DukeNinja

Hey @ScottieGirl, I have found that online shopping has always saved me substantial amounts of dosh over buying in store. Plus, you have different rights (look up distance buying regulations, especially regarding returns), which may turn out to be more advantageous if you're buying online. I swear by Amazon.co.uk., and I have a Prime Account, which is amazing for FREE NEXT DAY delivery! The membership cost is about GBP79 per year, but you also get access to Prime videos. If you do not want to pay full price for membership, they usually reduce this down to about GBP59 in October/November, closer to their Black Friday week. Their customer service has been faultless-the Philips Sonicare Diamondclean i mentioned packed up after 15 months, so I called them, and they refunded the FULL amount immediately. (Also I paid GBP89 for the toothbrush, instead of the usual price of around 150) I bought a bed from them, and one of the slats was broken. They offered to pick up and deliver a new one, when available, or offered us 20% refund. I`ve got other stories that confirm how great a company they are with regards to customer service. If you do want to use Amazon for shopping, it might be worth registering with a price tracking website such as ukcamemcamelcamel, who will automatically email you once the price of the item you`re looking at drops down. It`s worth noting that if you use a stock Android smartphone, and have Google Now set up, if you research stuff on your phone, the Google Now screen (swipe right to access) will show you price updates. Sports Direct do reasonably priced sports clothing/equipment.

Just because they had the best combination of price and delivery costs (in this case, free delivery). I am a hardened value for money customer, and it makes me feel literally sick if I pay over the odds for something. Plus I enjoy the research!

Dyson V6 Animal Origin Blue for $399 at BigW

As well as my previous post about the half price Oral B 8000 for 139.99, we`ve just been to AMart furniture, and picked up an outdoor table with two chairs for the princely sum of 49, and gas lift bar stools for 29 each.

We're just coming to the end of our 3 week stay in South Brisbane, next to the Sky Needle, and I have to say, we have really enjoyed the feel of this area, with its diverse range of eateries within arm`s reach, and the CBD a short walk away. We would love to buy here, but prices here are probably 125% of our budget. So we`re renting at the edge of Spring Hill/The Valley, in a brand spanking new apartment building instead.

If anyone`s in the market for a new electric toothbrush, Chemist Warehouse have got the Oral B Genius 8000 Silver for $139.99, but stock is low, so you`ll need to check your local branch. I picked mine up from the Mango Hill branch. Ideally I would have preferred a Philips Sonicare Diamondclean, however my last one died after 15 months. Whilst it was bein used though, it was amazing, imho, far better clean feeling that any Oral B. However, my first Oral B 3000 lasted 5 years, so I`ll take reliability over performance any day.

Yes it is!! Great minds think alike ?

I've also found the joys of KMart and Target! There are some treasures to be found among the tack. Also, H&M is quite reasonably priced. I don't start work for another week, so I'm still using my savings, hence mentally converting AUD to GBP, but I've been pleasantly surprised by how much more affordable things can be, contrary to what I previously thought.

It turns out that even with the low exchange rate, on the whole, shopping at IKEA Australia works out cheaper than at its UK counterpart. And that's before reading into account the higher wages over here. JB HIFI have got free delivery on white goods for most metropolitan areas at the moment. We got a 400l Samsung top mount fridge freezer for less than $700. Got a 1100w LG inverter microwave from thegoodguys for $179, including delivery. It's paid to shop around.

Exciting times ahead! Now the million dollar question is when to jump onto the property bandwagon...

We paid for the premium PCC, and turnaround was 2 days. So hopefully not long for you guys.

Yes, do tell why she will need to do that? My curiosity has been genuinely piqued.

Try this:

When I was a nurse, many, many moons ago, I did the diploma course. I had the choice to do the dissertation module (within so many years of qualifying) to top up my nursing diploma to a nursing degree. Might this be an option? Also, I'm sure there was a thread somewhere about diploma nurses being able to bypass this degree hurdle by going through Tas?/NZ? Or somewhere like that.

No. The 189 was granted workout any conditions, fortunately. It just ended up costing us £1550 for the 101, instead of the £500 for adding the baby to our 189.

Your best bet is to probably speak to one of the registered migration agents on here. I`m sure they can do a low cost initial consultation to work out logistics.

This is what our thought process was. We did do the medicals, apart from the X-ray for my wife, and had uploaded everything. However, we were granted the 189 without the X-ray having been done (extremely rare). So we ended up having to submit a 101. I did email DIPB and request that our application be put on hold until after the birth, but it appears that this was ignored.

No, I didn't. You shouldn't have to either. My Uni had a service where it would send the required information in a sealed envelope directly to AIR and/or AHPRA. I think I paid £60 per set. It included everything from the cover letter, to the nitty gritty of the module descriptors. Speak to the registrar/ student services team of your uni. That way you don't have to get every single page certified. Saying that, I have heard that some solicitors will bind a set of documents, and certify this bound copy as one document, hopefully keeping costs down. We only arrived a week ago, still feels like an expensive holiday! I guess until I start work it'll still feel dreamy.

We used hotels.com, and found a 10% discount voucher through Google.

Apparently you can open a GBP account with WestPac (I'm sure you can with the others too), transfer your GBP into it, and let it sit there until you're happy with a FX rate, at which point you then convert your GBP to AUD.

We're just testing the waters with our house that's currently rented out for £545pcm. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=34077720&sale=67235499&country=england Offers around £110k

Have you given Aussie Home Loans brokers a go?

I know I've been putting this off, but its about time I faced reality. This is an accurate estimate of how much the process has cost us, not including sundries like phone call costs/photocopying etc... IELTS book: GBP 30 IELTS fees: GBP 160 189 visa for partner and I: GBP 3400 Police checks x2: GBP 160 Medicals (2 adults+ 1 baby): GBP 700 101 visa for child: GBP 1500 AIR skills assessment: GBP 600 University Paperwork fees: GBP 120 Solicitor: GBP 150 Courier: GBP 70 AIR membership: GBP 411 AHPRA registration: GBP 500 Fit2Work x2: GBP 200 Notary: GBP 150 Courier: GBP 70 AHPRA activation visit: GBP 1500 New passports (Wife, baby and I): GBP 350 Passport photos x3 sets: GBP 30 One way flights (wife, baby and myself): GBP 920 Hotel layover in Singapore: GBP 155 18 nights Holiday rental: GBP 1200 Taxi from airport to Brisbane: GBP 55 Large MoveCube: GBP 1445 Marine Insurance: GBP 292 Deposit + 2 weeks rent for Long term rental: GBP 1800 Tdap vaccination (required for practice): GBP 40 Total running cost: GBP 16008 So I would estimate the cost for a single radiographer, moving in August, to be around: GBP 5600 This does NOT include shipping of your belongings, layover costs, or initial accommodation expenses before you start working.

IELTS book: GBP 30 IELTS fees: GBP 160 189 visa for partner and I: GBP 3400 Police checks x2: GBP 160 Medicals (2 adults+ 1 baby): GBP 700 101 visa for child: GBP 1500 AIR skills assessment: GBP 600 University Paperwork fees: GBP 120 Solicitor: GBP 150 Courier: GBP 70 AIR membership: GBP 411 AHPRA registration: GBP 500 Fit2Work x2: GBP 200 Notary: GBP 150 Courier: GBP 70 AHPRA activation visit: GBP: 1500 New passports (Wife, baby and I): GBP 350 Passport photos x3 sets: GBP 30 One way flights (wife, baby and myself): GBP 920 Hotel layover in Singapore: GBP 155 18 nights Holiday rental: GBP 1200 Taxi from airport to Brisbane: GBP 55 Large MoveCube: GBP 1445 Marine Insurance: GBP 292 Deposit + 2 weeks rent for Long term rental: GBP 1800 Total running cost: GBP 15968

Sounds like they did have the Spanish Inquisition ready for you. I bet you weren't expecting it .... Sorry, had to get that Monty Python line in there! We did our Medicare yesterday, and all we were asked was to fill in one form, show our visas, passports, and boarding passes. I forgot to ask for a Medicare registration letter to avoid the loading though. Gonna have to take a trip back to the SunCorp Plaza.