The Cost of Living Index is a useful tool if you’re thinking about getting into the market for the first time or buying in an unfamiliar area.
It gives you some clarity on how much things will cost in addition to your mortgage.
Numbeo has released its 2020 Cost of Living Index. This one covers all the major cities in Australia, ranks them and allows you to loosely work out how much it will cost to live there in addition to your mortgage. In general it measures the differences in the cost for rent, groceries, eating out and other aspects of day-to-day living.
But one thing they don’t take into account when working its magical numbers, is what you actually DO for a living.
And in certain areas, what your trade or profession is, could actually be the difference between survival and sinking.
For example, a Teacher on the Gold Coast, would be earning a similar income to those in Sydney. As would a Nurse. Yet the Sydney cost of living index is higher.
Sydney = potentially not so appealing to these professions.
BUT if you’re in Marketing/Sales or an Executive for example, an expert in this field could earn up to three times the income if working in a large city like Sydney or Melbourne, so cost of living vs income could even itself out.
So the moral of the story? Think about how your chosen profession will fair up against your location choice…AND Sydney is by far the worst place to save money unless you can earn more for the same hours!
How would moving to the area you WANT to live impact on your financial future?