Aus. cost of living
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I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm new to this so indulge me a little.
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
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Depends Depends
nope not very helpful but the depends is on where you might plan to move to in Aus, there are many sites that will give you a general opinion on cost of living and as taken overall will give just that 'an overview'. Ask someone in Sydney a living wage, the answer is very different than Perth or Brisbane. House prices vary state to state as do job prospects and opportunity.
Give a little more detail of what you hope to do and I think you will find people on this site willing to give you examples of how they are doing.
I paid 780,000 for my house. here in Sydney.....does that buy me a big house in Perth?
PS I have a huge........HUGE mortgage!!!!
Cheers
nope not very helpful but the depends is on where you might plan to move to in Aus, there are many sites that will give you a general opinion on cost of living and as taken overall will give just that 'an overview'. Ask someone in Sydney a living wage, the answer is very different than Perth or Brisbane. House prices vary state to state as do job prospects and opportunity.
Give a little more detail of what you hope to do and I think you will find people on this site willing to give you examples of how they are doing.
I paid 780,000 for my house. here in Sydney.....does that buy me a big house in Perth?
PS I have a huge........HUGE mortgage!!!!
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Originally posted by zander
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm new to this so indulge me a little.
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm new to this so indulge me a little.
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
When we came out we budgeted $4,000 a month to rent a nice place, hire a car and enjoy the lifestyle. There is only two of us.
I think we are roughly spending about $3,500 a month, and have a great lifestyle, can't complain. This figure would probably increase by another $1,000 if we bought a place similar to the one we are renting.
Salaries are a lot lower, and it's difficult to know what your earning prospects are. The average Perth salary is around the $35K-$40K mark, but you may well/and probably will be able to earn more than this.
At the end of the day you work as hard as you want. If you can live comfortably doing a minimum amount of work then great, if not then you either have to increase your work, or dip into your savings.
Best advice is to try it and see, like you say if it doesn't work out you can go back to the UK.
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The australian government insist that a person retiring to australia (and therefore with no assistance ever of any sort from the government) MUST have $47,000 year income. This should include the private healthcare they insist upon also. That comes to $8000 per month but we can see that this is much more than would need to be spent.
Even in suburbs of Sydney (60k distant) you can rent a 3 bed size house for $200 week or even less and buy the same for about $380000. Food obviously differs on what you like to eat and how much you drink and go out for entertainment.
Even in suburbs of Sydney (60k distant) you can rent a 3 bed size house for $200 week or even less and buy the same for about $380000. Food obviously differs on what you like to eat and how much you drink and go out for entertainment.
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Hi Alex - We came out with that sort of money but we bought in Perth in a cheaper area but that was our decision cos we didn't rent due to not having millions in the bank.
We are a family of 4 and we probably fork out about $3000 per month for everything like food, bills, fun time, cars etc
We don't pay rent but we pay childcare costs which almost equate to a weeks rent!!!
You have to forget about your English money when you arrive and starting thinking in dollars and how much you take in each week. You will get rent assitance to start with and a bit of child benefit.
Good luck
We are a family of 4 and we probably fork out about $3000 per month for everything like food, bills, fun time, cars etc
We don't pay rent but we pay childcare costs which almost equate to a weeks rent!!!
You have to forget about your English money when you arrive and starting thinking in dollars and how much you take in each week. You will get rent assitance to start with and a bit of child benefit.
Good luck
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I have about $3500 per month after rent to live, seems to work (just) for a family of four running one car. Should be able to manage on a budget of around $1000/week (after tax of course).
Over to those who manage on $50 of groceries a week to offer an alternative cheaper lifestyle.
Over to those who manage on $50 of groceries a week to offer an alternative cheaper lifestyle.
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This question is hopeless to ans as it depends where they live as houseing is the biggest expense. If they live say Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide, you should be able to rent 3 bed for $200-300 per week, Sydney or Melbourne twice that, out in the sticks half that. So rent alone could vary from $100-600 per week and this is your average 3 bed nothing spectacular.
Now now Jayr don't feel too bad that your incapable of budgeting, but $50 per person per week is reasonable for groceries. Mind you price of meat is increasing but I'm still within my budget.
Also petrol is anything from 78c /litre to $1-20 in some places, so if you buy or rent one of the large 4x4 you will spend a fortune on petrol, if you buy a 2litre sedan you'll do much better.
Now now Jayr don't feel too bad that your incapable of budgeting, but $50 per person per week is reasonable for groceries. Mind you price of meat is increasing but I'm still within my budget.
Also petrol is anything from 78c /litre to $1-20 in some places, so if you buy or rent one of the large 4x4 you will spend a fortune on petrol, if you buy a 2litre sedan you'll do much better.
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Originally posted by Kiwipaul
Now now Jayr don't feel too bad that your incapable of budgeting, but $50 per person per week is reasonable for groceries. Mind you price of meat is increasing but I'm still within my budget.
Now now Jayr don't feel too bad that your incapable of budgeting, but $50 per person per week is reasonable for groceries. Mind you price of meat is increasing but I'm still within my budget.
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Originally posted by jayr
Trouble is that's $200/week for my lot
Trouble is that's $200/week for my lot
This week Wollies is doing Watties BB 420g for $0.65 which are just as good
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Originally posted by zander
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm new to this so indulge me a little.
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm new to this so indulge me a little.
How much is enough (self, wife, 11 year old child) when contemplating a move to Australia?
I've read about people emmigrating with enough cash to buy a house outright and be left with no mortgage. Is that the normal position? I've got nowhere near enough for that but could manage a fairly substantial deposit. We intend to rent until we get work.
I hope to have around $80,000 which is a hell of a lot of money to me. I know that this will satisfy the immigration authorities, but what standard of living would that allow us if we can't get employment immediately. By that I mean how much do people need to live adequately (decent place to live, expenses, transport and enough for a little leisure) rather than luxuriously (subjective, I know).
The DIMIA information says a family of three can expect to spend around $950 a week. Is that realistic? In the worst case scenario we would come back home if employment wasn't forthcoming in the first 6 months (with something left in reserve,hopefully).
Not fussed about what jobs we do initially, but some comments I've read here indicate that the majority of Australians are scratching a living and putting in more hours than there are in a day, workwise. Is this true?
Some doubts creeping in now
Grateful for any views.
Ta
Alex
Hi Alex,
I have a family of with 2 kids (with insatiable appetites).
Below is a snaphot of *some* of my major expenses last year...
The rent was expensive - airconditioned townhouse - we have since moved into a cheaper (and older) house. I still have no idea how 4 people can consume so much food (we are all slim - honest). However, we eat a lot of organic food so that does inflate the price.
It's not a completely accurate picture because Medicare repays part of the doctors bills, and I have budgeted a trip to NZ in the expenses as well.
But I hope this gives you some idea of costs
AndyH.
Last edited by jah4reds; Sep 3rd 2003 at 5:54 pm.
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Most people buy too much food, eat too much and waste too much. Should have a Year of Going Hungry every year.
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Bleedin hell - looks like you eat all the time and cos your petrol bill is so cheap must walk everywhere to build up such an appetite.
Does that include beer
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Does that include beer
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Originally posted by Kiwipaul
Me budgeting skills is failing me at the mo, bought 10 tins HP Baked Beans 420g last week from Coles for $0.80 as normal price is $1.20 that will last me 10 weeks.
This week Wollies is doing Watties BB 420g for $0.65 which are just as good
Me budgeting skills is failing me at the mo, bought 10 tins HP Baked Beans 420g last week from Coles for $0.80 as normal price is $1.20 that will last me 10 weeks.
This week Wollies is doing Watties BB 420g for $0.65 which are just as good
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Eek, bulk bulk buying beans.
I thinks most immigrants are dreaming of steak, prawns and seafood not cheap beans. Are you trying to put them off?
Just think tho if I serve up beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I can feed me family of four X 21 cans per week each for $54.60 now if thats not worth emigrating for I dont know what is.
Pheeeeewwww :scared:
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Originally posted by DianeOZ
Bleedin hell - looks like you eat all the time and cos your petrol bill is so cheap must walk everywhere to build up such an appetite.
Does that include beer
Bleedin hell - looks like you eat all the time and cos your petrol bill is so cheap must walk everywhere to build up such an appetite.
![Wink](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif)
Does that include beer
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And yes my grocery bill includes booze
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Originally posted by DianeOZ
Bleedin hell - looks like you eat all the time and cos your petrol bill is so cheap must walk everywhere to build up such an appetite.
Does that include beer
Bleedin hell - looks like you eat all the time and cos your petrol bill is so cheap must walk everywhere to build up such an appetite.
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Does that include beer
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