josetann

Loved the Optus $2 Days. Prepaid (so you need to have ID, but no credit checks), $2 every day you use it for unlimited calls, texts, AND data usage (technically you shouldn't tether to your laptop...but I had no problems...I mean I wouldn't have if I did, which I didn't because I follow every rule to the letter). Now, it's not a great deal if you only use it to make one call in a day...but if you're making a bunch of calls and/or using a lot of data every day, then I think it's a great value. Make as many calls as you want, don't worry if you're on hold with Centrelink for over an hour...don't worry if 1800 numbers are actually free or if they, for some reason, get charged more than a "normal" number, etc. Once you're all setup, then move to a cheaper plan (I use Crazy John's $15 for 90 days...call rates are reasonable, texts are 1 cent, comes with 500MB of data, unlimited calls/texts to others using Crazy John's...more than meets my needs). Edit: Forgot to post the link to the Optus $2 Days: https://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/2dollardays

Ok, we didn't start with UK licenses, but we did convert a foreign (US) driver's license at VicRoads. They just looked at the license, saw what restrictions/endorsements/etc. were on there, and gave us the comparable equivalent. My wife just got her Motorcycle endorsement the previous year (around November/December, then got our Victoria licenses the next February). Didn't matter; we had an overseas license that had the Motorcycle endorsement, so that's what our new license from VicRoads had. Heck...if they knew how easy it was to get my license...took a written test that was probably 25% about drunk driving laws, then took my 250cc scooter the next day to take the riding test. Instructor came out, had me ride over to the parking lot next door, and after I turned around to come back she was already walking back inside. I got my new license and was able to legally ride the scooter back home. My wife actually took a two-day course. That's it, no probationary period, we can ride anything we want.

Sandwiches are a big thing. We have peanut butter and jam, peanut butter and banana, peanut butter and chocolate (nutella), grilled cheese, grilled cheese and ham, etc. Nothing beats a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. Haven't had it since we've been here, but we used to have macaroni and cheese with hot dogs pretty regularly. We finally found a good (read, something that's familiar to us) hot dog at Aldi's, so we've been having hot dogs once a week or so. Breakfasts are usually a bowl of cheerios, maybe toast. Occasionally I'll be bored and scramble up some eggs with misc. ingredients (definitely cheese, maybe some mushrooms, indian seasoning, whatever's available). Oh, Sunday mornings it's always pancakes. Use some pancake mix, add a tiny bit of vanilla flavoring, and put peanut butter or nutella on top (plus syrup, of course). Desserts vary. Mud pie cake mix is $4, plus cream (I wait until it's on sale at NQR, 35cents for a container) and eggs. Chocolate chip cookie mix for $2 (plus one egg, and negligible amount of margarine). Probably the best and cheap dessert is chocolate oatmeal cookies (also called no-bake cookies). Butter, sugar, cocoa, peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. I think for a family of four, we spend a bit over $100 a week on groceries. I've tried to track it to get a rough idea, but some weeks we're only buying milk and bread, other weeks we're stocking up like crazy ($2 jars of peanut butter are bought 20+ at a time).

Top of the list would probably be Africa, want to see the pyramids and go on a safari. Not sure which countries I'd be checking off for that (well, Egypt would obviously be one). Then I want to drive from the US to the southern tip of South America, so there's another slew of countries. By the time I get around to it, they may have a road the whole way (right now you have to take a ferry for a tiny portion). Then I'd catch a cruise to Antarctica. Will do a Europe tour someday. Probably start in England, hop over to France and just drive around (or ride the train). Already done Spain and Portugal, but would make a point to hit Italy. Japan and Russia would probably round out the list. Now, which (new) country will probably be the next one I actually go to? Probably some place nearby like Fiji, Singapore, Indonesia, etc.

We did a January arrival. Was a bit harder to find short-term accommodations (due to school holiday). But...it was nice to get settled in, have plenty of time to check out the school, get our son enrolled, have him start with everyone else, etc. As for job interviews, my wife already had that lined up, so can't talk to that.

We're in Ballarat too. Just got here in January, so we're still learning about the area. Kids love the Wildlife Park. Wife goes to the university and works at the hospital, thinks highly of both.

My reason? Because it was there. When I see an opportunity, I tend to think in terms of "why not?" instead of "why?" So when people would ask "why are you going to Australia?", the best I could say is "because it's there." Never been, sounds like it'd be an adventure, can't find any good reasons to NOT go, so we went for it. And if we end up not liking it and heading home as soon as our self-imposed year is up, it was still an adventure. So far though, we're liking it!

Note, they're not asking how much you're going to bring. Rather, how much you have access to. So, look at all assets you could possibly liquidate (all your savings, stocks, retirement accounts, in addition to "normal" funds like in a cheque account). Now, that's how much you have access to. That's the amount they want to know about. Side note, the website does explicitly state "We do not require evidence of these financial resources."

I kept moving their schedule up by 30-60 minutes at a time, leaving the last hour until after we landed in Australia. The total time difference at the time was 7 hours. So right before we left, they were already going to bed 6 hours later than "usual". Yes, being on a plane for that long did mess with their sleep some, but it was a piece of cake to get them back on schedule.

I scanned and emailed, no response. Posted at the same time, no response. But apparently it had been updated in their system, as I never had to show the old passport (I did bring it with me, just in case).

Nope, but interest rates are almost always quoted as an annual percentage. That's why I put that nice disclaimer in there and said "Now, if that 29.99% interest really WAS per month, then you'd multiply it by 12, and post that you had a 359.88% annual interest rate." If you post that you had a 29.99% interest rate, virtually everyone will assume you meant an annual percentage rate. If it was a MONTHLY interest rate, then you have to state so. I haven't heard of that kind of interest rate on a credit card or other "regular" loan, but not denying that it could happen either.

You might want to quickly redo your math before anyone calls you out 29.99% interest is an ANNUAL rate, not monthly. Now, different banks will figure it differently, but to keep it simple, you'd take the interest rate and divide by 12 to get the monthly interest rate. So, 29.99% / 12 = roughly 2.5%. If you start at $8,000 owed, at the end of that month you'll owe $8,200. What really gets you in trouble is if you can't afford even the interest payment, i.e. you now owe $200 in interest, you pay that but immediately charge the card back up to $8,200. In that scenario, the next month you owe interest on $8,200, bringing it up to $8,405. Rinse and repeat. Now, if that 29.99% interest really WAS per month, then you'd multiply it by 12, and post that you had a 359.88% annual interest rate. A bit unrealistic, unless we're talking lots of payday loans. Regardless, those are ALWAYS bad news.

We came in January. Did have problem finding inexpensive accommodation for a family of 4 (had hoped to get a cabin in a caravan park or something similarly priced, but everything was booked up due to the school holiday). Other than that, it was nice to have a bit of extra time to get settled in properly.

We just took our passports and a print-out of the visa grant. The airlines did have a bit of trouble looking up all the passports, but they were able to get it straightened out (dunno if it helped that we had the visa number, or if the person just didn't know how to look it up properly). My main concern was we had to renew our son's passport after the visa grant, but before we validated the visa. I sent the required info to DIAC, never heard back, but apparently it was taken care of. I brought his old and new passport just in case, but they never asked to see the old one.

My philosophy...it's called personal finance for a reason. It's PERSONAL. What works for one person may not for another. Just because the situation is identical on paper, does not mean the solution should be the same. That said, here's how I'd look at it. On the one side of the contract, you have someone who tends to think in terms of what's "moral". On the other, you have someone who thinks in terms of "I will do everything legally possible to squeeze as much money out of this contract as I possibly can." So one's worried about the law AND morality, the other side is only worried about law (we'll save the "but they're NOT following the law" for another debate). That's a bit one-sided. I'd look at it first from a pure financial standpoint, then let your feelings creep in. Would it be legal to stop paying on a house and leave the country? Every contract I've read basically has a "do this, if you don't then we can do that." I.e. you stop paying on a house, the bank can take it back. Stop paying on a credit card, the bank can sue you or turn you over to collections. As long as you didn't go into debt fraudulently (run up huge credit card bills and then decide to stop paying), there's probably nothing illegal in the simple act of not paying a debt. In essence...maybe it's best financially to default, but you can afford the payments, so you keep paying. Or maybe it's best financially to default, you realize you'll be in a much better position for your family. Once you let personal feelings come into play, you decide being able to provide for your family is more important than the morality of paying the debts. You have to choose.

Ooh, you must tell me about your time in Saudi Arabia. Another place I'm interested in going to, but my wife has made it clear she couldn't deal with some of the cultural requirements (due to her being of the female persuasion). And yes, in the US...you better be dying if you want to call in sick. Think my wife called in sick once, but everyone knew she really was sick. But if you show up sick a patient might catch what you have, get sick, and well, bad things could happen. So it's either risk losing your job or your license. Luckily, my wife is rarely sick, so it's been a non-issue. She DID get some kind of warning once, when she called out due to all the snow we got. Caught us by surprise, and we couldn't get off the hill safely (it was obvious to anyone that we lived on a hill...the street had "Hill" in the name). Edit: I just remembered overhearing a conversation once. Person was applying for a job (one they'd had prior). She wasn't eligible to be rehired because she had been a no-show. She had proof that she'd been in the hospital for something pretty bad, but it didn't matter. She was told that she should have called in to work and if she was physically unable to, then someone should have called on her behalf. Unreal.

Yup. You want cold, go take a dip in the Arctic Ocean. Warm's nice, but not an absolute necessity. Some of the best sights have been when we're bundled up in layers.

Ah yes, public transportation. Love that too. I'm really trying hard to remember, but I don't think I've ever been on a train in the US (almost took one in Alaska, purely for sightseeing, but took a car instead). There's just no option to hop on a train and go to the next city (well, I think you DO have that option in some areas, just not where I was). First time on a real train (and not just a shuttle from one part of the airport to the other, or the monorail at Disney World) was in Beijing (and the next day we landed in Melbourne). And traffic jams...been in a few bad ones. Houston, Texas probably had the highest frequency. But I remember being stranded on the interstate during a freak snow storm. That lasted maybe 8 hours, maybe longer. People were out making snowmen, wandering into the trees to "relieve" themselves. We were lucky...were in our motorhome (converted bookmobile) so we had heat, beds, and a toilet.

Definitely, yes. Just butting in for a bit of a different perspective. So yeah, maybe some parts are better, some are worse. Sometimes when I hear someone complain about something, and that something seems to be quite a bit better than I'm used to, I just pipe up to say "well, could be worse!" Another example...some people in my wife's class were complaining about the number of post-natal visits (maybe I'm using the wrong term...talking about the in-home visits you get from a midwife after you have a baby). They felt the number should be higher. My wife had to point at that in the US, there's no such thing as in-home visits after you have a baby. You go to the hospital, deliver, are sent home 48-72 hours later (my wife had a C-Section, she spent two days in the hospital both times). You have a six-week checkup with the OB, and take your baby to the pediatrician for whatever visits are necessary. The complaint surely made sense to the people who spent their lives here...but to someone fresh off the boat to speak, it just didn't make sense. "What, you get multiple visits in-home from a midwife to see how you and the baby are doing? That's AWESOME! Oh, it's not enough...oh ok."

You mean there's a difference between...wait just a sec, let me put my flame-proof suit on...you mean there's a difference between an Australian and a British accent? I can't tell...probably the first time that EVERYONE I hear has an accent. Though really it's me that has one...someone thought we were from Ireland? Good to know I'm not the only one with trouble recognizing different accents. Now, back on topic: Just a tiny bit of perspective. No universal healthcare in the US, unless you're old or poor (or possibly lower middle-class). You get a job, you (hopefully) get some kind of health insurance. You get the big book of doctors who are in-network. You call them, and they either don't take that insurance anymore, or aren't taking new patients. You do eventually find someone who'll take you though. You go to the doctor. Spend lots of time filling out forms, have to remember your insurance card each time (though they keep a copy). Depending on the insurance and the reason for the visit, you may pay $0 or you may pay $15 (or whatever the co-pay is). Often (maybe 25% of the time), you later receive a bill because insurance didn't cover everything, so that's a hassle to deal with. Our most recent insurance cost just under $200/mo for two people (our state paid a third of the premium, so consider it $300/mo). It was decent coverage if you didn't get sick (well visits had a $0 copay for example). But if you went to the hospital, I think it maxed out at $15k or $20k a year. Just a couple days in the hospital would wipe that out. Actual decent coverage would likely be $600-$800/mo, but still with co-pays, large deductibles (excess), etc. Our state would give kids free insurance if you were deemed low-income (defined as 250% of poverty level...family of four could make up to $57,625 a year and still qualify). If you made over that, it cost between $268-$341/mo per kid (if you got the state plan...I'm pretty sure a family trying to buy private insurance could get something for less than that). Personally, I love the Medicare system here.

Now THAT's something I'd like to see

Hey, just because you have to do normal life things does not necessarily mean you're not in paradise. I mean...doesn't matter if I'm in Prudhoe Bay Alaska or on a long overseas flight, I still have to wash my hands after using the toilet. Ok, bad example.... I do get what you're saying though. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day activities, that we may not appreciate (or even take advantage of) what's right outside our door.

Yes! Shopping at Coles IS like paradise!

We have a saying. Don't ask don't tell. If they don't specifically ask about something, then don't tell them! I honestly forget all the questions on the medicals. But for example, if it asks if you ever took anti-depressants, then you'd obviously have to say yes. However, if it asked if you were ever diagnosed with depression...well were you officially diagnosed? Maybe you were depressed, but did a doctor give you an official diagnosis of depression? If not, then you would truthfully answer no. Now...I would never advocate outright lying...but read the questions carefully and give as short (and honest) an answer as possible. Questions needing a Yes or No shouldn't be answered "No, but..." That said...they're more worried about your health right now. Specifically, they're mostly worried about how much they expect you'd cost the Australian Taxpayer. A thousand or two a year in Medicare costs, not a problem. $20,000 or more, possible problem. And easier said than done, but you have to try to remain calm through all this. If you have a breakdown during your psychiatric evaluation, they might not care that they're the ones that did it to you Just go, answer honestly, try to relax, and come here to vent

Here in Victoria at least, they asked for the moon. And apparently a lot of people were able to give it. Wife has a year contract at the hospital. Plenty of funds in the bank. Lots of good work references. We got passed over on each rental. We didn't rent, so had no rental references. No one other than friends or family ever went to our house...and references could NOT be from friends or family (um, what??!!). And they wanted Australian references. We hit the ground running though, and one week after we landed we found a place that accepted us. Eventually found a place that was off the beaten path (i.e., not swamped). Actually took the time to look at what we had. Didn't care about most of the paperwork we had; work contract check, bank statements check, ID check, that was good enough for them. Got word back that afternoon. Get whatever you can now. Might not help much, but if someone would be willing to write about how neat and tidy you've kept your house (note...some apps specifically said they would NOT accept references from other agencies), it wouldn't hurt. Once you arrive in Australia, have some friends over to your new temp digs; see if they'll write a letter stating how neat and tidy it was. Some places seem to be very strict on the rules...if they want to see three Australian references regarding how well you treat your apartment/house...then you need to have three Australian references saying you kept your apartment/house nice and tidy. Even if you were only there for a week...doesn't matter, it's a technicality that must be met. Do you already have an account open at an Australian bank? If so, that'll help give an illusion of being in Australia longer than you have (our bank statements have that we've been a customer since August 2011, though we didn't set foot in Australia until 2012). And don't only look at the big agencies. Seek out smaller ones, check into owner rentals, etc. Four weeks, you're bound to find something. Just look for rentals every day (even if it's a quick search online), go to viewings 2-3 times a week, stuff like that. You'll be fine.