Ozzidoc

LOL - just saw this Wendy - great minds and all that

dottyspots

'Tis true to a certain extent, but it also relies on people's lifestyle expectations. I'm told quite often by wistful parents that they can't afford to have one of them stay at home, when really, if they made some different decisions they possibly could (not everyone, some people have to have both partners working to break even on the basics), it boils down what families want from life.

It's also a symptom (IMHO) that some people are determined to live above their financial capacity and that's where people can get into trouble - e.g. expectations about a move to Australia providing x, y and z and that that's what MUST happen (and that's just as applicable in the UK) - hope I'm making sense here.

It's a toughie, because as a mum I'm concerned that my children live somewhere reasonably safe, etc., but when it boils down to it, that's what the majority of families in this area want for their children (it's just the odd few families who couldn't give a monkey's a***). So naturally I'm concerned that we can afford somewhere in atleast a comparable area in Australia (and by all accounts the village we live in is dodgy - but really, so far I've not found it too bad at all and rather enjoy living here, the odd blues & twos side shows apart).

One person's comfortable is another's poverty

Without a doubt, if we had 70K coming in, we'd find a way to spend it (well, doubtless dh and the kids would )

Vegemite

Kelly,

It depends a lot on where you live in Oz, the same as the UK.
While doing a search on the net last week, I found rural property prices in Tasmania to be much cheaper than in coastal Queensland, for example. A lot of people want to live in Sydney and complain about the costs of living, but its hardly surprising when they are moving to the Australian equivalent of some of the trendier suburbs of London.

Australia used to known for its very affordable living, but over the past 10 years, things have gotten progressively more and more expensive and the wages have not kept pace. (Thanks to JH). The GST (like VAT) was introduced, there was a property boom, an oil crisis etc. Australians are not used to high costs of living and there is currently an uproar in Australia about recent changes to industrial relations legislation, I suggest you become of aware of what these changes mean before you come out. Hopefully by then there wil be a change of govt though and you wont have to deal with it.

Obviously some occupations get paid more here than the UK and some get paid less. I personally found it harder to survive in England than I do in Australia. (I'm Australian by the way).

Anyway, thats just some of the picture, not all of it.

Vegemite.

Ozzidoc

So true!

Twelve years ago I knew a family of 5 1/2 who lived in a run-down, rented 2-bedroom-plus-a-small-sunroom flat 1 minute's walk from Bronte beach. The only hot water was in the kitchen. They were paying about $200 a week. (I was paying 135 for a delightful place in the inner-west)

The location was AMAZING. They decided that they would/could happily forgo the luxury of hot-water on tap in the bathroom for the location and the lovely family life they had in the area.

I imagine that the situation was not sustainable longterm ie once kids started getting to puberty, but it certainly was an eye-opener.

LoobyLoo!

So far no really negative responses, maybe it's not so unliveable after all

dottyspots

I think it's probably down to your outlook. There are no guarantees, but the way I look at it, might as well try it, if it doesn't work out, we return to the UK and that's it really.

This is our 2nd time replying and yes, the what if factor has weighed heavily in our decision to re-apply.

NKSK version 2

So did we. I can't quite understand it. I'm paid less here, grocery bills are definitely higher (significantly) and yet we seem to be better off and certainly have a better quality of life.

I think that it must come down to the tax system, the fact that you don't need to spend lots of money to have a good time and possibly the price of petrol and utilities.

chels

I think it depends on the size of your mortgage. If you are fortunate enough to be in the position to buy a house with cash and be mortgage free, life will be a hell of a lot easier. However, even a small mortgage will be harder to service than the UK equivalent because of the higher interest rates. But then you make compromises (eg forgoing a pool or a rumpus room...) or cut back in other areas (give the holidays abroad, clothes, nice furniture, new car a miss) and I'm sure most budgets are do-able.

We've got a joint income that is above the Australian average, we save a lot of it, but if we went down to one income things would be a struggle. But not impossible. I've always fancied subsistence living

(oh bugger, just looked out the window, raining again - and I'm just about to set off for an Anzac Day bbq )

SAJ

We used to earn a decent income in the UK, but had loads of debt, mortgage, car loans etc, and worked long hours.

Now we live in rural NSW - 2 years ago bought a nice 4 bedroom house for $100k in a great community and have no debt. Although there is plenty of work around the area, we choose not to work much and live comfortably on about $15k per year. It's a million miles away from our old life. We grow veggies and hubby brews his own beer (costs about 50 cents per litre and surprisingly tastes great ).

There's a lot to be said for rural living while you find your feet in a new country. By the way, when I say we're rural, the town is small but we're only 40 minutes drive from the nearest city/3.5 hours drive from the coast.

Nicstids

Do you have kids? Don't you worry about what you'll do for income in retirement? I wouldn't want to rely on the Age Pension here

djfbug

Fantastic SAJ - hope you live long and happy - it sounds a great way to live

dottyspots

Sounds lovely

SAJ

Kid grown up. Nah, not worried about retirement as our pensions are pretty much sorted. I'm a full time student at the mo, and will get back to doing a bit of work in a few years. In the meanwhile I intend making the most of this life and the cheap beer!

louise4

am i jelous or what. sounds greast.enjoy

Jensen Healey

Blimey! How much would a similar house with enough land to grow veggies go for now?