chiara

Go for the adventure, but remember on a 457 you are unprotected. We're on a 457 and hubby is on his fourth week of notice, meaning if he doesn't have a job by the end of the week, we're on the first plane out of here! With two kids that's not too bad, but we've 5 and it is a worry. Also, 65k won't do a lot here, we've been on twice that and still struggle. Good luck with the decision.

Thanks for those replies. Yes I noticed that Caroline was there, and very keen at the beginning then went quiet - wonder what that means? The job is very well paid and comes with accommodation, so is very tempting to me. Hubby's been doing fifo up til now which I simply couldn't cope with, so this seemed like a reasonable compromise. Hmm lots to think about....

Hi thereHubby is in the running for a job in Paraburdoo, and I'm wondering if anyone on this page lives there? I know it's the back end of nowhere but I'm wondering what the community is like? Thoughts?

No, can you recommend one? Pretty clueless...he's a project manager in construction...

Thanks for that. Yes I agree, I know personally it's virtually impossible to get anyone to even reply to your emails and I've all but given up finding work here myself. Trouble with dh doing fifo, is that he's only home for 3 and a half days ever two weeks, mainly over the weekend, so doing the legwork isn't easy... shall keep plodding away...

Can anyone tell me the best way to find jobs here in Perth. Job websites are often very impersonal and you feel that you're sending your cv into the abyss... are employers more likely to use recruitment agencies or direct? Have tried applying for a couple of things (well my husband has) and not much come back...any advice?

, Six it, gotta ask... who pays this kind of money, cos we want IN!! DH is quite willing to do contract work, but we have no idea where to look...please share...if we have to endure the horror which is fifo, lets make it pay!!

OK, I didn't realise they pay that additional 40k... I thought they were benefiting from hubbies tax free allowance..ok that makes sense now. And the girl in payroll told him he'd be losing roughly 200...perhaps she had it wrong...still, it's a big chunk to lose...hmmm....

OK, I didn't realise they pay that additional 40k... I thought they were benefiting from hubbies tax free allowance..ok that makes sense now. And the girl in payroll told him he'd be losing roughly 200...perhaps she had it wrong...still, it's a big chunk to lose...hmmm....

The way I see it is, hubby's employer does very well paying a senior project manager only 80k...with the lafha making up the rest of his salary.... we reckon we'll be roughly 200 dollars a week worse off once it is taxed...

They are taxing it from next week, so we shall see what difference it makes.

OK, almost a year on and having an extremely underwhelming payrise (1.7% whoopee!) DH has taken a closer look at his payslip and noticed that his base salary of 120k is comprised of 80k from his employer, and 40k from his LAFHA. Is this normal? I'm not very good at understanding money, tax, finance in general, but to me this seems as if they are benefiting from his tax free allowance, rather than him. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether this is normal or acceptable. Cheers!

Kalgoorlie would have meant living together with my husband, school would have taken a back seat to that. When I realised that what I was looking at differing shades of gray - in terms of ellenbrook/secret harbour (which I thought would be commutable to freo, turns out it's not) etc, I decided to prioritise the kids school. Yeah, I change my mind alot...its a confusing trying to find a place to settle, and I'm constantly second guessing my decisions.

At the moment our priority is to keep them in the same school here in helena valley - she has just over a year to finish there before freo, hence the ellenbrook idea. This is short term. In 2014 we'll have to revisit the whole thing. I can't move her to a different school just for one year before high school. Thanks all for your input!

Oh blimey, those stats don't look so good. I think I'm confusing the issue a little by mentioning my daughter going to freo. Right now my priority is to find a house, near enough to their school, in a community (husband doing fifo...terrified at night), where the shops can be reached on bikes, and a playground ideally, for no more than 500 dollars a week. Oh and that isn't ugly as sin. I know, tall order. The future is of no interest to me at the moment, I don't know if I even want to stay here. Anyway, I think it might be a moot point, those statistics don't give me much confidence... back to the drawingboard....

There are plenty there, I haven't inspected any yet. I will start looking in the next few weeks... look nothing is going to be too exciting, so I pretty much know what I'll get. I suppose my initial question was why does it have a bad reputation. Nobody has really answered that so maybe it's just the people I've spoken to!

No, we've as much time as we need, which almost makes it worse! I hated the northern suburbs, felt they were bland. I loved the hills with their character. However, with five kids that need outdoor space, a chance to cycle around on their bikes etc, it hasn't really worked out. The only area near us in the hills that works is helena valley, and the prices are up in the 600's and I just don't want to pay that. We hit on secret harbour because we thought she might be able to take the mandurah train to freo, turned out to be completely wrong about that. I am living from month to month, there is no guarantee that dh will still have a job next year if this mining boom collapses, so right now all I'm thinking about is keeping the kids in their school and we'll worry about all the rest once we're more certain of our future. Like I said, the train goes from midland to freo, directly, so that is fine for now...

Moven, she doesn't start til 2014, in the meantime all four are in Helena valley school, so I don't want to move them until I know what the hell we're doing long term here. Ellenbrook seems is an exercise in damage limitation for now...

But sure it's all suburbia! The only place where you don't get that sense of 'suburbia' is either up in the hills or some expensive places SOR. I've all but given up expecting to find somewhere special that is affordable. The hills are charming but increasingly hard to find a decent house which is affordable (actually, it's impossible), and 8 months in I've finally accepted I'm gonna have to accept what I found impossible when I first arrived.

My daughter will be attending high school in fremantle in 2014 but she can get the train from midland... will look at Avely, thanks!

Well the saga continues... did a recce to Secret Harbour and sadly my initial impressions were confirmed - Nuclear testing village in the Arizona desert I'm afraid...yes the houses are pretty, and the schools and parks on site are attractive, particularly with the beach so close...but it feel so far from civilisation I don't think I could face it. On top of all this, I discovered the train line doesn't run from Mandurah to Fremantle, so the whole idea is out. I also realised that while I was struggling to find a rental in Helena Valley, I also wasn't willing to pay in excess of 600 dollars a week, regardless of how convenient it is. And so, I've hit on the idea of Ellenbrook. It is close enough to the kids school that I won't need to move them, it's got shops and parks within walking/biking distance and Swan Valley is on the doorstep. However, I have heard bad things, and I don't know why that is. Can anyone shed any light? A trip around the local shopping centre generally gives you a good idea of the demographic, and compared to the freak show which is Midland Gate,:wacko: this was quite ok. So what am I missing and what are the problems in Ellenbrook? Cheers!

We would love to move to Freo, but rent wise it's for the super rich. Most houses are around the 800 plus and if you want something really nice add another few hundred onto that.

And to add, we had lunch in Swan Valley today, in the Mallard Duck. We paid 28 dollars for a tasting plate for two, which was more than enough food for us and we were stuffed at the end of it. Had it been later in the day, we would have ordered a bottle of wine which was 20-22. Not bad at all I think, particularly as it's so beautiful around there. However, when we have the 5 kids with us it gets much more tricky and I find myself fretting at the cost but then with 5 kids, that is always the problem. And 'mum of 5', where in Mayo are you from?? I'm from Newport and hubby from Achill!!

When I first got here, I had to lift my jaw off the floor quite regularly at the prices. Now I've been here a while, I'm realising that pricing is completely random. You would be mad to buy anything but petrol in a petrol station, you can pay 4 or 5 dollars for 2 litres of milk in them. IGA should be used for emergencies only (although convenience means I tend to go in there every day). I've seen a bag of apples for 9 dollars in there, 5 dollars for a small bottle of washing up liquid etc... and I've noticed that many items change price almost on a daily basis, for eg, I buy a lot of soda water, today it was 1.29 but last week it was 1.99, next week it might be 1.49, no idea why they change so often. You can buy 2 l of milk in coles for 2 dollars. Again, you can get a loaf of bread for 1.29 in Coles, or you can pay 5 dollars...its all down to brands. My favourite wine costs 11.99 in Dan Murphy's, and 18.99 in my local offie (the oddly and slightly pervily named 'Liquor in the Valley')... my point being, if you shop around you quickly learn where to go. As for rent, well I give up...I'm really struggling to find a decent house that's affordable....

Well ok stevief8, but that is probably taking in the greater dublin area. I'm speaking from personal experience, if I were to arrive in Galway now, where we lived, and wanted to rent a house, I could expect 4 or 5 bedrooms, 2 family rooms, a large kitchen/diner on half an acre of land. It would cost about 700 euros a month. As it is I'm in a shoebox here and finding anything big enough is proving difficult in the area we're living in. Perhaps I should have been clear about speaking from my own experiences...