Onyaweb

Okay so I've been living in Brisbane for a year now. My outgoings are more like $6900 a month and I can tell you that on my salary it is a real struggle. I love the place, but the financial strain has really put a tarnish on things now. At a minimum I think you need $110k here for a family of 4. I would say 1.8-2.0 times the UK salary to have an equivalent disposable income, thats moving from just outside London.

"I would defo have looked further into bringing the cars if i had my time again. Hubbies Audi would have more than paid for the cost of shipping and we defo cant afford to buy the same car here. Also I would have taken more time in a temp rental to find the right perm rental. We had only been on the ground 8 days when we signed for our first rental and ended up stuck there for 6 months in a pretty bed situation. Would have brought loads of kids school shoes with me in several sizes up...my daughters last pair cost me $110 and they were crap!!!" Damn it I just sold my Audi! We leave on Saterday for Oz! I would have: >>> Put my cars on Autotrader for longer and got a better price for them (not sure about shipping the car I figured parts might be pretty pricey in Oz for Audi). >>> Organised farewells for friends individually rather than a few at a "farewell party". >>> Taken the last week off work rather than working up until Friday. >>> Put stuff to sell on eBay a lot earlier in case they don't sell first time round. >>> Left more time between flight to Oz & Visa expiring, my son has just come down sick and we are praying that it is not chickenpox!!!! >>> Moved to Oz 6 years ago when we didnt have kids

Our house is naked

All our stuff is now on its way

John Mason have packed 75% of our stuff Yesterday, and today they will pack the rest and load it up. I'm glad it's all boxed up because the mess was stressing us all out. Now we can have a nice relaxing time sitting on the floor, eating take-out food and drinking the last remaining booze from paper cups!

I would kind of like the houses in Australia to fall relative to the UK, so that we can sell up in the UK and get more for our money in Oz. However, I have watched 2 rounds of redundancy at my current employer and it is not a fun environment to be in. Sometimes there are hard working competent people who fall victim. If you stay employed, great. In fact we probably actually better off because of the drop in interest payments on our mortgage.

Our goods are being packed for shipping today. Some practical advice that you may find useful...all based on recent experience... Pack your suitcases and hand luggage as though you flying to Oz tomorrow and keep those items in a separate room from everything that is being shipped. If you a preparing 'zones' in your house, e.g. stuff to be shipped, stuff to sell, charity, rubbish etc, make sure you stack your good tightly in the zones because before you know it you will run out of space and you will be falling over everything. Keep your tool box within easy access because your will need them for unscrewing bolts and stuff right until the last minute. Leave some space for things that you might buy in the last weeks before you leave, e.g. new shoes Start cleaning all the stuff that is in your attic & garage now, don't underestimate the amount of time it takes to sort through all this stuff. If you are taking your fridge-freezer start to eat up all your frozen goods so you are not left with lots of defrosted goods with no fridge. Clean it now, this takes the longest to clean out of everything. Organise a babysitter for the kids for the two days prior to packers coming. You will be stressed out. Double check you have your passports, and critical documents set aside. :twitcy:

I have budgeted for flights back to Europe for us every year too, that can be quite expensive. Also I have budgeted for trainfares to/from work.

OK trying to think rationally, (which is quite difficult when stomach is in your mouth). I have done a budget (based on $400-500 pw accomodation) and it seems I can survive, although there is little contingency, but can expect a fairly sizeable drop in lifestyle. This is OK, we can deal with that for a while. I expect to move up really quickly in the job that I've taken because I am really experienced in my field. I will have a fairly easy job while I settle in for the first 6 months or so, which could be a good thing. If I don't manage to move up the ranks, I can look around for a better job, and given my experience I should find one fairly quickly. It will be a lot easier to find a job once in Australia than it is from the UK. Thanks for your comments everyone, I guess the shock for me is seeing the difference in equivalent wage. I knew it was less but I didn't think the gap was quite so large. Certainly from my budget it didn't seem like there would be a sizeable lifestyle difference.

This is a real worry, I guess I will have to polish my CV and getting looking as soon as I arrive unless my employer promotes me really quickly - too late to back out now!

Hmmmmmm thanks I feel a little bit more relaxed now - but that might just be the diazepam! :goofy: 37 days to go....

Married with 2 young kids and mine is the only income. I have done a budget and it seemed to work out pretty much equivalent to the UK, i.e. no savings left after all bills are paid. But when I read earlier in the thread (about 2.2) it sent me into a bit of a panic. In reality we have made the decision to move now so we are just going to have to make the most of it! As the big date looms I find I get at least one daily dose of adrenaline induced anxiety through my body. I picture us all cramped in an old flood damaged wreck of a house, kids in rags, and old banger, and not enough money for a return flight, thinking what have we done!

OK I have been reading these threads and am seriously bricking it. "A word of warning though.............. if you are on £45,000 here in the uk, you will need a wage of about $100,000 in Australia, to have the same standard of living and it is what you should be expecting to earn." I am on £65k in the UK (just outside London close to M25) and am moving to Brisbane to a $90k salary. I am really worried that this will equate to a huge drop in lifestyle. Have I made a huge mistake? :cry:

No we havn't decided where we will be staying after the two week temporary accomodation is up. We have been looking at some houses on the internet and we will try to set up a few viewings for the 1st two weeks when we arrive. It is difficult to tell what the area is like just from browsing on google streetview. We quite like the look of some of the new townhouses that are modern and have shared facilities like a pool. We are not so keen on the Queenslanders, but I guess we may change our minds when we are out there. Our plan is to get a map, and mark the areas we think may be best, and then scope them out. I'm a bit worried that 2 week may not be enough time to get into a 6 month rental property, so we will have to have a contingency plan. A bit expensive otherwise. How are you feeling about the move?

Hi! We fly to Brisbane on the 25th June, Singapore airlines I'm feeling really excited, but fairly stressed. I get waves of panic every now and again when I see packed boxes, reality is starting to hit! I'm nervous about how well off we will be because its difficult to compare salaries and cost of living, and we don't have much savings (I do have a job lined up though). Still have to sell 2 cars, and finalize shipping, those are the main things left on this side (and I'm praying that we can rent out our house quickly). With the move getting close we want to see all our friends, and we are juggling 2 young kids who don't sleep properly :wub: We have 2 weeks to find a rental property, which is a bit scary so will have to get another short term rental lined up in case we can't find something suitable. The rental & housing market in Auz seems a bit loopy at the moment. me 35, wife 33, plus a 4 & 1 year old