Sydneysiders reveal what they earn...and where their money goes

Sydneysiders have revealed how much they are earning, but where their money is going as cost of living continues to drain our bank accounts.

We asked Sydneysiders where all their money is going.

We’re all feeling the pinch as interest rates, petrol prices, rents and - above all - grocery prices seem to be going up every week.

Everyone has a different way of dealing with these pressures. Some are taking extra jobs, some are cutting back on not just luxuries but essentials, while others are doing OK.

The Telegraph spoke to Sydneysiders to see how they are coping - and whether they have any tips we could use.

Zoe Patsiokostas. Picture Thomas Lisson.

ZOE PATSIOKOSTAS, 26, MIDDLETON GRANGE

Twenty-six-year-old Zoe Patsiokostas from Middleton Grange in Sydney’s southwest is scrimping, saving and buying secondhand to support herself – and her family – while she balances unpaid university placements with full-time work as a high school teacher.

Q: What is your job and what do you earn per month?

A: High school visual arts teacher, $4848 per month after tax, plus I work one day a week at a bookstore to help support myself. It’s time-and-a-half on Sunday, so that’s an extra $300 each fortnight.

Q: What is your mortgage/rent payment?

A: My parents (mum and step-dad) don’t own the house that we live in, so we’re renting together. I pay $300 a week, and our rent is $790 a week in total. When I eventually move out, my parents will have to move out … because there’s no way they can afford it with just the two of them.

Q: What are you buying this week?

A: I just bought a birthday present, so that was $100, and I’ve purchased an art book to use for my teaching – that was $40. I’m going out with a friend tonight, so that will probably be about $40 as well. $50 of what I give my parents in rent goes toward groceries, but the lunch I buy at work adds about $100. I’m not spending as much on fuel and tolls because I’m not having to travel into uni anymore, but it’s still outrageous - $80 to fill up my little Toyota Corolla.

Q: What are you going to go without?

A: Buying a special drink or buying myself new clothes this week was really out of the question. I’m trying to save enough money to support myself for five weeks of (unpaid) placement.

Q: What has influenced your attitude to money?

A: Growing up, my parents divorced at a young age, so I’ve always seen money as a source of power, and instability if you don’t have it. Now I’m very cautious with my money … coming from a single parent household has definitely made me view money as very precious.

Q: Have you been gifted or inherited any money and if so what and how did this help you?

A: No, not really. My dad did support me to get (orthodontic) braces three years ago, and I wouldn’t have been able to afford that without him. I do get about $100 in birthday and Christmas money from my yiayia … but I’ve worked to afford my cars and anything like that, I’ve never inherited any money at all.

Q: Do you worry about money?

A: Yeah, definitely. I have friends who want to travel at the end of the year and, especially with my placement, there’s really no way I’ll be able to do that and feel secure.

Q: How have you changed spending habits in the cost of living crisis/what sacrifices have you made?

A: If I ever do need anything in terms of clothes, or materials for work, a lot of the time I’ll check Facebook Marketplace or Depop first – I’m always buying secondhand and I will rarely buy anything new for myself. Also, I’m in my mid-twenties and everyone talks about partying, but a lot of the time I’m missing out because I feel I can’t afford it. I’ve even had to budget my friends, and say I can only do one outing a week - I have to pick which friends I’m going to see.

Ludovico Castaldelli. Photo: Tom Parrish

LUDOVICO CASTALDELLI, 27, Mascot

27-year-old tradie Ludovico Castaldelli installs and repairs elevators part-time to make ends meet while he studies a diploma in project management. The Italian international student has been living in Sydney for a year-and-a-half, and was stunned by the cost of renting in the Harbour City – more than triple what he’d be paying in the small northern Italy town he hails from.

Q: What is your job and what do you earn per month?

A: I work in elevators – I’m a subcontractor for a company that installs and repairs them – and I earn about $5000 to $6000 a month.

Q: What is your mortgage/rent payment?

A: I’m paying $360 a week to live in Mascot. I have two housemates, and our total rent is $1100 a week. It’s a bit expensive in Sydney, rent-wise – in Italy I was living by myself for a month or two before coming to Australia, and without bills it was around 350 euros – less than $600 (AUD) per month.

Q: What are you buying this week?

A: I buy groceries to make lunch – I’m always at work so I don’t want to go out for lunch every day, that’s expensive – and I’ll pick up something quick from Woolworths to eat for dinner. If I have leftovers from the day before I’ll eat that instead. I don’t drive so I don’t pay for fuel, or tolls or parking – I get around the city with public transport, the trains and buses are pretty good to be honest.

Q: What are you going to go without?

A: Trying to buy Italian (specialty) food is more expensive, so I try not to buy it. If you make meals that are too complicated, a recipe like meat stew for example, you’re spending 70 bucks on the ingredients, it’s as expensive as going out. I’m also going to save money by not going out this week – because it’s cold. I’m not going out to party much anymore.

Q: What has influenced your attitude to money?

A: It changed when I came here. Here in Sydney I can earn more money, more easily than where I’m from in Italy. It’s easier to put away money here, but it’s also easier to spend it. For the first two months, I didn’t know the country or understand that I needed to save – I was spending so much on food because it’s full of restaurants, you have so many choices and since I like Asian food I was going out to eat every day. Now I realise if you sacrifice a little bit each month, you can do whatever’s in your mind.

Q: Have you been gifted or inherited any money and if so what and how did this help you?

A: No – just birthday money. I don’t have any rich uncles to give me millions, I wish!

Q: Do you worry about money?

A: Yes, sometimes. I’ve got to put money aside to know that I can stay in the country. When I have something coming up – like paying my visa – I do worry about it, but I’m trying to worry a bit less.

Q: How have you changed spending habits in the cost of living crisis/what sacrifices have you made?

A: Our rent has gone up a couple of times – at first it was fine, but then it went up by $240 a month. I’d love to live next to the ocean in Bondi or Coogee but when you look around, $360 per week is not that bad. I’m trying to save my money, just in general, so that if something happens at least I’m covered a little bit. I’m on a student visa so with the cost of the visa – which is $1600 – and my education, in three years it will be around $25,000. I also want to be able to go back home for a holiday.

Timothy Llewellyn.

TIMOTHY LLEWELLYN, 41, DAPTO

41-year-old mental health nurse and union rep Timothy Llewellyn lives in Dapto in the Illawarra region with his ginger cat and five chickens, but as a reformed craft beer drinker hailing from Marrickville, life’s little luxuries are no longer on the table.

Q: What is your job and what do you earn per month?

A: I’m a registered nurse in mental health and my base pay is $5300 a month after tax, but I’m always trying to get weekend and overtime shifts which pay more – each overtime shift is about $800 after tax.

Q: What is your mortgage/rent payment?

A: I bought my place five years ago for about $500,000, and since then my mortgage repayment has gone up from $350 a week to $800 – that’s $3200 a month out of my pay.

Q: What are you buying this week?

A: I drive a lot – living out here you have to drive a long way to get anywhere – so fuel is about $110. I’ll spend maybe $100 on groceries, and I only get takeaway or eat out once a week so that’s about $50. I don’t spend much on streaming subscriptions – only Stan and Kayo.

Q: What are you going to go without?

A: I used to be a craft beer-drinker but now I’ve cut way back on alcohol.

Q: What has influenced your attitude to money?

A: The Barefoot Investor – and my dad’s an accountant. (The book) makes you save and focus on what you need to do to buy a house, I think it gives you really good advice – in the old days I’d be spending money buying motorbikes and all sorts.

Q: Have you been gifted or inherited any money and if so what and how did this help you?

A: Yes – my parents gave me about $50,000 towards my deposit. I don’t think I ever would’ve got a deposit without my parents – and even then, I had to move way down the coast just to buy a house anyway.

Q: Do you worry about money?

A: Yes, and I didn’t used to. Over the last ten years of being a registered nurse it’s gone from feeling well-paid to feeling like you need to get overtime to get by. Lots of my colleagues have gone to work in the NDIS instead, or pick up side jobs – and I’ve applied for a job working with the University as well. When I was younger, registered nursing was a job I would recommend to everyone, but we haven’t had a real pay rise since 2008 – now I tell everyone to go become a tradie.

Q: How have you changed spending habits in the cost of living crisis/what sacrifices have you made?

A: I’m into kayaking and mountain biking, and I used to play canoe polo but I’ve been cutting back because I can’t afford the travel – most of the competitions are interstate – and the insurance is expensive too. I buy food in bulk – I bought a bulk freezer so I could buy cheaper food. I also don’t see my parents, who still live in Marrickville, as much just because it costs so much to drive up there.