Cost of living in Sydney?

Hello,

From searching the web and looking at forums I have come up with a spreadsheet of cost of living in Sydney. Could any Sydneysiders tell me if this is about right?

We are 2 adults and 3 children. Ages 8 and twins (3). Hope to live in Hornsby. Will come on a 457 visa and earn 90k. Doesnt look like our money will cover 3 school fees.

I have attached the excel spreadsheet with all the figures below.

See my posts below.

Oh! dear - I posted my figures from excel. I will have to manually input them instead. sorry!

I have attached the expenses from excel instead. Makes life easier to do this.

Hi, my family and I haven't been in Sydney long but your spreadsheet looks good for a typical weekly estimate. One thing I would mention is that you may well qualify for the Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) which as I understand it is a tax break for non-residents working in Australia that equates to something like an extra 10% take-home. Have a search on this website - there are plenty of people on here that would know about this.

Hi Tupe,

Thanks for your response. Good to know the figures are about right. We are hoping that the company will pay for the school fees, otherwise we are going to struggle.

Thanks,

Melanie

I have attached the expenses from excel instead. Makes life easier to do this.

This looks good, and pretty similar to mine (i am hoping there is nothing I have missed), but what i did notice that i was not aware of is tax band for resident and non resident... Is there a difference????

We to are going on a 457 so will be non resident but i just assumed the tax deduction was 30%???? can you help?

Well I have some friends who recently moved to OZ and they are on about 30% tax band which is the non resident tax band. If we were permanent we would be paying less tax - about 24%.

I went to this website and calcuated the tax there:

Tax Tools - Simple Tax Calculator

Well I have some friends who recently moved to OZ and they are on about 30% tax band which is the non resident tax band. If we were permanent we would be paying less tax - about 24%.

I went to this website and calcuated the tax there:

Tax Tools - Simple Tax Calculator

Thanks thats interesting to know i thought the 30% tax was for everyone. Great to here we pay less tax eventually.. Thanks

Hey guys

You don't necessarily have to pay more tax as temporary residents than permanent residents. Residency for tax purposese is the not same as residency for visa purposes, you can be temporary resident for visa puposes but resident for tax purposes.

Look here, it helps determine tax residency Tax Tools - Residency

So generally if someone's intention is to live and work in Australia they will be classed as tax resident Individual income tax rates

Regards

Andy

Serious Andy?

WOW now that would amazing for us.

THANK YOU soo much for this information.

You are a super star.

If you are renting you don't pay water rates so these can be removed from your list.

I think you may also need to increase your car costs a bit, Pink slip (MOT for cars over 5 years old) is about $35, rego is about $300 a year then you have CTP which is another $450+ then insurance (mine was $700 for a 5 year old CR-V with high excess and full no claims).

LAFHA can provide significant tax savings for temporary residents so definitely worth checking this out.

WHat does rego stand for? And CTP?

WHat does rego stand for? And CTP?

Rego (Registration) is what might be described as Vehicle Tax in the UK.

CTP is complusory third-party insurance. Which pays various costs related to injuries you might inflict on a third party (but note NOT their property - costs for that would come out of your wallet unless you have other insurance). To register your car you need a pink slip, and CTP - like you need an MOT and insurance to tax your car in the UK.

Also, bring evidence of no-claims discount from your insurer - some insurers here ask for it, others don't.

My car costs are similar to Spottydogs.

Hi Melanie

We moved to Mount Colah, just outside Hornsby in November. We are me, hubby and two daughters (5 and 17). My husband earns $95000 not inc super and I would say your calculations are about right apart from not having to pay water bills. You can also save by using the public health system (Medicare) and only paying for extras like dental. We are on a 457 and pay tax as residents. We also get LAFHA, it makes a big difference and is worth suggesting to your employer as it doesn't cost them anything, it basically means you get living expenses (and possibly education costs) tax free. One thing you should be aware of is that education fees have to be paid upfront for the year (you can appeal to pay bi-annually). The Commonwealth Bank, if you go to the one in the centre of Sydney, has a worker who deals with temp residents and they can provide loans for school fees if necessary. Any other info you want just ask, when are you due to arrive?

Take care

Natalie

PS It's definitely worth it.

Hi Melanie

Definitely find out about LAFHA - Living Away from Home Allowance.... you should be able to claim this through your employer if you are renting out a UK property and moving to Australia and it basically allows you to pay your Australia rental out of untaxed income... so you deduct the rent you pay from your income before you work out the tax.... it is an amazing allowance and you also get a similar deduction for food and some other costs... we weren't able to claim it as although we came on a 457 my husbands employers agreed to sponsor him for PR when he arrived and it is not available to PRs.

I haven't looked at your spreadsheets but wasn't clear if you realised that to send your children to state primary schools you have to pay the state roughly $4,000 per child.... if you want to send them to private school they vary between $6,000 to $18,000 per year (Catholic schools are the cheapest)... the state primary schools here seem pretty good - our 5 year old is due to start tomorrow... they have a maximum class size of 22 for Kindergarten (reception) and if the school is in a nice area then the parents and children will all be nice.

Good luck

S

PS Didn't look at your figures as we are much closer into Sydney and everything seems to vary according to where you live... even the supermarkets (oh and they also change their prices every other day!! It's exhausting - you need your wits about you which is tricky if like me you will be dragging 3 children around)

Hi Sarahe

Thanks for all your info and tips - much appreciated. Yes, I know how much the schools cost - EEEK! That is part of our problem. On $90k we wont cover the fees. I am hoping to start a PR application as soon as we get there so we wont be able to claim LAFHA. I am going to appeal to the schools to waive our fees in the first instance. If they say no then I will just have to homeschool. I cant see any way around it. I was just wondering how long it would take for either a 175 PR application or a ENS 121 application to be processed once in OZ on a 457? Do you know?

I know one family where it took three months to get PR, another who applied 8 weeks ago and are still waiting. Hopefully the education department will be helpful, I have found that common sense seems to prevail here with less jobsworth inflexibility. Good luck with everything.

Hiya Kellynat,

Thank you for your information - I really do appreciate the kindness people have shown me on this forum. If all goes well my hubby will arrive in April. I will be with my folks in South Africa for 3 months whilst he sets us up in OZ and I hope to arrive in July. Just in time for my 8 year old to start school. I guess we will have to save up some money to pay for schooling upfront.

I dont know if we will definitely live in Hornsby - however my hubby will be working in North Ryde so think its not too difficult to get there from Hornsby. Is Mt Colah nice?

I found Poms in Oz really helpful whilst preparing to come over here so I'd like to be able to repay the favour. Any other questions - fire away.

Mount Colah is lovely, surrounded by big deep bush covered valleys and hills. We are very much on the edge of Sydney with a national park 5 minutes away and the central coast beaches 45 minutes (can send you pics if you like). We came here purely because we were desperately looking for a house and this one came up but I am very glad. Our younger daughter will be going to a small school (18 in her class) with a really nice feel too. It is very quiet so it depends what you like but there is plenty to do in Hornsby and a great shopping centre. It doesn't have as many new houses as you get in the Hills area so you might pay a bit more for rental here but still within your budget. My daughter goes to college in Ryde which takes her just over an hour door to door.

Hmmm I've just read what I've written and remember I may be a little biased..... I have some friends who have a house in Kellyville which is lovely too.

If you fancy a coffee and chat when you arrive give me a shout too. x

Oh! Kellynat - Mount Colah does look LOVELY! I have just been looking at some houses on domain.com.au and I like the fact that it is elevated and green. I think it looks a bit cheaper than Hornsby too.

I would LOVE a coffee and chat once I get there. Thank you for your kindness x

My pleasure. Like I said, anything I can do just ask.

Keep in touch and I'll pencil that coffee in for July.

Hi Melanie

I am guessing that a 175 visa could take a long time given all the various changes in what is and isn't being processed... we have just applied for a 121 visa and they have just introduced a new process for "decision ready employer sponsored applications" so if you submit with everything done medicals police checks etc they are aiming to turn it around in one month... that said we applied 14 Dec and are still waiting so now have to start paying for school fees as of next week!... Though they have said they expect to allocate us a CO by 7 Feb... but who knows

Good luck....

S

Hi Sarahe,

So with regards to a 457 visa - as one does medicals and police checks etc... with this visa it can in effect be transferred across to a 121? Can one offset the costs of the 121 with the 457? ie: just pay the difference in cost?

We didn't have to do medicals and police checks for the 457 working visa... we had done then for the 176 state sponsored PR visa that we had applied for and were then able to use them for the 121 employer sponsored PR visa and to switch the visa application fee to the second PR application. You can't offset the 121 costs against the 457.

Sorry

S

Hi

I am not sure the 121 is the right visa for you as this must be filed off shore to my knowledge. The onshore equivalent is the 856. Your husband would need to be on the modl list and take a skills assessment as he would not meet employment (2years) or salary criteria.

I might be wrong but just wanted to check your expectations are realistic before you commit to something on that assumption.