gwolst77 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 What's the Oz equivalent of DFS? Is it any good and does it have always have sales on that must end on Monday? Car Insurance is there such things as no claims discounts in Oz, and can you get discounts if you can prove your UK no claims history? When renting I assume it's the bond and a months rent up front. Utilities (gas, electric, water, telephone) do you have to pay up anything up front? Or do you just get billed per quarter and have X amount of days to settle. Creepy crawlies, what's Melbourne like for insects, especially posionus ones? My four year old is fascinated by spiders at the moment, so me and my wife are a little nervous. :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Amy Lancaster Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I have no idea on any of the answers - but thought I'd post to keep it bumped up as I'd be interested to know too. Particularly the utilities - currently trying to do a rough monthly budget, so would also be interested to know what people pay on a weekly/monthly basis for them (& what sort/size of house this relates to)? Amy :smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 What's the Oz equivalent of DFS? Is it any good and does it have always have sales on that must end on Monday? Car Insurance is there such things as no claims discounts in Oz, and can you get discounts if you can prove your UK no claims history? When renting I assume it's the bond and a months rent up front. Utilities (gas, electric, water, telephone) do you have to pay up anything up front? Or do you just get billed per quarter and have X amount of days to settle. Creepy crawlies, what's Melbourne like for insects, especially posionus ones? My four year old is fascinated by spiders at the moment, so me and my wife are a little nervous. :biggrin: Car insurance yes you do build up no claims and some companies will recognise UK no claims Correct with renting, it's normally 4 weeks rent in advance with the bond of 4 weeks rent. In NSW at least or rent was calculated weekly not monthly. Not a massive difference really. We didn't pay anything up front for utilities, ours was like you have said They have man eating spiders in Melbourne......nah only kidding, someone in Melbourne should be able to confirm the creepy crawlies issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 My friend who lives in Melbourne sent me this breakdown of outgoings. They live in the western suburbs in a four bed new build hosue and have a small child Rent ($400 pw) $1,734 pm Water $110 pm Electricity & Gas $215 pm Groceries (inc nappies/toilettries) $1,300 pm Car rego $50 pm Fuel (based on mid sized car) $350 pm TV - Broadband package $130 Total $3889.00 - obviously an estimate, but she says it is pretty accurate. Then all you have got on top of that is your car payments and work travel costs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I have no idea on any of the answers - but thought I'd post to keep it bumped up as I'd be interested to know too. Particularly the utilities - currently trying to do a rough monthly budget, so would also be interested to know what people pay on a weekly/monthly basis for them (& what sort/size of house this relates to)? Amy :smile: Send the Ropey Hoff a PM, I think it was him that did a comparison of those things you are after a while ago I can't remember what our bills were exactly were in Aus but they were pretty much the same as in the UK. Internet and sky TV are more expensive for the equivalent though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 They have man eating spiders in Melbourne......nah only kidding Nearly fell off my chair then when I read that post. As my Avatar clearly shows, it looks like I've picked the wrong night to quit glue sniffing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 My friend who lives in Melbourne sent me this breakdown of outgoings. They live in the western suburbs in a four bed new build hosue and have a small child Rent ($400 pw) $1,734 pm Water $110 pm Electricity & Gas $215 pm Groceries (inc nappies/toilettries) $1,300 pm Car rego $50 pm Fuel (based on mid sized car) $350 pm TV - Broadband package $130 Total $3889.00 - obviously an estimate, but she says it is pretty accurate. They all you have got on top of that is your car payments and work travel costs I would say we were about that as well except we only had the net, not the tv, and our rent was 525 per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Nearly fell off my chair then when I read that post. As my Avatar clearly shows, it looks like I've picked the wrong night to quit glue sniffing! If you don't get off the glue you might think they are man eating spiders lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Melbourne has some nasty critters, but mostly they stay out of your way. The scariest looking ones aren't actually poisonous (well they're the ones I think look scariest!). Prolly a good idea to start discouraging your little one about spiders in any case - look but don't touch and all that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Spiders to look out for in Melb are whitetails inside and redbacks outside, keep your house well sprayed with surface spray in the warmer months and don't let your kids play under the garden shed or in the stack of firewood,learn the treatment for a spider bite, and don't worry too much, I only know one person that has been bitten by a spider after 13 years in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolst77 Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Just thought of another question... What time does it get light and dark during the various months/seasons in Oz? Do any of the Australian states put there clocks forwards or backwards at certain points in the year, like we do in the UK. Compared to Europe it's probably more logical having different time zones for some of the states, due to the sheer size of the country. I will be living in Melbourne from the start of September if it helps with your answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Best way to protect the little one is to educate him. spiders.com.au is a pretty good summary of what the dangerous ones look like, where they live, temperament etc (as well as what to do if you do get bitten) - WARNING: the images on the home page jiggle occasionally... Look but don't touch is a very good mantra for a kid. as well as tell someone if you find a dangerous one. The only overly aggressive spider is the sydney funnelweb (only found in Sydney, so you're fine in Melbourne). Most other spiders will run away rather than attack, and will only bite if provoked. Time zones, there are three main zones (SA and NT are half an hour out from the east coast, just to be different) and WA, NT, QLD don't do daylight savings but the other states do. (Though WA keeps trialling it occasionally). sunrise/sunset for Melbourne 2012: http://members.iinet.net.au/~jacob/risesetmelb.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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