scotpandj

How much do you reckon you would need moneywise to take with you to give you a good start ie for renting a house,buying a vehicle,getting furniture etc.and living from day to day .Ideally a job would be found within a couple of months

Scotpandj

Bix

There have been a few threads discussing this topic but I can't remember their titles.

Maybe someone else can help ?

Anyway in case you get no other responses here's one I started in Jan. It was in fact my first ever thread.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203280

chocaholic

It also depends where you're going to live? (country, city, Perth, Sydney?). Whether you'll be renting a four bed house or two bed apartment. Will you be driving a second-hand Calais (like me ) or a brand new 4wd??

anypan

We have wondered the same question!!

What we have done is looked at the average for a years take home pay for work, add that to the price of a car. This we thought would put us ahead with bills etc so we will not have to worry so much. Anything else we take is going into a high interest account to go towards a mortgage, then if i get work quickly we will live off the incoming wage and put everything else in the bank towards our own house.

We have roughly calculated about $32,000

Billabong

The average take home pay is not $32,000 in Oz and quite frankly you would do well to live on that, pay the bills and buy a car.

We are renting a 4 bed house on the canals in Scarborough ($400 per week = $9600 for 6 months), we spent 10k on electricals, 20k on furniture, 45k on a 4 x 4 Landcruiser Prado and other bits and bobs. Now we've rented a big house and have not compromised on the stuff we have bought and appreciate that we could have done it a damn sight cheaper (but hey - each to their own!!)

We have given ourselves an allowance of $4000 per month for day to day living costs (2 adults & 3 kids) but obviously when we start work (hopefully) we will not have to touch that money so that we can put it towards a house at some point. Believe me $4k goes quite quickly out here!!

Hope this helps!!

ABCDiamond

The average gross wage is currently $49,000 (Link) and tax and medicare on that would be $11,607, leaving a net pay of $ 37,393

But not everyone is on the average wage

scotpandj

We are not planning to rent a 4 bedroom house.More like a 2 bed in Adelaide.
We would be looking for a second hand car just as a run around.As for furniture only the basics would be needed.We would like to keep costs as low as we can until we have jobs then we can splash out

kath n kim

As you will guess, you can live expensive or you can live cheaply anywhere in the world. If you estimate how much you could live on reasonably there, you will be able to manage on roughly the same amount over here. Some things are cheaper, but there are also costs which you don't bargain for!
Renting.. make sure you budget for the "bond" too. (you will get this back)
There are companies that you can hire furniture from, so you haven't got to buy immediately, though I don't know how good the stuff is..?
But living anywhere is expensive if you don't have money coming in, so try to research the work situation before you arrive as I think a few people have found it difficult to get employment in some areas. (I suppose it depends what work you do.) Good Luck!

anypan

Thats all well and good, with the profit we have made in the sale of our houses we could spend the same as that if not more, but we are looking at the minimum we will be living off and the average net pay without extras for my work that will be coming in, then all the rest will be going towards our own house rather than pay a lot of rent to pay for somebody elses mortgage.

what happens if you dont get work soon with all that expenditure it will not take long to eat into your savings.

karawara88

We allowed ourselves 1 years salary which was typical for what would have been an average wage for our proffession. We used the lot within six months

So the answer to your question is take as much with you as possible you can never have too much, It looks like monopoly money and it goes at an alarming rate, more so if you don't have any coming in.

Anyway hello to everyone who is still around from the old days, we have been back in the UK now for about 7 months, finances replenished, lifestyle good, lessons learnt. Do we miss Perth, Donna a big NO, but I do, but realistically it was an expensive place on a limited budget. Would we have done things different with hindsight. YES.

scoobydoo

Hello...glad that you are settled. I remember reading your posts although I didn't post back then!

We brought over £8000...bought car, bond for rental, rent for first month, living expenses for about 2 months and it was gone. Take as much as you can! We find that $4000 per month (renting) for a family of 3, and occassional eating out and day trips, the money is gone. Can't save anything or afford clothes or dentist!! (we did stuff up though by being in an expesive rented house!!!)

Muzza04

We came to Perth and have gone thru about 7000 GBP since April. Thats for 2 of us , no kids. We came with no belongings but a suitcase each!

We just drip fed the cash thru as and when it was needed using Ozforex.

Here there are plenty of reasonable 2/3 bed rentals from $150 per week.
We got a 2 bed villa in Maylands for $150 a week unfurnished, so have had to buy furniture/beds/tvs etc which has cost approx. $6000 ( 2 bedrooms and a living room)

Bought car for $5000 and since we both got jobs a few weeks after arriving, Have no need to raid the Uk pounds account now...Until we put a deposit down on buying a property.

chocaholic

We bought a second hand Calais at $16,500. It was 6 yrs old - but it's had no problems. Cars are cheap here. I have no idea about Adelaide housing as I'm in Sydney - so you're bound to get a better deal!

There're all kinds of cheap furniture places - so that shouldn't cost too much. If you buy a few things in the same place you can haggle a bit on the price.

scotpandj

Plenty of food for thought.I guess we'll take as much as possible and hope it will last until we can find work.
Thanks for your thoughts.It is good to know we are not alone

Tass

If you're heading to Adelaide you should check out the Southern Australia government website (can't remember the adress , sorry ). They would appear to offer excellant packages to new immigrants in the area , including fully furnished housing for the first 3 months and a meet & greet srevice at the airport ,the list goes on. This could save you money at this transient stage.
There has been threads about this before so have a quick search and again ,
"All the best !"
Tass.

P.S. Remember not to take everyones word on here as gospel , I have made myself sick with worry by reading threads like how bad the toilet roll is !!