Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Hi all, well after thinking of it for years my husband and I are finally starting to make steps in moving to Australia. We are considering Perth, wa and for months now I have spent hours/days scrolling different threads to get ideas of places to live, cost of living etc.

I am a registered nurse, been qualified 5 years now, background in respiratory.
My husband is a security officer, starting a course in barbering in the next few months (1 year course)

We have 2 kids, age 4 and 4 months.
We do not own a home in the UK

We have thought very hard about this and do not expect to move to a life of luxury. We expect to just have the same life (financially) as the UK with just a better 'life style'

I'm looking for people's views/advice on whether you feel our expectations seem real or not.

Having looked at various threads for months we like the look of northern Perth suburbs, tapping, carramer etc.

Both working full time with a joint Salary of minimum $100k
Total monthly outgoings of around $5k (rent $2300 per month, utilities,car costs, food shopping, activities etc totalling $2700 per month.

Joint salary of $100k giving us a take home Salary each month of just over $7k after deductions leaving us with an extra $2k each month to do as we please after all bills etc paid.

Does that seem about right so far?
With us both working full time we'd also have childcare costs so may have to look at the extras we have accounted for in that $5k per money expenditure.

We will be coming with no debts owing in the UK, a clean slate with £20k savings ($30k) after paying visas, flights, shipments etc.

We'd be looking at buying 2 used cars approx $5k each.

I'd be grateful if anyone could advise me on whether this looks realistic to them or not?

In the UK with live in a council home, after bills etc we don't have much money left over each month, we get by pretty good with money to enjoy days out etc but not much after that, we have used cars and have worked hard to get together our savings.

Thankyou for taking the time to read my post.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Be interested to know how you made this calculation. Seems to be over ambitious to me, can't quite see how you would still have 84k a year left out of a salary of 100k. I think it will be less.....
But of course, money isn't everything!

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

If it were two salaries of $50k then the estimate is there or thereabouts.

OP we all spend different amounts on things like rent, bills and food. I am sure many families will be managing on similar income levels. You are probably right not to assume that you will be much better off financially. I don't think that Australia provides a lifestyle myself, that is all down to you and what you make of it.

If you have thought about it and want to do it, why not.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Personally I would say choose Melbourne. I am living in perth now and have lived here for about 6 years, with the exception of 8months back in the uk once.

Perth is very expensive and doesnt have the kind of activities and infrastructure that melb/syd have. Its great if you like beaches and paying $10 a pint but I wish I had gone somewhere else and am thinking of doing so in a few months.
There are a lot of good qualitys about perth, it gets more sunshine than anywhere else but in my opinion its a bit backward in many ways. Think 1990's and thats about where perth is these days.

Everyone will tell you something different as everyone has different experiences so it is hard to get a feel for a place from an online forum. Some will rave about it, some will hate it, the truth lies somewhere in between and depends on your experiences when you arrive.

If you can, come over but have a backup plan to move somewhere else after 6 /12 months if you decide its not for you.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

If you choose suburbs on the northern edges of Perth, then you have fewer hospitals nearby to work in. If you can't get a job at Joondalup Health Campus, then you will have a longer commute, which takes more time and costs more $. If you choose suburbs with more than one hospital nearby, it opens up more options for work and public transport.

You might not have allowed enough $ to buy 2nd hand cars, others would be more knowledgeable than me, but if you're doing shift work and driving long distances, you want a reliable car, not one with no air bags and 250,000 km on the clock. Like many things involving the cost of manpower, mechanical repairs are not cheap.

You would also need to budget for childcare costs for your baby and before-/after-school care for your 4 year old. There are rebates, depending on visa type, but you won't get all of the costs covered and you might be surpised by how much this will cost.

$100k might sound like a lot, but it doesn't seem to go far in Perth.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Good point, I was forgetting it was two salaries.
Lets hope the OP has accounted for super in their calculations also!

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Perth is great. The only problem is the insane cost of keeping a roof over your head.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

That's an Australian-wide problem (maybe not Adelaide or Tasmania, but there are reasons for this), not just Perth.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

I thank the good lord above I came here in 2003 and not now and was fortunate enough to get into a decent suburb. It would be a different story today.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Thankyou all for your honest replies. Our options are wide open for choosing other areas/states. Perth just seemed to be the first we thought of, no particular reason as no friends/family there therefore other states are Definately an option if our joint salary will stretch a bit more in other places aside from Perth.

I used an online Australian calculator which gave estimates of deductions to our salaries based on myself getting $65k and my husband $35k, can't Remeber where I found the calculator now!


Adelaide/Melbourne where also on our list so I quess it's back to spending 10hours + a day browsing forums/posts on those areas! :D

Thankyou again.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Your money might go further in Adelaide or Brisbane than in Perth, but not Sydney or Melbourne. I travel a bit with my job, I find bits and bobs are sometimes a bit more expensive in Brisbane than Sydney (e.g. a coffee, lunch) but that pales into insignificance versus the housing costs.

I have never fancied Perth myself because it seems too isolated for my liking, but if you can work anywhere and that is where you feel attracted to, then maybe it is for you, it is a very popular choice so there must be something in it.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

As someone who pays a lot of tax I forget that sometimes 2 people on 100k between them do far better than me on one.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Extremely doable....

Have you factored in child care?

What if one of you struggles to find work?



Welcome by the way... I'm a nurse... Live in shocking ham, south of perf... We struggle... But there are 10 of us....

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

Thankyou, it's such a hard decision to make I feel like I've spent months researching Perth and now looking at other states is causing a huge headache!
Regarding jobs we won't move until I have at least secured a job or close to it.

Childcare could be an issue, depending on our joint income, so that's another consideration.

Do you know much about community/district nursing in Perth?
I am due to start a community post here in the uk after my maternity as the Monday-Friday suits us great as even in the uk we have no family to help with chidcare and therefore weekends area struggle even here.

Adelaide is next on my list for researching now but Perth is still up there but probably only because I feel I've spent so many months researching it.

Re: Is it worthwhile moving to Perth??
 

I know that I was a Community Nurse Specialist Practitioner in the UK and My role wasn't available 5 years ago when we came over.... Hence I've drifted from post to post desparately trying to find something meaningful....

I might be inclined to stick with your acute nursing when you get here....