Les Avalook
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UKForex $1.82 today
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As Alan pointed out, credit cards are an option, the practical problem is if your personal bank will let you pre-load the card to make the payment, some do not, of course if you have a very large credit limit like Alan ;-) then no problem. Bankers cheque from son or daughter is the easy way to go when the time comes. Regards to all. Les and Wanda
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This link is brilliant, thanks for that Alan. I am still after payments from my first temp job so the tips page is very useful. It looks like I am not alone in finding out that payments are not made even if indicated on wage slips that they are. Regards Les
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Hi Alan. Once again thanks for the information you give. Regarding dividends, BP paid out on the day(20/09/11) we landed in Oz after leaving the UK on our one way flight, is this the day we start declaring our overseas income or is it from the day we first started working in Oz or even worse from the day we popped over in the 2011 May half-term week to validate our 143 visa?
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Thanks, I'm not sure if I'm feeling great or just shell shocked, I thought we were 'only looking'. :laugh: She who must be obeyed etc etc
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Les and Wanda are pleased to announce the purchase of a small piece of the Sunshine State that will be forever England.:biggrin: Well I wasn't expecting that.:swoon: Free advice, don't tell the wife if your job becomes permanent. :twitcy:
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Well done, all is not lost as prices for houses are just as depressed out here (well where we are in QLD before someone proves me wrong).:wink:
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Hi Ann,To answer some of your points: We have only approached the Commonwealth Bank so have no idea what other banks look for.We are the same age as you (well Wanda is, I’m just a touch senior:cool:) and that did not appear a problem with the bank (CWB). Our wages have always been paid into the CWB plus our Oz money is with them so they know we can cover the required 5% deposit, plus they can see what we pay for rent. They do not lend on a set multiple of earnings but ability to pay, they will include the credit limit on any credit cards you have as part of your borrowing.:policeman: If you have permanent work they want a copy of your contract or a letter from your employer, if you are employed ‘casual’ they want to see 3 months earnings. The next stage is to get a formal mortgage offer which is like an agreement to lend a set amount of money against an unknown property. Remember the bank will lend only against their valuation, not the asking price. The bank lady we spoke to had paid over $600k for her new build house 2 years ago and had just had it valued for a new loan at $490k.:arghh: Our advice would be to expect to rent for 6 months to a year before you make any decision, things are so different over here it is hard to pre-plan from the UK. We learn something new every week and still am not sure which way we will go. :wubclub: Regards Les and Wanda
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Hi Guys :cool:,Well it’s been 5 months since Wanda and I landed in Brisbane and I think I have only posted once or twice, partly because of time and partly because of poor internet connection. We stayed with our son for the first month and then moved into a rental, we are paying more than we wanted to but it is in a nice area of Shailer Park. Wanda beat me to finding work, part time at first and then at a second job full time but still ‘casual’. I found some casual work before Xmas and also did a 3 week Warehousing and Forklift Driving course (thanks Sir Matt) paid for by the Qld government (the only help both of us had to find work).I found more casual work after Xmas and this week found permanent work with a third company 5 minutes away from where Wanda works so we are still running 1 car for the moment. We still have not moved any more money over from the UK but have managed with money we had sent over when we first applied for the visa plus our earnings.This week we were offered a mortgage of $400K with repayments just a bit higher than our rent so that gives us another option if the exchange rate does not pick up soon. The bank seemed to miss the point we would be in our 80’s by the end of the mortgage term.:wacko: Reading my last post, we did not get our Xmas day swim in the ocean (used a friends pool) but did on Boxing Day on the Gold Coast. We often go to the Bayside area for a swim when time allows and have a BBQ on the beach afterwards. We have started to pickup Oz friends for a meal and chat but are most surprised at how much we missed ‘going to work’ and now enjoy that more for the company than the money.Wanda and I had worked together for 13 years so it is still novel to get home at night and say ‘how has your day gone’ and not know the answer. The last couple of days have been naff with rain but it has still been 22c, and that has been after a long run of shorts and t-shirt weather. Nearly forgot, our son and D-I-L wasted no time on our arrival to Oz and we have our first grandchild ‘on the way’.:wubclub: Best wishes to all, Les and Wanda Avalook. :biggrin: Dreaming the Life.
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Too much information :cool:
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Hi Durhamlad, to give you an idea of time frame, our container arrived 8th October at Brisbane but took until 24th October to be delivered to our rental. We found our rental in that time and did not pay any extra storeage, we were told that was an average time to clear Brisbane customs. P.S. If you have agreed a price for possible storage in the UK check any quote your Oz firm gives you for storeage, ours 'forgot' to quote a John Mason 'rate' and wanted to charge nearly double the UK price quoted. :policeman:
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You seem to have miss-read my post, I said 2nd hand cars are expencive to buy compared to the UK, I did not say how much they cost to run. You may have a good phone connection in Sydney but i would still think $69 per month for calls and broadband is expencive compared to the UK. In the context of some people thinking of moving to Australia on a tight budget I still believe it is expencive compared to the UK. When I have been here 2 years maybe I will stop comparing things to the UK. :wubclub:
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Yes we did, and the choice is better than Brisbane, the only thing we got at Brisbane was some Oz brand fags for our sons friends. Also Singapore Airport will let you pay in pounds or their $s either way they give a rate that is almost par. Keep your receipt though as in May they double charged our credit card :shocked:, we did get it refunded. As they did not search us we wish we had picked up some more booze at Brisbane, $30 for a 70cl bottle of spirit from the local store hurts. Well it would if we drunk it, we just sup the wine at the moment. Someone has to do it. :twitcy:
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Singapore airlines gave us 40kgs each when we went with them on a return ticket to validate in May this year. If you have a unvalidated PR visa they give that allowance, we had an email confirming that, Heathrow had to check as they said we could not have 40kgs on a return ticket (but they were wrong). We then asked by email for 25kgs when we left for good (?) in September and they allowed that (they say they do not charge extra between the 20kgs on your ticket and 25kgs if you have extra). Having an email confirming things does help at checkin. Standing at the desk with 80kgs of luggage and checkin telling you you are wrong is not funny. It felt good when they checked and said sorry though. :twitcy: Don't forget to use your full duty free allowance at Singapore airport as any spirit is dear in Oz (as is everything else).
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Hi guys, Haven't posted for a while as we have been using the local library free internet and the time just slips away. At the moment I refuse to pay $50+ a month for the kind of connection that the UK had with dial up 15 years ago. :mad: I have borrowed our son's dongle :shocked: and the connection is not tooooo bad (it ain't good either). We are in a rental at the moment in a nice peaceful area (no dogs) of Shailer Park, south Brisbane. All our goods arrived in one piece, we used John Mason, insured by Letton Percival, delivered by Wridgways in Oz. No dramas. :twitcy: We got a $50 HD box from The Good Guys and our UK tele works fine, we connect our UK external hard drive to the set top box to record any thing we want to watch (very little) but at least you can buzz through the countless adverts. :yes: Wanda has beaten me to find work but I have done some casual work so a few $s building up over here. I think it is fair to say don't anyone think they can come over here on a tight budget as there really isn't anything you could call cheap. Weather wise it is great, I have only worn long trousers (apart from working) once since we left the UK, the sea is warm on the Gold Coast and takes us 40 mins of easy driving to get there. The price of cars is silly money (expensive) over here so it may work out that bringing a car out 'could' be cost effective. Haven't had many regrets yet, we do miss our son who remained in the UK but then we also missed our other son when we were there. :wacko: So far so good, will let you know what Christmas on the beach is like when I next post? :laugh: Les and Wanda