Marisawright

A cow is a cow, a chicken is a chicken, a lamb is a lamb...can there really be a great difference in the taste from a supermarket to a butcher?

I suppose you'd say a beer is a beer, because they're all made from the same basic ingredient, so it doesn't matter what temperature it's kept at, whether it's allowed to go flat or stale, how it's poured etc?

I lived in Africa for three years and learned the hard way that "preparation" of meat starts long before you start heating up the pan. There's what age the animal is killed at, what it's fed on and how long it's hung. The butchers in Africa have little or no refrigeration so the cow used to walk in the back door and the meat would be sold that afternoon - even the fillet steak was as tough as old boots.

I'm sure you know all that really, you're just stirring!

The supermarkets do fresh fish and fresh chicken as good as any butcher or fishmonger...they both buy from the same source.

@Perthbum, I've got no complaint about fish and chicken in the supermarket, personally I've never been able to pick the difference between the quality of fish/chicken between the small independent shops and the supermarkets, in Australia or here.

I'm talking about steak. In Australia, I always found Woollies had cr@p steak. Coles' scotch fillet was pretty good. Steak from a good butcher was better (and of course, steak from a rubbish butcher was worse).

In the UK, I have tried all the supermarket steak now (even Waitrose and M&S) and it isn't even as good as Woollies! But right now I have no way of telling whether independent butchers might be better, because I haven't been able to get to one yet - they're like hen's teeth.

Easy....

 

http://www.findabutcher.co.uk/butchers/England/South%20East/Hampshire/Southampton

Thanks for that, however I've just been surprised at how it's possible to walk through entire suburbs and not find one independent butcher or baker. I guess it's the way Australia will go too, as the supermarkets grind them out of business.

Looking at the list, apart from Bitterne all those butchers are in outlying suburbs or villages.

I understood everything about your post. I was merely using your post and Bobj's to illustrate the different ways people could answer the question - one (Bobj) including just the fare, and another (you) giving a much more comprehensive account. I was trying to say that for the benefit of people on this forum, your more comprehensive approach was more useful.

I had no intention of upsetting anyone and I'm sorry if I did, still totally confused how anyone could take offence. My comment about Bobj getting his knickers in a knot was meant to be a lighthearted comment.

Yes you're lucky! I am rediscovering the joys of tea drinking in the afternoon, and just drinking coffee at home - our little moka pot doesn't taste quite as good as a barista-made espresso, but it's a damn sight better than we can get in the cafes.

Brits don't understand what a long black is. You have to ask for an americano.

No you don't - if you ask for an Americano you get a large watery black coffee. A long black is a diluted espresso with a lovely crema on top.

My oh has discovered how to get a long black: ask for a double espresso in a cappuccino cup, with hot water on the side. If the coffee blend is OK and it's a proper coffee machine (and it often isn't), that will give a good long black.

UK cafes make an Americano in an extra large cup or a mug, meaning it's far too watered down for Australian tastes. And yes, we have tried asking them to just put less water in it, or to put it in a smaller cup, and that seems to confuse the staff a lot less than the solution he's come up with!

To answer part 1 of your quote = generally major retailers, find a good butcher, support local, and you will rarely have an issue.

 

To answer part 2 of your quote = That was in the link I attached. No prize for second. Keep up, sweetcheeks!

I haven't seen a butcher anywhere in Southampton yet, though I've been to several different suburbs. You've prompted me to do some Googling and looks like there is one near the city centre I'll have to go hunting for!

Thanks....I think the best option will be to a get a dealer to take it and hope that we don't have a huge shortfall owing to the finance company! Lesson learned anyway - I shall be buying an old banger outright when I get back to the UK!

Ring the finance company, yes you can hand it back but you'll probably have to pay them something for the privilege. It may still be better than selling it to a dealer - if it was a new car, then you're going to have a massive shortfall because cars depreciate a lot the minute they leave the showroom.

For heavens sake, we both said what we included, I am sure everyone is perfectly capable of reading.

 

And you seem to be the one taking this a bit too seriously, should everyone be running the wording of their posts past you? Or perhaps you would like to issue some questionnaires?

I'm sorry, it seems like everyone is taking my post completely wrong - I wasn't trying to tell anyone off, just suggesting that it would make comparisons more meaningful if the question was more specific. Which I thought would be helpful to people reading the thread. That's all.

Nice of people to share, I must admit I'm slightly taken aback at the cost these days, but I'm sure this will be very interesting to prospective migrants.

An awful lot depends on whether you're coming alone or with family, and how settled you were before you left. A more established family will have more things they can't bear to part with (including pets!), a larger family will pay more fares, need a bigger hotel room, and cost more to feed while the breadwinner tries to find work etc. I came with my first husband, he had a job to go to and we found a furnished place so we didn't spend much at all, whereas I've seen people here quoting $50k.

Perhaps you should have started a thread concerning everything that YOU think everyone would be interested in??

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Why are you getting your knickers in a knot? All I was pointing out was that different people would interpret the question differently - you and Bungo illustrating that already - and suggesting the kinds of costs people usually incur.

Err, @Marisawright...The title of the thread is, "How much did it cost you to migrate to Australia". Amibovered didn't ask for any more info.

 

 

No, he didn't ask, and that's why I suggested he should be more specific so answers would be consistent and comparable - because in the first few posts there was you mentioning just your fare, and Bungo including everything.

Hi All, thank you for your responses, just to clarify, yep I'm talking $500k AUD! I'm not looking to be very close to Sydney CBD in fact it's the opposite! I love to be away from the city, as much as possible but we are restricted going too far due to my husbands work, so an hours train/bus ride is what we considered ok in terms of life balance.

There do seem to be some places available for under $500k but who knows how long that will last?!!! Silly Sydney.

If my husbands family did not live here, I would likely not choose to live here.

How many of those under-500 places have you actually looked at? Even if you're not ready to buy yet, you definitely need to get out there on Saturday mornings and start doing inspections, as many as you can. It's impossible to make judgments by looking at Domain.com.au or realestate.com.au - the pictures and description are always distorted to make the property look better (and bigger) than it really is.

By actually going and looking at these properties, you'll get an idea of what the areas are like, you'll see how big (or small) a property you can get for your money in each area, and you'll gradually get a picture of what's possible. No other way to do it. And I have to say, I think you're going to be very disappointed in what you can manage to get for that figure.

By the way, is that including stamp duty and conveyancing fees or excluding? On $500,000, stamp duty is about $18,000 plus allow about $2,000 for fees.

I don't get the "coffee culture" thing at all.....if you go to Italy its either a standard black coffee or an expresso little one, super strong and super sweet....all this latte and cappuccino rubbish with cream and all the bells and whistles???.....its all a gimmick to make money.

Actually when I speak about cafe culture, that's not what I'm talking about. My oh drinks black coffee - a long black in Australia. He's almost despaired of finding a drinkable long black in the South of England. I do drink latte but it's the quality of the underlying coffee I'm disappointed with, not whether there's a range of coffee styles to choose from. To me, coffee appreciation is about the brew, what you add to it is icing on the cake.

So far - for a family of 2 Adults and 2 children + 2 dogs

 

 

 

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wont be shipping anything, selling up and starting again!

 

 

 

 

I would seriously urge you to think twice about that! If you're going somewhere you can easily buy second hand furniture, by all means leave all the big stuff behind - but you will be astonished by how much it's going to cost you to replace the absolute multitude of small stuff. A medium Movecube for things like the kids' toys, out-of-season clothes, kitchen stuff, sheets and towels etc will more than pay for itself, though it may not seem like it now.

I think you have to be more specific with your question, because otherwise people won't compare like with like.

For instance, Bobj just quoted his fare, nothing else. In those days, maybe he got free accommodation while he looked for a place to rent, and didn't have to survive on his savings for several weeks or months while he looked for work. And maybe he got a furnished flat so he didn't have to buy furniture. But maybe he did, and in that case all those costs need to be included, because they had to be paid for.

Most people will have:

- visa fees

- air fares

- shipping costs

- temporary accommodation

- money to live on until they find work

- cost of furniture and household effects

- cost of buying/taxing/insuring a car

I've sent my "resume" to over 30 places that recently advertised bar staff vacancies, via gmail or gumtree, and I have not received ANY responses.

Frankly, I didn't even know pubs hired backpackers that way. Are they really advertising for short-term hires or do they really want permanent staff?

Both my nieces got all their bar/café work by trudging the pavements and walking into places to ask.

Sadly my coffee tasting travels have not been extensive enough for me to provide a list yet

 

I've had good coffee in large university towns/cities such as Oxford, Norwich, Liverpool, Edinburgh and more places that I can't remember. Not much help I'm afraid!

Well that's why I thought I might find it in Southampton too, since it has a big uni. However while there's a pub on every corner - and often two or three in a row on the same street - there are very few independent coffee shops.

We went to Salisbury yesterday and had a good coffee in the first random coffee shop we tried.

Thinking about this a bit more, I can't help feeling you're setting yourself up for unhappiness settling in Sydney - family or not. With that budget you have almost no chance of setting yourself up with a half-decent home anywhere in Sydney, so you could be condemning yourself to renting for the rest of your life.

Have you considered going to Newcastle instead? A lovely city with great beaches, on the doorstep of the wineries, and only a couple of hours' drive to visit the relatives in Sydney. I knew a couple of guys at my work in Sydney who lived in Newcastle - they felt that life in Newcastle was so much better for their kids, they wouldn't move to Sydney even though it meant putting up with a long commute (and both did eventually find work nearer home). Property is dramatically more affordable too.

By the way, we were in a similar position to you - I've lived in Sydney for 30 years, but now in our 60's we realised we couldn't afford to retire unless we could reduce our living costs. If we could've found a nice apartment (not house) in a nice part of Sydney for under $500,000, we might have stayed - but we couldn't.

Cafe culture is alive and kicking in London.Not sure why your colleagues are getting excited about Starbucks! There's plenty more (and better) to choose from. Outside London is a bit more variable though - but still improving nonetheless.

I'd love to know where it's improving exactly, it might make a difference to where we choose to go! The coffee in Southampton is uniformly terrible - we found one place in Hamble but that's it so far.

Tough one. We sold our car before coming back to the UK. I can tell you what not to bother with - carsales.com.au! It sounds impressive and if you use their calculator, it will tell you that your car is worth a good amount - but all you'll get are people trying to get a ridiculous bargain.

That was my experience anyway, and my niece had the same problem. She also knows a few people who have taken MONTHS to sell through that site.

We got an offer of $6,000 for our car from a dealer and thought it wasn't enough. In the end we sold to a private buyer for $7,000 but it took longer and it really wasn't worth the stress and panic.

Hi All, we arrived in Sydney 2 months ago and are now staying with the inlaws in the Hills District.

 

I am now researching suburbs in the hope of finding somewhere that can offer a house for under 500k decent schools and a distance of 1 hour or under commute to the city for work?!

This is seeming harder than I thought!

 

We would like a house rather than an apartment nothing flash just something!

 

Any suggestions? Please note that family are all in Sydney otherwise we would have likely chosen another area altogether!

Can you clarify, do you mean $500K or £500K? If it's $500K then I doubt you will find anything - I'd suggest the Central Coast as your best bet but the commute will be a bit longer. In most of Sydney, $500,000 will buy you a one bedroom flat. If you're finding a house under that price in the Sydney metro area, it's probably an area you don't want to live in.

Thank you all! Thought the last day to file for your tax was today. So.... End of October. Got it! Thanks!

It would be impossible for most people to file their tax return today, because if you're still resident in Australia then you have to wait for your employer to send you your Group Certificate and your bank to tell you how much interest you've earned. Now most employers do it electronically, they process things within a day or two - but in the old days you could wait till mid or end July before you even got it.

Must say that i have had problems with getting a reference from managers in oz, they seem to be scared of committing themselves on paper, they may only respond to a phone call , my wife when she employed people always ended up ringing.

As both Freckleface and I have both pointed out, all the large companies have a strict policy that their managers are not allowed to provide written references.

Why is it when you wanna buy stuff it's always expensive, but when you need to get rid of stuff, you can't give it away..........?

So true. In hindsight, we should have got a big MoveCube and stuffed it as full as possible, rather than selling up/throwing away and buying new here. When you haven't had to buy any new furniture or kitchen stuff for 10 years, you forget how expensive it's going to be to replace it!