cheekymonkey01

Hi Thank you for your post and that is fantastic to know there is someone who is going through the move at the moment. Me and my husband would very much appreciate having a chat with you about your move and how you are finding it. If you are happy to share your financial details that would be fab!! Thank you. Thanks again and I hope all is going well so far and your girls are settling in ok.

Thanks Blossom79, good to know about hayfever and spiders. Working in a plant nursery must be hard at times with the hot weather! We are currently waiting to see how our house sale goes before confirming a move over to Aus...just a waiting game now. How easy would you say it is to move over the electric plugs to australian ones?

Hi all Thank you so much for your responses. This is very helpful. I think no matter how much you try and plan for everything you will still have stuff you did not think off. I am currently having nightmares about massive spiders and flying cockroaches attaching me and the money side of it has moved to one side for the moment ! Overall I appreciate that Australia will probably be on par with cost of living in UK and more expensive in some areas such as food. But I still think we need to give it a go and see what it is like. We are going to try and save as much as we can and get as close to £20k as possible before Sept 2013. We are also going to think about staying in an Ibis hotel rather than serviced accommodation to save money. Are there any other hotels in melbourne in good location anyone can recommend? We are also going to bring over all our furniture and white goods and change over plugs to save some money. I have also read that hayfever is really bad in spring and summer in Australia and as a bad hay fever sufferer this is something else I am not looking forward too! Boo!!!! Is there anything else we should look into before coming over? Thanks all

Hi Kellex Thanks for your response and good luck with you move in may 2013. Keep us posted on how you get on. Hope it all goes smoothly for you. Thanks Gillian for your response. Have been reading some of the other threads about people having doubts about moving over to Australia and the responses to this which have been very negative. I think i will stop reading all these now as it keeps making me change my mind and doubt if i am doing the right thing. I am not looking forward to leaving my family and friends behind but know this is something we either try now or we will never get the chance again. Did you have the some situation in terms of doubts and changing your minds? How did you get over this and just stick to you decision? I know this is a big risk but life is about taking risks and nothing is forever so just giving things a go is not a bad thing. As our baby is only 8 months she is still young enough not to be affected by the move too much. Thanks all x

Hi all Just being reading the posts about moving to Australia and slightly depressing!! We are moving over to Melbourne or Adelaide in Sept 2013 and looking forward to it. We are not moving over for a better life but to try something different and see what it is like. It will be an experience and looking at cost of living we can see that we will be earning slightly more than in UK (my husband is a panel beater) but paying out more in other areas such as food and rent. I agree with the posts above in that you have to make the move for the right reasons and not to run away from anything, thinking the grass will be greener. Good luck in making you decision!

Hi Gillian Thanks for your response. I have calculated the below estimated moving costs based on moving to Melbourne, but this is all subject to where my husband is offered is job. Do you think this is reasonable? Out of interest what did you spend on your move? Also are there any particular areas in Melbourne you would recommend? How easy is it to convert over electric equipment from UK to Australia, such as fridge/freezer, washing machine, etc? [TABLE=width: 760] [TR] [TD]Rent[/TD] [TD=align: right]$2,000.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TV Licence[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Home Insurance[/TD] [TD=align: right]$40.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Car Insurance, maintenance, registration and fuel[/TD] [TD=align: right]$400.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Private Health Insurance[/TD] [TD=align: right]$130.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Council Tax[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]included with rent?[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Gas, Electricity, Water rates, sewerage, garbage[/TD] [TD=align: right]$500.00[/TD] [TD] excess water paid only in some rentals[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Telephone[/TD] [TD=align: right]$30.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Broadband (6 Mbps, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL)[/TD] [TD=align: right]$100.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Mobiles x 2[/TD] [TD=align: right]$150.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Food[/TD] [TD=align: right]$600.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Travel savings[/TD] [TD=align: right]$400.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Childcare[/TD] [TD=align: right]$1,200.00[/TD] [TD]$60-100 per day ($1200 is 3 days per week at $100 per day)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Spending[/TD] [TD=align: right]$400.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TOTAL PER MONTH[/TD] [TD=align: right]$5,950.00 [/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cost to set up[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Short term rental (up to 2 weeks)[/TD] [TD=align: right]$1,400.00[/TD] [TD] $700 per week[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bond[/TD] [TD=align: right]$2,500.00[/TD] [TD] 6 weeks[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Month rent[/TD] [TD=align: right]$1,000.00 [/TD] [TD] 2 weeks [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Furniture - [/TD] [TD] $5000[/TD] [TD]fridges and freezers, washing machines and clothes dryers, beds, tables, chairs and sofas or lounge suites[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Car[/TD] [TD=align: right]$5,000.00[/TD] [TD] including transfer to Aus licence[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Food and spending for first 4 weeks[/TD] [TD=align: right]$800.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TOTAL[/TD] [TD=align: right]$15,700.00[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Flights to Australia[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£1,500[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Visa and management fee[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£4,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Amelia passport[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£55[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Shipping and excess luggage costs[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£3,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TOTAL[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£8,555[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Estimated initial set up cost [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]£15,688[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Hi Mrs H1978 It is scary but very exciting as well. I have spoken with a couple who moved over to Adelaide 8 months ago with their 9 year old daughter and he works as a spray painter. They managed to get over with approx £12k which included flights, agents management fee of +/- £4k and shipping costs of £3500 + £250 insurance for a 20ft container. They have managed to get by on his salary only for the last eight months as his wife has only just found a role she wanted to take on. They recommended doing your homework in terms of the specific location you would want to move to and looking for rented accommodation. You would probably need to go into short term rentals to start with whilst looking for long term rentals which would be approx $700 per week. Overall they really enjoy living over there with no regrets so far and their daughter loves school. Work life balance seems a lot better and spiders/snakes not so bad an issue!! We are not sure whether we are going to Melbourne or Adelaide now, but will wait to see what job offers come in. We are looking to go over in Sept 2013. I assume you are going to finish your qualification and then move over? I think it is a case of thinking about what you want to get out of the experience and weighting up the pros/cons. But in for a penny... I will let you know as I find out any more. The website above is brilliant too for cost of living estimates. Thanks

Thanks both. Website is really useful. We will be offered a skilled migrant visa so temporary to start with. What did you spend initially as a set up cost when you moved to Australia? I have estimated at £18-20,000 to start with. This is based on renting an unfurnished house at $500 per week and includes flights over, visa fees and shipping costs. Are there any particular pros and cons we should be aware of from you experiences before moving over?

Hi I have read through some of the treads about moving to Australia which are all helpful but cannot find anything which provides details in terms of what the initial financial output would be to move over. I am trying to work out how much me and my husband would need to set ourselves up in Melbourne. We are looking to move over either Sept this year (2013) or early next year (2014). He works as a panel beater and would be looking for an offer of employment before we move. We have a 7 month old baby and will also need to consider childcare and the best area to locate to in Melbourne. I work in HR and would need to find some part time work. I am trying to work out how much we would spend a month on rent and bills i.e. what is included in rent - council tax and we pay electricity, gas and water. What are the costs for TV licence and broadband etc. Any help and advice anyone can give us would be greatly appreciated. All exciting times but also scary when you are responsible for a little one! Thanks