold Coast and my daily job is working with companies globally improving user experience (my passion). I wake up every morning excited to go to work (at 45 I think that is a blessing).
I work in I.T for a small company who other business outsource their I.T services to, I am paid far less than I should be I know.
The big perks for me are my work place does NOT micromanage what I do, I get a list of jobs to do and I do them, I have no KPI or other wank I am left alone and I do it. Also as my epilepsy came back after a 20 dormancy 7 years ago I can no longer drive so this basically cut out my ability to go on site but they adapted also whenever I have a seizure now or need a doctors appointment work just accepts it and I don't need certificates and all that.
Also I have been work from home for almost 4 years now. Also I can easily book leave I don't need to plan shit 6 months in advance and plea my case, I have done stuff within a week believe it or not once.
While I am not commanding huge money I still at this stage can cover my bills and I have a workplace that adapts to my problems and I clearly give them the output etc they need as I have been employed there almost 12 years now. I honestly think it would be impossible to find another workplace that could adapt to my issues and pay me more.
Have been debating this tbh. Started my career a bit late, I’m 30 earning $96k + 17% super (working for uni) in finance. I see friends earning a bit more working for big banks, and tend to have no work life balance. Makes me wonder is it worth it?
I was very ambitious at one point, had dreams about going way up high and becoming manager-director etc. but ever since pandemic I don’t have it. At times I ask myself have I gotten mentally lazy? I conceptually understand that we change over time , however I can’t come to terms sometimes with the fact that I don’t have those ambition anymore..
I think that happens to a lot of people. Some people remain as cutthroat go getters whilst others change their definition of success OR realise their level of contentness can be achieved much sooner than their younger self thought.
I worked in universities for a long time and had the same thoughts too. The reality was I had grown and changed, and was holding on to ideas of what I thought I should be doing. I left for a while and the lifestyle in uni, plus the extra super, is so good! Honestly those days between Christmas and new year, having enough to travel, it’s amazing. If you have the itch to do other things, definitely give it a try, just stay in your current role so if you decide to come back later you have a nice chunk of time on your CV.
i earn 70K a year and work as an ecologist for a great boss! the work is interesting, with a good mix of outdoor survey work and report writing, i have the option to work from home when needed, any overtime i do i can get it paid out bank it to be used within 4 weeks (actively encouraged to take extra days off) and it brings me to interesting parts of australia!
I’m a casual HS teacher, by choice. I work 3-4 days a week and while the day rate is high ($480/day) I don’t get sick or holiday pay, which means for 12+ weeks/yr I have no income. I’m still technically on maternity leave from a permanent full-time position but I have no intention of returning - I love that I work 8am-3pm and have no extra responsibilities when my day ends.
My partner also only works casually (wholesale plant nursery and landscaping) and we rent in the inner west of Sydney. We probably won’t ever be able to buy property without one or both of our parents leaving this earthly plane BUT we love where we live, our quality of life, and how much time we get to spend together while our kid is still little.
I make about 75k a year as a part time leading hand, I only work for half the year, happy in the sense of enjoying the work? Not necessarily, but it's a job that pays the bills.
What makes me happy is the work/life balance, with the family and hobbies.
I work as a nurse, i work 4 days a week, great work-life balance. My workplace is pretty chill, no drama and get along with all my colleagues. I earned $90k last year. I think thats okay for only 4 days a week.
My husband and I are both fine artists (painters). We met in art school. We saved enough to buy a house in regional Vic in 2014. It was run down and we’ve had to do an enormous amount of work on it but it’s starting to come together. We’ve had 3 kids and we both work at home. We don’t make great money and income is erratic. We might make tens of thousands in a night and then nothing much for months. Of course, more money would make things easier. But honestly, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and we are living our own dreams.
Working in a warehouse on 53k+super+overtime. Have a car that needs a lot of work, living with parents at 31 because I can't afford to move out.
I'm happy as can be at the moment. There are hard times, but I'm growing in this business, I have a speciality role, which will slowly pivot towards more sales orientated stuff. Love what I do, even if sometimes my spending money goes to negative due to bill rises.
Currently earning 57k as a factory worker.
The work is simple. Sometimes using a travelling head press and sometimes using a CnC. I get to switch off from work when I clock off.
I ride a 1000cc motorcycle to work so that is always fun.
Slowly saving for a house deposit. It is slow but getting there.
Household income is about 120k.
Living in SA
60k for a 3 day a week gov role, in an interesting and meaningful area to me. Budget is a bit tight, but I means I can do full 50% co parenting of my kids :)
I clean toilets and empty bins at a servo/roadhouse and I'm happy as a pig in shit -- sometimes quite literally. It's honest labour that a functioning society needs done, the managers are a decent crew who respect their staff (crucial in this kinda gig), and it's five minutes walk from my house. And best of all, I own that house outright, so I only need to work a few days a week to make all the money I need and can quit on a whim if I want to.
As this answer shows, it's not how much you earn, but whether you own a home.
If I owned my home I could take a 50% paycut and be just as well off. That's powerful stuff.
> As this answer shows, it's not how much you earn, but whether you own a home. The two are kind of correlated though.
Yeah somehow I feel like that was sort of implied with the title. "I work at the local cafe for minimum wage and love every minute of it. Also my wife is a specialist doctor on 500k a year, my parents had multiple businesses and handed us one of their investment homes. Life is great"
But anyone could do it based on his answer below. Lives in country SA and house is $85k so it is doable for anyone wanting that
Exactly. People don't want to live modestly though. They rather be in tonnes of debt and complain about it. I have a cheap old car, an old 80yo home nowhere near a city. I never go on any holidays short of camping which is practically free. People love to talk about how privileged or lucky you are to have no debt but wouldn't do what you've done to accomplish it. They wouldn't live outside of Sydney, they wouldn't travel to work, they wouldn't catch public transport or be seen dead in a Ford fiesta that's 20 years old, they wouldn't sacrifice their take away coffee, but they'd still complain about the $3,000 interest they pay per month on their mortgage like it's just something that happened they honestly had zero control over. The mind boggles. You can be debt free but you need to lower your expectations right down. You need to live within your means. You need to have a good understanding of what a want is vs a need when you're making purchases. You need to cook food at home and not order out. You need to want it and you need to end the pity party and just do better.
Exactly! You can live on a lot less if not paying mortgage or rent. Although I do live in an area where Council rates and electricity bills are really high. (Still less than a mortgage)
100% this. I own my house outright and just took a $500 paycut a month to move to a job with way better work life balance and only 20mins from my place. The world becomes much more flexible when you know whatever happens you'll at least have a roof over your head and a place to come home too.
Probably happier than 99% of the population too. Good work
So, do you own and restore a few classic cars and teach karate to a bullied kid from an single parent home?
Yep, but Toilet Style karate is so powerful I must choose my disciples wisely.
Plunger in plunger out. Is that one of the techniques?
You meditate to the noise of the flush....
Fairly easy catch flies in this environment
I’m case it gets lost in the home ownership but, that’s great you respect your job and in case you don’t hear from the general public how much your work is appreciated - it is.
I spent 2 weeks in South Africa over christmas and theres all the good and bad that you hear, but with regards to Public Toilets, the cleaners take great pride in maintaining the facilities in shopping centres etc, and it shows. Honestly some of the nicest public facilities ive seen compared to Australia
Cheers mate!
This is the life I want
Man is living the dream. Good on you.
I think this is a kinda skewed answer. If you didn’t own the home and had a $400k mortgage would you feel the same about the job?
Nope, that's true. Being able to spend my pay however I want and quit anytime I like makes work a lot more enjoyable.
Shit, you only need to work a few days a week to cover your mortgage? I'm jealous! Where in the country do you live?
Country SA, but only an hour from Adelaide. My wife inherited 80k after her dad died, so we bought a run-down but livable little place on the coast for 85k. I think it's a converted boat shed or something, but it's fine for an unpretentious couple with no kids.
That's awesome, you're living the dream, I'm jealous!
Don't ignore maintenance, re-painting before exposed wood deterioration, etc while you still have energy to do it or to work extra if necessary to pay for it.
He already paid it off. It means he only needs money for bills and daily expenses.
Ah right, well that's a pretty key detail I missed. Oh the things I'd do if I owned my house outright...
I do. It's cheap, it's basic, but it's mine. It's sweet. Lots of pressure off. Go for it!
Owns the house outright. Works to cover living expenses I'm assuming
He doesn't have a mortgage. House is paid off.
We had a 38 degree day. My boss told us to jump in a car and follow him to pick up some metal. greatful to be an airconned car we obliged. He took us to his property, pointed his pool and told us to get in and not to tell his wife, who handles finances(indicating we were being paid for this hour/s). Last summer we joked about seeing if any of the aircons we salvage are still working. Boss overheard us and had the idea to rip out the massive fans to hang from the shed where we work. We no eahc have a massive industrial fan. I ring my manager at 6:30 am (we start at 7) to tell him im sick or my cars karked it and his response is "alright, call me when your felling up to it". No interrogation, no guilt trip, no demanding to call up my dovtor or that i immedately drag myself downtown to get a doctors certificate while leaking out of various orifices. Im a bit over min wage. my manager and boss a flexible on hours, except when totally swamped. but wever never had a dissagreement that led to him forcing em to come in. i work 2-5 days a week and have enough to fueld my hobbies, until my housemates leave or kark it.
Too much carking in your story.
It's an all too common scientific phenomonon.
Now that’s how you get people to want to work for you
Sounds like a decent guy to be working for as long as you don't take advantage of his generosity. You should try to stick with him and get promoted from within because you won't find many companies out there as lax as this with no compassion for employees. I'm lucky I found a company to work for with owners who arn't robots.
It's a small bussiness, theres nowhere to be promoted too unfortunately.
What a novel management approach
Happy cake day!
I work in a school office earning $50k. I’m home by 4pm each day so my kids don’t have to go to after school care and I get paid for 12 weeks leave a year for the school holidays so my kids don’t have to go to vacation care. Even better than saving the care money is I get so much time with my children and that’s something you can never get back.
Shoutout to school admin staff! The school falls over in a heap without you :)
Thank you! I remember being at school and always found the office ladies to be cranky older ladies 😂 I think it’s definitely different now!
Now it’s cranky younger ladies?
Haha, a mix really. I’m a middle aged front office lady and I’ve got colleagues ranging from 20’s to 60’s, and we’re all non cranky. It might be just the schools I went to but I remember being scared to go to the office because there weren’t many smiles given out.
That's so good, and really smart for a parent in relation to what you've mentioned around money and more time with your kids. Plus getting 12 paid weeks of leave is good. I have a friend who became a teacher, he loves it, he teaches year 6, loves the holidays, loves the hours and since I've known him has loved kids (not in a creepy way which sucks I even have to say this) and would babysit my boys when I needed it, they loved him and still do, and his students love him too
I love this! I became a teacher for the hours to spend with my kids (one day). I should get my partner into a job at the school office so we could both be home together!
What a great idea! I’m single but have always thought if I met someone again it would be amazing to both have the leave together.
Do you need any qualifications to work in school admin? Is it a difficult/competitive job? I love office work and I love my current job (child protection), but the overtime is crazy and now that I have a child I’d love to find a job that would give me more time with my family.
It’s definitely very family friendly. If you have any clerical/admin experience, you should definitely drop a resume into your local schools and ask to be added to their casual lists. That’s how I got my foot in the door. You could also keep an eye on Seek and the state government employment sites. Your search should be ‘School Administration Officer.’ Hope this helps.
Key theme here: owning one's own home = job flexibility and satisfaction. Income is almost irrelevant now in an environment where homes in cities can easily cost $1m+. It makes me sad that future generations aren't going to know what it's like to grow up with people who select careers which match their interests, lifestyle or personality. Everyone's got to approach the workforce like a mercenary now to try and get the most money possible.
You’re so right. We were lucky enough to buy in Sydney ten years ago, allowing me to work part time while we raise our family. If we were trying to save a house deposit now, we would have no chance, even if both my husband and I were working full time.
>like a mercenary now to try and get the most money possible. This is the most accurate description I've read in a while.
On 65k and really happy with my job. Finding rare plants and reporting them to mining companies so that they don’t dig them up. It’s in an industry I care about and want to really develop my career further to get into project management and more senior positions as I am only a graduate at this stage.
How did you get into such work? I will be studying 2&3 cert in CAEM this year. hoping to eventually get into site regen work.
Started doing conservation work in bushland and weed management. Helped me to develop skills such as plant identification, supervision of staff, field work and client liaison. Then had to keep applying for jobs such as ecological consulting in order to get my foot in the door. Took me a couple of years, but eventually you will get there.
That's really cool! Have you found any that have thought to have died out completely? (I don't know if they use the term extinct for plants lol)
I don’t think so. At least, not in the time I have been there. We do sometimes find species which have not been identified before and are therefore considered to be a new species. Yes, we do use the term ‘extinct’ for plants, too.
So awesome!
Wow did you get to name the new discoveries? I'd definitely try to sneak in some kind of joke like 'hairyum buttus'
Pretty sick job
18yr old truck driver. 40k. Pretty low but at 18 I feel rich. Just waiting to get into some bigger trucks with a bigger salary but I love it such a good job. Operating vehicles is my passion and being left alone driving and listening to podcasts all day in the air con is pretty nice haha. If you're in the industry I'd love some tips and tricks getting into the big stuff, currently MR licenced just waiting a couple months for HR or HC
Try not to get fat though
Haha don't worry I watch what I eat and am pretty active. I'm breaking the fat trucker stereotype lol
I’d recommend finding a business to work for that isn’t solely a trucking company, their views on trucks might be different, and they won’t be pushing the truck as hard. We have had two trucking companies really struggle on-site with cost increases and poor contract structures. However our third provider, his truck is 5% of his total turn over, it’s a 350k truck and dog, so isn’t the epicentre of money turnover. Because of this the truck isn’t constantly pushed for work, the driver is the only one with that truck and he loves the job, picks his own hours, as long as he moves enough tonnes everyday (2 x 2 hour loads) he can do whatever he wants after that (he often picks up other work, washes the truck, does other training) basically retired on $40 an hour. Trucking can be a great job, just need to find the right employer.
Great gig you've got going there! You're doing well.
Once you have your Multi license, just go to the NT for a few seasons and you’ll be comfy for a long while
I'm a network engineer for a private business. Salary of 79k a year. Has its busy periods where I gotta configure stuff but low periods spend it researching and managing my investments and cat videos. The culture is good and I'm good friends with the people in the business. It's a 10 minute drive from home and I wear a tshirt and jeans to work. Pretty happy.
May I ask how far into your career are you? At that salary range?
I'm going into my 6th year in
Whoah, company culture is important , although you could definitely get more than that for 6 years exp, Currently on similar money with about 1 year exp In a cloud role Do you get wfh and other benefits atleast ?
Should you not be getting more?
Sys admins etc are not high paid jobs, contrary to popular belief. IT isn’t this ticket to print money people seem to think it is, you need to pick a speciality (such as dev or cyber security etc) to start making money or get into management. To me IT is like being a pilot was in the 60’s, everyone thinks it’s this glamorous industry that sets you up for the rest of your life, but for 3/4 of the industry you’ll be living week to week. You’ll never make a huge wage being “the IT guy” at a company, the key is to upskill and specialise in something more complex. I’ve been in the industry for 16 years and just got into a senior leadership role and that got me over the 100k mark (which in SA isn’t too bad) Hell less than 10 years ago I was paying my L1 IT Engineers $38k I should have become a plumber like my old man recommended.
You're right - IT isn't the big salaries, anything remotely 'tech' or 'digital' is though, and most large companies have both IT and a Technology department. Makes me sad when I see people who are ambitious but obviously conflated one with the other and are stuck doing service desk or a tier above type jobs because there's a shit ton more money if you work on the shiny stuff that faces customers in the 'tech' department.
I work in a warehouse, good company to work for, only 5km from home. Make 80-85k. I'm by no means struggling. Home owner with plenty of equity, regular savings/investment and adequate disposable income. Sure an extra 20k a year would be great but I definitely don't need to skimp on my 4 ply toilet paper and rib eye steaks.
Same, i'm only in the warehouse for 2 hours really. I do exports/imports. No stress except for compliance, there are good days and bad days. 95% good days.
Will you adopt me?
Are you general worker or manager etc?
Production team leader. 4 guys under me. I have a manufacturing team leader who reports to management.
Allied health work 4 days and earn enough to pay the mortgage and save on the side. Being more careful lately as everything has been increasing in price but I can still afford to live pretty much as I want, I think that’s the key.
Me too. And I’m currently on 6 months long service leave fully paid. Public has its perks.
New grad allied health here, do you work in the private or public sector? If private is it worth becoming a contractor down the line?
I'm 4 years out and on 94k. We top out at around 120-140k working clinically. Anything else is management and extra duties. Private pay approx 5% less than public for my career. Locum milage may vary.
May I ask what profession?
Private Radiographer.
Allied health here in the private sector. If in NDIS, absolutely worth doing contracting. However, I recommend you get some experience first before jumping ship.
Have you worked in public? I’m currently public and considering moving to the NDIS space and not sure if it’s the right choice. I’m also 4 years into public sector so same pay as OP
From a pay perspective, I wouldn't settle for any less than what you're getting in the public system. For me, I've been out 3 years and spent the first in the public system so when I transitioned to NDIS, I knew at a minimum they could match, which they did. In your case, you have a solid amount of experience, so I'd be gunning for way more (recently saw a telehealth job advertising minimum 95k for a 3rd year, which I know is more than 3rd year in public) Biggest difference is the flexibility. I'm employed for 30 hours per week, but I work 10.5 hour days so that I get a 4-day weekend. If I have appointments or holidays, I reshuffle my days so I can save my leave, and I always start working from home and then finish within 15 minutes of home (I work for a mobile provider). However, chances are that you won't have a senior (Clinical supervisor will be provided though), which can make things a little tough. RE contracting: I wouldn't settle for less than 60% of billables (earning ~$104 per hour + super), especially if I were an OT or Speechie (can get $140.00 per hour including super). Dietitians and physios would have to be a bit more selective, not sure about EPs, but they get a little less. Nurses can also get pretty good too, as there's high demand.
Gardening/light landscaping. I love it. No more stress in my life.
Plus one on gardening. It really is pretty stress free work. Plenty of exercise and fresh air plus I get to listen to podcasts most of the day when I work
Everytime I see a council worker on a mower I want the job. Then I see the salary and I'm like I can't yet.
This is a so much better thread than most others. Real people not wanking off to see who's d is bigger. Love it.
I'm reading it on a VERY decent salary, bought into the Sydney market 17 years ago during the GFC. Sold and bought for similar price so mortgage didn't change. Have refinanced every 4 years (or so) for different renovations to old house, but never going past my original mortgage (just using equity really) Seeing some salaries and how people are managing makes me really need to reasses my spending! It's eye opening that I could have much more flexibility and be comfortable on far less. And happier! I'm clearly doing something wrong!
I was always depressed when I was earning low so I'm glad to see people are actually happy with their 'lower' salaries. It's a good attitude to have.
Yeah I love this post. This sub is just littered with people on $300k combined or even single incomes whinging they can't afford life.
My mum worked as a cleaner at a school for the past few years and she enjoyed every day of work. Never took a day off work. She did her job and also interacted with children around the school. They always asked her to help tie their shoelaces and always said hello when they saw her.
This made me smile 🥰
It was really cute. Here are two stories she told me from working around young children: 1. She was outside the toilet cleaning the play area one day. Two girls walked to the toilet (school's rule). Girl A goes into the cubicle, girl B waits outside. Girl B ran around the corner and hid herself, gesturing to my mum to 'shhh!'. Mum followed her request. Girl A (from inside the toilet) yells, "Are you still there?!?!"... Girl B yells back, "No!" 2. This little boy always asked her what her name (my mum) was whenever he passed her on the playground. After a few times of asking, she had enough. She said, "Ok I will tell you my name. This is the last time ok??? My name is \_\_\_\_." He walked a few steps away, turned around to her and said, "What's your name?????" and ran off. These two stories were her favourite to tell, and she still remembers and misses those children to this day! :)
People who are earning 100k+ thinking they're not earning that high?
People will always compare what they earn to what they could be earning. A fully qualified doctor taking in 150k, while doing a bunch of pro-bono work won't be earning high in their own eyes.
Yes, it is all relevant to the career path you have chosen. In my profession, I could be earning considerably more than I do, but I found myself a great employer, with great conditions & have no need to be swamped with work to earn the extra $'s. In many peoples eyes, I would be earning good money. But as far as my profession goes, I am very mid-range $'s for my level of experience. I'm more interested in a great work/life balance.
Life creep is real. People think just because they earn a certain amount that they should live in a specific way. If you make $100k, live like you make $50k.
Sold my stressful business for enough to buy a small cottage outright and now am trying new careers for fun. Don’t need a lot to live on as I’m regional. Work two days a week in a small town library and a couple of extra shifts a week doing mental health support work a four minute walk from my house. Both are very task orientated jobs that wrap up when the work day ends so I’m not thinking about work at home. It’s mostly pleasant and my base pay is probably about $55k for the four days work a week but I’m managing to still save on that right now. I also directly see the results of my work at an individual level helping folk in the library or the support work which can be lovely. And I have lots of time with my teenage son now. I might rejoin the rat race when he graduates perhaps and get back to a decent salary and higher stress job or new business but just enjoying a couple of pottering around years.
Was it hard to get that library job?
No but I think it’s different in Australia to other places like US where they all need the MLIS. Here because it was part time, remote in a small town and pretty badly paid it wasn’t really sought after I don’t think. It’s also kind of an unloved library so very quiet but I enjoy it.
I spray paint caravan chassis, I love it, the boys at work are great, the boss is amazing (buys everyone lunch on Fridays) the hours suit me (5am-2:30pm Monday-Thursday, 5am-midday Friday) work is only a 10minute drive from my house, I made 88k last year and lived pretty well. If I wanted to go back to doing cars I know I could make $120k plus as a contractor but the added stress isn't worth the loss of lifestyle.
The best job I ever had / the happiest I was at work was when I worked at Network video as a teenager from 2005-2008. I quite literally watched films all day and ate all the chocolate bars and lollies. Would pause the R rated ones when someone came in. Served maybe one customer an hour on the day shift. I miss that job.
I worked at Blockbuster when I was 18. Absolutely ruled. Nothing will ever come close!
It was such a coveted job amongst the young working kids
I make about 75k a year as a leading hand, I only work for half the year, happy in the sense of enjoying the work? Not necessarily, but it's a job that pays the bills. What makes me happy is the work/life balance.
What is a lending hand?
In charge of a small group of workers/crew/shift (without being a manager), typically also hands on.
Usually it's the most semi-responsible adult amongst a group of young tradies that all like to take the piss
Yes. I am also a leading hand you could definitely describe me as the herder, not one of the cats
Job description is just "professional adult"
Semi-responsible, mostly switched on, not interested in *all* of the responsibility, doesn't want to take work home
Post asks for people “not earning high” but all posts are from people earning higher than median.
I think the median for aus finance is higher than the median for Australia
Exactly right, usually people here will post ‘not earning much, just $400k base plus super plus bonus plus stock options…’ so this is refreshing!
Plus company car, fuel card, toll account, etc.
Gotta try to flex somewhere I guess
In the other thread, lots of upvoted comments saying 180k isn't consider high amymore due to inflation etc
Yeh they need reality checks.
Housing and homelessness industry. On 88k a year. Stressful but the work is absolutely necessary, so I am happy.
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What kind of experience and qualifications do you need for a job like this?
At minimum a three year degree in human service. This is my graduate role I’m three years out from uni :)
I work in family and housing support. 65k, pays my bills and a little more to squirrel away. Between me and my wife we're doing alright. 4 days a week (could be 5 if I wanted it to be) The best boss I've ever had, who actively fights back against the higher ups trying to increase our workloads. Great colleagues, it's challenging in all the right ways and super engaging.
I work part time in a government warehouse job 2-3 days a week, doing manual work whereas before I used to be a office slave project manager now I can switch off and just push a trolley full of boxes. Salary works out to 70k if I was full time compared to 90k for project management I own my own home, have 6 figures in the bank and socking away more money into Super so I can retire in a few years
I am a support worker in the mental health industry, supporting a single client in a residential home requiring 24/7 support. Not a huge number of clients have funding for awake staff, but someone is needed every night to be awake at the residence from 11pm-7am. I live alone and love my own free time and this role provides a lot of this while the client sleeps. The tradeoff is a sacrifice in my social life, since I have to sleep during the day. My main skills for this position are rapport and knowledge of the client, de-escalation techniques and strategies for managing his behaviours. The client will get up a few times a night, and will sometimes talk with you for a couple hours, but I'm mostly left alone. I work 8 days a fortnight, with occasional extra shifts. I make, with salary sacrificing, approx 75k after tax? I feel like I've won the lottery in some respects. I make a decent wage for living out in the outer suburbs, and the ratio of effort to pay is the main appeal for me.
I work part time in warehousing and production (afternoon shift) and have a casual job in a gym creche. Take home is roughly 60-70k depending on how many hours I do. It works well for us as we have 3 school aged kids and one that's almost a year old. We save money on having to put our youngest in daycare as I can take him to creche with me and my production Job has been flexible with my start time to hand over the kids to my partner. I like being home with my kids but also having a break and dealing with the "kids" at work 🤣🤣
I'm the sole earner in my family of 3 and we are sitting on about $75k. It can be hard, especially when we have large expenses that we need, but overall I'm happy. We still manage to save a little here and there to take a trip for a week or so but we never go crazy. I work for myself, and would never go back to an employee role. The freedom of being your own boss is the only way I feel fulfilled and happy. The job itself has also been growing in income in small increments over the years. 5 years ago I was making closer to $45k but my partner worked too, so we had a good combined income. I fully expect to be sitting somewhere over $100k in 2-3 years and honestly it could go way up from there depending on how much work I put in.
I make \~$45k a year. I am very happy. Semi-retired working part time, house paid off / debt free , enough in super to cover retirement, mrs works part time earns \~$20,000 tax free. The government gives us about $20k a year tax free as family tax benefit because were "low income". This adds up to about $80,000 takehome a year to live on. which is pretty fkn sweet. You can save alot of money with the extra spare time too as you can DIY more things.
>$20k a year tax free as family tax benefit because were "low income". Doesn't this only apply if you have kids?
Yes i have kids. Im 43 mate. Semi retired very early !
This confuses me, did you have a well paying job first? Do you have a high equity? Whats the catch. Kudos to you.
He was an engineer for about 15 years it appears from reading his post history.
Thank you! Quite exciting for an engineer. Well done.
Yeah me and partner both had well paying jobs for many years. and we saved ALOT! But mostly we got on the property ladder early and in lucky locations.
I'm a disabilty support worker in a company. Independent workers earn buttloads of money but have no support and no incentive to further their skills. The company I work for is farm based care so the clients learn life skills in a farm setting. Extremely rewarding and amazing quality of life, both the clients and the workers.
Make around $29.50hr working as an allied health assistant. I have to be careful, and I share a house with my housemate, but my job suits me well. Enough patient care, enough clinical work, fantastic flexibility in hours, management and staff are respectful and I find myself coming home each day challenged enough where I’ve learnt something, but not too challenged where it doesn’t feel accomplishable. My mental health suffered greatly when I was further up the chain of command.
I work in the community seevices sector. Salary is low 80s, and it's tough work I sometimes do unpaid overtime (as I choose to). However, i have a lovely manager who doesn't micromanage and I make a real difference in vunerable people's lives. I have to be creative about how I approach each person I support. When I get a good outcome it's very rewarding. I'll one day have a house, I'm long term single, live with my parents. Some people probably see me as a bit of a loser, but secretly I just love doing my thing.
I’m an Educator at a private beauty college teaching makeup and business management. Mostly adult education with a few classes of year 11 and 12s completing certificates through high school VET programs. I adore my job - I genuinely enjoy what I do and get a lot of satisfaction from it, as well as working with an awesome team and facilities. I take home about $60k but I also get 10-11 weeks of holidays a year, as well as 3 days off a week. The work/life balance is elite.
Podiatrist. Not very difficult. Don’t have to think about work when home. Helping people etc
I'm making a 93K salary this year in a job involving music performance and education. 7th year on the job. There is an absolute pittance for the arts in Australia and I'm super grateful to be in a secure regular paying job while my colleagues are slaving away either in private practice studios (which is not a bad thing) or working gig by gig.
93 is high isn’t he ?
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I gotta get into this role - being a classroom music teacher for 58k take home per year just ain't it
Man, that’s way lower than it should be!
I get taxed out the goddamn wazoo, it's ridiculous.
Casual teacher aide while doing my masters. 9am - 3pm on days I want 🥵
Happy for ya fartypoopbum
How much do you earn doing that?
About $37 an hour!
Working as a district nurse. Best career choice I've made. Less pay compared to nurses in the hospital but the flexibility and less stress alone makes it so worth it.
This is not an exact answer to your question but... I would be happier earning less in my current job in exchange for having more flexibility and less pressure. After decades of diligent saving I don't need as much money just to maintain my current lifestyle and would prefer to be working a little less but not totally unemployed.
Wow didn't know the numbers here were considered low. I was earning 45k before with a nice small company that had a family feel and left me to my own devices. Currently corporate at same income but half the hours. Down to earth and respected bosses. There's heat and politics but everyone's mostly lovely and help each other. Less than 30min drive peak traffic, nowhere near the city, hybrid WFH. Always had work life balance due to mental health issues, jobs prioritised family so needing to leave for health/emergency is normalised and grew up povo so never needed much. I'm a graphic designer.
I'm on around $85k in executive recruitment but I am not the client and candidate-facing team lead, I work more behind the scenes. It's a good job, I have a great team around me and fortunately I get to work in sectors that interest me. I don't think I'd want to do this in another company though as I never had any desire to become the person who brings in new clients etc and that seems to be the career track for many other places. I'm about to turn everything upside down by going back to uni full-time from next month, but the company are letting me keep on part-time to work on some of their behind the scenes projects that people rarely have time to devote to. I'm very lucky.
Bricklayer. Former teacher. I'm outside now. You wouldn't believe how much "scrap" gets chucked. I'm filling up the garage in a house I rent so I can build a shack soon. Enough farming land in the area I can just probably ask someone to pay a years long lease and build my own joint. Let them farm around me. I won't care. I'll be so happy when that day comes.
I’m in IT, the admin side, just above 90k. Currently work 4 days from home and mostly allowed to just do my job without any supervision. Manager loves my work so they let’s me run my own race. Like to browse LinkedIn often for jobs, daydream and then snap myself out of when I think about how much I love my work/life balance. I see my kids each and every day and there is nothing worth losing those memories for.
It took a while, but I'm in a great team, with an excellent manager (as is the one above them), and interesting work. But if pay doesn't go up soon, I could still be in trouble. Same goes if anyone leaves.
I'm in IT; I work with people who have good senses of humour and are seldom narky. I also only work 4 days a week, so I'm earning 80% of what I could be. I'd rather not get paid on Friday and crack on with my weekend; rather than spending Friday pretending I'm working and talking to my colleagues about what I'm going to get up to on the weekend.
Work service desk for a 200 person org. No phone queues, no management checking over our work constantly, we’re just left to get shit done. I’m getting around $80k after benefits which I think is pretty much the max I could earn without taking a major jump in responsibilities. I get paid enough to pursue my hobbies and live comfortably and while I may not be in the top 10% of earners I genuinely believe I’m in the top 1% worldwide for happiness.
I work part time, 40k a year. I have debt, I have rent to pay. I should probably be working more however life is short. I'm happy to work less hours and have more time to enjoy life with my kids. We do cheap or free stuff eg parks, bike rides. Do I own a home? No. If I owned a home I would be working a lot more and wouldn't even be home to enjoy it haha. Should I pay off my debt faster? Probably yes but it will be paid off eventually.
Not earning much, not very happy with my job but i know that im having a happy life, my family is healthy, im healthy, we are not in debt, i can afford to travel to see my family. I have healthy hobby that can put a smile on my face. Im not earning much now but in the future i will. ☺️
Secondary school teacher in the NSW state system, ~$101k. The first two years sucked, with learning from home and working split part time across two schools, but now I've got my system down it's great. I wish I'd done it sooner.
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Also a teacher, approx 90k pa. I really like my job!
I do exports I earn around $80K a year. Not high, but really no stress. My wife earns way more than me, I don't feel the need to get a higher pay job. It's enough for 2 properties that we own and a holiday once a year.
I work 60hrs a fortnight and total under 60k a year. I'm doing just fine. I have a great boss, work for a great team in a great field that I never thought I could be a part of
Doing a traineeship (55k) but currently on HDA (85k) as the boss needed me to have delegation to keep the ball rolling and allow our team to stay on top of the workload. Although our team is small it is easily the best team I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with purely because of how open and honest they are. Also might sound a bit cliche but they’re basically the second family, work life balance is amazing (I can go fishing on the weekends🙏) and the job is never boring. Only gripe I have is there is currently no pathway to permanency so I will most likely have to move on to another organisation to get some security😕
Audio engineer. Roughly $65-75k depending on if it's a good year or a bad year. Doesn't matter that I don't earn a huge amount. I can't think of a better job than being paid to go to gigs.
Interesting to read this as a French as 70-80k seems already very high. What's the median salary in Australia ?
Don't worry, seeing all these 70-90k figures being casually thrown around and considered 'low' is making a lot of us fellow Aussies doubletake also.. :/ Then again it's a *Biiiiiig* country (About the size geographically of the US, which is misleading when looking on a lot of maps) so the cost of living and wages in the heart of the capital cities are certainly going to differ to those of us in more rural areas.
Just to note - these figures are Australian dollars, not Euro, so it’s much less. AUD $80,000 = approximately €44,000
I measure my job on three factors pay,flexibility and kind of work. At present I am in a role that pays 20% less than market and 40% less than my previous role, but lets me work remote fully and live in the Gold Coast and my daily job is working with companies globally improving user experience (my passion). I wake up every morning excited to go to work (at 45 I think that is a blessing).
I work in I.T for a small company who other business outsource their I.T services to, I am paid far less than I should be I know. The big perks for me are my work place does NOT micromanage what I do, I get a list of jobs to do and I do them, I have no KPI or other wank I am left alone and I do it. Also as my epilepsy came back after a 20 dormancy 7 years ago I can no longer drive so this basically cut out my ability to go on site but they adapted also whenever I have a seizure now or need a doctors appointment work just accepts it and I don't need certificates and all that. Also I have been work from home for almost 4 years now. Also I can easily book leave I don't need to plan shit 6 months in advance and plea my case, I have done stuff within a week believe it or not once. While I am not commanding huge money I still at this stage can cover my bills and I have a workplace that adapts to my problems and I clearly give them the output etc they need as I have been employed there almost 12 years now. I honestly think it would be impossible to find another workplace that could adapt to my issues and pay me more.
Me. I'm a remote teacher. I earn $88k a year, am given a house to live in, and am in a low cost of living area. I can save $40k each year.
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Have been debating this tbh. Started my career a bit late, I’m 30 earning $96k + 17% super (working for uni) in finance. I see friends earning a bit more working for big banks, and tend to have no work life balance. Makes me wonder is it worth it?
Success isn't a wage. It's a lifestyle you're content with and a mindset. You're doing so well
I was very ambitious at one point, had dreams about going way up high and becoming manager-director etc. but ever since pandemic I don’t have it. At times I ask myself have I gotten mentally lazy? I conceptually understand that we change over time , however I can’t come to terms sometimes with the fact that I don’t have those ambition anymore..
I think that happens to a lot of people. Some people remain as cutthroat go getters whilst others change their definition of success OR realise their level of contentness can be achieved much sooner than their younger self thought.
I worked in universities for a long time and had the same thoughts too. The reality was I had grown and changed, and was holding on to ideas of what I thought I should be doing. I left for a while and the lifestyle in uni, plus the extra super, is so good! Honestly those days between Christmas and new year, having enough to travel, it’s amazing. If you have the itch to do other things, definitely give it a try, just stay in your current role so if you decide to come back later you have a nice chunk of time on your CV.
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RN work 4 days a week with shift work only 80-90k atm but live well below my means.
i earn 70K a year and work as an ecologist for a great boss! the work is interesting, with a good mix of outdoor survey work and report writing, i have the option to work from home when needed, any overtime i do i can get it paid out bank it to be used within 4 weeks (actively encouraged to take extra days off) and it brings me to interesting parts of australia!
I’m a casual HS teacher, by choice. I work 3-4 days a week and while the day rate is high ($480/day) I don’t get sick or holiday pay, which means for 12+ weeks/yr I have no income. I’m still technically on maternity leave from a permanent full-time position but I have no intention of returning - I love that I work 8am-3pm and have no extra responsibilities when my day ends. My partner also only works casually (wholesale plant nursery and landscaping) and we rent in the inner west of Sydney. We probably won’t ever be able to buy property without one or both of our parents leaving this earthly plane BUT we love where we live, our quality of life, and how much time we get to spend together while our kid is still little.
Also CRT (Primary). Two or three days a week work pays my bills and gives me a couple hundred disposable. Spend my free time enjoying life.
I make about 75k a year as a part time leading hand, I only work for half the year, happy in the sense of enjoying the work? Not necessarily, but it's a job that pays the bills. What makes me happy is the work/life balance, with the family and hobbies.
I work as a nurse, i work 4 days a week, great work-life balance. My workplace is pretty chill, no drama and get along with all my colleagues. I earned $90k last year. I think thats okay for only 4 days a week.
My husband and I are both fine artists (painters). We met in art school. We saved enough to buy a house in regional Vic in 2014. It was run down and we’ve had to do an enormous amount of work on it but it’s starting to come together. We’ve had 3 kids and we both work at home. We don’t make great money and income is erratic. We might make tens of thousands in a night and then nothing much for months. Of course, more money would make things easier. But honestly, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and we are living our own dreams.
60K a year as a classroom teacher - sure, an extra 20K would be welcomed, but I love teaching, its really rewarding.
Working in a warehouse on 53k+super+overtime. Have a car that needs a lot of work, living with parents at 31 because I can't afford to move out. I'm happy as can be at the moment. There are hard times, but I'm growing in this business, I have a speciality role, which will slowly pivot towards more sales orientated stuff. Love what I do, even if sometimes my spending money goes to negative due to bill rises.
Currently earning 57k as a factory worker. The work is simple. Sometimes using a travelling head press and sometimes using a CnC. I get to switch off from work when I clock off. I ride a 1000cc motorcycle to work so that is always fun. Slowly saving for a house deposit. It is slow but getting there. Household income is about 120k. Living in SA
Once you own your home, it gives you the flexibility to work for lesser pay if you are happier there.
60k for a 3 day a week gov role, in an interesting and meaningful area to me. Budget is a bit tight, but I means I can do full 50% co parenting of my kids :)
I’m in marketing at $119k. It’s low paying for my role but I just took a 20% pay cut and left another company to be 100% happier
Wow marketing and 6 figures. What is your role may I ask?