stariston

1987 if i recall

michdp

We're in Sydney - have been here three years & prices have rocketed in property & most things since we have been here, particularly in the last year. For anyone moving to Sydney (can't comment on other places in Oz!)who thinks that cost of living is cheaper than the UK & you'll be better off,that my not be the case!!! And remember salaries are lower too! Having said all that, wouldn't be any where else but would advise that rose coloured googles stay in the drawer...!!!!
Just my opinion....

@boy

We moved over here in Sept 2002.
I have to say that I do not envy those making the move now. Only 6 years have passed, but so much has changed in economic terms that if we were going through the process now, it may be a very different decision.

Best of luck !

raven

Couldnt agree more. mortgage gone up 400 d in 12 months food petrol booze .Just glad i didnt mortgage myself to yhe hilt. Although you wouldnt think there was a crisis still lots of 4x4s around.And how anyone family manages off just 1 wage i will naver know.Having said all this i do not have an alarm on my house and do not worry if my daughters are out late at night and i can go shopping without fear of being blown up
raven

TheAshleys

We've been here since Nov 2006. We exchanged at 2.53 (The 18-month peak at the time), and managed to buy a house just as Sydney prices started to go mad (Albeit probably paid $100-$150k more than if we had bought when we first got here). We were pretty lucky it seems.

That said, I looked 3 months ago at what our house was worth then, and it was GBP (Why dont aussie keyboard have pound signs?) 75k more than when we sold. Admittedly, it's probably lost 25-30k of that, but that is still 40-50k up on when we sold. Even at 2 to the pound that is $80-100k. House prices here are now starting to drop again due to the uncertainty in the market, so, probably, IF we wanted to do the same now although we would be worse off, it is not as bad as you think. Feel sorry for the people who cant sell in the UK, we sold and rented in the UK for a year purely because we could see what was round the corner.

To answer the other points, food here is crap, overpriced, and generally not to UK standards. It rains a lot, and everyone says "Ah but we need it". I dont buy all this drought, flood, crop damage rubbish. If they managed their infrastructure right, there would be no issues. You've just got to let go of what was, and live with what is. Long gone are the days of a crate of Stella at GBP15 in Tesco, now it's Pure Blonde at $45 a go. Even at 2.5 to 1 it's expensive. Still, I dont live in fear of being bombed on the tube on the way to work, so life's good.

St.Georges Girl

Alt 156 = £

Reading fan

You cannot beat yourself up about the exchange rate that is why we do the jobs we do and we are not George Soros. I too agonised (one day I gained a car the next day it was gone) As my OH says and other posters say only change what money you need to. As someone else said 6 mths is a long time anything can happen.
At the moment we are paying £1800 pm rent - $1700 sounds like a relief !
What will be will be

Australia_bound?

Well you'll do fine from one massive featureless housing estate in UK to another one in Aus lol
Lived in Wolviston,was supposed to be posh but nah.
Have you ever been to Aus and seen where abouts you wish to live? Was lots of areas like Barwick big estates wi bugger all on them. Better weather yes, but better lifestyle is debatable

Gonnago

Yes things have gone up in Oz in last however many years, but hey things are really on the rise here in the UK too - except house prices that have stabilised a little but thats after a horrendous increase in the last few years.

Have you seen the price of petrol in the UK lately

I quite like the exchange rate being 2:1 makes it easy to convert in my head.....can you tell im blonde

tillysmum

Yep petrol is much cheaper here but when you factor in how far away from you lots of things are then it equals out. Public transport on the whole is not too good here either. I cant drive at the moment due to car accident and buses to main shops are one an hour.

EvannTel

Absolutely not necessarily true. Depends on trade and location.

JenJen

50% more house work......

I prefer to say better laid out house, a bit more open plan makes things easier to clean in my opinion I wouldn't like a mansion (or mcmansion as a friend recently said), enough room for the kids to have space in their own rooms is greatly beneficial, a living area or family area off the kitchen is good too, a pool is nice but not a necesity. I don't want to spend much more time cleaning the hosue than I have to now tbh.

However I would re-consider if I won the lottery he he he he

We had worked out a nice budget for a nice house in Melbourne - now were going to Sydney we're finding things are gonna be a little bit tight financially for a while, not too keen on heading out in the Australian winter season either but hey ho, if we don't try and make the best of it it'll backfire then we will lose alot more money by having to come home, hopefully after the sticky tight bit we'll see the wood for the trees again.
I think having a little wobble is healthy as long as you can pull yourself up and carry on after.

Best wishes, keep smiling

JenJen

I'm not at all putting down what your saying as you're obviously not used to that when you lived in the Uk, but where I live now there's only 1 bus an hour and we only live 9 miles from a city, it probably takes about 40 minutes to get in though.

helen roberts

I agree with the sentiment that this is the worst time to emigrate. We planned to go to Oz this year but are now thinking of staying around for a while, buying a new house here and biding our time a bit. Everyone has to do what is right for them, and whilst it isn't all about money, there's no point having less than you do over here (in my opinion). Australia isn't going anywhere - we figure we'll watch their housing market crash and then buy when the market has stabilised. Financially speaking, there have definitely been better times to emigrate to Australia!

Helen

Australia_bound?

Very sensible idea
Glad your rose tinted glasses are off. We're not going yet as time is on our side Aus isn't going anywhere