How much money do you earn? And how do you spend it?

[surface]

There's more to working than money for some people, I had a guy who threw a massive tantrum when the company decided that they no longer need us over the festive period, the guy has a paid up house, has never cashed his shares ever, plenty of money in the bank, but he still caused a scene, a massive one.

I think work probably means a lot more to him than we realised, he caught all of us off guard with his reaction.

Wow - does this really happen in companies? My client is very strict on this and they don't tolerate any such behavior. 1 manager (20+ years service in company) was fired recently as he was found to be rude to certain workers. Tantrum will be out of question. Strangely enough, I found him very polite in all my interactions with him but then people don't mess up with developers that much.

 

[TheChamp]

Wow - does this really happen in companies? My client is very strict on this and they don't tolerate any such behavior. 1 manager (20+ years service in company) was fired recently as he was found to be rude to certain workers. Tantrum will be out of question.

Here things are usually discussed and sorted out locally as long as they don't escalate into physical violence and the other party does not take it further. The things the guy was saying could have easily had him fired if they were taken further.

 

[krycor]

Wow - does this really happen in companies? My client is very strict on this and they don't tolerate any such behavior. 1 manager (20+ years service in company) was fired recently as he was found to be rude to certain workers. Tantrum will be out of question. Strangely enough, I found him very polite in all my interactions with him but then people don't mess up with developers that much.

Depends.. so you have the professional managers (those that actually went on courses for management training), the leader types (who have a natural following regardless of where they are in an organization) and the wannabe types that old school business fast forwards into management (extroverts usually) that kinda survive on ego.

Those latter types still happen in corp and you know when you come across them. They usually say stuff that make the hr cringe. If the senior and ceos are like that they usually hire similar people at the detriment to company culture and business.. suspect climbing ladder fast with a lack of maturity bites along the way.

 

[We Love Bass]

People spending so little on entertainment,no wonder the world is so violent

 

[krycor]

People spending so little on entertainment,no wonder the world is so violent

We usually spend:

Video:
Netflix R169
Showmax R99
Prime R45
DSTV Now R—

Audio:
Apple Music Family R90

 

[Shi]

I'm answering this one anonymously.
I have been at the company for 5 years now, and I basically run the companies I.T. by myself, which includes over 200 field staff and 20 office staff. I just got told a friend of mine who does miles less than me (similar job) gets paid almost the same as me. Something's very wrong here. Im also 35 now, so my salary situation is seriously depressing me.
14k before deductions.

I assume that your increases haven't been high. 5 years at a company these days is a lot. Test the waters, you might be surprised what is out there.

 

[^^vampire^^]

I'm answering this one anonymously.
I have been at the company for 5 years now, and I basically run the companies I.T. by myself, which includes over 200 field staff and 20 office staff. I just got told a friend of mine who does miles less than me (similar job) gets paid almost the same as me. Something's very wrong here. Im also 35 now, so my salary situation is seriously depressing me.

14k before deductions.
Rent: R6k
Food: R1.5k
Internet: R1k
Debt: R1.5k
Tech Subs: R400
Petrol: R600 +/-
Smokes R800
Leaves me with about R700 left over.

You are getting taken for a massive ride. 200 field staff and 20 office staff is a decent amount. I'd put that at R50k at a min. I know heads of IT earning R50k+ only managing about 15-20 office staff and that was around 2012-2013.

You may be good at what you do, and many people are, but I think you need to upskill on negotiation. I don't mean this maliciously in any way but I come across people being taken for a ride all the time because they lack good negotiation skill. Research and know your value in the market and use that. If there are other core skills that are leading to the deficiency then try to identify them and upskill ASAP. We obviously don't know much other than what little info you have given but there are many management level employees out their managing far less and earning far more. From my own experience I had a brother who was older than me and in the software dev game longer than me but earning almost half of my salary because he is very introverted. I've also come across people in the last 3 companies I've worked at earning far below just the median salary because they have gotten comfortable and will neither ask/fight for a fair salary or move to another company. Also, try to start networking with people that work in similar fields to you or that occupy higher positions in business. These people can open up doors when you least expect it that can catapult your career.

 

[whatwhat]

You are getting taken for a massive ride. 200 field staff and 20 office staff is a decent amount. I'd put that at R50k at a min. I know heads of IT earning R50k+ only managing about 15-20 office staff and that was around 2012-2013.

You may be good at what you do, and many people are, but I think you need to upskill on negotiation. I don't mean this maliciously in any way but I come across people being taken for a ride all the time because they lack good negotiation skill. Research and know your value in the market and use that. If there are other core skills that are leading to the deficiency then try to identify them and upskill ASAP. We obviously don't know much other than what little info you have given but there are many management level employees out their managing far less and earning far more. From my own experience I had a brother who was older than me and in the software dev game longer than me but earning almost half of my salary because he is very introverted. I've also come across people in the last 3 companies I've worked at earning far below just the median salary because they have gotten comfortable and will neither ask/fight for a fair salary or move to another company. Also, try to start networking with people that work in similar fields to you or that occupy higher positions in business. These people can open up doors when you least expect it that can catapult your career.

Remember a company is never going to pay you what you are worth, they will pay the least amount they can get away with.

+million on negotiation. But a lot of times its also being at the right place at the right time. As much as skill has to do with it luck plays an even bigger part.

 

[crawler]

Anyone getting bonuses?

%

 

[beefymoocow]

Anyone getting bonuses?

%

I think 1 month salary for me but will know in feb eish.

 

[rorz0r]

13th cheque

 

[cguy]

I'm answering this one anonymously.
I have been at the company for 5 years now, and I basically run the companies I.T. by myself, which includes over 200 field staff and 20 office staff. I just got told a friend of mine who does miles less than me (similar job) gets paid almost the same as me. Something's very wrong here. Im also 35 now, so my salary situation is seriously depressing me.

14k before deductions.
Rent: R6k
Food: R1.5k
Internet: R1k
Debt: R1.5k
Tech Subs: R400
Petrol: R600 +/-
Smokes R800
Leaves me with about R700 left over.

Something sounds very off here. Do you have 220 direct (or indirect) reports? Do you do their performance reviews? Decide their raises? Determine who works on what?

 

[truckenator]

Posting from a new account for reasons.

Annual CTC ~R1.5mil incl bonus.

Save roughly 25% with the rest going to expenses, RAs and 2nd homeloan (1st is paid off).

We don't spend frivolously - we pay our nanny well (very well) and we get take ways once or twice a week.

 

[^^vampire^^]

Remember a company is never going to pay you what you are worth, they will pay the least amount they can get away with.

+million on negotiation. But a lot of times its also being at the right place at the right time. As much as skill has to do with it luck plays an even bigger part.

I agree a company will most times pay as little as possible and with being in the right place at the right time. I got my current position by working at a company that contracted a job to another saffer who in turn brought me into the next project he was working on. Because of this I now get to work from home 3-5 days a week instead of doing the 3 hour daily commute as well as many other benefits. If certain things didn't happen the way they did I no doubt would have missed this opportunity and so I do chalk some of it up to luck. On the flip side of this is I made sure to make the effort to communicate with this guy when he was contracting to learn about him and what he does as well as make sure I had the right skills to be useful which also helped me land the position. I believe this is part of the point of where people say the harder they work the luckier they get. The more relevant and useful your skillset the more likely people are going to get in contact to get you to help them.

This year has been a landslide for people wanting me to help them out with many people I have worked for/with in the past requesting me to help with their projects, being brought in on a new and evolving project by this guy I worked with previously and being approached by Amazon asking to come work for them in the US.

 

[Silent_Chaos]

Something sounds very off here. Do you have 220 direct (or indirect) reports? Do you do their performance reviews? Decide their raises? Determine who works on what?

Its not an IT company, maybe that's where the confusion comes in. They have line managers for all that. I take care of the IT infrastructure, the IT support, the mobile contracts, any deductions if needed (lost or stolen laptops or phones) the inventory reports (which is 500 items total) and the setting up of emails and making sure the servers for everything is maintained and up and running.

 

[cguy]

Its not an IT company, maybe that's where the confusion comes in. They have line managers for all that. I take care of the IT infrastructure, the IT support, the mobile contracts, any deductions if needed (lost or stolen laptops or phones) the inventory reports (which is 500 items total) and the setting up of emails and making sure the servers for everything is maintained and up and running.

That makes it a lot clearer - the way you worded it made it sound as though all those people were part of the IT department (that you run).

I agree with the others - upskilling and moving to a role that doesn’t involve setting up phone contracts, emails, etc. would be a good move. Doing that type of support work gives people the impression that you’re not more than someone like an “Apple Genius” store employee, which is likely unfair since it sounds like you do very much more than that in terms of both complexity and quantity of work.

 

[SatinJacket]

Age: 37
Source of Income: Corporate Slavery
Annual CTC: R1.3m
Monthly Net: R61K (after tax, provident fund, medical aid etc)
Annual Bonus: approx 20% of CTC

Expenses (for now)
Rent: R11K
Car: R2K
Insurances (Life, Car, Household contents, Legal etc): R3K
Fuel: R2K
Phone, Internet, DSTV, Digital subscriptions:R3.5K
Groceries: R3K
Other Spend (Take aways, entertainment, clothing, gadgets, holidays etc): R8K
Savings: R28K

Looking to purchase my first and hopefully final house next year (might dabble in investment property in future), so the picture might look like this

Expenses
Bond: R25K
Rates & Levies: R3.5K
Car: R2K
Insurances (Life, Car, Household contents, Legal etc): R3K
Fuel: R2K
Phone, Internet, DSTV, Digital Subscriptions:R3.5K
Groceries: R3K
Other Spend (Take aways, entertainment, clothing, gadgets, holidays etc): R8K
Savings: R13K

have saved up a decent sum over the years and am tempted to put in a 50% deposit on the property (R3m) but i don't want to tie up cash in one asset, i want some flexibility to explore options of increasing my income, e.g maybe purchase rental property cash, start a business etc. I might just buy my house with an access bond, so i keep the cash in there to reduce my monthly exposure until i decide on my next income generating asset.

 

[crawler]

@SatinJacket great savings you got going. With 2nd property or more expensive insurance might go up as well?

 

[Stokstert]

I clear R48k in my account and I thought I was making a killing, people have it really nice out there, wow! some numbers I can only dream of... I am 28, still a chance to get ahead... I save about R23k per month - after all things done.

In government?

 

[SatinJacket]

@SatinJacket great savings you got going. With 2nd property or more expensive insurance might go up as well?

Thank you kind sir. Sadly left it too late to start saving and investing so I’m desperately trying to catch up - I also used to be a serial job-hopper / provident fund “withdrawer” in the early years of my career so I didn’t do myself any favours over the years.

Hoping the house purchase doesn’t become the death of my quest for financial freedom.