Thinking of going home
 

Joined: Jul 2007
Location: Poole,Dorset
Posts: 73

Going Home!

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Hi All
We have been in Perth now for two years and are thinking in the next one or two years to go back to England.
Why you might ask!
We miss the usual stuff like family friends etc.Really miss Europe as before coming we used to travel alot.The wife is from Venezuela so travelling to South America is so expensive and about 30 odd hours travelling.


My question is;
Have you lived in Australia and then gone back home?
Did you make the right decision or did you regret returning?
Any thoughts you might have might be helpful.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

I lived in NZ five years and just got back to UK (needed to be nearer to ageing parents as I am an only child).

I am finding it very hard to settle here. Some days I think hell I shall just get back on the plane and return to NZ but that would not solve my reasons for moving back which I really really can't change (see above).

My biggest challenges are loneliness for my own age group, living in relatives spare room out of a suitcase and not having a car or a job. Of course once I find work all of these short term issues will be resolved.

Work situation is incredibly tough. I have never been out of work in my life until now. So far I have not even got an interview and recruitment agencies seem to advertise vacancies that dont actually exist to entice you on to their books.

I am applying for anything and everything but can't even get temporary office work at the moment despite saying I will do anything from Project Management to Reception and Envelope Filling!

So my advice is come back for the right reasons but do try and find work first or get some interviews lined up and look at any work options for both of you to maximise your chances. Unless ur very rich and don't have to work of course:rofl:

Good Luck!

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Thanks Frequentflyer for your reply and advise.Sounds tough for you at the moment but im sure things will come together shortly.
By the way unfortunately we are not rich and do need to work:rofl:
can only dream.
Best of luck to you!

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Just adding to my starting post.
We are in a bit of a predicament.
As said thinking of going home but when.
We are in between finances after securing land and a deal on a house build so really just waiting for titles of land and then applying for the house loan.
This is not an easy process and it seems to be a wait for ever and on that my job is not very secure have very little work on and yet cannot look or move to another job.
We really do fill that we want to go home but our idea is to stick it out for another year build the house and hopefully make a little money to go with our very small deposit.
Or do we pull out of deal with the house and land and run with our deposit home.
Originally our plan was to stick it out for four years to get our Citizenship but dont think we can last that long.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

I would tend to think that unless you are dead certain that this is where you will want to be in 1,2, 5 or 10 years that it may be a tad risky to tie yourself down to property here. If you can escape with your house deposit then this is financially a good time to go, the dollar has not been as strong as this in years - usually people moving to UK have been well behind the 8 ball.

If you think you can get work back in UK then go, there is nothing magical about Australian citizenship when you are already a citizen of a first world country.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Well my latest update is that my question has been answered.
Have just lost my job two weeks before land titles released so now have no property to worry about.
Should hopefully get a new job soon so now need to decide when shall we go home

Does anybody know how much deposit ( percentage)you need to buy a house in the Uk at present?

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Hi Emeric. Sorry to hear you lost your job, but given that most people are forecasting Perth house prices to fall then it might be a blessing in disguise. By the way i can relate to your wife being from SA. Mine is from Peru. She wanted to go to a wedding later in the year and the cheapest flight is about $3k per person.

We are still undecided on if to stay. I dont dislike it, its just becoming to expensive and i am starting to think that we would have a better lifestyle in the UK. Good luck what ever you do.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Thanks verystormy.
Have an interview tomorrow so hopefully be lucky there.
Such a shame to spend so much money to return to your country and spend the rest of the year paying it off.
Does your wife prefer Aus or the UK?No thoughts of a life in Peru?
We also like it here but could never spend the rest of our lives here far to isolated.So hard to make the right decision.
Good luck to you also!

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Our stories are very much the same, I moved back in January 11, and am living with 80 yr old parents. I love them, but feel like I have been cut off from the modern world, I crave people my own age to hang out with etc. I did just take a job in a store, mainly to get me out of the house and around other people, and to have a little income. I feel very isolated, and have an anxiety attack at least once a week, but I have to believe things will get better because moving back to the US is not really an option.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Hi

Very interesting reading your posts about coming back to the UK I really can understand your thoughts and feelings as to why you want to come back.

I on the otherhand am emigrating over to Perth in August and have had my visa now for 4 years but due to personal problems I was not in a position to make the big move.

I think you have to way up what is best for you but in all honesty it is not a bed of roses here in the UK petrol prices are absolutely ridiculous. The work situation is dire my partner who is a self employed plasterer and has been over 10 years as never known it so bad. The work situation for the 18-24 old bracket is also really bad.

I know the Conservative government are trying to put the UK back on track but they are making so many damn well cuts it is unbelievable.

Without a doubt I am so ready for a change but have left a buy to let in this country but you can never say never and I am sure it must be really hard to be so far away from relatives and friends.

Well good luck with your move back to the UK and I only hope coming to Perth will prove fruitful.

Debbie

Re: Thinking of going home
 

The reason we are thinking and starting to plan to return to the UK is, we belive that as stated before in this thread we will be able to have a better affordable life in the uk compared to here in OZ,= Why i here you say

Our petrol is now at $1.55 where i live north of Brisbane (uk £1.25 a litre)
Our rego for a basic small kia rio is $635 per year (uk would be £125 a year)
Our insurance has gone up to $490 per year fully comp me and wife (uk is £250)
Food has gone up loads , banbananase at $12.98 per kilo near us

We did a few sums and came up with this
My wife in her job gets $22 per hour here and same job in uk of which their seem to be plenty on the job sites she would get £12 per hour
Our rent on a nice four bed low set is $400 per week a similar house in uk would/ is £550 a month in northampton shire

So if you take a exchange rate of £1 = $2
Rent in oz $400 per week x 4 $1600 per month ,divide by two £800 per month , we pay to much here in oz
wages $22 x 40= $880 - rent $400 works out that we pay 45% ish of wages each week to rent in oz
Wages in uk £12 x 40= £480 - (rent 550 divide by 4= £137 per week) thats approx 28% wages paid out to rent per week in uk

uk pay less in rent and less in food we would be better off at present with equal money/wages
I know people will say about council tax in uk but we pay rates and water here seperate
To sum it up when we take into fact all the bills and tax we pay it seems as we will have more money in our pockets if we lived in uk at present than we have here in oz, we just seem to be working to pay the bills here in oz

im sure people will differ from my comment but thats as it is now for our family of four
note above does not include school fees for my children going to a state school that we have to pay here

Re: Thinking of going home
 

That's the thing though - its not a bed of roses anywhere. We who have already emigrated know that. But so many people in the UK seem to imagine that the UK is the only one having problems. Actually, the UK's problems are nothing compared to some places - for example, unemployment is higher in the US than it is in the UK and American workers face being without healthcare if they lose their job. Hardly a bed of roses either.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Good luck with the interview. What is it you do?
Its no big deal for us if we had to return as we were sponsored comming out and the move was paid for by the company. We did sell the house and have nothing left of the little we made from it, but to be honest we were a bit glad to see the back of it. Had been a fixer up that had dragged on for years.
The wife does prefer Oz, but i think a fair bit of that was the years we spent living on a building site of a house in the UK compared to having a nice rental here. She also prefers the weather here, but the extra money we would have in the UK means we could aford plenty of trips to somewhere sunny.
Have thought about Peru and its something we will be thinking about, but she is closer to the side of the family that live in England and she also doesnt know if she wants to go back there.
A fairly big part of me likes it here, but its just too expensive and as you say, too isolated.

Re: Thinking of going home
 

It is very true that every part of the world is having a rough time but when people say england is bad and nothing going for it, i ask you to look at what you have around you, money and a big house does not mean any thing
Australia does not have streets paved with gold, yes it has nice weather but it is humid and you need to think of slip slap slop all the time and when you get hot you can only strip down to naked and if you are still hot its not a nice feeling, at least in uk if you feel cold you can rug up and put more clothes on.
As i said before we as a family are finding oz more expensive and i dont see the goverment helping out with stopping these companies putting up prices.
We pay $70 per month for internet
$30 for phone, compared to uk where i have just seen internet and phone for £15 (same speeds etc) per month
The prob with australia (where i am) we need more competition and that would help prices

Re: Thinking of going home
 

Exactly :) and talking to some folk back home ~things are actually fine/normal.

Some of us will have to take cruddy jobs to survive ~that is life ,it can however work .

I have brothers in the 18-24 age group ,all of them(3) work and could find another job if needed .

The important thing to remember is that in order for LIFE to work,different things will need to be tried .

Since we came to the US my DH has done nothing but lousy work ...but I am a Sahm ~ not easy these days right ?

When we return to the UK ,he/we will do the same .

It is vital to work out what is important to you as a family ,what will work for your personal situation ?

One thing for us ,my DH is a fantastic tennis player ...it is his world ...he has played 3 times (with a decent partner) in the US since 2005 :(
I don't want to have him lose that part of himself ~the UK will (even for that aspect) be better:D