DeadVim

Five years ago we got a very nice 3 bed house on 3 and a half acres within an hour drive of Brisbane CBD for just over 300k.

Might be pushing 380k these days but it's still cracking value for my money ...

brits1

Cor blimey I certainly would not want to pay that much for a home an hours drive away from the CBD....well unless it's of course it's heading towards NSW...but each to their own.

Parlay

Hmm, well. When my husband and I first talked about getting married, we decided to settle in the US because we thought it would be easier to get established (cheaper housing and cost of living, etc). It really hasn't been as easy as we thought. We ended up moving away from his family. Which don't get me wrong I love them, but it's nice not to have to be the ones to fix every problem. Although we still DO fix a lot of them for them even though we're several states away.

We had our son last year and we are just looking at the school system here in California and it just makes me cry to think about sending my son to school there. My husband agrees, we could move back to his home state but I don't think things would be all that much better there since we are atheist and it's a VERY religious state (Utah). So we decided there and then that we would definitely be making a move to the UK when our son is old enough to start school.

We went over for my son's first Christmas to spend time with my family and friends and I realised just how much I missed spending time with them. It makes me so sad to think of how much my parents are missing of their first grandchild's life. My husbands siblings don't have any kids (two are divorced, the other has no interest in being in a relationship right now). I feel bad taking away my MIL's only grandchild (sadly my awesome FIL passed away earlier this year), but realisitically with how much more holiday time we'd have in the UK she would actually see MORE of him through the year when we visit (hate how little vacation time there is here).

Plus my brother had a baby in March and so my son will actually have other kids in the family to play with (I have 2 other siblings that are likely to have kids also). We went over just a few weeks ago for three days (so not enough time , but that's all the vacation time we had to spare) to meet the new baby and had such a great time doing family picnics and having extended family over for the day. That was really the straw that broke my back. I am ITCHING to be back over in the UK permanently now. So much so that I am looking into how we can do that, rather than getting together all my US Citizenship papers . I really need to get on that so that we can start the first steps to our return to the UK. I really don't fancy doing the whole US immigration thing again in my lifetime should we decide to return.

DeadVim

Depends if you're attracted to or want to work in the CBD I guess.

verystormy

Nooooo. Oz is about 2.5x as expensive than the UK. Food prices about 3x and housing 4x. It is shocking. To give you an example, we did our monthly shop at the supermarket the other month and out of curieosity i re did it on Tesco online. Here we had spent $607. Tesco, once converted pounds to dollars came in at $203. Petrol is cheaper and council rates cheaper, but thats about all.

brits1

I am lucky, I can work wherever I lay my hat. For us it is a lifestyle choice....we like to be near a City for it's shops,culture,entertainment etc we also like to live in a semi rural area, we have tried both the city life and also rural and neither rocks our boat but thats us....

I also have to say that apart fromthe petrol prices here in the UK (and a large majority here do not travel great distances to get to A to B as we did in Aus)on the whole I find life to be cheaper here in the UK than in Aus..but again that's just my opnion.

Englishman43

Right around the time I'd been here 10'ish years and the "adventure & novelty" had worn off and the reality of spending the rest of my life here set in. I'm not ready to move back right now but when I get older I will 100% .

Just a combo of what everyone else has said: Healthcare, lack of vacation, missing family and , for me with no family here at all, the thought of growing old here fills me with dread.

When I chat to people who are getting ready to retire here with all the worries they have I count my blessings I have the option to grow old in England.

Paul B

Good grief! The land of plenty eh? Or not.

An old school friend of mine moved over there about five years ago. In the UK he earned a healthy crust in engineering/welding, but he now has a similar position in Oz he earns so little his wife calls it his 'hobby' job......

DeadVim

That seems to be the prevailing mood certainly, by all accounts people expecting to be financially better off in Oz will be in for a surprise.

All depends on if the other aspects of life gel for you (and family) to compensate. We all have our path to follow and we're just trying our best to make it work.

Blimey, that didn't sound like me

Nyz

Oh how lovely! Good luck.

I wish I could make my final decision, I still change my mind 20 times a day!

aries

Indeed a difficult decision. Easier for young people to decide, they have the time and energy to change directions if they are wrong.

brits1

My OH and myself were 34 (were did the time go lol) when we decided to migrate to Aus. we were 46 (eek) when we decided to return home to the UK..if you really want something then you just have to go for it...my dad always use to say..."its you who puts the hurdles in your way,nobody else"..never really knew what he meant when I was younger lol...yadda yadda...but well I am a bit wiser and a lot older!!!! for me I find his old saying to mostly ring true.

CarolPat

There wasn't really a defining moment for me - more a process and an unspoken promise that I'd do it when I retired to be closer to my mother who, at 92, has thankfully weathered the years very well - so far. Health insurance was a factor too and the UK support system. Plus the fact that, even after 33 years, I still feel more British than American. I'm really looking forward to being closer to family and friends "back home" but am nervous I'll feel out of place there too after all these years. We'll see ....

brits1

Just take your time, I thought I was British through and through and I am but after being overseas for over 10 years it did take a little bit of getting use to certain things...I'd changed and so had Home...but I took each day as it came and now I feel in some ways I have never been away and appreciate so many things much more than I thought I would. All the best

Englishman43

When are you moving back and from where to where ?