MARYROSE02

When I lived in England, near Southampton, I went to London to watch Tottenham Hotspur but on every scale of costing it made better sense to watch Southampton - easier to get to, much shorter travelling time and much cheaper to buy a ticket, but I support Spurs not Saints so all those costs are irrelevant. Isn't that the same comparing the UK with Australia? It might make better economic sense for me to live in the UK especially with the bulk of my income coming from the UK, but I want to live in Australia. So even if the pound crashed against the dollar, slashing my income I'd still stay in Oz. I spent $100 in Woolies on Sunday. I've still got the receipt. Should I go thru the items one by one comparing them with the cost of the same items at ASDA? But then surely I have to take into account that I'd have to spend 20 minutes each way driving to ASDA and factor in the costs of running a car when I can walk to Woolies? (I couldn't think of anything sadder then doing that). I paid $139 for a jacket at Zara in Broadbeach factoring in $2.50 for the tram cost though I could have got the free bus to Pac Fair. If I took a photo of the jacket someone could go to Zara in England and see if they can find the same jacket. Someone with a better grasp on budgeting a life will explain how and why I'm wrong?

I'm just enduring my first cold in 2 years and I was sad and scared enough to do a COVID test, home test I mean, 2 in fact as I thought I'd mucked up the first. 3 days into my cold and it's like being 3 days into a hangover. It's not COVID and it's not flu but it could be one of the other bugs "They " are terrifying is about.

I have reassessed my post and realised that missing things like supermarkets, pubs, beer, curries (and Currys , does it still exist?) etc, are all symptoms of homesickness and I'm not homesick.

Whilst I liked going to ASDA and appreciated its George(?) range of clothing I can't say I've ever moped around Woolies or Coles thinking "What horrible, horrible places." They're "JUST" supermarkets - big convenience stores. UK supermarkets may be better quality but I'm not going to move back to the UK for that. The only thing I missed about the UK was my parents and they've passed now. Here in Surfers there are two Woolies and one Coles all under 5 minutes walk and everything else I need is 5 minute's walk including something I'm pretty sure you don't have in the UK - seven days a week GPs which you can walk into without an appointment. It's the same with the big shopping malls. There are two within easy public transport distance. One, like ASDA has a free courtesy bus service. I bought a jacket in Zara at Pacific Fair. Looked to me exactly the same as Zara in Southampton, ditto all the big home appliance chains which all sell the same stuff. Is buying a mobile phone, TV or PC different in the UK? Did I mention the weather? I just went out on to the balcony where the sun is shining and 18d C and there are people sunbathing around the pool in the middle of winter.

I can't say I've met too many rednecks in Surfers Paradise in Queensland but perhaps they are hiding in plain sight amongst the rest of us "Mexicans". Surfers has everything I want and it's all walking distance including a bulk billing GP open 7 days a week. And if I can't walk it, there is a wonderful tram service. Is it better than WA - Perth? I don't know. I liked Perth and I have a friend who's been pushing me to go over there I need to go back to Sydney then maybe I'll go to Perth Surfers has the better climate with milder winters. I suppose it's like living in Miami, Hawaii, Benidorm or even Bournemouth.

I was thinking, after reading your post, how I was devastated to lose my job in Sydney in 1996, after 15 years, but the silver lining was going back to England to spend time with my parents. Looking back now, I wish I'd quit that job 5 years earlier but that's all hindsight and I did get a good retrenchment package. Within a year of going back to England my Mum died and I had another mostly good 8 years with my Dad and a couple more after that on my own. If I hadn't lost my job in Sydney would I have quit to go back and look after my Dad? Now, I'd say yes but then I don't know. One of my friends is now full time carer for his mum but I think that happened after he retired. What would he have done had he still been working, liking his job, maybe still needing the salary. It's relatively easy when you've no ties. I've been 5 months in Surfers Paradise with no desire to return to Sydney (or Southampton) but if you ARE settled that might be a problem.

Is it a "small sacrifice" given that you have good jobs, lifestyle, home (with pool), friends, and not least, a wife who is not keen on uprooting herself to return to England? I've seen other people who want to return give a long list of negatives about their lives here with few or no positives (although that sometimes changes after living back in England). Why not take a coupleb of months off to see how you feel about it? Go at the end of November to see how you cope with winter. As It happens I did go back for a two month holiday at the end of November. I can remember shivering in the dank and semi darkness at Heathrow waiting for my parents to pick me up. And by the end of January I was acclimatised! I did go back for an extended time too - 12 years. Things fell into place then I came back again to OZ and I've not been back for 13 years. Good luck with your decision.

In this new and woke age which I would normally hate, I was happy to say that the only reason I got my last job was because I fitted the quota ie old.

I had similarities with you though I always had to file both UK and Australian Tax returns because I had incomes in both countries all regardless of where I was living. (Aussie pension, rental income, stocks and a job in the UK, then back in OZ, UK pensions and UK rental income.) Those two UK pensions may require you to do UK tax returns. I still have to complete my CGT return which I started last week. It's late but I could not log in for some reason.

I think you may still need to open a CGT account on line via the HMRC website and report the sale regardless of whether you are liable for UK tax or not. You may have to file a UK tax return too. I have a online account for self assessment with HMRC because I have UK income from pensions and until recently rent on my UK home. Since I've sold my UK home I've opened a CGT account but I've not completed it yet. You can phone HMRC on 001144 135 535 9022 for CGT enquiries. Possibly 001144 161 931 9070 for self assessment enquiries. I have a copy of my Govt Gateway letter from 2011 with various phone numbers and other information scribbled on it Google "HMRC capital gains tax account" and "self assessment" and you'll probably find your way there. I've only just created my own CGT account. You need various forms of ID to do it, ditto the Self Assessment account. I have an idea of how much CGT I will pay based on the difference between 2015 value of my house or similar and today. I need to do the self assessment for 21 / 22 too then probably have some tax to pay the ATO too when I do that return. I've not lived in the UK since 2008.

I recall a mate who lived in Surry Hills meeting a girl on Tinder who claimed she lived near him but it turned out she meant Glebe. I shared his outrage.

Stacey Street? I didn't Google it though. Runs from the Hume Highway and eventually carries on past Padstow and then over the river (George's?) to Alford's Point, Menai, etc

So, like chocolate, pubs, beer, jokes, TV, supermarkets and "Indian" restaurants, IKEA in Australia just does not "taste" the same as in Britain!? I vaguely recall reading that IKEA in Rhodes has a "Husband's Club" where nerdy guys can pretend they're it pub an play computer games whilst their wives take their credit cards on tours of the stores. Is Bunnings a pale imitation of B & Q where even the sausage sizzles are pale imitations of "real" Pommie bangers? I had an excellent sausages, mash and peas in Flinn McCools pub in Surfers yesterday, pork sausages unlike the vile beef ones the Aussies like.

Imagine if you were single just like me and there was no quandary about going back to England or Australia, you could just say, "Sod this, I'm leaving TODAY". I did it too, 12 years back to England, and now four months in Surfers on holiday which so far, has not ended. But would the partnered people WANT to be "Just like me?"

Having 4 kinds of footie, 5 if you include American - is a positive advantage - "Triple 'S'" in my case - "Spurs, Storm & League Swans" - football, Rugby League, Aussie Rules. When the English football season finishes next week, I'll have RL And 'Rules' to sustain me till August. I'm not so keen on RU but NSW, QLD and ACT all have teams in the Super League (?) NSW and QLD - both RL states also have 2 Aussie Rules teams which compete in the AFL and Melbourne, hotbed of Aussie Rules nevertheless has a thriving team - Storm - in the NRL. Some people can be "one-eyed" about the code of football they like - "aerial ping pong" , "bum sniffers", "wog ball" - Aussie Rules, both types of rugby, soccer (because of it's "ethnic" popularity. Some Pommies are the same. "I'm not interested in that Aussie crap." Which I think is a shame because once you find a team to follow, like me, you have something to talk about. I asked two young larrikins from Wagga to help me with my NRL tips in the comp at the Surf Club. The club runs two tipping competitions for both NRL and AFL and some people do both. They'll usually have an NRL game on one screen and an AFL game on another. I watched the Giants v Carlton in Finn McCools pub yesterday with a friend who likes Carlton whilst keeping an eye on NRL games and another AFL game. Next month is "Origin" - ie State of Origin, "state against state, mate against message", QLD v NSW, arguably more important than Australia v England and my favourite sporting event. You can often find a pub, bar or club which shows the English, Scottish and European football games and supporters' clubs which meet to watch games. I think my team Tottenham is having its "national" meet up in Newcastle (NSW) now. So, depending on whom I'm talking to and whichever code they like I have something to talk about with them. And if they like more than one, so much the better. Many of the Spurs fans I meet are homegrown Aussies, not homesick Pommies.

Home for sale in Paddington for 2.5 to 2.95 million at 32 Jersey Road, terrace house, no garage or off street parking but you don't need a car in the inner city. Just book a Go get car by the hour. Buses to CBD or Bondi Jn, walk to either in 15 mins, pubs, shops, cafes, restaurants all walking distance. Google it. Probably posher than my suburb, Surry Hills though I prefer Surry Hills . This was in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph which I'm reading in Surfers Paradise Surf Lifesavers Club. Into my fourth month here now. Epping has the advantage of being on the Central Coast and Newcastle line as well as the "ordinary" Sydney trains line so you can get a limited stop train to Central via Strathfield (handy for Western Line trains to Parramatta and Penrith and Blue Mts. Oatley is nice!

You get the loan but if you're income is over the ATO threshold you have to pay Hecs when you do your return. I can't remember the cut off. 55k or is it lower? It goes up by degrees too.

I rarely had any reason to go on that line. When my brother lived in Picnic Point I got the East Hills line. Sometimes I'd do the Hume Highway then left on??? Can't remember the name of the road that bypassed Bankstown. I've been away too long.

I used to have two, but then my UK passport expired. I assume if I go to UK using me Aussie one I'll get in OK but be treated as any other alien?

"Take the last train to Marrickville and I'll meet you at the station." Is it on the Bankstown line? Campsie, Lakemba? Once I was walking towards Central, on Buckingham St when a woman said something to me. My first reaction was "No, I haven't got any money." But then I listened to her and she was asking to get to the station. She had a slight speech impediment or similar. And she took my hand and I walked her to Central and onto the platform. I think she was going to Campsie.

I should have followed their example! My dentist was in Pitt St, almost opposite the Town Hall and I started going there in 1984. I didn't like going to Redfern after dark mind and ask the shops in Redfern St were shuttered up from 6pm. But it's become trendy with new restaurants, bars, cafes, and I'd have no problem walking there before midnight now.

I am but the pound may be dipping against the $?

You probably already know your way round Sydney better than I do, or at least the inner west or inner mid west. My sister in law's mum lives in Campsie. My brother lived in Picnic Point which is near Revesby, Padstow, Panania. I use to drive along Canterbury Road but as soon as I'm off the main roads I lose my bearings. He's living in Spring Farm now, a new build estate near Camden, 60 km from Surry Hills. Lovely homes, brand new but I'd not like to commute to the city from there. I think of Surry Hills like the hub of a wheel and the main roads are the spokes. I'm ok on the spokes to Bondi, Bronte, Clovelly, Coogee, but when I cut across those spokes I'm not so sure. I'm in Surfers Paradise now on an extended holiday and I like it here - Surry Hills with a beach because the beach is 300 metres away and I can walk everywhere else and if I can't walk they have an excellent tram line.

Thanks. I sold mine 60 days ago! Middle of January. I always do UK tax myself but use TA for ATO return. I'm spending the house sale money in Surfers.

I think the fine is 100 pounds. I was confused about the 30 or 60 day ruling plus there are different rules for non-residents. I'm waiting to receive a paper form from HMRC. I meant to check in Reception today but I forgot. I'm sure if I tell HMRC that I could not create an online CGT account so I had to wait for the paper copy they will rescind any fines. Were you able to create a CGT account ok with HMRC?