Salaries & Cost of Living

[mml007]

I am considering moving to Oz with my wife and 2 young children (5 & 7) in the next 2 years and whilst I would move tomorrow given the chance it is not the same for my wife as she will find it very hard leaving her elderly parents. I am now 37 and my wife's parents are only getting older and therefore the optimum time to move seems to be now.

We are drawing up a list of pros and cons and one area I need help on is comparing the cost of living to demonstrate that we could achieve a comfortable living if we moved.

I am looking at comparing the cost of living between the UK and OZ and therefore could someone advise what salary (gross income) I would need in order to have a 'comfortable' living in Oz. We would look at needing a 4 bed house in a decent surburb (ideally near coast) offering good schools and transport links to the CBD. We currently have a comfortable life in the UK with both of myself and wife working however if we decided to move I would not expect my wife to work initially and then only part time. I am a qualified management accountant with over 5 years at a senior level.


Many thanks.

[Petals]

Welcome, not able to help really as it depends on what you consider to be a nice lifestyle.

Depends where you live and shop. If you use supermarkets and buy ready made food then its more expensive to live in Australia. If you cook fresh food and shop around then its equal or cheaper depending on the product.

Have a look at the Coles on line site and Woolworths on line site and it will give you an idea of the grocery prices.

Have a look on realestate.com.au for prices of property and rentals.

You need to factor in the following. Dental is not free, prescriptions are paid for, not all doctors bulk bill medicare so you would have a gap to pay every time you visited the doctor. School books and stationery are not supplied and these are paid for by us. Private schooling is expensive.

Cost of living does matter but I think one thing matters more and that is where you say that your wife would not want to leave her parents. If this is the case then she may not settle well and will want to return to the uk. There are many many threads on here and I suggest you read through the moving back to uk forum and see how many people are unsettled and missing parents.

We migrated when we had no children and were both able to work and could do whatever we wanted so we have a lovely life here in Aus. However not sure that coming with children is as easy and not sure that I would have done it.

[Quoll]

Need a bit more information there - which state, which CBD for starters.

Other things to add to your spreadsheet will be the cost of some or all of you going home for regular visits when you have elderly parents

Dont underestimate the emotional problems (how do you put them on a spreadsheet, I wonder?) of having elderly parents on the other side of the world and also the isolation of being a non working mum, in suburbia, without extended family support in a country where most families are two income just to make ends meet.