Should we move to Victoria (Oz)?

[kerloch]

To go or not to go......

We have had a visa (skilled migrant) for a while but decided Australia was too expensive and we would be downgrading not upgrading if we left the UK . But DH is fed up with his job and needs a change and so we are now thinking of it seriously again.

Friends who went out there a few years ago have just come back though saying the skilled migrant visa has changed and now they have to pay more taxes, school fees etc. They said it was totally unaffordable. I wondered if anyone was in that situation over in Oz and could share their words of wisdom!

[chloeb2002]

Arfishy.., the conveyance allowance is available on a 457. It's not income or status based. The school allowance is also available on a 457 if you get family part a. Which you can only get if only one person works and income is less than a certain amount. We started life in a 457.

[arfishy]

We are over 4.5km away. There must be something to qualify surely?

Aha found it. We're not eligibile because there's a bus stop right outside our house! There has to be no public transport fwithin 1.6km.

It was close though and I've learned something, thank you!

[Mosman]

You don't get a sausage on 457, honestly Chloe I wish you would understand that - the 457 is no better than being a tourist for 4 years, you get nothing.

[Mosman]

You couldn't possibly get part A on a 457 because you're not entitled to anything at all from the government.

[chloeb2002]

Arfishy.. That's sad.. I thought you could choose how to get there.. We have a school bus service that goes from the door. But we get paid to drive to school as the form asks how you get them there. Up until October 2012 family part b was available on a 457 and the childcare rebate could be claimed back via tax ( this has changed too) However very few expats live on less than 60k a year. So wouldn't have qualified anyway. We had one month where we did. We were on a 457 for nearly 3 years. I have noticed little difference done we have been on pr. We still get nothing from the government. Pay our school fees... So the conveyance allowance is great!

[kerloch]

arfishy You have so made my day by telling me M&S ship to Oz.

Can I ask - what do you mean by: If your employer offers salary sacrifice or FBT you can recover 50% of the costs of education, flights, laptops, professional memberships, phones, internet, somewhat randomly airline lounge plan memberships and some others which escape me at the moment.

Is this something you request off employers?

[kerloch]

hazchem to be honest we just assumed DH would only get work in Melbourne. He is v senior finance and every agent he spoke to a few years ago said you have to be in the CBD. Would love not to be in the centre of a city. Is it mega cheap out in the country or just a bit cheaper?

[arfishy]

It looks like M&S are actually opening a store here next year!!! And H&M.

Kerloch, yes, your employer has to do it for you so you would need to negotiate it in. I use a payroll company who act as my employer called CXC. They process it for me, so whenever I pay school fees I fill in a form with the receipt and then I get 50% of that back in tax reduction in my next pay. The same applies with any flights I take plus I can claim back one mobile and one computer per year. This covers relocation costs too.

I can also claim expenses, which again reduces the tax I pay.

More info here:

www.cxcglobal.com.au/contractors/why-cxc-global/salary-packaging.html

You can ask your employer to do this for you - it will save you heaps and also offset the cost of education.

[hazchem]

Yes the country is much much cheaper. For example

geelong 4 bed rental $400 or Ballarat 4 bed rental $350 or Mildura 4 bed rental $300 compared to melbourne 4 bed rental $900

Geelong or Ballarat may have some financial jobs I think geelong is the more likely although with the car industry pulling out not sure. He might have skills into say Executive level Public Service which would have some roles in those cities too. I'm not sure about Mildura but then they might need a CFO in a winnery which surely would have perks too. Mildura isn't communtable for Melbourne but both Geelong and Ballarat are.

[ben5]

We are in WA and love it. School fees depend on your visa. We came over as PR's and 4 years later we are all Aussies !! We even have Aussie passports some things are more expensive some less so. Are quality of life is much better. Remember you are being paid Aussie dollars and not pounds so stop converting ASAP and it's at that stage it becomes easier

[chloeb2002]

Well said Ben 5...

We get our citizenship on Australia Day.. Then passports too.

Arfishy! I love salary sacrifice! It's a gift. even have a novated lease car! We use remserv. Lots of ss companies out there.

[Mosman]

WA is going to have 5 million people living there by 2015 and all the reasons people love living there may well be about to disappear.
Tax breaks are going, all the lovely child related hands outs, basically it's going to be in the same boat as the uk due to the deficit

[kerloch]

arfishy what kind of visa are you on or does it matter? hazchem what a difference in prices. 2 years ago we looked at rental in the city and we were shown houses at $1k a week!

[kerloch]

Another quick question - how long does it take to get to the CBD from Ballarat?

[hazchem]

kerloch about 1 hour 20min. have a look at vline for prices etc. Rail pricing is much simplier in OZ. If you are considering commuting also have a look at ballan. It's tiny but lovely 3 bed rental $240 It has a primary school but I think you need to go to ballarat for high school. Has a small supermarket but would need to drive/train to ballarat for proper grocery shopping. You could look at baccus marsh too.

[hazchem]

Opps and I could have shown you $1k plus homes but thought the $900 was nicer with more character :) and along the lines of the other homes.
Oh and if you do choose Ballarat you want Ballarat East to be close to the train station.

[hazchem]

mosman I think Oz is going down the same route as UK because we now have a bunch of neo liberals incompetents in charge.

[arfishy]

We're on a 457 visa Kerloch and yes, the type matters.

Sydney prices are madness but I've found myself much less of a consumer than I was in the UK. We still have a better quality of life here and I'm a much more conscious shopper - shopping seasonally/from overseas/planning. In the UK, even 9 years ago I could easily spend GBP400 in the supermarket. I barely get to $100 a week here now.

[Mosman]

I find it the other way around in that my weekly shop in 2011 was £150 a week for six including nappies. $400 a week barely touches the sides I'm constantly having to top up, however I don't waste as much ... Can't afford to.
Still prefer Austealia though there's no getting away from it, but do come with your eyes open.

[arfishy]

Yes, I've had to change my behaviour to do that, so I adapted to Australia and didn't act as I had done in the UK. At home I'd spend lots on M&S and Waitrose food here I'm quite happy to shop in Aldi for example. I never buy books and magazines and to be fair my GBP400 would have included nappies which I don't need any more.

I've been here for so long now though I guess I don't have much of a barometer for the costs in the UK though but I'm certain supermarket food is much cheaper than here. I used to fling stuff into my trolley with abandon at home, here I learned a lesson pretty sharply after I flung three punnets of out of season raspberries in my basket in the David Jones food hall of all places. Didn't make that mistake again!

[CadleCrap]

Got to love Aldi!!

[arfishy]

Aldi is brilliant and the quality is very good. I did join Costco but bought loads of stuff that I didn't need (root beer ffs) so I didn't end up saving money at all. And it's impossible to get through a catering tub of Vegemite before it reaches is sell by date

[hazchem]

arfishy I'm having palpations at thee thought of how much those strawberries cost:)
Do you guys find meat cheaper in OZ? I think that it is cheaper and that the cheaper meat is a better quality then cheap meat in the uk. But I might just be imagining it. Cheese is pricer here and I also think that ready meals are loads more expensive here.

[Mosman]

Ha ha ... Er no I don't find meat cheaper ....$30 per kg for steak considering all the beef farmers in WA, day light robbery

[Mosman]

I think a move to Melbourne might be on the cards ... I love Costco and aldi and if they won't come to me