Trevski

As stated you need to factor in the cost to run a vehicle here, it has gone up so much in the last few years
Rego on a small car (kia rio) is $630 a year ( larger car will cost more)
fuel has gone up from $1.15p/l a few weeks ago to $1.41 today
Insurance has gone up,i have just got my renewal and it was $320 last year it has now gone to $416 , i suppose all those insurance companies need to make some money back after the floods and now the worst cyclone in memory that is hitting parts of QLD will cost us in other ways like they are saying that bananas will go to $20 per kilo, try feeding your family each week when it costs that much.
sorry to sound negertive but its not going to be easy on $65k, i will be very hard

elice_in_oz

OP is talking about coming in 2 years... Methinks bananas will have gone down in price by then
As for the price of lettuce in 2 years, that is another story altogether

Trevski

very true but the lettuce may only be affordable by the higher class not us middle class

elice_in_oz

That's why we're growing our own! We'll be millionaires soon from selling lettuce!

Trevski

funny you should say that we bought from bunnings a grow your own lettuce kit for the kids and only tonight they planted the seeds so in a short time we will be able to enjoy our own grown lettuce

HelenTD

Surely the higher class would be eating leaves such as rocket, mizuna, radicchio or endive, leaving the more mundane lettuces such as iceberg for the masses?

eddie007

When we arrived bananas were $15 a kilo... Versus tescos 39p per kilo..

My kids didnt see a banana on their plates for nearly 9 months....

mollanclan

Wowsers, go to Uni for a day and come back to loads of messages!! Thank you is all I can say, lots of information.
We're not aware of any state benefits, as far as I was concerned we won't be entitled to any at all abd that's the way we're looking at it. We don't view our kids as a way of making money from the state as some others do which give some a bad name
We have lots of receipts and bills for costs etc and know that there will be some things more expensive and some things cheaper etc.
Lots and lots to think about and if the worst happens and we have to put it off for a few years to save more then so be it, but I'm sure we'll win the lottery anyway
Thanks again,
Lynn.

sunnyj

We have been here over 5 years now and have only had 1 good year financially. Other half is a chippy and there have been lots of times when he has been out of work. He is the main (and sometimes the only) breadwinner.
I won't deny things have been hard. We have never lived above our means and budget accordingly.
After saying all this, I wouldn't change a thing. The quality of life is much better. Our kids have benefited much more here than they ever would in the UK. They have a wide range of sports to choose from. There are skate parks and kiddy's parks and we are so much closer to the beach. Our local beach here is worlds apart from our local (Blackpool and Rhyl) beaches back in England. These beaches were over 2 hours away from us, longer if there was a warm bank holiday forecast (as everyone and their dog would head to the beach then)

What I am saying is, if you are used to being on a "no frills",tight budget, you will be fine.
It would be great to not to have to watch every penny, but seeing my kids leading a happy, healthy life is what matters the most.

mollanclan

Thanks for this, this is totally the life we are going for, we are a no frills family, always have been and although we've always got money for things that we needed we've never had all the mod cons that we would sometimes want but we know what's important, work to live and enjoy family life. Thanks for this experience, just sounds like us!
Lynn.

jamiejam

Quite simply, NO!! 65 K is not a good family income in Aus. Im glad you don't have ideals of a fantastic house and enjoy spending time outside because with what you could afford on that income as a family of 6 you would be wanting to spend all your time out of whatever it is you could afford. What area are you thinking of?

asprilla

I think they're looking at Toorak, Melbourne. Round that area anyway.

Deancm_MKII

A single person with no kids would struggle on $65K.

mvagusta

I'd like to know how you come to that decision. $65k equates to $3900 a month after deductions which to me seems to be more than enough for a single person.

Deancm_MKII

When you take into account rent/mortgage, car and living expenses that $3900 turns into nothing very quickly. Rent alone would eat half of it and a mortgage would be even more.