frogian

Health Insurance: $70 ish per month for basic cover up to around $130 per month for top cover, per person (if you are a family, a family policy it will work out more cost effective) Ambulance ins.: ???? Car Insurance (small second hand car): I’d hazard a guess at $200+ per year for fully comp (based on our 4 year old SUV costing $510 and our 13 year old 4x4 costing $330) Car Registration: $650ish per year (this fee includes a basic 3rd party insurance policy. Don’t forget when you buy a car and you go to register it you’ll have to pay stamp duty on it - around 3% of the purchase price of the car) Pet Insurances (two dogs): Around $140 per month Medication: Can’t comment, haven’t been to the docs. Doctor visits: As above. Food/one person: For two adults, for in the house, we do a ‘big’ shop for food and household items every two weeks. That generally costs us in the region of $230 to $280. On top of that, we top bits up here and there as we go along. No idea what the tops ups costs. Then there’s the odd snack when out and about or at work which costs around $40 per week. If you are like us, you’ll be looking at in the region of $135+ per week for one person. If you then add in a meal out at a restaurant (accompanied by a few cold ones of course) at the weekend, it’ll be closer to $200+ for the week, per person. Petrol/litre: $1.55 (91) 1.60 (95) 1.70 (98) $1.56 (Diesel) (we get ripped off up here in Cairns – it may be 10c or so a liter cheaper where you are going to) Water: $7 per month (three bed house) Electricity: Averages out over the last year at $130 per month for us (aircon got hammered by the OH last summer!) Gas: Nil (no gas appliances) Mobile phone: Depends what you go for. My basic phone (which I brought with me and put an Oz sim in) on a pay as you go costs me $30 per month. This gives me 100 free mins to Oz mobs & landlines, 200 SMS’s plus $30 credit to spend as I like. The OH’s fandangle Samsung costs (so she tells me) ‘about $100’ per month, on a plan which includes the phone, calls, SMS and internet access. Internet: If you are a heavy user, between $60 and $120 per month for a fixed connection, dependent on the provider(s) that are available in your area. We don’t hammer the net so just have a pay as you go dongle (no contract) - $180 of credit generally lasts us around 4 months. Which costs are most commonly included within a house rent? From what I’ve seen here in FNQ it varies. Or does that vary between landlords? Seems that way to me! All the best!

You can purchase Karicare Aptamil formulas at supermarkets; however, the range does not usually include lactose free and cow milk protein free versions. These more sensitive formulas are often sold on prescription; however, you can still generally get them without a script at a pharmacy. Our daughter is on Aptimil Gold Pepti Junior which is a lactose free formula which is partially hydrolyzed (I think so the cow milk protein in it is broken down so it’s easier to absorb). She is sensitive to both lactose and cow milk and this stuff works for her. If your baby does have an actual allergy to cow milk protein (MPI / MPA) then you may need a completely hypoallergenic one, such as Neocate. Neocate can be brought at a pharmacy. Depending where you buy a 450g tin of may retail for as much as $60.00! Pepti is cheaper at about $18.00 for a 450g tin (non-script). A paedeatrician may be able to give a script for it if the baby has a proven allergy or intolerance to lactose or milk protein, if so it will only cost you around $36.00 for a month’s supply (8 tins). If it is only a lactose issue, you could try the S26 lactose free formula (there are some other brands also, all available at most pharmacies or supermarkets). Have a look at the Aptaclub site for formula ingredients – page I’m landing you on shows you what’s in the Gold Pepti Junior (see “Nutritional Info” tab). http://www.aptaclub.com.au/our-products/aptamil-gold-pepti-junior.aspx All the best with the move!

I'm with what Skippy1 says mate. Did it a few years back so a mate could sell my house for me.

If a car doesn't come with a roadworthy cert you wont be able to register it. So you would have to get the roadworthy done yourself (a bit like an MOT) and pay for anything that was needed to get it into a roadworthy state Unless you're mechanically oriented I'd steer clear of anything that doesn't come with a roadworthy, particularly if on a budget. .

Have a look at these pages on the PIO sister website - Ktee has put some good info on there about the different areas etc: http://www.lifeinqueensland.com/forum/f32/ http://www.lifeinqueensland.com/forum/f33/ For me, life in Cairns is great and I really enjoy being here. I may move elsewhere down the line though for a few years, but only for work purposes, but I know if I do go overseas I’ll be back living here eventually and that it’s where I’ll live my days out. Best of luck with the job hunt! PS – seen some big crocs and snakes, but, as yet, no man sized spiders, so your OH should be safe ;-)

Have a look at this site mate: http://www.skillingsolutions.qld.gov.au/ It’s a free Government training and career info service. One thing they do is look at your existing quals, on the job learnt skills etc to see if it's possible to convert them to recognized Oz qualifications or, if a straight swap isn't possible, they'll help determine what courses (or parts of courses) you'll need to take to be able to obtain the relevant Oz qualification. Only downside is you can't access these services from overseas - you have to be resident here in Queensland for them to help you out. Best of luck with the move!

Have a listen to this song about the wildlife in Oz

Bull *cough* or else very lucky. I'll settle on the former thought.

I think there is a difference. Our auto has cruise control. Our manual doesn't. It makes a difference on a motorway run.

Around town I'm happy to drive either. On a good run down a 'motorway' I prefer auto. On graded and off road I prefer manual.

We shipped some stuff over as unaccompanied baggage with Singapore Airlines - personal items such as books, ornaments, electronic goods (three large suitcases weighing 75kg in total). Don't remember the cost but I know it was half what I'd been quoted by shipping agents and was a much faster service (shipping agents were going to take the stuff by boat). Had to drop the items myself at the airport cargo terminal, fill in the relevant forms. Then when they arrive in Oz I had to go pick them up from the cargo terminal and fill out more forms for customs. It took me about 2 hours to retrieve the gear as I had put some paintings on papyrus in one of the cases, which resulted in me paying a visit (and about $100) to the quarantine section so they could have a look at them. They let me keep them though but had I took them with me as hand luggage and declared them when I came in they'd have inspected them for free (as they did with a large carved wooden elephant I brought over in a backpack). So just be careful if you ship anything that's plant or wood based!

I think if 53K (before reductions(?) I'm assuming, be that right or wrong) is the only income you'll have then it's going to be very hard to get by and enjoy your time living here. Will depend a lot on your specific circumstances though (i.e. if that WILL be your only income here, how much cash you'll bring with you, if you'll bring cars over etc). These aspects will make a difference to your quality of life. Hope that's not put a downer on things for you and sorry if it has, but I'm just being honest (I'm in the pro Australia gang).

Yep, I've come across similar stats mate.

Too true mate. As I said in a round about way in an earlier post, it's only a minority that will ever be bothered to get online and give praise, but when someone 'believes' they've been hard done by, they'll be out there shouting it from the rooftops for all to hear.

Got onto them and have insured with them. They did it for $1 cheaper than what I was paying last year with my current (but now out of the game) insurance company, so happy days! Thanks very much for the lead!

Will give them a call as with the company I'm currently with I am paying $20 less than the quote from this co! Cheers!

Sounds believable (car spec / age dependent). Don't forget you also have to pay rego though - that's probably gonna be somewhere around $700 (or at least it is in FNQ - may cost more or less in another state).

Quote 1 - 13, 11,000, FNQ (saving of $320 on other cheapest quote I found). Quote 2 - 5, 21,000, FNQ (saving $220 on other cheapest quote I found).

Yep, looked at that one Sir Les. Also checked out other insurance companies reviews on that site and........there's not a lot in it mate!

Yeah, had a look online at reviews for them and there are people saying they are rubbish, don't use them, they don't pay out etc. If I do the same thing and look at other companies, the reviews I find are the same. It’s very rare though that people will take the time to give praise, but as soon as the s#it hits the fan and something (in their eyes) goes wrong, up they jump to the front of the que to complain. My mate has just had part of a payout refused by a ‘big’ company ‘cos at the time of taking out insurance they didn’t declare that their SUV had a bull bar fitted to it (so the insurer won’t pay to replace it). My mate “thought’’ the bull bar was fitted as standard to the SUV they’d bought, hence hadn’t mentioned it when taking out the policy. He now thinks the company he’s with is a load of rubbish……. I’ll be giving this lot a go this year (and will ensure that all non-standard parts and accessories have been declared). If something should go ‘wrong’ over the next 12 months, I’ll let you know how I go!

Packet of drum, 3 or 4 slabs of cheap beer and, with what's left, as many packs of the cheapest 'boil and eat' noodles I can find. I'd be good with that. Well, I would be, as long as I already owned a tent, sleeping bag, kettle, bowl and fork. And could find somewhere I could pug in a kettle.

This eve I've been looking for a new company to insure our cars as our previous 'good value' insurer has shut up shop, so we can't renew with them. After some time filling in forms and getting quotes, I eventually found our new 'good value' insurer for the coming year (much better value, by $$$, than the other quotes, even with extras added, such as excess exempt windcreen replacement): http://www.realinsurance.com.au/

I currently work in sales (various hand held and ride on equipment) and have never been given any training on consumer regulations, but having just read your post it’s made me look into it (mainly for my own benefit, both at work and from a personal perspective). Check out the videos on this website that (tries) to explain it all (it’s a QLD site, but from what I can gather these regulations are Oz wide): http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/consumer-rights-responsibilities.htm What I got from it is: Goods must be durable (i.e. work for a reasonable amount of time after purchase without breaking down). If they aren’t durable (I believe) that it constitutes a major failure. If a product has a major failure, you, the consumer, get to choose the remedy, not the supplier or manufacturer. The ‘remedy’ options that you can choose from, in the event of a major failure, are: 1 – refund 2 – replacement 3 – repair Have a look at the videos (think parts 3 & 4 were the ones that went through this stuff).

Half and half, but she knew the main reason was 'cos of her. I could have still gone to uni to do what I'd planned to do, but I didn't. I definitely don't have any regrets about how things worked out for me and, TBH, I'm glad I didn't go. If I had I wouldn't have taken the path I have and be where I am today.

Had been with a girl for a few years and when it was time for me to go to uni I deferred my place for a year to just go with the flow. Her dad was a painter and decorator and gave me some part time work, plus I continued with my Saturday job, but cash flow from one week to the next was varied. I needed a full time job. Her brother said there was a job going at his place and if I was interested he'd take my CV in. Was I interested?! Sure was! His work was testing stuff - by setting fire to it to see how it behaved! The next week I started the job and over the next 16 years I worked my way upwards as and where I could through the business. Really enjoyed my career in the fire safety industry and I have a lot to thank it for as it got me where I am today. I'm no longer in that profession, for now, anyway, as where I have relocated to in Oz there's no call for my particular skill set (could have stayed in the profession if we'd moved to one of the big cities, but we didn't want to do that). I've therefore had to diversify into a sales role, for now, which is OK, but I'm sure that I'll go back to my fire career down the line - just need to wait a while and let a few things in life play themselves out. PS - I'm not married to the girl I gave up my uni place for. We split up....when she went to uni.