Realistic cost of living in Perth

[VERYSTORMY]

Where is the FIFO role? What's the roster?

[dxboz]

So pleased your husband has got something Chiara. Look forward to reading about your future exploits in the back o' Bourke (ozzie for arse end of nowhere!)

Edited March 12, 2013 by dxboz

[Guest Guest26012]

My husband has a job offer on a 457 in central perth hospital which is worrying me as we just couldn't afford any close surrounding areas to live in so he would be travelling a lot which is what we are trying to get away from in the uk.

 

This is why we are considering holding out for PR as from my limited experience the 457 doesn't seem as secure and with going with kids that is scary, however on the other hand 457 means less visa costs & we could enjoy the adventure & if it all fell to pieces we wouldn't have lost so much money.

 

My husband would leave to go in the morning I think I'm more a person who needs every question answered beforehand.

Id love a few hours with someone to ask them every single question!

 

 

I worked in a city hospital for three years and travelled an hour each way every day. Work closer to home now but you get used to it.

[bunbury61]

Most people love the heat when they go on holiday. But when you have to live in it, work in it, go to school in it, shop and clean in it - it can become wearing. The heat was part of the reason I left Perth. It gave me terrible headaches.

 

i loved the heat , never an issue ......until it went over 30c .

i used to get headaches ......i developed asthma in oz ( now that is worth a new thread )......too hot is as bad as too cold for me ....i cant stand either

 

cant remember the last time i was ill under normal conditions

[MrsLZB]

Hi there, just wanted to add, if you are in fact coming over on a 457 visa your entitlements to healthcare and benefits is minimal if any, worth knowing I think. Also, on a 457 you are not eligible for promotion in your workplace (in healthcare). Good luck with your plans

[VERYSTORMY]

Hi there, just wanted to add, if you are in fact coming over on a 457 visa your entitlements to healthcare and benefits is minimal if any, worth knowing I think. Also, on a 457 you are not eligible for promotion in your workplace (in healthcare). Good luck with your plans

 

That's not correct. If you are a UK passport holder you get full medical care. I even had surgery when on a 457.

 

Can't comment on healthcare promotion, but can't see why it would be different to any other and I was promoted in my role.

[MrsLZB]

Oh, my bad. I just seemed to remember a friend on a 457 having issues with dental treatment, but maybe that's different.

 

In the public health system, you can "act up" in a higher position, but you cannot be promoted permanently on a 457 visa.

[Paul1Perth]

If I was you I wouldn't bother spending time trying to put guesstimations into a spreadsheet and getting yourself worried. You have managed to get by in the UK and you will find the same here. We never gave a thought to how much we would need, just that we wanted to come, we had always managed OK in the UK through several setbacks, redundancies, booms, busts and it would be the same here.... It is.

 

Good luck with your move, Perth is a great place.:cool:

[Paul1Perth]

Oh, my bad. I just seemed to remember a friend on a 457 having issues with dental treatment, but maybe that's different.

 

In the public health system, you can "act up" in a higher position, but you cannot be promoted permanently on a 457 visa.

 

Dental care isn't covered under Medicare but for everything else there are reciprocal arrangements and you shouldn't be any more out of pocket than the NHS. Find a doctor who bulk bills and there are no charges for doctors visits.

 

For dental and the rest get health insurance.

[Paul1Perth]

My husband has a job offer on a 457 in central perth hospital which is worrying me as we just couldn't afford any close surrounding areas to live in so he would be travelling a lot which is what we are trying to get away from in the uk.

 

This is why we are considering holding out for PR as from my limited experience the 457 doesn't seem as secure and with going with kids that is scary, however on the other hand 457 means less visa costs & we could enjoy the adventure & if it all fell to pieces we wouldn't have lost so much money.

 

My husband would leave to go in the morning I think I'm more a person who needs every question answered beforehand.

Id love a few hours with someone to ask them every single question!

 

If the job offer is in central Perth then it shouldn't be too bad. There are good train links North and South. Train lines go down the centre of the freeway. Busses tend to run between train stations through suburbs. If you get on one of those bus routes you could have a choice of a lot of suburbs that are, for example, 30Km out of the City but really quite easy and not expensive to get into and out of using public transport.

 

I live in a suburb 30Km or so North, very close to a gorgeous beach, great suburb and used to enjoy working in the City. Bus stop is 2 mins down the road. Get a prepaid pass to travel and that covers the buses, trains and ferries. Really a lot more relaxing than driving and once in the City it's easy to walk. In fact very pleasant to walk.

[rosiew]

Oh, my bad. I just seemed to remember a friend on a 457 having issues with dental treatment, but maybe that's different.

 

In the public health system, you can "act up" in a higher position, but you cannot be promoted permanently on a 457 visa.

 

Well if it was a dental issue the 457 would put them in the same position as a full citizen - paying their own way.

[Paul1Perth]

Thanks guys, well he's been offered two jobs - one a fifo role (no way in hell) or a regional job in the arse end of nowhere (no choice!) - word of warning to anyone coming out to Perth in search of construction management positions - you will struggle to find anything in the city itself!

 

That will give a bit of hope to the people that hear all the time that there aren't many jobs around and people are being laid off. What's so bad about the FIFO job? The money should be good and would be preferable to the "arse end of nowhere" like you say. With 5 kids you aren't going to be loaded with money wherever you live, kids are expensive.

 

Good luck for your hubby with the new job, he might like it.

[Guest51810]

That will give a bit of hope to the people that hear all the time that there aren't many jobs around and people are being laid off. What's so bad about the FIFO job? The money should be good and would be preferable to the "arse end of nowhere" like you say. With 5 kids you aren't going to be loaded with money wherever you live, kids are expensive.

 

Good luck for your hubby with the new job, he might like it.

 

I think its because they have already done FIFO since they've moved

[Guest chris955]

With a family FOR ME FIFO would be my idea of hell, no amount of money is worth spending that much time away from family.

[tbull]

Hi,

 

I came across your message while searching the web and I thought that I would offer you some advise regarding living in Perth and where things are at now. I immigrated here but not from the UK but from South Africa and have been here for over ten years.

 

Firstly I can tell you, as I am involved in the local amateur theatre community, that theatre in Perth is almost non existent. You husband may be lucky to find work but most people in the theatre industry leave Perth for Melbourne or London. All my friends have moved interstate because there is no work in any aspect of theatre.

 

Secondly you would really need to look into the rising cost of living. Perth is now the tenth most expensive city in the WORLD. Housing prices in some suburbs have stay fairly constant averaging at about $600,000 if you are looking at a suburb that is with in half an hour drive of Perth or Fremantle (without traffic). I live about 40 minutes from the Perth city centre and houses in our area have gone up $100,000 in on MONTH and when we were looking for rentals last year the rents were going up $20/week every month but it has slowed down a bit now. If you want a house under approx $485,00 now you need to live somewhere well outside the city which could be between 40-60min from the city (without traffic). Also check the interest rates and minimum deposits for Perth as the last time I checked you needed a 15% deposit to buy a house.

 

Cost of living his higher than the UK and will probably only keep rising (at least for the near future). I think Perth is a great place to live for the sunshine etc.. but it is very limiting in its culture and is not for everyone. Make sure it is the right place for YOU and not anyone else. Also I suggest that, if possible, you or your husband visit Perth or get in contact with people regarding work before you make a large move. Don't assume you will get a job (especially in theatre). If you want sunshine and more opportunity in theatre then I suggest you try Sydney (Melbourne weather is probably too much like the UK).

 

May I ask what your main reasons for moving are?

 

Hope this info helps you work out you budget to fit a bit more to life in Perth.

 

Cheers

 

 

Hi everyone,

I'm looking some info on realistic cost of living in perth.

My husband & son (with another on the way) are looking to immigrate next year. My husband is a theatre technician & I am a nurse but I would be looking to settle the kids before getting work. My husband seems to be able to get work quite easily earning approx 65,000 dollars. We would have the sale of our house hopefully to eventually buy a house but would rent initially.

 

So my question is would we be able to live on my husbands salary comfortably and how much would we be looking to pay to rent a house & then to buy?

 

is the cost of living the same as the UK or a lot higher?

[tbull]

Sorry Noelle25 I miss understood what you meant by theatre technician. I automatically thought you meant The Arts. Please ignore my references to that side of the discussion but everything else stands in regards to cost of living. I have no idea whether cost of living will rise or fall in the future but I can tell you, as a young couple, this is not an easy place to live if you earn under $80,000 as everything is expensive. The cost of electricity is 26c per kilowatt hour. Not sure what it is in the UK but in Canada it ranges from 7c-13c.

[jen85]

Hi Noelle,

we are looking NoR around Butler simply due to cost. however once one of us has secured a job we may reconsider depending on the location of the job. If you have PR you can claim family tax benefit and rent assistance. On a salary of around 65k and 1 child this amounts to around 450 dollars every fortnight. Seems they like to support working families in australia!

what areas were you looking at? We did a lot of looking and researching so its not an easy task and really until we are there we just dont know where we will end up. Our holiday let is Carramar so we are hoping this will be a good base for looking for more permanent accomodation.

 

Is that 450 per fortnight after expenses or before rent etc? Don't forget to take tax into consideration here as it is higher than the uk.

[gpo1971]

I’m bored again and I don’t mind posting this as no-one knows who I am!

We live in a small-medium 4x2, have a pool, have reverse cycle A/C, have a small-medium SUV.

We live in a modest NOR suburb that is one of the cheaper ones around. That’s why we live here. It’s a nice place, gets a lot of bagging off some people, but we’re from the NW of England, this is paradise in comparison.

Our mortgage is $475k (for $500k house), we put down 5% deposit. We were offered over $800k in mortgage but there’s no way I wanted to saddle us with a mortgage like that. A lot of people (Poms) will pay an extra $200k to live a mile further up the road so that they can tell their mates, I’m not one of them.

I pay most of my bills in stages fortnightly using BPAY. Some DDs are monthly though. This is what I pay:

 

Electricity - $90 per fortnight (never usually have to pay additional at bill time)

Gas - $15 per fortnight (I am a couple of hundred dollars in credit)

Rates - $1600 per year, equates to $61 per fortnight, although you can’t pay it like that

Water - $40 per fortnight, I usually have to make some shortfall up when the bill comes (they are changing the system, it’s a bit confusing at present, rates and usage are separate and don’t make for budgeting)

Car Loan - $300 per fortnight (car is brand new, was $35k, loan is for 5 years)

Private meds - $90 per fortnight (basics + hospital)

Gym - $128 per month for 2 of us

Life Assurance - $65 per month

Car Insurance - $500 per year for 2 of us, equates to $19 per fortnight

Telstra (Foxtel IQ x 2 all channels, Internet, Landline) - $240 per month

Home Contents Insurance - $47 per month

Mortgage - $2800 per month

Rego - $250 per 6 months, equates to $19 per fortnight

Buildings Insurance - $58 per month

 

We spend about $150 a week in Coles (90 pound), we eat out at least twice a week, and there are only 2 of us. If we do a shop with loads of toiletries, it will be nearer $250. Our record in 1 trolley is $475 (285 pounds)

We spend about $70 a week in petrol (42 pound) for the SUV.

 

Think that’s it.

 

So, in terms that might mean something to people in the UK, using 0.60p to a $AUS, our outgoings equate to:

 

Leccy and gas is 136 pounds a month

Rates/Council tax is 80 pounds a month

Water will be about 70 pounds a month

Telstra (Sky+ x 2 all channels, Landline, Internet) is about 144 pounds a month

Mortgage is 1680 pounds a month (for $475k/285k pounds)

Food is 90 pounds a week, Petrol 42 pounds

Car in total ($35k Loan + Petrol for SUV + Insurance) is about 600 pounds per month (390 pounds of that is the loan)

 

I should add, I’ve used $1.66 to a pound but that wasn’t the exchange rate when we moved, it was $2.10. So, whereas I’ve said that Leccy and Gas is 136 pounds a month, if I had to equate it to pounds, I’d have it nearer 108 pounds a month. And as the dollar continues to fall, it will creep closer to that value again. Until they put the Leccy and Gas up 10% again, like they do every few months!

[gpo1971]

Should add, there are only 2 of us. And we are at work all day.

Costs will obviously be higher for bigger families e.g. more food, utilities being used during the day if you've kids at home all day etc.

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

If I was you I wouldn't bother spending time trying to put guesstimations into a spreadsheet and getting yourself worried. You have managed to get by in the UK and you will find the same here. We never gave a thought to how much we would need, just that we wanted to come, we had always managed OK in the UK through several setbacks, redundancies, booms, busts and it would be the same here.... It is.

 

Good luck with your move, Perth is a great place.:cool:

 

 

Good post as usual Paul.

[flag of convenience]

It all depends what the OP is leaving behind. $65,000 before tax while not a big income is the average. You would manage but probably not a lot more. As has been clearly noted Perth is a very expensive city, but reasonably easy to avoid big expense things by avoiding eating out and limiting pubs and cultural activities and doing what things available that are free.

The beach being the obvious and outdoor pursuits. A simple sort of life could be lived if happy with that.

[Mario]

it really depend on how big is your family , how many kids , pets, cars, you have , does your wife work too ? you can use this http://www.topcalculator.com.au/IncomeTaxCalculator to find out how much you get paid at the end of day , for us being a family of 3 having one car , 3000 $ per month was enough when we got to Sydney 4 years ago , but now ...