How is anyone with a full time job struggling ?

[christiansophistry]

@deborahs757 How in the fuck is 105k (let alone renting out an apartment) a 'normal' 100% salary.

I'm making 74k. Housing is 18k, Health insurance around 5k, Food and household spendings around 7k, Internet and phone bill 2k, Fun and vacation 5k, Car around 6k. Means 74k - 43k - 7k in taxes = 24k to save

Now add a child, or any unforeseen circumstances. Things would get uncomfortable pretty quick.

The reason why people on normal salaries are struggling is the fact that life has gotten a lot more expensive in recent years and salary increases haven't kept up with the increase. Easy as that.

 

[mwj]

@christiansophistry Exactly people here have insane salaries!

 

[christiansophistry]

@mwj Guess most Redditors are working in IT, where salaries are mostly blown out of proportion around here.

 

[mizchristine]

@christiansophistry 2k for internet and phone is insane though. Check on a black friday and swap. Saves you 1k to 1.5k easy

 

[christiansophistry]

@mizchristine Depends. Got a subscription with unlimited data and calls worldwide as I use it quite a bit which is 99/month, as well as fiber internet which is 49/month. This equates to 1.8k/yr, which is worth it to me.

 

[mizchristine]

@christiansophistry Insane. Like the most luxury package you could gave at the highest price you could have. You could just call them and tell them you auit theyd give you 30% off

 

[bulletproof3]

@christiansophistry There is the answer why the average Joe cannot make it with a normal salary

 

[christiansophistry]

@bulletproof3 Reading comprehension, my guy.

I never said I couldn't make it. Quite the contrary, I'm happy with being able to save 20+k per year at under 30 years old. As long as it's worth it to me, who are you to judge how I spend my money? I know perfectly well when to cut back on expenditures and what I prefer to spend more on.

 

[bulletproof3]

@christiansophistry thank you for your business ser. we love customers like you

 

[christiansophistry]

@bulletproof3 Constructive and insightful commentary, right there. Love to see it

 

[actuallyfun]

@christiansophistry Genuine question:why do you stay in CH with that salary? I think there are better countries for lower salaries (better weather,warmer people, better food). I repeat:just curiosity

 

[christiansophistry]

@actuallyfun No worries, it's a legitimate question.

First of all, my homecountry is FL, so CH is a bit cheaper in comparison, esp. when it comes to housing and, believe it or not, healthcare. Second, my partner is Swiss and is working here, and due to the fact that it's infinitely harder to get a permit for them to live in FL than it is for me to live in CH, we chose the latter. And third, we did think about the possibility, but neither of us would get a comparable salary in another country and I'd wager we'd have less disposable income if we went abroad.

 

[deborahs757]

@christiansophistry But if you are two parents in your exact situation, you would have 24x2=48k to raise children which is more than enough?

 

[christiansophistry]

@deborahs757 First of all, assuming that both have the same income is bold. One of the partners could easily earn less as my salary isn't exactly common in certain branches of work as well.

Second of all, if both work 100%, which you do assume, you'd have to pay for Kita 5 days a week. That's an easy 2.5-3k extra per month, so possibly more than the extra partner working is bringing home.

 

[mart113]

@deborahs757 OP, I have a different calculation for you:

• Random Google search: there are 5.3M working people in Switzerland and median salary is 78k
• Let's say that absolute lowest full-time equivalent is 18k/yr (idk, ~1.5k for a Gastarbeiter in a farm).
• We're talking median, so, the distribution should not be skewed by super-rich.
• Putting all this in a random online normal distribution calculator gets me 2.7% of people making under 40k (again, full-time equivalent).
• That would make 143000 people under 40k (again, full-time equivalent). With many, many under that.

Perhaps another data point: Aldi pays cashiers ~60k brutto (putting it at 18th percentile of above distribution) and brags about it. Search: Aldi Lohnrunde.

Welcome to the real world.

 

[deborahs757]

@mart113 I feel that I wouldn’t have to make too many adjustments to my lifestyle to live with 40k income. Of course with only that amount you can’t save up much and you can’t have children on a single income.
I also feel that more than 2,7% of people are complaining of struggling here…