Johnnyboy

If you remortgage, how can you have money from that property so you can use them in Oz? Maybe release equity but that's different.
Anyway, I'd like to know the outcome, hopefully things will work out for you.

IPTV is the easiest and cheapest option.

Google Melbourne Rental Search, they will be able to help you.

Apologies for intruding your post...but how do you cope with the dark falling quite early (6-7pm)? Thanks

You are right, there is nothing expected for granted but the salary offered is on the lower scale until I'll prove myself. With that visa I can move to a different employer, even though it's not my intention. If we struggle financially though, I might have no option than to look for a better job & salary somewhere else. If I'll be able to find it though... it's a different question.

I've been already offered a better package somewhere else but didn't take it as would be unfair to the existing company who applied for nomination already.

Well...a lot of things could happen in an year. I did sign the contract in June last year and the company applied for nomination but hasn't been granted yet. I can then apply for 186 visa - obviously, I need the skills assessment first but that shouldn't be a problem as I've got 15 years experience in my job (still on the long term skills list in Oz). My wife is now very keen on the move but I'm the one having doubts because of financial reasons. With 2 small children (4 & 7), I'm sure they will like it in Aus but I'm not convinced we can afford the same lifestyle as in UK. As stated before, I've got here £45-50k/year while in Oz I'll start off with $85. I'm sure I can get towards $100k, maybe $110k in short term (up to 1-2 years) but even with that salary, the house cost makes me thinking very carefully about the move. I'd like the adventure but with 2 children...I'm not so sure about it. We can sell our house in UK deposit but affordability here for a house is 6 times salary while in Melbourne (or somewhere else) will be nearly 10 times !!!

I refused already to come over on a 457 visa and I don't regret it at all as that was only a temporary option and with the new changes, we were only allowed to stay for 4 years.

I first visited NZ well over 20 years ago and I was aghast at the cost of things - so much more expensive than in Australia and the wages were a fair bit lower.  I wondered how people managed and thought no wonder so many New Zealanders moved to Australia.  I think it has evened out a lot more now but as you say it's still fairly expensive.

Ask them to sponsor you for 186, that would be the best option for both you and the company. Might take 1 year but is well worth it on both sides.

I don't want to turn this into an buying/rent thread but as others have mentioned already, 6-700k doesn't get you very much for a property in Melbourne.

So you could take the glass half full approach and say that your package is about $93k. Any phones or vehicles or health insurance included? It all adds up. Have you been offered a job by Telstra? In your field it is probably hard to avoid some connection with them. I agree with others. Retain and rent out your home, give it at least 12 months and see how it goes. Also if your partner is likely to come with a negative fixed mindset probably best not to bother.
 
Give it a go mate, is my advice. If it doesn't work out look at it as 'gap time...sell it to your partner that way too'[emoji6].

Employee contribution is voluntary, don't have to pay anything if you don't want to (I wouldn't bother paying anything if I were you until you know exactly what you want to do if you come over). 
Employers MUST pay a minimum of 9.5%, some pay more. Do you know if what you have been offered is inclusive or exclusive of superannuation...it's pretty important because it will affect the income you get at the end of the pay period.

I think someone already mentioned IPTV on a different thread. Various accounts with different prices but there are free ones as well.

You can also use a sip account (most probably free) and that will give you a number from UK. Then they can ring you as it's a local call to them. Just give them a buzz from your mobile, then they can ring u from uk on that number.

Thanks, I did look there already but as we have 2 children, we need to look into schools as well.

I did look already into that and it's about $5500/month after taxes

Visa won't be tied to the employer but the high prices for food, utilities and monthly shopping is scary. We'd be better off if we sell our house in UK and buy something as the mortgage is cheaper than the rent. But if doesn’t work out well in Melbourne, we'll have the hassle buying something back here. Nothing is easy, innit?! My basic salary in Oz is nearly 2.5 higher than in UK, however I get a lot of overtime here and I don't know if I'll have the chance there as well. We need to work our budget very carefully because we might end up in a worse situation than we think. Hence this thread.

I can't consider anything else except Melbourne at the moment because that's where I found the job and the company willing to apply for my 186. We're still considering our options at the moment. It's take it or leave it as another opportunity won't come across.

It's a risk for them to get an unknown engineer from a different country and I need to prove myself first. I agree with that and I'm not upset about it. Then I can have a review after 6 months. Starting salary is above average for a telecoms engineer according to hays.com.au. In our job, especially here in UK, we get a lot of O/T but I don't know how it's in Oz.

They are willing to review my salary after 6 months. I don't know how much though. I can also get extra from overtime but yet again, unknown territory. I get a lot from my OT here in UK so it's not something new.

I do have the job offer and signed the contract already (subject to visa obviously). My concern was (and is!) if we can cope with my salary. We need to take everything in consideration and they're a lot of things we didn't know about (insurance, school cost, taxes, etc) hence this thread.

We do have a mortgage here in UK and don't want to sell yet even though that will give us a VERY good deposits towards a house in Melbourne. If we'll make the move and settle as we hope, we can then look into buying a house in Melbourne.

@ThePomQueen, don't worry about my PM and thank you so much for replying here. We'd like to know the facts before committing to such a big move and the best thing is to listen to different opinions. This forum is so useful and people here are very helpful, I can't thank enough for all your replies and PM's.

Children 3.5yrs and 7yrs at this moment in time. With the waiting visa time, nobody knows how old they'll be by then.

Permanent

@Toots, thanks a lot for that link, I've already looked into it. I was hoping for facts from a few people as utilities and food is difficult to estimate. That's why I've asked to PM's if anyone is willing to share their real experience.