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Will I earn enough to live?

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rois
  9/25/2020 06:48 EST

Hi, I am applying for a Mental Health Nurse role and have been offered a salary of $79,000. I am a single woman and I am quite good at budgeting money/don't really live luxuriously. From my research it seems this would be enough for me to live on but I'd like to see if anyone could confirm this for definite? Would I be able to live easily on 79K with the possibility of saving some money? Your answers will be greatly appreciated, thanks :)

rahmank
  9/25/2020 11:50 EST

Wooooh! $79,000= $6,585 per month.

Lets try to breakdown your expenses:

1. Health Insurance I am assuming you will be on GEHI (the government scheme) https://www.gov.bm/government-employee-health-insurance-gehi
$400 pm

2. Social insurance (you cant get this back, when you leave, I understand)
$100 pm

3. Payroll tax $385 pm

4. Superannuation (you get this back some time after the end of your contract). $525 pm

5. Union subs (either you join a union or pay and equivalent sum to charity)
$50 pm

So your take home pay will be around $5125.

6. So rent - I pay rent for a 1 bed flat including water and (very basic) cable TV/ wifi and that is $2,200, reasonably modest place.

You could get somewhere for about $1900 pm

7. Electricity - I am very modest in using electricity - comes to around $120 pm

8. Travel. Cars are expensive!!! A tiny Kia Picanto 3 years old will set you back $15,000. Look at emoo.com. But you will be able to sell it when you leave I guess.

No idea at all about Insurance. I get a government car because of my work. Fuel is also expensive ($2.20 per l or so - I get it free). But to be fair, you don't travel very far.

Buses are around $25 per week just for commuting and if you live close to work (then you pay more for you accommodation) But also very inconvenient - unreliable and

No Uber, and dont even dream of taxis - $50 for a short trip I guess (never took one)

Motorbike (scooters) are cheaper, probably $2000 or so - but I tried driving one and decided I quite like my skin without gravel rash. Also the scooter drivers here are crazy - there's many many of them. But that's an option.

If I didn't have the car, I'd buy an electric bike - you can bring it from abroad as you will get a reasonable duty free allowance when first arriving.

Oh I nearly forgot. You have to sit a driving test as your license (from wherever) won't be valid. It's really difficult and will set you back $500+ as you definitely have to take some lessons plus test fees and cost of new license. You will also need license for a scooter but I really have no idea about that. I gave up after a couple of tries on a scooter.

Lets assume $120 pm for travel

9. food.
Bread is $6-7 a loaf, eggs are cheap, milk is $6 per half gal, chicken pieces $2 per lb on offer, OJ $6 per half gal carton for the basic brand, fresh fish is very expensive but I catch my own - not big ones though as I don't have a boat. I also make my own sourdough as its much nicer and cheaper. Fresh veg is very expensive -locally grown ones are much nicer but just as expensive - I paid $4 for one tomato recently.

$allow at least $80 per week for food ($300 pm say)

So you now have $2685 left.

This is before entertainment etc. Every meal out, will cost you at least $20 and around $50 if you go to a reasonable place. Pizza costs $25 each (even frozen ones)

Its not great, but certainly doable.

Others might give you better advice and fill in the stuff I missed.

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rahmank
  9/25/2020 11:50 EST

Wooooh! $79,000= $6,585 per month.

Lets try to breakdown your expenses:

1. Health Insurance I am assuming you will be on GEHI (the government scheme) https://www.gov.bm/government-employee-health-insurance-gehi
$400 pm

2. Social insurance (you cant get this back, when you leave, I understand)
$100 pm

3. Payroll tax $385 pm

4. Superannuation (you get this back some time after the end of your contract). $525 pm

5. Union subs (either you join a union or pay and equivalent sum to charity)
$50 pm

So your take home pay will be around $5125.

6. So rent - I pay rent for a 1 bed flat including water and (very basic) cable TV/ wifi and that is $2,200, reasonably modest place.

You could get somewhere for about $1900 pm

7. Electricity - I am very modest in using electricity - comes to around $120 pm

8. Travel. Cars are expensive!!! A tiny Kia Picanto 3 years old will set you back $15,000. Look at emoo.com. But you will be able to sell it when you leave I guess.

No idea at all about Insurance. I get a government car because of my work. Fuel is also expensive ($2.20 per l or so - I get it free). But to be fair, you don't travel very far.

Buses are around $25 per week just for commuting and if you live close to work (then you pay more for you accommodation) But also very inconvenient - unreliable and

No Uber, and dont even dream of taxis - $50 for a short trip I guess (never took one)

Motorbike (scooters) are cheaper, probably $2000 or so - but I tried driving one and decided I quite like my skin without gravel rash. Also the scooter drivers here are crazy - there's many many of them. But that's an option.

If I didn't have the car, I'd buy an electric bike - you can bring it from abroad as you will get a reasonable duty free allowance when first arriving.

Oh I nearly forgot. You have to sit a driving test as your license (from wherever) won't be valid. It's really difficult and will set you back $500+ as you definitely have to take some lessons plus test fees and cost of new license. You will also need license for a scooter but I really have no idea about that. I gave up after a couple of tries on a scooter.

Lets assume $120 pm for travel

9. food.
Bread is $6-7 a loaf, eggs are cheap, milk is $6 per half gal, chicken pieces $2 per lb on offer, OJ $6 per half gal carton for the basic brand, fresh fish is very expensive but I catch my own - not big ones though as I don't have a boat. I also make my own sourdough as its much nicer and cheaper. Fresh veg is very expensive -locally grown ones are much nicer but just as expensive - I paid $4 for one tomato recently.

$allow at least $80 per week for food ($300 pm say)

So you now have $2685 left.

This is before entertainment etc. Every meal out, will cost you at least $20 and around $50 if you go to a reasonable place. Pizza costs $25 each (even frozen ones)

Its not great, but certainly doable.

Others might give you better advice and fill in the stuff I missed.

Actuary
  10/2/2020 04:32 EST

Does your employer pay your payroll tax and health insurance? Or are you fully responsible for both?

Payroll tax and health insurance could cost you close to $1000 per month, so will make a difference to how much you have to spend ($6500 vs $5500 per month)

Do they provide subsidised housing or any form of housing allowance? If not, I’ve seen some decent looking 1 bed apartments for $2k or so.

I’ve spoken to people who spend anywhere from $300-$1000 a month on groceries depending on how well they can cook and how much they’d like to pay for convenience.

I think you could live fairly comfortably but you won’t be living a luxurious lifestyle, and there probably won’t be much left over each month to save once you’ve factored in bills, day to day living expenses and leisure activities.

I’ve sent you a PM too, it would be interesting to hear about how you managed to get the job as my wife is considering looking for work as a mental health nurse on the island!

rahmank
  10/2/2020 08:58 EST

Most likely a government job, which means the employer does not pay payroll or GEHI

rahmank
  10/2/2020 08:59 EST

Also unlikely to have sunsidised housing

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