adele244 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I love doing spreadsheets, they make me feel organised (yup sad I know!) and now I am putting one together to give me an insight of our finances in Oz, to basically see if I would need to work also. On my list I have an income of my partner at around 55k, I'm hoping it would be more but being safe than sorry. I have accounted for the tax on the earnings and rent at 400 per week. I have also done an online shop at Coles so I know roughly the groceries costs. Apart from the bonds and upfront rental, are you expected to pay rates on the property, or is this usually included? Could you please give me an idea of utility costs, such as gas and electricity, the cost of broadband anything else that I may miss out. Schools fees.... I am just lost with that, and Medicare and medical insurance, I really don't understand the costs involved with these. Any help with my spreadsheet would be very much appreciated, and I am bracing myself for a bit of a shock when it all starts adding up:chatterbox: Thank you very much x x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 So many variables! Where do you want to live? What lifestyle do you expect? Not sure where you are headed but IMHO an income of $55K would almost certainly have to be supplemented. You won't rent much for $400 per week and it will be way out of any CBD so factor in travelling costs. School fees on 457 visa only - No school fees in Qld yet. I would say about $100K PA for a family is OK for Brisbane but you would need more for Melbourne, Perth and Sydney to support a family. Many survive on less than this. We are on more than this, but still need to budget with 2 kids and are by no means flush. Healthcare has been a big cost for us - I reckon it takes about 10% of our income by the time you factor in the cost of health insurance and out of pocket expenses. We do have a child with special healthcare requirements. Dentistry is very expensive. Holidays will be camping - nothing wrong with that but even taking a city mini break here is prohibitive from a cost viewpoint. Lots of cost spreadsheets on this site so have a search. Australia is an expensive country - People always get very emotive and opinionated when you ask how much is needed to get by. It depends on what you're use to as well - If you're living in a shoe box hand to mouth in the UK with no holidays, few clothes and treats then maybe $55K could be comparatively live able - but I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beckdownunder Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Hi Adele244, Like has been said above, it depends where you are moving too. I am in Adelaide and know of families that live on 55-65k and manage. They are not on the breadline.....but have to budget. We pay $60 a month for internet - broadband (no phone line) Our last quarterly gas bill, so 3 months worth was $250 - we have gas hot water and an oven. Electricity - we have solar, so can't be much help to you with that. If you are renting, you wont need to pay council rates as the landlord pays these, but you may need to pay water charges. This isn't usually much, I would budget $50 a month In adelaide you would be fine budgeting $400 per week for rent - can't comment on other areas though. Good luck with the move Beck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I reckon in Adelaide with just medicare you could get by in that. If you rent you don't pay rates. You sometimes pay water usage. My last quarter was $40. My last electricity Bill was $400 and gas I think around $80. Are you going to have cars? My internet and phone is $60 per month. Mobile $60 (partners is $45). Foxtel with movie channels $100. Car insurance, fully comp $100 per month. That very much depends on cars though. Rego just over $200 a quarter per car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxlornaxx Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 My rent is $285a week for four bed house n huge yard in centre of town but I live in mackay..no rates to pay...in sydney I paid $450 a week for a one bed unit in a rundwn suburb..ive moved four times n differences in price can b alot...depends where ur going to live. ..my car rego is $600 a year n fully comp insurance is also $600 a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 As said more info on where you are headed would be useful. As for school maybe no fees but there are costs. Even in state schools you pay admin fees and have to buy books and equipment. Not like in UK. Older they are more expensive it gets. Not a fortune but. E prepared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfromdublin Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Re medical stuff, for a GP visit you will pay the GP their fee for a visit (cost varies) but often Medicare won't reimburse the full amount. Some GPs do only charge the medicare rate, but these are becoming less easy to find. Those that do only charge the Medicare amount refer to it as 'bulk-billing' as you don't pay and then get reimbursed, they just charge medicare directly. Hard to know what to budget but maybe one GP visit a month for the family which might be around $40 a month out of pocket expense? Dunno, others might correct me. On that income I wouldn't bother with health insurance as long as you are eligible for medicare (register as soon as you land if you are a UK citizen). On higher incomes there can be a tax implication for NOT having insurance, and if you are over 30 you may be hit with a loading for health insurance. We have insurance for reasons of avoiding future loading but, to be honest, it's probably not worth it for our situation and we certainly don't make full use of the 'extras' portion (e.g. optical, dental) so will probably drop this. We used the public system for maternity last year and it's excellent. Anyway, dental is expensive ($2200 to get my wisdom teeth taken out 2 years ago, $150-$200 for a check up and clean [can't remember exact amount]) and you don't get that on medicare so budget for it. Car costs depend on what you have obviously but I have in my head approximately $600 a year for tax and the same again for insurance on an 8 year old holden viva. You mention school fees too. Whether you need to pay these depends on what visa you're on and what state you're moving to. I can't really comment on that, but hopefully you don't need childcare anymore because that is expensive and hard to get. When we had our daughter last year we could just about manage on my salary alone ($84k), while making sure we saved a bit each month for the big annual expenses (e.g. car tax, house insurance). Now we're paying 3 days childcare for one toddler so that's an extra $500 a month (taking into account government subsidies) and my salary alone won't cut it. This is fine as my wife is working but when she isn't (e.g. maternity leave for more kids) we still have the same cost (because once you have childcare you keep your place at all costs!) but no extra income. We don't rent but the cost of our mortgage plus rates and water is about $420 per week. This is in Brisbane. I think you'll struggle on $55k but then I don't know where you'll be living or what your lifestyle expectations are. We could probably save a bit of cash by doing things like shopping at markets, eating less meat, never going out (we rarely go out drinking but we go to cafes and get takeaways about 2/3 times a month), etc, etc. but I don't think we have an extravagant lifestyle by any means. Best of luck with your decision anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Could you please give me an idea of utility costs, such as gas and electricity, the cost of broadband anything else that I may miss out. Schools fees.... I am just lost with that, Impossible really without knowing where you will be living and how many in the family...and ages of children. Also, are you expecting to run a car (or two?) We're not being difficult...it's just that costs/prices can vary enormously between states and between city and more rural/regional areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) $55k will give you ~ $3730 a month. My expenses (in rough numbers - my outgoings are over $60k a year). In Perth :- Weekly - Rent / mortgage (xxx) Gym - 60 Monthly - House insurance - 160 Health insurance - 120 Internet - 90 Foxtel - 150 Mobile - 60 Car Loan - (xxx) 2 monthly Electric - 300 Water Rates - 200 Water Use - 50 Quaterly Gas - 150 Annual Council Rates - 2000 Car insurance - (xxx) Car rego - 600 $200 a week / $800 a month, will get you a $35k car loan. Rent can be $400 for something small near the city. I spend $200 a week on food. $100 a week on booze (carton is $50, bottle of wine is $10). A cheap meal out is $50 per head, or $100 somewhere nice. If you rent, you usually don't pay rates (water & council). And the above is as a single guy. Edited December 8, 2014 by Bibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Brisbane - 2 people (2 bed inner city apartment) Electricity $50 (monthly) Gas water $100 (quarterly) Rent - we own but would be 400 a week ish 5k from city centre Internet $59.99 a month unlimited including phone line Mobile $17 each a month (sim only) Foxtel $50 a month for sport and entertainment channels 8.5kg gas refill for bbq $25 Wont comment on car costs really depends how much you drive and what car you have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 $55k will give you ~ $3730 a month. My expenses (in rough numbers - my outgoings are over $60k a year). In Perth :- Weekly - Rent / mortgage (xxx) Gym - 60 Monthly - House insurance - 160 Health insurance - 120 Internet - 90 Foxtel - 150 Mobile - 60 Car Loan - (xxx) 2 monthly Electric - 300 Water Rates - 200 Water Use - 50 Quaterly Gas - 150 Annual Council Rates - 2000 Car insurance - (xxx) Car rego - 600 $200 a week / $800 a month, will get you a $35k car loan. Rent can be $400 for something small near the city. I spend $200 a week on food. $100 a week on booze (carton is $50, bottle of wine is $10). A cheap meal out is $50 per head, or $100 somewhere nice. If you rent, you usually don't pay rates (water & council). And the above is as a single guy. This just goes to show how different outgoings can be. Bibbs spends more on food a week for one person than we spend on our entire groceries for a couple, baby and three cats. And more on alcohol a week than we would in a quarter. House insurance, contents only we pay $240 per year, so a big difference there too. Some costs you just aren't going to get a good idea of until you are here. Petrol for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Very true. I think eating out in Brisbane sounds a fair bit cheaper than Perth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Very true. I think eating out in Brisbane sounds a fair bit cheaper than Perth And Adelaide, although to be fair, depending on where you go it could be far more expensive too. Also, if you drink or not would make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 And Adelaide, although to be fair, depending on where you go it could be far more expensive too. Also, if you drink or not would make a big difference. That's true, however I was at an American restaurant the other day and had 5 beers between us (Sierra Nevada - not cheap) and 2 meals for less than $70 total in an inner Brisbane suburb. Also I would advise people get a copy of http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/ always make good savings every year for having it. I didn't have a coupon for my example above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 This just goes to show how different outgoings can be. Bibbs spends more on food a week for one person than we spend on our entire groceries for a couple, baby and three cats. And more on alcohol a week than we would in a quarter. House insurance, contents only we pay $240 per year, so a big difference there too. Some costs you just aren't going to get a good idea of until you are here. Petrol for example. Yup, it's all about how you live your life really. Some people would balk at a $10 beer, others wouldn't slum it in such a place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 5 beers .. less than $70 Sounds about right .. Oh, you had food too .. *sigh*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adele244 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Thank you so much for your very informative answers, it was a tall order given the little mount if information you had to go on..Doh! We are ideally looking at Adelaide but it boils down to work in the end. We have 2 children age 11 & 4. We would certainly need to run 1 car, running 2 may be a struggle and I would be happy walk a lot given the better climate. We are applying for a 189 PR. We don't live a flash life style here although we are on a lot more here, we are hoping to be saving like crazy for the next year anyway. we spend a lot of time with our local church, love doing community stuff, which I hope to continue over there and that doesn't cost. Hubby likes a beer but that's like one a night at home. I'm no big drinker. I am good at budgeting, when we first started the business 9 years ago, I remember my hubby saying to me, "shall we get a Chinese takeaway tonight"? And I remember saying, "no, we can't because Jacobs running out of nappies so I need to get some tomorrow" ! So I would say I am pretty good a budgeting, I just needed to know if it was an impossible task. once again thank you so much for all the information, I shall get on my spreadsheet tonight after work and see how things shape up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 If you are good at budgeting I reckon you'd be fine on that wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Initially I am planning on surviving for 5 months on one income of $65,000 for a family of 5 in the Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast areas, from research I believe that money will be tight and will just about cover the basics but it is not worth my husband working till my youngest starts school 5 months after arriving to avoid him having to start a new nursery for a few months. I believe there is also Centrelink assistance available, in our situation we estimated a rough guess of $700 a fortnight based on a calculator we found online last year. However the questions are difficult to answer when you dont already live there so I would give our take this figure by a few $100 each way. When my husband is able to start work, albeit part time hopefully to help support the children then hopefully we can stop budgeting and live a little more comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I think the op said they were going to be on a temp visa, in which case there are no centerlink payments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac2011 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 She has just quoted she is applying for a 189 PR visa a post or two up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 My rent is $285a week for four bed house n huge yard in centre of town but I live in mackay..no rates to pay...in sydney I paid $450 a week for a one bed unit in a rundwn suburb..ive moved four times n differences in price can b alot...depends where ur going to live. ..my car rego is $600 a year n fully comp insurance is also $600 a year Sorry for the hijack of this thread...but wow, that's a mega good deal on a rental. The firm OH works for has branches all over Aus, apart from NT. If they paid him the same salary as he gets in Perth, we would be mega rich:cute: Think its time for him to ask for a transfer:dull: To the OP, great question, just goes to show the difference in where we live. $55k would go nowhere in Perth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 If you're on a 189 you can claim Centrelink and they backdate it. I think ink if you are good at budgeting, you will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglashv Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Thank you so much for your very informative answers, it was a tall order given the little mount if information you had to go on..Doh! We are ideally looking at Adelaide but it boils down to work in the end. We have 2 children age 11 & 4. We would certainly need to run 1 car, running 2 may be a struggle and I would be happy walk a lot given the better climate. We are applying for a 189 PR. We don't live a flash life style here although we are on a lot more here, we are hoping to be saving like crazy for the next year anyway. we spend a lot of time with our local church, love doing community stuff, which I hope to continue over there and that doesn't cost. Hubby likes a beer but that's like one a night at home. I'm no big drinker. I am good at budgeting, when we first started the business 9 years ago, I remember my hubby saying to me, "shall we get a Chinese takeaway tonight"? And I remember saying, "no, we can't because Jacobs running out of nappies so I need to get some tomorrow" ! So I would say I am pretty good a budgeting, I just needed to know if it was an impossible task. once again thank you so much for all the information, I shall get on my spreadsheet tonight after work and see how things shape up Hi, maybe you could take a look at my spreadsheet I posted some time ago, link below, the cost estimation was very well thought out but you can adjust it to your situation. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/money-finance/219566-monthly-expenses-excel-spreadsheet-shared.html Doug.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adele244 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Wow Doug, that spreadsheet is the boss of all spreadsheets!!!!! Thank you so much for that. I can already see that there are a few things I missed which are on your spreadsheet. Thanks again x x xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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