gwolst77 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Hi Just had the key renumeration points for a job offer in Melbourne emailed to me (I think they want to know if I will go for it before drawing up the paper work) and was wondering if people could give me some advice To cut the story short the basic pay figure I am happy with when I coverted it back to pounds (as a benchmark in relation to the figures I give them about what I earned in the UK). I have also used an Aussie pay calculator http://www.paycalculator.com.au to see what my take home pay should be each month. So this weekend has been spent trying to figure out what my cost of living is going to be, after rent had been deducted and at first I thought I was quids in (or should that be dollars). But then after reading various posts on here I started doing a bit of maths using the 2.2 formula and I may not be as comfortable as I first thought (but not on the poverty line either). I don't want to get in specifics in terms of acutal figures as you don't know who reads these post and I also know that the 2.2 formula is average used for Oz as a whole. My question is this, if I had $3000 left over each month after my rent has been paid would I have enough to comfortably live on? The figure left over once rent has been deducted will be higher than this. I have a wife (who will not be working for the next few years) and two kids (four years old and an eight month old baby). I hope to move somewhere within a 30 minute communting distance of the CBD By comfortable I mean pay all my bills, not have to constantly shop for grocery bargins, run a car, have enough to commute into CBD via public transport, have a bit of money for lesuire and hopefully save a bit of money for holidays and emergencies. I am currently lucky as I earn a very good London type wage but live in the north west of England, so my cost of living is a lot less than the south east. If this offer is converted into pounds it would allow me to relocate to a place like London quite comfortably. However after reading various post on here I am not so sure, I don't want to move out to Oz to be struggling financially Thanks Confused.com :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Difficult one to answer as every family is different. It really depends what sort of lifestyle the family is used to. Club memberships, eating out, entertainment or free walks in the park, visits to the beach etc. You could have a look at the supermarket sites to see what your food requirements may cost Coles and Woolworths are the big two although we do have Aldi and Costco here in Melbourne. A lot of people shop at markets as the produce is fresh and cheaper. Rents depends where you will be living or are you being provided with accommodation. Once you provide more information people may be able to help. Suggest you visit the Life in Victoria forum there is a link at the foot of the page and there are people already resident who post on it and they may be able to give you more information. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest62757 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 It is amazing how quickly $3000 can go after bills, takeaways, doing touristy things etc.. I'm on a spousal visa and stay at home with my three children under the age of 5, so we get medicare and public schooling which will cost $4500 if you are on a 457 visa and the LAFHA is coming to an end for 457 visa holders. Every term I pay $330 x 2 for 3&4 year old kinder (preschool) which is cheaper than daycare. We have subsidized private health care which we pay $290 per month but have a zero excess and extras. Our rent is 30% of my husbands salary, our food bill is roughly $300-400 per week for a family of 5 and 2 dogs. Travel for hubby on the tram is $112 per month (I think) he says the lunch options range from $10+. Car insurance is $120 per month and I estimate elec & gas per month $ 400. Then you have Foxtel, broadband, mobile bills per month $210. I will sometimes go to Aldi but hubby gets bored with the choice and I'm not very good at sourcing out deals at the supermarket as you can imagine shopping with 3 under 5 is hectic at the best of times. Also you need to make sure that the figure they've quoted you is your take home salary and not with super included that this can bring down you monthly take home figure. Hubby's boss did this on his initial offer and we had to re-negotiate. I hope those figure can help a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Hi Just had the key renumeration points for a job offer in Melbourne emailed to me (I think they want to know if I will go for it before drawing up the paper work) and was wondering if people could give me some advice To cut the story short the basic pay figure I am happy with when I coverted it back to pounds (as a benchmark in relation to the figures I give them about what I earned in the UK). I have also used an Aussie pay calculator http://www.paycalculator.com.au to see what my take home pay should be each month. So this weekend has been spent trying to figure out what my cost of living is going to be, after rent had been deducted and at first I thought I was quids in (or should that be dollars). But then after reading various posts on here I started doing a bit of maths using the 2.2 formula and I may not be as comfortable as I first thought (but not on the poverty line either). I don't want to get in specifics in terms of acutal figures as you don't know who reads these post and I also know that the 2.2 formula is average used for Oz as a whole. My question is this, if I had $3000 left over each month after my rent has been paid would I have enough to comfortably live on? The figure left over once rent has been deducted will be higher than this. I have a wife (who will not be working for the next few years) and two kids (four years old and an eight month old baby). I hope to move somewhere within a 30 minute communting distance of the CBD By comfortable I mean pay all my bills, not have to constantly shop for grocery bargins, run a car, have enough to commute into CBD via public transport, have a bit of money for lesuire and hopefully save a bit of money for holidays and emergencies. I am currently lucky as I earn a very good London type wage but live in the north west of England, so my cost of living is a lot less than the south east. If this offer is converted into pounds it would allow me to relocate to a place like London quite comfortably. However after reading various post on here I am not so sure, I don't want to move out to Oz to be struggling financially Thanks Confused.com :confused: We are all different, would you find say £1,500 a month after rent / mortgage or thereabouts comfortable in UK? How do you know what your rent will be ... we found rents to be much higher than even our research revealed when we moved. Just make sure you do use the ~2.2 not the ~1.55 when comparing your salary to a UK salary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Also depends on your reasons for coming- an adventure, permanent move or just for a change. You should be able to manage but you won't be rich by any means. Personally I would do it if only for the experience of living in another country and that it is a good age for your kids before they get fixed into schools and with a particular set of friends etc. Presumably after a few years your wife would go back to work too so that would ease the finances a bit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Using the wage calculator I know what I should be taking home each month (company pays my Superann and there are other bonuses etc on top). But all my budgets will be based purely on my basic take home as that is a constant (anything else on top is a bonus) I currently use realestate.com.au for my rent research and my rent budget will be between $450 - $550 a week for rent (however trying to aim for below $500 per week). This will leave me a figure significantly above $3000 each month once rent has been payed. (If someone could recommend any other good Melbourne rental websites that would be great). My living off $3000 a month reasoning is this, if on average over the course of 12 months we can run an household (less any big purchases), get to and from work, run a car (not the actual car repayments as I looking at salary sacrifice) and maybe go out once or twice a month (family meal, cinema). Then any money above this $3000 figure can be used for savings, fun things, big purchases etc. I may find out that the figures come in a couple of hundred dollars under that figure (bonus) or a couple of hundred over (ain't gonna break the bank). I would rather always over estimate and find out I have more than under estimate and have less. Just looked at my UK outgoings spreadsheet. I have removed items that I don't have to pay in Oz. Which are council tax, pet insurance (not taking the cats), AA, lottery, TV licence and rounded up all the other outgoings to the nearest £10. Even with a UK food budget of £140 pounds per week (which is well over what we acutally spend) my outgoings are £1300. If you multiply this figure by 2.2 it comes under $3000. I am on a buisness visa which I think is a 457. I have been told I have access to Medicare due to me being a Brit, but I was unaware I would have to pay school fees. My daughter turns 4 in two weeks time, so she will start school in the UK this September. However I think due to how they calculate when you start school in Oz it won't be till 2014 when she starts school. It may be that I might have to go back and see if they will up my offer in light of the school fees situation. Main reason is for quality of life. As I said before don't want to go into specifics to much as you don't know who reads these posts. However the salary I earned in the UK came at a huge cost to my work life balance and I can't see it getting better if I want to maintain my current living standards. Basically this position is for the same type of money (including Superann and bonuses) when compared to the UK using the current exchange rate but for a normal 40 hour week. This is the reason for moving, plus I can't see the UK getting any better especially for the kids growing up. I don't want to be in a position in twenty years time when my kids tell me there are going to Oz because there is nothing here. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyNook Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 You don't pay school fees on a 457 in Victoria. It only applies in NSW and the ACT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babybell86 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks for the pay calculator link gwolts77! I have been struggeling to figure out the tax system!! I hope everything works out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest62757 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 You don't pay school fees on a 457 in Victoria. It only applies in NSW and the ACT. That's good to know, as it doesn't apply to us I wasn't sure but had read about others having to pay. OP, hubby and I try to go out regularly but it isn't cheap. The normal rate for a babysitter is $18-20 an hour. Going out for a basic meal can cost you at least $75-100 plus cost of alcohol. Cinema tickets are $20+ unless you go on tight arse Tuesday and they are $11. We took the kids bowling a few weeks back and it was $50 just for 1 game as you imagine these things do add up. Clothes are also not as cheap as in the UK so stock up. I'm not sure about the medicare rebate but in Victoria there are long waiting lists for things like speech therapists should you ever need that and even under a health plan from your GP you only get 5 subsidized sessions so this is where your extras private health insurance comes in handy. It is doable I always recommend not over extending yourself in the beginning as it can be a shock all the little extras. I would also bring all of your furniture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petkula73 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I think a lot of it depends on what you are used to in the UK. If you're used to spending money like it's going out of fashion and want the best of everything you'll think it's really expensive here. If you are a real miser then you'll probably find not much difference from the UK. However, most of us are somewhere in the middle so you'll certainly notice it's more expensive when you arrive, but you'll quickly get used to it. In general, it's as expensive as you want it to be. If you eat on the Southbank you'll easily get through $200-$300 with drinks for a family. You could go to the other extreme and have a big bowl of noodle soup in Chinatown for around $9 per person and you'll enjoy it just as much. We were in the same boat as you when we arrived, so here are a few tips to keep the costs down: 1. Public transport is dirt cheap on a Sunday Saver ticket. Used to be $3.50 per person for Zones 1&2 (all Melbourne therefore). Under 4s ride free. 2. As someone else said, Aldi is pretty common here now and good value for the basics 3. Shop in the markets. South Melbourne is our favourite, but Vic market is the biggest. You can get some great deals on meat, fish and veg and the quality is very high. Fill your freezer once a month. 4. Stick to cheaper cuts. Oyster Blade steak for example is really cheap here and it's tender and versitile to cook with. 5. Make use of the free BBQ areas in all parks 6. Plan your nights out with Groupon. We've had some amazing deals. You can generally get a 2 person deal for under $50 and the food is always spot on in Melbourne. 7. Turn your aircon off when you are out! Our friend left his on 24 hours a day for 18 days and the bill came to $600... 8. Take your kids to all the free festivals in Melbourne. Loads to do without needing to spend loads of cash. 9. Libraries also have kids DVDs to rent for free. We get two out a week and it's saved us a fortune. 10. Drink wine not beer or spiritis. Beer is a total rip off in Australia, but you can get really good wine cheaply. The very cheapest is in a 4 litre box for under $10 and is roughly the same quality as a budget wine in the UK. Probably to be avoided. However, if you go for cleanskins or bin ends you can get a decent bottle for $5 if you're lucky and very nice one for $7-$8. Bit hit and miss though. We've been here a year now and you really stop comparing everything to UK prices after a while. My final tip though would be buy ALL your clothes before you come over - they are an absolute rip off here. We looked at a pair of sandals for my 4 year old daugher in a shop here - $90 (or 60 quid) and then bought the same ones on Amazon in the UK for 20 quid. A few pounds extra to post out here and it saves a lot of money... Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thanks peeps A friend who has been out there for a couple of years who is married (with a kid the same age as my daughter) sent me a break down of there outgoings. Which put things into perspective for me and I think we will be a lot better off over in Oz (both quality of life and financailly). I currently live in a nice house in a nice area, but for what I pay out over in the UK I will get much better standard of house and much, much larger for the same price using 2.2 rule. I was going to have to move at some point in the UK due to needing another bedroom for the little boy, but I won't have that problem now and will still have an extra room for guests. Also I will still be under the 30% of take home pay spent on rent rule that people say you should aim for whilst living out here. Hopefully sign the paperwork this week and I should be in Melbourne mid/late August. Gonna come back for the wife and kids around November time once I have setup shop :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest62757 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Thanks peeps A friend who has been out there for a couple of years who is married (with a kid the same age as my daughter) sent me a break down of there outgoings. Which put things into perspective for me and I think we will be a lot better off over in Oz (both quality of life and financailly). I currently live in a nice house in a nice area, but for what I pay out over in the UK I will get much better standard of house and much, much larger for the same price using 2.2 rule. I was going to have to move at some point in the UK due to needing another bedroom for the little boy, but I won't have that problem now and will still have an extra room for guests. Also I will still be under the 30% of take home pay spent on rent rule that people say you should aim for whilst living out here. Hopefully sign the paperwork this week and I should be in Melbourne mid/late August. Gonna come back for the wife and kids around November time once I have setup shop :biggrin: Please be picky with finding a rental as the last thing you want is a miserable wife in November! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Please be picky with finding a rental as the last thing you want is a miserable wife in November! Was thinking about Point Cook (Saltwater Coast etc etc) A lot of bang for you buck out there. West coast seems a lot cheaper than the east coast. It all depends if I have a car etc by then if not will have to proabaly stay closer to the CBD until we can get everything sorted, and then move again. But hey life was never meant to be too easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petkula73 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Just my personal opinion (and no disrespect to anyone who lives there) but I think there are better places to live in initially than Point Cook. You do get an awful lot for your money, but the trade off is it's all very new and the infrastructure hasn't quite caught up with the number of people. We have friends who rented an absolutely fantastic house in Sanctuary Lakes (Point Cook) - more or less brand new, wonderfully appointed, huge and in general a really, really nice place. They paid $850 a week, which will get you something like a two bed flat in South Yarra (supposedly the best suburb). However, despite the quality of the house and the amenities of Sanctuary Lakes, they always regretted not being closer to town. Whenever we went out in the city, one of them had to drive as the train station was too far to walk from their house. If you compare it to the Northern or Eastern suburbs the main difference is that you wouldn't really want to spend any time in Point Cook other than in your house (if this makes sense). For example, if you look at the more established suburbs they have restaurants, cafes, smaller shops etc. Whilst I'm sure these also exist in Point Cook, it's not really the same experience as you'd get elsewhere - a bit characterless and built to a formula. On the plus side, you're close to Weribee Zoo and it's easy to get out to Torquay and the Great Ocean Road. Anyway, as I said, this is only my personal opinion and I'm sure others will sing the areas praises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jewelz Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 If your looking at west coast then we have been in Altona since last November and have loved it here. Close to train and still in zone 1 (so price is same as if you were only going 1 stop from the city), close to shops, cafes etc, close to safe sandy beach with loads of seabirds like black swans, cormorants and pelicans and a long pier, a park near the beach where they do live entertainment in the summer (free), close to Cherry Lake, there's a street market every Tuesday, Altona Gate shopping precinct fairly near, and a Bunnings which is basically B&Q. For your big out of town shops for furniture etc, Hoppers crossing has it all and only a short drive or train ride away. And rent is so much less expensive than the East coast. We only came out here for a 1 year work contract which will finish about November and so will be heading back to UK then - not sure of actual date yet but not looking forward to trying to sell all our Household goods, furniture etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 If your looking at west coast then we have been in Altona since last November and have loved it here. Close to train and still in zone 1 (so price is same as if you were only going 1 stop from the city), close to shops, cafes etc, close to safe sandy beach with loads of seabirds like black swans, cormorants and pelicans and a long pier, a park near the beach where they do live entertainment in the summer (free), close to Cherry Lake, there's a street market every Tuesday, Altona Gate shopping precinct fairly near, and a Bunnings which is basically B&Q. For your big out of town shops for furniture etc, Hoppers crossing has it all and only a short drive or train ride away. And rent is so much less expensive than the East coast. We only came out here for a 1 year work contract which will finish about November and so will be heading back to UK then - not sure of actual date yet but not looking forward to trying to sell all our Household goods, furniture etc. I might check you out on the regarding the household goods in November. Can anybody give me an idea of how long it would take to commute to the CBD via public transport from Altona and Point Cook? I would like to be in the office for around 8.30am Also I think the chances are we won't have a car for at least the first three-six months (planning to do salary sacrifce for my car) untill wages have been flowing into the bank and we can get credit. So whilst I am working in the CBD will my wife be able to walk to the shops, park area etc. Or is it like living in the USA where you simply need a car to go anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowler Family Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Sorry everyone but what is the 2.2 rule?? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 They say that you should divide your Aussie wage by 2.2 instead of the currency exchange rate to get the true comparison of the cost of living out here. Or multiple your UK salary by 2.2 when looking at Aussie salary's $100,000 per year = £65,634 per year at todays exchange rate $100,000 per year divided by 2.2 = £45,454 per year. That is what your wage would be like in the UK when you factor in the higher cost of living in Australia. From what I have read a lot of people accept jobs that are basically around the UK salary level or slightly above it when converted into $. But when they get out here they end up being worse off or can't maintain the same lifestyle they had in the UK However the 2.2 is an avaerage for the all of Australia so it depends on where you live, cheaper places may actually work out at a 1.9 or 2.0 ratio. That's how I see it, but then again your comparing apples and oranges when it comes down to the "Quality of Life" statement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calkels Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 hi jewelz we are living in altona meadows, been here 1 week and so far we are enjoying it!! we have finally got over the jetlag!! the journey is a killer!! we went to altona beach over the weekend, it was lovely!! any more tips that could be helpful? we drove into the city the other day and paid nearly $50 dollars parking!! lol!! wont be doing that again!! we are waiting for our stuff to be shipped out - its really hard with no furntiture - if you are selling your sofas please let me know!! :-) we are sitting on airbeds at the mo!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jewelz Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 About 30 min for train from Altona to Flinders St or Southern cross and then obviously it will then depend on where in the city you are working. At peak times, mornings , evening and weekends they run straight through, but during the day you have to change at Newport which isn't complicated. They run every about 20 mins until at least after midnight not sure what time the last train is off the top of my head. You can walk it or bus it or train it to shops depending on where you are. There are pavements here :-) Hi Calkels, sorry I cant help with sofas until at least November, How long is it until your shipment is due? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowler Family Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Thanks for that gwolst77 - the realist is a little disheartening!!!!:wideeyed: They say that you should divide your Aussie wage by 2.2 instead of the currency exchange rate to get the true comparison of the cost of living out here. Or multiple your UK salary by 2.2 when looking at Aussie salary's $100,000 per year = £65,634 per year at todays exchange rate $100,000 per year divided by 2.2 = £45,454 per year. That is what your wage would be like in the UK when you factor in the higher cost of living in Australia. From what I have read a lot of people accept jobs that are basically around the UK salary level or slightly above it when converted into $. But when they get out here they end up being worse off or can't maintain the same lifestyle they had in the UK However the 2.2 is an avaerage for the all of Australia so it depends on where you live, cheaper places may actually work out at a 1.9 or 2.0 ratio. That's how I see it, but then again your comparing apples and oranges when it comes down to the "Quality of Life" statement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowler Family Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Ooops I meant reality gwolst77!! Thanks for that gwolst77 - the realist is a little disheartening!!!!:wideeyed: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jewelz Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I currently use realestate.com.au for my rent research and my rent budget will be between $450 - $550 a week for rent (however trying to aim for below $500 per week). This will leave me a figure significantly above $3000 each month once rent has been payed. (If someone could recommend any other good Melbourne rental websites that would be great). http://www.domain.com.au/ A few of Altona based agents http://barlows.com.au/ http://www.mancini.com.au/ http://www.bigginscott.com.au http://www.hockingstuart.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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