Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Couple of points here:

- $55k sounds like a pretty shit wage to try and look after an entire family (I'm assuming the ebay business doesnt bring in a fortune)- even in western Sydney.

- 23 years experience is a LOT

- Australians dont trust foreign experrience.

Its quite possible that after working for a while your husbands skills and experience might help him to progress quickly - but as a 'new starter' to the country he's almost certainly going to have to start being paid a poor wage.

This is not unusual for migrants who often find it very frustrating to have their skills recognised by very bureacratic recruitment regimes that place ridiculous significance to locally gained qualifications and certifications and under-rate the value of internationally gained experience.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

$55k is about 25,000 pounds, working on a 2.2 conversion.

Is your husband on more than 25k in the UK? Bear in mind though, Sydney is very expensive. You could probably cope on $55k in Adelaide, as rents are far cheaper.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Is he a qualified diesel mechanic .

Different prospects if he is .

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Doing a quick search for motor mechanics, there appear to be dozens of jobs at higher salaries or hourly rates in several cities that are cheaper than Sydney. Perhaps don't bother with this particular agency you have been in contact with and apply directly or via www.seek.com.au; www.simplyhired.com.au and other websites. WA has lots of automotive trade jobs, especially for diesel mechanics. Some of the ads give the opportunity to train for diesel and heavy vehicles work.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Motor mechanic is the lowest paid trade in NSW. One of my sons is in that trade and when he was on wages he had a very low wage in comparison with other trades. He has been in business for himself for a number of years now and never seems to be short of money!
So, if you can cope with the low wage to start with, there is potential for improvement. Good mechanics are hard to find, in some areas I believe.

Just googled motor mechanic jobs Sydney and there are a lot. Might be worth a try.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Hi,if I knew what I know know I wouldn't have moved!
My husband earns $70,000 and we struggle on that.
Sydney is VERY expensive.
In London we were living(2 adults and a child) on a £32,000 wage and like you I use to sell a little bit on Ebay and Amazon (that use to bring in about £100/150 extra p.m.).
We are moving back to London as soon as we can,yes the weather is warmer here but we can have a better standard of living in London.
Don't move for $55,000.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Ditto!

I was far better off in the UK. I should technically be on about the same wage here (at a rate of 2.2), but I had far far far more disposable income in the UK.

Although I'm not moving back. Even though I have less money to play with here, I do far more at the weekends, and eat out a lot more. It's not all about money, but it's not worth struggling either. It all depends on individual lifestyle.

But $55k single wage to support a family in Sydney? No way!!!

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

You need two incomes to survive in Australia anyway let alone 55k.

55k sounds about right for a mechanic. I know some people are earning bigger incomes on minesites but it's completely different situation.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Re your own income - its possible that you would be able to make a bit on ebay like you do now, but the whole internet shopping idea is far less prevalent here. Aus doesn't have its own Amazon site - although use of the US and UK ones is growing - and ebay itself isn't as widely known or used as back home so while you probably could supplement your income that way it might not be quite as lucrative.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Your main reason for moving is 'better quality of life' .

Unfortunately 55k in sydney will give you a rubbish standard of life.

Even if you had rent of $450 a week ( very low for Sydney ) that's way over half your wage on rent alone.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Wouldn't they be entitled to rental assistance and various family payments from Centrelink? Don't know if I'd want to live in an area of Sydney with cheap rents or in a unit with a child, though, what are the schools like there?

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Possibly, depends on visa.

But I wouldn't like to rely on centerlink benefits, simply because if you earn more later in the year, have investments UK or OZ, earnt in this tax year in the UK you have to pay it back. And Centerlink and tax dept here are very good at info sharing, so they do find out.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Yawn Yawn

You DO NOT need two incomes to survive in Australia.

However, I agree $55k is a very low wage and it would be VERY hard to survive on that sort of money in Sydney. I think your quality of life would be very low. So much of your salary would go on rent, tht you would have little left over for anything other than basic food and living costs.

Love

Rudi
x

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

The answer for me would be no. However, what do you manage on in the UK? Also once here and working it is then easier to get another job. You have to bear in mind that your husband has no Australian experience which can count for a lot. If he is good then I am sure that he will be able to sort something else out within a short period of time.

Re: Is $55,000 a good wage or not?
 

Yes he earns more than that here.