toffee68

Hi all

Well, I have a job offer in hand but we still can not make our minds up about heading to Perth.
The job seems a great opportunity and the money seems good for Perth (A$154k - SuperA is additional on top). Can anyone put my mind at rest and tell me that this is an ok amount of cash to live on. Looking on Tax sites etc it seems that this would equate to somewhere around A$2100 a week in my hand (A$8700ish a month).

We have been looking and reckon on the following outgoings..

Rent - 600 - 750/week (2400 - 3000/month)
Utils - 600/month
Car - 800/month
food etc - 1600/month (we are a family of SIX)
Others - 800/month (car insurance, road tax, misc expenses etc)

This totals about 6800/month so should leave about 2k spare but I am not sure that the amounts we are using are anywhere close to being realistic...

CAn anyone give me an indication of how close to the truth I am? Need to make a decision pronto as they want me to start MArch 1st and we need to sort out a lot of stuff in the UK first LOL

Thanks in advance for any help
Cheers
R

aussietobe

Well, that salary makes you in the top 2% of earners, so yes you would have a decent life. However, what made you apply for the job? If it was the chance to experience life in another country for a while, and you like the sound of Australia (and Perth) then why not come? However, if you are happy where you are, and not that keen on Perth and what it offers, and you are not soomeone who embraces new places and people etc, then stay.

Basically, don't come just for the money. Living here is a privilege (as is living in any first world nation) If you don't think you will embrace it let someone have your visa who might.

garyp

Think I better stay in UK as I was intending to go to Queensland and living on $2000 a fortnight, my wage only initially. Thats a great salary. Money helps but its not everything. good luck anyways

JoeBlogsOfOz

do you mind if I ask what is your profession? ....... i am living in Perth for last 3 years and I think your are slightly overestimating the expenses......and yes the salary is very good.....but socially perth is not much of a happening place and it is one of the most isolated cities in the world.....any other interesting city (melbourne, sydney, brisbane) is atleast 4 hours flight and few hundred dollars away........I know lots of people who would love to move out of Perth had it not been because of their job or some other reason...no offence to west aussies.........

care,

joe

Chortlepuss

That's an excellent salary for Oz - why not give it a go?
We're based in Brissie with a joint salary in that region and I'd say we have a reasonable quality of life - not as good as in the UK in terms of spending power, and work/life balance - but still manage small weekend trips and an annual holiday in Oz.

Personally I've found living (renting a house, running one small car between us and 2 kids publicly educated) in Brissie a bit more expensive than living in a 'nice' area in the UK (we lived in Sussex). There are additional expenses such as healthcare that you need to factor in. Rental, Food and clothing are very expensive compared to the UK, and holidays/travel, especially trips home are off the scale. Petrol and eating out are cheaper.

But I don't regret coming out here, even though I probably won't stay here forever. It's been a great adventure.

hoofie2002

Your utils are too high as are the car insurance, road tax etc. However you will almost certainly end up running two cars I would imagine so it does add up.

$154K plus super is a good salary. I presume your other half won't be working either ? If not then it's not as vast an amount as it sounds, especially if you end up with a mortgage here. If you wanted to send all four of your kids to a private school [quite common here] then the fees alone would be between $12K to $60k depending on what school etc.

It's a big enough comfort margin to make it worth trying though - I think Perth is a great place to raise your family.

ozhappy981

We live in Perth. Have been here just over two years and absolutely love it.

Re your estimates:

- Our rent is $410 per week (4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with ducted reverse cycle air-con; 10 mins by car from train station).
- Gas is around $100 every three months.
- Electricity about $100 every two months. (Gas and lecky have different billing periods.)
- Car: Our annual costs for the car were just under $3,000 (that's petrol, rego, insurance, services, and RAC membership).
- Food: If you include in that everything you'll buy in the supermarket (i.e. food, washing powder, toilet rools, cleaning stuff, etc etc) and if your kids are small, then that amount is about right. If your kids are teenagers, then it'll be more.

Your salary is a fantastic salary for a family of six. Also: with four children you will get Family Tax Benefit Part A and possibly Part B as well (apply for it at the end of the tax year after you've done your tax return). And you are very lucky to have a job already lined up.

Just before the big move, everyone gets nervous and wonders whether they are doing the right thing etc. We were the same.
But we really love living in Perth and have no regrets whatsoever (and we earn less than you will )

Edited to say: Feel free to send me a PM to ask anything you like re finances and the big move (You need to do one more post - you need three posts before you are allowed to send PMs. To send a PM, click on my name on the left and "send personal message" will come up.)

Dorothy

Family Tax Benefit is only for PR and citizens, though so if OP is coming on a 457 they don't get it.

HelenTD

We're in Perth too and I agree with other posters, your salary would be seen as good here. However, Perth is an expensive city to live in, and I would expect you to be paying more for food than your estimate. Also, depending on the age of your children and how long you're here for, you might need to pay more on school fees, if you decide to go private, or pay more in rent to be in the right area for a good public school. An area with a train line or good bus services is the best option, so that you could survive with one car, but it would have to be a larger one like a Toyota Kluger (see other thread), with plenty of logistics juggling to get the kids to school and sports. Sports activities tend to cost about $150 per child per season, about $150 per child per term for swimming lessons. I think that Perth is a great place for young kids, but I do have concerns about teens. We just paid over $6k for early bird flights to UK and that was only for 4 of us. You could enjoy a great lifestyle here on that salary, but not an extravagant one, and you'd have to budget carefully.

Geelong Gent

check out www.ato.gov.au for specifics on tax but to answer leasing this would involve novational leasing which is a method of salary sacrificing - you lower your gross by sacrificing payments to the employer to make on your behalf.

Cars are expensive new but hold their value longer as locals tend to run them longer (ie rather than replace every 3 years its more like 5 years here).

In consideration of novated lease arrangements consider FBT. FBT (Fringe Benefit tax) is contributed to the employer but most pass it over to the employee. To reduce the tax its very strange but you need to do more miles. This may change after the release of an upcoming tax review. You can also reduce the tax by contributions out of post tax funds for things like insurance, petrol and servicing.

Property costs might shock you so come with flexiblity in mind.

ozhappy981

Just to add to my previous post: If you bought a house similar to the one we are renting in the same suburb, it would cost between $450,000 to $480,000.

We are ten minutes by car from the train station and the beach. Just to give you an idea.

TiddlyPom

A family of 6 makes a big difference when you're spreading the load but it's a good salary...

Is your other half going to be working too? Are your children in school or do you need child care?

What size house are you looking at getting? Kids sharing rooms etc?

Robbie_Paula

$154K a year is a BLOODY good salary (about 85K GBP at todays exchange rate). Your estimates look reasonable to me, although utilities seem a bit high (My wife looks after our bills but I'm sure it is much cheaper than the UK).

My advice would be, get your arse out here ASAP, it is fantastic! Perth is lovely and the people here are great.

Plus, if your an Evertonian (Judging by your username) we can meet up for bears when I'm over in Perth for work.

Robbie

rabsody

It's not a bad wage but given there are six of you living on it it's worth considering some additional factors/costs to life in Australia.

My partner averages about the same as that per year (sometimes more, sometimes a bit less - he's a contractor) and I work part time while I study. We have a small mortgage, no private school feels (two kids), private health and only one car and a scooter. We certainly don't live a life of luxury. We go back to the UK every other year, have a small break away in Aus locally the other year, although we do eat out and socialise a fair bit.

Bear in mind both education and health costs can be quite high for many of us (even with private health). Orthodontic costs are extortionate (braces per child are about $6k). As someone else has rightly pointed out, private school fees are between about $3-15k per child per year. You may not have much of a choice if you live in an area with a very poor state school, which is more frequently than you'd think. Even if your kids go to state school, expect to pay approx $500-$1000 per year per child in school uniform costs, book hire, all stationery requirements, library fund, building fund, air conditioning fund, school trips, all this sort of thing.

If you don't have private health over the age of 30 you will an incur an additional tax which makes private health cover effectively compulsory (as it's usually cheaper than the tax, particularly if you're on a good wage). This will probably cost you about $2-3k per year for a moderate policy.

I'm sure you will be able to survive fine, but it's worth weighing up all the costs before you take the plunge.

kporte

I'm scared of Evertonions nowWhat do you do with the bears?