woodyinoz

Give it a go!!! Just leave a door open if you can.

Australia has a lot of faults but it is a great country. I see the UK the same..

For me and many other the UK has family which is a big pull.

You can cope with being skint if you have family to visit. However being skint when alone is different matter. I take my kids to the fantastic parks which are free, we have a good time but I always get sad when I see people with their folks and grandparents playing with kids!

NKSK

Sure thing - which is why I said alluded to. My own view and again personal views are in a way irrelevant because they are so personal - is that there is far too much emphasis placed on money and what you can earn. For me, if my family can eat, enjoy life and have a good education (admittedly a very contentious point at the minute) then in the short term I am happy.

Now whether I can go on indefinitely just surviving is a different issue but that doesn't mean you shouldn't move around the world to give it a go.

cam_uk

my sentiments exactly

ELLJAY

Thanks for that Great to know I'm not the only "poor person" on this site

To quote a saying "The greatest things in life are not things!"

Willij

Just read all of this thread and found it very interesting.

We also want to emigrate in order to get a "different" quality of life.

Hopefully a more rural one where our children can enjoy the outdoors more.

I am very aware that some of our spending in the UK is compensation ' for the crap weather, long, dark winters and the fact that I work full-time.

However, I would like to hope that we can afford a decent house (with a bit of land) and a decent car. We certainly don't have a new car in the UK so I would not expect one in Oz.

I assume that with a different lifestyle our spending pattern will change - less emphasis on holidays but more on sports and outdoor activities.

Are horses and quads cheaper to buy/run in Oz ?

p.s. I thought outer Melbourne was a reasonably priced area in which to live ?

tracey.d

No, but you can always eat dust. Just ask Marjie Daws from Fat Fighters

Tracey

Tiawamutu

...a little bit of dust....bit of dust

godalminguk

Have you tried doing the same exercise with your UK spending? I'd suggest cutting some numbers based on your UK spending & seeing how that changes if you assume you're in Australia. You could go very wrong on a zero-based budget (which is what you have) if you don't anchor it against your current U spending.

Centurion

Horses are VERY much cheaper here and the livery costs are also cheap, although just get a decent bit of land and put them on it

The UK culture seems to very much be entertain yourself by going shopping mindlessly. However, dont think that its any different in Australia. The Malls are huge and advertising is in your face. Work hours are long and in fact sometimes longer. If you genuinely are aiming for a rural life and a part time job then of course things will be different.

The same things and way of life are available in Australia as they are in the UK. Its up to people to change their habits and way of life if they want to and Australia has many more options to do that in my opinion.

Good luck with changing your lifestyle - its not easy to do at first but well worth it!

Badge

I still stand by an old statement that I would rather be poor in Australia than poor in the UK. I've only got to go and stand in my driveway, or walk to the end of the lane and I feel better. In the UK I didn't even have a yard, or a public park within a few K's.

Badge

glittababe

I have to add to this. We found aus very expensive, to the extent that we we got back to the UK we decided to condition ourselves for the return back to aus! By this I mean, we don't go shopping as much for luxery's. Mark and I would always go shopping once/twice a week, buying clothes, shoes, make up, toiletries. we've found that we don't need these. We now shop for groceries weekly and go shopping for ourselves once a month. We would also eat out at least twice a week with the kids in the evening, or during the day while the kids were at school, Mark and I would pop to the local restaurant in the village. We only do this once a month now too! It must have saved us £££££'s! We plan ahead with the groceries, having a very basic list, buying in bulk then buying the specialist things weekly. It may seem odd to people that we're going to these lengths, but trust me when your standing at the checkout in Woolworths and your given a bill for $400 for the week, it shocks you!

Willij

Please could I have a bit more detail as to what is expensive ?

Is it groceries, white goods, utilities, clothes or entertaining - or all of these ?

Also do you know if there is much regional variation.

E.g. in the UK the cities and seaside resorts are more expensive than a normal smaller town.

glittababe

for us it was the groceries, particuarly as myself and kids have loads of food allergies so we had to buy more expensive, specialised stuff. The quality of the friut and veg wasn't particuarly good either, so we ended up having to find fruit and veg barns. white goods weren't particuarly expensive, utilites were average, clothes were very expensive, not as much choice etc We find the further up north we headed the cheaper things got. Mackay was definately the cheapest for groceries and petrol. hope this helps X

ELLJAY

Hi Glitterbabe!
Must add to this also!
We went on our reccie trip in august - and i must say - we didn't find it as cheap as we had "been told" (altho we were in Sydney area!).

So like you, we are cutting back now we are back here - in preparation for us goin to Oz. In fact hubby has gone for the weekly shop as we speak - and we've agreed no daft extras!

Also - just another small point - as we don't know when we'll go, when we'll sell house - I'm not buying Christmas pressies this year! Everyone is getting High St. vouchers. Thus - no shopping, no wrapping, no storing (which is crucial when you dont know where you'll be, hence LESS STRESS as this immi lark is STRESSFUL ENOUGH!!!!! Anyway back to cleaning for possible viewers !!!!
L-j

woodyinoz

When I went back tho the UK last year I brought a whole load of school pinnies. Cor they were cheap. Something like £6 each. I was going to ask my sister to get a load of clothes for us when she comes out in Jan but it seems as though Argos online don't do them now