Les Avalook

Money Corp was $1.807 yesterday

UKForex $1.82 today

Is credit card an option? Our letter didn't suggest it is! Straight choice between personal cheque or ban cheque, it said.

Why do they make this so difficult?

Regards.

John & Eirian

As Alan pointed out, credit cards are an option, the practical problem is if your personal bank will let you pre-load the card to make the payment, some do not, of course if you have a very large credit limit like Alan ;-) then no problem.

Bankers cheque from son or daughter is the easy way to go when the time comes.

Regards to all.

Les and Wanda

It all depends!

 

http://www.superguide.com.au/

 

Have a look at this website - and feel able to contact me by way of an email (click on my name to the left of this post) if you would like to discuss with my financial planning colleague.

 

Best regards.

This link is brilliant, thanks for that Alan. I am still after payments from my first temp job so the tips page is very useful. It looks like I am not alone in finding out that payments are not made even if indicated on wage slips that they are.

Regards

Les

UK dividends are taxable in Australia if received by Aus residents who hold permanent visas or are Aus citizens; the notional tax credit that attaches to a UK divi can be claimed as a foreign tax offset.

 

Best regards.

Hi Alan. Once again thanks for the information you give. Regarding dividends, BP paid out on the day(20/09/11) we landed in Oz after leaving the UK on our one way flight, is this the day we start declaring our overseas income or is it from the day we first started working in Oz or even worse from the day we popped over in the 2011 May half-term week to validate our 143 visa?

Congrats, Les & Wanda. It must feel great .... like you've arrived at last!

John & Eirian

Thanks, I'm not sure if I'm feeling great or just shell shocked, I thought we were 'only looking'. :laugh:

She who must be obeyed etc etc

Les and Wanda are pleased to announce the purchase of a small piece of the Sunshine State that will be forever England.:biggrin:

Well I wasn't expecting that.:swoon:

Free advice, don't tell the wife if your job becomes permanent. :twitcy:

Hi Folks

I am still not sure whether it is good news or not but we have just accepted an offer on our house. Severely depressed price but that is the way of the market. Just hope I can get employment at 61 so we can get a loan to make up the difference. After being mortgage free for so long it is a bit frightning but look out Perth we will be landing for good now on 25 april. Just hope it is all we hope for.:wacko:

Well done, all is not lost as prices for houses are just as depressed out here (well where we are in QLD before someone proves me wrong).:wink:

Hi Les, i have followed yours and everyones post on here with interest over the years and especially since i lodged last june so fingers crossed for this year, i have just read with interest on you being offered a mortgage, ............Ann

We have only approached the Commonwealth Bank so have no idea what other banks look for.We are the same age as you (well Wanda is, I’m just a touch senior:cool:) and that did not appear a problem with the bank (CWB).

Our wages have always been paid into the CWB plus our Oz money is with them so they know we can cover the required 5% deposit, plus they can see what we pay for rent.

They do not lend on a set multiple of earnings but ability to pay, they will include the credit limit on any credit cards you have as part of your borrowing.:policeman:

If you have permanent work they want a copy of your contract or a letter from your employer, if you are employed ‘casual’ they want to see 3 months earnings.

The next stage is to get a formal mortgage offer which is like an agreement to lend a set amount of money against an unknown property.

Remember the bank will lend only against their valuation, not the asking price. The bank lady we spoke to had paid over $600k for her new build house 2 years ago and had just had it valued for a new loan at $490k.:arghh:

Our advice would be to expect to rent for 6 months to a year before you make any decision, things are so different over here it is hard to pre-plan from the UK. We learn something new every week and still am not sure which way we will go.

:wubclub:

Regards Les and Wanda

Hi Guys :cool:,Well it’s been 5 months since Wanda and I landed in Brisbane and I think I have only posted once or twice, partly because of time and partly because of poor internet connection.

We stayed with our son for the first month and then moved into a rental, we are paying more than we wanted to but it is in a nice area of Shailer Park.

Wanda beat me to finding work, part time at first and then at a second job full time but still ‘casual’. I found some casual work before Xmas and also did a 3 week Warehousing and Forklift Driving course (thanks Sir Matt) paid for by the Qld government (the only help both of us had to find work).I found more casual work after Xmas and this week found permanent work with a third company 5 minutes away from where Wanda works so we are still running 1 car for the moment.

We still have not moved any more money over from the UK but have managed with money we had sent over when we first applied for the visa plus our earnings.This week we were offered a mortgage of $400K with repayments just a bit higher than our rent so that gives us another option if the exchange rate does not pick up soon. The bank seemed to miss the point we would be in our 80’s by the end of the mortgage term.:wacko:

Reading my last post, we did not get our Xmas day swim in the ocean (used a friends pool) but did on Boxing Day on the Gold Coast. We often go to the Bayside area for a swim when time allows and have a BBQ on the beach afterwards.

We have started to pickup Oz friends for a meal and chat but are most surprised at how much we missed ‘going to work’ and now enjoy that more for the company than the money.Wanda and I had worked together for 13 years so it is still novel to get home at night and say ‘how has your day gone’ and not know the answer.

The last couple of days have been naff with rain but it has still been 22c, and that has been after a long run of shorts and t-shirt weather.

Nearly forgot, our son and D-I-L wasted no time on our arrival to Oz and we have our first grandchild ‘on the way’.:wubclub:

Best wishes to all, Les and Wanda Avalook. :biggrin: Dreaming the Life.

....I am blondish and clean-shaven!

Marian

Too much information :cool:

Got a bit of a shock in a email from our removal company informing us our belongings are expected to arrive in Brisbane on the 31st December, a few weeks earlier than we expected and no way will we have any accommodation by then so we may have to look at putting our things into storage for a while.

Also can't decide whether to transfer the money across from our UK house sale or leave it in the UK until we find something to buy over here.

 

David & Sheila

Hi Durhamlad, to give you an idea of time frame, our container arrived 8th October at Brisbane but took until 24th October to be delivered to our rental. We found our rental in that time and did not pay any extra storeage, we were told that was an average time to clear Brisbane customs.

P.S. If you have agreed a price for possible storage in the UK check any quote your Oz firm gives you for storeage, ours 'forgot' to quote a John Mason 'rate' and wanted to charge nearly double the UK price quoted. :policeman:

Well; our experience seem to have been quite different to yours. We have been in Sydney for two years and we live in the Northern Beaches which is a pretty expensive part of Sydney. Our choice as our daughter and her family live here. We have two used cars which have been reliable and no more expensive to run than in UK; petrol of course is much cheaper. Our broadband connection is excellent and includes line rental and phone calls within Australia for $69 per month. We consider that we could be thought to have come here on a tight budget as we have limited financial resources and will never be able to own a property here; but we have a very good lifestyle and love being here. Vive la difference!!

You seem to have miss-read my post, I said 2nd hand cars are expencive to buy compared to the UK, I did not say how much they cost to run.

You may have a good phone connection in Sydney but i would still think $69 per month for calls and broadband is expencive compared to the UK.

In the context of some people thinking of moving to Australia on a tight budget I still believe it is expencive compared to the UK.

When I have been here 2 years maybe I will stop comparing things to the UK. :wubclub:

G'Day Les

 

We're going through Singapore in a couple of weeks. Did you find it cheaper there than the inbound "duty free" in Oz?

 

Mike

Yes we did, and the choice is better than Brisbane, the only thing we got at Brisbane was some Oz brand fags for our sons friends.

Also Singapore Airport will let you pay in pounds or their $s either way they give a rate that is almost par. Keep your receipt though as in May they double charged our credit card :shocked:, we did get it refunded.

As they did not search us we wish we had picked up some more booze at Brisbane, $30 for a 70cl bottle of spirit from the local store hurts.

Well it would if we drunk it, we just sup the wine at the moment. Someone has to do it. :twitcy:

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

Singapore airlines gave us 40kgs each when we went with them on a return ticket to validate in May this year. If you have a unvalidated PR visa they give that allowance, we had an email confirming that, Heathrow had to check as they said we could not have 40kgs on a return ticket (but they were wrong).

We then asked by email for 25kgs when we left for good (?) in September and they allowed that (they say they do not charge extra between the 20kgs on your ticket and 25kgs if you have extra).

Having an email confirming things does help at checkin.

Standing at the desk with 80kgs of luggage and checkin telling you you are wrong is not funny. It felt good when they checked and said sorry though. :twitcy:

Don't forget to use your full duty free allowance at Singapore airport as any spirit is dear in Oz (as is everything else).

Hi guys,

Haven't posted for a while as we have been using the local library free internet and the time just slips away. At the moment I refuse to pay $50+ a month for the kind of connection that the UK had with dial up 15 years ago. :mad: I have borrowed our son's dongle :shocked: and the connection is not tooooo bad (it ain't good either).

We are in a rental at the moment in a nice peaceful area (no dogs) of Shailer Park, south Brisbane.

All our goods arrived in one piece, we used John Mason, insured by Letton Percival, delivered by Wridgways in Oz. No dramas. :twitcy:

We got a $50 HD box from The Good Guys and our UK tele works fine, we connect our UK external hard drive to the set top box to record any thing we want to watch (very little) but at least you can buzz through the countless adverts. :yes:

Wanda has beaten me to find work but I have done some casual work so a few $s building up over here.

I think it is fair to say don't anyone think they can come over here on a tight budget as there really isn't anything you could call cheap.

Weather wise it is great, I have only worn long trousers (apart from working) once since we left the UK, the sea is warm on the Gold Coast and takes us 40 mins of easy driving to get there.

The price of cars is silly money (expensive) over here so it may work out that bringing a car out 'could' be cost effective.

Haven't had many regrets yet, we do miss our son who remained in the UK but then we also missed our other son when we were there. :wacko:

So far so good, will let you know what Christmas on the beach is like when I next post? :laugh:

Les and Wanda

Hi

 

You can't ship a car and furniture together.

 

I do have some info a member kindly sent to me. If you can give me a few days I will PM it to you.

 

Phoebe

I believe your info is incorrect. :wubclub:

If anyone wants more information go to the Forum button at the top of the page and look for the transport and shipping thread, lots of information there on shipping your car and approx how much it will cost and also how it can share a 40ft container with the rest of your stuff. :shocked:

It's not a cheap thing to do but when you see the price of 2nd hand cars here you may think it could work out.

You must have owned the car for 12 months before it can be shipped.

Les

:cry:

Im so gutted I feel like giving up altogether :cry: :cry:

 

Phoebe

Steady on Phoebe, I'm even getting wet over here. :twitcy:

Fate has a lot to play in life and you may well find everything drops into place next time round.

Just at this moment it may look bleak but it may be better for you to recharge your batteries and take a fresh view at what you can do and what is the most cost effective way of you getting out to Oz. :wubclub:

Best wishes, Les and Wanda

Not that brave really - we have been coming here for 5 years and had done loads of research. We are normally very cautious but with so much planning done in advance everything fell into place very quickly.

 

Look at properties on-line but do as many 'opens' as possible to see how accurate they are in their descriptions, get a 'feel' for the area by driving around as many roads as possible and check out neighbouring properties/traffic noise/nearness of shopping centres and public transport links (schools too if you have children) etc......

'Accurate descriptions' are not something (get) real estate agents would understand in Brisbane. :twitcy:

Barking dogs is something I would add to your list.

....... one word of help, if you had your own home in UK and going to rent, get reference from selling agent to say it was in good condition etc, and bring selling details, and as we have no income for another month, said we would pay 6 months up front...............

Stephen and Aileen Hubbard

Well done Steve and Aileen, you seem to have the dream start.

Regarding rentals, each agent seems to have a list of what they like to see so some things may not cover all agents, we are only paying the normal 2 weeks in advance, we just showed that we had enough money over here to pay the 6 months rent.

They did ask to see proof we had been a home owner in the UK, i.e. the sale money going in our UK account.

In hindsight we should of told them we were retired as it would of meant less questions about what kind of work are we after.

Little White Lies seem to help here in Oz, more so when you are looking for work. :shocked:

Your Oz driving licence seems to open all doors for I.D. it is as useful as a passport.

We did not open a bank account until we got here but all was very quick to do and have had no problems since.

Hardest thing to get used to out here?

1 UK winter time darkness with summer time warmth. :wacko:

2 The price of 2nd hand cars. :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

Best wishes to all that have made it and those still to come,

Les and Wanda:wubclub:

P.S. special thanks to Sir Mervyn King for another hole in the good ship sterling. :arghh:

bit of trivia ...my shipment arrived today and amidst all the chaos I've sat down this evening to see if my uk TV would work...and it does!!!!!

All I needed to do was change the country from uk to Germany -then I reset it to autotune and much to my astonishment it all works beautifully

 

It is a relatively new Toshiba but it isn't hd..just HD ready whatever that means.

 

Probably more importantly, I have absolutely no breakages or damage to any of my stuff...thanks to john masons excellent packing. All in all, 11 weeks door to door which I am delighted with as i went with the groupage option

Good to hear that Fiz, we get ours on this coming Monday, also via John Mason.

Unlike JTCT (very brave people) we have a rental to start with, as we wanted more time to check out where we wanted to end up. One step at a time seems to be the way to go for us. :biggrin:

PIQs spotted in Ikea Logan :shocked:

 

I am pleased to announce that the founding meeting of PIQs (parents in Queensland) was held late this afternoon in the Ikea, Logan, cafeteria!! :biggrin: Attendees - Marmite Matt & Mrs Marmite Matt and Les & Wanda Avalook. It was noted that as Ikea Family Members they were all Piqqing into the free coffee :embarrassed:

 

I'm so b!@#$y slow at typing and texting it is a wonder we made the meeting on time. :twitcy:

Welcome to Australia Les, I hope it turns out to be a good decision for you both.

 

Say Hi to Marmite Matt if you ever get the chance to meet up.

 

All the best

 

Steve

Met Matt and Dianne at Ikea today, well our UK Ikea Family cards work out here so the free coffee is welcome. :biglaugh: No marmite but lots of offers on Swedish meatballs.

As Matt and Dianne are quite a few months ahead of us they have greatly added to our 'to do list'.

It was nice talking to someone who understands what it is like to do this at our time of life and obviously they were very positive people, which helps when you have those 'what have I done' moments. :yes:

:idea: Wednesday mornings Ikea have $1 off their cooked breakfast. :jiggy:Every little helps. :biggrin:

I am hoping the GB£ improves not the AU$.

 

Charlie

:shocked:

Hi Charlie, how do you get the pound sign on your computer or is a UK keyboard?

We have been paying the tax on mum and dads aos money since 2007. scary the amount it adds up to. Just in process of sorting it all out with mum and dad!

I would pay the tax for them if they give me the rate they got in 2007. :wink:

My daughter was going to open an online account for me in her name at 6.5% with UBank but she would have had to pay tax on the interest :goofy:, they couldn't afford to do that so I'm looking for another option :yes: if there is such a thing :swoon:

 

Worst case senario is.....if for some reason we can't get into Oz we can still use it for holidays etc :biggrin:

 

Phoebe

Not just your daughter, everyone pays tax on interest. :yes:

What some people may have to watch (if they open an account with someone elses money) is if they get a benifit from the state and then have too much savings then that could be stopped.:shocked:

With an account in your UK name and address you will pay 10% tax on the interest earnt in a Oz account. The down side is getting access to those funds if you do not visit Oz before you need them.

Les