lily Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 My husband, mom, two children (ages 2 and 5) and I are moving to Sydney from Jhb in February. I have tried to put together a monthly household budget for us but have found it fairly difficult to do so from here.I have estimated living costs to be somewhere in the order of Aus $1500 to $1800 per week (running expenses only, excluding start up costs). Does this sound right?Could anyone give me a breakdown of a household budget applicable to living in Sydney? We will be renting a house - with one child in public school and one in kindergarden (halfday).I would appreciate any assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon & Debbie Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hi Lily,we've just moved across to Sydney and know the sort of questions that one tries to figure out! I guess a lot has to do with the cost of rental, any car repayments, insurance, etc. We sort of worked on $300per week on groceries etc which has been sensible (so far!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sa2auz Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi there Simon, Debbie, lilyWe have been in Sydney for a year now and budgeting gets easier as time goes on. Also alot depends on the house you stay in. Some houses have gas water and heating and others have electrical. You get billed every quarter for this. Preschool age 3 - 5 costs around $40 a day from 9 - 3. Long Day care from 7:30 - 5:30 costs around $75 a day. I have found that we were fine with our budget then about every 6 months or so we have a hiccup when unepxected expenses crop up. Pink Slips, Green Slips, Third Party, car services etc. My friends spend about $1200 a month on groceries I spend less. I think it takes along time to find out how the locals do things and buying things at the right places and at the right time go along way.Sydney is an incredible place and I find there is so much to do that doesn't cost the earth. If you would like to meet up for a coffee please send me a pm, it will be great to get together.Welcome and best of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lily Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi there Simon, Debbie and sa2auzThank you for your responses. They are much appreciated.We have 28 days until we leave - and at this point it I feel really nervous. If it were just my husband and I, it would be an adventure. But I am really worried about my kids. I hate the thought of shuffling them about from temporary to permanent residences whilst getting settled in.Thanks for the offer of meeting for coffee sa2auz. My husband and I would like to do so once in Sydney - perhaps we can find out about pink and green slips? Best regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi LilyWe are also hoping to arrive in Sydney in mid March (my hubby and twin boys aged 5 ) and also have had various friends say that $1200 per month is about right for groceries. Just the schooling is very expensive- $4500 per year up front per child if you are on a sponsored visa......quite hectic!!Have you looked at any areas to stay? Besides all the advice from the forum, my hubbies new Aussie boss also rates Castle Hills as a really good family area.Will get in touch in Aus.....good luck with the count down!Bells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lily Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi LilyWe are also hoping to arrive in Sydney in mid March (my hubby and twin boys aged 5 ) and also have had various friends say that $1200 per month is about right for groceries. Just the schooling is very expensive- $4500 per year up front per child if you are on a sponsored visa......quite hectic!!Have you looked at any areas to stay? Besides all the advice from the forum, my hubbies new Aussie boss also rates Castle Hills as a really good family area.Will get in touch in Aus.....good luck with the count down!BellsHi there Bells,Thank you for the email. It is really good to know that there are other people out there going through what we are. Having one 5 year old and a 2 year old - I think you are very brave to move with two 5 year olds!I only learned about the upfront school fees a few days ago (from this forum) and was shocked - it is around what we are currently paying for my son's private school. But we hope to become permanent residence by the end of this year (touch wood) - so hopefully next year we can pay public school rates like Australians do.We have a challenging time finding a suitable suburb to live in. My husband will be working for a company in Picton (~80 km sw of Sydney CBD) whereas I will be working in the CBD. As it seems you know - most of the better family accommodation appears to be on the northern side. We however will have to look for something south west of the CBD towards Picton. There are some promising suburbs like Horningsea Park, Hoxton Park, East Hills, Panania, Wattle Grove, Voyger Point. We wanted to look things over ourselves however before making a decision on a suburb. We are therefore going into temporary furnished accom for ~6 weeks while we wait for our furniture.I will let you know how things are working out - least it be of assistance to you.Best regardsYvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sa2auz Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi thereIts not long to go for all of you, but you will be fine. All the research etc is worth it and you will love it once here.The children will settle down fine, I had no problems but we didn't have to move my hubby had found a house and moved in although we had no furniture for a month.You will be surprised how well the kids settle and I think that once the kids have someone to play with and not just adults and their siblings for company they start to unwind and feel less stressed.There are so many places to explore and to meet people and the schools are great with accepting people and making you feel welcome.As far as areas go alot depends on budget and what you are looking for. If you like older homes with character then the north shore is great. The north is on the train route and has lots of South Africans. The homes are alot smaller but we love it and the schools are top notch. The Hills is another popular area with lots of large project homes at more reasonable rates.The Northern Beaches is lovely, views, expensive, no trains, totally depends on where you work etc.Have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
australian Posted January 10, 2007 Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 Hi LilyMy husband and I (and 3yr old and 7yr old) will also be moving to Sydney, hopefully before the end of the year. We were across there for a month in August last year and I have also been trying to work out a basic budget. We are hoping to settle on the North Shore (West Pymble) and I have also worked on around $1400 a week with school fees. My daughter will be starting Grade 1, but "i think" cause I am an Austrlian citizen (but have lived in SA most of my life) that she qualifies to excempt from school fees...if anyone has anymore info on this please let me know!!. My Son I will be putting in long day care, and that is $73 per day.....groceries around $300 (based on our month there) Keep in touch as I would like to know how you are doing, especially your kids...although I have been told kids settle much quicker than we doGood luck and I am sure you will have a wonderful adventure...Sydney is an amazing place!!Robyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Girl Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hello Bells and LilyMy husband, myself and 2 daughters (aged 9 and 6) left Durban on 1 January 2006 and arrived here on 2 January 2006 so we have just celebrated our first anniversary here in Aus ! And what a great year it has been for us. If I can give you any encouragement - emmigration from S.A. to Aus is really what you make it ! We landed at Sydney Airport a year ago having left all our families and friends behind and really had to find our feet all by ourselves (and quickly at that !!). We had a month before the girls started school so we had to find a suburb, a home, school, buy a car etc. etc. By absolute luck and chance we ended up in Castle Hill and I cannot begin to tell you what a wonderful suburb it is ! Our daughters have freedoms here like I never imagined possible ! For example, I would NEVER have let my eldest daughter (now 10) wonder around in Durban delivering a local newspaper - well .... here she has just started a paper run around our suburb - all streets within walking distance to our house. You see so many young kids doing it and they really are safe ! And she gets paid about $30.00 per week for an hour and a half's work per week ! Not bad pocket money for a 10 year old (you do the sums and convert that to rands !!). We currently rent our house (yes ! we would ultimately like to buy but are just not in a position to do so right now ) and are so happy here. It is a 5 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms ! Far bigger than our S.A. home. In S.A. we lived in Durban North and had a gorgeous home with a huge swimming pool and ... no mortgage !! We had managed to pay that off. Here we rent a lovely house and have no pool so there really are pros and cons; and yes I guess we have taken a step back financially but hey ! with a lifestyle like we have we just cannot complain ! We pay $560.00 per week for our home which includes a weekly garden service (all they do is mow the postage sized front lawn !) which is a nice perk. Having said that, yes the garden is smaller than what we had but it is adequate for the girls to play in. And we are so lucky to live in a cul-de-sac where all the kids from the street congregate to play. Our street has heaps of kids in it ! There are 9 families in this street all with kids at the same local public school which also happens to be in walking distance from our house. We live in the Oakhill Estate part of Castle Hill so the kids go to the local public school - Oakhill Drive Public School. I cannot speak highly enough of this school. We are SO happy there and my girls have excelled over the past year. Always remember that kids are FAR more adaptable than us so don't worry about them being the "new kid on the block" or settling in. They DO settle and there will always be more than one new kid. Australia really is a land of immigrants so new kids start all the time, and the school is really geared towards ensuring that the "newies" settle and are taken care of. We don't pay school fees as we were very fortunate to have been granted permanent resident (136) visas from the outset; but i know friends who are on a work / sponsored visa and they have to pay R4500.00 per child before the school will even allow the child to start ! So certainly take this into account if you are not going to have a 136 visa. My opinion is that our family lives comfortably on $1000.00 per month and I am talking ONLY rent ($560.00) and grocery items (including haircuts etc.) In other words, basic living. This does obviously not cover fuel, gas, electricity, entertainment etc. Hope this all helps !Bells - where about in Durban are you guys coming from ???Lily and Bells - would love to meet you both when you get here. It always helps to have someone to lean on who has been there, done that !! Would love to help out if I can.Best regardsDurban Girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springbok Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 (edited) We currently rent our house (yes ! we would ultimately like to buy but are just not in a position to do so right now ) and are so happy here. It is a 5 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms ! We pay $560.00 per week for our home which includes a weekly garden service (all they do is mow the postage sized front lawn !) which is a nice perk... My opinion is that our family lives comfortably on $1000.00 per month and I am talking ONLY rent ($560.00) and grocery items (including haircuts etc.) In other words, basic living. This does obviously not cover fuel, gas, electricity, entertainment etc. Hope this all helps !Hi DG,Are your basis living expenses = $1000 per WEEK or per MONTH? Because you say your rent is $560 per week, then surely your total expenses are $1000 per WEEK? Just checking...Otherwise, I'd like to get a rough estimate of what my weekly/monthly expenses will be in Sydney. I am single so it's pretty straightforward and will probably include the following:RENT (preferably 2-bedroom furnished apartment or house. Chatswood, Artarmon, thereabouts..)GAS/ELECTRICITY/WATER (i have no idea!)GROCERIES (i'm quite active & will probably consume $200 p/week)PUBLIC TRANSPORT (to get to CBD for work)INTERNET (wireless broadband op laptop, using Skype for overseas calls)MOBILE PHONE (i'm an average user, don't spend too much time on phone)ENTERTAINMENT (open for debate...)FITNESS FIRST membership (cannot find info on the website...)I'd appreciate a rough estimate for each item, and whether it's per week or per month.A prospective buyer is coming to have a look at my house tonight already, and I only went to see estate agents on Monday! So please hold thumbs! If I'm lucky to get a sale soon and all goes well with the transfer, the whole process could be done by end of March. Then it's 4 weeks' notice at work and I can be in Sydney by 1st May Cheers! Edited January 11, 2007 by Springbok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodag Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 . . .Otherwise, I'd like to get a rough estimate of what my weekly/monthly expenses will be in Sydney. I am single so it's pretty straightforward and will probably include the following:. . .>RENT (preferably 2-bedroom furnished apartment or house. Chatswood, Artarmon, thereabouts..)I have not seen many furnished apartments offered, but then I've never really looked. We have a 2 bedroom unit in Chatswood, we get $360/week for it, unfurnished.>GAS/ELECTRICITY/WATER (i have no idea!)Electricty, my guess would be around $200/quarter. Water should be included in rent, otherwise around $105/quarter.>GROCERIES (i'm quite active & will probably consume $200 p/week)Your guess better than mine. Take a look at the Woolworths or Coles online shopping sites.>PUBLIC TRANSPORT (to get to CBD for work)Train, Chatswood <-> City, $26/week>INTERNET (wireless broadband op laptop, using Skype for overseas calls)Dunno - we pay $40/month for ADSL. Maybe you can get an idea at http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ >MOBILE PHONE (i'm an average user, don't spend too much time on phone)Too many variables/choices. My wife pays around $40/month, including paying off the phone, I pay less than $6 per month for mine but I 'never' use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Girl Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hi DG,Are your basis living expenses = $1000 per WEEK or per MONTH? Because you say your rent is $560 per week, then surely your total expenses are $1000 per WEEK? Just checking...Oops !!! Sorry !! Well spotted ! $1000.00 per WEEK is what I obviously meant !Sorry for confusion !DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoemie Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hi allSunshine Sister did a great job of putting some costs online. Some is for upfront cost but she also scanned some Woolworths or Coles till slips. look at What things cost around here.(http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php?showtopic=1192)Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springbok Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 anyone who can help with the following monthly expenses in Sydney?FITNESS FIRST membership (cannot find info on the website...)LAUNDRY (i don't wash and iron ... here in S.A. it's R14/kg for wash/dry/iron)DOMESTIC CLEANER (1x per week, what do they charge? here in Joburg I pay R90 per day)Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoemie Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Hi SpringbokLook at this post for a discussion around laundry and domestic cleaning.How much/oftenHope it helps.Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lily Posted January 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Dear Durban Girl,Thank you for sharing your experience with your family. I know what you mean when you say there are trade-offs - but for those of use who value freedom, safety and opportunities for ourselves and our children above pure finances and material things in the short-term it does not seem such a sacrifice. (Though my we too will miss our pool if we cannot find a suitable house with one in our price range there.)I have heard alot about the "hills" from this forum. Unfortunately we will need to live southwest of the Sydney CBD to be within reasonable distances from my husband and my work. There appear to be some nice suburbs there - will just have to find one .We have only 3 weeks to go before leaving. I am very exited but at the same time very sad to leave our close family and friends behind . Thank you again for your response. I do hope we get the opportunity to met whilst there.Best regards,Yvonne (Lily) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Hi Durban GirlSorry for replying so late! These last few weeks are flying and still sooooo much to do! Thanks for the very informative response.........popped it into my file! Our budget looks pretty much on track.We are from Toti and looking forward to Castle Hills.....sounds like the correct decision! I can just picture my boys doing a paper round!! ha haI am also thrilled that I don't have to choose a primary school here although the pre-primary the twins are at is awesome!!! One thing I am battling with is the first weeks accommodation that would suit a family? Searched endless web sites and have only come across hotels and apartments that are more geared up for the professional person and at a hell of a price. We really would like to come straight to Castle Hills so that I can start searching for rented accommodation. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to meeting you......about 8 weeks and counting......still visa depending....! Do you work?Cheers 4 nowB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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