kamm1

My other half and i are having real problems at the moment and if anyone has any positive comments i would really appreciate it.

Mark is an electromechanical engineer with exp in defensce, aerospace and it industries. He is currently working on a project for the NHS. In short after gaining degrees and several years of experience he started contracting and now earns around £90,000 a year.

We have always wanted to move to Oz for better quality of life, good school for Alex, nice house etc...Only now it seems that when we do move it is quite possible that we could be financially worse off than we were in our one bed flat in Brum unable to pay for a week in blackpool!!! I am devastated (hate to seem shallow!) that we may actually have to really struggle as we are also planning on bringing my mum over to come and live with us, that now seems financially impossible!!! please could anyone advise? If the cost of living is the same as it is here but the wages are so much less how does anyone do well there?

Anne4Terry

I'm curious to know what is wrong with your quality of life here when you are earning £90,000 a year? I'm sure my life would be a lot better here if I had that kind of money. Surely your other half should be able to find an equally good job over there, yes the wages might be less but that would be balanced by the cost of living. I should think you should have an excellent quality of life wherever you chose to be.

Suni&Jay

Most people find the cost of living the same as UK. (Depending on where you live). People move for the life style and things don't cost as much to have fun, ie going to the beach don't cost much, going for walks etc. What I'm trying to say is that unlike the UK you don't have to spend lots to have fun.

Suni&Jay

Money isn't everything, Health is more important than wealth, I think.
Oz maynot be the great place we thing it is but you have to give it a try, after all lifes a gamble!

NickyP

you are unlikely to make a fortune here in OZ I am afraid. My husband works in defense and has moved out here to a good job but we are only on a similar take home to what we would have had in the UK with the MOD and we are doing very well to have that as most people take a wage cut. We haven't got a big deposit for a house so will have a large mortgage when we get around to buying and I would like to bring my parents over eventually as well.
We have 4 kids and I must say that regardless of the money this has been the right thing for us to do. We have a far better quality of life here and the kids are very happy. The weather is wonderful as I am the sort of person that can't deal with weeks and months of grey, here even if it is raining it isn't long before the sun is out in a wonderful blue sky. The sense of space here can't be beat and the local people that we have met have all been so friendly helping us to feel very welcome.
I will go back to work in a couple of years which will help with finances. If these sort of practicalities are a worry to you then you need to be honest about what your expectations are for this move. Contracting is available over here but you get no security and can find yourself going from a very good wage to nothing. However if your skills are in demand then I am sure that you can make good money if you are prepared to go where the jobs are.
We had the fantasy lifestyle with stupidly high wages while in Belgium and it didn't make any of us happy, sorry but there is more to life than money. Also it is down right miserable to be seriously struggling especially with kids I know. You need to make the most of the higher salary while it is there (save as much as possible) I didn't because I was miserable so tended to shop and travel a lot which has meant that we have far less here than we could have.
Good luck with it all and I would get as much information as possible about potential jobs/wages etc and also about what it is you are moving for.
All the best.
Nicky

kamm1

We have a very good quality of life here but the wages over there are alot lower and it seems (from checking out agencies) that he would only really be able to earn the same as he did when he left uni,(16-18,000) and now with two children to support we would be much worse off, also as i chose to stay at home to raise the kids i have no trade as such so i will not be able to earn a wage until kids are in school and i go back to college and retrain to get work

Anne4Terry

Good luck whatever you decide

merlotsmum

It is all down to what you are prepared to give up and to be honest it sounds like this is not something you want to do, not having a go at all, nice to see you are being honest with yourself and thinking things through to what make you seel secure and comfortable.

No matter how much money you have, you still have to go though all the upheavals of moving, the emotions, the let downs as well as the highs. It is a risk.

Wish you well.

MMum

kamm1

Thank you so much for your reply
you're right money is no substitute for health and happiness, since mark started contracting things have been so different and i guess i am just a little bit scared of the unknown! My little sister has been living in brisbane for four years and is so happy, it is all we have ever wanted. I am ashamed to say the longer mark has been contracting the more money seems so important,

realistically we lived before without this kind of money we will again, as long as we have each other (not meaning to sound cheesy!) and we have a roof and food on the table what does it matter

merlotsmum

Usually I get cranky with talk of money/materialism but at some point in your life when you have struggled, then life become financially more secure, I understand how hard it is to go back to being skint.

We have had tough times here in the UK since our return from Oz, most of the time I feel as if we are eating basic staple food I used to eat as a student, nothing wrong with that just that we have had times where we had a little extra cash so we could buy goodies or pop out for a meal, we can't do that at the moment so it is frustrating. You feel as if you are both working for nothing.

Hard choice for you, maybe down the track for Oz???

Good luck
MMum

kamm1

Just wanted to say thank you all for replying, neither mark nor i came from a particularly well off back-ground, and it didnt do us any harm, maybe the contracting is just a fairytale that we never thought was possible, still i'd much rather be in Oz without the money!

NickyP

Good luck with it all it is hard to give up the security of a good wage when you have been really skint before, but remember that contracting can be just as scary with contracts drying up and it is very painful when you have got used to the money.
I would just treat this as a way to provide a seriously good emergency fund for when you go to OZ and that should help with some of your concerns.
Have fun it is really worth it and even a seasoned shopoholic like myself is finding it easy to live without constant shopping trips here as there is just so much more to do. I have found life here far less pressured and materialistic you need what you need to have a good life and that doesn't always have to cost the earth.
Nicky

caleb2003

I am also a contractor for the last 5 years and have done great on wages but going to Oz will scupper that and I also have the same concerns but the way I'm looking at it is that I never expected my contracts to last for 5 years and the way the contracting markets going with Indian companies taking over many of the high paid stuff then it is eroding.

So for me the contracting has been a great 'ride' but now I have a little cash and if Oz lets me in then i'll do a job for a while and then maybe go into business, hey if the wages are crap then the employers are better off that way.

For me now I can go out and buy any gadgets I want right now and do anything really but its got boring and with 2 kids I dont have the time for all the 'stuff' I accumulated its now ebay fodder or car boot sale.

Priorities now for my family is to get over there and have holidays every other weekend by being able to get out and about and to be able to forget about the things money can buy and go back to basics and enjoy our relationship and family time more, that is what we hope to achieve.

Des

hi

i think you should go ahead with the move yes the salary will be lower but at the same time the cost of living is not as high as in the uk. surely the quality of life must be better in oz there is a lot of pros the weather, the space, bigger housing etc.