Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I've been doing some sums for our move back to the UK. I've considered: Transporting our cats - $4,600 (includes vaccinations and a couple of nights in a cattery JIC) Flights for us - $4,200 Shipping our stuff (movecube) - $1,735 Six months rent + deposit + admin fees for rental in UK - $13,500 I know there will be additional costs like storage (if we can't find a rental with a garage), buying a runaround car, living expenses until we get our first pay cheque etc. But in terms of the money needed prior to the actual move, have I missed anything obvious? Do the numbers seem about right? I had to pick myself off the floor when I added it all up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrisbaneBevan Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Move costs look a bit light. It cost 4x that for us to come to AUS. What about all the upfront costs for utilities, broadband, mobiles, new 'warm' clothes. Plus the replacement costs for small items, electrical plugs, kettle, etc etc. i would make a budget, and then double it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 I think doubling that budget is a bit OTT BrisbaneBevan! Our families will sort us out with the little things like kettles etc. and we still have warm clothes which we can take back with us. Good point re the upfront costs for utilities etc. I had forgotten about those. Things like mobiles have been factored into our "living costs" budget which is separate to the moving budget. I can't believe how much it all costs - my Aussie friends are outraged that it's so expensive as they had been saying things like "you can always move back in a year or two if you don't settle." Not at that price we can't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Hello, we are moving back to the UK within the month and I was wondering what a movecube is you mentioned in your post? Currently having lots of headaches about containers etc As for purchasing warm clothes, I'm off to Primark as soon as I land to stock up! Where are you moving from in Oz and where to in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Hi Shari, this is the movecube: http://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/shipping/movecube We are moving from QLD hopefully to Northumberland but we may end up elsewhere dependent on jobs. We can't move until after October so we'll have to see what's available job wise then. Where are you moving to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcorners Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 You may find you can find a rental where you don't have to pay 6 months up front, especially if you go to an area where demand for rentals isn't so high. For electrical items just take a australian powerboard and change the plug on that to an english one, that way you can plug in a couple of australian appliances and only have to change one plug. I have an english version in my kitchen here for microwave, toaster, slow cooker etc! There is the cost for anything you need to buy immediately on your arrival, like a bed, fridge (although most rentals in the UK come with a fridge), washing machine (or laundry costs), bed linen/duvets. I don't know how long it takes for a movecube to arrive, but when we moved out here last our container took 4 months so we had to buy a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatDane Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 An Aussie at work moved his family back to Brisbane, then after a few months regretted it, back to London they went. That cost him £30k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks fourcorners, great idea re the Australian powerboard! We'll be able to borrow a few things but have put some money aside for set up costs back in the UK. Movecube is around 3-4 months so we'll definitely need to buy some stuff. I just had a reply from a UK letting agent who said we could pay the standard month's debt in advance if we had a guarantor so fingers crossed the agent we end up using has a similar view. Wow £30k is outrageous! I'm guessing they must have shipped the contents of their house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatDane Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Wow £30k is outrageous! I'm guessing they must have shipped the contents of their house. They actually got rid of everything in the UK first. Flights, rent, new furniture & appliances, doing SFA for a month while looking for work, car, flights back, etc etc. Adds up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 We'll be renting a furnished place and borrowing some bits and pieces so hopefully won't need to spend too much on furniture. Better tighten our belts even further to afford this move. Bugger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I'd factor in council tax, water rates and utilities. All those things will have to be paid on a rental and most are monthly or quarterly. Our council tax was £1200 PA, water rates about £550 PA. Have enough to cover your bills. Our gas and electric were combined but not cheap. Depending on time of year, you. Old be forking out hundreds for a leccy bill. I'd also consider car insurance and road tax, plus some savings to cover repairs if it goes wrong. Does happen with run arounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 I'd forgotten about the good old council tax! I honestly don't know how people ping-pong with this much money at stake each time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Our basic costs were: Container $6500 Cat $2500 Flights for 2+1 $3500 Minimal other costs as we moved back into our own house - we lost one months rent of £500 but only because we wanted to make it easy for the tenants to find somewhere else so gave them two months notice and said they could move out as soon as they found somewhere. We stayed with friends/family until our container arrived so didn't need to buy anything 'stop-gap', maybe a 'big shop' to stock upon cleaning products etc and shopping may have been generally more than average week on week as the store cupboard is slowly restocked. We even brought back UK plugs!! We'd been in Australia 5 years - never again will i whinge at my OH's hoarding habits We certainly spent a lot less moving back than we did moving out - a lesson learnt! There was a time when I said we couldn't afford to move back even if we wanted to but it actually didn't cost that much more than a big family holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 That's reassuring Lady Raincorn! If we can get a rental without the six months in advance thing it will massively reduce our costs. Unfortunately with two little kids and three cats I think we're too many to stay with family until our movecube arrives. My parents have offered, bless them, but I don't think it's a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie22 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Crikey, better start saving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 That's reassuring Lady Raincorn! If we can get a rental without the six months in advance thing it will massively reduce our costs. Unfortunately with two little kids and three cats I think we're too many to stay with family until our movecube arrives. My parents have offered, bless them, but I don't think it's a good idea. Do bear in mind that even if you do have to pay six months rent up front it's not really a 'moving' cost, it's a 'living' cost that you would have paid wherever you were - of course you have to have the cash available. We stayed with my parents a week and then at a friends for two weeks but she was in Florida so we had the whole house - I'd agree livig with family for too long wouldn't be such a good idea. We minimised the time waiting for our container by renting for a month in Australia after our container left - our container went when the house was sold and although every bone in our bodies wanted to be on the first flight it made much more sense to rent in Australia - it was no more than a months mortgage payment (mind you we had a big mortgage!) and I carried on working so financially it was just like any other month in Australia. It was also good to get the final utility bills paid, close accounts etc. whilst we were in the country. We rented close to where we had lived so it was minimal disruption for our son who could still cycle to school, see his friends etc. It was just tough on our pussy cat who had to be kept inside for the month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 That's true, it's a living cost we would have paid anyway. That takes the sting out of it a bit. Renting in Australia for a month or so is a great idea! We'd love to do that - it would give us time to tie up loose ends among other things - but I'm not sure we'd find a short-term rental that would allow our three cats unfortunately. (Note to self, next volunteer work should not be in an animal shelter!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 We did find it easy enough with one cat - of course 3 could be different. We found a few places though so don't rule it out - it might depend on the time of year, we left in winter and owners were probably just glad of a months let to turn us down. We used Stayz but AirBnB could be worth trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Thank you. I will try to find somewhere, it would be great to have that crossover month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynne78 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I reckon you've got the basics covered, although maybe shipping is a bit low..? As Lady R said, some of the things people have mentioned are living cost, rather than moving costs - rent, council tax, utilities etc. Most of which are monthly payments anyway. Also, likely to be way cheaper than what you are paying now (when I left Scotland 3 years ago I was paying £6.99 per month for unlimited broadband, ever since we moved here we've been paying $80 per month for limited - I don't think UK costs will have gone up that much!)Since we decided to move back to the UK my OH has been looking online at cars and you can get a pretty decent one for a few grand and, depending on what you get, road tax could be less than £50 a year. A lot of UK rentals will have white goods. If you need small electricals, Tesco sell kettles for less than £7! May not last, but certainly affordable for a start! We are planning on sending our cats home to my parents a week or so before we move (we're going to be staying with them for the first few months - they have already said they'll take off in their motor home for a bit to give us space which is lovely!!) so it's easier to pack and also to make rental/staying with friends before we leave easier. If you think taking up the offer of all of you staying with family is not suitable, would sending the cats first be a possibility so that it would be easier to find a rental here before you leave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 The shipping is the cost of a large movecube between our house here and my parents house in the UK. The "to" address May change but the price seems more or less the same. I had had forgotten how cheap connecting to the internet is in the UK! Looking forward to that. A £7 kettle would certainly do us for a start. I'm not sure if my folks could take the three cats as they are inside/outside cats and might pull at the carpets etc. if they were locked inside for a month. Plus our eldest cat used to have a habit of weeing on things when under stress and I'd be mortified if he decided to start again while living at my parents' house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummie pom Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Shari are you moving yourselves back? We are thinking of moving back to the UK in August and are trying to work out how much to budget for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julz Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 We saved like mad in Oz and sold nearly everything on Gumtree in Oz so had a nice lump sum for starting over in UK. These were my initial costs when I moved back in December 2012: - Shipping 26 boxes £500 - Flights (1 adult, 3 children booked 10 months in advance) £2,000 - Hotel in Uk for 2 weeks (family room at holiday inn, booked well in advance) £210 - 6 months rent paid up front and deposit (small 2 bed furnished apartment) £3,200 - small second hand car £4,000 - car insurance £400 Monthly bills will vary as it depends on where you live, how many youhave to feed, the size of your house to heat, etc. I was pretty tight the first 6 months and reckon my monthly bills (food,council tax,gas and electric,tv licence) were around £800 a month. I also paid for my shipping to go into storage until May 2013 which was about £30 a month (if that) but it was only 26 boxes. Although I was not entitled to claim any benefits, I managed to set up child benefit and tax credits really quick and started receiving some sort of income within 2 weeks of arriving. You can also cut costs on things like mobile phones, Tesco have a PAYG sim card for £1.99 and triples your topup credit every month. My advice would be to plan way ahead and save like mad, it pays off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Thanks for such a detailed reply Julz, it really helps. We are saving like mad and we're going to start selling things soon - I was planning on keeping and shipping a favorite bookcase but I've decided it's better just to sell it. We'll sell our car just before we leave so that will give is a small lump sum to get us going until our first month's wages come in. I must say I'll really miss the Aussie fortnightly pay packets, going back to monthly will be hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supercad Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 We just moved over at the End of Jan and i reckon your figurers are close to what we have excep we spent another £5k on new white ware and things we sold in OZ and our half container cost $5k, I still work in OZ on a FIFO basis and im banking on £4k a month living costs for my wife i do expect there to be some left over each month. The other thing we had to do was pay 6 months in advance for rent even with a guarantor. My daughter has lent us a lot of stuff that we would have doubled up on which will save a lot in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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