Can I afford to move to Sydney (or can I afford not to?!)

[KellyMarieBoomBoom]

I've been offered an amazing opportunity to move to Sydney.

Work want to send me there, for a minimum of a year, with my uk job waiting for me. Realise I am v v lucky.

I've been reading all the threads re cost of living. My salary would be about $200k. Which I appreciate sounds fantastic. DH would look for work but no guarantee of getting any, we would be losing his salary (similar to mine at home) but he'd get to be a Full time dad until he found work.

My questions:

1. Can I live in a nice home, near a beach, not a crazy commute...and have a nice lifestyle, without having to worry about my grocery bill, on this salary?
   

1. What's it like for full time Dads? I imagine it's even harder than here! We have a toddler and a school ager.
   

1. Will I regret it forever if I don't go?! Am I crazy to pass up this chance in a lifetime because I don't want to leave a proper family house, my family/friends , my DS's uk school place, and my husband's job security...for the sake of an amazing year in Australia?
   

Really want to go. But don't want to go and not be able to enjoy living there because am worrying about the cost of milk, nappies, whatever.

Know this is going over old thread ground but really would appreciate advice.

[HeadingHome]

1. Yes
2. Great, lots of SAHDs in Australia
3. It's only a year, you will love it, and probably regret not going

[foodfairy]

My family is really enjoying our life in sydney and its given us lots of opportunities ( especially outdoorsy things) and generally it has been really positive.

But I would think about this. Firstly moving kids for just one year can be quite disruptive when they are at school - just starting to settle down when it's time to move on again. I would also have a good think about school places when you get back to the uk. Not a problem here as all the state schools have well defined catchment areas, but will be a big issue for us when we go back.

Money wise I suspect it depends on how much of a pay rise this is and where you live now and the lifestyle you expect. I've found living in sydney much more expensive than London ( supermarket bills and rent still shock me) and our household income is higher than yours. Try looking at domain.com.au for rental prices ( and the nearer to the water you are the more expensive it gets) and Coles.com.au for an idea of groceries. Also don't forget to budget in kids pay A$ 5000 a year school fees unless you have PR plus uniforms which are pricey and books.

Don't want to be negative as we are having lots of fun and loving our 2 years here, but don't expect an amazing lifestyle with pools, sea views and eat in restaurants a lot. It's sunny, loads of beaches, bbqs all the time, great sports but not cheap. The uk will still be there when you get back from adventure.

[chloeb2002]

200,000$ is a huge salary. The average Aussie wage is 75k. My dh is on $160,000. That's top 10% of wage earners. Yes on 160k with a big mortgage, personal loan, 4 kids, au pair, private schools x2. It's tight. But I work and earn about 30k. We manage. I look forward to no car loans and no personal loan.

[hazchem]

My family income is less then a quarter of that :)

[kickassangel]

How does your DH feel about losing his job? What will happen to him when you return to the UK?

I gave up my job when DH's job moved to the US, and I truly hated being a SAHP. I hated having no work, being reliant on DH etc etc. I've got a job now so things are much better, but I still had to start my career from the ground up, and have several years of pension that I need to self fund because I wasn't working.

What about your career? They may hold a job for you but will you be able to advance it, make a good impression, get lined up for further promotion, or will you effectively be putting yourself back a year in the UK?

In spite of those fairly major reservations, I would still be massively tempted by such an offer.

Having siad that, I live in the US so no help with costs etc in Oz.

[MarshaBrady]

What will your dh do about work. Will it be hard for him to return back in the UK?

How easy is it for your dc to leave and restart school in the UK?

[KellyMarieBoomBoom]

Lots of food for thought. Appreciated. Funny, I've been really focussing on the 'will we have enough money to have a lovely time' and not enough on how things will be when we return to England. Also, I think the point about DH potentially being miserable is a fair one. I worry that, whilst on face value it sounds amazing, that actually it's a lot of stress on all of us, and our relationships, for a bit of an unrealistic fantasy. I'm really thinking that perhaps it's not the right thing...but I should start saving for an epic holiday there!

[MasterOfTheYoniverse]

Well, lets see it thus way, it could be your epic holiday.... For which you would actually be paid handsomely!

I think you should concentrate your logistics in the UK. Can your DH take a sabatical and bounce back? Will you find a school.
Is your employer prepared to ship you back home after a fixed term or will you be pressured into staying?

[SouthernHippyChick]

Some great advice and think you're being much more forward-looking and realistic than we were!
Definitely something to be said for epic holiday somewhere rather than uproot entire family 1,000 of miles. That's my future plan. Though greyness, lack of light and boredom
may drive me off again, who knows.

It really IS v stressful, enormously testing on the strongest of relationships. And extremely hard on dome kids, not all are flexible and can be down to luck not choices as to how well they settle.

But yes, it's an adventure collapses in heap of exhaustion after adventure overload

[YouPutYourRightArmIn]

Make sure tax advice is included. If you don't break residency in the uk (ie you need to be outside of the uk for more than a complete tax year) you could get stung for taxes.