Cost of living??????

I know that this topic has been done to death on the forums but any advice anyone can give me would be great!

I have just had a nice frank chat with a fellow PIOer and they said that if they knew then what they know now, no matter how much they love it in oz, they probably would not have gone. They have had a fair bit of money to fall back on.

We have not got this sort of money to fall back on and this has been playing on my mind recently. If we go....we are going for good. I am not going to come back in a few months because we could not afford to live there. My wife should hopefully not have a problem getting a job, where as me will be a different kettle of fish. I have no trade and am hoping to join the fire, police or prison service.

Any advice as to what the worse case scenarios are regarding living expenses, cars, house prices etc would be gratefully received. We are looking to come out with about 70-80K GBP in about 2 years.We have no kids.

Many thanks

JOHN

Hi John

The cost of living is up to you and what you want out of life! how do people manage to live off the dole?

If you start off small and work your way up things will be fine, walks on the beach are free you will find people take picnics when they go out to save on going out for meals etc

It really depends on what you want if you want a brand new car a house on the beach all the latest mod cons etc then sorry that wont be nearly enough.

I wish you all the best in your new life no matter where that is

Geoffrey

It really does depend on what you're prepared to accept by way of standard of living - currently I'm a student and my OH is off sick so we have a fairly poor standard of living, we figure anything else will be a bonus!! We don't go out and socialise much so we're not expecting that to change much when we emigrate.

As an aside - I'm pretty certain you need to be a permanent resident to join the fire/police/prison service. That's one of the reasons we're seriously considering putting emigrating off until 2011 as I want to join the probation service and need to be a perm resident to do that.

I know that this topic has been done to death on the forums but any advice anyone can give me would be great!

 

I have just had a nice frank chat with a fellow PIOer and they said that if they knew then what they know now, no matter how much they love it in oz, they probably would not have gone. They have had a fair bit of money to fall back on.

 

We have not got this sort of money to fall back on and this has been playing on my mind recently. If we go....we are going for good. I am not going to come back in a few months because we could not afford to live there. My wife should hopefully not have a problem getting a job, where as me will be a different kettle of fish. I have no trade and am hoping to join the fire, police or prison service.

 

Any advice as to what the worse case scenarios are regarding living expenses, cars, house prices etc would be gratefully received. We are looking to come out with about 70-80K GBP in about 2 years.We have no kids.

 

Many thanks

 

JOHN

I wouln't worry too much John. 70-80k is a fortune to me. I think its sensible to secure a job (at least one of you) before flying out, that takes the pressure off and you have a regular income to start off with. Also depends if you want to put deposit on a house or are happy to rent. One thing I've learned on PIO is that peoples idea of/standard of living vary wildly. As previous poster said 'how do some live on dole money?' The more you earn the more you spend, it's all relative. One mans £70k is another mans £1 if that makes sense??! Life is an adventure don't worry about it too much just do it! You are footloose and fancy free with no children, revel in your freedom! Good luck and take others opinions with a pinch of salt x:cute:

Here's my advice and it has worked for me for many many years: remember the magic number 2. To compare anything, l take the A$ and divide by 2, or take £ and multiply by 2. For example, if you think £30K is your minimum salary to get by on in the UK, then it will be around A$60K in Australia. If you want how the price of something in Oz stacks up against the price in the UK, divide by 2.

OK, I know that just using 2 all the time might be a bit simplistic, but over the last 7 years through all the exchange rate fluctuations etc, I've stuck by it. It's interesting to see how some things in Oz are cheaper and some things are more expensive.

Another of my rules of thumb: I think that if you have the same sort of job in Oz as you do in the UK (i.e. in the same profession at the same level in the company), you should have about the same standard of living. I always remember the saying about quality: If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. OK, not exactly translatable, but I like it and it works for me.

I know that this topic has been done to death on the forums but any advice anyone can give me would be great!

 

I have just had a nice frank chat with a fellow PIOer and they said that if they knew then what they know now, no matter how much they love it in oz, they probably would not have gone. They have had a fair bit of money to fall back on.

 

We have not got this sort of money to fall back on and this has been playing on my mind recently. If we go....we are going for good. I am not going to come back in a few months because we could not afford to live there. My wife should hopefully not have a problem getting a job, where as me will be a different kettle of fish. I have no trade and am hoping to join the fire, police or prison service.

 

Any advice as to what the worse case scenarios are regarding living expenses, cars, house prices etc would be gratefully received. We are looking to come out with about 70-80K GBP in about 2 years.We have no kids.

 

Many thanks

 

JOHN

Hi John

I have previously answered this question and have had nothing but abuse from some people! My husband and I both work have 2 kids in a private school in Melbourne. We both have good jobs etc. however, If I had the chance again we would not have come here. We have 'missed the boat' on cheap housing and living etc.

Everything is so expensive. We came out in December with $100,000 and its all gone. We have had to but 2 second hand cars etc. But to answer your question IN MY OPINION before anyone jumps down my throat, we are struggling. We would have been so much better off staying put in the UK. We thought the 'grass would be greener' but it is certainly not.

hope it works out for you. Kind regards

many thanks for your replies so far. Just wondered what the day to day costs are.

Bills

water

Medicare (do we need this as we want to come on a 176 visa)

food shopping

Thanks so far.

JOHN

I know that this topic has been done to death on the forums but any advice anyone can give me would be great!

 

I have just had a nice frank chat with a fellow PIOer and they said that if they knew then what they know now, no matter how much they love it in oz, they probably would not have gone. They have had a fair bit of money to fall back on.

 

We have not got this sort of money to fall back on and this has been playing on my mind recently. If we go....we are going for good. I am not going to come back in a few months because we could not afford to live there. My wife should hopefully not have a problem getting a job, where as me will be a different kettle of fish. I have no trade and am hoping to join the fire, police or prison service.

 

Any advice as to what the worse case scenarios are regarding living expenses, cars, house prices etc would be gratefully received. We are looking to come out with about 70-80K GBP in about 2 years.We have no kids.

 

Many thanks

 

JOHN

Hiya if you have a look on Go Matilda website there is a cost of living calculator on it. Not only can you compare your salaries English/Australian but you can also compare state to state which is interesting!:yes:

If you're looking at using your savings to support your lifestyle when you get to Australia then you are going to end up in trouble as clearly that is unsustainable and your money will run out eventually.

This may be obvious to some but you really do need to do a lot of research and work out your budget before you get there otherwise you are going to end up very dissapointed and potentially bitter.

Housing is not cheap anywhere in the world and certainly not in Australia however having $150K puts you well ahead of the average aussie and should be enough to get a decent house based on a 33% deposit. Obviously you need to be able to make the mortgage repayments which on a $300K 25 year mortgage would be around $2,650 pm.

Look at www.realestate.com.au for house prices.

Food I'd budget around $50-$75pw per person depending on what you like to eat

Water, Council, Electric & telephone I reckon you'd be looking at $2,500-$3,000 pa but that depends greatly on your house. If you're renting you don't usually pay water/council.

Basic Medicare is free but you end up paying for tops ups for various things such as ambulance fees. Private healthcare varies dramtically with the level of care, check out medicare private www.medibank.com.au

Of course if varies greatly as to whether you have children, private medical or own a car.

I calculated that a single person could easily live on $30K pa net in Melbourne CBD excluding housing (rent/mortgage), medical, school fees & car costs if that is of any help.

Thanks and I have seen that but I wanted reliable and proven advice from people on the ground.

Thanks again.

JOHN

My wages + cash in hand when I work in a bar couple of nights a week average = $50k, I find I can survive on this and save a little each week..single bloke sharing a house with all the usual bills etc shared.

many thanks for your replies so far. Just wondered what the day to day costs are.

 

Bills

water

Medicare (do we need this as we want to come on a 176 visa)

food shopping

 

Thanks so far.

 

JOHN

food shopping

https://www.colesonline.com.au/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CMLForwardViewCmd?storeId=10052&catalogId=10001&viewName=HomePageDisplay

in the post code box type in 3000 then press "start shopping" when the next page is shown click "start shopping" again! this is one of the main supermarkets in oz

Please remember prices will be higher and it is far cheeper to go to the markets etc to get your best deals on meat, veg dairy.

Thanks for the Coles link Geoffrey I tried to click yer chicken but I have to spread some love first!

Thanks and I have seen that but I wanted reliable and proven advice from people on the ground.

 

Thanks again.

 

JOHN

John,

Just had our electric bill for 3months (its winter here) $576.

ummm bit more than i wanted to pay.

Our contents insurance renewal for $40,000 (we renting) has come in at $27 a month,

also had the car rego,green slip come in too but can't tell you that price now as our car has now been written off.

I do know that when we get another car sorted we have to pay 2 or 3 % of the purchase price to the RTA

All the best

stuju

Been going through my old posts as a few things still concern me regarding migrating to oz. Here is one:

Here's my advice and it has worked for me for many many years: remember the magic number 2. To compare anything, l take the A$ and divide by 2, or take £ and multiply by 2. For example, if you think £30K is your minimum salary to get by on in the UK, then it will be around A$60K in Australia. If you want how the price of something in Oz stacks up against the price in the UK, divide by 2.

 

.

Now if shopping and the mortgage are the same if not higher over there as compared to here and we wont earn as much in oz, how the hell are we going to manage financially?

JOHN

And don't forget your recreationals, anywhere between $250 and $400 for a G of poor quality Peruvian marching powder:sad: