11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
#112
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Thanks to Les and others for adding perspective.
I have yet to see a really good empirical comparison of the relative expenses of living in both countries and I think there are countless examples of things which are more or less expensive. If you are making a comparable more from a big city overseas to a big city in Australia (as opposed to say moving from a big city to rural Australia) then I tend to think that the differences are not so huge as to make a real difference to whether to move or not and would not be top of my list of things to consider.
For me personally, I am considerably financially better off in living in the Eurozone than I was in Australia, principally because of the depreciation of the AU$ against the € but also because I am simply paid more here. Taking everything into account I earn almost double here to the salary I was paid in Oz. But money was never the motivation for moving and it wasn't the principal motivation for moving back.
I was watching an interesting program last night about a chap who has moved temporarily to a crofters cottage in Scotland (I forget the name of the program) but one thing he said really touched a cord with me. He said he had done much travelling and during those travels he was "looking for something". That is how I can best describe the reasons why we moved to Australia we were looking for something - I suspect most people are in the same boat but find it very hard to define exactly what that "something". Our experience is that it was not there but we have a better chance of finding it in Europe!
I have yet to see a really good empirical comparison of the relative expenses of living in both countries and I think there are countless examples of things which are more or less expensive. If you are making a comparable more from a big city overseas to a big city in Australia (as opposed to say moving from a big city to rural Australia) then I tend to think that the differences are not so huge as to make a real difference to whether to move or not and would not be top of my list of things to consider.
For me personally, I am considerably financially better off in living in the Eurozone than I was in Australia, principally because of the depreciation of the AU$ against the € but also because I am simply paid more here. Taking everything into account I earn almost double here to the salary I was paid in Oz. But money was never the motivation for moving and it wasn't the principal motivation for moving back.
I was watching an interesting program last night about a chap who has moved temporarily to a crofters cottage in Scotland (I forget the name of the program) but one thing he said really touched a cord with me. He said he had done much travelling and during those travels he was "looking for something". That is how I can best describe the reasons why we moved to Australia we were looking for something - I suspect most people are in the same boat but find it very hard to define exactly what that "something". Our experience is that it was not there but we have a better chance of finding it in Europe!
#113
Account Closed
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10,784
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Thanks to Les and others for adding perspective.
I have yet to see a really good empirical comparison of the relative expenses of living in both countries and I think there are countless examples of things which are more or less expensive. If you are making a comparable more from a big city overseas to a big city in Australia (as opposed to say moving from a big city to rural Australia) then I tend to think that the differences are not so huge as to make a real difference to whether to move or not and would not be top of my list of things to consider.
For me personally, I am considerably financially better off in living in the Eurozone than I was in Australia, principally because of the depreciation of the AU$ against the € but also because I am simply paid more here. Taking everything into account I earn almost double here to the salary I was paid in Oz. But money was never the motivation for moving and it wasn't the principal motivation for moving back.
I was watching an interesting program last night about a chap who has moved temporarily to a crofters cottage in Scotland (I forget the name of the program) but one thing he said really touched a cord with me. He said he had done much travelling and during those travels he was "looking for something". That is how I can best describe the reasons why we moved to Australia we were looking for something - I suspect most people are in the same boat but find it very hard to define exactly what that "something". Our experience is that it was not there but we have a better chance of finding it in Europe!
I have yet to see a really good empirical comparison of the relative expenses of living in both countries and I think there are countless examples of things which are more or less expensive. If you are making a comparable more from a big city overseas to a big city in Australia (as opposed to say moving from a big city to rural Australia) then I tend to think that the differences are not so huge as to make a real difference to whether to move or not and would not be top of my list of things to consider.
For me personally, I am considerably financially better off in living in the Eurozone than I was in Australia, principally because of the depreciation of the AU$ against the € but also because I am simply paid more here. Taking everything into account I earn almost double here to the salary I was paid in Oz. But money was never the motivation for moving and it wasn't the principal motivation for moving back.
I was watching an interesting program last night about a chap who has moved temporarily to a crofters cottage in Scotland (I forget the name of the program) but one thing he said really touched a cord with me. He said he had done much travelling and during those travels he was "looking for something". That is how I can best describe the reasons why we moved to Australia we were looking for something - I suspect most people are in the same boat but find it very hard to define exactly what that "something". Our experience is that it was not there but we have a better chance of finding it in Europe!
#114
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,872
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Yes I watched the same show about the guy who gave up everything (well maybe not everything)to do the crofters thing.We did the same,but due to being severely rascially abused by the natives,we decided to head back to England.
#115
Account Closed
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10,784
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
#116
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
This is quite deep. Anything you cannot nail down with a label is deep of course, but I think we have found our something in Aus. This may be why criticisms are met in my head with genuine bewilderment. I think we may all have a place that is our fit, much the same as you would look for in a life partner. Good luck!
The thing is that what makes it fit will be different for everyone, which is why I laugh when I sometimes read on here questions like "where should we live" and "what are the good suburbs of....[insert name of city] because if we all liked the same things then the world would be a very boring place indeed.
#117
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,872
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
yes in Bonnie Scotland!
#118
True Blue
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Brisbane, Grange
Posts: 179
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Agreed, Australia isnt for everyone (thank goodness) but the points you raise I'm afraid can be applied to any country. Originally from the UK, I have lived in HongKong, USA and four years in Canada and I can honestly say, in my experience, Australia is by far the better country. We arrived Feb 2007. This year alone we have had to deal with recession, Black Saturday (we live in St. Andrews) and i'm loosing my job at the end of this month. But I wouldn't swap this place for anything. If I'm going to have to put up with crap drivers, expensive tomotoes and the like, I'd rather put up with it here than anywhere else with the bonus of great summers, great people and scenery to die for, warts 'an all. And bugs.
#119
Victorian Evangelist
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Melbourne, by the beach, living the dream.
Posts: 7,704
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Buzzy
#120
Reg. Migration Agent
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 319
Re: 11 months in Oz and we are out of here (thank god!)
Yes but if I doubled your outgoings tomorrow Les without increasing your income I think your quality of life might suffer a bit don't you?
I have moved countries as well as interstate within Australia, and each time we've moved it has cost us a lot of money in selling up before the move and then to re-establish after the move.
The point I was really trying to convey in this thread and others is that whenever we've moved (and I would assume its the same for everyone else) is that it has never been to the same lifestyle, so you really are not comparing apples with apples.
Your outgoings will be higher for a year or two after a move as you re-establish, your expectations of lifestyle will change (cars, entertainment etc) therefore you will have less disposable income.
My comments re prices in the UK come from my relatives and former school friends still in the UK as well as a doctor friend who made the move a little while ago. I know what they are earning in the UK and what they could earn in similar jobs here together with the prices they pay in the UK from when I was there a couple of months ago.
It may well be that prices and incomes vary as much in the UK depending on location as much as they do here. Which is why there is really little point trying to make comparisons.
When all is said and done people move here for lifestyle expectations both for family and children and how well they expect the future to change for the better, rather than run an Excel spread and calculate how much more money they will have in their at the end of the week.