35k Salary - 3 Kids

You will struggle to make ends meet on 35k with 3 kids.

Thanks Lambada.

I underestimated how much good accommodation would cost tbh.

How much would be the minimum for a decent standard of living? 45k?

Cheers

Hey iansull,

Welcome to Expat.com

Have a look at these topics already posted

Cost of living in Malta - 2017

Hints & Tips for considering when looking to rent property on Malta.

I would say 50k and that's if you send your kids to government or church schools not private schools.

So not much difference in reality between the UK & Ireland.  I better ask for more money!

Cheers

Hi

I would agree with lambada, we live in St Paul's Bay and send our two kids to the local government school, which is great, and we manage comfortably on 52k per annum, I don't work.

I would not say we live an extravgant life, we do nice things with our kids, eat well and save a little but i don't think we could live on much less and we certainly could not afford private school or frequent holidays.

Pm me if you have more questions.

Good luck!

Just a curious - but serious - question: What do you spend so much money on? We're a family of 4 (the kids are 6 and 2), currently living in Austria, and we get by on about 30k per year (maybe less, it's a bit hard to say, being self employed my income isn't really steady), that is after social security contributions and tax. Our main expenses are rent + bills (about 900/month), and food. Third main expense has got to be the car, I guess. Sure, there's not much money left at the end of the month, but we get by...

In my experience, Malta is cheaper than Austria. Rents are high, but still better than here... or at least you get bigger flats for the same price; vegetables from the food vans are cheaper than here, bread is cheaper, pasta is cheaper. Public transport is a lot cheaper (though I don't like public transport, neither in Malta, nor elsewhere)...

Last summer, which we spent in Mellieha, we needed about 550 for the apartment we'd rented (though if we could, next time we'd rather pay a bit more for a more modern one!), and had about 1300 per month more to spend, that would be a maximum of 2000 / month, or 25k per annum. We were tourists staying im Malta for a bit over 3 months in summer. Even if we count in the costs for the car (we brought our Austrian car, but if insurance is something like we pay here, i.e. about 1500/year), we'd still be below 30k for a family of 4.

So what am I missing there? Where does all that money go?

BTW: I wouldn't even dare dream of making 50k / year here in Austria, I mean that's 4000 a month!

Depends on where you live in Austria though?!?

We're in Innsbruck, which is one of the most expensive places to live.

Wow that is very high. Ive been reading about Malta's low cost of living, visited the online supermarkets to have a feel on the prices. Comments online had been mixed, of course everyone's mileage varies. I have mixed feeling about my ability to live comfortably with good amount of saving on 35k gross, single person. Then everyone's definition of good saving varies. Hope it turns out fine.

Malta is cheap as long as you don't earn your salary here, then it's pricey because salaries are extremely low.

When you visit and compare you are not in the mind frame of what its like to earn a lot less than you're used to

Well, I did work / earn money in Malta while we were here last summer,  I taught at a language school for €11 / hour, and when I say we were tourists, that's not in the sense of being on a holiday, just that we weren't residents (paid the higher bills for water and electricity) - but we did actually spend the summer in Malta to try out how life would be if we moved. We found that we'd have about the same standard of living as in Austria, just with better weather; in other words, we're not really rich here in Austria, and we wouldn't really be rich in Malta, either - but I don't see how you would need a minimum of 50k / year as a family of four - that's why I was asking if I'm missing any of the big expenses...

I totally agree!
Our little family manage on much less of an income than we did living back in London....the magic we have here is worth not having as much money/material items!
But each to their own I guess, everyone is different and prioritizes in their own way.

You can live in Malta in a less materialistic way, if you have the head resources! Patience, knowledge of shopping and cooking well and being open to change. We are happy going for a long walk and taking a flask of hot chocolate out with us, but like I said many people feel they need a newer model car, holidays, expensive clothes and eating out, all of which is great, but its not always needed is what I'm saying 😊

Happy to hear that, BlossomGray!
I certainly don't want to judge whether you need material things or not, and if you can afford it, I'm very happy for you! I was actually just a bit worried about whether it would (or wouldn't) be possible (financially) to get by on less than 50k, or in other words, if I had missed anything.

I don't think you missed anything! Ha!
I'm assuming that some people can "get by" and not have a comfortable monthly income.....whilst others think they're " getting by" on 60k per year!
Debbie 😁

HI,  Personally I think that you are offered a very good wage.  We  hardly get those wages here.  You should live quite comfortably with your income.

Oh, you needed to know a few areas of where to live.

Gzira, Sliema, Msida are very good areas.  You can go for long walks along the promenade.  Plenty of restaurants, cafeterias all along the way.  Shopping malls in Sliema.  You can also catch a ferry to Valletta from the strand Gzira/Sliema which you are only charged around 2 euro.

Mellieha, St Pauls Bay, Xemxija are very busy in the Summer but then quiet in winter. These are all areas also along beaches.

The South of malta has a lot of history,

Zebbug, Qtrendi, Kirkop, are lvillages., also are ghaxaq, gudja and Zejtun.

San Gwann, Pembroke, Kappara , St. Julians are all close the Sliema and Gzira.

If I can help you further, pls ask. 

Sorry lambada, but struggle to make ends meet with €35k a year, 3 kids or not, that's a hella good wage. People struggling to live all over the world on a pitance. Not just third world countries. Britain too. If you can't live on that wage then you seriously need to take a good look at your lifestyle. There's more important things in life than money. You don't need money to be rich, health and happiness are worth their weight in gold.