TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi folks! Myself, my girlfriend and our two children intend to ditch the doom and gloom of the UK in favour of a new life in Australia ASAP but could really do with some help and guidance in regards to how much money would be required before we're able to set a realistic date for our arrival. Okay, so I've done some research of my own and here's what I've come up with: $4,500 to pay for our flights $2,000 to secure a rental property $6,000 to cover our first three months rent $2,500 to allow for three months worth of food TOTAL: $15,000 (just over £8,000 - feel free to correct me if this is wrong) Please bare in mind that I have very little knowledge in regards to day-to-day living costs in Perth and therefore I've had to guesstimate most of those sums. Anyway, I would now like to find out a little more about other expenses, such as utility bills, mobile phones and anything else we may need to budget for in order to ensure that our move goes through without too many hiccups. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Oh, and just so y'all know, my girlfriend has her citizenship and my visa is already being dealt with. It's really just a case of preparing ourselves financially before taking the plunge. Thanks again, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkiwd Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi Gary. There are some older threads that cover the monthly living costs, I think it worked out at around $4500 per month for a family including rent, bills, fuel, car insurance etc. On arrival will you need to stay in short term accommodation while house hunting? will you need to buy a car when you arrive? do you need to buy furniture/household things when you get your house or are you shipping your stuff over? School uniforms and some school contribution fees also need to bepaid for(if applicable). Just some other things to think about, hopefully someone who has recently made the move will offer more accurate advice. We are budgeting around £15000 to last the first couple of months once we arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks for the reply, nikkiwd. To answer your questions: 1) We wouldn't need to find short-term accommodation as my girlfriend has a number of relatives (father, brother, etc) who currently reside in Perth and would be more than happy to take us in until we find a place of our own. 2) I don't want to be travelling everywhere via public transport and therefore we may need to look into purchasing a car upon arrival. 3) We would ideally like to rent a furnished property - I've seen some nice apartments in Mandurah for around $500 per week that look fine. 4) School fees are a complete unknown to us at the moment. I don't suppose you could offer me any advice in regards to how I could find out whether or not we will need to pay these? Thanks, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 $500 seems cheap for furnished. Will you need two cars for work? 2nd hand cars aren't cheap here - also you'll need to get insurance and don't forget petrol. School fees vary from school to school (some are voluntary). You'll also need to buy books, pencils etc., each year will have a list of things they need. As they get older you find you can re-use binders etc., from previous years. Some schools won't let you enrol on a short term rental - others will. Little things like changing over your licence costs (can't remember how much now as it was a long time ago). On average, we probably spend about $300 pw on food for 4 adults (excluding wine, beer etc.), and you'll need a bit extra for the start up costs of stocking your pantry and laundry. Coles and Woolies have on line shopping - you could do a cyber shop to see how much you'd spend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkiwd Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) Have a look into the prices of cars, try carsales.com.au. Cars are more expensive than here which is a bummer. Regarding schools, if you have a permanent visa you don't pay school fees but apparently everyone pays contributions and then books etc but not sure how much it all is. Uniforms are supposed to be quite expensive. If you know which area you want to live then have a look at schools in that catchment area, their websites may have info on these costs. Edited March 4, 2014 by nikkiwd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 It will depend on what visa you are coming on. $500 a week for a furnished apartment in mandurah sounds VERY cheap. Unusually so. Second hand cars are expensive, so I would allow several thousand. You need to factor in household bills - gas, elec water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hey Ali! Thanks for the reply. I found more than one property/apartment in Mandurah that came fully furnished for $500pcm, although I did notice that most seemed to cost around $600-$650pcm in other suburbs. Doing a cybershop is a fantastic idea! This will really help me out in regards to budgeting for shopping as that was one of the sums I had come up with a rough cost for. In regards to cars, I think one would be enough to get us by at first until we've settled and got our incoming and outgoing finances sorted. As for school fees, do you know roughly how much they generally are? Cheers, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi verystormy! Hmm, maybe there's a mistake with those weekly costs then(?). Here's a couple of links to the properties I noticed, though: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-wa-halls+head-412515635 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-wa-mandurah-411856683 I shall be emigrating on a partner visa, as my girlfriend is an Australian citizen. Do you know whether or not school fees will apply to us? Thanks, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks for the reply again, nikkiwd. I shall be emigrating on a permanent visa, thank god. Hopefully that'll see me dodge any fees, although I'd happily pay contributions if required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 While I'm here, does anyone know much about the welding trade out there? I've not got a lot of qualifications but I do have a couple (not codings) and I have over 7 years experience - would this be enough to get me a decent job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic964 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 I've contributed several times to cost of living breakdowns, typically I've come in at the low end of the budget. Some thoughts / ideas for you. 1) Don't get hooked into furnished accomodation. With the number of people who move in / out of WA, then there's alot of good 2nd hand furniture going cheap / free. We picked up wardrobes, couches etc for nothing. Non furnished is alot cheaper - try gumtree. The rental market here is weaker now, so there's more available, which is in your favour. 2) Cars arent expensive here alot of the time. Use Gumtree and you'll be really surprised. My cheapest was an $800 dollar ute, which we spent a further $300 on, and have since moved house, picked up mulch, bricks, firewood, furniture etc etc, so has paid for itself many times over. Budget $2K for something perfectly good and reliable. 3) Our bills are, Gas $60/month, Elec $60/month, internet $70/month, Mobile phones (two) $100/month, and water $60/month. For rental properties you don't pay rates, the landlord does that. Petrols around $1.50/litre. Food can be expensive, use places like spudshed, which has lower mark-ups on fruit / veg, and buy whats in season, when its really cheap. We still spend around $150/week . We don't have aircon, or foxtel TV, and have a wood heater for heating the house. We do live pretty simply, but thats out of choice, and these bills relefct that way of life. If you want to run aircon, a pool, and drive newer cars then the costs go up alot. My only other comment is although Mandruah is nice, you should also try and place yourself where the work is. Communting can be expensive here, so you may want to look further at where industry is, as Mandurah isnt (to my knowledge) high in industry. The lifestyle here we find fantastic, so try and go for it if you can, my hope is that this will give you a feel for a lower cost lifestyle. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Thank you for replying, Nick! I'll be honest, looking around for secondhand furnishings never even crossed my mind. I'll certainly look into this now, though. In regards to shopping, I'm gonna take Ali's advice from an earlier post and do a cyber shop in order to get a better feel for what we'll need to budget. A ballpark figure is all we require at the moment. Also a big thanks for listing your utility costs, that'll really help us set a reasonable budget to cover those. I'm overjoyed to hear that living on a budget is achievable in Perth and I am determined to make our move a sucess. Cheers mate, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 The school fees (in public) will be contributions some you'll have to pay and some will be voluntary - I have a child at HS and one at Uni - the HS contributions with books/options (year 9) was $800, My daughter gets HECS (thankfully), we pay for her books which this year have been about $600. If yours are in primary it certainly won't be anything near that if they're in public schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Okay, that's great Ali. My kids are only 3 and 1 at the moment, but our eldest will be 4 by the time we get to Oz and therefore will be attending a primary school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Hey guys! Just a quick update: I've been online tonight and done a typical weekly shop via the Coles website and, despite what a few people have told me, I'm now very confident of being able to get everything we require for under $200. Very happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Compulsory school fees won't apply as you will PR. They only apply to temp visa holders. Though schools have "voluntary" contributions. The apartments are lovely and in excellent locations. Unusually cheap for them given they are furnished. I would look at getting a unfurnished though if possible as then your not stressing if you break anything. It may be worth positing separately about welding jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Yeah, I've just posted another thread on my employment situation. You're not the only person to question the weekly amount for a furnished property so I'm gonna assume that those are just exceptionally good deals. I'm considering the possibility of buying secondhand furniture at first now anyway - just the necessities until we've found work and aren't living on a tight budget. Out of interest, do you find that food shopping is generally cheaper in supermarkets or smaller, privately owned shops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Both can be expensive. Though it depends on what you are used to - I am probably not the best person to ask as we are very much into our food and spend ridiculous amounts on it. There are some good independents such as Spud Shed who do some excellent produce at a fraction of the supermarkets. Also Aldi is coming to Perth which should be interesting. As well as second hand furnishings, there are some good deals. Have a look at Fantastic Furniture. Also, Ikea do a home starters kit, which we bought and was excellent. All the kitchen stuff for a couple of hundred dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 K Mart is great for start up crockery at really good prices. I work full time, so tend to do most of my shopping at the supermarket for convenience, but where I shop there's a great fruit/veg shop and a good butchers where I tend to get my meat. I might be one of the few people who don't like Spud Shed, I've only been a couple of times and whilst I know it's cheap I wasn't impressed by the quality, it may have been that I went on a bad day but I really didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 If you want quality there is only one place (in my humble opinion) Boatshed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozzachino Posted March 7, 2014 Report Share Posted March 7, 2014 Nic has given some great advice. The only thing i would question is their water bill, $60 a month?? We pay $10/15 month for usage and are a family of three no pool, renting so obviously no rates included with that. i am also not a fan of spud shed, went once and all the fruit and veg looked old and not very nice. Went to farmer jacks in ocean reef the other week and it was ok, very cheap though for most fruit and veg. I love drovers in wanneroo, and even though its now out of my way i still make an effort to get my bread, fruit, veg and meat there. our food budget for 2 adults and a very picky 3 1/2 year old is $150. I have spent over this lately but have been getting good deals. The more you shop the savvier you get. Our first coles shop for a few bits on day 1 was $80 and i nearly fell off my chair! Now i spend under $100 in coles or woolies, $10 at the bakery, $20/30 on fruit and veg and $20/30 on meat, we mostly eat chicken though so no expensive lamb/beef for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmoyne Posted March 7, 2014 Report Share Posted March 7, 2014 K Mart is great for start up crockery at really good prices. I work full time, so tend to do most of my shopping at the supermarket for convenience, but where I shop there's a great fruit/veg shop and a good butchers where I tend to get my meat. I might be one of the few people who don't like Spud Shed, I've only been a couple of times and whilst I know it's cheap I wasn't impressed by the quality, it may have been that I went on a bad day but I really didn't like it. Yep agree about Spud Shed Ali... not overly impressed with the quality and prefer to use the independent Greengrocers, Butchers and IGA locally. Sometimes shop in Leeming at the SC on Farrington Rd and like the produce available there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayliandnathan Posted March 7, 2014 Report Share Posted March 7, 2014 Hi , We too are heading to mandurah and my husband is also a welder by trade, last week he was on seek.com.au and found a few positions for welders in the manduarh / peel area which hasnt been the case in the past. My husband has looked at fifo although this would be the other option to not being able to secure work in Mandurah or surrounding areas. We have a 4 yr old ethan hes 5 in july so he too will be school age when we arrive i have today sent an email to mandurah primary school to get some feedback on how the schooling works out there and i will let you know when i get a response. We also have a baby on the way so i have looked at child care and in madurah there is a childcare centre called jack and Gill and this looks great for babies, obviously comes at a cost of up to $65 dollars per day and open from 6am untill 6pm. We are too in process of trying to estimate a time to exit for WA although finnaces will be our deciding factor. We had a quote to ship all our furniture last week whcih was costed at £3,300 and thats 3 bedroom house trampoline and huge BBQ, tools, bikes etc whcih i thought was pretty good. Flights are coming up at £2000 one way for two adults a child and an infant. We will need stay with friends for first few weeks untill we can secure a short term rental so we too need to cost for this and bond and bills. we would need to get a car asap and my husband is hoping to get a motor bike for back and forth to work. we are hoping to take anything from £20,000 pounds for the above costs. Thanks kayli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMackemSlayer Posted March 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Hi Kayliandnathan, WOW! It would appear that your situation is almost identical to ours. Thanks for all the info and please keep me posted in regards to anything you find out from here on in. Out of interest, what route does your husband plan to take in regards to gaining qualifications that are recognised in Oz? Does he have many UK qualifications or codings? Cheers again, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.