graeme78 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Ok guys ... the situation is this ...... wife and I giving some serious thought to life in Australia, we're both in our early 30's and have 3 kids, 2 girls, 12 and 3 and a new born baby boy. My wife was a legal secretary until our son was born but is now a full time housewife and will be until kids are at school. I work as a hyd hose tech for Pirtek and I'm also a qualified truck mechanic Areas we been looking at are Brisbane, Mackay, Sydney and Perth, All look like lovley places and there seems to be plenty of work for me paying around $50000 to $60000 per year ( unless i go to the mines then it's alot more) Not having a true idea of living costs over there I am wondering if this is going to be enough for us not just to live on but save a little for the future or buy our own home. Thanks, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 When you consider that the national average wage is around $60k I think you will be doing it tough. You will probably make ends meet but it wont be easy and getting your foot on the property ladder could take some doing. Sydney would be impossible because it is a very expensive place and if you could get somewhere to live that didnt cost an arm and a leg you would be paying in transport to make up for it. You may score a job with penalty rates and overtime to make it a better deal but you will be working harder and longer for your money. If you are going to make it on that amount then your best bet would be a smaller country town but, then again, jobs are harder to come by. The mines are no longer the sinecure they once were either apparently. You will be entitled to some centrelink support - family tax benefits for example - but you would probably have to do what most Aussie families do these days in order to get the home and mortgage, and that is to be a two income family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest17301 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I agree with Quoll, we did it on around $65 for the first months and although very achievable a lot depends on your standards and what you are prepared to furnish your home with, no dining out, no fancy cars (or even cars less than 15 yrs old,lol) No savings in case of unforeseen disasters, lol. You could do it but must be prepared for some tough times. Never easy to scrimp and save, a novelty for a few months but that soon wears off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lull Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Survival on that kind of income is easy, buying a house...or saving...questionable. To give you an idea. I'm on just under $40,000 $350 pw in rent (could pay a lot less but I choose to live inner city melbourne) a car that costs about 1.5x the cost of an average car to fix/ run due to its extreme greatness and age and one 5yr old who eats probably as much as your 12 yr old (assuming she hasn't hit that teenage 'watching weight' thing) Saving is not an option, if I manage to have money left until the next payday guaranteed my car will break down or something else will need replacing and that extra money sparkles away into the atmosphere. Not complaining, I made choices that mean it is this way. Dependant on what your rent payments are and how sensible your transport and power usage were you could do a lot lot better than I but for the option of saving for a house somewhere in this lifetime I would suggest some sort of extra income which I know sounds so much easier than it is, the 'owning my home' dream will forever be a dream for me even if I ditch the car and move to the bush, simply can't do it while supporting more than one person on one income. The national average wage here is $60,000? I'm asking for a pay rise.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FatGuts Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Unfortunately Graeme78, Quoll is pretty spot on on all counts. And you have probably picked a few of the worst areas in regards to affordability in Australia in Sydney & Perth!!! Actually realisitically you could nearly rule out Saving a penny in any capital city with a wage of 50K supporting wife and kids. The mining thing, from friends in the field, it is nearly impossible to get into, very over saturated market and you also need every certificate under the sun to legally work. I am earning about 85k a year and supporting 3 kids and a full time mum/wife and inclusive of family payments and baby bonuses (one off 5k payments from governement for newborns) it is still pretty tight. We have a 340k mortage (on top of 100k we save for deposit & to decrease our repayments) and live fairly comfortably but there are times when it gets pretty tight. Definately not saying it is impossible mate but word of advice would be to find other places to live (more underpiced areas) like newcastle, geelong, adelaide, bedigo etc. Very nice places but alot more affordable than the big cities. You will also find that to afford to live in Sydney, Melbourne in particular you would need to buy in outer suburbs that are just as far out as town like Geelong, Newcastle etc. Good luck, please don't be scared off, as Finao mentioned there may be some tough times but if its a dream, go for it.:biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme78 Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Thanks for all the comments so far guys .... giving me a lot to think about..... mackay is looking favourite at the minute as it seems a little cheaper and i have a real chance of work there........ anymore comments gratefully received Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Me123 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 hi the places you are looking at living are quite expensive i live in adelaide my husband diesel mechanic lots of jobs in adelaide for this job some good some bad over time is a must to help save if you the main bread winner the mines really hard to get into my oh trying to get in there its def a case of who you know not so much what you know mines mechanics slightly different to diesel although advertised in same areas need CAT experience with lot of positions well you may fit the bill you may not we a family of five 50k is def not enough no matter how sensible you spend.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest17301 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Thanks for all the comments so far guys .... giving me a lot to think about..... mackay is looking favourite at the minute as it seems a little cheaper and i have a real chance of work there........ anymore comments gratefully received Hi Graeme, hate to bedoom and gloom but I was offered a post in Mackay before we settled on Perth, part of the reason we decided against it was the lack of affordable rental property in the area. If you're happy to live inland there are some reasonably cheap rentals to be had in Perth, probably 30-40 mins from the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest migration angel Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Hi Graeme, This is all great feedback. I think you will struggle to raise a family of three on $50K in any of these areas . You may just make ends meet but you will be restricted in terms of the areas where you can live. In other words you will be looking at outer suburbs with the possibility of lesser facilities and educational opportunites for the kids. The sun will be shining but that doesn't help pay the bills, uniforms, health and dental expenses. As mentioned previously none of these areas are cheap. Adelaide is the most affordable city to live in Australia. Here is a link from the SA government which is great Make The Move :: Home Also you might like to look at rental values in some of the suburbs at www.cityhobo.com Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prickles83 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 This has also been useful for me thanks to everyone that has contributed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme78 Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 thanks for all the comments guys ... think that making the move into one of these jobs would just be a case of same old financial worries only we're half way round the world and it's sunny........ I want to come to Australia an enjoy it....... still got a real chance of repairing mine machinery offering a good wage so i've decided to just wait and see what happens with that ...... once again thankyou all for your input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Ok guys ... the situation is this ...... wife and I giving some serious thought to life in Australia, we're both in our early 30's and have 3 kids, 2 girls, 12 and 3 and a new born baby boy. My wife was a legal secretary until our son was born but is now a full time housewife and will be until kids are at school. I work as a hyd hose tech for Pirtek and I'm also a qualified truck mechanic Areas we been looking at are Brisbane, Mackay, Sydney and Perth, All look like lovley places and there seems to be plenty of work for me paying around $50000 to $60000 per year ( unless i go to the mines then it's alot more) Not having a true idea of living costs over there I am wondering if this is going to be enough for us not just to live on but save a little for the future or buy our own home. Thanks, Graeme Hi Graeme, I notice in our local papers that Mitchells are advertising for drivers/fitters/mechanics for their road trains. The package says a competitive salary, 12 weeks long service after 3 yrs housing allowances etc. They are based all over Perth/Dampier/Geraldton/Port Hedland/Kal etc. I dont know whether this is in your field but no harm in looking Mitchell — WelcomeBest wishes:wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazzarazza Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Hi Graeme, If you are considering Adelaide at all, following the feedback you have had, you may be interested to know that Pirtek, your current employer, are quite prominent in Adelaide. You may be able to try and negotiate a transfer. Another company you may be interested to check out is Austrahose http://www.austrahose.com.au/contact/index.html Cheers, Kazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 The wage you're quoting sounds increadibly low for a tradie in the Mackay region (you mentioned elsewhere you had a potential offer, that right?). They normally pay higher wages to try and stop trained guys being poached by the mines. You come under award for the wages, google Queensland award and hose fitter and somewhere there'll be a government document stating the minimum wage you can be legally paid (it takes some looking for) and see if it equates right. The trick to making extra money as a tradie is to get a shift that allows weekend work; before my OH went with Rio Tinto he was with Detroit Diesel doing a 4/4 12 hour shift, you get 8 hours at base salary, 4 hours at 1.5X, Saturday at 1.5X and Sunday at 2X, it gets evened out based on a year so each week has the same pay. While his base salary was about 50K, with the OT as part of his shift it was nearer 90K. You also get allowances for working in wet clothes, having oily boots and all sorts of other things, but you need to find the conditions of the award to figure out exactly what you can get. Because you don't have Australian experience, the chances of getting a job in the mines are remote and they almost certainly won't give sponsorship to a tradie unless a really remote site they can't get anyone else to consider. You'll need to get in with a contracting company and do site work for a couple of years before they'll consider you, but the contractor will probably pay for all your tickets if that's the case and you'll get a site allowance too. Mackay is the easiest area to do that kind of thing from as the nearest mines are only 1.5 hours drive away and it's the major business for many of the companies here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 My OH is with Rio Tinto, and they have and are currently sponsoring tradies here in Karratha, I wasnt too sure where the OP wanted to be over east or west xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Toorak Trev Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Survival on that kind of income is easy, buying a house...or saving...questionable. To give you an idea.I'm on just under $40,000 $350 pw in rent (could pay a lot less but I choose to live inner city melbourne) A few points worth mentioning Rental prices are more expensive in Mackay than Melbourne. ?? You say well this is why 2 major floods in past 4 years have stripped supply and during this time demand from mines and other associated industries has pushed demand 5 fold. 2 star (dodgy hotels) are now pricing as 5 star Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne hotels My last visit I paid $700 per night for a 3 star motel Alot of people get a huge shock in terms of cost of living in these supposed non big city places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EM&M Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I thought I would just add a small contribution to this thread. When we arrived in 2007 my hubby was on $43,000 sponsorship visa bringing home $600 after tax we rented a 3 bed place for $350 week and had $250 to feed 4 of us run a car etc etc. However I got a job 1 day a week on a saturday to help out which I still do. We survived day to day but when we got a major bill we had to dip into our small pot of money. I sold stuff on ebay and did whatever needed doing to get a bit of extra cash in to help us. I think a. it depends on if you have a bit of fall back money, we didnt sell our house but took some equity money to move, b. if you get centrelink as they are quite generous on rent assistance and family allowance, we didnt get this and still dont as on a temp sponsorship visa c. where you choose to live. Its no good coming wanting the 4 by 2 house with the pool, sometimes you have to think live to your budget. We still rent, with no chance of buying and have no pool, but so what we are happy and have applied for our PR and things are much better financially than when we arrived. We made it financially but making the right choices along the way..................all good things come to those who wait I think the saying goes! Goos Luck Em x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme78 Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 thanks for that positive response ..... if you dont mind me asking ..... which area are you living in ??? we're not fussed about a pool but a nice street not too far from the beach would be nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcatania Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hmm, I am single and would just about cope on $50k. Basically, what is your income in the UK you are surviving on at the moment? You are talking about the equivelent of GBP25k. If that is what your income is at the moment and you are managing then I am sure you would do OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AussiePool Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hi Graeme et al, 50K to live on with a family? I'll echo the thoughts of others here........ My wife and I both work and earn approximately 120K between us. We have no kids and a mortgage of 300K and we even struggle at times. Many Poms think Oz is cheap. Let me put this straight. It isn't! You'll have the same amount of outgoings as in England but earn (usually) less. Australia is a wonderful country but don't be under any disallusion. When you start out here, it's HARD. You know no-one and nobody wants to employ English people over Aussies. Once you do get established (we've been here 12 years) you will find work easier. It also helps if you adopt an Aussie accent! I wouldn't live in Mackay. Too expensive, not enough to do there, only work available at the port. Pop: 60,000. I would choose Townsville (we used to live there but got job transfers to Fraser Coast QLD). Lots of industry in Townsville, major port, railways, commercial, industrial and tourism. Pop: 172,000. Beautiful place, gorgeous beaches, VERY hot weather (be prepared) and decent wages. Still affordable too. I don't want to appear too negative, just lower the rose glasses every now and then. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you and your family. Hope to see you in Queensland one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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