louloulynt

I am wondering how much you really need to have behind you for a move to oz?
I have 3 kids and husband and we would have to rent, our house is in negative equity in uk so would still owe when its sold.
Its a major worry, he would be going out to a job but surely we would need money to start us off

Kingseat

You will need money for the following:

Flights
Temporary accommodation
Car rental
Car and Insurance
Bond and rent in advance for rental
Connection costs for electric, gas, telephone, internet and possibly foxtel.
Contents Insurance
Shipping or new furniture etc?
Mobiles

I am sure there is more but that's off the top of my head.

Spellbound

We did the move on a shoe string budget, we even packed the container ourselves to save money. My husband had a job to come too and started working within a couple of days - this helped a lot and we then paid for things we needed as we went along.

However, we didnt have 3 kids to support and I dont know if I could do it in those circumstances without having some capital/savings as a back up. We didnt have any capital/savings when we arrived and basically started our new lives on credit.

It can be as expensive or cheap as you make it - we did it real cheap! I would suggest that you save as much as you can before you arrive and budget well, prioritising wants and needs, until you become more established.

Searching the site should find you lots of information about upfront/start up costs.

We are a year in now and have a nice life and lifestyle and with us both working in medium paid jobs, have soon found our feet.

Good luck with your move.

Debbie

bluekipper

think we will also have to do it on a very tight budget, our house isnt selling so we may have to rent it out, dont really like this idea but have no option if we want to get back to OZ, trying to secure a job before going, which is also very hard even though I have some contacts over there, it is hard but we are determined, just like to say Good Luck & hope everything works out good for you.

To Debbie, can you give me some info about packing the container yourself?

Bluekipper

johnknight001

hi
we came out with £20,000, we have £5000 left, we spent that in 7 weeks, i got a job within 6 weeks, the money went on a cheap car, bond for rental, rent for a few weeks, furnishing the new rental, plus day to day living for a few weeks, i think we did ok but i would rather of had a bigger cushion of money, anyway good luck with your move, i hope you make it.
john

Spellbound

Hi Bluekipper

It depends what you need to know, just a brief outline of our circumstances:

We did a self-pack option from NZ to Aus. We had the full pack service when we left the UK to NZ about 5 years ago, this was approx 2000 pounds. We were being quoted about $7000NZD for the full service in NZ and we couldn't afford this. The self pack option was approx $4500NZD.

If you are in the UK, then we wont be able to help with companies etc who offer this service but self packing questions we could.

I would just say that its quite a stressful thing to do and a LOT of hard work and suggest that you try and find the money for the full service as its a lot to put yourself through along with the move itself.

If you would like to know anything please, just pm me with questions. Happy to help if I can.

Spellbound

We had no where near that much! about 3000 pounds (after container). Luckily husband started work straight away and I managed to get a job a week later. We rented a car for a few weeks, paid a bond on the rental and bought an airbed, duvet covers etc, pots and pans, a couple of camp chairs and a cheap tv and fridge. When the wages started to come in, we bought a few more items to make life more comfortable.

The key to our success on such a small budget was the jobs/wages! (and no kids at home) We definitely would have struggled without two wages coming in. We were very, very lucky and I certainly wouldn't recommend doing such a huge move on such a tiny budget. We took a risk and it paid off for us.

bluekipper

Hi & thanks for that info,, I know what you mean about hard work, think we will get it done like last time whereby they do the lot & you just keep they supplied with tea/coffe & bacon butties lol, luckily enough were getting rid of quite a bit of stuff we dont need, so it`l be a shared 20ft container.

I would gladly come over with next to nothing in the bank IF one of us had a job to go to, no probs, I know were I want to live again & I know the best places to get cheap items which I will need until container arrives, 2nd time round you learn by your mistakes!!!

Thanks for the advice

Bluekipper

1968_karen

Blueskipper

Can you share with me where the best places to go are to get cheap items?

Thank you.

Karen

louloulynt

Thanks for all the advice, its much as I thought, we would need plenty with us especially with kids too. I just cant see how we can do it and survive, I dont want to go all that way and struggle like we do here.

quoll

Some friends arrived recently with $10k and it has all gone within a month - even with a job they are seriously struggling. They werent extravagant by any means but just getting set up can be really expensive.

louloulynt

Do they have kids? Its them I worry about too, I dont want to say no when they want to do things, hubby seems to think he will be able to do the stuff he cant here but does not realise it will be just the same just warm

johnknight001

hi
in the uk we found that we had become reliant on family and doing the same stuff day in day out, i realise this is probably because we were not motivated enough to get out and about, i have to say here we have been out all the time, we go to parks, beaches , walking , anywhere in fact, the weather is definatly a insentive, i also found that we are spending less, for example in the uk we would probably end up having takeaway while were out due to the weather and not wanting to get wet eating a picnic, here we pack the hesky with sandwiches and juice and away we go, or we throw some sausages in the hesky and go find a bbq in a park and do it that way, im not saying its easy here but it can be cheap if you want it to, my boy loves going out and about and rather than buying him toys all the time he asks to go to the beach instead so it works for us, i still cant give a reason why we came here and we didnt hate the uk at all but we do love it and have no desire to go back, i think im trying to say your hubby may be right in that he will be able to do more stuff than back in the uk but also you will do much more as a family, we do anyway and i love it,
anyway good luck
john

quoll

Yup same sh*t shinier shovel. You can make of your life what you want of it - the weather can be a disincentive here too even though that may be hard to believe when people perceive that their lives are constantly ruined by rain/cold. It is just as inconvenient to have to slather on sunscreen and fly repellant just to venture outside your door and the weather is so hot that you lurch from airconditioned home to airconditioned car to airconditioned mall because it is too darned hot to actually walk too far. Live in drought conditions for a few years and you look longingly at the bom site to see the patches of blue hopefully heading your way (not an issue in N Qld of course!)

I do much more outside when I am in UK - part of that is the novelty factor of course but the novelty wears off for everyone and after a few years the barbie in the park or walk in the bush sort of loses its appeal as, obviously, has the walk in the country or lunch in the pub for those who have become bored with UK. It's far easier to rug up against the cold and wet than it is to be outside in the heat and you can get paranoid about making sure that every inch of the kids is covered in sunscreen - miss a bit and you are in anxiety for months that they will get melanoma because of the sunburn (happens to the best of us on occasion!)

bluekipper

Hi Karen, were about you going to live? I am talking about Adelaide you see! also depends on what you are looking at buying, pm me if you like

Bluekipper