Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

Hi Clothmama
Are you doing your calculations using exchange rate or are you considering purchasing power?
In the following link it shows that purchasing power is 33% greater in Oz than France.
I didn't appreciate the problems you describe in Oz and wish you all the best with your move.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...try2=Australia

Not sure of the date of this survey but you should be able to tell from the prices.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

phew!! 1 leek; well in that case over you all come .... YES it is cheap here no matter what we think:)

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

We have noticed a big difference in prices since we came here in 2005.
We have been asked for $6 (4.30 euro) for a cup of coffee. we refused to pay that so left the cafe.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

Things change all the time.

I took my family on holiday to France in 1993 and it was very expensive.

I shopped arround for patsserie and routiers


Then we went again in 1998 and prices were 30% cheaper. My family couldn't believe their luck.

Maybe we're jusyt back to old times.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

I agree! these things tend to be cyclical:)

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

Hi, yep I was using exchange rate (and it was just in my head so perhaps not 100% accurate but ball park at least!).

That page was really interesting although for some of them I really really dont' apply to the amounts they are showing - this applies especially for housing. We are not city people so those figures for France really don't apply (although the ones for here are showing around what we actually pay in rent :blink: for a 3 bed very boring house). A similar property would rent for around 2/3 or less of what we pay in a similar sized town in France.

We are living about 3.5 hours out of Brisbane at the moment in a town with very little culture or activities that don't involve fishing or water. A rather nasty 3 bed brick venereal in an OK area with about 900m2 of land would cost us about $270,000 (€192,000). For that same money we can be 3.5 hours from Paris (which is a lot more interesting than Brisbane :o ) and have a pretty special house a few kms out of town on a couple of acres and around double the size of house (and that is a renovated property with character!). There are other examples that are also not correct =- like internet. We pay nearly double the amount we paid to Free.fr for our internet and while it is supposed to be ADSL it is not much faster than dial up. The figures quoted may be available in the centre of Sydney but no where else! Interestingly while our BAD internet (that incudes no calls!!) seems to get slower they also put the prices up quite regularly where as Free still charge €30 / month although I understand you can now get tv etc with it - oh and all my calls home to Oz were free!!!

anyway sorry that turned into another rant but thanks again for that link - very interesting!

I agree with what you are all saying about the cyclical nature of these things as well, Australia used to be a lot cheaper. We were last here in 2003/4 and I remember having a huge trolley of shopping with lots of ready made sauces etc (which I tend not to buy) as I was starting work and it came to $160 that same trolley now would be at least $300.

Wages are certainly less in France on the whole I do agree. I'm about to finish my nursing degree at uni here and I would be starting on more than what an experianced nurse in France would get :huh:!! So to earn decent money I'm probably going to have to carry on studying for a while and get masters etc when we get over there and take a route that probably won't involve actually being a nurse, a shame really as I'm good at it and love it :wub:!

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

We just had a quote from Pickfords to pack and move our furniture to France::thumbdown:$14000.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

Did you get a comparison quote for just to the UK?

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

:blink::blink::blink:owwwwww that is a lot of money! I have heard of someone moving from here recently and paying something similar for 2 x 40ft containers Hervey Bay to the UK.

I have had a quote for a really big box trailer (5 m3) that we can fit all our boxes and dishwasher / freezer in (the rest we'll garage sale and get it over there), we need to drop it at Maroochydore and they will container it ex Brisbane to Le harve for us for $1400. I think you really need to shop around, really think about what you really want / need to ship and get creative about how you are going to do it. I have had a quote to buy a 20' container for around $2600 and I'm going to see how much that will cost to be shipped. Bonus being we can take our time packing the container and we have a weatherproof / secure 'shed' until we get sorted when we get there!

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

No not yet that was our first one. we asked Pickfords because of their reputation but need to do some more searches. the trouble is we out in the woopwoop.:fingerscrossed:

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

I know ozzies love their sheds and packing cases but will the french :confused:

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

We will be buying a property with land / outbuildings / barns so would hopefully have somewhere appropriate to put it and they can soon be covered and made 'pretty' as a little garden shed if we dont' decide to unpack and sell it on! If it needs to be in storage many storage yards can just stack them which is much cheaper than having to hire a garage space or larger, it will be fine :thumbsup:

Where are you based?

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

You may need permission from the Mairie to have a little garden shed.
In France you need permission from the Mairie for everything.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

If the shed is less than 20m², you only need to declare it to the Mairie. Anything bigger, you have to apply for a Permis de Construire.

Re: moving back upover from downunder
 

[QUOTE=clothmama;9261769]We will be buying a property with land / outbuildings / barns so would hopefully have somewhere appropriate to put it and they can soon be covered and made 'pretty' as a little garden shed if we dont' decide to unpack and sell it on! If it needs to be in storage many storage yards can just stack them which is much cheaper than having to hire a garage space or larger, it will be fine :thumbsup:

Where are you based?[/QUOTE We are northern rivers NSW.
What are you going to do about Customs inspection etc on your container/home?:unsure: