TKM

Hi,

I wonder if someone recently made the move over to Down Under and can advice how much the relocation cost would be more or less?
Except shipping, how much should we realistically plan to put aside for the move.
We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children, 1 and 3 years). We will either move to Sydney or Brisbane. I would say Sydney in this instance as it is more expensive (better over estimate than under estimate).

Thank you in anticipation for any replies!

TKM

Bermudashorts

Would you have jobs to go to? That would make a huge difference to what you should budget.

We had jobs to go to immediately and spent about £30k overall for the visa, flights, shipping, pet shipping, temporary accommodation for five weeks, deposit on rental. Two adults.

TKM

Thank you Bermuda shorts!

Question, how much was the shipping out of this 30k?

Am I naive to think we could do it with 25K, including the price of a 2nd hand car?

Bermudashorts

Shipping about £5k.

What does your £25k need to cover (flights, visas?) and will you have jobs to go to?

TKM

We already got a Permanent Visa granted. So would have to cover flights and
rental accommodation and a car.

We don't have jobs to go to am afraid. We were told there is no point to try looking for one from the UK by the job agencies. But will still give it a go.
My husband is in Finance and I would be doing admin jobs.

Shipping might be partly paid by my work in the UK, so I guess half of it yes would have to be covered by the 25k. To be honest I want to try to do it with 20k.... am I pushing my luck?

quoll

Pushing your luck, probably. All depends on how long you want to live on baked beans! You will need to budget for being out of work for 6 months (just in case!) so start with that - average salary is only around $70k so put aside $35k for rescue money. Car - well, you can get one for $1000 but whether you would want to actually drive around in it for any length of time is anyone's guess - say $10k if you want something reliable that isn't going to be a constant drain on your budget.

Rentals - well, up front a month at least plus a bond worth a month so if you budget for $700pm which would be bargain basement, there's $5600 gone before you start.

Chances are you will haemorrhage cash in your first few months because there will be all sorts of incidentals like insurances, stuff you haven't brought with you, set up costs for utilities etc

Of course, you can only spend what you have got so it rather depends on how tight you want to pull your belt in.

TKM

Thanks Quoll!

Hmmm lots of food for thought!

Buzzy--Bee

Sure you don't mean $700 per week? I'd be surprised if there's anywhere to rent in Sydney for $700 per month.

BB

quoll

You're right! Per week! Slip of the finger!

leejo

We are on second move to Aus. First time was just the two of us. So cost was £10K. This time 2xAdults and 2xchildren.

I reckon the total will go something like this:-

£2000 - Flights - oneway
£2500 - Half a container
£1000 - Car(Get out of the hire car ASAP)
£1000 - Bond for rental
£1000 - Sofa
£500 - Fridge
£500 - Washing machine
£600 - Mattress 1 Queen, 2 singles
Total £9100

£80pm - 2 mobile cards from Optus
£79pm - Broadband
£160pm - Gas and Electric
£300pm Food
Rates, Home/Car Ins

What you have to remember you're not on a holiday to Spain. From day one start living like you do in UK.

Be wise on what you throw in the container. You will not see it for 3 months. So kettle, toaster, microwave get rid in the UK.

UK furniture looks out of place in Aus. We had pommie friends who fetched a welsh dresser and it looked horrendous in a nice modern house. Other friends brought light fittings and they just sat in a box in the garage.

Think you can do it on £15K and settle for any work you can find in the first couple of weeks just to get some money coming in. Try and sort a long term rental from the UK. This will cut down on the cost of holiday let.

Hope this helps we depart on 1st September for our amazing adventure. Good luck.

old.sparkles

A couple of points - you will not be able to sort out the long term rental from the UK, and you really wouldn't want to. You need to be able to see the place, and I think you have to have seen the place before agents can let you rent it (going from what I've read on here)

Secondly, there are already lots of people looking for the 'any work'. The hiring process here is never that quick from my experience. You need to be budgeting for at least 3 months out of work, and 6 months if you can manage it. And if it is a job that everyone is capable of doing, then there will be lots of applicants. Unemployment here has been rising so be prepared for things to take time.

As to all your figures, most look under budgeted even allowing for a good exchange rate *which it currently isn't for GBP to AUD. Half a container can take a long time to ship as you are waiting on someone (or more) filling the second half before it can be loaded so you could be waiting a long time for everything. The things you need to buy - have a look online for prices, do virtual shops and if in the end you have more than enough money that is far better than being on the other side of the world with none.

Bermudashorts

I agree with OS, you are under budgeting and your numbers are made up numbers which bear little resemblance to the real costs from people that have done it and I have seen on many similar threes. £1,000 for a car that would be a clapped out old banger that is only going to need to be replaced at further cost before very long.

It is illegal for a real estate agent to rent a property to somebody that has not seen it so securing a long term rental from overseas is a bit of a non starter. It is foolish to think that there is "any work" readily available.

My furniture worked perfectly well in a modern Australian house, all of it. Sometimes things won't fit a new home wherever it is, but you cannot make blanket statements like "UK furniture looks out of place in Aus".

brits1

Hi, I would firstly look at areas where you will find work as that is the main worry if you are only taking such a small budget with you, as others have said you have underestimated a lot of costs. We took most of our furniture to Aus except for beds and any electrical equipment we did not need to use asap, our furniture did not look out of place in fact our Aussie friends commented on how nice and great quality it was so bear that in mind. Schooling costs for children as well, ie equipment, uniforms and enrolment and that's only at public schools we did not budge for that and was a bit of a shock, like you we thought we could pick up a car pretty cheap but that was not the case, we were shocked at the cost and some of the cars looked a danger to drive lol but that was back in 1998. We did not have a large budge back then but we managed to find work within a few weeks which really did help it was not the work we wanted but it "did" for us at the time. We ended up hiring a car for a few weeks, obtained work and then bought a home with a few months of arriving...cannot believe we did it lo but a lot has changed since then and I would be worried if I were you with the small budget you have, if you really want to migrate, I would try and save up as much as possible first and then go even if it takes you a year longer it might make the resettlement go a lot smoother if your not worrying about money etc as its stressful at times when you do have the money. Good luck with everything

leejo

[QUOTE=Bermudashorts;12008942]I agree with OS, you are under budgeting and your numbers are made up numbers which bear little resemblance to the real costs from people that have done it

Sorry I thought I mentioned it is my second big move to Aus and third time in total.....

£2000 - Flights - oneway - [B][I]Just paid with Emirates
£2500 - Half a container - Just paid to Robinsons
£1000 - Car(Get out of the hire car ASAP) An old Falcon or Commdore
£1000 - Bond for rental Just paid all sorted
£1000 - Sofa Harvey Normal
£500 - FridgeGood Guys
£500 - Washing machineGood Guys
£600 - Mattress 1 Queen, 2 singlesSupamart

Furniture looking OK...no one is going to walk into your house and say christ what's than.

From my experience...initially it's all about getting going with as little out lay as possible. Once your are established with work and the children are settle in school then start to getting all the luxuries you had in the UK.

Trust me no Real Estate agent will turn away a tenancy if you are waving a bond in there face.

old.sparkles

I did read that it was your second move but you are still under budgeting unless you are planning on surviving with just the mattresses, washing machine, fridge and sofa for 3 months or more.

I am surprised at the bond - perhaps the requirements are different in QLD. My understanding was the bond was equal to either 4 or 6 weeks rent depending on cost, and lodged against a property. Additionally, the first 2 weeks rent would also need to be paid up front. And again, did not think it was possible to rent before viewing - and I wouldn't want to either as things look different in photos, and you cannot see the neighbourhood (although Google can help with that)

And even then, your own list was already over £9k and doesn't include many items so moving with £15k wouldn't leave any wiggle room