tingtongman Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) Me and my friend started a few days ago in the Gold coast, our no.1 goal is to reduce our costs and make as much money as we can. Went and set up medicare within 20mintues and also used the NAB forum on here to go and make an account before we arrive, should be getting a debit card tomorrow. I have also found that Virgin mobile "simple "plan offers the best value package for minimum users with calls at 15c/minute from $19 for 90 days. I am also documenting my journey and hopefully will keep people updating on our progress. Reason for picking Gold coast was because it seems to the be cheapest and we are not to far away from Brisbane either. Oh and look at the beaches! Edited October 22, 2013 by calNgary removed link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Hi sounds great looking forward to more updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanji Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Im thinking about coming out next month. Looking forward to see some updates as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) so me and my friend want to spend as little as possible, we have been told Aldi is the cheapest place to shop but I cant find any in the gold coast at the moment, so went to Coles supermarket. we got all this for $23 and we hope to make it last for three days A better breakdown of my dinner plan is (link removed as per rules), not sure how long that will last before we want to go and eat out, but were two strong minded people, I want to see if farmers markets are cheaper and if I can find kangeroo, apparently its one of the cheapest meats to get I have been told. Had to buy a metal water bottle too, prices for bottles of water are way too high. $1.60> Edited October 22, 2013 by calNgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty91 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Looking forward to the updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toodolou Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 that beach looks lovely , enjoy your time in oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajs604 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Try TPG they offer some great prepaid mobile plans and if you have a unlocked phone your away. I have lived here for almost 4 years and by far is the best plan I have found. http://www.tpg.com.au/personal/mobile. Avoid Vodafone, there coverage can be pretty shocking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Don't waste your money on bottled water mate. Tap water is fine, just leave it in the fridge for a while and it's right as rain. Good place to start your adventure, have a cruise up the Sunshine Coast and call in at a few places, probably go as far as Noosa to get a good feel for the place. Noosa is lovely but a bit pricey and a bit upmarket. No need to spend heaps though the beach is still free. I prefer the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast but they are both good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 If you're going food shopping, time it for about 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon (actually this works in Adelaide as the shops shut at 5 on Sundays, but perhaps not elsewhere!) - if you get it right, the shop staff willbe reducing bread, meat and veggies around that time, you can follow around the lady with the price gun and pick up some great bargains! Even better just before a public holiday.... Or the markets about an hour before they close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Had to buy a metal water bottle too, prices for bottles of water are way too high. $1.60> You can buy 24 bottles of water from Coles or woolies for $8 (600ml) so that's 33c a bottle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) I just drink tap water ,My current spending has been around $35 a day including rent, I have a spreadsheet and hopefully will upload that at the end of the month. I cook all my own food, and do not eat out and have not bought any alcohol as of yet. Is it common for cockroaches to be inside the house in Oz? I see like 1-2 each day when im in the kitchen. I also walked across gold coast beach around Tugun and every 200 meters or so I saw a dead jackdow or crow, not sure what type of bird, why is this? I must of seen about 20 dead birds. Edited October 23, 2013 by tingtongman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 There are cockroaches around but people usually have something in place to stop them coming in the house. What kind of rental are you in? If you are going through an agent ask them to sort it if you are in a house share then buy a mortein bomb and split the cost http://www.mortein.com.au/product_control_bomb.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 Its a house share but we went via Airbnb, so I guess I could ask the person living here, although we will be moving shortly so no big deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I just drink tap water ,My current spending has been around $35 a day including rent, I have a spreadsheet and hopefully will upload that at the end of the month. I cook all my own food, and do not eat out and have not bought any alcohol as of yet. Is it common for cockroaches to be inside the house in Oz? I see like 1-2 each day when im in the kitchen. I also walked across gold coast beach around Tugun and every 200 meters or so I saw a dead jackdow or crow, not sure what type of bird, why is this? I must of seen about 20 dead birds. Cockroaches are pretty common in some places in Aus but you've got me with the crows. Don't know what's going on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 yeah well im not complaining anyway, the beach near Tugun is so quite its unreal, me and my friend pretty much had the beach to ourself every 1000 meters we would find a guy kite surfing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 yeah well im not complaining anyway, the beach near Tugun is so quite its unreal, me and my friend pretty much had the beach to ourself every 1000 meters we would find a guy kite surfing Stunning photos hun, keep them coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 So I went to Pacific fair today which is the big mall in the Gold Coast I believe could be wrong? Went to a few phone shops looking for a simcard and I found virgin to be the best for what my needs were being on a WHV. I walked into vodafone and the women was really trying to push me onto some $40 a month package, I wasnt phased and left telling her I need to see what other offers were about, she game me a piece of paper with some info and her name. Would she get a commission if she sells it me? Way to pushy and I went with Virgin in the end. I did a full write up on my blog and reviewed the basic packages of the major carries. I have got a few leads for work in the rural areas, I hope something picks up in the next day or so. I see some places were you must stay in there accommodation and pay 2 weeks up front + bond, are these legit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty91 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 So I went to Pacific fair today which is the big mall in the Gold Coast I believe could be wrong? Went to a few phone shops looking for a simcard and I found virgin to be the best for what my needs were being on a WHV. I walked into vodafone and the women was really trying to push me onto some $40 a month package, I wasnt phased and left telling her I need to see what other offers were about, she game me a piece of paper with some info and her name. Would she get a commission if she sells it me? Way to pushy and I went with Virgin in the end. I did a full write up on my blog and reviewed the basic packages of the major carries. I have got a few leads for work in the rural areas, I hope something picks up in the next day or so. I see some places were you must stay in there accommodation and pay 2 weeks up front + bond, are these legit? Awesome pictures of the beach! I have been looking on the internet for who to go with for when we land in Aus, and i have found virgin to be the best value for money Handy that they have shops dotted over the place to so will deffo be going into one when we land, About the vodafone lady yea i would presume that she is on commission as thats what they are in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickachu Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 (edited) I found with optus it was $30 a month, no contract, but if you didn't top up you ran out of credit. That was more than enough on minutes and texts and internet. If needed I could root my phone to my computer and use it like that, I also ended up getting an Optus dongle, which was a bit pricey at $80, but lasted forever, only topped it up twice in 8 months. Things like youtube use all the data, if you're just browsing the web/facebook etc... you'll probably be fine on just a phone. One thing for me too while I was out there is that I was working in restaurants, so basically every day I worked I didn't need to buy food as I just ate at work, only cooking 2 days a week saved me a lot of money. Oh and avoid vodafone at all costs, even their staff know that they are rubbish. Have the worst reputation amoung all the providers. Edited October 24, 2013 by nickachu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 in some rural area, man these people on a WHV live like animals, its disgusting, hoping to find a new place soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 more places of this horrible house share. You need to be very careful when looking into house shares, this one was just a party house, which is fine, but it had rats inside, I had a rat in my bedroom living under my bed. I have moved into a new place today with a very clean couple, i will take pics of the place when I get a chance. Next step is to get some work, I managed to get my bank account sorted using NAB, I made a detailed post about it on my blog on how to sign up with them online before you enter Oz. I just need to get a job to put some money in it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 more places of this horrible house share. You need to be very careful when looking into house shares, this one was just a party house, which is fine, but it had rats inside, I had a rat in my bedroom living under my bed. I have moved into a new place today with a very clean couple, i will take pics of the place when I get a chance. Wow that is disgusting, how much a week are they charging you for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Wow that is disgusting, how much a week are they charging you for this? Compared to my student digs in Sparkhill that's the Tag Mahal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Wow that is disgusting, how much a week are they charging you for this? I will have to go the library to get better Internet and I will upload of the caravan camp they have here full of backpackers. They charge $90 a week and have 4 people in a caravan ($360/week per caravan(, and you got to pay for showers. I cant belive people are paying this price. I also forgot to mention that showers are 80cents for 4 minutes haha. Really dirty inside, 4 people trying to cook and live inside a very small caravan.:shocked: Will upload more pics when I get fast internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I will have to go the library to get better Internet and I will upload of the caravan camp they have here full of backpackers. They charge $90 a week and have 4 people in a caravan ($360/week per caravan(, and you got to pay for showers. I cant belive people are paying this price. I also forgot to mention that showers are 80cents for 4 minutes haha. Really dirty inside, 4 people trying to cook and live inside a very small caravan.:shocked: Will upload more pics when I get fast internet. :no: you need to look around. Where are you, Sydney? I know up here you can get a house share in a brand new 4 bed house with pool for around $120 - $200 per week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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