anyone who is up and online in Aus - advice needed

[Harrogatemum]

Hi - some of you may know that my DH is an Aussie and I recently was granted my spouse visa....much excitement all around. ~Even better he has been offered a job with a company in Brisbane so I am well aware that we are in a much better position than many people who emigrate to Australia (have family there, friends etc).

The downside is that the salary that DH has been offered is about two thirds of what he earns in the UK, plus I will not be working and what I earn currently would equate to about two thirds of his new Aussie salary. I dont mean that these are massive figures, just trying to put them into context. The bottom line is that we would be living on a wage of about half of what we live on now.

As you can imagine DH has suddenly got massively cold feet even though he is the Aussie, he doesnt want to scrimp and worry about money and wonders why we would make such a move if that is going to be the case.

I feel like my dream has died and cant stop crying. He has gone to bed in a huff and I dont know what to do or who to talk to.

Is anyone there who has any pearls of wisdom to make me feel better......please?

oh well.........guess its a bit early on a Saturday morning for everyone........off to bed now, if anyone has any pearls of wisdom overnight (UK) please help, am feeling very alone.

Hi Harrogatemum,

congrats on getting your visa!

are you assessing the 1/2 the money in GBP? that won't work . Best bet is to try and work out what things acutally cost in AUS$ and then see how far the salary would go. Also couldn't he look for a more lucrative job once you're down there? At least he'll have A job to go to, a luxury which most people that don't get sponsored (like ourselves) dont have ;)

We'll be migrating in May and I've got the jitters, but simply because it's a big move with 2 young kids.

No sure on whenyou're planning on going but there'll be another Australia Expo in Leeds and one in London in April 2008. We've been to the one in London recently, and even though we didn't need to be sponsored it was worth it for the information and freebies for the kids . Don't know what sector your dh works in but there seem to be a lot of jobs going all around so no need to grab first one, if that makes sense.

I'll better now take a brake from on here and start filling in my visa application

Hi, I'm in Brisbane. Brisbane is pretty fabulous to live in, if you could tell me more details I could tell you about the quality of life you'd enjoy here. Of course pounds are worth more than dollars. Do you own a house? Will you be renting? which area is your husband's family in? Do you want private schools for your kid(s)? Bottom line is, everyone I know has done the UK thing, made money and EVERYONE returns here! It really is a great quality of life. I personally wouldn't care about the money. We're doing the same thing but moving to Canada (less money etc) but couldn't care less, we hope to share our excitement with our children of travel and adventure and there's no dollar value of having no regrets when you are old! Worst case scenario, you hate it here and you move back and have to find new jobs. It'll cost you a bit but so what? Unless you'd be homeless and starving there's no problem. If you do come, keep your mindset positive, can't stand negative people, they ruin it for themselves. ask me if you want specific details or information.
CAn you get my email address on this?

Hi lispy - I tried to CAT you but it says you dont accept them. Re owning a house - yes we do but DH doesnt want to sell it incase we decide to come back to the UK so we would be trying to rent it out. We would aim to rent in Brissie to start with with a view to buying if we settle. DH's family live in Windsor so fairly close to the city, I would prefer to be further out than that personally. I really dont know about private schools at this stage as the DTs are about ot turn 3 and DD about to turn 1 so not something I have considered yet.

Mrs BigD - I guess the reason I work it out as half is because I look at the kind of houses I like over there and they cost a fortune - my SIL just snet me details of one near her for $895,000 which she said was a bargain - what a joke, as if we can afford that!

Harrogatemum, true there's that. The houses I've been looking at were along the same. Though I draw the line at $800k and we're looking at north shores sydney... only looking for 3bed place for starters. I'll be working as well as hubbie, though some of my money will be going into daycare for ds I think. We're lucky in that dh should be able to pull a decent salary over there as he's quite senior in IT.

Saying that, I'd rather have to scrimp in Australia than have oodles of money in the UK... the weather, the life style, the beaches...
Good luck!

When we first arrived in Oz we were renting a house for $320 per week. DH was earning only $30k per year and we've got 2 DC.
We were fine and we got by. Family allowance helps and you might be entitled to rent assistance. We were. We didn't get to save huge amounts but we did just fine.
We also kept our house in the UK (rented it out) for a while but sold up when we realised we wanted to settle here.
My advice is to give it a go.Some things here are much dearer than the UK (like grocery shopping) and others are cheaper (like petrol). But it's the quality of life that is so much better and surely you can't put a price on that.

I'm actually down the street from windsor, fabulous area, a bit posh in parts, fantastic public school, lots of SAHM etc.THe rent you receive should cover your rent costs here. If you're willing to look in my suburb (Lutwyche) just next to WIndsor it's a bit cheaper. I think you could get a house for around $300 p/w. check our www.realestate.com.au. I've noticed they don't always list the cheaper rentals though, it would help if you were here looking in the windows of agencies. Obviously if you want to buy over here, a run down dump will cost over half a million. You will get govt. assistance and if you don't work you'll get another payment. don't expect alot, our total payment is about $60 p/w but it goes on your husbands income, you'll also get the odd $500 bonus. It's tricky to work out how much you'll receive but if you email them they'll tell you what you'll get which will help your budgeting. Once you survive your first summer you'll be glad you came. What an adventure with the added bonus of having friends and relatives and financial security, you wont be stuck here, you can leave whenever you want! I think you'd be crazy to miss any opportunity to experience living somewhere new, although as I said, i'm biased because we're doing it soon too! you don't need lots of money, you can get a nice group of mum friends (if i'm still here) and go to each others houses, parks,pools etc. If hubby works in town you'll only need one car. petrol, food etc is cheaper, holidays can be camping at the beach or cheap airfares interstate. Can't think of anything else to tell you. ask if you think of anything.

Ah, HM I'm so sorry to hear this - I hope you had a better day today...

Have you seen the price comparison sites on the web? I'll try and track them down for you... one was this, although I'm loathed to put it on here in case it makes it worse!

www.gomatilda.com/calculator/index.cfm

and on the very expat site you recommended to me there's a good link for working out costs etc...I'll try and find it tomorrow.

It will be fine. and I say that as someone who's not actually that jazzed about making the move, even I've got used to the idea and know all the money and other problems will probably pale once we get there! Also, money/salaries are not set in stone. There's nothing to say he'll be on the same salary for the next million years, or that you'll never find a way to make some money, etc etc... You've got through that visa process - tell him to suck it up and get on that plane!

S
xx

this site will be the one to tell you your benefits etc familyassist.gov.au
It might be difficult to work it all out but somewhere you can email them.

lispy I have tried to email you but it says you dont accept them when I try!

hi, can't work it out, [email protected]

Harrogate mum

Dh took a pay cut to come here and we went from two to one income - on the plus side - we already had a house that I was renting out.

Albeit needs work and we are slowly doing that - helped by a small mortgage.

If you wanted to live a bit further out than windsor - you could try places like Enoggerra,(bus and train links straight to city), Mitchelton, Ferny Grove - so - 30 minutes by train straight into the city.

some places that are a little further out but with good linksthey are rentals.

an area called Mitchelton for example - not far from dh's family- good area - good schools - both private and state.

Somewhere like Mitchelton is okay - good train links to the city, mix of older and newer housing, good schools, good shopping, good eating out etc.

We manage on one income - mortgage and car loan.

You would be entitled to family tax benefit, possibly child care rebates.

Here if you rent - you do not pay for rates or water ( unless you use excess) so no council tax equivalent. Get good phone deals for cheap calls back to the UK - good internet deals, broadband depending on where you live.

Lots of things are pay by the month and that is what we do - break it down into workable monthly payments.

Harrogate - we came out here with dh and no job - just a mortgage and dd2 on the way. He got a job - not really what he wanted but in a few months he got a new job and was back doing something he liked and in that time had a few pay rises when they have seen what he is able to do etc and he has been rewarded.

If your Dh could see this job as a stepping stone - means to an end - get here, get in the market and look for another job. Rent while you look around for an area you might like to live.

Try to be positive and get dh to be positive. It is a job to come to and help you stay on your feet while you look for something else.

The other thing we worked on was not to just convert from aussie dollars to UK pounds and then work out how dear things were BUT to do it as a percentage.

ie in the UK we spent 10% of our weekly income on whatever - works out to be x amount.

In Aus it works out that we spend y amount which is in fact only 8% of our income. Sounds confusing but made things more realistic than just straight conversion.

Hope that helps.

thanks eids - I appreciate it. TBH I would prefer to be even further out on some land like at Samford or Cashmere but DH whinges about the commute. I have no desire to be close to the city really, only that that is where DH's sister and family live.

We do need to sit down and work out some figures......

Lispy - will email you.

Cashmere would be a better commute than Samford. Samford was the ideal - when I was growing up BUT then so many people moved out but the infastructure hasn't increased to support it.

From Cashmere your dh could come to Petrie station and there are a number of 'fast trains' just stopping at a few stations on their way into the city. Petrie to City is the commute dh does.

There are a number of train stations - petrie, bray park, lawnton or Strathpine within 5 minute drive of Cashmere.

Shopping not good in Samford again - drive over the range to shop and then decent shops another 10 minutes or so away.

Cashmere - few minutes to two major shopping centres and a number of supermarkets.

Good schools close by from Cashmere. With Samford - primary school in the area - no idea whether there are plans for a secondary school - none in the pipeline as yet.

From my recollection - Samford more expensive than Cashmere - depending on size of block and what you want in a house too I suppose.

I really appreciate all of your input, thanks so much everyone!

I can't help you with specifics on Brizzy, but as a general guide, the UK is horrifically expensive compared to, well, anywhere else on earth, really, and yes I've been to Tokyo. For things like public transport, petrol, eating out you can generally substitute the "pounds" sign with the "dollars" sign and that will be about right.

How long is it since he left? Don't know how it will feel if you're not working, but these days 66% of your DH's salary will probably feel like 100% of his salary would in the UK.

And it's not like he's even tied by a visa to the company - there is very low unemployment and if he wants to look for another job it's almost certain he wouldn't have trouble finding one. If you've got any degree of experience in a skilled job you're away. A lot of my friends in Australia are negotiating either higher salaries or Daddy-friendly nine-day fortnights.

Why doesn't your DH go back to the company and say really I'd love to, but my financial position is that it would be a 33% pay cut, is there anything you can do?

They may be trying to get him at a cheeky discount if they think he's a homesick expat facing another English winter. If I were an employer, I certainly wouldn't think that I had to offer top whack to an Aussie accent in mid-November in England. No way!

hi ninedragons - he has been back to the company already and asked about the pay.......they wont move on it unfortunately.

Still he thinks we may still be able to go but will have to stay here a bit longer and save up some more for a house!

Interest rates are about two or three percentage points higher in Aus than in the UK, so if you know you're going to buy a house there, perhaps you should speak to a financial planner about getting an expat mortgage before you go. I think they can only be arranged when you're still living offshore - the second you touch down in Australia you'll be stuck with a 7-8% rate like all the other locals.

That's very interesting ninedragons. I am currently looking at applying for work in Oz on a regional migrant workers permanent residents visa. I am considering if I should remortgage now to raise cash for deposit in Oz, buy off plan now and rent until we move out. Does that sound like a good plan? Some are guaranteeing 6% rental returns.