Dawn2002

Thanks MARYROSE02, it is about self assessment, that's very helpful of you to post all that info.

I've just retread this, thanks Snifter, I wasn't aware of this. I'll try this out.

Thanks, I was looking at a different page and it wasn't entirely clear to me.

Hi there, I need to call HMRC, but I'm struggling to find an overseas contact number on their website. I've found one starting with 0161, but I'm unsure if this is just a textphone number. If anyone has called recently and has a number, it would really be appreciated. I really don't want to spend half hour in the phone being passed about !!! Thanks All.

Pwkl, We've been told it now needs a new petrol pump, I'm waiting for a price from the BMW garage we bought it from in the UK. The garage doing the work here are going to get back to me Monday with a total cost for the job too. Just wondering, what's the go with customs charges/tax etc for the imported parts ? I was planning on getting my mum to pick the part up and send it over, so guess I'll have to pay VAT. Would that be advisable or should I just get the garage to send it ? Assuming they will do this.

Fosseboy, you've had a bad run there, sorry about that. We had to have 4 new tyres when we imported the car, cost $1250 for Pirelli run flats and I thought that was a lot !! Particularly miffed as it had passed it's MOT only 2 months before leaving and only around 200 miles in that time. Luckily we don't have a sat nav, we bought a new instrument cluster before we left for £ 600, but haven't had it fitted yet. Incidentally the car is now back at the garage as it is still mucking about, but obviously not when we take it in to them!! The total bill so far including new spark plugs is $1250. Come to the conclusion that everything on Beamers is twice as much here !!

Thanks to you guys who replied, thought I'd let you know, the car will be ready finally tomorrow. So just over 3 weeks. I will almost certainly look at getting the parts myself next time. But hopefully that won't be for a very long time !

Hello I wasn't sure if this should go in education or Queensland, but its pretty specific so thought I'd try here first. We will more than likely be moving to the Mudgeeraba area later in the year. My daughter starts Prep next year and I was wondering if anyone has first hand experience of the schools in the area, especially in this age group ? I am particularly interested in the sporting activites and extra curricular activities offered, she loves swimming and all sorts of arty activities so I feel it important that the school can go some way towards encouraging her with this. I will be going to view the schools soon, and as we are not sure where we going exactly yet the choice of school will certainly play a part. Schools in question are below Clover Hills State School Mudgeeraba State School Mudgeeraba Creek State School. Any replies appreciated. Cheers Dawn

Hi. All our appliances were integrated so we had to buy new here. We got a large fridge freezer, a washing machine, microwave, 32 inch TV( admittedly not a top of the range one),and a food dehydrator, for around $2700. We haggled. That was at the good guys. There weren't any sales on at the time. There was also an offer where we got $200 back from the manufacturer of the fridge, which we got back around 2 months later. The spaces for fridge freezers were different in every rental we looked at, so make sure you check first, especially the height. Had a friend who didn't realise this and he had to remove a bit of a cupboard so it would fit !

Thanks theDiggler, think I'll do that in future. I have just had a call from the garage, and apparently the parts are being held up in customs. They're hoping to get themThursday or Friday !! So fingers crossed we'll get it back for next week.

Hello We imported our BMW 325i last year, after nearly 4 years it has had it's first problem. It needs 2 new injectors. The garage advised us there were none in Australia and they needed to order them from Germany. Due to the cost and they advised we needed to make a down payment or we could leave the car with them. We can't drive it as apparently it can damage the valves which sounds even more expensive so we've left it with them. Just over 2 weeks later and they're still waiting for the parts..... So it's becoming increasingly annoying for us. I checked with BMW in Australia before we imported it regards the availability of parts (as it's a 3l and as far as I know the 325's here are 2.5) and they said there'd be no problem. I just wondered if anyone else had a similar experience with a European model that's slightly different to the Australian version. as the car gets older although it's been well maintained I expect things to go on it, just trying to know if I need to expect this every time so we can manage our expectations ! Thanks

We rent in Sorrento on the Gold Coast rent is $700 a week. We had to put down 4 weeks as a bond. Rent paid every 2 weeks, I mentioned every month to the agent and they said we could do that if we wanted. But we chose not to. Hubby paid fortnightly so it made sense.

That's an interesting map Freebo, I haven't been here long enough to comment. Having been a victim of a mugging in the UK, I try to always be aware of who's around me. I was shocked by the recent bag snatch from the OAP in Robina town centre as I go there a reasonable amount. Do people think it maybe the emphasis on the Bike crackdown had focused attention on crime in the area and it has been reported more ?

Hello We moved over around 9 months ago to the Gold Coast. Our main reason for coming here was my OH, grew up here and his family are here and in Brisbane. He lived with me in the UK for 10 years and he wanted to come home, I enjoyed living in Australia previously so was happy to come back too. We met here and lived in Sydney about 12 years ago, then back to the UK for what was supposed to be a few years. We put it off and off, then the kids arrived, my mum got diagnosed with Leukemia and we put it off again. At the same time my OH dad had was and still is having chemo for cancer here. We were always planning on coming back, but we realised that there was never going to be a perfect time and as one child starts school next year we wanted to be settled. My OH originally worked for his UK firm when we first arrived so money was fine. When the contract ended it took him a while to get another job, which isn't as well paid so money is a bit tight for us at the moment, he is a qualified accountant. But this is more due to us making a poor decision on a .rental property and a few large car bills at the same time. We spend around. $200 a week in food. Which is probably around the same as the UK. Hubby probably works the same hours (10 a day), but he only works 20 mins drive away now. I would think jobs wise it depends what industry you work in. I have a friend who is a midwife and she took a while to get a job, and another who is an engineer and he took, 4 months to get a job. I like it here, it's not perfect, but I wasn't expecting it to be. but as I no longer work, I feel our kids are better off, whatever we did we would be separating one set of grandparents from them, Skype is ok, but I know my mum misses there hugs. I grew up on a council estate in Essex, It was by no means the worse, but it wasn't great. I wasn't allowed to play outside, and I only remember a couple of holidays with my parents, I mostly went away with my grandparents. So for me comparing my childhood to my OH it sounded to me a lot nicer. I don't necessarily think the education system is better here. Again it depends on your local schools in the UK. In short it's early days for us, my OH commented the other day that he knew he was home as when he was paying for petrol he realised he wasn't wearing shoes, but looked at everyone else in the queue and realised they weren't either !! I'm enjoying being able to do Lots of free things, like play areas and beach trips with the kids. It's not easy right now but, we're here for the long run. I hope this post doesn't sound negative, it's just meant to be honest. I do like it here and I think we've done the right thing.

You've all got it right. We emigrated 9 months ago and we're going through a tough time financially right now .Even though we had a big savings pot. My OH found a job tough to get. We lived in Sydney 10 yrs or so ago and even on our salary them we contemplated buying a block of land to build a house unfortunately my visa situation changed and we went back to the UK and did very well. At the moment that block of land and dream house seems a distant dream. My OH is Aussie and we came here to be with his family and to try to give our kids a better life. When he tells me of his childhood it sounds like a dream compared to mine. There are things that cost nothing like going for a treasure hunt on the beach looking for fruit bats etc... Which we couldn't do in the UK as we both worked and weekends were spent catching up with all the stuff we didn't do during the week. But sometimes I just want to go back to my old life in the UK..... But I'm sticking it out here for the moment, the investment to come out here us immense and I'm not willing to throw in the towel just yet.

Looks lovely, I have a milestone birthday this year so I may start dropping a few hints !!

We are paying $700 a week, which we now realise is 1- to much for the area/house 2- we underestimated the living cost generally. It was a poor decision on our part, I think partly made as we were a bit desperate to get out of staying under his relatives feet. It was fine when my hubby had his previous job, but when the contract ended ( he was working from home for the same company he did in the UK and was being paid city of London wages originally he was told they would be ok to extend it for another year) it took him 6 weeks to get another contract, which is less than the UK wage. But money coming in at least until he can find something better. We want to get down to $400-500 a week. We really want to avoid eating into our savings any more than we are already. We are not tied to the GC, but my OH grew up here, all his family are here, with some in Brisbane. Hence why we moved here. He is currently looking for another job which will more than likely be in Brisbane. We hope he will get one before the lease runs out so we can make the decision on whether we need to move to Brisbane or not. This is important as my daughter starts school next year, so we don't really want to uproot her after a few months. We have even discussed a move to Sydney as jobs there are more plentiful in his line of work, I would find it much easier to get a job to once both children are at school, but came to the conclusion that after paying more rent etc we really wouldn't be that much better off. A lesson learnt I think the hard way.

Thanks, it looks like you are correct, when our current lease runs out we will be moving to a cheaper place which should all but solve the issue. Till then it's just economise with a capital E !

I'll pm you, saw your other post about this.. It's very dependent on your personal situation. Christmas was strange though, I spent 2 yrs on a WHV here about 10 yrs ago and couldn't get Christmassy at all. Was easier with the kids though this time.

Yep almost all strike a cord with me, cockatoos are great, but their song is nowhere near as relaxing !

Ha, aconcannon, I live on the Gold Coast, so no unfortunately none here, I would love to know if there are any in Australia. I also miss French Cheese, as far as I'm aware you can't sell cheese with unpasteurised milk here and the Camembert and Brie just don't taste the same.

M&S sandwiches, may sound silly but on my one day off from looking after the kids I used to get myself a slap up lunchtime meal from M&S, Wensleydale and Carrot Chutney sandwich, followed by a Chocolate cheesecake. Mmm. Haven't found anything comparable here yet !!

That's very useful thanks.

Thanks all Keith and Linda, thanks for the commonwealth bank card tip, we aren't really to bothered on the frequent flyer points, but the card sounds similar to one we have now which when we pay off we will be getting rid if, so a similar replacement would be welcome so I'll keep it in mind when we get to that point. My main reason for the post is we are really trying to cut back in all areas as my OH now has a job paying half what he was paid before, ( long story), my area is the food shopping.. I was sure there must have been more to the store cards but other than the frequent flyer points there does not seem to be. Cal one question. I don't have a frequent flyer card at the moment, can I just apply for one then link it to the Woolies card and get the points just for scanning the rewards card ? I do get the mails and I've had a few gift vouchers from them including the one you mentioned which I am waiting for now. Sorry if any of the above seems a silly question. Thanks Dawn

Thanks, not sure the credit card would be suitable for us, but I'll check out the website tonight. I have found Coles and Woolies very similar in prices so it's not an issue swapping between the two. If we can save up the frequent flyer points I'm sure they'll add up when we next have the need to fly.