Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Hi guys. I know this has probably been asked a lot. But, please advise. Me and my wife will be moving to Sydney in May. (I finish Uni here in the UK then and qualify as a geologist), i have a great job offer to be based in Sydney and the company are sponcering us. My salary will be $75k after superan is deducted and my wife should be able to earn at least 20 to 30k as a senior administrator we think. We dont have extravagant tastes, but will this be enough to survive in Sydney?

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Where in Sydney?

Also, do you have a deposit to put down on a house, or will you be renting, or will you be trying to buy? Got any dosh now?

Do you have children?

imo, $100K should be ok ... depends on where you're going to live and what you're going to do with it...

:)

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Providing you wife works full-time she will get more than 20-30k. She can command 45k doing admin work.

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Provided you are happy to live a 'normal' lifestyle, that should be enough, although obviously it depends what part of Sydney you want to live in and what sort of house you want.
I'd think that as a senior administrator your wife should be able to earn significantly more than 20-30k, unless she is only working part time. A full time senior admin job in the city might pay twice that amount, I'd have thought. Have a look on seek.com.au.

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Thanks guy - i think i am just nervous about the move. If it helps, we are not too fussy where we live as long as its a nice safe area, with decent public transport links. We will probably look for a two bedroom apartment. I will be working away at a mine two weeks in three, we have no children and are not "party animals" though do like to go out for the odd meal and things. My wife will probably only work part time as she enjoys doing art courses and things. Any general advice on living in Sydney would also be appreciated, as neither of us has ever been to Australia, though we are very well travelled

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Check seek.com.au to get an idea of salaries, also www.realestate.com.au to get an idea of property prices/rent levels. That should give you a good idea what to expect financially. Are you set on living in Sydney if you're working in the mines? (mines up around Hunter Valley, or elsewhere?) Other places are cheaper to live, obviously.

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Thanks for the advice. We have to live in Sydney as the company office is there and so the contract stipulates it. I have checked out house prices and things, but it is the general cost of living that i was concerned about - food etc

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Our food shopping for a couple, no kids, probably averages around $100 a week - we get more or less whatever we want, things that are good value where possible, and that includes the odd DVD/Vitamins/Toiletries etc that bump up the price.
(It's probably cheaper than UK because here you can't buy booze in the supermarket!)

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Thats great - what are bills like - gas, water elec and things. Are they similar to the UK?

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Our water is included in our rent, so for us yes cheaper than the UK!
No TV licence, so you'll only pay for telly if you want sky/cable.
Our broadband is $30 a month, no limits.
Gas & Electric.... not sure actually, but I'd guess about $50 each a month? That was during winter though... there might have been a couple of leccy bills that were higher than that. They've never been enough to make me mad! I'd say on the whole cheaper than the UK, but we are about to hit summer so the aircon leccy bill might make me change my mind, we'll see!
Also if you rent you don't pay council tax ('rates' here) as they are paid by the property owner. Bonus!

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Hi esperanza :)....could I ask which ISP you are with if your broadband is only $ 30 a month, please?. That sounds much much better than ours :)

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

http://www.weasydney.com.au/
http://www.tafensw.edu.au/

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

And me too.

Esperanza - you seem to live incredibly cheaply - How 2 people can live on £40 a week ($100) for all food, vitamins and deodorant etc is amazing! with the exception of some meats, I don't find food any cheaper than the UK.

Also the $30 broadband with no limits must be a special deal only for you as the cheapest deal in NSW for usable broadband (256kb upstream) is $79.95 with Wix Communications.

http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Thanks for all the info everyone. Cant wait to join you all down under!

Re: Sydney Salary - can we survive
 

Ummm, that's not the cheapest deal, as we pay $30 a month!! It's with Bigpond, I know lots of people slate them but they've been fine for us. Please don't make patronising comments about it- I'm not making it up, I do know what I'm talking about! Maybe it is so good they pulled it, we signed up to it about 6 months ago.

Perhaps we do live incredibly cheaply - where I think it's just as good I will buy the home brand version of things like beans, canned tomatoes, mineral water etc. I don't buy 'extras' every week, like deodrant/toothbrushes etc, and I make my own lunch to take to work - which is usually salad. Don't buy prepped meals, buy more of what is in season/on offer... but also buy what we want to have.

Some weeks our shopping is $200, if it's a 'big shop' but that's only once a month tops - the rest of the time it is under $100, so I just averaged it out and guessed. We sometimes eat out/takeaway as well, but not more than once a week and that's cheaper than the UK, I find. Sometimes we'll spend $50 at the butchers and fill up the freezer with meat...

I should add that this is not in Sydney, but when I have been to supermarkets in the city I was pleasantly surprised by prices and actually found more choice of things like meats and cheeses at better prices than there are in my local. Probably to do with there being more of a cultural range than where I live out in the regional burbs.