Money!

Hi All,

We are trying to work out approx how much money it will cost to set up in Oz for first 3 months.

I know it's a tricky question but hoping there are a few of you that wouldn't mind sharing your experience of when you first arrived in Oz?

We will be staying with family for a while first but will move to a rental, but will need first thing a 2nd hand family car, 2nd hand van for OH work, changing driving license over, getting kids set up for school, uniform etc, mobile phones...I'm sure there are lots of little things you forget about that add up!

We we will be heading to Gold Coast.

Any info will be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Hey Woody,

Probably depends on the value of the vehicles and what you want to spend on rent. I would estimate a rough guide of $50k-$60k.

2* Vehicles - $20k

Furniture and setup house - $10k (may be light - look at Gumtree, Facebook for 2nd hand bargains)

3 months rent - $9k

Rental bond - $3k

3 months living - $10-15k

That sounds way too high to me.

No way would most migrants blow $60k in 3 months.

In fact most would not come with anywhere near that amount of money.

Hey Woody,

 

Probably depends on the value of the vehicles and what you want to spend on rent. I would estimate a rough guide of $50k-$60k.

 

2* Vehicles - $20k

Furniture and setup house - $10k (may be light - look at Gumtree, Facebook for 2nd hand bargains)

3 months rent - $9k

Rental bond - $3k

3 months living - $10-15k

Migration just eats money in the first 3-6 months. All of those bills in the UK staggered over the year come at once. Vehicle insurances and car rego are biggies too. Plus stocking your kitchen from scratch costs more than you think especially if you need to purchase utensils.

If you have family to aid you through some of this that will be a big help but I agree with the above. Expect to need $50-$60k.

That sounds way too high to me.

 

No way would most migrants blow $60k in 3 months.

 

In fact most would not come with anywhere near that amount of money.

Yes, but they want/need 2 vehicles. $20-25k in living costs, the rest are capital items. Of course if cashflow is an issue, you could lease the vehicles. Obviously, the sooner you get working, the quicker you have some cash inflow

There are ways to do it a lot cheaper though.

Many people buy very cheap cars to start with and buy cheap household goods at Ikea and Kmart etc.

You can always upgrade later on when you are on your feet and the money is flowing in from jobs.

There are ways to do it a lot cheaper though.

 

Many people buy very cheap cars to start with and buy cheap household goods at Ikea and Kmart etc.

 

You can always upgrade later on when you are on your feet and the money is flowing in from jobs.

and this is what we did.

25k was all we had, and we burnt through most of it pretty quickly, but $9k and $6k for 2 cars, rent $2k per month and the rest on 'stuff'. I was earning straight away so the impact wasnt as bad as it could have been.

There are ways to do it a lot cheaper though.

 

Many people buy very cheap cars to start with and buy cheap household goods at Ikea and Kmart etc.

 

You can always upgrade later on when you are on your feet and the money is flowing in from jobs.

When did you migrate?

There are ways to do it a lot cheaper though.

 

Many people buy very cheap cars to start with and buy cheap household goods at Ikea and Kmart etc.

 

You can always upgrade later on when you are on your feet and the money is flowing in from jobs.

Of course, there is. I just answered the OP with a rough bottom up estimate of my opinion based on my experience. You are welcome to give them a bottom up estimate based on your experience. I don't think you'll kitout a house for a family for much less than $10k but depends on your taste etc. Again, $10k per vehicle isn't unreasonable. But you cut your cloth. I'm probably a little heavy on the rent and bond, not that familiar with the GC property market.

I'm about to move interstate myself and expect to spend c.$35k over the next 3 months including a vehicle. I hope to be working within that time and I am moving furniture etc

When did you migrate?

Not the point.

But I have ready about lots of people on here coming over with very little.

Thanks Kev for backing me up.

A lot of people buy cars for only a couple of grand to start themselves off.

Of course if you have the $60K to start with then go for it, but not strictly necessary.

I assume you have no jobs to come too? If so the estate agent may want 6 months rent in advance, since you mention kids you probably are looking for at least a 3 bed: Unit, house or apartment?

I am in Melbourne, and in the suburb I am in you could be looking at around at least $2k/m+, then factor in the bond which would also be around the $2k mark depending on the actual rent. Obviously the further you are prepared to move out you can find better deals.

How much stuff would you be shipping across and would it arrive not long after you moved into your rental. You could cut costs(reading many other posts(on here and other expat sites)), by buying airbeds, camping gear and living on the very basics. Use gumtree, free cycle, facebook, even go neighbour walks to see what people have left on the side of the street(well this is big in Melbourne, cannot comment on GC). I have found some really good stuff.

I went to Fantastic Furniture to kit out my first unit, cheap and cheerful. The mattress I got is still surprisinly very good for the actual price, better than some I went to look at for 3 or 4 times the price. The frame, mmmn!

Other items pretty OK, and done the job. Cannot say anything bad about them, as they performed and worked as expected just not fancy furniture or handmade.

Ikea is also a good option, as cheap and cheerful and pretty good quality.

Another thing to check out is the reject shops, kinda like the pound shops in the UK, you can pick up some good bargains.

Another thing to note, rentals do not come with white goods which can be expensive. So factor that in.

Mobile phones, just look at PAYG(some very cheap deals here now) and get an ISP that offers free local calls(ISP could range $40-80/m) and then use Skype, etc on Wi-Fi when you are at home to call back to the UK.

Since you are looking to buy second hand cars, maybe factor in road side assistance. Not sure of the price as get mine free due to the deal I had when I bought my car from a dealer.

Food shopping, hit the farmers markets, Aldi, local grocers to keep costs down. Fruit and veg tends to be cheaper than the major 2. Another thing I noticed here more so than the UK, the large number of butchers/fish shops which tend to offer better deals/choice than Coles and Woolies.

The first few months are going to be expensive and then subsequent years are the insurances you set up are all going to fall around the same period.

Have a look at the areas in the Gold Coast you fancy and get an idea of weekly rent, id guess around $525 pr week average but realestate.com will give you a better idea. You normally have to pay 4 weeks as a bond so add that on top.

You will also be responsible for contents insurance but the landlord pays building insurance and rates so dont worry about that.

Have a look on Gumtree for vehicles, you can pick up a half decent car for $3000/ $4000, vans arent as popular, utes will be cheaper. You can upgrade later when settled. Remember you pay a % of the purchase price when you swap registration to your name, so budget for that too.

If it comes to it and funds are low, just get your Aussie licence for one year, its way cheaper. When it needs renewing next year ,if funds are better ,renew for 5 years.

What visa will you be on ? If it is PR you should be entitled to family assistance, they helps lots whilst finding your feet and will cover uniform costs etc. Not sure if the school kid bonus is still going but if it is that another few hundred PER CHILD, to help you get sorted.

You can have a big wad of cash and it will certainly make the transition easier but it was only a few years ago i recall a family with a thousand GBP moving over and they did fine , at the end of the day ,you manage with what you have available.

Hope this helps

Cal x

Sorry guys, this isnt CTF so we wont allow this thread to be de railed with arguing, take it to PM or post a new thread in CTF, posts have been removed.

Cal x

Sorry guys, this isnt CTF so we wont allow this thread to be de railed with arguing, take it to PM or post a new thread in CTF, posts have been removed.

 

Cal x

No worries,apologies on being dragged into that

Sorry guys, this isnt CTF so we wont allow this thread to be de railed with arguing, take it to PM or post a new thread in CTF, posts have been removed.

 

Cal x

Hey Cal, what is CTF? Actually just double checked the forum topics and figured it out. Some people might not be to familiar with the topics so may be worth while expanding on the acronym when posting.

Wow! Thank you all for your responses, some very useful info to go by.

We will be staying with family for a couple of months I would hope? Or as long as I can handle it lol! My OH family are all very kind people & have said once we are there, they will help us out with getting set up. When we speak with them on Skype now though, they are so laid back with answering our questions. Im the kinda person that needs to know everything before hand. Anyway OH is a builder & family have told him he should get a job no problem as lots of construction going on on GC. Some of the family are trades also so we are really hoping OH can get work through them maybe? We don't want to spend silly money on car & ute but obviously no point in buying recks! How does the registration thing work then? You pay a %, is that a set %? I take it car insurance is quite high from your comments? Does it have to be paid in full? Yes we do have PR, so good to hear about family assistance, I didn't know we were entitled to anything. We are it shipping any furniture over, didn't see the point in using a massive chunk of cash for that, seeing as our furniture needs updating anyway. We haven't bothered buying new as Oz has always been looming. We will ship personal stuff, some kids stuff & OH hand tools, need to look into that. I shop at Aldi in UK so I would defo do the same in Oz.

That is amazing to hear about the family who went with £1000! That took some guts for sure!

Thanks again for your helpful replies....I've a lot to be getting on with.

Having someone to stay with when you first arrive is a massive bonus, hopefully your container will arrive before you move to your own place, best of luck with he move.

this might help re the car https://www.racq.com.au/cars-and-driving/cars/buying-a-car/car-registration-and-duty

We're (2 adults 3 kids in Melbourne) budgeting in AUD:

1st Car: 7 K

3 x months living costs: 15 K (5 K per month)

We're shipping all our required house contents: 7.5 K (That's shipping a 20 foot container from Ireland)

Bond: 3 K

3 x months rent: 8.5 K

Total: 41 K AUD - but remember that's THREE months living, a car, and our house set up.

I reckon in reality you can throw 4 - 5 K on that. Call it 45 K.

B

We're (2 adults 3 kids in Melbourne) budgeting in AUD:

 

1st Car: 7 K

3 x months living costs: 15 K (5 K per month)

We're shipping all our required house contents: 7.5 K (That's shipping a 20 foot container from Ireland)

Bond: 3 K

3 x months rent: 8.5 K

 

Total: 41 K AUD - but remember that's THREE months living, a car, and our house set up.

 

I reckon in reality you can throw 4 - 5 K on that. Call it 45 K.

 

B

Do you have employment lined up?

Do you have employment lined up?

No, I will be self employed in the medium term. I'm happy to do anything while my core business seeks traction. My wife is a Teacher.

We have about a year and a half worth of living costs to play with (worst case scenario) but both will seek work fairly soon once kids are settled.

B

No, I will be self employed in the medium term. I'm happy to do anything while my core business seeks traction. My wife is a Teacher.

 

We have about a year and a half worth of living costs to play with (worst case scenario) but both will seek work fairly soon once kids are settled.

 

B

That's great, you should be fine, enjoy Melbourne, it's a great place to live.

That's great, you should be fine, enjoy Melbourne, it's a great place to live.

Thank you very much

B

Hi All,

 

We are trying to work out approx how much money it will cost to set up in Oz for first 3 months.

I know it's a tricky question but hoping there are a few of you that wouldn't mind sharing your experience of when you first arrived in Oz?

 

We will be staying with family for a while first but will move to a rental, but will need first thing a 2nd hand family car, 2nd hand van for OH work, changing driving license over, getting kids set up for school, uniform etc, mobile phones...I'm sure there are lots of little things you forget about that add up!

 

We we will be heading to Gold Coast.

 

Any info will be gratefully received.

 

Many thanks

We too migrated to Perth only a month back and below the was some of our initial expenses capital + rent for 3 months

1 rent - 4500

2 furniture and kitchen- 3000

3 mobile - 80 monthly

4 internet- 60 monthly

5 car 6000

6 food 1500 monthly

7 fuel 200 monthly

Except kids expenses. ( no kids for us)

Fantastic furniture has a good collection and good guys for kitchen appliances

Mobile s we used Vodafone and internet belong.

It's better to keep some money in a savings account otherwise without knowing you may have send all you had!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Beaty for the info....it's fab!

Can I ask if you receive family assistance for the children? I think this is only if you're PR?

How old are you're 3 kids? Have they settled in ok?

Our 8 year old Son doesn't want to come to Oz and Im worried sick about his reaction when we tell him we are definitely making the move. He has known for a few years that it was a possibility & always says he will stay here with his Nan (This isn't an option).

How are you finding Melbourne?