Income Group & Wealth Management

[Bryan 0]

Greetings everyone!

Allow me to introduce myself, I and my wife just ROM'ed on 31st Dec 08 and our wedding dinner will be on May 09. Now that i'm moving into marriage life, i have to start planning my future finance such as my expenses on childrens, house, car, insurance, bills, maintainence...etc because I'm not one of those who are born with golden key in the mouth..

I think here would be a great place to start this discussion since almost everyone here is married and have monthly income. I'm interested in knowing how much you guys spend (% wise) on food, children, insurance, house loan, utilities..etc based on the combine monthly income..

Pls share your experience here

Thank you.

[meiteoh 0]

The term is "silver spoon in the mouth".

Anyway, I don't know if my experiences will be applicable since I live overseas with my HB (overseas income and expenditure) and all. Do let me know if you'd like me to share anyway.

[Bryan 0]

my apology on posting on the wrong section, anyway, me and my wife is from Group B and we find it difficult to manage our money for future purposes, such as our own house, car and family. maybe it really takes time to save up the money but i'm really curious how can someone manage their income & expenses so well when they have tons of commitment.

someone at my age group already have their own house and car but i'm still struggling...haha (btw i'm 27 and started working when i'm 24)

[meiteoh 0]

No worries about posting in the wrong section and all.

HB and I aren't born with silver spoons either but he is more thifty that I was when we were dating. So over time, I learnt a lot from him and well, I mellowed too, considering the circumstances. Anyway, it's not just time alone but other things like your side expenses, spending habits, etc, etc.

Maybe I'll just share anyway even though our circumstances have recently changed and etc. Note that my HB and I live in a small town in Switzerland and the living expenses here is...well, one of the highest in the world plus we are one of those one-income families. Bear in the mind that the following is based on the assumption that you're taking the figures numerically and not converting it to ringgit. Also, note that this is small town lifestyle. It'll be more expensive in cities like Zurich, Bern, Basel or Geneva.

To give you a rough idea about how much things cost here, a kilo of beef is around 50 CHF, a kilo of carrots is around 4 CHF, a dinner for two (two pizzas, one beer and a drink) is around 40 CHF and a cinema ticket is 16 CHF. On average, clothes - tops and jeans - are around 40 to 80 CHF and undies (think bras) can go up to 20 CHF.

People in Switzerland hardly buy property because it's too expensive - 20% downpayment, government tax (which is double the amount of rental if you rent and not buy), plus the usual market price for a house (3 to 4 rooms) can go up to half a million CHF. And this is out in the suburbs/village. So most people rent. Then there is the question of a car and so forth. Cars here go for anywhere between 10K to 60K CHF depending on your budget. There is the repair, tax, insurance and etc that you have to pay every month AND parking - lets not forget that parking is costly, even if it's to park in front of your own home. My apartment building charges 100 CHF every month just to park a car INSIDE the basement parking. Petrol is around 2 plus CHF, cheaper than in France since they prefer to use diesel there and not unleaded like here.

My HB's income bracket before tax is in Group B, and after tax, AVS (the Swiss version of EPF) and what-not, we drop to Group A. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment just outside of town and we don't own a car. To move around, we either take the public transport or we walk.

MUST PAYS

Rental: 1,250 (rental is 1K, 250 is for maintenance, water, etc) monthly

Utilities (electricity, garbage disposal) (every 2 to 3 months): 200 to 250 CHF (per 2 to 3 months)

Others (Internet & phone, cell phone) (3 months & monthly): 80 to 100 (per month)

Health insurance: 340 CHF (per month)

House insurance: 300 CHF (per year)

OTHERS

Food & household items: 600 (Budgeted), 400 (Actual)

Public transportation: 200

Misc (books, entertainment, medication, etc): 200 (Budgeted)

OVERALL EXPENDITURE TOTAL: 2800 to 3100 (approximate)

We make it a point to save at least 500 to 800 every month from my HB's salary and since I work part-time and run a now-closed business, my meager salary (anywhere from 100 to 200 a month from work and around a couple hundred USD per month when it was open) is kept for my own use (buying my yarn, books, shop supplies and etc) and now, for our baby supplies.

We are real cheapos (yes, I'm not afraid to say it...) because we don't go shopping often (and mind you, I used to shop for books like crazy back at home among other things but here, it's either for my shop or I use my own money on Paypal), we buy groceries (especially meats) when they are on sale, we never go to the movies and sometimes, we walk instead of taking the bus. Heck, we don't really eat out anymore - we used to, like once every month but since the start of 2009, it has dwindled to nearly zero. Our idea of eating out now is at McDonalds (2 menus meals cost us 20 versus the 40 we would have paid for a meal out) or a kebab each (16 total). =.=

When it comes to shopping, we try to find cheap alternatives like buying online from places that offer free worldwide shipping and competitive prices (in other words, I don't have to pay shipping and the books are cheaper).

I know some people have been saying that you need to allow yourself space sometimes to just go nuts and spend because it helps the economy and etc, but I'd rather leave it to people who are swimming comfortably in money to do that. Because at the end of the day, the economy won't help me out if I can't pay the rental. Every cent counts but still, having said that, we're not Scrooges. There are things which we won't cut back on and it's things like health, and food. The question is learning how to get the best from whatever little you have to pay.

Oh, note that I don't have a credit card and HB doesn't like using his...so that helps to a degree.

[Bryan 0]

Now i'm working and base in penang, my hometown and my wife is in KL.

My current expenditure excluding my wife:

Rental: RM580 in Penang (subsidise by company)

Utilities: RM60 in Penang (subsidise by company)

Cell Phone: RM100 per month (subsidise by company)

Health insurance: RM350 per month

Toll: RM200 per month (subsidise by company)

Petrol: RM700 per month (subsidise by company)

Car maintainance: RM150 per month (subsidise by company)

Cigarette: RM270 per month

Food: RM600 per month

Total expenditure without company subsidise = RM3010

Haven't include my entertainment and holiday!!

[Bryan 0]

can anyone with children/babies please share how much you spend on their daily necessities including medication?

i heard it cost a bomb by having babies....i'm worried now.

[meiteoh 0]

I think you can check out the pregnancy and parenthood forum by doing a search there. There was a discussion on budgetting for kids.

For me, my health insurance pays for all my pregnancy related check-ups, scans, the birth and so forth. Health insurance for my baby is compulsory (I have to get one once I hit my 6th or 7th month) as well so that takes a lot of medication and hospital bills.

[Bryan 0]

i don't think malaysia has any health insurance that pays for all pregnancy related check-ups, scans, the birth and so forth...i think different country has different insurance policy

[meiteoh 0]

I think it depends on the coverage - cost-wise that is - which is why I mentioned in my first post that my experience/situation may not be quite relevant. Still baby items are very expensive here in Switzerland...and so is the cost of medical-related stuff.

[Bryan 0]

Oh, note that I don't have a credit card and HB doesn't like using his...so that helps to a degree.

i'm not keen at using credit card either, but sometimes it really helps during emergency, as for now, i mainly use my credit card for my petrol and also my wedding stuff (which are expensive)...nevertheless, i will fully settled the credit card bill at the end of the month (blood dripping from my wallet) as i don't want bank to earn any interest from me!! not even a single cents

[meiteoh 0]

Hm...I wonder why no one else wants to share...

[Bryan 0]

maybe this topic is boring...XD...or money is not a concern

[meiteoh 0]

O'well...anyway, I can totally get the credit card thing. When I was in Malaysia, I used it only for petrol and emergency purchases over a certain amount because I didn't want to carry too much cash on me. These days, the only thing we use HB's credit card on is for things like car rental or buying train tickets online in advance.

Over here, we don't need a credit card because we can pay via our ATM cards - I think when I left last year, the technology was limited to just a few stores back at home. Also, I use PayPal for my online purchases instead of a credit card (my personal spending moolah) so it really REALLY helps.

[bear_bear 0]

can anyone with children/babies please share how much you spend on their daily necessities including medication?

i heard it cost a bomb by having babies....i'm worried now.

Hi Bryan,

Only bump into this thread today.

Not much worry i think.

I m in JB, I spend ~ RM200 for milk powder, ~ RM 200 for mamipoko monthly.

For medical fee consultation, my son always need 2 - 3 times consultations per sickness ,each cost ~ RM40.

In brief, RM 400 a month generally, sometimes up to RM 500.

[Meringue 0]

.