Cost of moving to Oz

[Kelpie]

@Corrina If you're thinking about Perth, or Western Australia in general, then as well as a visa to enter Australia you also need a G2G pass to enter the state.  I think Tasmania is the same.

I'm here on a 482 visa so my employer has picked up the tab for most things but I still managed to underestimate the costs of moving to Australia especially when it came to my pension/super.  As I might not be here long term I have managed to do some good Wombling to pick items up free or cheaply off Gumtree.  There are "Buy Nothing" Facebook pages in WA (don't know if you get these across Australia) where you join your local group and people give away stuff they no longer need for free to someone in the local area.  We also have verge collections throughout the year where people just dump what they no longer want on the verge and a couple of days later the city then comes to take it away.  A lot of it is crap but occasionally you find a gem especially if you wonder round the posher suburbs.

[AmyL]

For us it is costing nearing £40k. We are being cautious though as I want the money there before we go to pay for 6months rent upfront as we don’t have a rental history and just security as I suspect it will take some months to secure work.

I think for me I can’t put a price on Australia. Yes there are things that are more expensive like housing and food but salaries are usually higher to compensate if you can get one. There are cons like everywhere but for me I spent a year in Australia Some years ago and fell in love with the country, I’ve never settled coming back to the UK and feel very much that Oz is my home. The lifestyle is completely different to the UK. It has been really hard for us saving as everything we earn is pushed into our savings for Australia but it is an investment and you have to accept start up costs are always costly but it’s whether for you the outcomes outweigh this - for me the gains of the end goal far outweigh the current bleakness of overly strict budgeting and selling belongings.
 

you have to weigh up why you are going. Also you need to weigh up your visa type - a lot of temporary visas can cause disappointment when there is no option for you to stay at the end. I don’t think there is ever the “right” time to emigrate - it’s a risk and it can be scary but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
 

So long as you have enough money in your pocket to support you for 6-12 months on arrival. I know a lot of people may advise against It with children but my family uprooted me when I was an adolescent to move country - it turned out to be a disaster and we had to come home - for them it was stressful but actually all I viewed it as at the time was some adventure and it taught me the importance of taking risks and accepting that things don’t always work out the way you want them to but that you can deal with that. 
 

Sometimes it might not work out, but sometimes it’s the best decision you will ever make. That’s life. I’ve experienced both sides of the coin. But you’ll never know until you do it. It might not work out for us but it would be far worse for me living my life wondering what if than if we took the risk and tried.

i would get on it ASAP though. We started the process a year ago and Covid will delay that further with the backlog of applications they need to get through. We applied for the 491 as I didn’t have enough points for the 190 - this gives us a potential pathway to PR and I will be working towards that the minute we arrive - hopefully if all goes well we will be moving to South Australia  

 

[Lavers]

38 minutes ago, AmyL said:

 

 

A lot of the Bills here seem cheaper to me. The only stand out one is rent/Mortgage being more expensive.

Other than that the other household bills are lower.

[AmyL]

That’s good to know  

[s713]

We all spend money on different things. We earned nearly $200k in Oz, we earn £70k here and are better off. Our mortgage in Oz was a killer, despite a modest living. Depends what you spend your money on, we love going out etc.

[Toots]

34 minutes ago, s713 said:

We all spend money on different things. We earned nearly $200k in Oz, we earn £70k here and are better off. Our mortgage in Oz was a killer, despite a modest living. Depends what you spend your money on, we love going out etc.

It also depends hugely on whether you have children or not.  For a few years nearly all my wage went on helping our sons through uni.  Also for a while the mortgage interest rates hovered around the 16% mark.   For all that, we still managed to go out a fair bit and had a decent social life. We lived in Sydney which is supposed to be really expensive but we managed fine.  I do think it is more expensive to live in Australia now though.  

[Quoll]

13 hours ago, Lavers said:

A lot of the Bills here seem cheaper to me. The only stand out one is rent/Mortgage being more expensive.

Other than that the other household bills are lower.

I’m finding groceries a bit higher, broadband lower, mobiles higher, health costs significantly higher, car Reg higher but insurances lower, car running costs - not sure yet. Clothing about the same, power lower (but we didn’t have solar or wood heating in U.K. - expect it will be higher with air con in summer) water higher, rates about the same. I pay everything on credit card and pay it off each month - average probably around the $6k mark (no mortgage/rent) but with some home improvements- bit more than it was in U.K. but not overwhelmingly so. It’s the groceries that made me gulp a bit. We don’t stint, never have, and generally get organic etc and we tend to only shop once a week now whereas we did more top ups in U.K. (keeping away from shops).  Importantly LOL yarn a little bit more expensive but it’s getting better but I’m buying less because there’s fewer options locally

[Toots]

17 minutes ago, Quoll said:

I’m finding groceries a bit higher, broadband lower, mobiles higher, health costs significantly higher, car Reg higher but insurances lower, car running costs - not sure yet. Clothing about the same, power lower (but we didn’t have solar or wood heating in U.K. - expect it will be higher with air con in summer) water higher, rates about the same. I pay everything on credit card and pay it off each month - average probably around the $6k mark (no mortgage/rent) but with some home improvements- bit more than it was in U.K. but not overwhelmingly so. It’s the groceries that made me gulp a bit. We don’t stint, never have, and generally get organic etc and we tend to only shop once a week now whereas we did more top ups in U.K. (keeping away from shops).  Importantly LOL yarn a little bit more expensive but it’s getting better but I’m buying less because there’s fewer options locally

I can't compare as haven't lived in the UK for so long but my godson in Sydney bought an older terrace style house in Newtown which needed heaps of work done to it and when his parents came over from the UK for a visit they couldn't believe how much more expensive it was to put in a new kitchen and bathroom compared to the UK.  This was before we came to Tassie so my husband and godson's Dad did a fair bit of work for him thus saving a packet.  His Mum and I did a lot of the interior paint work and she couldn't believe how expensive paint was here too.

[Quoll]

29 minutes ago, Toots said:

I can't compare as haven't lived in the UK for so long but my godson in Sydney bought an older terrace style house in Newtown which needed heaps of work done to it and when his parents came over from the UK for a visit they couldn't believe how much more expensive it was to put in a new kitchen and bathroom compared to the UK.  This was before we came to Tassie so my husband and godson's Dad did a fair bit of work for him thus saving a packet.  His Mum and I did a lot of the interior paint work and she couldn't believe how expensive paint was here too.

We havent quite got to the paint yet and the minor stuff will become major stuff in the next few weeks - as a guide a friend had about the same number of windows replaced in UK for £6k - I am expecting the bill for ours to be well in excess of that.  Otherwise IKEA is much the same LOL

[Lavers]

9 hours ago, Quoll said:

I’m finding groceries a bit higher, broadband lower, mobiles higher, health costs significantly higher, car Reg higher but insurances lower, car running costs - not sure yet. Clothing about the same, power lower (but we didn’t have solar or wood heating in U.K. - expect it will be higher with air con in summer) water higher, rates about the same. I pay everything on credit card and pay it off each month - average probably around the $6k mark (no mortgage/rent) but with some home improvements- bit more than it was in U.K. but not overwhelmingly so. It’s the groceries that made me gulp a bit. We don’t stint, never have, and generally get organic etc and we tend to only shop once a week now whereas we did more top ups in U.K. (keeping away from shops).  Importantly LOL yarn a little bit more expensive but it’s getting better but I’m buying less because there’s fewer options locally

Some groceries are crazy money but all in all we probably spend around what we did in the UK $200ish a week, although we did a shop at aldi for $150 so realised we just buy crap at woolies 

Gas I reckon about $30 a month and electric will be $90.

Water $70 a month and council tax I dont pay whilst renting.

Broadband $60 a month unlimited and a fast speed.

Rego $55 a month for a 1.4 astra, car insurance $35 a month fully comp. Fuel I fill up when its 98c a litre 🥳 so around $80 a month. Driving license is $60 for the year each.

Rent is the big one $2080 a month .

 

[AJ]

41 minutes ago, Lavers said:

 

Water $70 a month and council tax I dont pay whilst renting.

 

 

Jeez what are you doing with all that water?   You only pay usage when renting, the most we ever paid was around $45 for 2 months

[Lavers]

1 hour ago, AJ said:

Jeez what are you doing with all that water?   You only pay usage when renting, the most we ever paid was around $45 for 2 months

Well I say $70 but I've not actually had a bill yet, just what the estate agent said to allow.

Still I paid £45 a month in the UK so still cheaper than that.

[NicF]

18 hours ago, Lavers said:

Some groceries are crazy money but all in all we probably spend around what we did in the UK $200ish a week, although we did a shop at aldi for $150 so realised we just buy crap at woolies 

Gas I reckon about $30 a month and electric will be $90.

Water $70 a month and council tax I dont pay whilst renting.

Broadband $60 a month unlimited and a fast speed.

Rego $55 a month for a 1.4 astra, car insurance $35 a month fully comp. Fuel I fill up when its 98c a litre 🥳 so around $80 a month. Driving license is $60 for the year each.

Rent is the big one $2080 a month .

 

I think you might get a shock when you get your electricity bill, unless you have solar. 

[CockerSpaniel]

18 hours ago, Lavers said:

Some groceries are crazy money but all in all we probably spend around what we did in the UK $200ish a week, although we did a shop at aldi for $150 so realised we just buy crap at woolies 

Gas I reckon about $30 a month and electric will be $90.

Water $70 a month and council tax I dont pay whilst renting.

Broadband $60 a month unlimited and a fast speed.

Rego $55 a month for a 1.4 astra, car insurance $35 a month fully comp. Fuel I fill up when its 98c a litre 🥳 so around $80 a month. Driving license is $60 for the year each.

Rent is the big one $2080 a month .

 

Since you're renting, you're not paying the service charges, only what you're using. Bills are definitely more expensive here than the UK once you factor that in.

 

I wish I was only paying for usage  

[Quoll]

20 minutes ago, NicF said:

I think you might get a shock when you get your electricity bill, unless you have solar. 

I think you could be right - our last was $234 for the quarter and we have solar hot water and a wood fired heater. My son, on his own in the granny flat was $350 - he’s more of a “wear a jumper” kind of chap than he is a “put the heater on” - he has his daughters half of the week though and they enjoy looooong showers.  

[AJ]

18 hours ago, Lavers said:

Well I say $70 but I've not actually had a bill yet, just what the estate agent said to allow.

Still I paid £45 a month in the UK so still cheaper than that.

The bill will come from the real estate so make sure they are onlybcharging you for usage and ask to see the bill from the water Corp that is excessive when you only pay for usage, the landlord has to pay the rest

[rammygirl]

48 minutes ago, AJ said:

The bill will come from the real estate so make sure they are onlybcharging you for usage and ask to see the bill from the water Corp that is excessive when you only pay for usage, the landlord has to pay the rest

That will depend on state and tenancy. Many charge supply and usage now and the landlord Just picks up the sewerage and waste water charge which is still a substantial part of the bill).  If it is in a unit then it might even be a fixed charge.

[Lavers]

51 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

That will depend on state and tenancy. Many charge supply and usage now and the landlord Just picks up the sewerage and waste water charge which is still a substantial part of the bill).  If it is in a unit then it might even be a fixed charge.

Yeah its 2 parts that we pay, so I think supply and usage.

[Lavers]

3 hours ago, NicF said:

I think you might get a shock when you get your electricity bill, unless you have solar. 

I'm on a smart meter so can see online what we are using and I've already had my first bill. Changed supplier to the cheapest one on canstar so should be all good.

I know it will change depending on how often we use the air con in summer.

Think the "average" is $1800 a year in SA.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Lavers

[DukeNinja]

We use around 500kWh pm, family of 4, SE Qld.

[rammygirl]

Pretty sure that average must cover people with gas and solar.  We paid far more than that before we got solar. More like $3000 pa for a 4 bed with no gas supply.

[Paul1Perth]

On 13/09/2020 at 03:34, Corrina said:

Hi. Thanks for your reply. Wow, that's the most expensive move I've heard about to date!! Was it a recent move? I do appreciate hearing everybody's highs and lows. It's never going to be plain sailing I guess. The visa info alone is driving me nuts!! It just seems so much to cut into our savings when I know others have gone for less than 5K.  

5k for a family sounds very low. Even when we emigrated in 92 it was costly. We had sold our house though and made a lot of money on it, sheer luck, most of it seemed to disappear when we moved but we knew we would have to start from scratch. 

We gave up jobs to come too, with no promise of employment here, middle of a recession, high interest rates, people told us we were nuts.

Best thing we ever did, if you really want to do it, both of you and the kids are totally behind it don't even try to think about costs.

[ramot]

We pay about $300 a quarter for water. Only 2 of us, + family and friends visiting.  A 4 bed 2 storey house + pool.hardly ever pay anything for electricity even though we run the air conditioners when we want to as we put solar panels in quite some years ago, on the Sunshine Coast Qld, So gets pretty hot and humid in Sumer.

Edited October 1, 2020 by ramot

[Lynne shenfine]

Just a word of caution.

We emigrated to Adelaide seven years ago and paid around 50k. 
There are so many hidden costs and no we don’t live in the fanciest part of Adelaide!

Cars, rental, health insurance, etc etc. 
The cost of living is VERY expensive.

My husband is a professor of surgery with a public appointment and a very busy successful private practice and I’m a nurse.
We still find living expensive and joke that everything costs $500 or $5000!!

Personally I would let your 16 year old finish their education in the U.K. It’s a very different system out here.

Covid is going to take its toll next year. There is little employment and businesses are struggling.

We are in the process of making in roads to come home.

The Aussie dream has run its course and it’s genuinely not what people think.

Wall to wall sunshine and BBQs! 
We have a pool and as expats couldn’t survive without it. Summers in Adelaide are brutal with constant air con and lots of time spent indoors not to mention sharks, snakes and spiders! Adelaide is also very insular and we feel we will never integrate.

Its very much a case of who you know. If your eight year old wants to be a doctor there is a HUGE amount of competition. 

We miss British culture and family of course.

We would actually go so far as to say we regret coming out.

Sorry to be so down but it’s a lot of money to spend. 
We are returning with a renewed appreciation of the U.K.! 

Good luck with your outcome X

[SWMOY04]

On 13/09/2020 at 01:46, Corrina said:

Thank you Amber. Yes I think it's the 190 I can apply for. As advised by a registered migration agent. It breaks it down a little but I'll definitely look into a few others as a second option. When the person above also commented, saying you need around 30k I thought he meant £30k but I think he meant AUD$$ which seems much less daunting!  

Cost us about £17,000 all in, including agent plus all costs of a 2 week activation/hold trip on 189. ($5000 of this money was on a car on arrival) also includes house bond and first month rent.

But then prices for visas may have gone up too...

Family of four...no house to sell in UK and no house bought (yet) in Oz,