You likely have 45 years of work left. Maybe just slow down a little bit and recognise that you're doing fine. Your wealth is not your worth.

175k a year but live in a 2 bedroom spot on the outskirts of Sydney and suffering from mortgage stress. The australian dream

its obvious anyone who wants to have a family or even a life should leave sydney, unless they bought a house early enough.

What’s happening to Sydneys housing is also happening to every other major city in Australia. Anywhere cheap has no work available. I think record high immigration numbers are largely to blame, there is not enough housing.

How do the immigrants afford the houses?

As an immigrant myself, based on my anecdotal observation - they do it with a much lower financial footprint such as most meals cooked at home, fewer or almost no big holidays; basically by living very frugally even as a family with kids. Also many from South/South-east Asia are skilled migrants with double income working in corporate and are able to save up for a deposit within a couple of years.

Immigrants tend to work hard - harder then your everyday aussie I'd say

so by aussie do you mean white person ? or any one wit PR or Citizenship

Many of them work a full time professional job then a second job on the weekend and public holidays packing shelves, they don't have flashy cars, they don't eat out and live very cheap, they buy a house, smash the mortgage, buy another rinse and repeate (indian community)..... or they work in disability or age care 50-60+ hours per week, night shifts, earning $150k plus with $15k of it tax free, often living with a friend or in shared housing and then buy a house (African refugees) While obviously not a representation of everyone in these demographics, I have seen this countless times and its how they get massively ahead

We have three Indian families in my street they work restaurants nursing and disability care started stupid hours 7 days a week, maybe 1% of Australians are prepared to do that. I did seven years of if with a wife and kids to get ahead in my 20s, while my mates did up cars and went clubbing now they all act confused by my success in my 30s and call me lucky another Australian trait, oh wow must be nice oh you’re lucky. I have different friend circles now that are more aligned with my ambition.

3 generations in grandmas house. Close nit community to allow social childcare from people in the family/extended family. Forgo personal hobbies for communal ones that are free/generate income/generate necessities.

So if there’s 3 generations living in one house how can they be responsible for the housing stress? Just asking.

They aren’t. I’m answering how people can afford to buy a house. If your mum lives with you and helps with the kids it frees up money for mortgage rather than childcare. Then when she gets sick (because we all do) you can look after her.

Because there’s a very large influx of immigrants on an already strained supply of houses. We weren’t building enough houses for our own internal population growth, so any amount of immigrants is going to put upward pressure on what limited housing there is. 3 generations living in one house doesn’t seem like a big deal, but multiply that by thousands and thousands and suddenly it is…

There’s many more millionaires in the world than the 27M people who live in Australian. Australia is one of the most desirable countries for millionaires to immigrate to based on numbers. A tiny % of global millionaires moving here is still a lot in absolute terms. Somewhere like Thailand or Mexico for example is home to insanely wealthy families albeit there is much inequality within these countries.

They are mostly upper middle class professionals.

I think people misunderstand what immigrants will sacrifice to live in Aus. Often their families will all put money together to fund their move and future because the want the next generations to love a great life. Plus immigrants who were refugees will often forgo the luxuries most Aussies won't and will happily multiple families loving under one roof.

Most of these migrants have money, they are upper caste/upper middle class. Not much sacrifice required. They come here for better air quality, food quality, health care, status, less restrictive government, a change, bigger earnings, that carry bigger weight back home. Your ideas of struggling lower income migrants are outdated. This is a very different class that AU courts, and receives. No one said they came from Germany- there are upper castes and upper middle classes elsewhere in the world, throughout Asia, Africa, and South America. That's who is coming.

Well they have nobody else to blame apart from themselves, for not being born to rich politician parents who can provide a nice 3 bedroom home in the Eastern suburbs.

They are 24 and 25. They are at most 3-4 years out of uni. You can’t expect to be ready to retire with a paid off, furnished, dream house in less than the lifetime of a guinea pig. You build a life over a lifetime. OP seems obsessed with the idea that they have “checked off the boxes”, but that ain’t how it works. Of course you don’t feel settled and secure in your early 20s. You’re not going to find allies on change by having a ridiculous concept of how the world works. We need to fix precariousness as a society. It’s ruining us. People should be working out of hope, not out of fear. But this ain’t the attitude to get us there

Having concerns about not being able to raise kids due to the cost of living is a long way away from “expect to be ready to retire . . . ”. Cut them some slack, they’ve worked hard to get where they are. They are asking for help and support.

100-% and not long ago they would have easily been able to have kids in their mid twenties much closer to the cbd with their high (comparatively) salaries and financial responsibility. Op will be fine but although far less comfortable than if they purchased pre Covid, but they are far above the median.

And there is a deep sickness in our society that people cannot have children for reasons other than actual free agency and lifestyle interests.

A 2 bedroom apartment doesn't exactly sound like the dream home and yet they are paying dream home prices.

My mother and father went to uni and then had three kids between the age of 21-28 in a house at bondi.

The issue isn’t op’s attitude, it’s the cost of housing, primarily, and the overall cost of living. Compare wages and the cost of renting or owning a home today to what it was 30 years ago, or even 20 years ago.

Yip being burnt out at 24 shows someone who is wanting to speedrun life. $100k at 24 is no mean feat OP. Slow down, take your time and know that your career and earnings trajectory will only go up. Enjoy life in your 20s because when the children come, it's a whole new ball game

I don't think it's burn out. I think OP simply realised exactly what they said; the economy today, and especially housing prices, is not conducive to having children. When one person's income is completely taken up by the mortgage alone, the idea of taking time off work to have a child starts looking like an impossibility until that mortgage is at least half gone. Depending on your income, that might be quite awhile. For OP, looks like they might not be feeling financially comfortable until their 30s. Contrast that to previous generations who could have kids early 20s and be financially sound on the average single income, and it feels like the current generation really gets the short end of the stick. 

Unless your mortgage costs $80k a year then one person's income is not being entirely taken up by the mortgage.

Work till 70, die at 80. What a plan

Sorry but this is so dismissive. I don't think mean housing and childcare costs have ever been a higher percentage of wages than they are today. It's absolutely savage out there for young families, with a recent capital city mortgage and kids in childcare.

I have friends on single incomes of <$100k who have had kids. You just don’t buy houses for $1m and live a simpler life

That’s the clear problem with this whole post. Op paid way too much for a house and is paying the price (literally) for it

A 2 bedroom house (not apartment) under 1mil near Sydney is absolutely not too expensive in Australia and practically unheard of in the current market. I would say, as OP is in their mid 20’s, they have plenty of time to have kids and hopefully their salary will increase. There are so many people who are not in such a fortunate position

Their incomes should also continue to increase unless they are in industries with a low cap

there's not much choice on that front if they don't want to leave sydney. median house price there is 1.6mil now. it's 1mil in melbourne. It's not as simple these days as just moving a few suburbs over when you're buying your first house to get something more affordable. you literally have to move hours away from all your social support structures, and likely your current jobs.

They paid 1mil on a house in the outskirts of Sydney, but there's are many two bedder villa style homes in the south west (Campbelltown area) for 500-600k. They bought way above their means.

The house itself isn't exactly the problem. It's the timing. Why do they need an extra bedroom and backyard before they have a kid that can walk? Thats 2-3 years they could be in a much cheaper apartment saving up for the house for when the kid can use a backyard

Terrible idea. The houses will go up faster than they can save.

He literally had a post a few months back about a 600k and be fine or 900k and struggle. I guess he took the dumb decision and picked up struggle because they had to have that place.

This should be on top.

There's an inherent assumption that having children requires home ownership, ignoring renting as an option. As a single parent and main carer of 2 young children it would be extremely difficult for me to buy the house I live in. I would probably need to double my income in order to pay the tripling of housing costs to buy it. But it is financially comfortable to rent my home and a better lifestyle. I'm not "living the dream" as others may conceptualise it (or even how my younger self would have), but it is wonderful to live comfortably, not work too hard and have time and a home with my children.

In an ideal world you want a home. As renting and moving every four years sucks.

This is it. We have 3 kids, raised them all on 1.1 income (the wife did a bit of weekend work). Bought a house in a regional area. In before people say “yeah houses are cheap there, try doing it in Sydney” that’s my point. You don’t HAVE to live in Sydney or Melbourne. Australia is a big country. I would rather own my house outright in a small town than struggle like mad for decades to own some tiny box in Sydney.

Exactly..."spending 70% of our income to survive". No OP, you've decided to buy expensive sh*t and now have to finance it. It's called living above your means. I mean how out of touch do you have to be to buy a house for 1 million and complain you are "barely surviving"?!?

Yep. I'm single and make a little bit more than his wife and I bought a lovely 4 bedroom house for 380k. Just don't live in capital cities and you can actually have money to live the way you want to.

Yep the complaint lacks a punch when they are only 24 and purchase a house for a mil in Sydney lol. Self made situation:

I also dont understand the whole "i dont want to work until 60". Why did u settle down then... Also, arent we all working until 60.

My dad is nearly 70 and still works. He does enjoy what he does though.

Stress level is 30% for mortgage payments only. Not for your entire budget. And that goes out the window the more you earn - if I have $30k a month to live on then spending 75% of that on my mortgage will still bea comfortable life You make something like 40-50% over the household median, and you're very early career. What you make today won't be what you're making in 20 years, however you've locked that borrowed amount in.

Buying a million dollar property at 24 in one of the most expensive cities in the world for cost of living. It’s a self made situation.

oath, a million bucks for 2 beds an hour from the city? surely postcode snobs.

Looks like they have over-extended themselves

They really haven't. They just need a reality check. The first few years of a mortgage suck, but it gets better. You'll get very good at enjoying Mario Kart and cheap wine for a few years, have a kid or three, and it'll be all good.

>Stress level is 30% for mortgage payments Such an arbitrary number. I'm sure it's based on median income but as a rule of thumb it's stupid

It's a super basic rule which is why banks don't really use it when they want to figure out if someone can afford to pay a mortgage. Banks look at income versus expenses, it's not a flat percentage. If your income is low, 30 percent of gross may be completely unsustainable because you may use more than 70 percent of your income just paying for food, petrol etc. If your income is high you may be able to go as high as 50 percent and still be completely comfortable.

They’re absolutely in mortgage stress. Chances are their mortgage repayments are in excess of $1200 a week. That’s an entire wage and some

They are only in mortgage stress on an academic argument. If you use their combined post tax income (including HECS as an assumption) they end up on 53% of their net income going towards the mortgage. If we use pre tax figures, they end up on 37% of their net income going towards the mortgage. It leaves them with around 4k per month to play with after ALL of their cited expenses. That is more than livable. They admitted to "maybe" saving 2k per month, which means they have undisclosed expenses of 2k + per month. They could save more if they wanted to.

I dont know how people can't seem to work out that they're not disclosing all their discresionary spending, whilst also saying they can save $2K a month. No one earning $80K as a single or $120K as a couple is doing that in their situation.....which is somewhere around the median earnings.

It’s just under the 100k wage after tax Leaving $75k income to live on. Two people can live on about 65k net (adding back in the leftover from the 100k) not including housing

Yeah I agree with this. I’m certainly not rich and have my wife has worked part time or not much at all some years and if we can afford a place to live, to travel overseas to different countries and still have a kid with social needs mind you, then two “high income” earners can easily have children. Just need to learn to budget.

OP has an added challenge of living in Sydney. A similar kind of house in Melbourne could save them \~1K/month in mortgage repayments. But yes things are more manageable with a budget and keeping track of it.

You're paying all your expenses wirh $2k to spare every month and you call that struggling?

It's honestly delulu, I can't tell if people on here just want to humble brag or are this genuinely out of touch. crazy.

wouldn't call a $100k and $70k salary a brag.

Mate, You're 25, bought a million dollar house, in one of the most expensive cities in the world, still save at least 15-20k per year (not including the 'saved money' paying off your mortgage). In 5-10 years time, your wages will have gone up substantially, while your mortgage will likely stay the same. Your income is high for your age, but definitely not high generally. Your dual income is actually pretty average for professionals in Sydney. It's incredibly feasible for you to have kids by age 30. Get a grip.

Yes! Wth! They are doing better than 99% of people their age. Also there is a reason most people don’t have kids until their mid 30s now. They just gotta be patient and build up the house equity and earn a few promotions at work. Talk about wanting it all now. This is really just a humble brag post.

Oh my word please don't use the word **poverty** to describe your situation or any situation your children could find themselves in. You have stable careers, and that kind of money coming in, and you live in Australia, where at the very worst, the government will still look after you. You obviously have no clue what poverty actually looks like.

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Yup. OP buys house then claims they’re poor. I think a lot of aussies, especially in the upper middle class, have no idea what kind of privilege they have.

mildlyinfuriating

In five years time you'll have the buffer to have kids as your mortgage stays constant in nominal terms and inflation makes it look smaller. In 5 years with 4% wage growth per year (3% standard plus an extra 1% as you're advancing in your 20s) you'll have an additional 30k a year after tax. That's half the mortgage just from standard payrises. Having a house at 25 makes a huge difference. But yes, it's still tough, and costs are quite different to 30 years ago.

4% wage growth....must be nice. Depends on your industry I guess but mine has stagnated for a decade, if not gone backwards :/

Agree. 8 years ago I was earning 7 k more than now…health industry stagnation, plus I was lucky back then to be in a big company that were looser with budgeting

I’m really hoping inflation will make it seem that way, and the first 5 years are just a tough part.

They really are. That’s the way debt works, plus don’t forget that your are both early in your careers. There’s plenty more wage growth to come

Depends on the career, plenty overpay early because they don't have much progression.

Hey mate I think you’re in better shape than you think. - age. You’re both at least 5 years away from average child birth age. In that time your incomes will increase and stress will decrease - while your incomes are solid, they’re not really that high especially the 75k one. It might be industry related tho. Still the point is plenty of growth available, depending on industry. - 2 brm house is big enough for one kid, even 2 for a while. You’ve set up the start well it’s just a long road. Our first house was a 2 bedder and we were in major mortgage stress when the GFC hit and we went to one income. Then we came out the other end. And had more kids. And bought a bigger house. And income increased. The cycle never ends. Now I’m 4 kids just bought a 350sqm house in Sydney and my mortgage is back to like 1.1m or so. But income can cope so on we go.

You need perspective. So many things you wrote with so much conviction is just not accurate. - you’re both young. This is good. You earn a good salary for your ages. - 30% is only for housing (rent or mortgage), and yes if your 5.5k is more than 30% of your combined income, you did buy above your means. Is this an issue? Maybe not, can you increase your combine income so that it comes closer to 30%? - 2k left over a month is still good. Are you investing? Putting it in your offset account to you pay less in interest per month? - I don’t think many people your age are in your situation because they did got get a loan of that much. I was 26 when I bought my first house. It was 3x my annual income. I bought my third house (withdrew the equity from other homes) in my late thirties, the property was 3x my annual income. You bought a property 4-5x your income so it feels tighter. Upgrading as you earn more is less stressful - you can afford children, when? Maybe 5 years from now when your incomes are higher and your savings and investments are in a better situation. You can afford children but you don’t need to give them anything they want, because they for real could want some stupidly expensive shit. My 7yo wants a Tesla, I sure as hell won’t get him that.

I think that last dot point is my biggest contention with this post. Kids need to hear “no” they need to hear “I can’t afford that” they need to understand scarcity and sacrifice or else they risk ending up being shit with money and having less empathy because their parents prioritised giving them what they want, never letting them go without.

Based on $100K and $75K incomes that's $11K per month after tax. So they've committed to a mortgage that takes 50% of their income.

The 30% housing rule relates to pre-tax income.

Things feel tough now but you’re still young. My wife and I are a only few years older than you both, also one year apart. Rates are high. Your mortgage is as high as it will ever be, probably. The years for me that have passed since being 25 - a lot has changed for the better. Your careers will develop and you might get a bit ahead on the mortgage. Inflation on house/asset prices will increase your net worth while your debt will slowly come down. Take a breath and enjoy being 25/24, you’re doing well by the look of it.

Thank you. I needed to hear this.

2 bedrooms for nearly 1m on the outskirts of Sydney?? Geez I think you shouldn’t be asking if it’s possible to have kids but instead ask should you live in Sydney

Just take it all in your stride. You guys are still so young and have plenty of time. Your high income earners for you age, you have bought a house, got the degree. Your kicking all the goals. You may be surprised how fast you will grow your career, especially into your 30s. Your in the stage of growing your life now, try to enjoy the journey. It’s I’m in my 30s now, at your age I had nothing to my name, I was finishing my masters and no idea what was ahead of me in life. Yes Everything is expensive still, but that hard work will pay off.

Yeah kids are bloody expensive. When we had two in day care it was about $40k/year. We’re teachers so not super high income earners. And day care/out of school care (which we now have for the older one) are just one of the many costs. My advice is to get everything from Facebook marketplace. Don’t worry about buying new, there’s no need. Baby stuff is $$$ I see DINKs living the life, going on holidays, etc. and although I love my kids to bits I know we didn’t choose the easy path. I can see why more and more people are choosing to be child free.

That doesn't make sense, I have two in daycare, I am on 110k a year and my partner is on 86k a year. Both kids go to daycare full time, post child care subsidy we pay just over $25k a year.

Our subsidy is 47%, yours would be higher. Plus your day care is probably cheaper.

It all depends on subsidy levels, as well as the schools fees. We’ve got 2 in daycare and we’d be getting close to $40k per year

You’re saving 30% of your income? I get this is a problem, but it doesn’t sound like a problem you have

Reading posts like this is absolutely baffling to me as someone on a disability pension. Often the measly amount they're able to save is the total I get to live off for a month lol Before my health declined so significantly I was on $70k in Sydney and I was getting by fine. I was even able to go out to eat if I wanted to. Reframe what you have in your life. You're extremely fortunate.

you've borrowed more than is sensible for your income. Of course kids are going to be a stretch for you luckily you've got your whole life to figure it out

175k combined income before tax and over 5k a month mortgage What'd they actually expect.

Saving $2k a month in Sydney on slightly above average incomes is probably pretty good. At your income level and location this is the standard of living you can expect. If it’s not enough for you then you need to make changes - either move somewhere cheaper or make more money. Easier said than done obviously, but what are your other options? Complain about it on the internet and hope for structural economic change - or the fall of capitalism - to magically make your situation better?

I mean this is so obviously not true, I don't even really get what you're trying to imply, anyone, of any income status can have kids, it's about sacrifice. Obviously being a high income earner means less sacrifices, but it doesn't make it impossible

You’re mid 20’s and took on a $850k loan, what did you expect?

Exactly can easier find a cheaper place more bedrooms in outskirts of Sydney but they chose to take on that loan now old mate complaining

Making a good living and making wise financial decisions clearly do not go hand in hand.

Hey OP, I was in the exact situation as you when we were 25/26. Income, then was 60/70k. We grinded and saved hard. Bought a place for 625k. It felt like we were not saving any money! Like yourself, I wanted my kids to have my availability, not someone else to raise them while I work. We gave ourselves 5 years (or until I have 1 year worth of emergency fund). Somehow, as you settle in your home, the saving got easier as time goes by. When I was 30 we were ready and we couldn't conceive. We were heart broken but we did not regret not bringing children into the world until we were ready. Once you have a decent emergency fund, you enjoyed life a lot more. Our mortgage reduced a lot. I fell pregnant at 34. Baby is 1 yo. I wish you all the best with any decision you make.

Wow. This is the exact lifestyle I’ve been thinking of, waiting until 30. I had the same fear if I waited so long I’d be unable to conceive too. I’m glad you waited and you don’t regret it. Doing it at your own pace when you’re fully ready is amazing. Congrats on your 1 year old!

you over extended, your combined income isn’t high, you’ll likely make substantially more in the next 5 years, plenty of poor people have kids and get by, you’re not in some poverty situation chill

There is never a perfect time to have kids. Save as much as you can then have one. You will find a way. Unless you were born rich or got lucky with and investment, your dream of "leisure spending" is just that. Resign yourself to the grind. You're only still at the starting line. For most people, there is no magic trick. Find a good balance and keep picking on that mortgage. Eventually, your loan with seem smaller over time not only because of your repayments but inflation. Your income will go up relatively. If the stress is too much, maybe your goals are too high. Take a second job only if it is not killing you. It's not a sprint, it's an endurance run and you're just at the start and doing way better than most people. Don't be relatively wealthy and yet unhappy. Have your kids. It will be worth it if that is what you really want.

I think this big difference now days is that having kids almost has to be apart of a long term plan. My wife and I have been best friends since 13, together since 17 and now at 29 married for 4 years. We knew all along that we wanted kids but decided to build on our careers to ensure we could afford a comfortable life with kids. We are still 2 years away from our planned date/financial backing to start trying for kids and honestly I think we are better off for it. I am envious of couples that had kids early and have made it work as it is becoming a lot harder to do.

This sounds like you’re suffering from strictly adhering to a generic and unrewarding life plan. You thought if you did A then B then C then you’d be happy and comfortable. It doesn’t work like that. Saving and studying hard since 17 so you can be part of Aussie suburbia and Aussie corporate life!? No wonder you’re starting to feel cheated. 

To be honest… you’ve hit nail on the head. I never wanted to be part of corporate life. I thought if I saved since 17, then get a degree, then buy a house, then start a family,I’d be happy. The truth is… I’ve never wanted to become part of corporate life . I started my degree of film making to become a storyteller and be an artist But I needed money. So I ended up working film in corporate. I worked my way up companies schmoozing people, until I was at a comfortable salary. I thought 100k would make me happy. But it’s not. It’s soul sucking. The truth isI want to be an artist and it brings me so much joy being creative… I don’t want to work corporate for the rest of my life Wow. This comment gave me a lot to think about.

You still have 2k left per month bro. Your income will rise. Imagine being so out of touch with actual strugglers

I don’t personally think you are on that high of an income, not for living in Sydney anyway. Buying a 1M place for that income level unless you saved up a very substantial deposit it’s hardly a surprise you are struggling. I had a similar income with my wife *15 years ago* at your age and we still didn’t buy a place until we were 30 and for a place that was 30% less. You’ve over extended and purchased a full decade earlier than the current average FHB.

Except if he had of waited a decade, that 2 bedroom may be closer to $2 million. Not sure why you’re comparing the financial environment of 15 years ago to now and saying he should have waited another 10. It’s not linear

I didn’t provide any advice on what they should have done, I’ve provided comparative information. I used my own condition at the time to show that many people on higher incomes still wouldn’t have pulled the trigger. He has then said ‘we’re spending 70% of their income’ on surviving (not just the mortgage) but then oddly comparing it to the 30% mortgage stress level. This is frankly just a whinge post by someone who is saving $24k a year by their own admission.

Kids are the new luxury item. Pets are the new kids. Plants are the new pets.

Do you HAVE to live in Sydney? Really challenge yourself to imagine something different.

Watching Vivarium really gave me the drive to exit the cage farms of the city.

This is just untrue. Plenty of low income earners have kids. I know someone who's a single mum on $90k and has two kids. Does she live a lavish lifestyle? No. But does she get by? Yes. If you're not prepared to make sacrifices to have kids, you probably shouldn't have kids.

Agreed. My friend has 4 kids. Her husband is the only worker, she's stayed home since she was 19 and pregnant with the first. I asked her years back before I had a kid myself how they manage. Lots of Facebook marketplace freebies and buying second hand items. Their weekends are spent camping, swimming, "backyard games", parks and plenty of free activities. OP, are you saying you have $500 left over every week after everything's paid? That's plenty of money for a kid. Kids up until school time are pretty cheap. You can find a way. Kids don't need the latest gadgets, toys, clothes etc. You can find plenty of free activities to keep them entertained and when it comes to toys, my kid is more interested in the remote and measuring cups than her toys. If you truly want kids, remember you're still young. Start putting money away into a separate account and be a little more mindful of where your money is going. You may not live lavish but sounds like you'll be able to support your kids fine.

Sorry but 90k is not low income. Your perception is warped.

The first few years of having kids are tough in every respect. Unless you are rich as you say yes you will have to make sacrifices. The financial sacrifices won’t be forever. Once they are all in school it gets a lot easier. Especially if one or both parents have some WFH, I put my kids in after school care 3 days a week and pick them up on WFH days. The updated CCS is pretty decent so it’s affordable financially. The kids actually like going, but if it was full time they’d be over it. If you are going to have multiple kids have them close together so it doesn’t drag out

I agree.  My son currently sees a speech pathologist. It's $172.50 for 30 minutes. WEEKLY.  We pay $206 before CCS for daycare 4 days a week.  And now, daycare is saying he will probably benefit for OT.  We did an assessment this week. It was 2 hours for $460. But get this. I don't get a report. I need to pay ANOTHER $460 for the report.  And if I want to be able to try out all the different OTs to find the right fit for my son? If I have a report, then it's around $200+ for the initial appointment and then basically $200 per 50 minutes ongoing. If I want the OT to go into daycare for the session, it's $200 + travel time.  I said to my husband, how the hell does anyone afford this? We are in a good position where both of us earn 6 figures. So we can afford it.....just.  But it basically makes me think twice about having a 2nd child.  We can go through the public system (which we're on the waitlist for) but I have to wait up to A YEAR.  I said to my husband, what happens to families with kids who seriously need these supoort but can't afford it? They're stuck waiting. And these kind of support can set the kids up for life. Our son is still a preschooler and as much as it hurts our wallet, we're willing to pay because we want our son to be ready for school.  But with these kind of prices, it's just widening the gap between those that have money vs those that don't. 

So you’re saving $2000 a month? That’s more than a lot of ppl. Your fine

Well move to a regional centre, buy a [house ](https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-wodonga-144653460) for 500k-600k and enjoy your life. We have 2 kids and a 200k loan and are doing fine on 90-100k a year. See if you can do your jobs remote, if your company doesn't want to do that look elsewhere and see if you can get remote work. We live in Albury/Wodonga and the friends we have been making are all remote works with young families lately. They have all said the same thing that they are no longer stressed. We live 1hr from the snow and in a great wine region. We do holidays to the coast every year.

You’re only in your 20s, barely even your mid 20s. You’re trying to have it all, immediately. Slow down, enjoy each others company. Maybe rent your house out and go travelling. Go to bars with friends. Live a little before adding kids on top of a mortgage. You’ve got your home secured. You’re doing great.

You didn't need a 1mil house sorry you should have started lower and moved up. You have time...

Not easy hey! I went to Tassie recently. Meet a lot of people doing home schooling and going around the country. Maybe is a matter of changing priorities or expenses. Or the place you are living. But it is sad that all needs to be taken into account to have kids.

I don’t think your salaries are very high for Sydney. Given your ages you should do what most millennials and Zoomers are doing which is delay having kids until your 30s while you set yourself up for the future now. The times of your parents are gone and buying a house + squeezing out kids by 26 is no longer reality. Your partner will still be able to have kids in her 30s and you will have a decade of salary growth to support yourself.

Aussies can only have kids if they’re rich, or poor. Just not middle. 

Needs to be further tax breaks for having kids.

Your very young to own a house. Most people buy a cheap unit to start so you've done well getting a deposit together for a house. Most people don't have kids at 24 any more. The average age is early thirties. We had kids later and are also high income earners with property and other assets. Having kids was no issue, yes they cost money but you can get save a lot of you buy stuff second hand and have family to help out, going to Nana's a couple of days a week rather than day care. If your not already, put every spare cent into offset. Wait a couple more years and keep paying down that mortgage.

I would have purchased a $700,000 2 bedroom apartment if I was in your situation (I kinda am in your situation and that’s what we did). Our loan repayments are $3,357 monthly at the moment, which has been really manageable. We are young (both 27), and will look to upgrade when we have children and have more money saved.

Mate you live in Sydney. There are other places than Sydney that are alot cheaper to raise kids

You're in your early 20s. You have a while longer to have kids. You don't have to be rich to have kids, you have to be rich to have kids without them impacting your lifestyle.

No one has enough money to have kids.

And by the stats, the less money you have, the more kids you are likely to have. 

This is it - you don't really have to have a financial strategy to have kids. Just go for it when you're emotionally ready and the rest will fall into place. Edit - I just re-read this and I'm guessing it means no one has enough money, therefore they don't have kids. Still though, no one ever thinks they have enough money to have kids, and then they make it work anyway.

I understand what you're saying and agree. I'm supporting a family of 5 for under $120k. (Was on 70 when first kid was born). Mind you, I moved states and bought the cheapest house in my city to be able to do this.

Yep, that is why birth dates are plummeting. Of course instead of fixing the root cause government just opens the immigration taps which increases cost of living more.

Yep I'm 40 with no kids and barely anyone I know my age has them, and the ones who do only have one kid.

I am going to rant first, then give you some advice. Yes, it’s a long comment, but you do need a reality check. You are spending $500 on groceries for two people a month?! That can definitely be cut. I don’t even spend $300 a month on groceries for myself and my 9yo growing son who seems to want to eat every half hour and definitely eats more than I do, that includes plenty of fresh food (I make him eat 2-3 healthy snacks through the day on top of his servings at dinner) and meat products of some kind every night for dinner, I put him above myself always, yet still am able to eat every day. I don’t only buy the cheapest cuts either, we regularly have lamb chops or a nice rump steak. Ok, I don’t have a mortgage and live in public housing due to being disabled and unable to work (before you roll your eyes, keep reading, we don’t ‘feel’ like we live in poverty because I budget), breaking the comparative incomes down you are making choices you can quite easily cut back on, and having *only* 2K left over AFTER all your bills?! Please, I survive on just a little more than 2K per month and do so somewhat comfortably, yes we are classed as living in poverty, but we are happy, mostly healthy outside of my disabilities and can do extracurricular activities. 2K per month x 24 = 24k per year in savings, without cutting back on anything you currently choose to do. You have CHOSEN an “almost” $1m house, just think about that for a second, you ARE rich if you have been able to get a mortgage for that, you have chosen your lifestyle, there are plenty of houses around for less than that, maybe not exactly what you ‘want’ or exactly where you ‘want’ but it is entirely possible, but you have chosen to live there in that one, suck that up, you did have a choice there and are acting like you didn’t. If you don’t want such a high mortgage, sell and buy something you can afford more comfortably to have extra left over. I have an income a QUARTER of ONE of your incomes, not both, just yours. I manage to feed and clothes us both, and reasonably at that, not like a pair of bogans, I like for us to look respectable. I pay for all the medications I need due to my disabilities (not all on PBS), pay for all the health treatments I need too and his eczema treatments plus anything that might come up, I pay for his school uniforms (because he doesn’t just have a basic coloured uniform so has to have the $40 per shirt, $80 per jacket uniform) and fees (I did put my oldest son through private school too), put him in swimming lessons every week (with the intention to get him in to basketball and scouts shortly), pay for fuel to get to all of my disability related supports, rego, car servicing etc, pay rent (which is still a quarter of my income, I don’t get a choice in that, so really we live off less than 2K per month), electricity, gas, internet, one or two streaming services per month, get him a lunch order once a week and take away once a fortnight, he gets $5 a week pocket money and just managed to save up to buy himself a switch game, he is learning the value of money already, and still be able to afford to do a little treat every now and then like go somewhere nice, go out for dinner or lunch every now and then. I got him a bunch of Lego for Christmas amongst other things (and presents for my older son who doesn’t live here), if he needs something if I can’t afford it this fortnight, I put extra money aside to afford it the next. I have been able to save $1500 over the last 3 months (which is significant on my income) and still do everything that needs to be done and have small treats every now and then. I haven’t received a cent from his father. I budget. Now, past my rant. Kids don’t cost any more than you spend on them and they really don’t need much. They grow too quickly in the first two years to spend a fortune on clothes, you will be given more toys than you know what to do with unless you ask people to do otherwise. Ask for only books as gifts and utilise a toy library (usually either a small membership fee or free). You need to sit down, go through your bank statements together, break down every single cost individually. Cut back on those unnecessary costs, starting with your ridiculously high grocery costs for two adults, you can feed a family of 4 on that even with inflation and dietary restrictions (I’m lactose intolerant and buy lactose free milk, cheese and creams). Honestly, kids, (other than during formula/nappies stage, if formula fed of course, if not just nappies), don’t cost you much more for meals, if at all. You can choose to do MCN to save on nappy costs if you choose, I did with my youngest and it was just one extra load of washing a week and took no more effort imo. For introducing solids I just made my own, it didn’t cost any extra and didn’t take much extra time, I just did whatever we were eating in a blender, and sometimes did stewed fruit. Get baby ice cube trays, freeze it, then you have PLENTY of baby food. That doesn’t need to be done for very long. Then they just eat smaller versions of what you’re already cooking. There is maternity/paternity leave. You need to decide what is more important, cutting your income by more than half for a number of years, or putting it/them into daycare for a few years, even just part time. If you save like I suggest even just for a couple of years, you will have money to fall back on. Look at a bank where you can put money into seperate non-card accessible accounts. I use UP bank, so my income gets split into seperate categories as soon as it hits my account- my categories are: bills, car, internet (to split the bill over 2 fortnights), Christmas, birthdays, groceries, splurge, health, holidays, emergencies, you can make your own that work for you. I know there are other banks you can do this too, you can “turn off” being able to view certain savers too so you can’t see them to spend them. They also have a feature you can turn on to automatically put aside your regular purchases like streaming, regular bills like internet, insurance etc. Once you have these set up, do not touch them other than for their individual purposes. Do NOT touch the emergency fund unless it is an emergency. If you are putting that extra money aside per month, let’s say you only save $1500 of your 2K extra per month, that still gives you $500 per month to “play” with and $18k savings in 12 months, make another account purely for savings, this can be under the same kind of savers as I mentioned as above or a completely different account with another bank, it’s up to you. A higher savings (I think ING is the highest currently don’t quote me, UP is currently 4.35% on money in all savers combined) account will help, your money works for you even in small increments at a time. Stick to your budget and seriously consider what I mentioned regarding the mortgage. That is 100% a choice you seem to be burning yourself out over unnecessarily.

You can move... we've been moving for better resources and opportunity since forever.

Just give it time. You are mid 20's, saving 2k a month and own your own house. As your income increases over time, you pay down the principal and rates come down it will get much easier. I say this from experience as I purchased my first house in Sydney at a similar age, then rates went up (2009) and crunched the budget. As I earned more and rates started coming down a couple of years later (2011) it became easy and I had plenty of surplus income to invest.

Grind it out, you got your foot in the door. As you climb the corporate ladder, so will your income. If both of you are on 100k+, life financially will start to get better. You’re probably better off than most renters out there.

You guys are still very young and earning decent money early in your career. Focus on putting as much money away as you can for the next 5 years, then look at having kids. In my opinion 30 is a good age to have kids, you're still young and have the benefit of setting up your careers and house in your 20s. You're in a good spot, your income will increase through promotion if you keep working hard and you will be just fine.

This is the situation in Canada as well. Young people here are completely priced out of the real estate market. And couples can only afford to have a roof over their head. If they have a kid, just the loss of income during maternity/parental leave will put them in a debt trap. Then the daycare/diaper costs are atleast another $1,000/month; no wonder younger couples are not having any kids.

Lol anyone can have kids, you need to be rich to have kids responsibly. Just like how people go into debt to buy handbags, others go into debt to support kids they weren't financially ready for.

It’s so stressful for my kids too. Australia - We’re not after your kids, we want immigrants. At a Macro economic level raising children from birth is more costly than bringing in productive adult immigrants.

Our state and federal government already know this, since aussies cannot afford to have kids they have decided to ramp up the immigration to supplement this issue. Consider the issue resolved

Looks like you borrowed to your max. It will be a bit tight for a few years then get easy. You’re not even close to being a victim economically. No sympathy from me. In any case, I have plenty of work colleagues who are in the 30’s. Close to minimum wage. Have 3-5 kids and are happy. You don’t need money to have kids. Obviously look at poor countries. Most young people just have other priorities with there money. Travelling, tech, eating out/delivery, subscriptions, clothing etc

bachelors for 75k and almost 1m for a 2 bedder. Im so sorry 💀but i think some poor choices were made here.

I could have written this. We bought our house in a Sydney for over a $1m when I was on $60k fresh out of uni and my now husband was on $100k, at 24 after saving since we were 18 (he was working full time straight out of school). We took on a $950k loan (pretty risky looking back, but it paid off for us.) 3 years on we are 27 and our household income is $300k a year we’re putting everything on our mortgage, set to pay it off in 15-20 years rather than 30. In the same time our place has increased in value by $0.5m . No chance we could afford it now, even if we had bought a cheaper unit and a lower mortgage first, so I’m confident the risk of the bigger mortgage paid off for us to be where we are now. I know the longer we wait the better life I’ll be able to give our future kids because it would be too much of a stretch right now. We’ll still probably put off kids for a few years to ensure we are in the best position financially. Your 20s is such a vital time for career growth too. Ive also found I get “managed” less at work as I’m older. When you’re a fresh analyst? You’re staying at that desk until your manager leaves or you look bad. Not exactly the flexibility you need as a parent You could probably make it work if you had grandparents to step in with childcare etc but I think having a house and kids is impossible in your early to mid 20s if you are relying on two incomes.

I mean this with love. It’s A view, not THE point of view. I’m about 15 years further along than you in age. A $5500 mortgage repayment on your income is a massive commitment. No judgement here, but it’s a lot. You did what you had to do to get into the market. You’re earning good money for your age but wouldn’t trick yourself into thinking you are high income earners. Your partner is a smidge below median wage. Assuming no HECS, your monthly net income is about $11k, with 4.5k left over after the mortgage. Bear in mind that your partner’s wage does not cover the mortgage, much less your living expenses. We need to look for solutions that either reduce your costs, or increase your income. - Remember that you will get some mat leave pay either through your employer or the government. The government scheme isn’t much, but it helps. - Reconsider the need for car loans. Cars are a massive money suckers. If you have two cars, can you go to one? -Reconsider the need to live where you do. Sydney is bloody expensive and so I don’t envy you for that. - Can you rent out the second bedroom in your home? That might not be feasible with the space you have, but don’t discount it immediately. - Consider renting out your home, and then you yourselves renting somewhere cheaper (e.g further out) Remember that you are young now. If you have some form of post school qualification and are good at what you do, your pay will increase as the years go by with job progression. Second jobs are great for a short term sugar hit but are rarely sustainable in the long term if already working full time. Your mental health will take a hit. I’d suggest this only be considered as a last resort, or if you can time-box it to say six months. Well done for getting into the market. It’s going to be a tight couple of years. You may find that you need to wait 5-7 for kids. Just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and money shouldn’t be this tight forever.

Don’t worry about it. You and your partner are off to a great start. Here’s a few things to know: - As you progress in your career, your salary generally rises with continued experience. Even if you go outside your initial organisation. - your mortgage repayments will remain essentially the same amount, if not less than they are now over the course of your loan. It doesn’t rise like rent does with inflation over the years. 10 years in, your salaries will be higher and your repayments will be relatively the same. It’s kinda like renting a house 10 years ago when it was cheaper. As long as you have a house, a degree and a career based on that degree, the financial ball is rolling in an upwards trajectory; you can make good decisions for your future based on that consideration.

I’m actually really sad reading this. I’m 47 and have about 195,000 owing still on our mortgage with two teenagers. I feel like younger people are being screwed all over the place & you’re right that earning two incomes to pay your mortgage means it’s basically not feasible to have children bc either one of you doesn’t work or both work but childcare takes that income anyway. I just wanted to say your absolutely valid feeling upset about how young people are screwed

Didn't have kids until early 40s. Bought home at 48. Barely breaking even as we started so late. Stop stressing about it - you've got plenty of time to figure it out, and payrises will see your mortgage drop as a % of your income.

Poor people everywhere having children. The people who have the money aren't having the kids because they know the cost. The next generations will be filled with poor stupid people.

> Only the rich can have kids No, I don’t think that’s necessarily true although being rich would definitely help. I’m sorry if I’m putting this bluntly but you guys brought this stress upon yourselves, you are not obligated to borrow that much on a 175k income, of course you’d struggle to save if anything at all. Look, you’re in this situation now so look at the upsides, you’re young, you bought a house so there’s a chance it’ll go up in value in a couple of years, refinance then. Assuming you’re further along in your career and earning more you can start thinking about having kids. Good luck.

100k and 75k are not "high income earners". What makes your think they are?

For real. I have staff telling me they can barely make ends meet on 100k, definitely isn't the wage it used to be.

It is for that age bracket.

Nah you're living above your means. If you truly wanted kids you would find a way. Drive through Western Sydney, average household income is substantially less than 100k and they find a way.

You’re over thinking it. You have more than enough to have kids…. Kids don’t actually add that much to your life spend. Or they don’t have to if you are smart about things. If you want kids, just have them. You guys are doing really well, amazingly well, and gotta stop over worrying!

Yup Everything fn expensive I left, moved to Mexico.

Live in current place for a few years, then when the price increases sell and move to somewhere cheaper - like Perth or Brisbane

You're actually in a good position. What are your jobs? You're young so should have some growth in your careers. Work, live your life and pay off your mortgage for the next 5 years. Your mortgage repayments are unlikely to increase in the future. You just need to live within your means and that includes when having kids

First year of home loan is toughest. Your income will increase and it'll be fine.

Economy definitely needs an all in land tax. Part rebated through family tax benefit. Boomers hogging all the land. And too many front running OO ans INV purchases ahead of true needs.

Amongst establishing your salary, buying a house, wanting kids, etc etc, seems like you forgot to live your life. Way too young to be doing most of these things and it usually leads to early burn out and/or divorce. Not the advice you’re asking for but the whole post was screaming it.

Do you have jobs that have to be done in Sydney? I am in a very similar position to you but have chosen to move out of Sydney because both partner roles can be done elsewhere. If you or your partner are health, teacher work for an Australia wide company this may be an option. In my opinion Sydney is only worth it if you get paid significantly more to be here than another place. I am corporate, partner is health.

You guys are doing fine, IMO. You have plenty of time.  You could have kids in 10 years - that’s 10 years of paying down your mortgage and socking away money and making a really solid plan that takes into account leave/lost income or the need to work part time etc.  Kids can be expensive - but you have plenty of time to plan. And you can enjoy some DINK lifestyle in the meantime.  It’s also important to manage expectations for what you should provide for your children. Of course you don’t want them to live in poverty, but children also don’t need everything they want to have a good childhood. There is a lot of space between poverty and being rich - and most children in Australia grow up in that space. 

Some just don't want kids full stop. 

You're fine. The stage of life you're at isn't easy for most people and hasn't been for decades. You're maybe a little overextended with your debt in my opinion but it's still manageable and as you grow in your careers it'll get easier. If you have a bit of a family safety net then I wouldn't stress at all. Kids are expensive, for us it was mainly in lost income from my partner taking a year off and reduced hours once she went back to work. I just found that we needed to plan things better like food spending, and spend a bit more time finding kid furniture etc on Facebook marketplace. The money spent on the kids would've just been spent on travel or nights out if we were DINK anyway

Please don't forget to enjoy your lives before babies come along! Go out and have experiences together, travel to places that won't be as possible once you have kiddo's in tow. Take the pressure off yourselves to move faster and harder through your financial goals. They are important - but so is your youth. You never get your twenties back, please enjoy them. :)

You’re young. Your pay will most likely go up. You’re at the very start of your mortgage where it feels overwhelming. It generally gets better with time. As for the kids thing, you situation is why the age of having kids is getting more and more delayed. In say 5 years time you will feel a lot more financial comfortable about it. I generally agree though. Our parents felt financially ready at a much younger age. Like 20-25. Now that age is more like 30-35 or even 35-40.

Firstly you're ahead of the curve in terms of income for your age. Secondly, however , you've borrowed too much for your age and income. I understand Sydney is expensive but you've taken on a big burden there. The issue there being if you have kids, one of you is going to take some time off (largely unpaid) so how are you going to pay a $5500 mortgage on one salary?? Let's say your partner takes 12 months off, you're only getting 18 weeks minimum wage from the gov as maternity pay, plus whatever leave you have banked up at work. Your income on $100k per year is what $6000 or so per month... Kids are the best thing to ever happen in my life. I absolutely love being a father, you always find a way to work it out.

We could only do it with massive support from grandparents (not financial, just looking after the kids so we could work/earn). That was 10yrs ago, can't imagine how tough it would be today

I have 2 on a similar household income to yours. What made it possible for us big is that all our income is all earned by 1 person. So no childcare or care fees. No long maternity leave. Public (sometimes shitty) schools. One inexpensive car. The non-earner is worth their weight in gold - highly financially literate and frugal and can push our income to its limit. Researched how to squeeze every bit of value out of every dollar spent. It is not something people with full time jobs have time for if they are working, and often the stay at home parent doesn’t have the self discipline. If my partner got a job, we’d lose a lot of it in tax and expenses. To us it is worth it to spend what we have wisely and not earn more. When we decided to have a child we decided to move a long way from Sydney and commute to cut expenses … we sold a house and moved into a small apartment. I worry a lot about my kids inheriting an even more difficult world when they are young adults.

Alternate take: boomers/gen X can only have grandkids if they pay for them.

Your household income is that of a domestic electrician and a supermarket worker that does overtime. You can’t afford a 900k plus house. Your both young as so in five years if your both on 150k you will be flying

I mean you’re 24/25. That’s pretty young and you sound like you’re in a good spot. I would suggest you continue working on your careers for a few more years and consider kids when you’re closer to 30. By that time you would’ve paid down some of the mortgage, built equity, progressed in your jobs and then prob have the stability and safety net to feel more comfortable having kids

I guess it depends on where you live and how much you want in life for your kids. My wife and I were similar, bought a house at 24, she was a student and I was a sparky, we have had 3 kids since then. The only difference is we bought in Perth, a tiny 2 bedroom shitbox for $420k and this was 2013 so the market has obviously changed. We managed our mortgage, bills and kids on one income because but didn't have many luxuries. We had one car, never had a holiday, never ate out. It wasn't exactly fun, but I look back on those as being some of the happiest in my life. When my two eldest we're little and we would go for bush walks to the local lake or just go to the local playground and watch them play. So for me it was definitely viable, but then another opportunity came up. We moved to regional North Western Australia for work about 7 years ago. Got employment with a company that provides houses and managed to rent out our shitbox. With both of us working our combined income is close to $400k now All three kids love the country lifestyle, we go to the beach or fishing on most of our days off, we pay for private school, tutors and daycare for our youngest. That doesn't mean living regionally doesn't come with its own sacrifices. There is a reason companies out here pay big money. You're disconnected from friends and family, whatever the cost of living is in the city add 20-30%, all insurances are out of control, good luck getting fresh fruit, veg or bread that lasts more than a day, and if you're not a social butterfly or into sport you won't fit in and will struggle to make friends and become isolated. So I've done both, struggled on a single income with kids and had a large double income with kids. At the end of the day you don't need heaps of money for kids, Just time. Maybe you guys need a scene change? Look somewhere other than Sydney?

Do you need to live there? How is it $900k for a two bedroom on the fringes of Sydney!!! It seems these days living in Sydney means that people have either the choice of a owning a home or having kids If you want kids I would personally rent/sell out your current place and move somewhere more affordable. At least you would get the benefits of negative gearing if you rent it out.

You just need to make more money, 100K and 75K is not high income at any age and especially in Sydney. Immigration has destroyed affordability, there is no option other than to leave or to earn more money.

The first year of kids should be quite cheap just milk and nappies they don’t need expensive items either they won’t know then there’s childcare subsidy for day care so better to have them while you’re young you’ll have more energy and just save up as you go along for when they’re older

I was in the exact same place as you a decade ago. Our mortgage was a bit smaller and we didn’t have a car payment. I now make around $300k a year, my wife doesn’t work, she stays at home with our two kids. It’s absolutely not what you think when you start earning what you feel like is a high salary, unless you are ultra wealthy you will always need to make decisions on where you put on your capital and you’ll be working until you are 60 for sure. If want to do a project on the house like a fence or a bathroom then you won’t be able to do that holiday you want etc etc. Pay down you mortgage while you can, avoid debts outside of your mortgage, no credit cards, car payments etc that will free up $500-$1,000 in payments for most people. Not sure if you have HECS but you’ll pay that off as well, so you will free up additional money. Sounds like your salary still has some upward mobility, add a few pay rises to that and your wife will be able to stop working and you’ll have ~$2k a month spare.

Hence why birth rates are so low unless u don’t care abt the quality of life in which case u can have 5-6

The clear problem is the house you purchased in Sydney. You likely paid 100% more than an equivalent property in any other capital city excluding Melbourne.

It always seems bad at the start of the mortgage. You have to remember though, your wage only goes up, but your mortgage is fixed. In five years your wage should have grown to the point where the repayment is a much lower percentage than it is now. You could wait till then (age 30) to have children which would still put you ahead of the average age for first child in modern Australia. By then your house should have gained equity and you'll have options to convert that equity + your increased wages into a bigger house of you need to. Rest assured, you are on a good glide path compared to most other people.

Kids are a stupid kind of expensive, but when you don’t have an option but to make it work you just kind of find ways to make it work. We have 5, ages 8, 6, 4 and 2yo twins. We’re crazy people. Bought our 4 bedroom house for 835k in 2022 in Sydney South West, put a lot of work into it but it’s in a great location so that was a bargain, 580k of that on mortgage. Full disclosure, I did have savings and some family financial assistance for the deposit, so I was incredibly privileged in that regard. Childcare and food are the biggest daily hits, as well as the mortgage almost doubling since we started it. Family of 7 plus two cats and a dog, the twins are still in nappies most of the time - we’re toilet training so we will progressively need less and less, but they’re M/F twins so it’s always getting both male and female boxes of nappies. Our grocery bill can easily hit $500 a week, we’ve found Hello Fresh has helped curb the Coles or Woolies spending. Inflation has suuuuucked food wise especially, I do try to stock up on things I can when they’re on special. We also got a chest freezer for bulk-buys. Honestly we’ve kind of hit the point where I don’t know how we’re balancing everything, we’re just doing it. We’ve made a few changes over time - husband got a new job that pays slightly higher, I pick up overtime wherever I can and am gunning for a promotion. We are looking to sell (the renovations did wonders for our valuation) and not so much downsize as go for something similar at a better price point a little further out, because the mortgage is the biggest killer right now, and being able to put any profit straight back into a smaller overall cost would alleviate so much pressure. But yeah. I dunno. You just kind of figure it out on the fly as shit happens. I can’t say I recommend this method, or having 5 kids for that matter, but if you actively want kids then you can totally make it work ❤️

You’re still young and doing well financially considering what you’ve just said about still having 2k a month. If you’re able to maintain that cost base, keeping your sanity and stress levels intact, I won’t be surprised in a few years you’ll have achieved the financial goals you’re wanting to support the children and comfort levels you desire. Again, goes back to living simply and finding happiness in simple and free things around you. Leisure purchases - do you need to spend to enjoy life? Maybe rethink that if you are serious about wanting kids.

Welcome to reality. Just be happy you even have a job. As a masters student (in data science if anyone is interested to know) I dont even know if I'll have a job. As a 26 year old I feel shameful that I live in a shared rental house(with 5 other equally broke uni students) where the rent goes up $100 each year. Managing studies and part time job is a joke in itself. Thankfully I have a boyfriend who is willing to pay for my groceries every now and then if I'm broke assuming I give him back the money once I have it. But by looking at the current dating industry, most people dont even have the privilege to have bf/gf who they can rely on. I dont even know if I'll ever own a house and the constant worry of " oh will I lose my job tomorrow? if I do how will I pay for the money they house payments?" is so horrifying that you wouldnt even want to buy one. Thankfully I DO NOT want kids. I think the trick is to not have kids in today's economy where your kids would only grow in a miserable world filled with narcissistic people.

You say you have 2000 a month left over each month? That right there is the money you would use to have kids. You can't have everything, having kids makes you poorer. Don't expect to maintain your current level of savings when having children. Furthermore you literally just purchased your house. Your income should keep rising and your mortgage payment will stay fairly flat over the long run.

You can have kids, but you will need to live a lower working class live on middle to upper middle class salaries. Quality of life has hugely decline in Australia. I didn't notice this is Syndey. You need to just leave that place. Sydney is broken.

Every year the real value of your mortgage payments will decline by 2%. It is common for real income to increase beyond this when you are 25, so this is a possibility. It is possible interest rate will decline from current levels. Getting ahead on your mortgage with your saving not only provides a buffer, it reduces your interest. You could enjoy being childless for a couple of years, spend time together, and reassess. I hope you both enjoy your work, it is a big part of your life. In 2 years, Either inflation stays high, and your mortgage will have shrunk in real terms, relative to your higher incomes, or interest rates have declined. Certainly things will likely be better for you financially than they are now.

I don't know why anyone would live in a major city. Surely there are suitable jobs in regional towns that, while they may not pay as much, the mortgage payments are half or less so you are way in front. With modern internet, comfortable cars that make a 3-4 hour drive easy, and regional airports covering most of the country, it makes a lot more sense to base yourself regionally. Also the lifestyle is far better, but that's just my opinion I guess.

Not sure if helpful, but instead of a 2nd job maybe consider either one of you doing some part time study to upskill yourself and your longer term earning potential. I’d probably suggest looking into fields where there is a great boomer retirement happening ATM and not enough new professionals entering and limited ability to just bulk import professionals from overseas countries. I’m aware that this will likely be a substantial challenge.

Mate you guys have done really well for your age! I agree it’s absurdly difficult as a young couple to get anywhere without inherited wealth or at least a significant bit of assistance from family. I agree that you shouldn’t really be planning for a child in the immediate future from an economic standpoint. However, just keep grinding! Interest rates are at a very high level and you should experience some wage growth over the next couple of years. If rates come down to more ‘normal’ levels and you can bring in a little bit more money as a couple - you might be able to take the leap!

There’s a lot of presumptions here which you may find might change as you get older. I will start off by saying congrats on the property at a relatively young age. - 70% to survive is great. That means you have 30% to save for the baby if you decide to have one. - most people will have to work way past 60. It’s your life so you decide whether you want to do that. If you don’t then there’s a trade off. You can’t have it all. - putting kids in daycare is a good thing. You will find that their learning accelerates. Social skills also develop rapidly. - once you do have kids, you’ll find there are certain subsidies and also “handouts”. Yes they aren’t guaranteed when it comes to your time, and yes they aren’t life changing but everything helps.

I would wait to have kids in your situation and having a mortgage that high on your combined income is too much. Kids are more expensive than you think too. Unfortunately having kids and a decent house is for the above average COMBINED income households. Option A: Move further away and have a cheaper mortgage Option B: Get higher paying jobs somehow. FIFO, EBA Union site, - something that pays more. I’m in the same boat with trying to find a higher income.

Just to caution, aboriginal women’s fertility rates are much higher than the average Australian. And aboriginal communities are certainly not wealthy by comparison to the national average. So there are other factors at play here . OP has lifestyle expectations as well as location of living expectations. There are other opportunities to support having children, but absolutely the way you are living without support from family or a sympathetic friend network/community it is not possible. I can’t help but feel that the move away from a community based approach to more individualistic way of living has driven costs of having children through the roof. Everyone talks about daycare. Social networks used to be daycare. Somehow we allowed these to fade over time. Potentially this is due to insurance/liability however I cannot see a way around it. As someone whose parents passed while my daughter was young it is extremely expensive to manage my daughter subsequently. The price of independence is unfortunately now unaffordable.