Chortlepuss

If weather is a primary motivator would you consider Brisbane? Manly is a super expensive (albeit lovely) place to live but the weather isn't that flash in Sydney...

My kids are in Australia (and to be fair doing very well without us - ) although I miss them terribly - we have moved back to UK for a year to downsize our house and spend time with family & friends. My hubby loves Australia (he is on a break from a job he loves). I would choose to live permanently in UK if I could but I will try to return with a 'bolt hole' here. It sucks but that's the way it will be for a while...you are not by a long way alone in your situation!

One of the things I love about Australia is the higher minimum wage that enabled a decent quality of life for people working in traditionally lower paid jobs. I think it's brilliant that a cleaner, waiter, shop assistant earn a living wage. The cleaners I employed in Brissie (only for bond cleaning) worked very hard for their money and earned every cent. If the living wage and penalty rates mean that goods and services cost more, so be it. and in the U.K for so many jobs now, people are screwed down on wage levels so the taxpayer has to step in to fund top up benefits, subsidise employers such as McDonalds so that hardworking staff can pay rent and feed their kids....disgraceful state of affairs.

Important point. Loads of job vacancies here (SE UK) Many minimum wage and impossible to work for that if you want to buy or rent somewhere to live. I'm in IT and the bulk of the work I see advertised is near Reading/M4 or in London. Huge daily rates in London which you pay for with a long commute. Trick is to live somewhere lower living cost/high wage - Cardiff and Edinburgh seem to have a decent ratio for IT work...the news over here is so London centric that it's hard to imagine unemployment and negative equity but this is the reality for some areas of the U.K.

If you're considering south side, I'm going to choose for you - Carindale. It's value for money if you're buying, easy commute to city and coast, large shopping centre, and great for kids. It's not the liveliest suburb (but better than many you've listed) but I think great if you've got families. There's a cinema and plenty of places to eat. I reckon loads of places in Brissie would be dull compared to Sydney but you may prefer family friendly locations. If you were loaded, I'd plump for Bulimba but it's too expensive (and a short drive from Carindale). Lovely by the sea (Manly etc) but your commute is longer....I don't know North side that well - stayed in Airb&b at Toowong and loved proximity to city but if I had a young family I would be a little further out to get a nicer house for my $$. And you're so right about renting - it absolutely sucks. We lived in 5 houses in 9 years in Brisbane and looking for decent rentals/moving took up a ridiculous proportion of my time.

Don't worry about 'wasting time' You've got all the time in the world and it sounds like you're pretty switched on. Personally, I'd take the well paying job, go for citizenship and keep your options open. You can study later if that's what you want, but if you have the choice to earn good money without the debt that comes with studying that would be sweet. And if you ultimately want to study then you'll have a bit of experience, savings and citizenship under your belt. In the UK you'll have to wait at least 3 years to qualify for local fees, and from what I can see youngsters don't get paid anything like what they do in Australia (my daughter is a nurse and earning much more but if she was waiting tables she'd still be better off in Aus). If you do decide to return to UK you'd have work experience and/or a degree which would put you a step in front of the competition,

Will continue to go down until we sell out house in UK and move some money over. Sorry I can't be specific about timescale but can guarantee that will be bottom of the market! If brexit then we're seriously stuffed!

the only way to avoid getting bitten is to acquire a friend who is tastier than you!! I got bitten a lot when we lived near water but hardly at all when we lived near dry forest and had a breezy house. I too found aircon too much in shopping centres and offices and had to take a cardi with me to the cinema! Our old queenslander got as hot as hell upstairs in the Brisbane summer so aircon required, but when we lived in more modern houses used the aircon far less...lots of variables but the choice of where you live in Brisbane makes a big difference to your everyday comfort. Now in the UK and having pretty good weather but the sight of people in t shirts in 15 degrees still shock me. On Sunday we even saw people going for a paddle at the beach!

VS - what a brilliant set of priorities. Things can be replaced but how empowering to travel so lightly. We gave away a lot of our stuff - chance to have a fresh start!

It's so difficult when you're up against it age wise - was in a similar boat myself and just managed to sneak in. I'd echo VS - try and find another employee now - 3 years is too long to be miserable working for a poor employer and the feeling on vulnerability on a 457 makes for an uncomfortable existence. I'd worry less about your daughter - kids are remarkably resistant and adaptable - its hubby's mental health that is the concern. You can have a very nice life back in the UK with freedom to work for whom you choose, without all the pressure that potentially being booted out the country can bring..

My hubby is very handy around the house so can do a lot of minor work himself. When he wanted to retrain from computing he chose teaching which he loves and is excellent at. I asked him if he could retrain as a plumber but he didn't fancy it - I do wish teachers were paid as well as tradies though!!

Good for you for being so organised. We left a great deal of stuff behind - sold or gave it away. We had a part container with OSS and the 6-10 weeks quoted has morphed to far longer after they received their money. I now anticipate end May for getting our stuff across and wish I had found a more efficient way to ship rather than trusting suppliers to keep their word.

Someone I know has been looking for a kitchen fitter for about 3 months. Raw materials about £2.75k. Lowest quote to fit is £9k. I want a bathroom fitted - plumber charging £250 day rate for labour. Too much work in South East so good tradies can pick and choose. I'm sure it's not the same everywhere - and in the SE you've got to contend with ridiculous housing prices - but sure beats a teacher's income!

People probably know this already but if you're a kitchen fitter, plasterer, electrician, builder moving back to the UK (at least to South East UK), be prepared for a big boost to your bank balance - The cost of hiring tradesmen in the UK in my area has soared through the roof and many people cannot find good workers at any price..... Not great news for me (I need to renovate my house following rental damage) but great news for anyone wondering if there will be work

I was really keen to get one way travel insurance but when I looked around I couldn't find anyone who offered a product that properly covered me and wouldn't repatriate me to target destination (UK) when I returned to UK in March. I understand concerns re; medical issues (we stopped over in Singapore) but in the end had to travel without insurance as due to the fact that I wasn't technically a resident of any country, no-one would have paid out in the event of a claim.

I had a friend who lived in Daisy Hill near the koala park - a beautiful place and cheap rent. It's cheap because the commute into Brisbane is a hard slog - not an issue if you're working in Logan. Don't write off all of Logan - Logan Village is very pretty. We also knew a number of people who lived in Cairns - they loved it - due to laid back lifestyle and climate (which wouldn't suit everyone). They moved to Brissie for work opportunities. As much as I loved Toowoomba, I reckon it would be tricky with teens - far more to do in Brisbane. Make it as easy as you can re: commuting - whatever people will tell you, roads get very busy in Brisbane - so be as close as possible to keep the distance down. You have a lot of great options so can't really go that wrong...

Just been declined for 123 account. Bummer. Reason was that we had dropped off electoral roll. Got a top notch credit rating in UK too! Horses for courses. Will just have to be patient.

No tax free allowance if not Australian resident so you'll need to make sure your deductions are well set up - maybe even revisiting your mortgage/getting some advice from knowledgeable financial advisor. You'd possibly have to change to buy to let mortgage and check out impact on insurance. Lots of people do it, so doable you just need to sort out finances. Will you have any Oz income against which to negatively gear?? Timing of move to sort tax year could be important to ensure that you can claim any loss - Good luck!

Well it doesn't bode well - they haven't exactly rushed to get back to us. Banks don't seem to care about large deposits - looks like I might be stuck with TSB and my 0.5%. I did ask TSB what kind of risk they thought a credit card with a 1k limit would pose. But the woman just giggled and said it would never be possible. I do wish interest rates could go up - would help savers and put a real break on people using spare cash to buy multiple homes and push house prices up. Of course now we have the situation that so many people would get stuffed if rates even rose a little, that it's politically untenable.

My mate who is an IT contractor has just got a buy to let mortgage approved after about 6 months back. She had a good deposit. They didn't give it to her without a fight so it wasn't easy but she got there in the end... I am sure with a decent broker you will find something - you may not get the best deals - good luck!

We've got £40k to deposit - looks like a great account but we've been referred so keeping fingers crossed! What I loved about Santander is that they have a branch in my local town (TSB closed theirs) and when we went in they gave us a card with the branch phone number and the name of someone who would be our local contact at the branch. I hope we pass muster. TSB Phonebank is very good, but it can't beat being able to chat to someone knowledgeable at your local branch.

Brighton and Lewes prices have now been affected by London commuting to the extent that a large house of that type would be in the £1 million mark. It's terribly sad - what used to be diverse working class areas are now starting to look and feel like gentrified parts of London. They are still beautiful places to live but there is no hope for youngsters to live independently. Our house is in a village out of Lewes so hasn't gone up by a huge amount but it's still difficult for young families to establish themselves. Back on track - my bank have refused me a credit card till I'm working so I'll just have to be patient. Thx for all replies. I would like a credit card as it's easier for me to track my expenses, I'd like the benefits (Tesco one sounds great) and I like the consumer protection offered. Meanwhile to be fair, using cash for everything is making me very aware of what I'm spending so no bad thing I guess ... On another note, I've re-discovered LIDL - lobster a fiver, ostrich and wild boar steaks!! It's changed a tad in my absence!!

If you are heading Caloundra way, consider area around Currumudi Lake. It is beautiful!

Back in the UK after 9 years. My UK credit card lapsed in my absence and it would be pretty handy to have another. I've got very healthy savings and own a home so a lot of collateral but no income - I work as an IT contractor but have yet to secure a contract (only back a couple of weeks). My bank have already said I can't have a credit card, even a very low balance one due to no regular income. According to bank do have an excellent rating score though (the best - not that it helps) I looked at pre-paid credit cards where you deposit a sum but they only give you about £200 as a limit (I'd want about £3k). My hubby will probably secure temp work as well (supply teaching). i always pay credit card balances off each month but it would be handy to have one to organise my purchases, provide protection of purchases and build up a credit history again. Is it worth applying for one of the dubious 'poor credit rating' cards or should I just suck it up, continue paying for stuff in cash/debit card and hope my bank will be sweeter once I've secured a contract?

If anyone is moving to Australia and has low mileage reliable family car for sale - let me know - Ford,Vauxhall, Skoda, Hyundai - anything considered as long as reliable I'm based near Brighton - just moved back for a while