douglashv

Exactly, that's my point!

...

 

Our lifes in the UK were not bad at all but the normal stuff everyone moans about in Kent where we came from did do our heads in. Like the amount of traffic, rubbish, foreigners and the worry about...

Are you sure you came to the right place for you?

Hi guys,

I dont know if I am allowed to post this here, but this may help someone to earn some dollars. I am looking for someone with a car that can give me a lift from bayswater to st kilda rd (in melbourne) at midnight monday-friday. We can discuss the rate that serves well for both of us.

PM

Cheers,

Doug.-

Thank you so much Gbye grey sky !!! ... I think that it was my studying for my IELTS test and the preparation of my CDR's that helped me to improve my writing in English however, I am sure that I need to practice my speaking, and I am confident that being involved in this culture is going to help me a great deal.

Awesome recommendation starlight7 ... I am going to add Doongalla in my bucket list ...

Hi,

Well, it's been 3 weeks now since our arrival in Melbourne. We did a lot of things after our arrival to set us up: bank accounts, medicare, tfn, forklift licence, rsa and rsf certificates, etc... we arrived with our PR visas. After our arrival we stayed in Footscray, in a small but comfortable place we booked using airbnb, but after 4 days we secured a room through Facebook, and now we are living in st kilda rd with another couple from Venezuela. The atmosphere in the CBD is quite cosmopolitan and modern, there is a mix of cultures perfectly blended, it's like New York but with less people and cars. We really enjoyed getting lost in the city, and we found a hidden lane full of hidden-like coffee shops and bakeries. The smell of coffee in the air is amazing.

During the second week I got a couple of calls, I went to an interview for a perfect position given my degree (chemical engineering) and background but didn't get the job, they did give me an excellent feedback which I asked for and it is really going to help me in the future, but 2 days later, I secured a job as a machine operator in bayswater (quite far from where we live at the moment), but the pay is good and it helps us to not spend all of our savings. My wife is going to start her amep course in Holmesglen (English is our second language), she sat for a test and they placed her in the second level, which is going to start in mid april. She is looking for a casual job as a cleaner, dishwasher or babysitter, she is sending resumes and received some calls, but employers are asking for the medicare card which hasn't arrived in yet by mail, so if any of you need any help with some cleaning, babysitting, etc. my wife is more than happy to help you out, just send me a PM to discuss, we speak Spanish and my wife can help you if you want to practice some of your Spanish.

So far so good, everything is much better than we expected. The aussie accent is hard to understand, but we are getting up to speed and our listening is improving a lot.

Getting here was a long journey that started in 2010 when we took the decision. But now, we can look back and just say: it is really worth it!

Cheers,

Douglas.-

Hi guys,

Should I use moneycorp to transfer funds from my Bank of America account? Is it worth using it for funds in USA?

The thing is, wouldn't I be loosing to fees transferring the funds from my USA bank account to my moneycorp account based in United Kingdom? Saving those fees would equal for a direct transfer from USA to OZ?

Does anyone have an experience on this that could share with us.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys,

I recently opened an account with moneycorp and they currently quote me an exchange rate of 1.1874 (AUD/USD) for a USD 10,000 transfer when I log in. But usforex quote 1.2007 giving me AUD 133 more.

https://www.usforex.com/customer-rates

Now I dont know what to do... both of them do not charge a transaction fee for this amount. I know that moneycorp is a sponsor of PIO, but it looks like usforex is offering a better deal now which could be more beneficial after a couple of transfers (I intent to do 2 or 3 more in the future)...

any recommendations on this?

Thank you in advance!

Doug.-

I understand that some people dont like that level of risk, I am happy and have considered the risk and have decided it is acceptable.

 

As a nurse, with a degree and job offers I believe that whilst not 100% the risk is minimal. The only risk is whether the visa is granted on time in case of delays but we have two options, paying the fee to change the dates or arriving on a tourist visa initially.

 

I would rather grab a bargain flight price with a well known carrier.

 

The plan in abu dhabi for 21 hours is to stay in a nice hotel, get a good sleep and spend a few hours wandering round. There was another option offering a 2 1/2 hour stopover but we have chosen to go for the 21 hour.

Look up if you need a transit visa in abu dhabi, I think you need one if you are staying in transit for over 4 hours.

We will arrive at Melbourne on 12 March 2015 with a 189 PR visa. Extremely excited! I already presented my resignation at work and will commit my entire time to plan our move. Can't wait to be there and continue this journey that started on 2010 when we took our decision of migrating from Venezuela!

Probably a stoopid question but what is "Rego"? :wacko:

Car Registration

As a Chemical Engineer, a graduate salary should be at least $60K, if not much higher depending on what industry you are in. I qualify as a Chemical Engineer but I'm actually a Reservoir Engineer in the oil and gas industry - if you are in oil and gas you can add 50% to that figure, as a graduate!

 

I am guessing you are not at graduate level and you have much more experience.

 

Be be careful you don't undersell yourself in a major way!

Thank you for your input... Several people have told me that the minimum salary for an Engineer should be close to 60K... Honestly I am aiming at 60K-80K, but due that English is my second language and a lack of local experience I will get anything below those figures just to start.

DH.-

Thank you for your report... it was a good read.

Could you specify how much have you spent on the weekly groceries?

Thank you so much for your very informative answers, it was a tall order given the little mount if information you had to go on..Doh!

 

We are ideally looking at Adelaide but it boils down to work in the end. We have 2 children age 11 & 4. We would certainly need to run 1 car, running 2 may be a struggle and I would be happy walk a lot given the better climate.

 

We are applying for a 189 PR. We don't live a flash life style here although we are on a lot more here, we are hoping to be saving like crazy for the next year anyway. we spend a lot of time with our local church, love doing community stuff, which I hope to continue over there and that doesn't cost. Hubby likes a beer but that's like one a night at home. I'm no big drinker. I am good at budgeting, when we first started the business 9 years ago, I remember my hubby saying to me, "shall we get a Chinese takeaway tonight"? And I remember saying, "no, we can't because Jacobs running out of nappies so I need to get some tomorrow" !

 

So I would say I am pretty good a budgeting, I just needed to know if it was an impossible task.

 

once again thank you so much for all the information, I shall get on my spreadsheet tonight after work and see how things shape up

Hi, maybe you could take a look at my spreadsheet I posted some time ago, link below, the cost estimation was very well thought out but you can adjust it to your situation.

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/money-finance/219566-monthly-expenses-excel-spreadsheet-shared.html

Doug.-

Take a look at my Excel spreadsheet. It is based for a couple moving to Melbourne on a Unit / Share Accomodation, but it can help you to estimate your costs.

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/money-finance/219566-monthly-expenses-excel-spreadsheet-shared.html

Doug.-

Thank you very much. Quite detailed. We would love an update!! Hehe

We were thinking on each one having a check and saving accounts, and having a joint account for bills. btw, we are thinking on opening the accounts with NAB considering they do not charge monthly fees.

"Medical" is Private Medical Insurance.

For "Date Night" I am estimating 100 AUD/Fortnight. By your comments, that means a couple of good night outs/month.

Thank you Keith for your comment. That is a reality check for me!! :eek:

Thank you for your comments surfndirt!

I dont think we could afford to pay 1800/month on rent. We will be looking to a shared accommodation to start. I know I was a little harsh with the salary, just expecting the worst. I will budget groceries around 100$/week.

Hi guys,

I made an Excel spreadsheet that I'd like to share with you. I would appreciate your comments on the costs that I estimated based on the information below however, my intentions are to share this so everybody can adjust it to their own situation.

* I started this spreadsheet with one that was here, I can't find the link now.

* This cost of living was estimated for a couple without children living in Melbourne with a PR visa.

* We will arrive at Melbourne in March/2015 without jobs, I hope I can find something full-time and my wife anything part-time. I tried to estimate a low salary just to prepare for the worst, and hoping to get anything around month 8 after we arrive.

* We are trying to live with moderation, specially while we are living only by our savings.

* We hope to bring at least 30000 USD, but you can adjust this. With some luck we can arrive with 40K.

* There are some subjects with an estimation of zero, like car registration and EA membership.

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/roypnnfwvjyz4eb/Expenses%20%28Shared%20PIO%29.xls?dl=0

I also attached it to this post.

Enjoy!

Screenshots:

P.S.: There might be some Spanish words even tough we tried to translate everything into English.

Expenses (Shared PIO).xls

Expenses (Shared PIO).xls

My wife and I are going in March/2015 to Melbourne (we already have fly tickets). I think we are going to have aprox. $55K. We are Venezuelans and we know we are going to face more challenges because English is our second language and my wife doesn't speak well. We both are Engineers, but we acknowledge we have to look for whatever job we can find, I'm thinking in working in hospitality, as a labourer (forklift driver, process worker) or ideally as a Chemical Engineer, whatever comes.

Congratulations! ....

Hi guys,

When would be the best month to immigrate to Melbourne (money/working wise) for a couple with no child?

We are a Chemical Engineer (Ielts: 7/9/8/7) and a Civil Engineer (NO english) couple who will be looking for casual jobs to start, and we also will try to have some luck with a professional job too, considering that we have to improve our English alongside.

Thanks in advance.

Doug.-

Hello!

We are sooooo happy right now... we have been invited today to apply for a 189 visa (Chemical Engineer, 65 pts).

I lodged my EOI with 55pts back in August last year, but on April 2nd I update it with my last IELTS results (7/9/8/7) and we had 65 pts. On the first April round we were finally invited.

There are so many things to do right now that we have to put our feet on the ground. Our agent has asked to fill a form (I believe that it's the Form 80) and it's quite extend. Additionally, we have to start compiling documents and better we start soon.

Regards,

Doug.-

jejeje I just did that on 15th March. It seems that it doesn't matter.