Dream_Catcher

After reading so many depressing post, I’d like some opinions on whether you think my expectations are realistic.

Briefly something about us:
We are from the Midlands and live in a 3 bed semi in a fairly big town that has everything to offer in terms of shopping. GPs are good and the schools we are in the catchment area for are great.
With two small children and my only teaching two evenings a week, we live on DH’s income, which is a huge struggle. I have an online business selling baby goods, but it is not doing well at the moment.
We don’t go out in the evening, buy food from Aldi, make meals that are relatively inexpensive to prepare, don’t buy much if anything ... during the day I take the children to local parks and toddler groups. We have two old cars not worth much at all. We are the worst off we have ever been but we know it’s our own fault as we bought an overpriced, old house and didn’t budget for all the repair costs. We have only just started to be able to pay off some debt and if we sold the house we’d have 30-40k left. We do have some great friends but we don’t have any family left. Our children are 1 and 4 and we’d like 1 or 2 more. I’m in my late 20s and DHs is in his late 30s.

As I don’t work enough hours, I’m not even worth 5 points so we’d be state sponsored or employer sponsored (for IT). Starting salaries for DH’s niche is AUD 100000 – would that feed us and put a roof over our heads? (Current total combined household income GBP 45000)
We don’t expect ‘a better life’ – just a different one and we are hoping we wouldn’t have to trade down too much.
What do you think?

elice_in_oz

Is that £30-40k left in the bank or £30-40k left in debt?

What do YOU think? It sounds as though you do need a change, but is moving to the other side of the world the easiest change? I've not been back to Europe since 2008 so I'm not sure how things are now, but could you sell your house and move to a different part of the UK to start afresh?

As for moving to Australia, we moved 7 years ago from the Midlands and have not regretted it one minute. Then again, 7 years ago was boom time and nobody was predicting the crisis, so maybe it was easier then. We still had our flat (up for sale) in the UK when we moved here and lived on our savings while paying the mortgage in the UK. We didn't have children though. We probably had about AU$30k and went through all of it.

It took my OH 6 months to find a job in IT (we arrived on 2nd December here, so it's a bit like starting to look for a job on the 1st of July in the UK. Everybody's on holidays!). It can be hard to get a job here if you don't have local experience or some sort of network. That said, since his first job, he's had many and was at most unemployed for maybe 1 month in between contracts. He has a permanent job now and will be holding on to it for a while yet, since we now have a mortgage to pay here and 2 children to feed

To address your concerns about you OH's potential salary, $100k is still a good salary here. Then again, working in IT usually means living in Sydney or Melbourne, and therefore higher costs.

You could most likely get a decent 3 bedroom house for rent with a bit of a garden for around $400/week, but that would probably be in the middle to outer suburbs. As an example, the house we have just bought is 35mins from the CBD (Central Business District - where OH works), 3 bedrooms, 120sqm in all on a 680sqm block, 2 minutes walk from the train station and the shops. Before we bought it, it was being rented out for $350/week. We pay much more in mortgage repayments but that's another story!
So, assuming you get something around $400/week, you should be able to live on $100k, but you'd probably still be making trips to Aldi, taking the kids to the park (I throw mine out in the garden), and probably not buying much more than you do now. Transport in Melbourne is pretty good so you could probably survive with one car. I can't comment on other cities.

Others might not agree, but I'd say your expectations are realistic if you just want a change. But again, is Australia the easiest place to make that change?

Good luck with whatever you choose anyway

Amazulu

You will be fairly okay on $100k.

Dream_Catcher

Thanks for your reply - I appreciate it.

Should be £30-40k left in the bank but apart from the Visa and moving costs we'd want to keep it so that we can put a deposit down for rent or a potentially new mortgage at one point so we'd like to keep 20k.

Our main aim is to find a job but I doubt that will happen while we are here. Problem is selling the house after you've found an employer (if you are that lucky!) ... but that's another story.

I've lived in the UK now for ten years and feel that we have 'been there, done that'. DH has never lived in another country so he doesn't know how hard it is to begin with. I was always afraid of having to start all over because it is quite daunting when you don't know any customs or where things are etc but I ask myself, "Do I really want more of the same for another 50 years?" (if I am lucky enough to reach that age ...)

I know life is the same wherever you go and it is what you make it. I don't really want to move within the UK - more of the same ...

Thanks!

elice_in_oz

Even at the current exchange rate, £20k should allow you to get settled. If you already have a job lined up, then it's a bonus and, as you say, can be used for rental deposit, buying a car and generally getting settled until the first payday.

Funny, we were in similar situation. I'd been in the UK for 5 years and was getting a bit restless - indeed 'been there, done that' - and my OH had never lived overseas. He's the one who brought it up though and I jumped at the chance
Starting over is daunting, but it is also what you make of it. It is hard, but also so exciting! I have done it so many times, I lose count. Sometimes it's all you need to realise that what matters in your life is what fits in a suitcase, and relationships that will survive the distance. If you've done it before, you can do it again!

coolshadows

What is this niche in IT everyone keeps talking about? I can only assume he's a Consultant in SAP.

coolshadows

$30,000 should be enough to survive on for a few months. We spent $25,000 in about 3 months, including buying two 10yr old cars (though I was working after a month and a half - on $50k as a Senior .Net Developer!!!).

Also when looking at salaries, make sure they aren't including the 9% SUPER (which they do to bump up the salary).

I'd recommend a PR visa, so you can get Tax Benefits, Rent Assistance, Child Benefits etc... to make your own money go further.

ozhappy981

Definitely! If you come on a PR visa (I know some of the state sponsored visa are PR visas), you are entitled to rent assistance and FTB from the day you land. You will have to go to Centrelink and fill out forms to get it. But it will be backdated to the day you arrived.

You will also get Family Tax Benefit A. And if you are a stay-at-home mum (or a mum who earns very little), you'll also get Family Tax Benefit B.

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/interne...g_payments.htm

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/interne...assistance.htm

JAJ

If your life in the UK is fairly good, then you should ask yourselves questions along the lines of whether you (both of you) would be willing to take a drop in living standard to live in Australia. Also, ask how strong your sense of adventure still is - you'll need it.

Also, if you have come to the UK to live in the past, are you now a British citizen? If not, you should obtain this before you consider any move.

Seabird

Firstly, I guess one thing that comes across in your thread are your personal decisions in planning your family. This is not for others to decide, but if you are already struggling the idea of another couple of pairs tiny feet will exacerbate things wherever you are living. That said, it is a question of lifestyle choice and I have made decisions that led to me spending many hours in Aldi and Nettos, with the odd transgression into Morrisons, and I still buy most of my furniture, clothing and cars secondhand. There are some fantastic secondhand shops here, and they have a very different feel to them. People here see them as places to pick up a bargain, and they are called "op shops" as a consequence.

I came here wanting a financially more secure life than I would have got in the UK. The reason I am better off is to do with the fact that my career is moving forward, rather than the cost of living. However, my reasons for staying are nothing to do with money.

I love the open, unspoilt space, the weather that means you can get out and enjoy it, the flexibility of the education system, the wildlife, the beaches (including the stinging jellyfish) etc. Where I am saving money?

Petrol
Car MOT
Car insurance
Council tax - don't pay any if you're renting
TV licence - just get adverts every couple of minutes instead, so unless you have Foxtel TV is rubbish
Water is cheaper
Gas bill
Rent is alot cheaper in Adelaide - I pay $310 a week for a 1940s unmodernised four-bedroom, though typically it would cost about $380 here for something similar if it were modern. 10 minutes to the city and the beach.

Probably moving to Queensland early next year as I can get more work there, and my daughter is auditioning for the Conservatorium there as it has an enviable reputation for producing international singers.

Finally the fact that unless you live in Sydney of Melbourne, you quickly get to know everybody. Within four years of being here it is hard to meet a new person to whom you have no links, usually through someone you know. In fact we did a reccie to Brisbane last week and my daughter went and sang with a Choir there to get a feel for music in Queensland - not expecting to see anyone she knew, one person she had performed with was sat at the piano, and she also knew one of the directors and his wife from a concert she sang in at the Festival Theatre here in Adelaide a few months ago!

Am I better off financially? Possibly, but I am in a different work position.
Am I better off personally? Without a doubt
Where would I bring my children up if I could do it all again? Australia, even if it cost me my life's savings.

Best

Searbird...

Anastasia Beaverhausen

I think some of these have a 2 yr wait for PRs, so check out the residence requirements before doing your initial sums.

ozhappy981

No, they don't. Both of these are available straight away if you have PR. It's one of the exceptions.

You are eligible for rent assistance if you get more than the base rate of FTB:
http://www.centrelink.gov.au/interne...t_eligible.htm

To get FTB you must be an "Australian resident". In this context that means, you have a permanent residency visa. Here: http://www.centrelink.gov.au/interne..._residence.htm and here: http://www.familyassist.gov.au/Payme...uirements.aspx

And to get FTB, the claimant must meet the income test: http://www.centrelink.gov.au/interne.../ftb_a_iat.htm

You go to Centrelink to claim both of these. There are some forms to fill in. And you need to bring with you documentation to show your UK earnings in that tax year. (UK earnings before you arrive in Aus are disregarded for Aus tax, but they are taken into account for Centrelink benefits.)

Dream_Catcher

Thanks. I do think we will have to downgrade - but then it's just 'things', right? Who needs three tellies!? And even though we have three bedrooms, we only use 2 ...

I am an EU member (and have been since 1995) so I have no desire to have a British passport. The agents have said that it doesn't matter that I am not British as I am not the first applicant and just a dependent ...