Captain Roberto Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I find the wine is pretty cheap (too cheap!). You can often get a decent bottle for between $5 - $10 at Liquorland or Dan Murphy's - many deals to be had. So that kind of price point matches Aldi's cheap stuff in the UK. A bottle of wine is only 30% more than a coffee. Obviously they have many expensive bottles too. Also the 'cheap' australian wine is the stuff that costs £8 - £10 a bottle in the UK, so it's not bad stuff at all. Beer is more expensive, although pub prices are kind of comparable. After the initial few months of 'wine treats' due to the 'stress of the move', I realised it's pretty cheap and easy to come by, so we settled back into a healthier thursday-friday-saturday evenings vibe again with a nice break in the week (it's nice to get back to normal). The cycle of strong coffee to get you going in the day, then wine to chill in the evening gets a bit intense after a short while! Well the wine is no cheaper when you get down under !!! We will sell our cars and borrow one from inlaws. Have just booked a hotel room at Gatwick to stay day before we leave (even though we live in Hampshire) As want a stress free arrival and peace by ourselves. Before we fly out 2pm the next day. We are also having a 4 day stop over in Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 We're also having a stopover in Singapore (2 nights)...will be there at the same time if you fly the day before us. Where about are you staying and where's your final destination in Oz? I see you are heading to Adelaide wozzie. I am figuring you are already posting over on PIA perhaps. Not long now anyways Singapore is lovely for a short visit like that I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Just about to go through this myself. We fly 4th April. Wife worried about leaving her parents (we don't think they will ever fly and see us, no plane passenger types).I'm more worried about the little things, cancelling direct debits, how / when to cancel mobile phones, who will say 'pop into a local office to cancel' when we are 10k miles away. Do we renew house insurance for 1 month or just leave it out ?. How do I clean house for new buyers when vacuum will be on a ship somewhere !! mostly little things that wont end the world. But as mentioned above, I'm the 'breadwinner' and instigator of this move. So it's up to me to make all this work and financially sound. So I will be feeling pressure to find work and rental etc when we arrive. So I would rather have my own thinking time etc these last few weeks and not be dragged to the inlaws t much thanks ! If it all gets to much, just pop open a bottle and chill. Alternatively if it gets to calm, just read the daily mail for a bit. Then you can rant about leaving this sinking ship. What I did re the cancelling was I read the website blurb or if not on there called or emailed all the companies a few months before we were due to leave to see what the procedure was for cancelling and when the earliest or latest was I could notify them. Most were simple and could be cancelled ahead of time to run to the day we left. Mobile phone was a bit of a pain as I was on a monthly contract and had to pay £20 to end that (it was coming to an end anyway a month later) and to keep it going till at least the day after we had left the UK as I wanted internet access etc. I double checked it was on record a week before we left and all was well. TV licence you can't cancel till nearer the end iirc. I think it was a phone call the day before we left. It was part way through the month so we lost that quarter and then just cancelled the DD. It wasn't like it was hundreds of £ we were losing, it was something like £20 which in the grand scheme of things was not to worry about. I had a long list and checked off all the ones I could cancel ahead of time or have expire at the end of the month we left in etc. It was really straightforward in the end, just took an evening or two of planning, listing, double checking and then finding out when to cancel and do so as the times for each came round. I also got my car insurance to send me a no claims proof. And my bank had our new Aus address done so it swapped from the day we left the UK. We get bank stuff sent to us here without issue. Once we had left the UK and arrived in Aus, any DD's that were still open as needing to be paid still (the mobile phone and car insurance final payment were the only ones iirc) I removed them all from my banking and that was it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC FABS Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Yeah just cancelled my boiler cover with British Gas, oh what fun, took ages. Are you sure you want to cancel ? Did you want another plan ? We can offer a discount ? oh your moving away, do the new owners want to take over the plan. Just can't take a simple 'CANCEL' instruction ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wozzie2202 Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 I see you are heading to Adelaide wozzie. I am figuring you are already posting over on PIA perhaps. Not long now anyways Singapore is lovely for a short visit like that I think. Hi, yes..usually on PIA more than here at the moment! Time is flying...just want to get moving now to be honest..fed up looking at piles of sorted stuff in the corners..Will be better once the removals have gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wozzie2202 Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 Has the same when I cancelled my mobile contract with 02..I decided to move to a pay as you go for a couple of months and after telling them I was leaving the country they then wanted to know why I would possibly want a PAC code to transfer my number for the remaining 2 months. Next challenge is getting the money back on the car insurance which was only paid in Jan...and having a nice £50 cancellation charge to pay...grrrrr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Has the same when I cancelled my mobile contract with 02..I decided to move to a pay as you go for a couple of months and after telling them I was leaving the country they then wanted to know why I would possibly want a PAC code to transfer my number for the remaining 2 months. Next challenge is getting the money back on the car insurance which was only paid in Jan...and having a nice £50 cancellation charge to pay...grrrrr. To add to the big company bashing posts: We shipped our tv, so for the last three weeks we had no tv in the flat. I had phoned the tv licencing and told them we were immigrating on x date, the tv was on a container somewhere and we thus had no need to continue paying for a licence. No problem claimed the voice at the otther end of the telephone line, all sorted. Within three days we had a letter stating we had no licence for the property and would be fined if we didn't pay it. I rang again, and had the same conversation, all sorted. Three days later....... I ignored it. Another three days later, another letter, this one stating they would be around our drive with equipment to prove we had a tv and thus would be fined. As we had a third floor apartment in with another 79, good luck. I phoned again and told them i considered three letters in less than two weeks harrassment, especially as i had phoned them twice and they had accepted my reasoning. I was assured the letters would stop. Three days later...... But we left two days after that, so i chucked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) Fancy needing a licence to watch television. Really that is 1950's thinking. Given every adult who is working would watch television it should be just part of the income tax process like here. Edited February 6, 2016 by parleycross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Fancy needing a licence to watch television. Really that is 1950's thinking. Given every adult who is working would watch television it should be just part of the income tax process like here. It does introduce a layer of separation though between the state and the broadcaster. When TV stations are directly funded by government there are issues around impartiality in news and current affairs programmes. The licence fee for the BBC is probably doomed but they will not go for an entirely state-funded option there either. I notice that ABC and SBS rely heavily on BBC content too so viewers of that content will also lose out when the BBC is ultimately broken up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 ^That The separation between government and BBC is a very important thing, and the funding model preserves that. It's WAY better than the direct state funded model that the ABC works under. The BBC is not subject to the same arbitrary varying of its income as the ABC suffers, consequently editorial independence is also better preserved I can see the licence fee going (I would be very sad about it though, if it ain't broke why fix it?), but if it does it will be in favour of a more commercial model, not to direct state funding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Of course it's broke. It is totally inefficient. Hundreds of people employed to administer an inefficient tax. Driving round in vans trying to catch people watching TV. How ridiculous can you get ? Huge savings by eliminating all that waste and simply charging people an extra couple of pounds on their income tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Of course it's broke.It is totally inefficient. Hundreds of people employed to administer an inefficient tax. Driving round in vans trying to catch people watching TV. How ridiculous can you get ? Huge savings by eliminating all that waste and simply charging people an extra couple of pounds on their income tax. Actually I am surprised you favour a tax-funded TV service. Seems a very socialist system to me. Are you really a socialist perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 No. Perish the thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 It is normal for little things to escalate. Feelings and emotions are all over. Have a leaving party and invite both sides of the family and friends. If they don't turn up that's their problem. We moved in with my mother in law for the last week and it made it harder on both parties so I wouldn't do that again. My mother didn't speak to me as she fell out with us when we said we were moving even though she had already moved to Europe herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benthomas010 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 We leave in 6 weeks.. Moving in with my mum for the last 4 weeks. Not ideal but we want our stuff to be in the container ahead of us so we aren't waiting 3 months for it upon arrival. Tensions get high occasionally but we me and my wife are both aware it's a stressful process, and there are going to be done tough times. I know I'll get stressed as I'm the breadwinner so it's on me to get a job and make this move work. Can't wait to be in Melbourne to be honest. Wishing away the time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 To add to the big company bashing posts: We shipped our tv, so for the last three weeks we had no tv in the flat. I had phoned the tv licencing and told them we were immigrating on x date, the tv was on a container somewhere and we thus had no need to continue paying for a licence. No problem claimed the voice at the otther end of the telephone line, all sorted. Within three days we had a letter stating we had no licence for the property and would be fined if we didn't pay it. I rang again, and had the same conversation, all sorted. Three days later....... I ignored it. Another three days later, another letter, this one stating they would be around our drive with equipment to prove we had a tv and thus would be fined. As we had a third floor apartment in with another 79, good luck. I phoned again and told them i considered three letters in less than two weeks harrassment, especially as i had phoned them twice and they had accepted my reasoning. I was assured the letters would stop. Three days later...... But we left two days after that, so i chucked it. Much as I love the BBC, this really is extraordinary behaviour - the cost involved in chasing someone who had no real motivation to avoid payment way outweighs any benefit from collecting potentially avoided fees..... Yonks ago, as a company owner I was inspected by the Inland Revenue for a potential fifty quid discrepancy in accounting. They were wrong, but it was extremely stressful with all efforts pointing to me (via my accountants) to prove my innocence, and threatening letters etc....I remember feeling anger about the huge waste of taxpayers money supporting 'box ticking' activity in the face of dubious potential returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Much as I love the BBC, this really is extraordinary behaviour - the cost involved in chasing someone who had no real motivation to avoid payment way outweighs any benefit from collecting potentially avoided fees..... Yonks ago, as a company owner I was inspected by the Inland Revenue for a potential fifty quid discrepancy in accounting. They were wrong, but it was extremely stressful with all efforts pointing to me (via my accountants) to prove my innocence, and threatening letters etc....I remember feeling anger about the huge waste of taxpayers money supporting 'box ticking' activity in the face of dubious potential returns. The example cited was more likely damned automated letters and people failing to note records correctly. Your case should just not have happened and you were right to be very annoyed. I was a tax inspector way back and operated with de-minimis limits for potential irregularities and with consideration for the costs and stress of defending such actions. Sorry to say that I saw examples of colleagues acting as you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Aah. You are biased. All those inefficient taxes kept bureaucrats like you in meaningless jobs checking compliance. They should be abolished. The tax system should be as simple as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 The example cited was more likely damned automated letters and people failing to note records correctly. Your case should just not have happened and you were right to be very annoyed. I was a tax inspector way back and operated with de-minimis limits for potential irregularities and with consideration for the costs and stress of defending such actions. Sorry to say that I saw examples of colleagues acting as you describe. An example of robots in action be they man or machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Aah. You are biased. All those inefficient taxes kept bureaucrats like you in meaningless jobs checking compliance. They should be abolished. The tax system should be as simple as possible. Simple enough to go after the big players who simply don't play by the rules. Not controlling and persecuting the masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Aah. You are biased. All those inefficient taxes kept bureaucrats like you in meaningless jobs checking compliance. They should be abolished. The tax system should be as simple as possible. So true about simplification. It is politicians and governments who keep adding complications to the tax system. Partly because they want to tax by stealth and partly because they use taxes to influence behaviours. The bureaucrats are stuck enforcing the complicated legislation. Very pleased that I am shot of it all. No matter how simple the system though there would still be non-compliance out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Simple enough to go after the big players who simply don't play by the rules. Not controlling and persecuting the masses. If only it were simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC FABS Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Well we have a 2 day gap between leaving our home when sold, to checking into Gatwick hotel day before flight. Options where 1, stay at inlaws 10 miles away for free. 2, book into hotel 1 mile away for £ 125 a night. 3, sleep in local park under climbing frame, telling kids it;s a game ! I am a tight Southerner, but had to settle for option 2 in the end. After all, inlaws can say bye when we return their car. Oh and have now decided to email my kids form 929's. As posted them before Christmas and details not changed. Otherwise that could be interesting ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 If only it were simple. To ease the burden, the first requirement is to have the willingness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 To pay a fee to watch tv in this day and age is just plain daft. Do they also charge for streaming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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