British Expats - Living costs

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Hi

We are a family of 4 looking to make the move to Perth in Jul/Aug (PR visa has been granted). I'm trying to work out a rough monthly budget on a 4 bed house with pool. We are looking at North of the river and a weekly rental around £500. Can anyone give me a rough idea of what the following will cost and if I've missed anything off.

Council tax
Gas
Electric
Water
Home phone
Internet
Mobile phones
Cable television
House insurance
Car insurance
Road tax

I've probably missed a few things off. Feel free to add.

TIA

Re: Living costs

Following this post. We are in very early stages of the process but everywhere I look the monthly outgoings vary a fair bit, it's difficult trying to get an accurate amount.
I have food shop on my list too and health insurance x

Re: Living costs

If you are renting you don't pay rates (council tax)...your landlord does.

Re: Living costs

Don’t forget school fees, even state schools have charges for equipment and various admin fees. Not like in Uk. Depending on ages of your kids these can be a few hundred to over a thousand dollars a year. Oh and uniforms are not cheap here, generally come from specialist shops only.

Re: Living costs

From my experience:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gayle and Ross (Post 12414964)

Council tax
$0 as a renter, no council tax anyway, homeowners pay rates which are per property, not per person.

Gas
Electric
About $300 per month for 4 person family

Water
About $160 a quarter

Home phone
Not really necessary these days, but the cheapest line rental is about $12 a month - but you can also get bundles with phone/internet/cable tv.

Internet
Depends on area and service - maybe $70 on average (check the larger providers like Telstra, Optus, Internode etc)

Mobile phones
$20-60, depends on the plan and whether you include a phone. I used a prepay which gave me 500MB a day and unlimited calls for $2 a day

Cable television
Again not sure why you'd get this, but Foxtel starts from $26 (pretty much no better than free TV) up to $137 a month

House insurance
About $400 a year for $50k possessions

Car insurance
Depends on car and age, we paid $800pa on a $40k SUV

Road tax
About $700 a year

Re: Living costs

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammygirl (Post 12417126)

Don’t forget school fees, even state schools have charges for equipment and various admin fees.

Are they fees or 'donations'?

Re: Living costs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gayle and Ross (Post 12414964)

Transport-fuel, bus/train fares, tolls.

Re: Living costs

Thabks everyone for your replies. Give me something to work on. X

Re: Living costs

Quote:

Originally Posted by sr71 (Post 12418222)

Are they fees or 'donations'?

Well some are tax deductible donations but others like equipment costs are not. In the UK you don’t have to buy exercise books and text books as they are provided by the school. Some things are supposed to be voluntary but it is generally considered bad form not to pay them, unless you have reduced circumstances. There is help available but unlikely to be for new migrants.

It can add up to quite a bit of unexpected costs for people used to the UK state system.

Re: Living costs