bcworld

Home phone $30.
Unlimited ADSL $29.99

(as I am sure you are aware already)

Deancm_MKII

I guessed you may have gone for the home phone bundle.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Cool.. I'll take two... oh wait, when I check I get....

Not Available Not Available Not Available Not Available

77hil

April/May last year when the exchange rate was pretty much where it is now. I knew someone would query that. So yes. we moved when it was the same crappy exchange rate as it is now and still set up fine with £10,000.

Trust me, if when we moved there was an exchange rate anywhere near 2.4 the bulk of our money wouldn't be stuck in the UK where it is now.

Margaret3

If i were the op , i would do my two years post-grad nursing in scotland , working 20 hrs or more, then they will have the right to apply for p.r, which has alot more security and benifits if you have a family.

It would also entitle them to citizenship sooner, incase any of the children go onto further education which makes it affordable. If this hadnt been the case for my daughter then there was no way we could've afforded her to go to uni.

Going for p.r instead of sponsorship visa was the best advice i ever got from this forum, it wasnt till i got here though that i valued its full advantage.


p.s once you get the hang of salary packaging ( i salary package 100 dollars per fortnight into a meals and entertainment card), i can assure you that meals out are a definate affordablility for us nurse.

kitty4

Haven't got the time at the min to read the whole thread - sorry if I repeat what anyone else has said.
I'm a nurse in QLD and am on year 8 RN, which is the highest rate. You go up an increment each year you have worked after qualifying until year 8 then it sticks there. As you will be relatively newly qualified it will be less to begin with. I work an average 3 days per week as a casual, some weeks I do an extra shift (higher hourly rate due to no holiday pay etc) and last year earned around $42000. Between my husband and I, depending on exchange rate as his occupational pension is from UK, we have less than $100,000 per annum (before tax). We were obviously much better off before the Oz dollar is what it's worth now. We have an 'average' mortgage and not much disposable income but no kids so we manage, but it gets tighter as the cost of living goes up. Having not ever had to budget for children I'm in no place to advise but obviously you will need much more money than we do. I have an RN colleague from UK who I work with here who came out 2 years ago being 3 or 4 years qualified in mental health. She works full time and her husband is a 'house husband' looking after her 2 kids still at home. She has another on the way and has other children (young adults) left home who require their support from time to time. Her husband earns a bit here and there. They seem to manage but it's extremely tight and I have no idea how they do it - got to take my hat off to her.

mvagusta

Well make up your mind. Is it $90 or $60 or cheaper.

If you look at my location it will tell you where I am. I've been twice to Oz in the last year and I'll be there again next week.

I know that Oz can be expensive but the point is you live to your means and if that means you can't spend $1200 per month on entertainment and you have to go for a cheaper broadband and mobile setup then so be it.

Deancm_MKII

I pay $90 and BC pays $60.

You haven't lived here yet though have you? Visiting and living are two completely different things.

mvagusta

Agreed they are. I'll hopefully be doing both shortly.

The difference in the broadband prices alone is 30% and BC also gets his home phone which would mean that a cheap payg mobile would only be required. This would also put a dent in the £100 per month you mentioned. I haven't even looked at the car expenses you mentioned.
I would not disagree with your figures for rent or food but I feel there are some areas where savings could be made.
What I have found though is that you pay 30% more for your broadband and spend at least $1200 a month on entertainment and hence the reason for your initial statement that a single person would struggle.

Bernieboy

I'm sure he has a few 'friends' who would give you a lift

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Australia is a **** of big country. What you can get for X can cost you Y somewhere else. Not everybody has 'cheap' web access. Mine is $100 a month with phone... and its not ADSL2. Not available in my area.

Deancm_MKII

BC is with TPG and they are not a very good internet service provider. I get naked DSL VoIP with mine which means my local/national phone calls are free with one of the top ISPs. You get what you pay for.

Mobile calls are not like the UK. Mobile handsets are more expensive and PAYG mobile calls are quite expensive. With Vodafone for example, SMS texts cost 28c each and mobile calls are 39c per 30 seconds + 35c connection fee, and also unlike the UK, the PAYG credit has to be used within a month or you lose it.

As I said previously, you get what you pay for. I would rather spend a bit extra and have a reliable service with very little down-time, than cut costs and have internet on and off all the time.

And you have to be aware that ADSL2+ is not available everywhere in Australia, so depending on where you live you could be stuck on dial-up.

$1200 per month is only $300 per week. A night out in a pub, a vist to the cinema and a meal at a restaurant would chew through that easily.

bcworld

I have no complaints...and neither do other people on here who are long term customers. Let's face it though, it wouldn't matter who I'd said they wouldn't have been good enough!

Just like any of the hundreds of pubs around where you wouldn't have to pay $12 for a bottle of Asahi, I wouldn't name any of them either, no doubt they'd also be not very good.

I'm certainly not on the Australia is cheap boat, I don't think it is...in fact in a lot of cases I really think we do live in 'rip off Australia', compared to the UK, definitely...but your and Weebie's examples are way off the 'average' mark, average for you maybe...fair enough.

Deancm_MKII

Let's face it, TPG don't have the best reputation in the world. Only have to go onto whirlpool or read reviews to see what people say about them.

You live in St Kilda. When was the last time you went to the George or the Vineyard or other similar place? How much do they charge for 330ml bottles or midis/schooners because neither one of those places serves pints. There wouldn't be much change from $10 and that isn't even for a pint!

Even The Prince pub charges $9.00 for a pint of Heineken. Mink bar is about the same for a 330ml bottle. I think the George Saloon bar is probably the cheapest for a pint of Carlton in St Kilda at around $7 (rarely go in there though).

I don't know the establishments you frequent so can only speak from prices of the places that I go to.

mvagusta

I think what we have found here is that people and their needs are different.

I also think that Oz is expensive on a whole and with that you have to live within your means. If this means that you have to forgo some of lifes little luxuries then so be it.