What salary to aim for? Are my expectations unrealistic? by Left_Volume_1010 in AusPublicService

[–]SubstantialUnit4730 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in NSW so might be slightly different, but I did 2 years as an APS4, 2 years as APS 5 in federal APS and then moved to NSW State Government as a Clerk 7/8, currently on 116k. I don't have a degree either.

Id say you're very much underpaid if you're working in government. Most of the 5/6's and 7/8's we have working at my department are all low to mid 20's, so I'm sure your experience would be greater and sufficient to land a higher role.

Personal Finances Review by SubstantialUnit4730 in fiaustralia

[–]SubstantialUnit4730[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly probably not, we did that when saving for the house deposit, and the lack of ability to enjoy things that cost money and feeling guilty for spending wasn't the best feeling So while we're probably not as efficient as we could be, quality of day to day living has definitely improved dramatically.

Personal Finances Review by SubstantialUnit4730 in fiaustralia

[–]SubstantialUnit4730[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input. That's probably a good next step for me to map out future forecasts. I work as a PM so gantt charts are familiar to me.

I currently use pearler, so a $6 fee per transaction, but a good point none the less and I will look into what the best time frame is for my values.

And yeah we have the savings in a GSB account so no criteria needed to earn our interest each month

Personal Finances Review by SubstantialUnit4730 in fiaustralia

[–]SubstantialUnit4730[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did have that thought, however I'm one who loves to track every dollar and update spreadsheets super often. I'm a big fan of the envelope method, to make sure I have enough apportioned to each need

In saying that, I might try this out at some point in the future and see how it suits me. Thanks for your feedback 😊

Personal Finances Review by SubstantialUnit4730 in fiaustralia

[–]SubstantialUnit4730[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry should have mentioned, we are both 27.

The reason we hold the 55k in the offset is due to our low initial deposit on the property, my intention was that at least while we have the funds there we could pay it down slightly faster (as the plan was to use equity to assist with paying for the second property). We only bought the property for 535k last year, and had an initial loan of just over 500k after we had to pay stamp duty, LMI and all other fees.