pomtastic

In Perth, I'd say a £75K UK income would be the equivalent of $200K to match spending power and lifestyle.

coolshadows

If you come over here and earn less than 2x your UK household income ($2 for every £), you'll really feel the difference (in a negative way).

Thinking that you can come over here and rent while you save up will need some research as the rent can be pretty high in some places and due to competition you may find you end up paying more than you intended to get a place you are happy with.

Most families that migrate here appear to upgrade from their UK 3 bed to an Aussie 4 bed. Probably because of expected visitors from the UK. The houses are generally bigger here, but the actual condition of the houses vary as much as UK houses.


finally...
You have to think about expenses such as health insurance, higher 'road tax', stamp duty on any assets you purchase (you pay from the first $ here!), higher broadband costs, electricity and gas charges, higher cost of services (depending where you intend living, as it's often governed by what competition there is). Also, fuel is cheaper here, but you might end up driving a lot more as this is a big country with lots of places to visit! The better weather tends to mean you do a lot more with your weekends and thus likely spend more.

[I'm not trying to put anyone off!!! but I feel that if you know what to expect and come here level headed, you'll not end up disappointed and wanting to 'go home']

quoll

I'd be thinking around the $200k pa mark as well for equivalence - good job if you can get it! Based on nothing other than comparing what my friends get with what we get and juggling both upwards. It's a bit of a catch 22 as well - to be raking in $200k you are likely to be needing to live in one of the bigger cities and the expenses will be much higher and even the $200k may not do it for you if you currently live the high life. If you live in something more rural then you arent likely to get the same salary - nor the same range of lifestyle experiences.

Trevski

I thought that i had a good wage and now think that is not that good,i have been in Brisbane now for four years and my wage was $55k when i got here now it has gone upto $62 but the cost of living has gone up so much here in regards to fuel, when i got here was 75c a litre now its $1.30 a litre,my wages have not gone up as much as that so i feel that im falling behind in the wage verse living expense, Australia/Brisbane is now expensive place to live, while the cost of living in the UK has gone down,ie the main suppliers og elec and gas have cut their costs, i dont see that happening here, also the bank are charging us more while in uk you dont pay bank charges for personal banking
all the best

coolshadows

Electricity and Gas unit prices are expected to increase by about 20% over the next 18 mths as service companies battle to meet the increased demand (possibly due to the big increase in mining activity). Water charges (for those who pay) are expected to increase considerably in states that have built desal plants ("money burners").

electricity-bills-increase-by-60-per-cent

water-charges-are-set-to-spiral-in-desalination-squeeze

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Only 20%... positive bargain.

NSW is 64% on electricity over the next three years

pomtastic

Trevski, many posters on here earn higher than average salaries by the looks of it, they are not the norm so don't feel down about it. Your wage is respectable and 'normal' and I feel your pain regarding the cost of living and housing here in recent years.

My concern is that taxes will get higher here, someone has to pay for the GFC stimulous handouts. Also there was a recent report that Aussie taxes are in the bottom 3rd of the developed world so plenty of room to bump them up. The Henry Tax Review will be released shortly, we'll get more of an idea what the Govt will do re tax issues.

4500 Times

Our combined income is a little more than $100,000 so from what people are saying we must be pretty much living just above the poverty line !!!!

We have a $200,000 mortgage, and approx $25,000 outstanding on car loans.
We don't have any other debt, apart from the usual household bills / rego etc and we live a complete and happy life.

We live in a 4 bed house with pool on a quarter acre block, in a nice suburb, yes we did put $160,000 deposit down on the house, that was nearly all our savings from our UK house sale.

We save a little every week, and have a great social life (eating out / entertaining etc). We may be fortunate, but i like to think we are sensible and have never tried to live beyond our means.


Oh by the way my missus works part time....Wonder what we could do with $200,000 pa !!!!!!!!!!

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Agreed. I don't think many of the regular posters are 'average' when it comes to Australian salaries. Most of the people on here migrated on skilled visas and a lot of us earn over $100k pa. It does distort the impression we have, and bring to this board, of Australia and its living costs.

pomtastic

$225K in loans is 2.25 x your annual salary of $100K, that's very comfortable and doable. Well done for not being silly and greedy.

coolshadows

Bet your house is worth a lot more now! just shows how things have changed.

coolshadows

not poverty line , but how would it compare if you were living in the UK with a household income of around £50k, and a mortgage of £100k?

Also, do you think you'd be much worst off here if your household income was under $80k?
(there are people who believe they can arrive here NOW, earn under $80k and have your lifestyle.)

Trevski

If your income was going to be joint $80k then i would stay where you are because you will pull your here out with the costs for school etc

quoll

No, the point was - what salary would they need to be earning to have an equivalent lifestyle that they currently have on L75k which, as I understand it is a good wage for UK. No one is saying that we are all raking in $200k (I wish!).

I suspect your property may have been bought some time ago - most folk starting on the property ladder now are servicing mortgages well in excess of $300k and some are struggling.

It all depends too on where you live. $200k pa is going to go a hell of a lot further in Bairnsdale than it will in Brisbane. In fact you would probably be quite comfortable on $60k in Bairnsdale but struggling like crazy in Brisbane.

4500 Times

I bought my property about 4 yrs ago, so yes we may have been lucky but the bottom line is, we live within our means, as we did in the UK.....
We could easily sell and upgrade but to what ?? Anything better than what we have is gonna cost $500,000, but sadly a lot of people feel as though they have to ( keeping up with the Jones syndrome ).

BTW We live in Shailer Park just south of Brisbane, so its a pretty good suburb i think...