It Soon Mounts Up!

[Johnny Kash]

I do appreciate for those with families, dogs and their entire belongings shipping over the cost is huge and in some cases can take a number of years to recoup but to give another perspective....

 

myself and Mrs Kash came over with just GBP12k.

Despite coming over with no jobs weve now managed to send almost double that sum back to our UK accounts with dollars earned, using it to pay down mortgage.

 

If we do decide to head back to UK (thats another issue ) then we will be up financially. second hand cars, furniture etc. etc. will all fetch decent prices here in Aus even though the initial outlay seems like a rip off.

 

thats two of us earning with no kids so appreciate not everyone is in the same position (we also only shipped over a few boxes) but it can be the case that you can come here, have the adventure, go back to UK with a few high value dollars in your pouch and live to tell the tale :jimlad:

[Guest]

That is about what we spent minus the dogs

I wouldn't ping pong for that reason, if we go thats it.

For the amount of money you spend you could take a year off travelling around the world which is probably the itch you really wanted to scratch......

[CrozierFamily]

I have spent a year searching for a role that would offer 457 sponsorship, it has taken a fair amount of effort, but I have now found one. I searched the job boards everyday and I must have sent nearly a thousand emails to various companies and recruitment agencies. In the end the effort appears to have paid off as the company is paying for the sponsoship and I even managed to wangle some relocation allowance also.

 

I guess it depends on what your profession is, or what skill you can bring to Australia, but I thought it would be worth posting that it is possible to find assistance if you are persistent. There were times that I thought I would never find anything, but I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally landed something!

 

My experience is in financial services product management, which is a bit of a specialism. I think if you have a niche and can find the right recruitment agencies who specialise in that niche then you will have your best chance.

 

We are still expecting the move to be expensive, but we have been saving like mad for the move for a year now and with the relocation allowance I am hopeful that we will have enough to move across comfortably. I have planned for worse case scenarios and have been building a rather detailed spreadsheet on costs to make sure I am covering all the bases.

 

My recommendation based on my experience is to just be persistent and keep at it, even when you think you are getting nowhere. I actually got two job offers with relocation in one week, after having nothing of note for a year! These jobs are like buses I tell you!

 

Hopefully this gives some folks hope that it can be done. I appreciate that is not the case for everyone, but if you have a skill thay you can argue is a bit specialist, it is possible.

 

Good luck to everyone on their search!

[VERYSTORMY]

What it doesnt cover as well, is living costs. People need to have enough in the bank to live until they can get a job. That means the equivalant of 6 months salary. So, if you spend 30k getting here. You need another 30-35k to survive on when you arrive.

[surfndirt]

But there are other ways to do it. Not everyone spends or needs to spend that much. We came over on a 457 visa, our costs:

 

Visa: paid for by company

Flights: paid for by company

Transport to/from airport: paid for by company

Shipping of household goods: paid for by company

30 days accommodation: paid for by company

 

Total cost to us: nil. Aw I tell a fib, probably involved a couple of stamps sending of various paperwork.

 

But we don't envisage staying here long term. If we had to pay for it all ourselves we probably wouldn't have done it. Maybe you just have to want it badly enough to spend that much money to get here and really want to stay here. Who knows. But our visa suits us, and it gets our respective companies two people that they were looking for for over a year (18 months in my case).

 

Yep, exactly what I did.....

[bunbury61]

Geez!

 

Why not just take your GBP30,000 or what-ever and put a big fat down payment on a place in Portugal? Same if not better weather, orders of magnitude low costs for everything and you can still have your 'Sun'. Nip over on sleazy jet when-ever and spend your (far greater than Oz) vacation days there. When not there it gets rented out thereby pretty much paying for itself. Come on people, it ain't rocket science :-)

 

Boggles the mind. Again, the WA govt in particular are one of the best propaganda machines I think I've ever come across!!

 

Ah well, each to they're own hey....

 

 

My scouse mate jimmy got me thinkng .....he bought a cheap mobile home, £25k by the beach in perpgnan , france ......then he told me it was 2 hours to barcelona or 2 hours to monaco ....... lucky b.stard

 

The whole famly uses it .......kids and grandkids .......£2k a year it costs him for ground rent

[VERYSTORMY]

I have spent a year searching for a role that would offer 457 sponsorship, it has taken a fair amount of effort, but I have now found one. I searched the job boards everyday and I must have sent nearly a thousand emails to various companies and recruitment agencies. In the end the effort appears to have paid off as the company is paying for the sponsoship and I even managed to wangle some relocation allowance also.

 

I guess it depends on what your profession is, or what skill you can bring to Australia, but I thought it would be worth posting that it is possible to find assistance if you are persistent. There were times that I thought I would never find anything, but I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally landed something!

 

My experience is in financial services product management, which is a bit of a specialism. I think if you have a niche and can find the right recruitment agencies who specialise in that niche then you will have your best chance.

 

We are still expecting the move to be expensive, but we have been saving like mad for the move for a year now and with the relocation allowance I am hopeful that we will have enough to move across comfortably. I have planned for worse case scenarios and have been building a rather detailed spreadsheet on costs to make sure I am covering all the bases.

 

My recommendation based on my experience is to just be persistent and keep at it, even when you think you are getting nowhere. I actually got two job offers with relocation in one week, after having nothing of note for a year! These jobs are like buses I tell you!

 

Hopefully this gives some folks hope that it can be done. I appreciate that is not the case for everyone, but if you have a skill thay you can argue is a bit specialist, it is possible.

 

Good luck to everyone on their search!

 

What i would be careful of though, is that you have seen how hard it is to get sponsorship. If you lose your job, do you think you will be able to get another quickly? You have 90 days to do so or leave the country and with the new 457 rules, a lot of companies are simply not going to do it or even be able to - how likely is it, that a company in your sector could advertise for 4 months and not get a decent local candidate? That is what they will have to do now before they can even consider a 457 candidate

[CrozierFamily]

What i would be careful of though, is that you have seen how hard it is to get sponsorship. If you lose your job, do you think you will be able to get another quickly? You have 90 days to do so or leave the country and with the new 457 rules, a lot of companies are simply not going to do it or even be able to - how likely is it, that a company in your sector could advertise for 4 months and not get a decent local candidate? That is what they will have to do now before they can even consider a 457 candidate

 

Life is all about risk isn't it? Ultimately it is up to me to make the most of this opportunity. If it all goes pear shaped at least I gave it a go!

 

I think I should be okay anyway, the people I have been speaking to in the company appear to be very decent and I am confident in my abilities.

 

My aim will be to get permanent residency as soon as I can, and they have said they will support that. I know there is risk involved, but I could get knocked down by a bus tomorrow, so I may as well give it a go.

[Guest Ptp113]

It's become increasingly apparent from this thread and others that so many poms completely miss what Australia's about, and what's available to see and do. That's what you get coming from a miniscule, insular island I guess

[Candygirl]

Dollars, euros or pounds, Candygirl?

 

Good Old Pounds Sterling. 180 for the IELTS fees is Euros, but I have not included hotels or petrol to Malaga or Barcelona so should come out about the same I reckon.

[Candygirl]

Geez!

 

Why not just take your GBP30,000 or what-ever and put a big fat down payment on a place in Portugal? Same if not better weather, orders of magnitude low costs for everything and you can still have your 'Sun'. Nip over on sleazy jet when-ever and spend your (far greater than Oz) vacation days there. When not there it gets rented out thereby pretty much paying for itself. Come on people, it ain't rocket science :-)

 

Boggles the mind. Again, the WA govt in particular are one of the best propaganda machines I think I've ever come across!!

 

Ah well, each to they're own hey....

 

We currently live in Spain and have done so for 8 years. Spain is a beautiful country, but not good for long term security or prospects.

[Candygirl]

Interesting comments.

 

We have no kids so no responsibilities except to eachother and our two Hooligans. For me, the cost of taking the Hooligans is a lot to swallow, but not up for debate. My OH knew this from the outset and actually decided to pay the extra for the Gold service.

 

We will be a long time dead and we cannot take the money with us. I had a friend who died last year aged 37 so putting this into prosective, it's a no brainer for us.

 

We are going with the view that it will be for life and we will do whatever it will take to get settled and established. If it proves that it is not for us, then another life experience. We will re-group and move on to the next experience. We have been saving for years and have enough to keep us going for a year if it all went Pete Tong.

 

I really hope this helps someone just starting out.

[HappyHeart]

Awesome attitude Candy, you'll be happy whichever way it goes I reckon. Best of luck, theres no guarantees in life are there, all we can do is plan, hope and stay positive and flexible. x

[HappyHeart]

I have an easy come easy go attitude to money, suppose it may be different for those who have worked hard for good financial gain. Its probably much easier being poor in the long run.

[rammygirl]

Thanks for the post it certainly is a financial drain. I really do not know how people who say they are scraping the visa fees together are going to manage.

 

Our fees just went up by $4590 to a whopping $7650 for an RSMS. Employer paying for the agent. No re-location. But at least a job on arrival.

 

To add £180 for police checks and £1140 for meds (4 over 18)

 

Flights etc on top. No pets though (thankfully)

 

The new fee structure is going to hurt larger families and those with kids over 18.

 

But this is second time around and I don't want to think about the money 'wasted' last time.

 

You do have to really want it or be able to afford the financial hit.

[Incata]

Geez!

 

Why not just take your GBP30,000 or what-ever and put a big fat down payment on a place in Portugal? Same if not better weather, orders of magnitude low costs for everything and you can still have your 'Sun'. Nip over on sleazy jet when-ever and spend your (far greater than Oz) vacation days there. When not there it gets rented out thereby pretty much paying for itself. Come on people, it ain't rocket science :-)

 

Boggles the mind. Again, the WA govt in particular are one of the best propaganda machines I think I've ever come across!!

 

Ah well, each to they're own hey....

 

Portugal is apparently where most of the paedophiles in Europe are located, and the police are hopeless if anything goes wrong. I'd rather move to Bognor.

[Bobj]

£10 for me, well, my old man paid it.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Guest scrumpy]

But wasnt that back in the day when £10.00 was worth about £20,000.00 today?

£10 for me, well, my old man paid it.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Bobj]

But wasnt that back in the day when £10.00 was worth about £20,000.00 today?

 

It was roughly equal to a labourer's weekly wage. in 1963. I was getting £8 to £10 depending on what wool we were sorting. My first job in Australia was £11 Aus.:tongue:

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Paul1Perth]

My scouse mate jimmy got me thinkng .....he bought a cheap mobile home, £25k by the beach in perpgnan , france ......then he told me it was 2 hours to barcelona or 2 hours to monaco ....... lucky b.stard

 

The whole famly uses it .......kids and grandkids .......£2k a year it costs him for ground rent

 

So your mate paid 25K for a property plus 2k a year for groundrent and they use it for holidays, so you have to add the cost of getting there and back.

We used to have a one week timeshare on the Algarve that was in a fantastic development right on the beach in Praia Da Oura. We bought it in the 70's so it was very cheap and then paid a bit of a fee for maintenance. Worked out pretty well, we used to go there for a week in luxury (could only afford one week) and then find somewhere cheaper for another couple of weeks. Algarve is great. Used to hire a motorbike or car and travel around a lot. The rest of the family used it too when we didn't go.

 

Downside was the flights were not that cheap when you are sorting stuff out yourself and have to get there on certain times to make the most of your timeshare. You could still get a package holiday for the same price we were paying for flights.

 

The biggest downside was you still had to go home at the end of your 2 or 3 weeks and start saving up for next year. :cool:

[Guest]

It's become increasingly apparent from this thread and others that so many poms completely miss what Australia's about, and what's available to see and do. That's what you get coming from a miniscule, insular island I guess

 

I would have to say Australia is much more of a minuscule island in terms of everything but land mass. Not many travel even interstate and views are somewhat backward, people dont get to know this until they get here and then realise home was a pretty good life. The poms who do the best here are the ones who didnt have much to leave behind and try to re invent themselves. many do and love it, good for them.

 

So what is it everyone is missing? I'd like to know. I think there's a lot of hype about the place but to be honest its no different for most to living in the UK but you have less money but you get better weather

[Paul1Perth]

I would have to say Australia is much more of a minuscule island in terms of everything but land mass. Not many travel even interstate and views are somewhat backward, people dont get to know this until they get here and then realise home was a pretty good life. The poms who do the best here are the ones who didnt have much to leave behind and try to re invent themselves. many do and love it, good for them.

 

So what is it everyone is missing? I'd like to know. I think there's a lot of hype about the place but to be honest its no different for most to living in the UK but you have less money but you get better weather

 

I've heard the thing about views about some things being "backward" to me they might be different to what people would think and say in the UK but that doesn't mean they're backward, they're just different.

 

As for travelling I've never known so many young people travel as much as Aussie youngsters do, seems to be part of the expectations that somewhere between leaving school and getting to about 25 they disappear for at least 3 months and go travelling. Fair play to them I say, specially if they can afford it and not expect parents to pay.

[VERYSTORMY]

I would have to say Australia is much more of a minuscule island in terms of everything but land mass. Not many travel even interstate and views are somewhat backward, people dont get to know this until they get here and then realise home was a pretty good life. The poms who do the best here are the ones who didnt have much to leave behind and try to re invent themselves. many do and love it, good for them.

 

So what is it everyone is missing? I'd like to know. I think there's a lot of hype about the place but to be honest its no different for most to living in the UK but you have less money but you get better weather

 

Yep. Have to say i am often amazed at how little people travel here. My last boss lives in Townesville. It was only last year he left QLD for the first time to go to WA and he took his wife for the furtherst journey she has ever done - Brisbane.

 

Meet loads of people in WA that have never been further than Margaret River.

 

To be honest, i can partly see why. I remember the first week in the outback - camera clicked away like mad. Then, it was very much a case of "oh, red dirt. Oh, look more red dirt. Oh some roos. Even more roos". Gets a bit repetative after a while. Then there are the cities - are they really a holiday destination? What have most got that you really want to travel for on holiday? Sydney maybe to see the harbour - which is stunning. But that really it.

[Guest Ptp113]

I would have to say Australia is much more of a minuscule island in terms of everything but land mass. Not many travel even interstate and views are somewhat backward, people dont get to know this until they get here and then realise home was a pretty good life. The poms who do the best here are the ones who didnt have much to leave behind and try to re invent themselves. many do and love it, good for them.

 

So what is it everyone is missing? I'd like to know. I think there's a lot of hype about the place but to be honest its no different for most to living in the UK but you have less money but you get better weather

 

Approx 90% here have passports and use them regularly. ABS can help you there china. Over nearly half a century here it's been obvious that those of higher intellect and ability to move beyond the narrow mindedness of most ex Blighty residents make it. More money, better life. The rest can leave, certainly aren't missed by either country.

[flag of convenience]

I've heard the thing about views about some things being "backward" to me they might be different to what people would think and say in the UK but that doesn't mean they're backward, they're just different.

 

As for travelling I've never known so many young people travel as much as Aussie youngsters do, seems to be part of the expectations that somewhere between leaving school and getting to about 25 they disappear for at least 3 months and go travelling. Fair play to them I say, specially if they can afford it and not expect parents to pay.

 

One big change within Australia is how few now Do Oz, compared to past generations. Those that do it today tend to be grey nomads and foreign backpackers.

I agree a lot still go abroad. London still a favourite city to pass a year or so. I take it far more Aussie accents can be heard in Canada and USA in recent years as well.

I have detected less younger Aussie travellers in Asia though, outside of Bali. Perhaps they are so overwhelmed these years by UK young who are everywhere, Germans, French, and others, but really felt there were many more a quarter of a century plus ago.