PomPrincesses

If your baby is born in the UK to a British father then he wouldn't need a visa and therefore no costs involved. I had my first at 24 and if I could turn back time I'd have waited ten years, whats the rush, children are for life, you change and grow as a person so much in your twenties you will not recognise yourself seriously. Have some fun before the cute baby arrives, that's my advice which you didn't ask for but that's old folk for you

Not a sausage yet, the trouble is I have to be honest with everyone and tell them I have 28 days really to find a role but understandably they don't want to rush in and nor do they have to in this current market.

I'm sure it's lovely but they were pretty candid at the interview and they didn't think a family could live on £35,000 Shame the people interviewing me when I came to Perth weren't as open. ​Looks like I'm going home and "DH" is staying

The good news is there is a soccer club. I however wouldn't live in the vicinity of ellenbrook if you paid me. It is hot in summer and I mean hot "the doctor" the breeze that makes WA bearable does not visit the "bad lands" as we affectionately call that area. A "friend" lives in EB, she witnessed the flat above her selling drugs, the neighbours over the road video'd this as evidence for the police and they were caught by the dealers who went and kicked the crap out of a middle aged woman and her husband. The police arrived about an hour later, they were that busy on a Friday night. This is in addition to the three burglaries in Aveley I know of. ​Sure it can happen anyway but it seems to happen there a lot.

THank you, the company is 23 minutes late for my skype interview I am starting to wonder if that's a sign from the gods lol

Oh heck, I'm really worried about the money side of things now, I don't want to go from being broke in the sunshine to being broke in the pissing rain :arghh:

Thank you

Salary wise they are looking at £35,000, I'd be on my own with the four kids so I think end up with £880 per week. "DH" would send me another £2,000 from Australia as long as he is working but that would be towards paying the UK mortgage off and I couldn't rely on it.

Sorry should have said, yes Scotland. How keen are they on the English ? My mother is Glaswegian so I'll keep that to myself, thanks for the tip

Just wondered as I am getting a lot of interest from organisations in the area. House prices and rents seem quite high. Any advice welcomed, thank you

Never under estimate the grandparents help with the children. One of the reasons my marriage has gone down the pan is we simply never in 10 years had any time alone together. I can't answer the stay or go question but I would say is that I am interviewing all over Perth right now for roles as a recruitment manager and the main attraction of my skill set is that I've been successful in very tough markets before - which is a worry, clearly they see trouble brewing on the horizon and I feel a bit like i'm putting my head in the noose, they can't lose because if they are currently generating nothing I can only improve on that but of course if I don't my reputation in Perth will be shot to pieces. ​I had three children under four and it's not that bad though, you will cope - you're not given a lot of choice lol

I do t blame you wanting it back I'm being given bags of second hand clothes for my son and I'm bloody grateful but that would never have happened with my girls. Whilst it won't do him any harm I feel bad about it that he is being short changed because of kow far our standard of living seems to have fallen in the 10 months we've been here.

I think that's about right we'd have around about £700 PCM to spend after everything is paid for, you'd get some sort of child benefit and tax credits too. put it this way I had more in my pocket in the UK on that salary than earning four times that amount in Perth. ​we are in dire straights here and I'm interviewing for roles paying $100,000 and I know that the family cannot survive on that alone for long before we start falling behind with bills etc

When we were in the north west of the UK we managed on £3,000 for six of us, ate well M&S not Aldi on £45,000 including £1050 for the mortgage. I am a put a jumper on rather than the heating kind of person but none the less our kids went without very little and we had at least 2 holidays a year and a day out a month. i miss things like necter points, club card vouchers etc they paid for a lot of hotels, theme parks etc

Yeah that's not an issue with 457, wish it was pr though

That is where income protection insurance comes in and I would never have a mortgage or car loan without, pays for itself very quickly if its required and gives you time to protect your credit record or sell the assets

$3,000 in rent would be cheap for where we are in Perth, we pay a little less but what was really had was the childcare costs at around $1,000 a week. Anyway. Job interviews happening thick and fast, have a couple of Skype ones set up for Aberdeen if anyone has any experience of living there that would be marvellous, thank you.

Well luckily we are not in debt but unfortunately the government doesn't let you keep all $200,000. I think you end up with about $140,000 in your pocket which in our household equates to $17,000 per person per year after rent but not before bills. When you consider benefits are above that level for doing nothing but sit on you're arse it gives it some perspective doesn't it.

Another two interviews lined up in Perth, I have to say I don't think that would happen in the UK at moment so quickly. ​fingers and toes crossed

Thank you x

Well interview done and dusted, fingers crossed. I know a lot people who came out to Perth full of hope and expectation of starting a new life here and now are simply staying to pay down the mortgage in the UK because of the exchange rate and that seems the sensible thing to do. From my own point of view we self funded this move - first mistake, if you are in high demand here companies will and do relocate staff and bear the brunt of those costs, i see it daily, secondly a 457 when you have kids almost doubles your expenditure relative to the natives. We have a nursery place now for the youngest, we pay $120 a day the aussies claim back a rebate which makes it around $70 a day. That's $250 a week that could be going into the economy or into my belly. On the plus side I've lost the two stone baby weight i was struggling with.

I have a job interview for a role in Sydney today, fingers crossed

And it's of course impossible that one could become the other

Good to know my life is entertaining somebody

Equally that could work in my favor as I believe I'd only have to work 16 hours as a single parent in order to qualify for various tax credits, lets hope the jobs do actually exist