How much salary is decent these days?

Minimum wage. Since I'm guessing when they calculated what it should be, they made sure it was enough for people in SA to live on.
 
My definition of living decently for a married couple with a baby is the following:

Own a 3 bed home with a small yard
Own two cars of R200k or less
Pay for day care for baby
Medical aid
Life insurance
DSTV
Normal usage broadband
Going out 2 x per month
Make decent home cook meals
A braai 2 x per month
Maybe a hobby or golf
Maid 2 x a month
Save or invest at least R500pm
Emergence funds of R500pm

Someone of 31 may expect these expenses.
How much do you need for that? The first 4 items can barely be paid for with one salary gross of R25k. There is more or less R30k of expenses in the above.

So that means combined salaries of close to R40k.
 
If you're not living VERY well on 35k, then you are doing something VERY VERY wrong. I clear between 25k and 35k after tax, support two others, and have pretty much all the basics (own home, new car, top range phone, gadgets, blah blah) and I STILL have plenty money left over after every month to save. It wasn't always this good, but now it is and I am very grateful. To myself. For working hard :)
 
ShadowEn said:
If you're not living VERY well on 35k, then you are doing something VERY VERY wrong. I clear between 25k and 35k after tax, support two others, and have pretty much all the basics (own home, new car, top range phone, gadgets, blah blah) and I STILL have plenty money left over after every month to save. It wasn't always this good, but now it is and I am very grateful. To myself. For working hard :)
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We don't want for anything. We have 3 houses (1 bonded), 3 cars paid for and all the other stuff (DSTV, Medical Aid etc.) and my son has private education...plus I save. But we don't eat out every weekend or buy our groceries at Woolies all the time.
 
I'd say 30k for the household net, if you add kids and private school then add another 10k for the household net. That's middle class I think.
 
ShadowEn said:
If you're not living VERY well on 35k, then you are doing something VERY VERY wrong. I clear between 25k and 35k after tax, support two others, and have pretty much all the basics (own home, new car, top range phone, gadgets, blah blah) and I STILL have plenty money left over after every month to save. It wasn't always this good, but now it is and I am very grateful. To myself. For working hard :)
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Which equates to about R40k per month gross at least. Whether between one earner or two. Which is the minimum I said. With a baby you are either supporting two if one salary, or supporting one if combined. One earner supporting a wife and kid is the same as wife and husband earning the same combined and supporting a kid.
 
Stefanmuller said:
My definition of living decently for a married couple with a baby is the following:

Own a 3 bed home with a small yard
Own 1-3 bedroom home, around the 500k-700k region

Own two cars of R200k or less
Own 1 Car 200k or less

Pay for day care for baby

Medical aid
Usually included as a work benefit, if it's not, some people just risk it (believe me I've seen it)

Life insurance

DSTV
Luxury. Those on the average scale I'd say DSTV Compact

Normal usage broadband
Yeah nope. Internet for many is still a luxury too.

Going out 2 x per month

Make decent home cook meals

A braai 2 x per month
Partially agree , but I'd group it under some form of entertainment with the going out bit. People differ in where they go out. Dinners 2 x a month? Luxury

Maybe a hobby or golf
Luxury

Maid 2 x a month
Depends on what the terms of her service are. Part time helper is the usual average not the standard stay in maid like the good old days, those are a luxury.

Save or invest at least R500pm
Lol Luxury sadly. We talking averages here not those who can.

Emergence funds of R500pm
Yeah depends on the individual. People I know just group this into Life Insurance and that's it!

Someone of 31 may expect these expenses.
How much do you need for that? The first 4 items can barely be paid for with one salary gross of R25k. There is more or less R30k of expenses in the above.

So that means combined salaries of close to R40k.
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I fixed that for you. I remember someone creating a thread about perhaps MyBB users being a tad bit out of touch with the rest of SA. That's pretty well off to A LOT of people in SA. Average salary TBH with people here is around 10-15k in reality. to actually have what I knocked off and have a decent life in GP, you need 15k-20k, with a family even more (if one spouse makes around 10k and the other makes around 15k, 25k cleared)... and funny enough that's even not after tax, but gross income. Sorry to burst the 30-35k idealists, but that is actually quite well off. By your standards it might not get u a Ferrari or uber fancy things, but to the AVERAGE south african that is a lot of money! Def a place in the 'burbs guaranteed!
 
yes but lots of people live on a lot less , remember what minimum salary is in this country it's actually quite low
 
Wife you actually very very well off. Lol do you understand average? You fall under the 0-5% elite in South Africa. We not talking average salary in the Suburbs etc, in South Africa, where pension grants are around R1600, where there is +20% unemployment, where even graduates can't get decent jobs. There are only a handful of people who earn what you earn, and there are a few who will even see that in their lifetime.
 
purpleonlineadmin said:
I fixed that for you. I remember someone creating a thread about perhaps MyBB users being a tad bit out of touch with the rest of SA. That's pretty well off to A LOT of people in SA. Average salary TBH with people here is around 10-15k in reality. to actually have what I knocked off and have a decent life in GP, you need 15k-20k, with a family even more (if one spouse makes around 10k and the other makes around 15k, 25k cleared)... and funny enough that's even not after tax, but gross income. Sorry to burst the 30-35k idealists, but that is actually quite well off. By your standards it might not get u a Ferrari or uber fancy things, but to the AVERAGE south african that is a lot of money! Def a place in the 'burbs guaranteed!
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The thread is more about a goodish salary than a bare necescities salary. One should be able to drive two cars if both have to work in different areas. You should have a guest room or at least a separate room for the baby. You should have a small yard. You should have TV where you can watch your national golf heroes or cricket/rugby side play and see the odd less than 5 year old movie. You should have access to basic decent speed internet. What I mentioned is average to good. No luxuries really.
 
purpleonlineadmin said:
I fixed that for you. I remember someone creating a thread about perhaps MyBB users being a tad bit out of touch with the rest of SA.
Click to expand...

That was me and threads like this are proof of it. Most don't realize that they're in the top percentile. They're trying to Keep up with Kardashians.
 
People live according to their income. Like the guy mentioned in the thread who earn 30K clear and house with car paid off and STILL they "barely manage"...COME ON PLS!!
A person earning R120000 a month still doesn't earn enough. Enough is NEVER enough. The world is not enough...
 
Kazu said:
yes but lots of people live on a lot less , remember what minimum salary is in this country it's actually quite low
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Exactly Kazu, again I think this just an indication of how out of touch people are with the other South Africa. South Africa is 3rd world for a reason, if the average person earned 20-35k, we'd be pretty well off economically. I've seen people earn 2-5k, some 5-10k most. The cost of living, esp in GP is already not sustainable for many!
 
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