Motorhead

Yeah very good, very helpful. Im just trying to make the people aware that its not rent per month as it is in the UK, sorry to burst your little bubble but most get paid twice a month here, most on the 15th of each month then the last day of the month. So you can have three two week rent payments to make in one month which has to be budgeted for...just trying to let people know how it really is here.

GO...no contest, plenty time to think on the flights, hubby will appreciate you more when u get back too.

Prepair for an experience when looking at houses here, Im not the most positive person about the place, the cost of housing is one of the main reasons I'm heading back to the UK. Hopefully you will find something your happy with, just be prepaired, some of the prices they ask are mental. They charge per 2 weeks so in effect you pay 13months rent a year, just something to notice.

Im for the off soon for similar reason, such a shame really. Are you working a 3 weeks away and one off rota...if so I dont know how you do, it I used to work offshore in the UK 2 and 2 and that was enough for me. Try not to over stress...lol like thats an option. It will be ok the end...least thats what I keep telling myself

Hello M8 hopefully your feeling better than when you were 7 weeks in, however Ive been in Brisbane for 18 months and it looks like I’m headed to England...which is a big thing as I’m from Scotland! We knew as soon as we got here all wasn’t well, sometimes your gut instinct just keeps chipping away and its just a matter of time, for others as soon as they get off the plane its woo hoo!! Bingo! And that’s great, others take time to come round to it. For us the constant money worries/cost of living/housing/schooling/skin cancer worries for the kids etc have nailed the coffin down for us…the latest National debt tax hike sums it up really, just when we just about managed to balance the books Australia knocks you back down, which for us has been typical. Australia is a great place with some great people but also it is awash with not so great stuff and not so great people, same as anywhere. For us in the end we looked past the sunshine and to be honest didn’t really see much else. Sometime you don’t need time you just know, hope it works out for you…it will, it always does.

I now have the job offer officially on the table, to be honest I'm losing sleep over the whole thing. Its causing arguments at home, we are both so stressed trying to decide what to do for the best. I keep thinking you’ve not given it long enough, just stay, but then I go back to looking at the houses here and I just can’t bring myself to hand over my life’s savings, even if I mortgage myself to the hilt out to me being 60 years old we still can’t afford what I’d call a great house. It’s harder than the call to come here. If I was 20 rather than the 40 I would never have looked back but im not 20. My 3 year old boy will be devastated if we go back, all he knows are his friends and the beach and his sports and going to ace things like the rugby at Suncorp….. Then I see that pictures of Spring back in Scotland there’s no comparison Scotland to me is the most beautiful place on earth at this time of year, nothing Ive seen in Australia comes close…but then the Aussie trump card…miles of the worlds best beaches and sunshine. Its so annoying as we have wasted so much time here looking at crap houses and worrying about the whole thing. As I said at the beginning ….AAAAGGGRRRRGGHHH!!!!!! My heart is in both camps my head is spinning.

Ok I have found the problem... Turns out I am not on 180 or 174K, I am infact on 157K + 17k Super payment. This explains why I have 1000 less each month after tax. I'm relieved in some ways as I now understand why my money just wasnt going as far as people kept telling me it should, thanks for all the replys they have obviously helped me get a better handle on things.

Gee 13, I totally understand and have said not everyone is in the same wage bracket, I've worked hard (at times) to get the skills and qualifications to be in this tax bracket, but please remember we are a one income house at the moment. To be honest I dont think it makes the decision any harder or easier how much you earn ,if anything the things that are free here are the ones that may swing the balance for most people regardless of what you earn ie parks, the beach, the weather are the same for everyone. Money IS a big issue as a tried to outline my 9k a month from my basic of 174 is easily accounted for. Having looked at that calculator I'm about 1000 per month down from what it says I should get...that's a lot! I'll speak to my accountant and report back!

Once again thanks for the reply's, as we have not been in aus more than 2 years we wouldnt get a PRV so we would have until 2017 to return. I have many friends here, some Ive known for 20 years or more so on that front it will be hard to go back and the obvious feeling of failure if we do. Again I appreciate all the comments on 180K is a fortune and how on earth cant u survive...well we can its just that I'm not used to surviving, Im used to having disposable income. I survived as a student in not so great accommodation 20 years ago so now I like a nice house and I pay for it...it costs me 3250 a month, my partners car costs 1000 a month, car insurance/food/kids stuff/BBQ's/foxtel/electric(400) easily add up to 2000 so there its all just about gone (I get just under 9k a month) So you can see im not buying rolexe's or bathing in goats milk, but Im not slumming it either...the difference is living here I am not adding to my family's wealth, there is no money going into savings, no emergency fund, no holiday fund. I also dont get how you can afford a house on the river if that house is 900k say and your house-hold income is half mine...unless you had a massive deposit, or your taking on a 30year mortgage then its not really relevant as Im in my forties. But again I am still undecided, I think the best bit of advice was the "when in doubt do nought" , but that's hard when the pop star wages are on the cold grey table

I'm not PAYE in the UK, I work for my own Ltd company paying myself and my wife in company dividends, hence tax works out at ~20-25% Northshorepom's figures feel about right, Id say an income of 70k GBP = what I earn here

WOW thanks for the replies...I know 180k sounds a lot but my partners a social worker and she couldn’t find a job before and is now at home with our new born so we are looking at just my wage for the foreseeable even after we dont see her getting a job from what we have heard all those type of jobs have been cut right back, also you pay a lot of tax on 180aud best part of 45% vs in the UK as id be self employed on a day rate Id pay about 20%. My misses wants to stay longer and continue renting but thats really getting to me, we paid nearly 40,000 aud in rent last year for a house comparable to the one I sold in Scotland. I know Im in an enviable position, I appreciate that and I'm fully aware that others might not be in the same wage bracket and I don’t want to sound like a knob, but 180k once the tax is off doesn’t go that far for a family of 4 with 2 cars etc, its certainly nothing like the financial setup I enjoyed in the UK. But what’s the price on the sunny coast, surfers, Byron, sea world, Australia zoo or any of the islands we’ve visited or the rugby at the Sun corp…the list goes on..

My family and I have been in Brisbane for 18months or so, its ok. Its pluses and minuses same as anywhere. The weather is great most of the year, but all this sun comes with a price...all these skin cancer clincs must be here for a reason. We found a brown snake skin at our door the other day, the kind which could easily kill my 2 year old, but we've only ever seen one snake in the flesh and that was a garden snake (5 foot but not dangerous). I earn what many would call a good wage ~180k per year. But that still doesnt get me a great house near the city. To me you need to spend around two and a half times the number of dollars to pounds on the housing front, but the build quality here is laughable, so you have to factor that into the equation. I have been offered a job back in the UK with an old boss at 500gbp a day, so easily 50% more than Im on here in real terms. My head says go back its a no brainer but my heart isnt so sure. We have PR status till April 2017 with less than 2 yrs in here if we go home theres eveychance it will lapse. We sold our house etc before coming, its good here just not as great as we hoped it would be. We couldnt afford provate education for the boys here we could in the UK.