Let's talk about money...

[Syntax Error]

OK, so as part of my sheer thirst for knowledge, I want to take a small unofficial survey and seeing as this community is a large, international one...

State the area/country you live in, and state what you would consider a "large" salary. Also include the field of work so we can make it as accurate as possible (not all jobs are created equal after all) Cuz frankly, from my little corner of the world, PhP 20,000 (roughly around $500) monthly for a starting IT/Software Engineer position is quite a hefty sum.

So, help a brother out

EDIT:
It's been said that what matters is not how much you make, but how much you keep and for how long you keep it. If you don't mind, please include how much (a percent value is fine) you save after you deduct your living/operating expenses and break down said expenses if possible.

 

[AngleWyrm]

http://www1.salary.com/Applications-Programmer-Salary.html

 

[Syntax Error]

http://www1.salary.com/Entry-Level-Salaries.html

Sorry bro, I don't want to sound like a smartass, but if I wanted something like a tabulation, I can google it myself. I need some raw data from live, actual people.

Captcha:
pool boy. Wonder how much he makes?

 

[AngleWyrm]

state what you would consider a "large" salary.

What will you do with this information?

 

[Syntax Error]

state what you would consider a "large" salary.

What will you do with this information?

I told you, its to appease my own thirst for knowledge. Partly it was spurred on by that Counter-Strike incident a few weeks back, but mostly it's just for me so I can stop wondering. Scratching the itch, so to speak. Also, take note that I'm not asking for your salary, I'm asking what, for you, would be a large amount.

 

[WolfThomas]

Every now and again I realise how skewed my view on money has become. I'm training to be a Doctor and I frequently hear things like "a general practitioner only makes 200-400k" or "the surgical resigstrar salay is terrible, like 120k" my emphasis. It's not that it's undeserved money, a GP trains for about 10years and some registrar can work 60-80hr a week depending on how poorly it is arranged. But there's still people getting their Phds who won't ever make as much as a GP or people working 60-80hrs in a Cab who would be lucky if they made half of what a surgical registrar does.

I'm not making any money yet though.

 

[Syntax Error]

Every now and again I realise how skewed my view on money has become. I'm training to be a Doctor and I frequently hear things like "a general practitioner only makes 200-400k" or "the surgical resigstrar salay is terrible, like 120k" my emphasis. It's not that it's undeserved money, a GP trains for about 10years and some registrar can work 60-80hr a week depending on how poorly it is arranged. But there's still people getting their Phds who won't ever make as much as a GP or people working 60-80hrs in a Cab who would be lucky if they made half of what a surgical registrar does.

I'm not making any money yet though.

Are those figures in US Dollars? Also, this is for me to see if it's just our economy, or the view on money is the same in other places.

The general trend here is:

->Salary Day (whooo hooo!!!)
-> 3 days before next salary, Zero bank balance (okay, I'm exaggerating on this part, but you get the point)
-> You borrow from people to make it for the next three days
-> Salary Day!!!
-> Pay off debts
-> 3 days before next salary, Zero bank balance (okay, I'm exaggerating on this part, but you get the point) because you cleared your debts, so you borrow again
-> Salary Day!!!

It's a vicious cycle, really, a trap that's easy to fall into and too hard to get out of.

 

[Esotera]

I've got an internship in QA for software and that's £19K/year, which is very reasonable. Anything above that is good for me...I don't particularly have much use for money above rent, food, and a few books and computers now & then. But obviously I wouldn't turn higher salaries down.

 

[Syntax Error]

I've got an internship in QA for software and that's £19K/year, which is very reasonable. Anything above that is good for me...I don't particularly have much use for money above rent, food, and a few books and computers now & then. But obviously I wouldn't turn higher salaries down.

I see. If you were earning that much here, that would probably be a manager-level salary already. Will you get a raise if you become a regular?

 

[WolfThomas]

Every now and again I realise how skewed my view on money has become. I'm training to be a Doctor and I frequently hear things like "a general practitioner only makes 200-400k" or "the surgical resigstrar salay is terrible, like 120k" my emphasis. It's not that it's undeserved money, a GP trains for about 10years and some registrar can work 60-80hr a week depending on how poorly it is arranged. But there's still people getting their Phds who won't ever make as much as a GP or people working 60-80hrs in a Cab who would be lucky if they made half of what a surgical registrar does.

I'm not making any money yet though.

Are those figures in US Dollars? Also, this is for me to see if it's just our economy, or the view on money is the same in other places.

Australian dollars, it goes up and down over the years but it's pretty much equal atm.

 

[Esotera]

I've got an internship in QA for software and that's £19K/year, which is very reasonable. Anything above that is good for me...I don't particularly have much use for money above rent, food, and a few books and computers now & then. But obviously I wouldn't turn higher salaries down.

I see. If you were earning that much here, that would probably be a manager-level salary already. Will you get a raise if you become a regular?

No idea, but I think I've been quite lucky picking the company - most internships my friends are getting offer about £15k, which is about enough to scrape by on in the UK. Management positions probably pay significantly more than £19K though..

 

[Syntax Error]

Australian dollars, it goes up and down over the years but it's pretty much equal atm.

Doctors earn a lot, that much I think is a Universal fact. It seems there's a really large disparity on what can be classified as large.

Also, to Esotera:
Your salary per year is worth more than Php 1M. That's a real freaking lot! I've met people with 10 years experience who don't earn nearly as much!

 

[antidonkey]

I currently make just under $50k a year and live in the West Texas area. I do alright because it's really cheap to live out here. Currently I'm in the middle area of my pay range so it can go up quite a bit. I consider a large salary to be around $75k a year but it all depends on where you live. Where I live, $75k is a large salary but in Houston, it's probably around average.

 

[MrTub]

I believe the entry level payment for network technician is around 20.000Swedish kr (2948$) a month, depends also if you get cisco certification(and depending on which cert you got from cisco) or windows certification


Stockholm, Sweden.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I make $40,000 a year Canadian. Which pays enough bills to let you have a car and go out once in a while, but not enough to afford buying a house (I can't scrape together a down payment, so I rent, which costs more than a mortgage, so fucked either way) or many vacations. $60,000+ a year would be enough to comfortably raise a small family. And maybe afford a house.

Edit: I'm a library technician. Don't have my Masters in Library Science, but I have the same education (4 years University, 2 at College). Librarians would make 60+ a year. (Again, edit: Every 2 weeks I get a paycheque of about $1100 dollars after taxes. Which makes it about $2400/month.)

 

[Strazdas]

Lithuania. (yeah go google). Average salary across the board here is around 500 american dollars a month (in converting since you started with dollars). a big pay is double that. So that amounts to 6000 and 12000 a year respectively. Those people earning 60.000 dollars a year are bloody rich. Only mafia here earn that much.

I currently make just under $50k a year and live in the West Texas area. I do alright because it's really cheap to live out here.

you do allright because you get a huge salary, not because its cheap to live.

 

[IndomitableSam]

you do allright because you get a huge salary, not because its cheap to live.

I dunno - it depends on where you live. I live with my sister and our montly rent is $1400 a month. If we were to live in the bad part of town (ie - don't go out at night, you WILL be stabbed, no question) in a 2 bedroom, one bathroom apartment with no laundry or anything, it would cost $900 a month.

My car costs me $400-500 a month (insurance and gas included). Groceries cost $300. Electricity, heat, and tv/internet cost $200. Taking the bus costs $100 a month. When we move at the end of the month there is no bus service so my parking spot downtown will be $100/month. A gallon/4 litres of milk costs $4.50. A pound of butter costs $3.50 if it's on sale. A loaf of bread is $2-$4.

All depends on the cost of living.

 

[StBishop]

Every now and again I realise how skewed my view on money has become. I'm training to be a Doctor and I frequently hear things like "a general practitioner only makes 200-400k" or "the surgical resigstrar salay is terrible, like 120k" my emphasis. It's not that it's undeserved money, a GP trains for about 10years and some registrar can work 60-80hr a week depending on how poorly it is arranged. But there's still people getting their Phds who won't ever make as much as a GP or people working 60-80hrs in a Cab who would be lucky if they made half of what a surgical registrar does.

I'm not making any money yet though.

Yeah this. I'll be upset when I'm finished my degree and "only" earning about $93K(AUD)/year (after tax) one year out of uni.

($8,080.00(USD)/month)

I'll have been studying for 10 years plus ~6 months (not all continuous) of military training.

EDIT:
For some clarity on the cost of living. My girlfriend and I pay $1000/month rent (people keep giving monthly rent amounts, we pay it fortnightly though) for a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment.
A train to uni costs me about $5.00 a day both ways (2x 1 hour train rides).
A loaf of bread is $1-$4.
Milk is ~ $1/L - $2/L ($4/Gallon - $8/Gallon)
12 free range eggs are about $5
Steak can be as cheap as $32/Kg (~$14/lb)if you buy in bulk (like 5 kg (11lb) at a time).

 

[Raijha]

I'm in Canada, so Canadian dollars.

My wife makes about 28.5k take home as a program support staff at a College. She helps with a whole tonne of crap with 4 of the main medical programs, but shes only recent become full time union staff (around Sept of 2011). Her wage will only go up and up, and she gets an amazing benefits package, plus union stuffs.

I'm currently unemployed, about to finish a program at same college for financial services. Depending on effort, position and other factors (a lot of our work ends up commission) my career can start at 25-45k (before tax) and go up to anywhere between 60-80 salary or 120-150 working full commission.

Example, a starting position at a bank in my province will generally offer from 22-26k to start, and salary positions usually cap out between 60-80

Starting a full commission position at some place like Edward Jones or Sunlife will offer a starting salary for the first couple years up to about 45k, and then move to full commission, which again, can cap out around 120-150k depending on personal effort.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I live in Tallahassee, Florida (USA)

I currently make $34,000 (?25,800) combined household income.

The median income for a household is around 35,000 dollars (?26,600). So one could say making 40k is a lot of money. I however would like to think of a salary that doesn't make me want to actively seek out another job right away is considered a decent wage.

I would say $75,000 (?56,900) would be a good wage for me. Though my career choice claims the starting wage is $80,000 (?60,700) and can go as high as $135,000 (?102,427).

I gotta get out of this crap town/capital of florida