Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

I have been offered a job in Cairns and just needed a little advice so we can wok out a budget. I have been offered a basic pay of $70,000, is that enough to support a family with two kids age 3 and 5 (my wife wont be working to start with)?
What is the house rent like in Cairns, I was thinking of around $250 a week. Are there any additional expense i.e. council tax.
What is the average cost for utilities such as elec, water etc..
And finally is it easy to buy a cheapish second hand car for around $1500 - $2000.
Many Thanks

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

go on to www.realestate.au it will give you some budget ideas

ps congrats on the job what you going to do

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

there are rentals for this price, but the questions how quickly do they go and do you really want to be in that area??
for round $2000 expect to find yourself a right banger of a car. thats about the prices for backpackers cars. so can you imagine where it's been whether it's been serviced or not for yrs, cause ussually these cars pass plenty of hands.

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Thanks guys, Ill check it out. The job is for an engineering geologist, Ideally I would like a mine job, but with a young family the FIFO may prove a strain on the family

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Is that with the Chillagoe mine?

WW

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

$250 a week wont get you much if anything suitable for a family. you wont get much of a car for that money but $70000 a year is a good wage for cairns. it is however a regional and therefore an expensive place to live in comparison to the larger cities when looking at fuel , groceries etc. its also a place where unless you're in the centre of town you will need a second car if you have a young family. the public trnsport is the worst i have ever seen.

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Rental - think $350.
Car - wouldn't look below $5000.
Wage - $70k is a very good wage for Cairns.

Difficult to give advice on family budgets cos everyone lives differently and
everyones expectations are different. I'll tell you like it is for me and maybe that will help.

Although we now have a far better and larger house here we pay half what we did in Cornwall for council and water rates.
Petrol is cheap.
GST 10% against VAT 17.5%
Car insurance and Registration roughly half what we paid for insurance and road tax.
Can't remember what I was paying for energy in UK but pretty sure it's cheaper here.
If you use a benchmark that the cost of living versus wage is the same as the UK but you'll be earning and paying out in Aus $ instead of pounds you won't go far wrong. In fact for me that's playing it cautious.

A real bonus is that there is a lot of free events, entertainment and sightseeing here and the weather in which to enjoy it.

As I said before it depends how you live but when we first got here we survived comfortably on your wage. We were renting at over $400 per week. Wife and 2 older teenagers to support. Most of our set up costs including a car were covered by cash we brought with us though so it was mainly just day to day living to cope with.

Also check out what family benefit you may get from Centrlink as I understand it is good. That will depend on the type of visa you are on though.

Have you got a visa ?
Which type ?

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Im married to a Kiwi so Im getting a 5 year temp residency visa based on being married to her (461), then will transfer to PR after a couple of years, dont know if I would be elligable for child benefits over there

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

I'm not sure either mate but suspect not if on a temp visa.

Been thinking about this a lot today and have to say unless you are used to an extravagant lifestyle then $70k will be fine.

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Thanks Bix, you've been alot of help

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

We rented 3 yrs ago while we were buidling and it was $300 for a shoe box then - a brand new house but 3 small beds (air-con only in main bed) and a garden the size of a postage stamp. You could rent now in Cairns for $250 per week (although I can't imagine what it would be like in terms of area and condition of property) but with a wife and two small children you wouldn't be looking at a dream start to your 'new life'.

$70,000 is a decent-ish wage for Cairns but in a couple of years time you MAY be looking to pay school fees for 2x children, plus book lists / uniforms / outside school activities inc. sports / music lessons / camps / etc and with the price of food / fuel / household expenses, you may find yourselves coming short eventually.

I've read on here that some people can live on as less as $40,000 per year for a family of 4 and be quite 'happy'. Good on 'em but it's not my kind of happy - certainly doesn't allow for any kind of savings for your future retirement or provision for your childrens futures and means planning everything down to the last cent.

Yes, you'll live ok on 70K and it's not panic stations by any means but with a couple of kids to factor in, you'll need a second income within 3 - 5 years.

Good luck with it all, Cairns is a great place to live. :)

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

What are the areas to avoid for renting a house and which ones are the better. We dont mind living on the edge of the city say about 10-15 miles from the centre

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

Search the forum for Cairns as the question has been asked before.

WW

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

We've been here 3 weeks now and it is a nice place. We came via NZ from South Wales. We live on the northern beaches and pay $360 for a 3 bedder and I'm on A LOT less than you are.

I was told avoid the places that start with M. All have their exceptions of course.

Re: Moving to Cairns - advice needed
 

We have been here 6 weeks on a 457 temp visa and are a family of 6 (4 boys aged 16 - 8 with very big appetites :eek:), we are renting a 4 bed in Smithfield (Northern Beaches end ) which is a very nice place and are surviving on a lot less than you will be getting. At the moment we are counting the pennies/cents due to us being on a lower income and we are also still setting up the house with furniture, etc. But we have to admit even though we have limited funds at the moment, we are still much happier here than we were in the UK as seeing our boys thrive here with all the fun and freedom they have makes it all worthwhile.
I have just started working part-time, but will soon be looking for a full-time job as I am used to working full-time and to be honest I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not working.