Moving to Melbourne area with teens... yay or nay

[jessi]

Hi everyone, 

My husband has gotten a good job offer in Melbourne. 

At least I think its good. It would be 200.000 aud per year.

Would we be living ok as a family of 5 on that starting money? We have 2 teenagers and a 5 year old.

If he did accept we would like to live as rural as possible within an hours drive into Melbourne, as he will have to commute. Geelong distance would be good but geelong is a city so far too big for our liking. 

Also I've heard rumours of a lot of drug users around the area amd now I'm not sure if it's gotten so bad that it wouldn't be wise with teenagers? 

I'd love some local Intel as we know all cities have drugs but from what we hear theres an ice epidemic apparently. 

We would be coming from rural Ireland, however I grew up in Berlin myself. 

Also in regards to schools for teens, do they really teach about 82 genders these days or is that not as bad as it seems from afar. 

Thank you 

Jessi

 

[BendigoBoy]

7 hours ago, jessi said:

 

Would we be living ok as a family of 5 on that starting money? We have 2 teenagers and a 5 year old.

 

How long is a piece of string?  That's going to be down to your lifestyle, as much as anything.  $200k would be a palatial income for some, it'd barely cut it for others.  Personally, I think it's a pretty darned strong number.

Where you're going to have a bit of an issue is something "rural" an hour from Melbourne, if you're thinking of that being a commuting time during rush hour.  I used to live in Caulfield South and it would regularly take 50 minutes to drive into the CBD at 7am.  At 7pm, less than 15 minutes.

You might want to look around Lilydale and such areas in the Eastern Suburbs if you want something that's a bit more countryside.  But it'll hardly be rural.

Last I checked, it was only 71 genders.  

As for drugs, you'll get those sorts of problems all over the world.  Western suburbs can be particularly prone to things like ice, but you have to balance it out with the coke heads in Brighton.

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, jessi said:

My husband has gotten a good job offer in Melbourne. 

At least I think its good. It would be 200.000 aud per year.

Would we be living ok as a family of 5 on that starting money? We have 2 teenagers and a 5 year old.

If he did accept we would like to live as rural as possible within an hours drive into Melbourne, as he will have to commute. Geelong distance would be good but geelong is a city so far too big for our liking.

Plenty of countryside within the same distance as Geelong.  Look at the stops along the Ballarat or Bendigo railway lines. Alternatively check out the Dandenong mountains (not to be confused with Dandenong the suburb).  

However as BendigoBoy says, if you mean "an hour's drive from the centre of Melbourne at peak hour", then there's nowhere rural within that area.  You'd still be in the Melbourne suburbs.  Melbourne is a sprawling city.  Your oh could certainly get from Geelong to Melbourne in about an hour on the train, but driving in rush hour, it could easily be 2 hours. 

If you go to Google Maps, you can check out driving distances at different times of day by choosing "directions" and selecting the day and time you want to travel. 

[BendigoBoy]

Personally?  I'd be suggesting somewhere like Sunbury or the outskirts.  Could probably pick up something that's a little more out in the sticks but still less than a 15 minute drive to Tullamarine, or a hop to the station to get into Southern Cross.

[Quoll]

With teenagers - how old are the teenagers? I only ask because of the VCE - you wouldnt want to be moving a kid who is 16+ because it would be hard to get into a senior school program which would give them a good Uni entrance score.  Just as an aside - you'd really have to think about educational implications

You could do much worse than Ballarat.  I believe the train service is now pretty good - no longer the old bone shakers they used to have and I think if you were commuting into Melbourne you would really want to look at the train.  Driving in would be a nightmare and though it would be an hour to the Tullamarine turn off it could be another hour into the centre.  There are some excellent private schools in Ballarat as well (no idea how many genders are de rigeur at the moment though).  You could look at stops on that rail route to see what else looks OK.  

My in-laws live in Lara which is a town just outside Geelong and they are very happy there - our nephew commuted into Melbourne by train every day to Carlton and thought that was fine. He went to school in Geelong before that.

[BendigoBoy]

Just now, Quoll said:

You could do much worse than Ballarat.  

Although maybe give it a miss if you enjoy going for walks or jogging.

[Quoll]

Just now, BendigoBoy said:

Although maybe give it a miss if you enjoy going for walks or jogging.

Yup, getting a bit of a bad rap at the moment LOL

[Ausvisitor]

In terms of drugs, Geelong is certainly not without problems in an Australian viewpoint, but if you apply a level of relatively to UK/Ireland then it's an absolute haven of purity.

One thing you might want to consider (given you said teaching about 82 genders was bad) is that Melbourne (and VIC) as a whole is - to use the modern vernacular - quite possibly the "wokest" city in the world (which I see as a good thing). However if this is a potential problem for you the openness and anything goes nature of Melbourne might be a difficult one to get over.

Remember that Melbourne as a city is 5m people and Ireland as a country is only 6.4m - so it's going to feel big. (Geelong is basically the size of Cork).

As everyone else has said what I think you mean by rural is certainly more than an hour rush hour driving from Melbourne City.

200k is basically about 10.5k per month after tax etc.

So the answer to is this livable depends on your needs, if you are renting that is going to be around 3k per month for a 3 bed house most places, buying is expensive (and unless you can buy cash will generally require you to get through probation first before being allowed a mortgage).

 

 

 

[Marisawright]

@jessi, check realestate.com.au for house prices, and be aware that real estate agents here are crooks -- they shamelessly photoshop the images they post online, so always  assume that the photos look better/bigger than the real thing.  Also bear in mind there are good areas and bad areas in every town and city, so if you see something that's unusually cheap, it's because it's in a bad suburb.   Homely.com.au can help you check that out with their suburb reviews:

https://www.homely.com.au/find-places

 

[EJMac]

11 hours ago, jessi said:

Hi everyone, 

My husband has gotten a good job offer in Melbourne. 

At least I think its good. It would be 200.000 aud per year.

Would we be living ok as a family of 5 on that starting money? We have 2 teenagers and a 5 year old.

If he did accept we would like to live as rural as possible within an hours drive into Melbourne, as he will have to commute. Geelong distance would be good but geelong is a city so far too big for our liking. 

Also I've heard rumours of a lot of drug users around the area amd now I'm not sure if it's gotten so bad that it wouldn't be wise with teenagers? 

I'd love some local Intel as we know all cities have drugs but from what we hear theres an ice epidemic apparently. 

We would be coming from rural Ireland, however I grew up in Berlin myself. 

Also in regards to schools for teens, do they really teach about 82 genders these days or is that not as bad as it seems from afar. 

Thank you 

Jessi

 

Woodend/Gisborne/Macedon is rural and an hour into city on train, similar time to drive but longer in peak hour. Really nice area with Mount Macedon/Hanging Rock etc, definitely not 'Melbourne Suburbs' although a lot of development in the area.

On the East side Warrandyte/Kangaroo grounds are rural and about an hour drive into city on peak, not as well linked with trains but Eastlink is not far so quick to drive. Also Ringwood is close and has regular trains into city which take about 30 mins for express service.

[Marisawright]

20 minutes ago, EJMac said:

Woodend/Gisborne/Macedon is rural and an hour into city on train, similar time to drive but longer in peak hour.

I agree, if they are willing to look at areas which are an hour's commute by train, then there are plenty of lovely rural or semi-rural areas around Melbourne.  

The problem is the driving time.  It isn't just 'longer' in rush hour, it can be very much longer, because once you hit the suburbs, you can get very held up. I wouldn't like to take on a property in those areas assuming it'll be a manageable commute by car.  It would get old very quickly IMO.

[EJMac]

4 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I agree, if they are willing to look at areas which are an hour's commute by train, then there are plenty of lovely rural or semi-rural areas around Melbourne.  

The problem is the driving time.  It isn't just 'longer' in rush hour, it can be very much longer, because once you hit the suburbs, you can get very held up. I wouldn't like to take on a property in those areas assuming it'll be a manageable commute by car.  It would get old very quickly IMO.

Yep agreed, which is why also suggested looking around Warrandyte which is a lovely rural area which would be around an hour on peak to drive, or perhaps Hurstbridge which is around an hour to drive on peak and also on the trainline for a similar time.

[jessi]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and for taking the time to reply.

I will have a look at those places and the websites too, very helpful.

In regards to our lifestyle we don't live lavishly, we get a take out maybe once a month. I would cook every night and we budget our weekly shop as much as possible. Other than that the kids would have some activities on and then just a 3 to 4 bed house with a garden would be nice, and a car with insurance. 

My husband would get the 200.000 aud a year for the first year plus a car and fuel card. He would probably leave early around 5am and travel back early too.

I just don't want to commit and then realise we haven't got enough money for all of us to live a decent life. 

The children are 16 this month, 12 and 5. 

I realise drugs are everywhere, but just wanted to see if the rumours are true of drugs being a very normal part of life and whether or not there are many drug users hanging around the streets of geelong for example.

People can do what they like in regards of wokeness, I don't mind. I just don't think it's something that should be taught in schools. Its something we would discuss as a family. But that's my opinion. 

I wouldn't have a clue on how much food would cost each week or car insurance, fuel, kids activities and schools, electricity bills, bins etc. 

Again thanks a mill so far. 

[Quoll]

3 hours ago, jessi said:

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and for taking the time to reply.

I will have a look at those places and the websites too, very helpful.

In regards to our lifestyle we don't live lavishly, we get a take out maybe once a month. I would cook every night and we budget our weekly shop as much as possible. Other than that the kids would have some activities on and then just a 3 to 4 bed house with a garden would be nice, and a car with insurance. 

My husband would get the 200.000 aud a year for the first year plus a car and fuel card. He would probably leave early around 5am and travel back early too.

I just don't want to commit and then realise we haven't got enough money for all of us to live a decent life. 

The children are 16 this month, 12 and 5. 

I realise drugs are everywhere, but just wanted to see if the rumours are true of drugs being a very normal part of life and whether or not there are many drug users hanging around the streets of geelong for example.

People can do what they like in regards of wokeness, I don't mind. I just don't think it's something that should be taught in schools. Its something we would discuss as a family. But that's my opinion. 

I wouldn't have a clue on how much food would cost each week or car insurance, fuel, kids activities and schools, electricity bills, bins etc. 

Again thanks a mill so far. 

Are you coming on a temporary visa? If so you might want to consider what your older teen might do - 16 this month would make them the very youngest in year 11 this year and year 11 is already part way through so they'd be better waiting and enrolling in year 10 this year then have the full 2 years leading to VCE. However if there's a chance you'll be returning to UK, let them stay with family or friends to get through GCSE and A levels by which time the rest of you will have decided whether to stay or go and they can consider where their best Uni options would be.

Does the 200k include superannuation? That would reduce it a bit if it does.  As for leaving early to get to work and leaving early to get home - it'd probably be leaving home early and leaving work late and hopefully parking is included in that deal too.  Which side of the city is he going to be working in? That'd be something of a deciding factor as to which side to look. $200k is around twice the national average wage at the moment so if you're living on twice the average wage or more in UK you should be good - most families these days are two income to make ends meet but 2 average salaries would be the family income. On the plus side rural rentals tend to be cheaper than urban ones but if you want a job, there may be fewer local options in tiny places. 

[Marisawright]

5 hours ago, jessi said:

I wouldn't have a clue on how much food would cost each week or car insurance, fuel, kids activities and schools, electricity bills, bins etc. 

I'm not sure if @Cheery Thistle is still around, but she did some thorough research recently and could give you some idea.  People coming from the UK seem to find food expensive, but I think that's partly because pre-prepared food is limited and much more expensive here.   When I was in the UK in 2015, I got so used to buying meal deals in Marks & Sparks and Tesco, it was a shock to come back to Oz and have to start cooking my own meals again!

Quoll makes a good point about the salary.   For senior roles, it's common to talk about a "salary package" rather than a salary.  So that $200,000 could include superannuation, which means it's actually $180,000 salary and $20,000 super (i.e. pension contribution).  It could even include the lease on the car.  So worth checking exactly what the 'base salary' is. 

[calNgary]

$200k is a bloody good salary and above average, especially if the car, fuel card and Super are on top of that. 

On seek.com you can find Melbourne has over 29,000 jobs advertised, restrict the search to jobs paying $200k and it drops to 1,700,restrict it again to jobs paying $250k and it drops to 860 . Maybe see if you can find hobby's job position on there and see what sort of salary is being offered.

                  Cal x

[Skani]

$200,000 is very high end - medical specialist or similar territory.  Compare with these figures for Melbourne, last updated about a week ago:

Melbourne, Victoria Salary | PayScale

This is a cost of living estimate for Melbourne based on figures submitted by local residents:

Cost of Living in Melbourne. Apr 2024. Prices in Melbourne (numbeo.com)

 

[Skani]

On 11/04/2024 at 01:44, jessi said:

Also in regards to schools for teens, do they really teach about 82 genders these days or is that not as bad as it seems from afar. 

I'm not sure where you are getting your Australian information and I don't know the situation in Ireland but I have the distinct impression that Oz is not as obsessed about the subject as the UK - although I've been reading The Telegraph so maybe my impression is skewed.  

[Ausvisitor]

6 hours ago, calNgary said:

$200k is a bloody good salary and above average, especially if the car, fuel card and Super are on top of that. 

On seek.com you can find Melbourne has over 29,000 jobs advertised, restrict the search to jobs paying $200k and it drops to 1,700,restrict it again to jobs paying $250k and it drops to 860 . Maybe see if you can find hobby's job position on there and see what sort of salary is being offered.

                  Cal x

Yes it's entry level big 4 director pay, 15 year experience solicitor or as you say a medical specialist.

Not saying there aren't jobs out there that pay that but they are few and far between.

Also worth looking at some comparison sites as car and fuel cards are taxed to high f**k in Australia I'd you thought European taxation on fuel and cars was high you've seen nothing yet (it's why almost no-one offers them, they just aren't as economical for the business or the employee as just paying you more to start with).

The thought of start early and leave early is a notion perpetuated by "Wanted down under" and similar - it was true decades ago but nowadays (at least in Melbourne and Sydney) it's starting start early, leave late and still get stuck in the traffic.

If you are coming to Melbourne because it will be shorter work days then don't bother if anything it's a longer slog than in the UK (oh and the $12 an hour parking in the city isn't fun unless that's covered)

[jessi]

Thank you all again, you're a wealth of knowledge. 

Re the food I usually cook from scratch here too so that's not a problem unless I pick up the odd pizza.

It's a good point about the school. We wouldn't be returning to Ireland,  it would be with view to stay so I'll have to think about that one a bit. Are there any apprenticeships for that age or would he have to be 18? He's not planning on going to school any longer than he has to .

Also, I will double check about the superannuation.

And it's great to know that it's a great salary. I would hopefully start to work in a creche too but probably not for the first while. I just didn't want to get there and realise 200.000 isn't enough. As far as I know health care is covered too although I must check if that's for him only.

Good to know they're not as obsessed about the genders. It's a big thing in the cities here, but not in the rural areas where we live atm. In the cities they're letting the kids be a dog if that's what they identify as.

What would lara be like for an area near geelong? It seems quite villagey but then it could be overrun with druggies haha I don't know. 

I really love woodend so far, but if it turns into a massive traffic jam I'd say he'd soon be sick of it. 

Thank you all so much. 

[can1983]

is that 200k your only family income? I honestly would say its not huge as a family income but probably adequate.

Whether it is enough would surely depend on how much of a home loan you need to take out or how much rent you need to pay.

200k would easily pay for day to day expenses with a small mortgage (<300-400k), but $200k isn't going to service a million dollar loan for example (although a bank may well lend it to you) without living very frugally.

So i would look at housing costs its everything here.

[BendigoBoy]

55 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

(oh and the $12 an hour parking in the city isn't fun unless that's covered)

Southgate isn't too bad if you're in early and leave after 2pm. Something like $25 a day

[Ausvisitor]

1 hour ago, BendigoBoy said:

Southgate isn't too bad if you're in early and leave after 2pm. Something like $25 a day

True but that's 16 minutes walk from my office on Collins st. 

[BendigoBoy]

1 hour ago, Ausvisitor said:

True but that's 16 minutes walk from my office on Collins st. 

A nice scenic walk and free exercise!

[Ausvisitor]

15 minutes ago, BendigoBoy said:

A nice scenic walk and free exercise!

True but the bigger issue is that my house is only a 13 minute walk away so I'd have to drive past the office to park there and then walk further than I would have had to in the first place!

But seriously, parking in the city isn't fun unless it's included in your employment perks