Betty Boot

We've been back in UK from oz for nearly 5 years now and it seems in that time the cost of living in Oz has gone through the roof We have 'almost' moved back a few times but various factors have gotten in the way (having another baby, big family holiday planned, etc) Last year we put our house up for sale and after being messed around quite a bit we gave up. Anyway, a year later and we feel ready to make the move back (the move back here was more due to family pressure). So we have decided to sell up, take a risk and go back with 3 kiddies in tow and are hoping for the best. We detest what this country has become, the people that are ruining it, the lack of employment, the fact i am losing my job and my husband has taken a HUGE pay decrease for the same job, etc. We probably couldnt pick a worse time to go, our house value isnt great, the exchange rate is dire and aussie prices are through the roof but how long do you leave it? do we wait another year when our house will decrease more, the exchange rate may decrease, the kids get older and more difficult to move? I'm not sure what i am asking really maybe just 'what was the straw that broke the camels back' for you? Or are you not going to risk it? I know this is something that we 'have' to do as year after year it crops up! Btw my husband never really wanted to leave, would always go back in a heartbeat regardless of circumstances and i was the homesick one and always more cautious! Time to throw caution to the wind

Any comments welcomed

Bermudashorts

When it came to our moment of decision, there wasn't any such thing as a straw that broke the camels back. I have always thought that most, if not all, countries go through periods of economic downturn and will have some kind of social troubles. We weighed up pros and cons, but stuff like that did not come into it.

You seem very negative about the UK but say little about Australia and what draws you there.

Betty Boot

I guess i am very negative about the UK at present - it is hard not to be at present, but as you say that happens the world over. It seems the harder you work here and the more you try the worse off you become. I have always had positive things to say about england but at the present time i am struggling, too many reasons. What draws me back to oz is giving my children a better chance, to play, to be children, to be outside, for us as a family to do family things rather than spending weekends in shopping centres because the weather is so dire (i know i will get comments about the heat in oz), we have just spent 2 weeks in the caribbean, high temps and kids having a ball. I came back here for family, i now have no contact with them (another long story), i had more support and friendships in oz then i ever have here (although i have learnt since coming back that ultimately i just need to support of my immediate family ie husband and kids.

There has never been a 'straw that broke the camels back' for my husband, he has always been against living here and bringing our kids up here. I think there has just been that lightswitch moment for me. Thanks for your response

jad n rich

Yep Dont make rash decisions on moving abroad just after youve returned from holidays, end of hols is totally depressing. And bloody hell how bad is the UK if you can afford caribbean holidays, that would be a 15K family trip from OZ

On serious side, yes it has become staggeringly expensive. good you can see that.

And dont move because idiots are wrecking the UK, the govt here would be better placed on the comedy channel that in the world arena

Aside from that, good luck, there are worse places to live.

Betty Boot

Thanks for the reply. I havent just made the decision since coming back - sorry it may have sounded like that and yes it was a very expensive trip as it was a caribbean cruise but we could never of afforded it - it was all paid for by a family member.

I do think it is foolish just to move because of the govt. so i hope my reasons are not based on that alone but god i get mad when i see what has become of this place I am hoping to be able to give our kids and ourselves more than we can do here?? maybe we can't - maybe they will choose to live in UK when they are older I know there are worse places to live - i am sat here in tears watching children in need and feeling very foolish that i am even thinking i need to improve our lives

Dreamy

I take it your visa is still valid (or you sorted out citizenship before you left Australia)?

As Jad says - the down after a holiday can be massive, especially if you had an amazing time, and it's perhaps not the best time to make major life decisions! As you'll know, dealing with the heat when you're on holiday is completely different to dealing with the heat when you're having to work/go to school/live in it

You need to look at the things which took you back to the UK last time and work out if that's going to affect a life in Australia.

Also, look at the things which took you out to Australia in the first place - did it live up to your expectations?

Perhaps it'd be an idea to put your UK house up for rent? I don't know how old your children are, however I don't think it's the age of the child that affects how well they settle in a new place, more to do with the attitude of the child, you'll know better than anyone else how well your children are likely to cope with another major move.

Good luck with your decision, as Jad also says, there's worse places to live, but I'm not sure that's the best reason for a move

quoll

Well you have probably got your DH being negative in your ear all the time so his resentment may well be seeping into your rationalization as well.

If you wont get homesick this time (and it isnt just for family and friends, it is that whole sense of belonging) and you have better opportunities here and can afford to lose what you do have then go for it. Australia isnt immune from total numpty politicians (our carbon dioxide tax is going to screw up a whole lot in the near future) and we still have first world social problems. You'll probably have to make do with Bali or Surfers Paradise for your holidays for the next few decades (the Carribean - wow, and one of my mates has just spent a month around the Galapagos - so much for "poor" old Britain, I'm lucky to get to Queanbeyan). Good luck whichever way you go.

Betty Boot

Thanks Quoll - just gotta say i would happily go to Bali every year - i love that place

The one thing that does bother me is the sense of 'belonging' because i never quite got that in oz and always feel it here

dfjordan

Interesting, as I also have family and friends in the UK, who moan and groan all the time about how tough life is and the lousy salaries, but they all take at least one big vacation a year in a far flung place; none of this Costa del Sol stuff; then at least a couple of long weekend breaks to places in Europe. I recently came back from a holiday in England, and like many others have said, I found the cost of living to be much lower than NZ, and Chile ( the 2 countries I´m familiar with. " They´ve never had it so good !" ( can´t recall which statesman it was that actually said that some years back)

Sally Simpson

I think if it is something that you realy need to do, then you should do it but don't underestimate just how much things have changed here in the last two years, let alone the last five.
Are you thinking of moving back to the place you were before or trying elsewhere?
Lots of luck with your decision.

Amazulu

You don't got to do nothing

Dorothy

Them's some big double negatives there A. However I have to agree. Aint nobody got to do nothin.

itxrd

Hey Betty. I agree with most of what you say and you sound like a lovely lady. However, from what you say you need to convince yourself its the right move. Sounds like your hubby and kiddies would love it here. Sounds like it was more your decision to go back for family, and now you are not in touch with them. Thats fine and these things happen. But you must make sure you will be happy moving back to Oz. Not at the first sign of things being not to your liking you'll want everyone to move back again. That wouldn't be fair on your husband or your kids. Lots of people on here go back and forth and you wonder is it the countries that are the problem or the people themselves.

Like some of the guys have said Oz is very expensive now but I can totally relate to what you said about the UK. Work is in short supple but here is the other way around - there is tons of work. Saying that as Shorts said economies go in cycles. The UK will be fine in 5-10 yrs and with the unsustainable cost of living here you could be back to how the UK is now.

We just moved here and I'd taken a big pay cut in the Uk so I actually think you should move back. I'm not you though. Its good your asking these questions. We can say come or don't come and give lots of reasons. I think you know who the main person to ask is.

Betty Boot

Thank you for your unpatronising response I know this time i have got to be 100% sure as i would never want to move the family to and fro, much too unsettling for kids and not good for a marriage! When i first moved to Oz i was thinking it was a 1 year WHV, only 23 years young and no expectations I didnt love the place nor did i hate it - it was just what we were doing at that time. After the kids came along it was a whole different story, being at home alone, family ringing all the time saying if we lived back home they would help and i think i got caught up in all of that. SO we moved back, none of the 'help' materialised and i realise that probably most of what i was feeling was the feelings of most mums with 2 young kiddies at home all day! I have even gone on to have a 3rd child who sadly doesnt know my mum (who after years of begging me to come back decided she wasnt that bothered after all!). Sorry to digress all of that isnt what is making me want to return as it has been a few years now, it is more the area we live in going downhill fast, me losing me job with not much hope of getting another in the near future, my husband taking a huge paycut and having no hope of the those few weeks a year away in the sun to break the monotony of this tiresome, depressing weather, the list goes on I think i know the answer to my own question - just sometimes nice to hear an unbiased opinion rather than that of friends and family.

itxrd

Oh oops - sorry didn;t mean to sound patronising. I was in a similar boat re job etc and now you saying about the family thing makes perfect sense. I am sure there are many many people in the same boat.

Maybe you should start off my looking if there is work for you guys out here. I suppose starting the application process would do that for you - are you on the skills list? If you are then thats a good start and take it from there. That'll tell you if you'll be able to get work here (not 100% but more or less) as its the reason they have the skills list. Definitely worth a go. Try to get PR (175) as you have been here already and kids will go straight into school and you won;t have to pay.

Only bad thing about here is its expensive. Depennds where you want to go in Oz and your liefstyle but I reckon you'll need to get 2.5 times what you earn in the Uk to love here. So say when your both working if your combined income in Uk is 60k pounds. Thats pretty good. Here to live the equivalent lifestyle I reckon your combined income would need to be $150k - thats inc the 1.6 exchange rate. I am sure others will say you can come here and live on $60k a yr but don;t give yourself false hope. I'm not saying you need to earn $150. If you live comfortably in the UK on 40k combined then $100k here should be fine.

Go to seek.com.au or do a search on the net to get an idea of your wage. Michaelpage.com.au has a section thats good for office type work (if thats what you do)

Anyway, good luck. Any questions ask here - people are v helpful