RNB31

But re-reading Jac's post, its only short term.

 

Long term, scary.

On my workings of $95k before tax and inc the child rebate etc there isn't much savings in my pot certainly not enough to raise a 20% deposit. We would have enough for a deposit on the sale of our UK home though, if it wasn't for that equity in our UK house I doubt I'd be able to raise the funds to buy in oz

What visa will you be on? If your are coming on PR you are entitled to Family Tax Benefit which can be a few hundred dollars a week if you have 2 children. This is on top of Child Care help and Rent assistance so can help a lot whilst you get on your feet.

FWIW we are a family of 4 with a tiny home loan and manage fine on a little less than what your single income will be.

 

Cal x

Thanks Cal

Yeah I did the calculations already on centrelink to see what rebate etc we would be entitled too and yes it does help, but its a scary thought to be so reliant on those. In the first 2 year I think we would be ok just, without saving in those years, or booking holidays we should get on our feet with the $95k joint plus rebate etc, but when one goes to school in 2 years thats when things get a bit tighter.

We both want to do this, we have the cash to make it happen, we would have a £15k nest egg on arrival, plus money from the sale of our uk cars to buy car outright 2nd hand and have no uk debt, (uk mortgage the acceptation) and still have a good amount in our uk property to buy a house in a few year down the line on oz, we just need to decide if we as a family can budget well enough on these figures. I hope so

Great post and some good info in this.

I am trying to see if we (2 x adults, 2 x kids under 5) could live off a joint income of $95k and its proving hard to justify this from the uk. If we had a joint income of $125k which we would if it wasnt for one of us having to work only 3 days a week due to childcare costs and that out of preference I wouldn't want my kids in 5 days a week full time, then I would say from what Ive looked at we personally would live ok on that $125k

I noted someone said ride it out and once their at school you will have more cash, I think a lot of people forget that if you dont have family here then you have to work school hrs, or use before and afterschool care and then comes all the holidays kids get from school, very hard to both work full time. Least in nursery you can work part time 3 full days, as school hrs work will be hard to come by.

I know my friends in the uk havent thought about this when I say it but they have family to help.

Hi rnb31,

 

been speaking to some teachers on another thread and I think you might be over estimating. Have a look at what there saying.

Whats the link?

It's difficult to say because people tend to scrape by on what they have, imagine that $20k more would be transformational, and get puzzled why people on twice their money still struggle.

 

The truth is, $95k is not a huge joint income for bringing up a family. Some people will do it on much less, though.

Yip with one of us only being able to work fulltime the big question is , is $95k going to work for us, i suppose yes we will make it work, but is that going to give us what we want/need. Only me and my wife can answer that now...

We are going to have to go away with all the info and advise and have a serious think.

We have the money to do it

We want to do it

But the wage situation does make me nervous

Thanks for all the info guys

Child care benefit is about 10% off the $100, then Child care rebate is 50% off that, so about $45 per day for the 4yo and about $20 per day for the 7yo in before and after school care.

Ah thats great, I didn't realise the figures have rebate etc deducted already.

I did my calculations on their website and its does help.

How do you think you would find in on a joint income of $95k before tax, then when one goes to school if that was to drop to $75-80k?

Ive just relooked at this and even though its a year old, most costs havent changed that much.

 

Health insurance is up a few hundred a year, car rego also up $50 pa each.

 

Other insurances down, as too is fuel.

 

 

The rest about the same.

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/household/208074-living-costs-melbourne-2014-a.html

Great info, Thanks. is your child care bill, 2 kids for 2 full days? I was looking at childcare of $100 a day.

My $95k is top line salary, its going to be tough!

Hi,

 

thanks for for the quick reply.

 

I'm assuming it's 92 before they take tax? Can I ask how much you have put aside for rent/mortgage? I'm hoping to live outside a major city. Which will have a big effect on house costs.

 

Were the same as you. We want to keep our uk house and see where we are after three years.

 

Thanks

Yeah the $95k would be top line before tax, the figure would also be +super and not package (Hopefully anyway!) We have looked at $400p/w and that was staying 25km out of Melbourne is some of the newer developments, if we were to stay in the more established suburbs then we would be looking at more. If we want to make it work and get through the first few years then we cant go much over $400p/w.

Hi,

 

great to see all this information but was wondering if anyone could answer in terms of a weekly/ monthly budget rather than cost of specific items. I'm just worried we won't be able to afford it when we get there.

 

How much do you think you would spend on average per month for everything excluding rent/ mortgage ( I no this will vary dramatically depending where we live)for a family of five with three children under five? If that family really budgeted.

 

We're happy to not eat out, will send our children to a state school, really cut on the costs for the first few years to get settled. But don't want to be struggling to pay the bills and feeding my children.

 

Cheers

Physicsteacher, I am after similar info and have put together a budget from looking over forums, internet, ect but in the first 2 years I think we will have a joint income of $95k and that is going to be tight prob not impossible but very tight. The problem we have is in 2 years one will start school and another 2 years till the other one starts so our income will drop again to fit around school hrs and childcare, it could drop as much as $20k for those 2 years unless of course I do well in my first 2 years!

The cost of the visa, shipping and flights out will be about £15k and I plan to have a £12-15K nest egg to get through the first few months, so in total the cost will be £27-30k with the hope that we retain some of that nest egg and find work quickly. We are lucky enough to have that cash in savings, and no debts with the exception of mortgage, we plan to rent our house as we have a fair bit of money the house.

Its a tough one as we want to do this, we want the adventure and lucky enough to be able to arrive with no debt and still retain a good amount in our uk property but my worry is our income in Oz will not cut it, I will keep an close eye on this post.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids under 5)

I think what the OP needs is for families in MELBOURNE in an average 3 bed house with no solar. There are so many variables but it doesn't help them to know what people in Tassie or Queensland use.

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply and this is all good info, but as bristolman says, I am really looking for families in Melbourne suburbs, 3 or 4 bed house, preferably newer build houses so I can get an idea.

I do think from what I have read on this post I need to account for $100-200 more a month to cover the Utilities

Ok I'll keep an eye on this post so if families living in newer houses in suburbs like pointcook want to share their Gas, Elec and Water costs then I'd really appreciate that as a guide also

Thanks

Well you could certainly use that as a guide, if you roughly double it to convert to dollars then you could be looking at $240 or so a month. I will stress though that that is just a rough guide.

So on that rough guide Gas and Elec $240 compared to what I thought of $140 a month

Dont want to take over the OP so if you are a family in Melbourne suburbs and want to share your Utility costs with me then see my post in Victoria Category...[h=1]Utlitily Bills Families and post in there[/h]

Thanks

To give you a rough idea electricity and gas is more expensive than here and daily charges are much higher so if you are living in a roughly comparable house then bank on paying AT LEAST as much as you would here in the UK. There really are just too many variables though. As has been said Australian houses are mostly poorly insulated and take a lot to heat and to cool.

In the UK I have a 3 bed detached 1970s build, I am about £120 for Gas and Elec, in Scotland so just council tax which is £190 a month

Don't over think it though. If you find your bills are higher than you had hoped just economise or find a better deal.

Yeah I don't want to over think it as there is always ways to cut back but with my figures I am predicting am I looking to say I need $100 more a month to be realistic to cover the 3 Utilities or is it more like $200-300 a month. Hopefully I'll get some more bills from families and can gage an average

Don't forget that is with solar panels, that is still an extremely small quarterly bill with a small amount of solar panels.. You really need to look at all the figures given and come up with a rough average. Apparently the average yearly bill is in the region of $1800-1900.

Yeah that is what I am hoping to do is to compare families with a similar set up to me and take an average, I would say I am under, but just need to work out how much I am under in predictions.

So those figures are not a million miles away from my predictions.

Mornington peninsula for us.

 

70's brick veneer.

 

2 Adults, 2 Children under 8.

 

Gas - Hot water, hob, ducted heating. $60 per two months in summer half of year. Upto $250 per two months in winter half of year. Im ruthless turning it down and off. Thats what jumpers and snuggling were invented for.

 

Electricity - $175 per quarter ave. Less in summer months, more in winter months. But we have 1.5 kW worth of solar on the roof. Getting paid the same feed in tariff as we pay for it. Only used aircon once this summer. Evaporative cooler on roof is great, and it runs at 700W rather than 2400W. All lights LED downlights.

 

Water - $200 per quarter. We average 60L per person per day. A 2000L tank does all veggie gardening watering.

My last bill was $70 for a month

Hi and Thanks, what is your set up single, couple, family, flat or house?

Thanks for the replies looks like I may have actually got these figures a bit wrong, would really appreciate any families in Melbourne suburbs to share their Gas, Water and Elec outgoings, monthly or 1/4 with me so I can get a better idea

I would say the electricity forecast is VERY optimistic, do you mean $92 a month ? Probably closer to $92 a week.

Yeah the first figures are monthly, I had a feeling I might be out. Just hoping some Melbourne families can share their Water, Gas and Elec outgoings so I can get a better idea

Hi thanks for replies so far.

I am basing these calculations on a 3 bed house in a suburb like point cook, so a fairly new house, no pool. Usual appliances washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer, 1 or 2 TV's

Hey,

Just looking for some Melbourne families to share their Utility Bill costs, I would be hoping my monthly calculations are on track but suspect they might be way off!

Family x 4, 3-4 bed house suburbs

Water $70

Electricity $90

Gas $50

Thanks for this post, we are looking at all this again as we held off to have a family.

I wonder if any kind families in Melbourne would share their costs with me on here or PM for the below Utilities? If you could let me know size of family and house size, i.e. my figures are monthly predicted for a family of 4 (2 x Adults and 3 x kids under 5) staying in 3 or 4 bedroom house in suburbs, just need to know if I'm about there or way way off?

Water $70 ($210 per 1/4)

Elec $92 ($276 per 1/4)

Gas $50 ($150 per 1/4)

Thanks for all the comments and sharing your personal experiences.

For now we will be remaining in the UK, my wife can not come to terms with not having a second or more the possibility of not being able to say 100% we can have a second in oz, its not something that could defiantly happen if we were to just to oz just now. I suppose its a 50/50 and would depend on salaries over the coming couple of years and lifestyle.

I am still thinking of the idea of maybe applying in the next 12-24 months if I still fulfill the visa requirments, when we are a family of 4, running the activation run with us all and then working on bettering career ops in the uk between now and then, so that would allow us to go on day down the line, as I the visa has a 5 year expiry on it. It does open a whole new can of worms that we wont go into on this thread, like if we went close to expiry and needed to leave Oz we would need resident return visa etc.

There is a drive for me, and the pull of oz which I can not shake. Yes I am guilty of not doing enough in the years prior to now in not bettering my career faster and getting more qualified to allow this dream to happen, I hold my hands up too that. I agree with if its broke dont fix it, but I also agree that on this subject in particular that it doesnt need to be broke, there just needs to be the desire to give it ago.

As I said my life is ok in the UK, at the moment, that could change as in any country, but for now I am fine... but I suppose for me and I'll be honest, I don't want to repeat my life, with my kids, living in the same place etc etc, I had a great up bringing but its just something inside me that wants to try something different, maybe it doesnt have to be oz to do that, but the drive and pull is there just now.

Anyway thanks for all the posts, and hopefully one day down the line I am in a better position to go with my family

Hi,

Thanks for all the comments and advice, yes I am guilty of overanalysing this, I need to take a step back and look at it from a distance again. The first thing we need to answer is back to the start of the thread, so we need to decide first of all if a 2nd is what we want if so then the oz plans will be on hold for now, and we can see again down the line. Going to oz now although tight and will be tough at times, I can not say for sure we can have that 2nd one...its a 50/50 depending on jobs, lifestyle and wages and has to be assessed over there not here.

Thanks again and I'll update again once we look at all this again from a distance and decide on baby no 2