How many people go home with nothing???

[Sapphire]

Something I have never seen asked on PIO

The reason I ask is a couple of people i know, came out to OZ,with money from the sale of their UK homes and savings

 

Things dident work out, one way or another, loosing jobs, not being able to find work,high cost of living, and their savings went very quickly

They have both returned to the UK, with their families, in a dire financial state, one now rents a caravan in Southend, and she will never own her own home again,due to her age etc

One family couldent even afford to ship back thier little dog, he had to be rehomed, and she had to sell of her furniture,as she could not afford shipping costs

 

We all think we will be ok, and when we plan this journey of a lifetime, I think most of us convince ourselves that we are making a one way trip

I never expected to be returning to the UK,when I left,so if someone had asked me what I would do, if I lost everything here, I think I would of just thought"oh everything will work out for us, we will get jobs, and be fine, we wont come back, we will be ok"

 

But what happens if it all goes wrong

To go back with nothing, or far less than what you came with

That is something most of us never think will happen to us

I wonder if its far more common than we know?

How do people cope,with loosing everything they have worked for,when it all goes wrong in Oz, and they have to head back to the UK

[Guest Zee]

This is why the so-called 'ping pong Poms' astonish me! How can they afford it?

It is also why I think that UK'er's should give Australia a really good go before taking a decision to return to the UK.

 

It is human nature for so many to want to change their lives. It is human nature when one is fired up with this to perhaps not fully understand the difficulties of leaving strong family/friend ties. That, and a new country on the other side of the world? I think culture shock is actually the least of it; it is the distance, and the realisation that those you love and care for are back where you came from!

 

That I believe, is what causes people to return to the UK sometimes very quickly. And that is very expensive.

 

I came out with no ties, no sentiment, and very little. I chose to leave England tbh, rather than to come to Australia. Having said that, I think it is crucial for self/family/...wallet! to give your new country a damn good go.

 

I will return with only a tad more than that which I arrived. I am one of the few I guess who chose to rent rather than buy. I have always been of the view that the only 'home ownership' is freehold; no mortgage. Other that that?, the bank owns 'your' house and you pay them very expensive money for the privilege.

If I had had scads of cash I would have rented luxury. That's the only difference.

 

It means of course no real loss is likely,-but the downside is clearly that I can't go back and have enough resource to look at purchasing a place.

Having said that!- unless I could buy outright,-I'd stand no chance anyway of getting a mortgage in my dotage!

 

Easy come, easy go!!

 

I guess I'm saying that migrants should not be looked on negatively for coming out to Oz, without really profound forethought. The 'new life' scenario overrides everything. But to return fairly quickly? That is when they learn that the whole exercise has cost them dearly- literally and metaphorically.

 

How sad it must be to realise that everything that was gained in perhaps years, can be completely lost because of this.

[fourcorners]

My friends recently returned to the UK with less than they arrived in Australia with 5 years ago. They had ambition to make and save money whilst here, and as professionals in the mining industry you would have thought this would be possible. But they were never very good with money and also had a baby a year ago. The husband got a job offer near London and they decided to move back so their daughter could get to know the extended families. They ended up in the situation where their car here was worth less than what they could sell it for, negative equity if you like to the tune of $5k. They couldn't afford to ship all their stuff back so the husband's new employer gave them an advance which they will have to pay back. They put the cost of transporting their dogs home on credit cards. Luckily a couple of weeks after they left their house sale completed here and I assume they were able to pay off the credit card. I know they barely broke even with the house sale so even that may not have been possible. But they certainly took some financial risks to move back. We all thought they should have been a little more patient and saved up so they could actually afford to move. But they seem happy to be back in the UK although we only really see the happy messages on facebook. Who knows how they are really feeling.

 

We have been lucky in that both of our moves to Australia have been paid for by employers. The only cost in it for us is agreeing to work for at least 2 years to cover the relocation costs. But we've paid for a move from Oz to Vancouver and from Vancouver to the UK before. I would never dream of using a credit card to fund a move but I guess for some desperate people it may be the only way out. At least we know we have enough equity in our car and some possessions here to fund a move back if we needed it.

[Sapphire]

Its a very difficult scenario

Both lots of people I knew were here for over 5 years, one was in Adelaide and the other on the Gold Coast

If it could of gone wrong for them,,,it did

They tried so hard to make it work, but when you have such bad luck, it is just so hard, and when the money runs out,,,,what the heck do you do???

we are all in different situations,and none of us know whats going to happen

We are going home with a bit more than we came with, but its been "more luck than judgement"

we could of so easily been a "disaster" story. I thank my lucky stars that we can go back,and have a deposit to buy another home

 

Its always too easy to say "we will be fine, it wont happen to us"

The whole process of coming to Oz, visas,travel, shipping and ressettlement costs are huge, and then you have to live once you get here

So many people have nothing to fall back on, if they cant get a job,or the job they have come for, is not quite what they were told it was going to be

So many scenarios, but I dident ever think of that when we were emigrating

We could not of afforded to get home otherwise, and I dread to think how we may of ended up

You are so right Zee, the "new life" scenario can over ride everything

[starlight7]

I suppose the biggest worry is when you have children and the return means plunging them into a life of poverty, perhaps losing a house , car , job etc and starting all over again. For a single person or even a couple, it probably wouldn't matter so much if their happiness was back where they came from. I sincerely doubt that many kids would want to go back after having spent a year or two here but it is easy for parents to convince themselves otherwise and the kids can't argue because they need their parents come what may.

[Que Sera Sera]

Money, is all thats really mentioned in that post. If money is the driving factor in any move, then I think emigration to any country is doomed to failure, there has to be more. We came out with less than 10,000 GBP, so quite frankly if it didnt work out then we wouldnt have lost anything. We have the most amazing life here, money is not the be all and end all, I reckon the happiest people I know have worked this one out, whether they stay here or return to the UK.

[Sapphire]

If the money runs out,then that is a huge issue

If you cant find a job, get somewhere to live, and have to watch all you have worked for dwindle to nothing,then I think its a whole different ball game

Its not just about how much you come here with,,,its whether things work out for you or not

How do you cope with going back to the UK, with nothing

My friends gave up lovely houses, good jobs,and they were convinced they would have even better lives here.

But it just dident go that way, and you cant live on fresh air, if things dont work out

I agree money is not the be all and end all,,,,,,,,,but once the money runs out, you dont have too many choices

[sussex boy]

Sorry to hear it didnt work out. I have posted many times in an offhand way about some ping pongers and I am sorry about that. But every week there are dozens of posts saying, what area shall I move to? I have found a nice house etc. What some people fail to get is. job comes first first first, then you choose where you are going to live. A lot of the failures apart from those who cannot adapt to life outside their home town in the UK are purely `` I moved to Melbourne because its nice, but my husband can only find work in Darwin, Sydney etc``. Many do fail to touch base with employers in the area they want to move to, and spend too much time worrying what suburb they should be moving to. Prehaps because I came on the sponsored route rather than pr from day one in concentrates the mind on not what town or state I was heading to, but would there be a job waiting for me.

[Shigella]

I'm an Aussie returning home with my British family so maybe it's a little different in our situation.

However, money is a large part of our reason for leaving - we cannot afford to live here in the UK anymore (and we don't have an extravagant lifestyle) and are eating into our savings now every month so we must change our situation. There are other reasons of course, or we could change our situation here without moving to another country, but we are now moving to Oz as soon as we can as we think it's the best solution when all alternatives are considered.

We will make it work in Australia because we must. There's no going back because it won't help.

 

What about all the people who are born in Australia and have no choice? Or the people born in the UK? Or in any other country? Most people don't have the option of leaving, or don't want to. So if it's just down to finances, you make it because you must. Surely there's more to these stories?

[Shigella]

Sorry to hear it didnt work out. I have posted many times in an offhand way about some ping pongers and I am sorry about that. But every week there are dozens of posts saying, what area shall I move to? I have found a nice house etc. What some people fail to get is. job comes first first first, then you choose where you are going to live. A lot of the failures apart from those who cannot adapt to life outside their home town in the UK are purely `` I moved to Melbourne because its nice, but my husband can only find work in Darwin, Sydney etc``. Many do fail to touch base with employers in the area they want to move to, and spend too much time worrying what suburb they should be moving to. Prehaps because I came on the sponsored route rather than pr from day one in concentrates the mind on not what town or state I was heading to, but would there be a job waiting for me.

 

Absolutely! We both have fairly specialised skills and are prepared to live wherever we must to find work - be it Sydney or Katherine or anywhere else.

[onecrankypom]

Australia doesn't work out for every one yes returning home a huge cost and people may be forced to leave stuff here and maybe put shipping or a flight on a credit card at least they tried it and not sat in the UK wondering what if

[wakeboard1980]

We returned back to the UK with a hell of a lot more than when we went. We shipped more back than when we went, we came back with a 4 month old girl and we came back with a lot more savings than when we went out. We were there for 15 months.

[Guest Shell15]

We came to England with a 2 year old, and about a gran in the bank.. nout all else... We leave for Australia filling a 40foot container, 2 kids a dog and still the same man I came with lol

[Sunshine111]

Something I have never seen asked on PIO

The reason I ask is a couple of people i know, came out to OZ,with money from the sale of their UK homes and savings

 

Things dident work out, one way or another, loosing jobs, not being able to find work,high cost of living, and their savings went very quickly

They have both returned to the UK, with their families, in a dire financial state, one now rents a caravan in Southend, and she will never own her own home again,due to her age etc

One family couldent even afford to ship back thier little dog, he had to be rehomed, and she had to sell of her furniture,as she could not afford shipping costs

 

We all think we will be ok, and when we plan this journey of a lifetime, I think most of us convince ourselves that we are making a one way trip

I never expected to be returning to the UK,when I left,so if someone had asked me what I would do, if I lost everything here, I think I would of just thought"oh everything will work out for us, we will get jobs, and be fine, we wont come back, we will be ok"

 

But what happens if it all goes wrong

To go back with nothing, or far less than what you came with

That is something most of us never think will happen to us

I wonder if its far more common than we know?

How do people cope,with loosing everything they have worked for,when it all goes wrong in Oz, and they have to head back to the UK

 

 

We are in very different times & I guess the question is...... is now the best time to emmigrate to Oz with the exchange rate as it is from pounds to dollars? & the cost of living in some of the daily basics having gone through the roof. The old "its a better life" has to be questioned - does it more refer back to the good ole' days where you sold your house in the Uk, get a fab exchange, so bought & were mortgage free in Oz/Nz? hence, having more free/family time.

 

When I travelled around oz back in 1999 it was as cheap as chips, so with x2 20 something yr olds able to work full time (no kids) we worked, backpacked & lived quite comfortably.

 

Would I move to Oz or even Nz now - x2 young kids, x1 income? Probably not, too risk for us as a family. Would I as a 20 something backpacker looking for adventure go, yes I would. However, research is paramount.

 

I dont know what we would have done had we not been able to afford to come back from Oz to the Uk. Suddenly felt very vunerable, x2 young kids, x1 income & zero support network. Would we have come back with nothing? Probably, but not sure how we would have settled, would have been very hard. I feel for people that end up in that situation, sadly I feel there maybe many more....

[Guest guest17301]

We came into this world with nothing..we leave with nothing...having nothing in the middle can often be a not so negatjive thing! Anyone who can emigrate has earning power...as long as we can get jobs we can rebuild...and if we cant get jobs the govt look after us...I think we worry too much about money and/or the lack of it.....Anything is possible so if you aren't prepared to take the chance stay put.

[Sapphire]

We are in very different times & I guess the question is...... is now the best time to emmigrate to Oz with the exchange rate as it is from pounds to dollars? & the cost of living in some of the daily basics having gone through the roof. The old "its a better life" has to be questioned - does it more refer back to the good ole' days where you sold your house in the Uk, get a fab exchange, so bought & were mortgage free in Oz/Nz? hence, having more free/family time.

 

When I travelled around oz back in 1999 it was as cheap as chips, so with x2 20 something yr olds able to work full time (no kids) we worked, backpacked & lived quite comfortably.

 

Would I move to Oz or even Nz now - x2 young kids, x1 income? Probably not, too risk for us as a family. Would I as a 20 something backpacker looking for adventure go, yes I would. However, research is paramount.

 

I dont know what we would have done had we not been able to afford to come back from Oz to the Uk. Suddenly felt very vunerable, x2 young kids, x1 income & zero support network. Would we have come back with nothing? Probably, but not sure how we would have settled, would have been very hard. I feel for people that end up in that situation, sadly I feel there maybe many more....

 

 

I think you are correct in what you say Sunshine111, I wouldent risk it now, with the exchange rate,with a family to think of

And Yes I think there are many more

Its a dreadful situation for some

[Sydneyhorn]

We are in very different times & I guess the question is...... is now the best time to emmigrate to Oz with the exchange rate as it is from pounds to dollars? & the cost of living in some of the daily basics having gone through the roof. The old "its a better life" has to be questioned - does it more refer back to the good ole' days where you sold your house in the Uk, get a fab exchange, so bought & were mortgage free in Oz/Nz? hence, having more free/family time.

 

When I travelled around oz back in 1999 it was as cheap as chips, so with x2 20 something yr olds able to work full time (no kids) we worked, backpacked & lived quite comfortably.

 

Would I move to Oz or even Nz now - x2 young kids, x1 income? Probably not, too risk for us as a family. Would I as a 20 something backpacker looking for adventure go, yes I would. However, research is paramount.

 

I dont know what we would have done had we not been able to afford to come back from Oz to the Uk. Suddenly felt very vunerable, x2 young kids, x1 income & zero support network. Would we have come back with nothing? Probably, but not sure how we would have settled, would have been very hard. I feel for people that end up in that situation, sadly I feel there maybe many more....

 

 

I agree - when my wife and I came to Oz in 2000 it was far less of a risk than it is now. The exchange rate was in our favour and the cost of living in Oz was cheaper than in the UK.

 

However, I still think that if people "need" to experience living overseas then they should. But they need to be realistic. "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst" is a good motto to adopt.

 

Also be very sure before you move everything over. If you have your own home in the UK then consider keeping it and renting it out. It may mean that you can only rent in Oz but it does give you some security if things don't work out.

 

There is a danger that people spend too much time playing the "what if" game and never do anything. I feel very sorry for those people that do end up back in the UK and worse off after trying their luck in Oz. But would those people be mentally and emotionally worse off if they had never tried? I have so many friends that regret never giving it a go and now they feel "stuck" in the UK because they are too old to get a working visa now.

 

It is a tough one but I think we just have to go for it and then deal with whatever life throws up and try not to dwell on our regrets.

[Guest Zee]

I suppose the biggest worry is when you have children and the return means plunging them into a life of poverty, perhaps losing a house , car , job etc and starting all over again. For a single person or even a couple, it probably wouldn't matter so much if their happiness was back where they came from. I sincerely doubt that many kids would want to go back after having spent a year or two here but it is easy for parents to convince themselves otherwise and the kids can't argue because they need their parents come what may.

Interesting how we view things isn't it? Pot half full.Pot half empty.

 

There is another thread currently that shows the exact opposite. I'm inclined to agree with that because children/adolescents are far more vulnerable than we are. Kids are very much into the peer group thing. In general, they rely very much on their friends. Uprooting them from that can cause them a great deal of distress.

I remember that distress vividly, and the anxiety of going to different schools in the several countries I lived in. I tried to 'stay alone' until I figured out 'the pack' situation,-then tried slowly to fit in. It is a time fraught with anxiety.

 

I would suggest that there is far greater stress on the children when their parents decide to migrate from their country of origin, rather than distress because they want to stay in Australia but their parents want to return to their country of origin.

 

 

Perhaps they do not want to return because they know they will be 'plunged into a life of poverty'?

 

 

[Paul1Perth]

I'm an Aussie returning home with my British family so maybe it's a little different in our situation.

However, money is a large part of our reason for leaving - we cannot afford to live here in the UK anymore (and we don't have an extravagant lifestyle) and are eating into our savings now every month so we must change our situation. There are other reasons of course, or we could change our situation here without moving to another country, but we are now moving to Oz as soon as we can as we think it's the best solution when all alternatives are considered.

We will make it work in Australia because we must. There's no going back because it won't help.

 

What about all the people who are born in Australia and have no choice? Or the people born in the UK? Or in any other country? Most people don't have the option of leaving, or don't want to. So if it's just down to finances, you make it because you must. Surely there's more to these stories?

 

I guess the people returning to the UK can at least sign on and get dole. Maybe not an option for them if they had stayed in Aus.

[flag of convenience]

Not sure if you get the dole as easy as that on returning. One has to pass the habitual residence test which may well mean a period of time before the first girro or whatever it is.

 

I do agree though, folk need to take far more care these days especially if coming as a family group.Not so bad as a couple and single of course easiest. I know if we had come in the last few years with these prices we certainly wouldn't have stayed.

[Paul1Perth]

Not sure if you get the dole as easy as that on returning. One has to pass the habitual residence test which may well mean a period of time before the first girro or whatever it is.

 

I do agree though, folk need to take far more care these days especially if coming as a family group.Not so bad as a couple and single of course easiest. I know if we had come in the last few years with these prices we certainly wouldn't have stayed.

 

What's it matter what the prices are if you are getting the money to be able to afford them? They only seem expensive when you convert things back to pounds, not much reason to do that really.

[newjez]

The exchange rate is a very important factor for people migrating at the moment. Exchange rates can shift very fast. If you moved everything at current rates, then two years later found that everything had gone pear shaped, only to find that the exchange rates had shifted in the opposite direction, you could lose an awful anount of money or even find yourself stuck. You could say that it would be better to keep the money in the UK. But then if you are living in rented it can be hard to settle.

 

It must be a very tough decision for anyone migrating at the moment.

[fourcorners]

The exchange rate is a very important factor for people migrating at the moment. Exchange rates can shift very fast. If you moved everything at current rates, then two years later found that everything had gone pear shaped, only to find that the exchange rates had shifted in the opposite direction, you could lose an awful anount of money or even find yourself stuck. You could say that it would be better to keep the money in the UK. But then if you are living in rented it can be hard to settle.

 

It must be a very tough decision for anyone migrating at the moment.

 

I don't think that buying a house would make us feel any more settled here. In fact, with these uncertain times if I bought a house I would immediately feel trapped! Yes there is uncertainty when renting but there is uncertainty when buying too. I have a feeling that many will be saddled with negative equity in Australia when the resource bubble does eventually pop! Then you're really stuck, whether you want to be here or not.

 

As far as the exchange rate goes, I agree with newjez, its great for us right now as we have property in the UK so any spare chunks are being transferred at a great rate and going on our mortgage. So the exchange rate is good if you don't need to bring money from the UK to Oz, and if your salary is going to go up a lot when you move.

 

The exchange rate is also relevant when buying goods. I buy most things like clothes and books etc from the UK and USA. I'm much more likely to buy a book from the UK as shipping is free and it's $10, whereas in the shop here it's $24. Sellers in Oz should be passing their savings on imported goods onto the consumer, but they don't with the possible exception of new cars.

[ADAWN]

We are keeping our house here, we will rent it out here and rent a house in Oz, so effectively feel like paying our own mortgage

are we setting ourselves up to become ping pongers - maybe, but is that such a bad thing, some people say you should sever all financial ties and then you will have to make it work.

Important thing is getting a job there first and one that pays enough to live off, then live within that budget. ( easier said than done, getting job part)

We are going for the adventure of living somewhere else, we can't say we want to live there forever until we have actually lived there and things could always change at anytime.

We don't have much spare cash and may end up putting our fares or shipping on credit but at least we know we aren't throwing money away on a bad exchange rate and dwindling it on living expenses while looking for work. Sounds a very depressing situation to be in and one that is bound to put pressure on any family and migrant.

 

Hopefully we are going to get it right

[wakeboard1980]

I guess the people returning to the UK can at least sign on and get dole. Maybe not an option for them if they had stayed in Aus.

 

Not necessarily mate. My missus hasn't had enough National Insurance class 1 contributions for the past 2 years, as we were in Aus and she has been off work with the baby, to get job seekers allowances. Even though she has paid into NI for the previous 6 years before that.