HFamily

We are hoping to move before the end of the year can any one give us some rough ideas for cost of living in the NSW area.

We are a family of 6, 4 children of school age.

What are rough costs forAny rough figures would be helpful. Also any other bills that would be NSW specific.


Thank you

copa

Where in NSW?

It's quite a large place.

Wendy

If you rent then the landlord is responsible for council tax (rates here )

School fees will depends on what visa you have, whether they go to public or private school, and which school they go to.

Wol

What are rough costs for

sprite_green

We are a family of 6, 4 children of school age.

What are rough costs for- check out www.domain.com.au : rental prices vary hugely by state and suburb (e.g. Mona Vale, 4 bed house - $795 pw, $1,000 pw, $1,500 pw, $1,500 pw v. Penrith $220 pw, $350 pw, $495 pw, $650 pw). Really need to decide on a suburb first and take it from there - sorry, can't comment- sorry, can't comment- sorry, can't comment- sorry, can't comment- Re. School Fees, we looked at a few schools on our validation/recce visit earlier in the year. I'm sure there are specific threads on this, but in our experience, we saw prices around the following:
1st child - $1,000 p.a.
2nd child - 20% discount
3rd child - 50% discount
4th child - no charge (Catholic schools - probably explains this!)
Additional charges:
$600 p.a. per family for Building and Maintenance Levy
$675 p.a. per child Admin/School Education Fee- sorry, can't comment


HTH.

SG

HFamily

Thanks to all, for the information.

The area of the office would be Wetherill Park, NSW 2164.

Looking for a family area not to far from this location.

Ian & Sharon

funny that! Made me smile at 6am

Jacque

Rent for a 4-5 bed hse in Wetherill Park area approx $350-550 per wk
Water bill- n/a
Elec/gas- depends completely on your consumption but allow approx $400-600 per quarter
House insurance- varies acc to amount of contents but allow approx $1K p/a
School fees- will vary depending on which school (state, private, independent)
Av food bill- I spend approx $300 per wk and I have a family of 5

HFamily

thanks for this.

We would be looking for the children to go to state school, we can not afford private at this time.

just waiting games now.:curse:

Ozzidoc

Are you sure that you want to live in this area? It's not the nicest of places.

HFamily

This is where the office is, can you suggest an area within easy traveling distance. I have no idea what any of the areas are like, penrith, richmond,bankstown, narellen, winsdor ?

One friend did also give the same feedback as yourself.

I would prefer to be slightly out of the city, being a bit of a country bumpkin.

Thanks

Ozzidoc

To be honest, I haven't lived in Sydney for years so I haven't a clue about travelling times/road system etc....they've been updated since I lived there. There may well be parts of those suburbs that are nice, and they have probably improved over the years as professionals found that these were some of the areas that they could actually afford to buy in. I dont know Narellen at all. Parts of Penrith are rough, but I think that there are also nice parts. Bankstown, in my opinion, is PURE suburbia.....good cinema complex though. Windsor/Richmond: further out.....much longer travel times. (Or rather it used to be).

Anyone got any better advice for these folks?

Good luck with everything!

spartacus

Living with parents-in-law currently, western subs of Brisbane.

Taking a rental at the beginning of August - $330 per week for a 3-bed plus study.

For Brisbane the water bill is rolled in with the council rates. Just had a look at MIL's for the quarter just gone, comes to $375 (was paying 400GBP per quarter previously!).

Electric - around $400 per quarter but more in the summer for aircon.

Gas - No gas

School fees - depend on school and location. We're looking at a school nearby for $6000 per annum.

Petrol - roughly half what you pay in the UK ($1.10 per litre)

Car insurance - $350 per annum for a Magna Station Wagon plus rego (& CTP) about $350 for 6 months.

Food costs - horses for courses. Eating out and other entertainments, you'll probably pay the same in dollars as you do in GBP. Weekend just gone, three kids, two adults - meal and cinema, roughly $90, wouold have been 90GBP in UK.

Hope this helps.

All the best

Andy

datamile

Expect to get stung on school uniforms etc. You have to buy the books/pens etc and all the uniforms, and mostly at the school's prices. There's a sport and formal uniform which you wear on different school days.

$450 for our two.. and then add $100+ for the books.

NickyC

Penrith area has a mix of suburbs. Some are perfectly fine, some you might want to avoid. Richmond and Windsor ARE a long way away from most parts of Sydney. You don't really need to go that far out to get decent housing.

Narellan is another new-build area which is very reasonably-priced. It's almost the same distance away as Windsor, though.

Closer in is the Hills District (Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Kellyville etc). This area is well established, perfectly respectable, great for families and has a mix of brand new and older housing. And not too long a commute from Wetherell Park.