Not looking for big tickets like a nicer house, more creature comforts that would make you feel wealthy. For example expensive scotch, quintuple ply TP, guacamole with every take out.
For me it'd be:
Better quality and healthier daily food/ a weekly expensive hobby like skydiving/ a monthly top tier restaurant.
Token "I'm not with a survey company". I'm just curious what people think, maybe some attainable ideas might even pop up.
Why 98 fuel? You only need it if your car is designed for it, otherwise no benefit at all.
2021 V8, knock sensor, I expect it can get some benefit from it.
And I'm just listing things I'd buy if I had money to spend for little benefit.
Most cars made post 2000 will see some form of benefit from running 98. Hell, even a lot of 90's cars will.
From personal experience, I had a salary boost, not quite double.
What kinda recreational activities are you into?
Personal trainer. Someone who I pay to force me to work out.
I'd also
-Buy more annual leave, pending the end of lockdowns
-Max out my Super to the highest allowable
-Drop some cash on the best OLED
-Get the fastest internet connection to my home (and consider forking out extra for FTTH)
-Continue to pirate/free trial anything that would involve giving money to murdoch
-Buy more annual leave, pending the end of lockdowns
Why do people want to do this? if your income doubled or tripled, the cost of buying leave will also double or triple respectively.
I hope this doesn't sound like I'm picking on you, as others before you have also mentioned it, I'm just curious why people think this way.
I buy 4 weeks of additional leave every year. Have been doing so for many years.
People often make the mistake of living to work. Why not balance out that equation if you can afford to do so?
The example given was what would you do if your salary doubled or tripled. Are you honestly saying that if you received double the pay for a whole year, you wouldn't consider taking an extra month off?
To me its a no brainer- even if your pay hasn't jumped recently.
If you can afford to do it, do it! It helps with kids school holidays, stress levels, holiday planning, home renos… and simply recharging.
I’ve often bought leave, or taken a week or two unpaid if it is offered.
Takes a bit of organising, as my default is more habitual to accrue leave, but if you take a week at Easter, a week some other time, then 5 long weekends before you take 2 or 3 weeks at Xmas you have a pretty relaxed lifestyle.
You’ve reminded me I haven’t done this last year or this year, and maybe the lockdown feeling is actually because I have worked an extra month in the last two years!
Thanks UFO and mskeggs for the insight.
I think it's fine if you're already doing that, I must have misunderstood OP's question, and assume it was what you would do if your income x2 or x3, that you're not currently doing with your current income. The answers people posted varies as well, so shouldn't be taken seriously.
With that being said though, I did my own research and found an online calculator. Doubling or Tripling of income is quite substantial, if your cost of living and amount of work is roughly the same for the x2/x3 and you're on top of it all, then why not trade in some of that extra money for time? you would still end up with a much larger income than previously, while also working less.
Thanks, you've converted me :)
Upgrade the things you spend the most time using but are often overlooked.
Basically get the best sleep you can, work ergonomically in comfort and eat better tasting healthier food.
Your body will thank you later nail the basics and the rest is up to you.
use stainless steel instead of plastic bottles
Wait is using plastic bottles an actual issue? I'm starting to wonder about micro plastics and stuff now. We have always used our Nalgene bottles and I always thought they were good quality, but we also run them through the dish washer and that's got me thinking it may be an issue now.
Do stainless bottles not have any of these issues?
A missus
Or better clothes in hope of a missus
Who am I kidding
No I won't. And she wouldn't be fooled anyway.
Double: Cleaner
Triple: Wife stops working, kid comes out of daycare
It would enable me to send more money to people I know in India, Sri Lanka & Thailand who have had no income since the advent of Covid. Also, I would probably have therapeutic massage more often.
Upgrade to whirlpool forums
Barista takeaway Coffee every morning! Oh wait I am already doing that… Ok 2nd afternoon coffee every day!
Jokes aside I would spend more on health and fitness, so things like organic food, meat at butcher, premium youghurt, pilate classes for wifey, maybe buy weights / equipment to set up a home gym for me. Oh and definitely fork out more for travel. Hell I would even do that still if my wage has not doubled given how long we have been in lockdown for!
Pay bills on time, pay down my home loan.
When/If i ever pay off my house ill probably go on a holiday (assuming COVID eventually ends)
The only regular expense I would add is a weekly/fortnightly house-cleaner service. I hate having to burn some of my weekend cleaning the house every week. I already eat what I want & have all the toys I want.
All of the rest would go towards those big ticket appreciating assets like a nicer house.
Upgrade to faster internet, pay for parking and buy brand new PC components as opposed to second hand parts.
I'd have a cupboard full of excess eneloop pros instead of regular eneloops.
And a decent robot lawn mower.
Get Chinese takeaway instead of Thai, once in a while. Seriously, it's ridiculous in my area. You can get decent Thai for around $45 delivered for 2 people. The equivalent order of Chinese takeaway would be at least $70
That's the price difference between Pad Thai and Lobster Noodles.
Lol believe me it doesn't take lobster noodles or even a fancy restaurant. Just a regular Chinese takeaway order for 2 from a basic Chinese restaurant in Carlingford.
Prawn Toast: $10.80
Garlic king prawns: $26.80
Mongolian lamb: $20.80
2 * boiled rice: $8
Delivery: $5
Total: $71.40
It seems like you are my neighbour as we do go to Carlingford Court/Village once or twice a week. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. That's why we have stopped dinning out or order take-aways. They are only for special occasions or lazy days. Could easily save half the money but need to spend a couple of hours cooking and washing. You should cook your own boiled rice. Would probably cost $1 with a much bigger serving rather than $8.
I know nothing about life these days, but pre-2020 we rarely pay full price to eat out, always using apps. eg. eatclub
Whiskey and coke with every meal (:
Double wage?
We'll I'd spend half of it on me
And give half of it away
(Exactly what happens in the real world of taxation)
Lol you have to be earning at least 500k a year to be paying 40% of your income as tax. That's before deductions
Marginal rate of pretty much 50% kicks in at 180000.
Deductions. Another thing people overestimate in their utility
I'd much prefer to have zero deductions, as then I would not have expended anything I didn't have to.
that's completely wrong!
mdavant is correct. It's 45% once you earn more than $180,000.
You are talking about the marginal rate. I'm talking about the average rate. The marginal rate is for the most part an abstract concept.
In reality most people on 200k plus are being paid a certain salary to do a certain job or role, and they pay a certain % of that salary as tax.
Unless you are being paid hourly in which case you have the choice to decide to not work extra hours if you deem the bracket creep to be a strong enough disincentive.
@harthagan: Sorry mate, but you are wrong.
Say I earn 180000 to keep the math simple.
If I doubled it to 360000
I would pay approx 90000 tax on the extra 180000
Hence my initial statement.
Marginal rates mean everything (especially once you go over the magic 250000 mark) because then people actually believe they pay net income tax when in reality after government assistance many would pay zero or get paid more than they pay in tax.
@mdavant: Nah mate, that's entirely your choice to think about it in those terms if it suits you. But your average tax rate is what matters unless you somehow are in a position to choose your hours so that you can avoid bracket creep.
@harthagan: So you are saying we should look at overall tax paid as % of gross income. But that's irrelevant when we are looking at net salary with increased gross income which is what the OP and the comment you are replying to is referring to. Ie. Every dollar above 180k (not 500k) you are getting taxed 47% incl medicare levy. Ie. close to half.
@Halc: Yes correct. The marginal rate is incidental. If everyone just earned as much as they could and then were told afterward how much they wound up paying in tax then all that would matter is the average tax rate. Everything else is just a conceptual construct. You can use it to argue a semantic point in a debate but other than that it is meaningless.
People love flexing about paying "50% tax" but they never distinguish that as the marginal rate. In reality you would have to be earning 7 figures before your average tax gets anywhere even near that %
@harthagan: You have no idea what you are talking about.
When you start earning a high income you will understand that you are wrong.
I would love to pay my average tax rate for each extra dollar I earn, but I guarantee you that is NOT how it works in the real world
Lol
@mdavant: Lol you don't realise how stupid your comment is. You pay your average tax rate on every dollar you earn.
Someone could brag about their marginal tax rate even if they earn 180,001 but it means nothing because they are only paying that rate on $1 of income.
@harthagan: My comment is if my income doubled!
You pay your marginal rate on the extra.
Sorry you don't get that extremely basic concept.
@mdavant: you are both correct in a sense.. Harthagan takes issue with people who say 'i pay half my income in tax' which obviously isnt true in the literal sense mathematically at 180k with a peogressive tax system
but addressing the more practical issue of diminishing returns with higher incomes, relevant to this thread it's obvious when we say we are on the highest income bracket it means 180k and above as any ADDITIONAL income is taxed at 50%
Nothing to see here..move on
@Halc: We'll one is correct and the other isn't
I never said I pay half my income in tax.
It is not my fault they created a strawman argument (and one in error at that) and can't let go of it.
@mdavant: Lol.
It's not a strawman argument for you to make an ambiguous statement like
"…and give half of it away" (in the context of a "double wage")
and have someone interpret it literally as "I'll give half my wage away"
….rather than your apparently intended connotation of "I'll give half of the delta between my original wage and my doubled wage away"
@SteveBuscemi: I made the statement
They made their comment.
I corrected it.
They kept going.
It was initially poorly targeted response from them, but their inability to accept the explanation and to turn it into a strawman argument about average Vs marginal rates made it a strawman argument.
I was quite clear in the explanation about more than 180000.
It is not my fault I pay top marginal rate and understand that earning extra is crap. But to be told that earning extra does not result in being taxed at the marginal rate is just plain wrong.
@mdavant: Mate it's all in your head. I'll say it again, your beloved marginal tax rate is only in your head.
It's purely for simplicity sake that they have tax brackets and tables etc. The ATO could just as easily assign every single possible income amount a tax of its own. In which case there would be no concept of marginal tax rates at all.
@harthagan: Until you earn above 180000 and then for each additional dollar you pay effectively 50% and your average income tax increases with each additional dollar you earn.
I have paid top marginal rates since last century. I have a good understanding how it works.
But only one of us understands my original post was correct.
@mdavant: Seems crazy you are getting so eaten up about paying tax.
Why not cut back your work and pay less tax so you aren’t so over wrought about it?
I love people who pay lots of tax, I respect them for their commitment to Australia and our community. I pay a lot now, and hope to pay more if I have an earnings boost.
But I wouldn’t take on extra work/advancement/responsibility for extra pay if I was upset about paying taxes.
@mskeggs: I have no issues paying tax. I like to live in a country where it is safe and pleasant.
I have issues explaining very basic taxation concepts to a poster with no clue.
Now psi income taxation Vs sham companies, that is another story!
@mdavant: Mate you are not explaining anything to me. I have a degree in tax law from UNSW and also worked several years at the ATO. I know how our tax system works, back to front.
You are the one who brought up the subject of tax in a thread where it wasn't even a relevant factor. I can only guess as some strange way of flexing about your income level on an internet forum lol. Do you make a habit of that?
The thread is clearly about what people would spend their increased disposable income on. And as you claim to already be paying 50% tax then doubling your assessable income would also double your after tax income as well anyway.
But of course that's not true, that's the ignorant claim which I was calling out in the first place. You don't give half of what you earn away, it's not yours to give. Everyone pays tax, it's not considered giving or charity. Get over it.
@harthagan: Oh this great.
Firstly I was asked my opinion. I said I would spend half and be taxed half. Just stating a fact that doubling my income would result in me getting only half of the benefit.
Being someone that pretends to have a degree in tax law your last paragraph is in error. I am sorry, but doubling my assessable income would not result in doubling my after tax income!!
"And as you claim to already be paying 50% tax then doubling your assessable income would also double your after tax income as well anyway"
The above is wrong.
@mdavant: Lol read my last paragraph. That's my point exactly you don't pay 50% tax, and you wouldn't even if your income doubled. Stop talking about your marginal tax rate as if it is the be all and end all. It's not.
Like I said before someone can go around saying "I pay 50% of my income in tax" if they earn $180,001. While it's true that they payed almost 50% tax on $1 that they earned, it's more accurate to say that they payed closer to 30% in tax on their entire income.
@harthagan: So you are strawmanning.
Everything I have said about tax here is accurate.
I have never said I pay 50% of my income in tax.
Build a project car. Expand my gaming collection/dedicated gaming room.
Stocks or crypto.
Pay off HECS and my fines lol
I would find a curated organic, biodynamic meal delivery service and switch all my shopping to that, then add an in-home cooking service once in a while;
Dine-out in restaurants several times a week (covid allowing);
We'd stop drinking most beer and switch to top shelf spirits.
Hey when you find this service can you let me know?
Double :also change to working a 3 or 4 day week, if the boss allowed. And spend a time each week doing volunteer work and outdoor stuff like hiking, mountain biking, tree planting or something nature-focused.
Triple : hire a live in house keeper, personal trainer, personal massage therapist, etc.
My income is going to double/triple because my in-laws are going back to China in December.
I can’t wait
Edit: so what I’m going to do with this extra income? Probably buy a few 3090 every month before they come back in 2 years.
My income is going to double/triple because my in-laws are going back to China in December.
What on earth are you buying them every week and don't they have their own money?
The Chinese in-laws that I see in Sydney are like walking banks.
lol I'm assuming he's male, so culture says he needs to show that he's a provider and taking care of their girl. And only the very best will do for the in laws.
Taxes
Would pour a FULL tank of 98 RON all the time (but will still keep an eye on petrol prices are as I drive past the servo).
Triple the online shopping so you would see me on OzB pretty regularly.
Personal trainer. Home chef. Cleaner.
Triple? Definitely probably someone to help me with finances.
I'd stop diluting the palmolive handwash and splurge on a bottle of "foam" type handwash. Just one bottle though, gotta be vigilant on those expenses.
I dilute dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle so it lasts ten times as long
now where will I spend the other $milllion … ?
That flower foam bottle?
Save it all, retire early and travel. Stress free life.
and travel
lol.
My salary over 4x'd in the past few years. (it started really low, then I switched industries)
I've always been frugal so my lifestyle hasn't changed drastically, I still like to shop for a good bargain.
The only changes have been: buying coffee (although not anymore, I make my own now at home), eating out more (nothing fancy though), buying nice cakes/pastries (something I never used to do) I still deliberate over buying big ticket items like a new phone or a new gpu and I will wait for a sale. I am still a cheapskate at heart and that won't change.
'I am still a cheapskate at heart and that won't change'
sounds like you grew up middle-class like me - always had enough if you managed carefully
people who grew up with not enough - tend to splash any windfalls for a quick feeling of luxury
people who grew up with too much - tend to splash any windfalls on luxury as a reminder of their childhood
Lifestyle creep is already a thing for me. Last week when I was grocery shopping I splashed out on a cucumber ($1.90 each!!) and some Perino tomatoes. If my pay increased considerably I might even go for some pine nuts… pretty wild here I know.
Pine nuts are expensive TBH, if you're using them in pesto you can substitute with other nuts like cashew and it is pretty much the same texture /flavour, or find a pine tree in season and harvest your own cones.
lol have you foraged them yourself?
Cleaner
Baby-sitter
Gardener
Admin/Assistant
Time is money
Firstly I'd put it all into paying off my loan, which should only be a few fortnights. Then each fortnight I'd give myself a small bump in pocket money, put some into savings for a nice holiday, donate more to charity and put the bulk into saving a larger/faster deposit for a house.
Use the original income to hire someone to do my job, and then I am free to do my stuff with increased part.
An 85" inch TV and a comfortable cinema style recliner. May as well turn my tiny little apartment into a fully pimped out entertainment room lol
Take eating healthy seriously.
Ive been on and off due to money. If I could eat, for example, musclechef and train at the gym, I would have my ideal body by now. But I know my nutrition sucks because I always look for cheap alternatives or minimise my food buying at all to pay rent and bills.
I'd spend it on feeding people who are starving. Their need to eat is much greater than my desire for luxury items.
It's true, and it would be hard to ever justify luxury items for myself on the same basis. Depends on how one sees the world though. Clearly a lot of people do not share that view.
'Clearly a lot of people do not share that view'
as in - God Told Me to Kill You - to protect my children from blood-sucking baby-eating rapists - like I was told you were - by people I like to believe
I have no idea what you're talking about.
It's the view that it is reasonable to give to charity ahead of spending on luxury goods, which for me is largely based on Peter Singers ideas.
'I'd spend it on feeding people who are starving'
so how's that working out for you ?
presumably living in a rich first world nation with the world's highest median wealth
you're already spending most of your disposable income on feeding others … ?
or are you just wanting to sound like you care - and not 'actually' doing it, because - you know - busy … etc. ?
I like the Sikh or some Indian group custom of actually feeding - for free - thousands of people every day - it's part of their good karma earning
in Australia with convict origins beholden to the government/authorities/police we tend to pay our taxes and then expect the government to provide for the poor
in the US with private enterprise origins they tend to tread on people's head to get obscenely rich, after which they start a 'charitable' Foundation (tax-deductible) in their name to live in perpetuity as a 'good' person - names like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Gates, etc. - getting their name on a Harvard Uni building, etc. - how good is that !?
Ouch.
Probably a massage. Maybe get a shave at the same time I get a haircut. Those kinds of things.
Two chicks at the same time.
'Two chicks at the same time'
and - if they're totally hot supermodels like you'd want, they'd probably spend their time pleasuring each other
while ignoring you.
First things I look at are way(s) to minimize tax lol.
Just remember that double or triple income does not mean double or tripple how much you have to spend. In Australia, the more money you make, the more you have to pay on tax. Especially for anyone who makes more that $180,000 per year. Pretty much half of your earnings goes to the ATO.
I don't understand this way of thinking. Someone who makes 200k per year is only paying an average tax rate of 32.5% (that's including medicare)
Yet they always talk about it in terms of the marginal tax rate. Maybe because if they frame it this way it sounds worse for them or something. It's not like you get your first few paychecks tax free and then the next few taxed only at 19% etc and so on. If you gross 4k per week you pay the same tax on the first week as you do the last week of the financial year.
Don't you feel bad for them though, only taking home $135k after tax? Brings a tear to the eye.
It's that any extra you make is paid in tax.
For example, if you were already in 180k+ tax bracket and someone offers you a side-gig, would you take it up knowing that you're you're really only pocketing 53% (100 - 45 - 2 medicare) of what you earn? Your marginal tax rate is what actually affects you. The average is just a statistic.
A side-gig.
Maybe? If it was interesting?
I guess I don’t understand why people who earn lots of money shouldn’t pay lots of tax. Once your needs are all met, and a good portion of your wants, it isn’t like you have pressing expenses to meet.
If we don’t tax people with lots of money we would need to take more from people who have less than all their needs met, or fewer of their wants, because they are on lower incomes.
@mskeggs: I'm not debating the merits of the tax system.
If you already work ~40 hours a week and earn exactly 180k, you have a choice to make when offered additional work. Say the side gig is $100/hr for 20 hours a week. That's 20 hours you give up of your personal time.
After tax, you only actually get $53/hour. It's a different value equation. Your financial goals may be different but if I was in that position, I would think hard about giving up my time like that. (and before anyone comes in and goes 'I would love $53/hr', but you'd already be earning more in this hypothetical of 180k).
Imagine if the tax rate was higher, say 80%. Getting the idea now? It's a disincentive to earn more.
@ozbargainsam: I understand how progressive tax works. Which is why I was suggesting there are so many reasons to consider doing things besides the dollars, so arguments they somehow disincentivise high earners are weird.
Additional dollars when you earn a high income are very low motivators. Cutting tax rates on high earners would not be particularly motivating, as they have all their needs met.
If there is some reason we want to incentivise high earners to work more (not sure why we would?) tax cuts would be poor way to do it.
@ozbargainsam: A lot of people who earn executive level salaries like that are not working 70hrs a week but more like 40, unless it's their own business.
That makes the whole equation a bit different since it's incremental reward increase for the same work load, rather than deciding to give up the rest of your lifestyle for a fistfull of dollars.
as a child I remember my father outraged about his marginal tax rate of maybe 60% (last century)
he was ranting something about it not being worth him working the extra hours - tho' he was driven to
pity he didn't spend more time with me - that was what I didn't get
money in the bank is not as satisfying as time spent with loved ones …
and at the end of life, no one ever said they wished they'd spent more time at the office
it's always rather - regrets for what they did not do for/with loved ones.
Weekly cleaner
Custom built furniture that suits our small space
Replace old and tired appliances
Cook to shop and prepare healthy meals that will last the work week
Spend more on travel and accommodation, eating out and entertainment
Music tutor every week
Personal trainer once a week
Massage once a month
Beauty services once a month
Charitable donations every month
— one can dream
I've read some great ideas here, I would pick:-
More Aussie streaming services.
Best of the best internet connection.
98RON fuel.
Pre-chopped/prepared food delivery to make cooking less arduous.
One time purchases:-
I'd love a new TV and upgrade the A/V to Atmos 7.1.4
Computer upgrade.