Reasons to leave OZ

[fish.01]

A group of one mate

Actually at least 2 as long as you don't have to live in the UK to qualify for gang membership

I think using the exchange rate to compare costs and convert salaries is just mathematically absurd. 2.2 is a much better guesstimate.

If it costs me 1% of my wage in Australia today to buy something and then the British pound halves in value the next day has my cost of living doubled in Australia the next day because of an unrelated country? Even when it still costs me 1% of my salary to buy the same thing.

What if the Chinese Yuan doubled in value against the Australian dollar the same day as the British pound halved. Have my costs of living doubled and halved on the same day? It simply makes no sense at all using the exchange rate....being angry has no affect on maths.

[littlefoot]

There are a lot of people with rose tinted glasses on who are in for one massive shock when they land in Perth ...I earn over 100000 and struggle here ..

I don't think that's particularly helpful, or accurate. There are so many variables, it's near impossible to come up with a generic figure a migrant would need as an income. Variables might include the location you live, dependants to support, lifestyle you've become accustomed to, etc.

For me, $100k+ would be far more than I'd need, but then I'm a young-ish single migrant who accepts an element of building towards the life I want.

All this is obvious and I'm sure you know it already, but it can be worrying, not to mention misleading, to suggest that a 'lot of people will be shocked' and will struggle. Many people will also be just fine, and will recognise an uphill struggle as part of the joy of trying out life in a different part of the world. :)

[paul1977]

I don't think that's particularly helpful, or accurate. There are so many variables, it's near impossible to come up with a generic figure a migrant would need as an income. Variables might include the location you live, dependants to support, lifestyle you've become accustomed to, etc.

For me, $100k+ would be far more than I'd need, but then I'm a young-ish single migrant who accepts an element of building towards the life I want.

All this is obvious and I'm sure you know it already, but it can be worrying, not to mention misleading, to suggest that a 'lot of people will be shocked' and will struggle. Many people will also be just fine, and will recognise an uphill struggle as part of the joy of trying out life in a different part of the world. :)

Ok then here in Perth a family turns up From the uk, your pay 550 a week rent 250 a week shopping 200 bills 100 petrol so that's 1100 with out looking to hard, so the minimum 100000 don't sound unrealistic now does it...? Then you need to live and enjoy yourself as you've come for a better life haven't we...? 500 bucks per person to leave the state via air... Again 100000 is not unrealistic is it...?

[MARYROSE02]

I didn't come here to 'live the dream', nor did I come for a better life. Come to think of it, I don't know WHY I came here. Maybe I wanted an adventure. Both times that I've 'emigrated' here, I gave up good and secure jobs, and then found it hard to get work here. Financially, I should have returned to the UK, but I didn't. This second (and last!?) time, I wanted to be closer to my brother, once my parents passed away.

There's bound to be other people here, who were better off financially and 'socially' in the UK, but most people just stay, create new lives, 'become' Aussies. Their children almost certainly do. My niece and nephew would probably 'die' rather than move to the UK or Italy.

It's a country of migrants and most of them face the same problems, leaving family on the other side of the world, starting new lives in alien surroundings. I've always felt guilty about splitting my family up, never seeing my grandmother again.

'C'est la vie!?'

[Endless Winter]

A group of one mate

[MARYROSE02]

Pommie version of 'The Gang of Four?'

[littlefoot]

Ok then here in Perth a family turns up From the uk, your pay 550 a week rent 250 a week shopping 200 bills 100 petrol so that's 1100 with out looking to hard, so the minimum 100000 don't sound unrealistic now does it...? Then you need to live and enjoy yourself as you've come for a better life haven't we...? 500 bucks per person to leave the state via air... Again 100000 is not unrealistic is it...?

Well of course, if you're going to make up a scenario like that out of thin air, you're going to appear to have a better argument. The trouble is, your example doesn't exist. The wage you've quoted isn't even minimum wage, so nobody is getting paid $550 a week. That would put one of the family on $28,600. It's likely they'll get a wage far higher than this (although they don't need your $100k+). What's happening with the other parent? They could also work, if only part time. Your figure for rent needn't be so expensive and neither do bills needs to come to $800 a month.

PiO is littered with stories of migrant families who have made life work for themselves down under and weren't put off by scaremongering nonsense about needing to earn huge six figure salaries to do it. Surely it's about adjusting your initial expectations and having some perspective?

[legoman]

I didn't come here to 'live the dream', nor did I come for a better life. Come to think of it, I don't know WHY I came here. Maybe I wanted an adventure. Both times that I've 'emigrated' here, I gave up good and secure jobs, and then found it hard to get work here. Financially, I should have returned to the UK, but I didn't. This second (and last!?) time, I wanted to be closer to my brother, once my parents passed away.

There's bound to be other people here, who were better off financially and 'socially' in the UK, but most people just stay, create new lives, 'become' Aussies. Their children almost certainly do. My niece and nephew would probably 'die' rather than move to the UK or Italy.

It's a country of migrants and most of them face the same problems, leaving family on the other side of the world, starting new lives in alien surroundings. I've always felt guilty about splitting my family up, never seeing my grandmother again.

'C'est la vie!?'

LOL, I cannot remember why I came here either, I think it was just because we could that we decided to, keeps life exciting though and peeps should remember


'one mans meat is another mans poison' Try it, if oz doesnt suit you go home or try somewhere else, you dont have to like something just because others do

[paul1977]

Well of course, if you're going to make up a scenario like that out of thin air, you're going to appear to have a better argument. The trouble is, your example doesn't exist. The wage you've quoted isn't even minimum wage, so nobody is getting paid $550 a week. That would put one of the family on $28,600. It's likely they'll get a wage far higher than this (although they don't need your $100k+). What's happening with the other parent? They could also work, if only part time. Your figure for rent needn't be so expensive and neither do bills needs to come to $800 a month.

PiO is littered with stories of migrant families who have made life work for themselves down under and weren't put off by scaremongering nonsense about needing to earn huge six figure salaries to do it. Surely it's about adjusting your initial expectations and having some perspective?

And you live where....? Uk by any chance

[northshorepom]

Well of course, if you're going to make up a scenario like that out of thin air, you're going to appear to have a better argument. The trouble is, your example doesn't exist. The wage you've quoted isn't even minimum wage, so nobody is getting paid $550 a week. That would put one of the family on $28,600. It's likely they'll get a wage far higher than this (although they don't need your $100k+). What's happening with the other parent? They could also work, if only part time. Your figure for rent needn't be so expensive and neither do bills needs to come to $800 a month.

I think you've misread his post - to be fair he did have a typo in it. He wasn't saying "your pay is $550 a week" - he was saying "you pay $550 a week rent". Make sense?

His figure for rent is actually pretty cheap for many cities in Australia. In Sydney (granted the most expensive of all), $550 a week doesn't get you much of a family house at all. It's either going to be a dump, in a dumpy suburb, or a long way out of town, for that sort of money. Also his figure for bills isn't *that* far off the mark. Add up gas/electric, phone, internet, mobiles, cable telly (last 3 aren't essential but most have it) and you won't get much change out of $500 a month and could easily be up to the $800 mark for some.

PiO is littered with stories of migrant families who have made life work for themselves down under and weren't put off by scaremongering nonsense about needing to earn huge six figure salaries to do it. Surely it's about adjusting your initial expectations and having some perspective?

Yeah, it is littered with people who have made it work. It also has plenty who have been caught out by the cost of living and are surprised/disappointed that they have made a big move to be better off - only to find that actually they are worse off. Not surprising that makes some of them frustrated or even angry (perhaps with themselves for making a mistake). You may think doing it tough for a bit is a small price to pay for what you reckon you'll get out of it long term, but it's impossible to explain to a single person how everything is different once you have a family and are responsible for them, their lifestyle and their happiness too.