Fashionably Late

Truly depends on the area. In my area of Brisbane, a 2 bed unit will set you back about $500-$600 a week but other areas around Brisbane can be cheaper or much more expensive. There are places nearer the universities that are significantly cheaper but you couldn't pay me to live in most of them.

That happened to us as well and had a home ruined by a so-called friend.

1 - Food/Groceries budget P/W - We are a family of 5 and I spend between $150-$200 a week 2 - Public Transport costs - My husband and eldest daughter depend on public transport. My husband travels 45 minutes each way on the train and his daily cost is about $10. My eldest uses the buses and costs around $2 a day. They each have Go cards. 3 - Mobile Phone costs - I think my iphone plan is around $60 a month with Optus. 4 - Wireless Internet cost for home- We have a home phone and internet package with Optus and pay $109 a month. 5 - Gas/Electricity/Water- Our quarterly electricity bill is usually around $680. We have a 4 bedroom house and air conditioning on the upper floor. Our landlord pays most of the water and our portion of the bill was only $72 for 4 months. 6 - To fill up a small car tank what is the cost of petrol- I have a Toyota SUV and my car, which is an auto, costs about $95 to fill up. 7 - Council Tax/rates if applicable? None. The landlord pays it. 8- Cost of visiting the doctor/GP? Our GP bulk bills for children and it costs my husband and me about $30ish to see the doctor. Prescriptions are usually a maximum of $35.40. I say usually because some aren't covered by PBS. This is where our private medical insurance is very helpful for us. 9 - House Insurance- Our renters insurance is about $45 per month.

Personally, I would go for the council one as it sounds as though the council would be the one renting from you and therefore the person paying.

We had a stop over and I am so glad we had the email from the airline honouring the extra weight as they tried to sting me with a huge bill. Definitely make sure you have something in writing from the airline.

We absolutely adore living in Brisbane and honestly couldn't imagine living anywhere else. We have had fantastic experiences, the people are extremely friendly and life here (for us) is pretty darn perfect. Bad stuff, like our daughter's bite, could happen anywhere but everything else more than makes up for it.

I would stay here in our area of Brisbane but would buy myself a much bigger house!

We haven't stayed indoors once due to the heat in the 9 months we have lived here. We love it and are rarely inside. Unlike Zack, we haven't had any bad experiences except my eldest daughter being bitten by a redback and falling quite ill from that. She wasn't at home when it happened as she was on a school camping trip.

There are no tuition fees on a 457 visa in Queensland.

Some of my daughter's friends go to these schools and many are third generation alumni. It is easier to get their names down now and stay on the list. I would also have back up plans for some of the other fab private schools on offer in Brisbane.

We are getting our rental sprayed next week. My eldest was bitten by two redbacks at a school camp and ended up in hospital extremely ill and may need surgery on her leg due to it. In my case, I'll chance the chemicals after her experience.

My daughter started treatment in the UK and is finishing here. It will cost s $3600 in Australia to finish her orthodontic treatment. We were paying in the UK too.

Quite a few of my daughters friends are from Roma and are boarders at her school. They love Roma but said the educational aspects leave a lot to be desired.

With your criteria, I would definitely look at the Sunshine Coast. I absolutely adore the western suburbs of Brisbane but if we weren't tied to Brisbane for work we would be up on the SC in a heartbeat!

We used Alpha Car Hire in Fortitude Valley for 8 weeks.

Do you feel healthier because of the weather, no long cold horrible winters. Very much so. The Brisbane weather allows us all to be outside, exercise and not be cooped up indoors. Do you spend more time outside. Heck yes! I just started working last week and almost everyone in my office takes there lunch outdoors and enjoys the sunshine and fresh air. We eat most of our meals outside as well. Do you sit out more in the evening. Yes and it is important for us to remember to put the mosquito repellent on. The kids play on the two decks at the rear of the house and we enjoy nature and love hanging out on the front veranda as well. Do you go to the coast often, for a swim in the surf. Not as often as we originally thought we would. Life intervened and we find ourselves lacking the desire to go to the beach when we could be hanging out with our friends. Do you socialise more, barbecues at each others houses. We rarely have a free weekend! We have made an amazing group of friends and we are always at one another's homes. Loving BBQ's and the kids running around being kids. Do you nurses enjoy your jobs more, my wifes a nurse. Not a nurse but my husband and I are both enjoying our careers here much more than we did in the UK or the US. Anything really, where you feel your life has changed for the better. Our life is amazing here. Our kids have settled in so well and enjoy every aspect of Australian life. I love the education they are all receiving and the private school fees are a much smaller % of our income than they were in the UK. We have had to adapt to the cost of things here but people, at least those we have encountered, seem far less materialistic than the two previous countries we lived in as a family.

I don't think I had a sheltered upbringing. My husband says he has never seen a fist fight either and I wouldn't say he was sheltered either. I am just glad I never encountered it as I find it appalling behaviour.

I find it appalling that nothing was done to stop the fight. I never remember seeing a fist fight ever.

We were told that both homes must be in Australia to comply with the new rules. I can't tell when you say a home there and a home here where home here is. Also, if accommodation and/or food is supplied then it would not count. Only if your husband was responsible to paying for two homes within Australia. At least that is how the HR department's LAFHA consultant explained it to us.

I left the US, where I was born, in my 20's and moved to the UK. Then we moved to Australia 8 months ago. I feel no longing for the US or the UK. Home is wherever my husband and three children are.

Definitely depends on the schools. My three kids schools are brilliant and far better than their British ones (and American one that my eldest also attended).

My eldest in in Year 9 and her school does not allow any make up at all. And when she and her friends are out of school they rarely wear make up. If they do it's a bit of mascara and lip gloss.

My husband had a brilliant job and made fantastic money. We lived in a gorgeous house (our dream home) and in a part of the UK we enjoyed. We now have a wonderful life in Brisbane and wouldn't dream of going back. My husband has a brilliant job here and makes more money than we could have ever dreamed of, I just got my first job (part-time contract) for the first time in nearly a decade and my kids simply adore their schools. Life, for us, is what you make of it and we are living it up!

How incredibly sad for the child involved. Isn't this the same bridge the other mum who killed her daughter jumped off of?

It is a silly system and only NSW and the ACT have this. That is a lot of money to pay for schooling just because your visa is different.