blondie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 My husband has been offered a job back in the UK with a starting salary of 60k. He is stressing that this won't be enough for us to live on. I will obviously find work as well although it may only be part time to start off. We will also have a naval pension, a small pension here in Oz to draw on this year and the mortgage gets paid this year on our house in the UK, although the endowment will not cover all of it and we will have a shortfall of about 30k. We also have bought an investment property on the Gold Coast which is being rented out. Our son is 14 and just started year 9 here in Sydney, I have checked several schools and they are happy for him to transfer over to the same year. Our eldest daughter has already moved back to Holland with her dutch boyfriend, is a newly qualified teacher and will be looking for UK teaching work. Our youngest daughter moved out and lives on the Gold Coast with her british boyfriend. We have to leave our rented accommodation in March as the owner wishes to sell it and the new employer wants a start date of mid April. All sounds good on paper .. but we have been away 7 years and have lost track of the cost of living there. Does this salary mean a comfortable life in the current climate or struggle street ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Depends what you mean by struggling. That level of income is double the average wage and with almost no mortgage plus other income you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Depends what you mean by struggling. That level of income is double the average wage and with almost no mortgage plus other income you should be fine. Thanks for that, I suppose I mean struggling as not being able to afford holidays, put aside savings, and keep warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks for that, I suppose I mean struggling as not being able to afford holidays, put aside savings, and keep warm Depends on the holidays. The Maldives might be a stretch but otherwise ok. My recommendation if you are making savings is to put those through a pension contribution (maybe employers scheme) as tax benefits are massive particularly as your husband will be a higher rate taxpayer. You will be able to keep warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Depends on the holidays. The Maldives might be a stretch but otherwise ok. My recommendation if you are making savings is to put those through a pension contribution (maybe employers scheme) as tax benefits are massive particularly as your husband will be a higher rate taxpayer. You will be able to keep warm That's good advice, thanks. I really want to holiday in Europe and see old architecture again. I have had enough of hot beaches for a while !! They are not much fun when you have blonde hair, blue eyes and deathly white skin I see you are heading to Brisbane in July. I know it a little bit as our eldest daughter went to uni there and we visited a few times, so if you have any questions and I can return the favour please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 It sounds like you would have a high standard of living - our income is £80-100k a year, we have a £160k mortgage and £12k on school fees and I consider ourselves affluent. We spent a month travelling in Europe last year, this year we are staying in the UK but have three weekends away planned as well as the summer holiday. It's always tricky as people's ideas of a good lifestyle vary but I'd say £60k in the UK would be like earning £120-150k in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We manage on about that for one wage and have a mortgage, two cars and two young children. i'm sure you'll be fine. Okay we don't save yet but we do have holidays and my heating is always on as I am usually cold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 it depends on your financial commitments and where you decide to live, but it's a pretty good salary. I'd say with that, the military pension and any income from your investment property, you will be comfortable. Maybe not super rolling in it, but a modest to good lifestyle. But there are a lot of variables that only you know about, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 In London you may struggle. Elsewhere, should be okay. Not rich these days, but certainly not slumming it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzybangs Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Good heavens, you will have more than enough unless renting in London! Food will cost half to start with and telecommunications are so much cheaper. You could afford private heslth, private schools and holidays with that combined income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 (edited) As already said, so long as you outside of London commuter belt you should be fine, we are back here with one of us working on 50k and pensions which i would guess would be similar to you and we are doing as well as in Oz and we were on 60% more there. Cost of living is roughly comparable to Oz altho travel to europe much cheaper than internal flights in oz, food costs roughly the same altho quality much, much better and if you want to hunt around you can get food much cheaper if you want to do the effort. Cost of heating and power is high but to give a guide we have a older 4 bed detached with lots of expensive downlighters and we are paying 180 pounds a month and i think over the year we will be in credit by quite an amount and the heating is running for about 10hrs a day and we like it warm having got used to Qld. Running a car is cheaper than in oz i feel as distances are less and road tax is lower so long as you choose the right cars, we are running 2 cars, one a luxury car. There is far more competition , so your pounds go further, good clothes are so much cheaper, if you look on salary comparison websites 60k puts you in the top10% of earners in the uk, the only proviso is that uk employers in geneal want more than their pound of flesh for their money. I would say that so long as you are not doing long distance commutes and only eating out once a week at the local pub and having a european holiday twice a year and buy your years supply of single malt at christmas then you should just scrape by with enough to treat yourself to some sun at christmas. Really i would not think you have anything to worry about. On another note have you kept up your NI contributions while in oz as the state pension is a nice little surprise when you get it, you can make back payments and it is worth it, the number of years to qualify is changing so check. Edited February 16, 2015 by BacktoDemocracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 That's good advice, thanks. I really want to holiday in Europe and see old architecture again. I have had enough of hot beaches for a while !! They are not much fun when you have blonde hair, blue eyes and deathly white skin I see you are heading to Brisbane in July. I know it a little bit as our eldest daughter went to uni there and we visited a few times, so if you have any questions and I can return the favour please let me know. I agree, we came back in part for similar reasons and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 (edited) Goodbygreyskies We were in Brisbane also for 10 yrs, any help required just pm. Edited February 16, 2015 by BacktoDemocracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell123321 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 We are a family of 3 and we managed on just under half of that Salary living in zone 6 of London and still managed two European holidays a year and running a car. (Though we did not have to pay tube fares as I worked on the tube at the time). However we did not go out every week and eat out much, so I guess it depends on your lifestyle. Only place I think would be difficult is living closer to London. Good luck on the move I am sure your be okay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzybangs Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I would disagree that food costs are comparible. We were there last year and my OH said I was messing up his budgets and when I asked why, he said I wasn't spending enough on food! We were shopping in Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons but my brother who always bought everything from M & S has tried out Lidls or Aldi and says he is stunned at quality of meat and food bills have dropped dramatically so seems we can buy even cheaper if we switch when we go back. We also ate out far more than we do here in Oz and I was horrified when we came back to live at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. The prices to eat out here are crazy high. Our BT phone cost £18 per month which included free calls within the UK anytime! Internet was silly cheap too and truly unlimited and fast. Here I am paying $111 per month and never watch videos or I run out if allowance and it then slows down so much that it is unusable. I think you will be delighted if you work from your Oz budget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) I would disagree that food costs are comparible. We were there last year and my OH said I was messing up his budgets and when I asked why, he said I wasn't spending enough on food! We were shopping in Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons but my brother who always bought everything from M & S has tried out Lidls or Aldi and says he is stunned at quality of meat and food bills have dropped dramatically so seems we can buy even cheaper if we switch when we go back. We also ate out far more than we do here in Oz and I was horrified when we came back to live at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. The prices to eat out here are crazy high. Our BT phone cost £18 per month which included free calls within the UK anytime! Internet was silly cheap too and truly unlimited and fast. Here I am paying $111 per month and never watch videos or I run out if allowance and it then slows down so much that it is unusable. I think you will be delighted if you work from your Oz budget! I know you are just trying to be positive but: It sounds like you are overpaying for internet. I pay 59.99 unlimited including phone. Also you would pay hundreds to have a holiday as nice as the Sunshine Coast from the UK which you can do for free... Oh and Foxtel is cheaper than Sky Petrol is cheaper in Oz Edited February 17, 2015 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianaussie Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I would disagree that food costs are comparible. We were there last year and my OH said I was messing up his budgets and when I asked why, he said I wasn't spending enough on food! We were shopping in Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons but my brother who always bought everything from M & S has tried out Lidls or Aldi and says he is stunned at quality of meat and food bills have dropped dramatically so seems we can buy even cheaper if we switch when we go back. We also ate out far more than we do here in Oz and I was horrified when we came back to live at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. The prices to eat out here are crazy high. Our BT phone cost £18 per month which included free calls within the UK anytime! Internet was silly cheap too and truly unlimited and fast. Here I am paying $111 per month and never watch videos or I run out if allowance and it then slows down so much that it is unusable. I think you will be delighted if you work from your Oz budget! I don't know about eating out - thats one area I was surprised to find comparable to Australia in my opinion. As an example, I've just spent $16 on a fantastic breakfast that'll last me the day, and $4 on a great cup of coffee. It would cost you 10 quid at least, for the equivalent in the UK in my experience. Same thing for evening meals - $20 can you get you a great thai take away; in the UK I was getting the equivalent down the street for 9 pounds. With the exchange rate now 2:1 I think its a wash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I don't know about eating out - thats one area I was surprised to find comparable to Australia in my opinion. As an example, I've just spent $16 on a fantastic breakfast that'll last me the day, and $4 on a great cup of coffee. It would cost you 10 quid at least, for the equivalent in the UK in my experience. Same thing for evening meals - $20 can you get you a great thai take away; in the UK I was getting the equivalent down the street for 9 pounds. With the exchange rate now 2:1 I think its a wash. Not to mention the standard of Aussie food at the lower to middle end is much better quality on average Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Plenty of places locally on the Sunshine Coast you can get a 2/3 course lunch $28-35 including a glass of wine or a beer. really good quality and you don't need much to eat later. also if you get the entertainment book it's even cheaper. Aldi saves you plenty on the cost of your groceries, and farmers markets for local produce can save you plenty. will be back in UK for 2 months as usual later in the year and will be very interested to compare all the living costs, with friends who live in a similar size house to us. Will definitely post later as it will be of interest to us as well as other posters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks everyone for the replies ... I feel quite optimistic now. We have just accepted an offer on our house in Devon and now have to find somewhere else to buy nearer to Bristol. We tend not to eat out a lot here in Sydney, I think it is way too expensive and RSL clubs just really aren't my thing. I am looking forward to a basic meal in a country pub with half a lager and lime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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