Hi & thanks so much for those last 2 posts! We are now on our 5th day in Oz & have today got back up and running on line, and that was very comforting reading, esp after just seeing my mum & brother via webcam! We are here to make a go of it for good but when the going gets tough i will re-read these posts over and over!!!
OK - stop all this worrying. We have just moved from the UK to Brisbane, the housing market was so bad when we left that we decided to 'let' out our property still in the UK so all our equity is tied up. We still haven't sold our car in the UK so thats money we're waiting on. Sure we have savings that are still in the UK because the exchange rate is so poor (but getting better slowly) so thats 3 ways where we have had to leave money and potential deposits in the UK.
Where we have been lucky is the fact that I could find work straight away, my wife is a qualified teacher in the UK and is still going through the registering process so she is the one keeping herself busy day-to-day where as I am at work.
The trick is to keep yourself busy, go out, explore, buy a bike (we did and explored everywhere on them in the 1st 2-3 weeks) you see so much more.
Regarding houses and mortgages, things are also different out here. Less people own and more seem to rent. My advice would be don't buy yet anyway - look at whats happening globally to the economy, there is soon going to be a recession in most parts of the world and if it doesn't hit Oz it may scrape by a little - rent for 6 months, maybe even a year and keep watching the markets and the interest rates - they will soon be better for us getting on the ladder at the 1st step. (Trust me) - I am about to sign a 6 month lease and looking at the economy the housing prices will fall before they rise again.
When we 1st arrived things did seem more expensive, but that because we were shopping for convenience, you are right about there being no tesco etc, but here there is so much more. More and more people are using Aldi, for groceries etc these are better than most supermarkets. Check out your nearest Aldi, also online check out the farmers markets, quality meat and fish at ordinary market prices. Get your alcahol from Dan Murphys, they are great and do some really nice quality wines that don't break the bank.
Here's the things they don't tell you - haggle, haggle over anything your buying. If your not sure and the sticker says $220, ask if they can do you a deal for $210 or get something extra thrown in and ask for that for a discount if you pay full whack on the 1st item. It may be cheeky and my OH cringes sometimes but more often than not they will sell it cheaper.(If you don't ask you dont get)
We just bought a car from a 2nd hand dealer - knocked him down by $1600 approx - its a buyers market.
Funnily enough - about the furniture and kitchen and living room equipment, we have done exactly that today and spent an absolute fortune. (or so we thought)
We bought:
32" HDTV, Fridge Freezer (A MASSIVE ONE), microwave, kettle, toaster, vax, iron, washing machine all from "Good Guys". They avertise that they will do you a deal - and when we walked in I asked what deal they could give us if we purchased a large amount of stock and they said 8%. I went straight back with "we were looking for around the 15% mark really and the attendant came straight back with "I can knock 12% off the sticker price on.
You think the goods add up to alot until you see what you actually get for your money:
32" HDTV - AUD $800 - Same TV in UK is £500 - Exchange rate at $2.25/£1 = $1125 - Save $325 - Very cheap in comparison.
Fridge Freezer - AUD $1299 - Same in UK is approx £700 - Exchange rate at $2.25/£1 = $1575 - Save $276 - again - cheaper by comparison.
The trick is to get the equipment from the same place and buy in bulk for the better deal.
We then went to super-a-mart and bought bedroom furniture, couch and recliner, backyard table and chairs + the tv stand for my baby (LCD). Again they threw in a deal and we got quite a bargain in comparison to what we would have had to spend in the UK to get the same.
& Finally ('cos I am going on and on) about the quality of life. In time you will make friends and acquaintances, it will all be good. Just think when your next walking by the 'south bank' or driving to sea world or even further and going to Noosa for the weekend or maybe planning a weekend what you could actually be doing in the UK..................... staying in because its raining!!
Choose - live life
:-)
Good luck and keep us updated.
tonyandsharon
Good Guys are actually bad guys they say they are low prices because you pay bucks , but not if you look round, 12 % on that lot is not much. Ive found best bet is tell them your price to take it then for cash and stick to it if they want the sale put the ball in there court but I agree with you about OH mine runs off when I bargain
Mally from Kally
__________________
Here at last
SUFC life not a pastime I limit myself to 2 drinks a day, I`m now 10 years in front make that 15
I like the sound of Oz more and more everyday, my missus cringes when we shop over here in normal shops as I will always ask for discount, do it so often I tend to do it and not relise I doing it.
I love it, like you say, they might say no but you might get a bargain, you never know unless you ask.
Actually, I dont think haggle haggle haggle is the Australian way - they are much more subtle about it and I have heard retailers complain about (usually migrants) who aggressively haggle. There are some stores where it just is not done (dont try it in David Jones or Myers unless you can quote a lower price elsewhere). In the stores where it is done, you can go in and look and procrastinate a bit and they will offer a discount. If you hesitate more they may offer a further discount (which means that they probably inflate their prices before they start). Many stores usually have a "not knowingly undersold" policy. Shopping around isnt the same as haggling which can be quite cringeworthy. Retailers like to think they are in control!
Maybe haggle haggle haggle was a bit strong, its not like I would go into a garage, fuel up and then haggle the price - of course there are places where i wouldn't ask for a deal, my point I was trying to make to the original posting was about if your spending alot in one place it is my belief that you are within your rights to ask for a "special price" and TBH if I was going to spend the amount of money in Myer as I did in GoodGuys I would ask for a deal and they probably would do one.
BTW - at good guys they also gave money off my new 32" samsung TV which was already on sale and they should not have done it - and we got free delivery and fitting when we want it!!
Well, like mentioned before, if you dont try, you dont get.
No need to be agresive in your haggling, be friendly and polite, and if they say no, I always say to them I know I'm cheeky to ask but you dont know unless you ask. I never try to offend and apologies if I do.
So we've arrived, been in Brisbane for about a month and already I'm not sure if I have made the right move. After all the many months of planning and set backs and tearful goodbyes to friends and family I thought I would feel a sense of relief/excitement/happiness to be finally here, instead I feel...numb, an anti-climax almost and now I am worrying and questioning why I feel like this.
When I have read other people's posts on here once they have arrived, they seem to be totally happy so why aren't I? I'm not normally a moaner or a misery guts but I am struggling to feel happy about what we have done just now.
Has anyone else felt like this when they initially arrived...does it get better? I know we are still in the settling in process...I haven't started work yet - I start in 3 weeks, we move to a nice house in the Ferny Grove side of the city in 2 weeks time and I still need to find childcare for our son. Currently I can only get 2 days PW and I need 4, but it is so difficult to find any availability and until I can get him in 4 days PW, my OH cannot look for work, as we don't have any family or friends over here to help out.
At the moment I feel lonely, it is just the 3 of us every day - I miss the routine of my old life, my job, my family and friends that I could see or talk to regularly...we have Skype and that helps, but its not like I can pop over to my mums at the w/end or meet a pal for a coffee.
The other thing that I am finding difficult is the cost of living over here - we haven't brought huge amounts of money with us, certainly not enough for a deposit on a house (I've been told you need at least 20% of the asking price!). When we came over in November for a month it did not seem as expensive as it is now. Food shopping is definitely dearer here than back in the UK, mainly I think because over there you have Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury/Morrisons etc etc all competing for your custom so they constantly have a multitude of offers on and also they sell cheap, relatively good clothes ...before I left I bought whole outfits for my son in the Tesco sale, all for under £5/6 each. Here the main ones are just Coles and Woolworths who seem to monopolise it all.
Its not just the food shopping - I stupidly left all my garden furniture and BBQ at home as I thought it wouldn't get through customs. I assumed in the land of outdoor living that I could pick things up cheap enough out here and there would be an equivalent B & Q or Homebase, but that's not the case, as this sort of stuff is also more expensive, which I just can't believe.
Banking is a rip off, everywhere charges for an account and if you use an ATM that is not their's then you get charged extra, at least in the UK if you opt to pay for an acct you get loads of freebies like free yearly travel insurance, bank and credit card protection and mobile phone insurance and obviously you can use any ATM via the "link" system for free. Talking of mobile phones the tarriffs are roughly the same but what with the connection fee for each call, on top of the call rate, they are not as good value by a long way...
I know I shouldn't keep comparing things to the UK if I want this to work but it's hard as that is all I have known. The main reason for moving here was so that we could have a better quality of life than in the UK, but with the prices the way they are over here, I think financially, I may in fact be worse off. Sure the people are friendly and the weather and scenery is great and there are loads of great parks for my son to enjoy and plenty of open spaces for kids to run wild but I'm not going to enjoy them if I am constantly watching the pennies and rising bills. I know things are currently getting more expensive in the UK but I was never in a situation where by I worried about going out to buy some clothes or do my monthly massive food shop and I'll be earning roughly the same sort of salary here as I was there.
Ahhhhhh! I feel like a whinging pom already and I know I am being probably a bit over panicky but can someone please tell me that things do get better. Am I shopping in the wrong shops??? I need to buy a whole kitchen's worth of white goods at the end of this month and I am dreading the cost of all that as I need everything from a kettle/toaster to microwave and washer & dryer etc. Any advice on where to get these at a reasonable price?? If only there was an Argos over here!
Maybe some of you will tell me that the high cost of living here is a fact, and then I will need to re-evaulate whether long term this is for us, as at the moment, overall the UK is definitely a cheaper place to live. My OH is so positive and although I really want to be, I can't see the point of lying to myself either, almost like I am glossing things over for effect.
I knew the move would be hard and it would take time to adjust and I don't think I over glamerised living here in my head, but its just not what I expected and I disappointly don't feel as I expected too...I just feel sort of lost.
Sorry for the length of this post but I just need to "talk" to someone as I don't want to tell people at home that I already have doubts when I was so loooking forward to moving out here for the last year and over here, besides the OH, I don't know anyone else!
Hi shazzi my name is jo myself hubby and 2 kids just moved over from just outside glasgow 2mths ago!Iknow exactly how you feel i dont work so dont get to meet any1! Our 1yr old goes to an abc childcare centre and they seem to be quite good although she just goes 1 day a week,they seem to be dotted around everywhere so you could try there!Garage sales are great too we used them to set ourselves up till our furniture arives hopefully next week yey!If u need a hand with childcare i could help i live 20 mins away from brisbane in forrest lake or a chat that would be great! take care and hope you feel better soon jo x
One thing i'd say is don't be afraid to buy things second hand!
The only person who'll know that the things are second hand are you and they do the same job whether they're 1 day old or 1 year old.
And for really cheap dont forget The Freecycle Network - search for a group in your area. People dont seem to like buying second hand these days and a lot of folk are giving away quite good stuff.
