yipeee: now what

[yipeee]

hi guys. this is my first time and i have a ton of questions

we received our PR last week and are now trying to plan our move. we are coming on a LSD in september and are really excited.

my first question is.. i have a teen age daughter who is finishing matric this year and she is really against the move. she would like to go and study next year and we would like to know if it will be very expensive???

do the kids adapt quickly? i also have a ten year old but he is luckily very excited about moving.

we are planning to bring our furniture with us and are planning to buy all new stuff. we are also intending to stock up on the essentials so that we can save on the grocery bill when we get there. is this a good idea?

what are most people doing when they get there regarding accomodation? we are wanting to buy as soon as possible so that we have a place to call our own.

the other thing is, are there any of you that have moved over with out having jobs first? and if so how long did it take to get employment? what is the current job market like in perth as that is where we are planning to settle.

what is the average two person income? what does the average monthly food bill come to for a family of 4?

what is the minimum amount that you can live off comfortably.

we do not want to use any of our money from the sale of our houses to live on as we would like to put down a big deposit on a house.

we have lots more questions but do not want to over whelm you right now.

[Leonie]

Hi

Can help with some of the questions - I have a daughter doing 1st year at Murdoch Uni this year. The cost of the course depends on the subjects, etc. She is studying Teaching and the first semester (half year) was $2200, and the 2nd is $2500. I give her $50 a month to cover the TransPerth bus and train and her mobile and she manages. Because we have PR, she was awarded a Commonwealth supported place at both of the Uni's she applied to - and this drastically reduced the fees. So including books - this year should cost about $6000.

She has adapted very quickly and has become far more outgoing than she was back in SA - and spent this vac volunteering at a childrens camps, joining the local Leos, etc. There seems to be more choice and freedom for her here - fired on by the need to make new friends.

As to stocking up - I found that by the time I received my container - I had already adjusted to the cost of Oz groceries and stopped converting dollars to rands every time I bought something - and enjoy making the most of the specials (which really are reduced) - that while what I had brought with me was nice to have - was not essential. The cosmetics were the biggest money saver - including toothpastes, moisturisers and cleansers and will stock up again on our return trip in Dec this year.

We spent our first 3 months in a furnished flat - which was expensive - but fortunately my husband's company paid for 6 weeks. I was only too happy to move out into our new home after those 3 months, and have my familiar things around me. Our container arrived after 2 months - and knowing that your own things are so close is really frustrating.

I can't help with average salaries - as I am not working - did one temp and decided that I would be a housewife for the first time in my life - and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Foodwise - we spend about $1000 a month on groceries - and eat mainly at home. Dining out is expensive, and take-aways eat into your budget very quickly and are not included in the above. A meal out for 4 adults with wine easily reaches over $200, which for us is almost a weeks groceries.

Good luck with your planned move.

[Michele R]

Firstly, welcome to the forum and congrats on the visa!

I suggest you have a search on the forum, I remember not too long ago there was a poll regarding the cost of weekly shopping, so maybe that can help you.

I have family living in Perth and they are very happy there. I would contact the university and inform them you're on PR and see if they can help you with giving you an idea what varsity costs are going to be like.

Salaries seem to differ depending on what industry you're in. You can try and have a search on seek.com.au for jobs and see if any of them indicate salaries to give you an idea more or less. Most saffers rent a place first, as they don't know the area well before buying. House prices in Aus can be a bit pricey when converting into rands, but it is definitely doable. Many saffers on the forum have bought beautiful houses.

As for the minimum amount you can live off of, I think that also varies greatly from family to family. We all have different needs, but I am sure you can make things work out. The shops in Aus have really great sales where you can pick up plenty of bargains, and if need be, you can live relatively cheaply until you're settled.

All the best!

[CharmaineH]

There are different regarding what to bring over with you. What I can say is that in general houses here are smaller than those we are used to in SA. And in our experience, rental properties don't have much built in cupboards.

We took advice to bring as much stuff as we can and brought over 1 and half containers. We have had to get rid of a lot of stuff as we just don't have the space to keep everything.

I find groceries here to be cheaper than in SA. You may have problems with trying to bring food over.

If I had to do this move over again, I would come over with a lot less stuff. Also, I wouldn't bring the beds over. Double, queen and kings bed sizes are not the same as in SA, so finding linen will be fun. I don't know what I am going to do when I need to buy new linen.

Another thing that is different to SA, is that many houses here don't have a garage. So you may not have storage space for any stuff that doesn't fit into the house you get.

Good luck with the move. Australia is a wonderful place to live.

[KarlandLauraV]

Hi There..

Just a few things that we found that my help you....

1. You will be charged import duty for items less than 1 year old - so if you are planning on replaceing old stuff rather replace it with "new" 2nd hand stuff and get a letter from the person you buy it from stating that you purchased it 2nd hand

2. Bed sizes are different so if you ar bringing your SA beds - buy a few sets of SA linen to come with

3. Remember the temperatures inside the container can reach 40 degrees and that is not too good for some foodstuffs so be careful with this - also check out what is permitted into Australia - also remember there is duty to be pain on ALL alchohol so drink the wine collection before you come out (Aussie wine is pretty good so do not panic) - we had some good parties before we came out clearing out our wine collection.

4. Aussie houses are SMALL... so do a really good clear out of you "clutter" before you pack - we brought over a 20ft container of furniture, etc and it fits into our house, but just fits...!!!

5. Wages/salary - between hubby and I we earn about $4300 per month (he works fulltime and me parttime) and we have managed to buy a house and run it quite well - obviously there is not too much extra cash, but we are doing OK - monthly food bill for family of 5 (3 sons and 1 is 13 and eats all day) is about $1200 per month - eat out 1 per week and do not have too many take-aways.

6. Our kids adapted quickly - twins are 10 and a 13 yr old... no problems and I can honestly say they are doing better here in academics and sport than in SA. 1 son has special education needs and these are catered for by the school - they are wonderful

7. time taken to get jobs - Karl found one in 6 weeks (refrigeration mechanic) took me about 2 months (Office administration manager).

8. RELAX - this is a wonderful adventure and take time to enjoy the ride....

Cheers

Laura

PS Budget for a GPS its an essential..... You can pick them up for around $200 for a good one