What My Salary Gets Me: A 36-year-old FIFO worker on $180,000 a year.

Mamamia’s What My Salary Gets Me asks Australians to record a week in their financial lives. Kind of like a sex diary but with money. So not like a sex diary at all. In this series, we discover what women are really spending their hard-earned cash on, and nothing is too outrageous or too sacred. This week, a 36-year-old FIFO worker shares her weekly money diary.

Age: 36.

Job: Currently work FIFO on an 8/6 roster (eight days on site, six days at home). I have 10+ years experience in heavy industry, government and NGOs in environmental matters.

Salary: $180,000, plus Super.

Housing: I have two properties - one I live in and one I rent when not at work or away.

The cost of housing, electricity, water and internet is covered while at work but my food is BYO.

I recently started a new job and am currently holidaying in my breaks a lot - seeing friends and family to make up for extreme isolation in 2021.

I am quite cautious and have saved each house deposit separately rather than using equity.

I have about $115,000 in savings in an offset account, majority which will be reinvested shortly into an EFT, the rest will be put aside in a mortgage offset as emergency fund and savings towards another house deposit - hopefully my dream home this time! 

All costs are mine and not shared with any other person. I have a credit card limit of $1,500, that's paid off each month if used. And in pocket per fortnight after salary sacrifice is about $4,450.

Watch: Four money hacks that don't cut out your daily cup of coffee. Post continues after video.

Annual costs (approximately): 

Rates on two properties: $4,000.

Insurance on two properties: $3,000.

Car Insurance: $750. 

Rego: $750 .

Water across two properties: $300.

Monthly expenses:

Mortgage one: $446.

Mortgage two: $542 - rented at $340 per week.

Marketing subscription: $30 USD.

Phone: $65.

Internet: $75.

Electricity: $60.

Gas: $30.

Ticket in a house lottery for a good cause: $20.

Interest on loan: $44. It's borrowed against equity in the home I live in. 

Private health insurance: $128.

Fuel: About $60-100 depending on where and how often I’m travelling. This has gone down due to my change in workplace. 

Saturday.

Today I'm visiting friends in Perth.

I bought flights to Brisbane as I haven’t seen family and friends in Queensland for a while ($178) and some snacks and other things I forgot to pack for my dietary requirements in Perth ($31).

At night, we went out for my friend's birthday to a snazzy restaurant in the city ($100). We got bread, a main and dessert, and I got two glasses of wine for myself.

We had wine at the next bar ($35) and one round of drinks at another place ($23).

My friend covered the cost of accommodation in the city as flights over had cost about $600 return from Sydney.

Daily total: $367.

Sunday.

We went to breakfast in the morning - I’d already had a snack earlier so I got a banana bread and a small cappuccino. I also bought my friend's breakfast as today was her actual birthday ($32).

We then went to the park with my friend's family and to an amazing bakery - I said yes to a strawberry tart and a croissant ($12).

We hung out at home for a bit before going to dinner down by the water. I had a ginger beer and fish and chips ($42). 

Daily total: $86.

Monday.

Today was a travel day back to New South Wales.

We went for lunch before going to the airport which was covered by my friend (lucky me!). I also got a lift to the airport so that was free.

I bought a beer, a book and some snacks at the airport ($42) - the book was an amazing read so worth the investment!

Then I ate some snacks on the plane ($7.50) before getting into Sydney at 11pm.

Originally I was to fly to work on Tuesday morning, so I wouldn’t have had to travel home after this flight - I would have stayed with a friend overnight then flown out. 

However, because I had an event in Sydney, I needed to get home to work from home for my normal shift hours of 6am to 6pm, so I splurged on a $120 pick up from the airport.

It's actually not a bad price when it’s a two-hour trip in the middle of the night! 

Daily total: $169.

Tuesday. 

I’m at home and mostly worked and ate things I already had in my freezer. It was cold, so I stayed inside before and after my 6am to 6pm hours. 

I bought domestic travel insurance as I’m travelling a lot in the next few months and I don’t wish to wear the cost of last-minute flights, car hire or car hire excess to work if flights home from my breaks are delayed or cancelled.

It cost $237 for an annual policy. I also find it much cheaper than paying the extra $20 a day for excess reduction if I hire a car, which I will be on my next break. 

Daily total: $237.

Wednesday.

Today's a repeat of Tuesday with an extra of buying lunch - I got a corner shop burger and scallops ($8) and a coffee and a brownie ($9).

Daily total: $17.

Thursday.

Today I travelled to Sydney for an event. 

Now normally I’d drive my car, but it's at work at the moment, so I have to catch the train to Sydney. It took three hours and cost $8 approx. 

I had a coffee and bacon and egg roll, plus I bought a muffin for the trip before leaving ($18). 

I went for drinks and a catch up with a consultant I’m working closely with on a project - they covered so that was lovely. 

I then stopped in at David Jones hoping to try on some lovely boots I saw in Perth but they had sold out. I did, however, find a perfume I liked ($194).

Dinner was at the event that night. It’s so inspiring to meet women who are absolutely excelling in male-dominated industries and this celebrated that. 

It was also amazing to be able to network in person after so very long!

Daily total: $212.

Listen to What The Finance, Mamamia's money podcast. Post continues after audio.

Friday. 

I worked in the morning from the hotel and had breakfast - the hotel and food were both covered by work due the event being work related. 

I then got the train to the airport ($18) and had some snacks while there ($15).

I flew out to work but had to go via an airport further away as the direct flight was booked out. I stopped to get lunch at this amazing Japanese restaurant in a major regional city.

I got some lotus chips, a drink and some sushi for now and some extra sushi for lunch tomorrow as I’m sure I won’t feel like cooking once I get into town ($40).

Stop, revive, survive - as you might've guess by now I got some snacks on my way from the airport to work! I bought my favorite Darrell Lea mint choc balls ($6.50).

Then I finally got into town and went to the supermarket to grab a few things for work ($25).

Daily total: $104.50.

Reflection.

This was a pretty spendy week for me. I’m not sure what my exact savings per month will be but it should be in the $3,000 to $6,000 a month range if I decide to stay in the role and pass probation.

I’ve always been quite cautious with my money but do love to splurge on travel and not think about the costs too much when I go away. I am still cost conscious to a point but I feel like after this long in my career; I do deserve to spend more on myself. 

I recently reached out to a financial advisor (not paid with trailing commissions) for advice on how to optimise my assets, savings and super and will be implementing most of their recommendations in the next few weeks after careful consideration.

Writing this out, it’s obvious how much I spend on buying food and I could do better with this. Most of my major cost, like a roof over my head, I keep on the very low end so I don’t worry too much about this extra spending. 

My mortgages are small overall as they are in regional places and they were purchased earlier on in my career when I did not have as much purchasing power. Now I am investing more into stocks for diversification and the flexibility.

I had imagined I would have 'settled' in one place by now but I do quite enjoy exploring a new places - stocks and rent-vesting allow me to do that. 

I also invest significantly in my education, and while that does not show up in this week's snippet, I spend between $5,000 and $20,000 per year on books, education, mentoring and development which has contributed to me gaining promotions over time along with the fact I generally find learning new things interesting. 

While my expenditure this week has been much higher than normal, I know it’ll go back down once I stop going everywhere on every single break. Some of my favourite activities are very low cost like reading, snorkelling and bushwalking which is a blessing financially. 

Despite the news stories, there are women in mining and other heavy industries who enjoy their role, their workmates and the opportunities that come with working in the industry. I am one of those women.  

Want to contribute your own anonymous money diary for What My Salary Gets Me? Email submissions@mamamia.com.au to get involved.

You can catch up on our previous What My Salary Gets Me articles here:

• What My Salary Gets Me: A 26-year-old social worker living in regional Victoria on $75,000 a year.
  
• What My Salary Gets Me: A 21-year-old student working part-time on $50,000 a year.
  
• What My Salary Gets Me: A 35-year-old in PR earning over $100,000 a year.
  

Feature Image: Canva/Mamamia.