@boy

Financially the worst time ever to move ?

Take just 2 of the most recent articles from today....

Petrol prices hit all-time high
http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...654098852.html
and
Prepare for two more rate hikes this year: ANZ
http://www.scopical.com.au/articles/...this-year:-ANZ

.....you decide ?

I am just very glad we moved in '02.
Would be very nervous attempting it in the current conditions.

tawkins1

Originally we were applying in 05 but my OH backed out last minute!!!! :curse:

Hotton

Are you not living in them conditions ?
seems people who know about them have the choice to go or not go
seems Rudd is hell bent on turning Australia Communist

rabsody

Yep I echo that. I came out in 2000 and a big plus was the financial side of things (as well as the sun, outdoorsy lifestyle for kids etc). I bought my house for $187,000 and renovated it (well I'm still going actually LOL). Similar unrenovated properties in the area are now selling for about $500k+ and would require at least another $50k spending on them (i.e. kitchen/bathroom etc about 30 years old otherwise!). However wages during this time don't seem to have increased substantially.

If I was faced with the move now it would not be so cut and dried.

Hotton

I would think if you would have stayed in the uk in 2002 you would
be in a similar position as uk prices have gained much the same?

rabsody

True, our old house we bought for 88k GBP in 1998 is now worth about 230k GBP so I suppose it's swings and roundabouts. However you got a lot more for your dollar back in 2000 than now relatively speaking. On an average wage you could afford to live in an ok house within 10kms of the city, with husband working full time, wife working part time. Now, that would not be the case.

In terms of overall cost of living, Aus used to be cheap in comparison with UK which was an incentive for moving. Now not so much (some have said COL is on par with the two countries) so clearly that accelaration must have been larger in Aus.

Plus the exchange rate doesn't help.

However, the outdoorsy lifestyle and free or cheap entertainment (beaches, parks, barbies etc) outweigh those concerns for many. It's not always about the money!

spsspence

It's easy for some to forget this. If it is just about the money why go so far. You can get a better 'deal' on your £ nearer. A bit of clarity, and a little less headless chicken type behaviour is needed me thinks. Just try to remember why you chose this destination over all the others.

Vash the Stampede

Yes, he's abolished democracy and private ownership, nationalised all industries and services, prohibited free speech, banned all commercial media, imposed martial law, removed the civilian government (Australia will henceforth be run by a Labour-led military junta), expelled all foreign diplomats, and replaced our capitalist financial system with a centrally planned economy.

Get out now, while you're still allowed to own a passport.

geordie downunder

Lucky people in the early 90,s weren't they.A deep recession,high unemployment ,high interest rates,the perfect time to emigrate?.

Shocking today isn't it,a boom ,low interest rates,low unemployment,it must be the worst time ever to emigrate.Those people in the early 90,s just don't know how lucky they were do they.

Do try to get a grasp on reality.

geordie downunder

Forgot,I don't use petrol,I use LPG.Back in the early 90's LPG was around 24 cents a litre in Adelaide,you had to pay for your own conversion.

Today LPG in Perth was 62 cents,and can you believe it, the govt will almost pay for you to convert to LPG through grants.The news just gets worse doesn't it.

johull

Hi

Where in North Yorks are you - we are just over the border in West Torkshire - just outsode Cowling. House on the market - had one offer at 30K under asking price - which we have already dropped £50K!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rate and everything is really depressing but I suppose we can put out money in a high interest account - rent and claw some back that way!!!!

I don't suppose there ever is a perfect time - I just hope the exchange rate changes slightly for us - it was 2.40 last time we went!!!!!

Hotton

BEST TIME TO IMMIGRATE EVER

If you dont own a bl***y house or have no intention of buying
one for a few years
Have only this months wages to your name
An airline ticket one way to Australia
A job lined up
A Flat with own bedroom
lots of sun surf and VB

LIFES TO SHORT

kips

I've been here 5 years and been to the UK three times to see family and still can't decide if I want to go back or not and I'm to become an Aussie citizen on June 14 !!!. We have a good lifestyle in Oz. We live in a large rented house 200 yards from the beach on the stunning Coffs coast in NSW where for weeks we've had piercing blue skies, sunshine and temps of 22/23C during the day and we are less than a week away from winter. We've just signed a contract to get a new 4-bed house built 5 minutes up the road after buying a 770sq m block for $153k (including stamp duty) which is a bargain for land only a 5-minute walk from the Pacific Ocean. My husband has a good job and my son has settled in well at kindy after we moved here from just outside Wollongong, NSW, 6 months ago. A weeks few ago we spent a week on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast on a driving holiday (our third trip to Queensland in 5 years) and financially, though not rich, we are okay. So why do I still hanker after the UK ? I miss my parents and two sisters terribly and it's a problem I don't think I am ever going to overcome while I live out here. Speaking to them via Skype isn't the same. I want to SEE the expressions on their faces and be able to give them a hug. And I worry my 5-year-old son, who is the only child in the family, is missing out on growing up around his grandparents (my OH's parents live in Spain)and the rest of his family. Having said that on balance I think we are better off here. We spend more time together as a family, we love the open spaces, the fabulous, unpolluted sea air and we live in a small very friendly community. I guess what I am trying to say is give it a go. You can have a fantastic lifestyle here, regardless of how much money you have and the state of the economy. This is from someone who had no desire whatsoever to live in Australia or live in any other country apart from the UK. I must be one of the few people who didn't want my visa to be granted as a quickly as it was so that I could live in the UK longer ! I was persuaded by my husband to move here and hated the first 2 years - primarily because I kept comparing lifestyles in the 2 countries and constantly finding faults with life in Oz. I still do it but it's taken me this long to realise it's a pointless exercise and just causes misery. I wish you well whatever you decide

kips

pompeyblonde

Rudd is hell bent on turning Australia Communist

well that would be a bloody improvement!!

johull

What a lovely post - know how you feel missing the family, thats why we came back first time, I found it so hard. After comparing the two, I know that we will have a nicer lifestyle in Oz, maybe financially not as well off, but the quality of life is so much better for us. Good on you for sticking at it and making it work.

Jo
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