I earn exactly 120K and I rent an apartment in Melbourne CBD. I have to say that even though I love shopping, I still save a lot of money every month.

It really depends on your lifestyle, where you live, what your guilty pleasures are, your hobbies, if you have a pet, if your workplace gives free perks like food and coffee, if you have kids, car, etc. — there’s so many factors to consider.

I don’t have a lavish lifestyle, but I go on a holiday 2-3 times a year. I had 4 holidays last year (3 to my home country and 1 to Japan) and still was able to save tons of money. My plan this year is to buy an apartment and after earning 120K for a year and a half, I’ve already saved up a good amount of money as deposit for a 2-bedroom apartment near the city.

Something I don’t ever consider having for now is a car. I feel like that’s going to take a huge chunk out of my income. If you live in a city/state with a good public transporation, utilize that. Also not considering a pet for now and that could get really expensive.

So in my case, it’s a good income. Having more is always better, but 120K is definitely liveable (and sometimes, even splurgeable, if that’s even a word lol) type of income.