Pay Rise Approved

I got an email today advising that a 3.5% payrise had been approved. To be honest I’m not terribly excited about it. On my rough calculations (including the cut in income tax that starts at the same time) I’ll get an extra $65 a fortnight in my pay packet which isn’t a bad thing.

But the way the Australian tax system works it’s pushed me over a threshold where I have to pay an extra 1% tax if I don’t have private health insurance. I’ve never had or felt the need for private health insurance. However the extra tax is going to cost me atleast an extra $500 a year, and the health insurance will be about $1000 a year.

So at the end of the day I’m going to get myself some health insurance, which will cost me around $40 a fortnight leaving with a real income increase of $50 a month, which wont even cover a moderate rent rise which I’m expecting in November !

On the bright side google is sending me $130 from my adsense earnings, I just wish they would send me that much every month, instead of every six months. Atleast it will cover the hosting bill for the next 12 months.

So to get back on track, my payslip showing my higher annual salary should be available next Friday, and once I’ve got that I’ll be submitting a personal loan application for $18,000 and that is going to help me stop being a credit card victim.

I’m holding onto my personal loan application

At the start of the new financial year I’m expecting a small tax cut and possibly a small payrise, so I think these will look better on my loan application.

So I’m going to sit on my loan application until my first payslip of the next financial year is available. My nagger was keen for me to fill out the application yesterday but I convinced her it would be worth holding off for another couple of weeks.

My Expenses

I figure if I’m going to take a personal loan with a bigger repayment commitment I’d better take a look at my finances.

I get paid fortnightly so I’ll calculate my expenses on that basis.

Fixed Expenses

Rent $440
Phone $35
Power $60 (average over the year)
Cigarettes $160 (I’m embarressed to admit it)
Car Running Costs $30 (this includes registration and insurance for car and my home contents)

Total Fixed Expenses $725

My fortnightly pay is $1380 clear so that leaves around $655 for my variable expenses.

So the $655 is used to cover entertainment, food, clothing, fuel and of course the credit card payments. I always make the minimum repayments on the credit cards, and if I have any money left over by next payday I slide that towards the credit card bills as well.

I’ve thought about it some more, my minimum credit card payments work out to about $200 a fortnight. So I’m actually getting by on $455 a fortnight or less, and thinking of what I do with it, I actually make it go a long way.