Originally Posted by The_Pom_From_Aus

nolan8;
for 20,000 you wont get anything at all sorry to say & especially in Perth property in WA is very expensive so think before you jump ship.

If you want a good lifestyle you both must work to provide that for you all, why don't you ask your family in Perth about the cost of living & the projected rise in cost of living over the next three years you may just be shocked at the outcomes.
you say are we Mad, well are you asking or do you know the outcome & im not being sarcastic but it seems like you know you may not have the same lifestyle here as you currently enjoy in the UK, weather is better but in summer in WA its hot,as mentioned cost of living now is expensive we all must work to achieve our goals of a decent lifestyle, but i can say this though for your children it shall be the best thing you can ever do for them.

Originally Posted by Dorothy

Ok, so $60k per year works out to $5000/month or $1150/week + approximately $285/week for FTB allowance. Let's break down what your likely outgoings are going to be...

Rent: $400-500/wk = $2166/month
Groceries: with 2 adults & 4 children about $250-300/wk = $1085/month
Electicity: $250-300/month (ours is roughly $300 with 2 adults/1 teenager at home)
Gas: $100-150/month (again, ours with 2 adults/1 teenager)
Petrol: $200-500/month (depends on what car you have and how far your OH drives to work. With 6 of you you're going to need a decent sized car)
Insurance: $250/month (with 4 kids you're going to need private insurance for things like dentists, ambulance cover, etc.)
Internet: $100-150/month
Mobile phones: $100-150/month
Foxtel: (TV) $150/month

We're already up to $4700 per month and that isn't including any incidentals like buying the kids a treat or you going out for dinner once in a while. $60k take home in Perth is not a lot. Especially with 4 young children. And any money you potentially make will likely be spent in daycare costs unless you only intend on working school hours and all your kids are in school - in which case you're going to need to factor in school fees (yes, even state school has some fees. And don't forget uniforms, class trips, etc.)

I've based the above on our averages for a family of 2 adults and 1 teenager living at home. Bear in mind that a lot of these bills can't be paid monthly and you're going to have to budget for them. Gas and electric come quarterly, petrol is whenever you need it.

I also drive a Barina and only put about $60 per month of fuel in. However I also pay $110/wk in public transit fares to get to work and back. My husband drives to work and puts roughly $90-100/wk petrol in his vehicle - he works much closer to his office than I do to mine, but he drives a bigger vehicle.

Please realise how much it costs to fly back home should anything happen and you need to get there. I've just done a very quick Expedia search and for 2 adults & 4 children to go from Perth to London (not sure where you're from) leaving on 23 April (you'll have to book early if you have to get home in a hurry) for 2 weeks it's $11 000.

I don't think anyone is trying to put you off. Just making sure you realise that with 4 children, no jobs and only $20k to get set up you are going to find it very difficult indeed. You said in your first post that you think the lifestyle is going to be much better. With what you've said so far, I cannot possibly see how scrimping and pinching pennies is going to make your lifestyle anything but stressful. Trust me, we've done the penny pinching thing and it's very difficult and stressful and it certainly was not better than the lifestyle we left behind. Granted 6 years on it has improved, but that's partly because we're in better jobs, our children are not little and dependant on us (one doesn't live with us full time and the one who lives at home is doing an apprenticeship so pays her own way) and we both work full time. I'm sure you're determined to do what you want to do and won't be put off by a bunch of random internet posters who tell you not to come. Just be aware that it's very expensive to live in Perth and with one income of $60k take home and relying on FTB for spending money it's going to be a hard slog.

One other thing...Not everyone finds work straight off. My electronic engineer husband was out of work for our first 9 months in Australia and we ended up having to use most of our savings to survive and eventually had to move interstate for him to find work. Even though I was working full time my wage was not enough to support us and there were weeks where we had to choose between paying the full amount of the rent or putting petrol in the car so I could get to work.

Good luck to you. it all works out for you.

Originally Posted by alipally

I won't make any comments on what it costs to live in Aus, other than to say I know families of 6 who live on $60k a year with all the government support etc, they live well, (IMO well doesn't mean big hols or nice car, it means eating well, going to the surf club/ footie club, feeding the family and paying the bills)

Please spend the £3 or £4k on the container though, replacing your stuff isn't finiancially wise.... It will cost 2 or 3 times the amount spent on shipping.... And that's just the financial cost... Never mind the time, energy and frustration of not knowing where to shop.... And then there's the emotional cost to go with..... $20k isn't a lot to start with don't waste it on buying new versions of what you already have... Beds for the family could quite easily wipe out the. 25% of the budget....

Originally Posted by nolan8

, the move is for the kids, i know it will give them a better life xxx

Originally Posted by nolan8

thanks for your reply..... i think we are changing our views on shipping, we are still in the throws of budget and most of it is all relative, costs here are rising and salarys are falling (hubby just had 13% pay cut). we do live well on what is classed as a teeny salary here, our rent each month is over £1000 and food is costly, however we enjoy our lives on what little we have, and know we would enjoy it more in australia, the move is for the kids, i know it will give them a better life xxx

Originally Posted by BritAus

Ah, what the hell. Just do it. Life's a struggle everywhere right now - Death or Glory !

Originally Posted by macy

Dentists - lets hope your kids have perfect teeth, I paid $600 for two kids for a check up that didn't include any work - in the UK that would be free.

Originally Posted by Dorothy

WTF? 2 adults & 4 kids, no money and no jobs to go to? Maybe if they're single, but with a young family they need to be more responsible than "death or glory"

Originally Posted by moneypenny20

Not disagreeing with the sentiment but the above, really? How? Daughter had a check up, a bit of a clean, used the Dental Voucher and paid no more. Sounds like a very over priced dentist to me. (and in the country of expensive dentistry, that's saying something!)

Originally Posted by BritAus

Like I said. Go for it :-)