Emzy1983

Can any one help me with cost of living for south Australia ?

old.sparkles

Hi Emzy1983 - South Australia is a big area - did you have somewhere in mind?

Emzy1983

Hi yeah Adelaide or just out side of, roughy! For a family of 4 going on visa 190

old.sparkles

We're headed that way too

Have you had a look on realestate.com.au for house prices? Also you can do a virtual shop online at Coles or Woolworths to try and figure out that part of the budget.

Someone willprobably be along soon with other costs - I make it nearly 6am in Adelaide, Sunday morning so probably not for a while though

Good luck

RedDragon2008

Work out potential gross income from www.seek.com.au

Work out your net income from www.ato.gov.au

Your big costs are going to be:
Housing www.realestate.com.au
Transport www.carsales.com.au
Schooling state v private? Budget for minimum 2k per year for state, private $$$$++

Others?

Shopping between $200 and $500 per week? range is indicative of how hard that is to answer

Utilities again the same accounting for:
Broadband
Mobile phones
Gas
Electricity
Rates if buying (you dont pay council tax or rates equivalent when renting)
Water

Initial setup costs???
Connection fees etc, rental bond, additional white goods? furniture? bedding etc.

Haircuts, going out? booze? Smokes? Birthdays? Holidays?

Welcome to the fun house

rasen78

Hello again

Rentals vary according to where you want to live. There are some areas where rent is quite cheap, but I recommend you thoroughly research those areas

In general terms, the closer to the city and/or beach you are, the more you will be paying. (there are exceptions to this, just research those areas)

We are located approx 30 mins from the city, 15 mins from the beach and 5 mins from the Hills (by car) and you can get a 3 bed house from around $320 per week.

If you want a list of areas, PM me and I'll put together a list for you.

IMO COL is a personal thing as we all want different things but here are the sort of things you may want to consider

Gas
Electric
Water (rent will include sewage, but you will usually pay for your own usage)
Council rates are covered by rent, but if you eventually want to buy, this will need to be paid
School fees/childcare fees
After school activities
Groceries
Fuel
Car Insurance
Car Rego
Driving licences
Private Health Insurance (if you can negotiate this within your work contract then)
Ambulance cover
Landline/mobile phones
Internet
TV - there is free to air, but it is somewhat lacking in parts

The links I've provided on the other thread will help with choosing schools etc.

Emzy1983

Thanks everyone . As we are just waiting for last checks of visa ill come back to this ! As cant set jobs areas .. Sure we are panning south or west /east .. Big place a!! I have read but correct me if I'm wrong ? That adaliade is a 20 min city can get any where in 20 ? By car that is :-)

Question: as we are packing most stuff n container should be get travel insurance one way ?

I'm gonna check out Coles /woolworths
We was going Perth first and I did all my sums is it much different ? Pounds ? Pence ? I no wages are lower and food in adelaide but maybe just work out the same , thanks again

rasen78

Try Letton Percival for sea freight insurance. Pretty reasonable.

I've not been to Perth, but do know people who live there. COL tends to be quite a bit more in Perth but wages aren't that much more. You may hear talk of the mining boom over there which appears to artificially inflate prices. However, many mines are cutting back quite a lot, but the COL unfortunately isn't.

Any city can have a 20 min zone - all depends where you are going and at what time!! Outside of peak hours, you can get from the city centre to the beach or to the Hills in around 20 mins. Certain roads do get quite congested at peak times.

Emzy1983

Thanks ill check them out. Puzzeled with all answers at min. When I've replied with quote when do my feeds stay on here ? So I can look back a it all ?

bubblegum_babe

Hi Emzy,
I live in Adelaide, just West of the city and can give you a breakdown of my outgoings. It is just me and my teenage son.

Monthly
$920 Rent (2 bed unit)
$52 Gym Membership (For my son)
$59 Phone line and Unlimited Internet (Company called TPG)
$100 electric bill (It is always around $300 a quarter)
$30 Vodafone Mobile phone (Top-up's expiry after 30 days!)

Food is the one I can not answer because it goes up and down all the time. One shop I will spend a few hundred and then for the next few weeks just 'Top Up' spending much less. You can use the Coles website to get an idea.

I don't have gas, the is no TV lisence and with the water you just pay for the usage (My landlord covers all of mine) and Public transport cost - Adult: $32 for ten trips (Mon-Fri to work and back)

On arrival I paid out some other bills, these were:
$920 rent deposit
$129 Ambulance family 12 month cover (Covers a family of four)
$255 customs fees this end (Can not remember what for??)
$350 House contents insurance (I paid for the year in full)

I paid for my flights and hotel from the UK and then gave myself a $1000 budget for start up cost. I went to Ikea for 2x Queen beds and mattress and then got cheap stuff from Kmart, the reject shop and Cheap as Chips when it came to kitchen stuff and bedding until my container arrived. Me and my son arrived in SA in April 2012.

Hope this helps

KJCherokee

Don't go too far west out of the city - you'll get wet feet.

Emzy1983

Thanks for that really helps
What do u pay ambulance For ? Do u pay Medicare ?
Where is ikea on map do they sell them lovely meat balls in cafe /shop ?? There yummy :-)

So any where in adelaide no tv licence
Don't mind me asking what area are u in seems rather cheap for renting .. I wanna be cheap but also walking distance to park/ shop/ schools

My partner will earn $7000 year
.. What area do u think we won't be able to afford ? (Coz I no they say expensive but what do they call expensive )! Hear we wouldn't be able to live in London . Is that same there for city ?

Hope I've not confused everyone too much
And thanks again

bubblegum_babe

Hi,
If you call an ambulance in Australia you are 'Billed' for it. It is around $1000 a time but free with cover. In some states it is included with one of the household bills but not SA. I got the family cover because it was the same price as two single people. Family cover is two adults and two children. Not everyone buys the cover but for $129 I felt it was worth it because I know how clumsy my son is!

We have Medicare, registered on arrival (free) and I use a 'Bulk Billing' doctor. We have both been to the doctors since being here and the doctor sends the bill to Medicare so we don't have to mess around paying it and then getting the money back from Medicare.

Ikea is right near Adelaide Airport, its on the drive out, you can't miss it. There is no such thing as a TV licence in Australia, Freeview TV is just that 'Free'. You can buy TV packages i.e. Foxtel which is a little like Virgin Media or Sky in the UK. We don't watch much TV so it's not worth it for us.

Housing depends on what you want/can afford. I live a five minute walk from the beach but if I paid 2 or 3 times as much a week I could be on the seafront... For me I would rather go a few streets back, take a slightly older, nice but older unit and bank my money towards a mortgage

$7000 a year?? Are you sure you have that figure correct?

BadgeIsBack

Loads of dollar for shopping (groceries).

I have no idea how much as I don't do the bulk of it but it could run to hundreds a week. Maybe 200 per person? It's likely to be one of the biggest outlays after accomodation.

You might need to shop and around for best prices, and it's obvious you can save 50pc just by not buying stuff that isn't the best for you. Which I discovered from when I have been doing the shopping for myself.

Emzy1983

Yeah that seems worth having but never used a ambulance in uk .. I wanna try have cover so we are covered for everything doctors and dentis .. I get free percipientions coz my medication I'm on .. Will I have to pay there ?? How much they only give a month at time in uk for what I'm on ! Throyroxine

Sorry about my spelling lol and sums blonde moment !
It's $70,000 year .. We couldn't live London on this ! Would u say this is a good income for nice area ?.

Are there many bulk billing doctors around ?