Relocation costs to Oz, flights, freight and initial accomodation?

[debbieschutte]

Hi everyone

I suppose someone has asked this somewhere on this forum but I cant seem to find it. What would you say are the initial costs for relocating to OZ, from the containers, flights and initial accomodation?

D

[OnYellowBrickRd]

I'd also like to know.

We got a quote for a 20ft container from PTA to Brisbane (actually 150kms outside of Brisbane) for R65k.

I believe air tickets for a family of 4 with IOM are in the region of R40k

Initial accommodation are dependent on location and type of accommodation you desire. Flybnb(?) (google them) seems to have reasonably priced short-term accommodation (from around AU$300 per week...ouch!!)

Please feel to jump in and correct me if I'm wrong. (I just hope our life savings will last until I or we find jobs)

[heidim]

Starting up costs we experienced were WAY more than we budgeted. And we did budget for the unforseen, but the unforseen just became more and more unforseen. . We came over to Brisbane in October.

1 We went with Bayleys, paid R64 000 for 20ft, and we could fit a household with 5 people's stuff. However the only appliances we took were the tumble dryer (for rainy days and the dishwasher). The rest of our stuff were old and needed replacement anyway. We bought all our appliances at one store and because of that we got a $500 discount. We bought a standard size fridge/freezer, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, microwave and television and that was around R20 000 included extended warrantees, delivery and assembly. IF you buy from the same company you save money on delivery. You can buy second hand, but then just keep in mind that somehow you have to get that fridge/appliance transported to your house which will also cost you if you have to do it single item by single item.

2. Flight tickets for family of 5 through IOM was R40 000 (kids aged 2,4 and 14)

3. Accommodation is a nightmare and will cost you a kidney and a liver, nevermind an arm or leg. We stayed in a very simple but nice self catering unit for 17 nights and we paid about $110 per night. Get yourself a rental QUICKLY. It's not easy when you don't have a job yet, but we offered to pay 3 months in advance and the second house we offered that, we were accepted. Now we pay $350 per week. So renting is way cheaper!

4. Rental car for 17 days R4500. Remember if you have small children you are legally required to have car seats. Instead of renting car seats we bought car seats on-line from Australia on special for R1800 and asked the company to deliver it to family members. So we saved on car seats, as we would've had to buy them in any case.Try and buy a car as soon as possible. Look for prices on the net before you come over whether you buy new or second hand. We had very good experiences with Norris Motor Group. Remember that if you come over without a job, you will most likely have to pay cash for your car.

5. School fees: our oldest daughter is 14 and she goes to public school. They have a voluntary contribution that they ask which means if you pay, your children get all their text books and stuff for free, but have to return it at the end of the year. We paid $50 for the last quarter of school. By the way, in Qld it is compulsory for children of school going age to go to school, so you have to enroll them as soon as possible (we enrolled her after 2 weeks). School uniform was approximately $150 and then we had to buy these specific tekkies required by law which we paid $90 for. Geez, I"ve never owned shoes that expensive!

6. Getting your driver's license: you have to write the learner's test about $20 per person per test (if you fail, but it is really easy). Getting driving lessons (highly recommended to get at least 2 session as the rules here are a bit different) $58 per one hour lesson. Driving test $220 per person per test if you book through driving school, using their vehicle and they can also get you in earlier. You only have 3 months in Qld to get your Qld drivers license.

If you pass the test you pay $150 for the issuing ofa 5 year license.

7. Mobile phones: approx $30 per phone per month pre-paid.

8. Insurance on your vehicle (cheapest NRMA) but shop around $400 per annum for a Huyndai Accent ( $17 000 demo). When purchasing a car make sure about their servicing requirements. Some vehicles require 6 montthly services which are very expensive.

9. basic household goods to start of food, cleaning stuff etc about $300.

10. Housebond: when you rent you pay this as a deposit, aprox 1 months rent.

IF there's anything else you can think of that I forgot, you're welcome to ask. I'm sure other forum members will add to the list.

Good luck!

Edited to add that we live in North Lakes which is about 35km from Brisbane CBD and we live in one of the cheaper areas....

Edited November 21, 2012 by heidim

[The Boys & Mommy]

An update on the Bayleys 20ft container...it Cost us just under R70k 6 weeks ago.

Yes, the exchange rate is making it worse by the day.

[Sharon]

We are paying $480 a week for rent which we found to be the average price for a smallist 4 bedroomed house.

[Tisha]

Thank-you so much all, this helps alot.

[heidim]

We are paying $480 a week for rent which we found to be the average price for a smallist 4 bedroomed house.

That's very reasonable and average for most areas Sharon, I agree. I have no idea why we only have to pay $350 because we also have an average sized 4 bedroom house. Most people here in North Lakes pays around $420. For those of you in RSA: Our house here would be considered a townhouse in RSA (size wise), but in Oz it is considered a proper house.

[elliemellie]

hi,

I would say - overbudget for everything!

Moving - R83000 (20ft container with insurance) through Stuttaford van lines

Return tickets (CPT - Jburg - Perth) +- R13000 per person

And then there's the exchange rate - it was R9.2 when I transferred my savings, sigh.

Good luck

[debbieschutte]

thanks a lot everyone, appreciate it

its SCARY, all this money........

[heidim]

Oh yes, and then I forgot that you need to buy a broom, a mop, toilet brushes, edge cutter (they call it something else here), lawnmower, fuel etc.

I'm busy putting a list together of what we did right and what we did wrong. Once I'm done with it, I'll post and hopefully it will help. I also have to mention that these prices I've listed are based on Brisbane expenses. Other states may be much more expensive. I know that friends of ours are paying double the rental fee per week in Sydney, that we are paying in Brisbane. But technically, you should also be earning more money in Sydney.

I'll see if I can get my list of right and wrong ready by the end of the weekend, that should help.

[AlBrough]

I'm busy putting a list together of what we did right and what we did wrong. Once I'm done with it, I'll post and hopefully it will help. I also have to mention that these prices I've listed are based on Brisbane expenses. Other states may be much more expensive. I know that friends of ours are paying double the rental fee per week in Sydney, that we are paying in Brisbane. But technically, you should also be earning more money in Sydney.

I look forward to seeing that

[jdb]

Hi heidim!

Great help, thanks! Did you need to do an eye test when getting your license? Where did you buy the appliances from? Our employer is setting up house for us before we get there, and I get to pick appliances online (we'll have to pay them back over time).

Thanks Gal!

jdb

[OubaasDik]

Yep, eye test - just a "stand there and read the chart" style test.

For appliances, my wife is happy with http://www.appliancesonline.com.au

[PEgal]

Hi All

Thanks so much for the info!

My visa was approved two days ago, so i will be heading to Brisbane end Jan. Also looking at North Lakes and possibly warner. And no, the exchange rate isnt helping any of us!

Look forward to your list Heidi.....very kind of you.

[heidim]

Hi heidim!

Great help, thanks! Did you need to do an eye test when getting your license? Where did you buy the appliances from? Our employer is setting up house for us before we get there, and I get to pick appliances online (we'll have to pay them back over time).

Thanks Gal!

jdb

Hi heidim!

Great help, thanks! Did you need to do an eye test when getting your license? Where did you buy the appliances from? Our employer is setting up house for us before we get there, and I get to pick appliances online (we'll have to pay them back over time).

Thanks Gal!

jdb

We did not do an eye test for the learner's nor did we do an eye test for the license. But that's Queensland. The best thing is to find out from people living in your state. When you get here, you'll realise that the states are not like our provinces, they're like countries on their own. We bought the appliances from The Good Guys. We were luckily because they happened to have a huge sale on the Saturday that we went looking for appliances. We had to buy immediately as the sale was only on until that day, so we made it just in time.

[heidim]

Hi All

Thanks so much for the info!

My visa was approved two days ago, so i will be heading to Brisbane end Jan. Also looking at North Lakes and possibly warner. And no, the exchange rate isnt helping any of us!

Look forward to your list Heidi.....very kind of you.

The list is under "Settling In" and the topic is called "rights and wrongs of coming over".

[MrandMrsK]

gee, all this money talk is scary! I think my hubby and I need to save big time before making the move!

Thank you for putting this all in perspective for us, makes planning and preparation a bit easier

T

[Scholtze]

Hi everybody,

Moved to Brisbane 4 weeks ago and have been living in North Lakes for a week now. LOVE North Lakes.

@PEGal, we're also from PE intially We also weighed up Norh Lakes and Warner at first. We stayed in temporary accommodation in Warner for 3 weeks. Loved the area, especially Warner Lakes. However I felt a bit isolated there. Hubby took the train from Bray Park to work which was great. Always parking there.

But North Lakes won hands down. Everything you need around here.

However I think you will get more for your $ when renting in Warner.

Let me know if anybody need some info on the area, etc. Happy to help where I can.

D.

[Jacques Voogt]

Here is one perspective, your situation may be different but I think this gives one a good example.

http://www.aussiemove.com/costofliving/

Keep in mind, the Hopkins family is already settled.

Initially you may be buying some groceries not at the best prices but you may also not have Satellite TV to pay right away.

[TimeToGo]

Hi Heidi,

A very informative post, thanks so much!

I'm trying to assess living areas. I would possibly be working in the Brisbane CBD. North Lakes sounds nice (and looks nice on Google maps, street view). What is the travelling time to the CBD using public transport and what public transport options are there from North Lakes (if there is anything?).

Also, on your post...

9. basic household goods to start of food, cleaning stuff etc about $300.

Are you saying that this was the start up cost for foods and cleaning stuff? How much do you pay per week for groceries?

Many thanks!

[Sharon]

North Lakes is a stunning area. To drive to the city takes 45 mins and to bus it, much longer. As far as I know there is not a direct bus route so you would have to change busses. I live South in Lakewood in Parkinson. To drive takes 35 mins and 40 mins by bus, doing that every day is tedious. I wouldn't like to live any further. I guess it all depends what you're used to. Coming from Dbn we are not used to travelling to work.

[heidim]

Hi Heidi,

A very informative post, thanks so much!

I'm trying to assess living areas. I would possibly be working in the Brisbane CBD. North Lakes sounds nice (and looks nice on Google maps, street view). What is the travelling time to the CBD using public transport and what public transport options are there from North Lakes (if there is anything?).

Also, on your post...

Are you saying that this was the start up cost for foods and cleaning stuff? How much do you pay per week for groceries?

Many thanks!

The time it takes to travel to the city depends on many things - how early you're prepared to get up, whether you want to travel by car (that's usually not the norm as you pay big bucks for parking unless your job gives free parking), whether you travel by train, bus or both. I think the usual commuting time would be anything between 45min- 60 min from North Lakes. If you find a nice company to work for, then you could arrange your hours with them. My husband is luckily not working in the city, but closeby, and their working hours are from 09h00 - 17h30 (including lunch and tea breaks). He negotiated 07h00-16h00 with them. So if you can do something like that, then commuting will probably be quicker. But once again, it depends on the bus route you're taking and what time the bus comes, or the train you're catching and how often the train comes by. Way too many variants. For us an hours drive to work is nothing because we used to do that in Jhb.

Starting up costs, I think I may have miscalculated. I think it is closer to $500. With starting up costs I mean, you move into your rental, then you have to buy cleaning stuff such as a mop, broom, duster, handy andy, bulk food such as spices etc. You buy bath mats, hooks to hang up towels etc. At this stage we are very frustrated because we are not in a position yet to determine how much we're spending on food, because we are still in a situation where there are a lot of unforseen and unusual expenses that we will not be paying each month, i.e. daughter year 10 next year and we had to pay $240 for stationary for the whole of next year. Daughter (4) we still have to buy a school uniform as she is starting prep next year. We bought a christmas tree and decorations (which of course we're not going to buy each month). We budgeted $300 per week for food and groceries. But once again it depends on your preferences. We buy housebrands. Everything in my cupboard says Coles and we love their food, it's not like in RSA where the housebrands taste fake. Certain items you will see may taste different, and then you'll drop the housebrand and go for something else. It also depends on what you want to eat. If you want to eat steak and beef stew every week, it will cost you. Fruit is also quite expensive, especially if it is out of season.

I'm going to try again in January to determine how much we spend per month on food etc. Right now we're spending more because of the X-mas season, although every shop claims to have all these massive discounts!

My husband is an accountant and he is extremely good at budgeting. Once we have a realistic budget available, I'll let you know and we can send it to you. There are so many hidden costs that one tends to forget, i.e. Telstra (could've been Telkom, just as pathetic - and yes, some companies in Oz are pathetic too, it's not all perfect here), for internet access, cellphone contracts - look at Virgin Mobile, they are by FAR the best (thanks Anneke, best advise I ever got!). We got prepaid with Vodafone and they didn't want to give us a contract as we don't have a credit record, so we got prepaid with them, but we couldn't get reception in our area. With Virgin, I got a contract as a stay at home mom (no income, no credit record) with a much better deal for my money and they were able to check the reception in our area and said that if I struggle, they will send a technician out for free to do something so that I will have reception at home (yeah, some companies here are totally awesome!). There's car insurance that you have to pay upfront for the whole year, then there's household insurance, life insurance, private health cover (which you're required to get by law). So there are lots of things that you discover as you get here. Starting up is really, really expensive. You also have to get in the mindset that it is easier to budget per week. Around here they do things per week. You pay rent per week, you get paid per week (or fortnightly), you get Centrelink benefits fortnightly. So get your head around planning per week.

Unfortunately you're going to have to hang around another month or two before we'll be able to draw up a realistic budget...

Edited December 5, 2012 by heidim

[heidim]

Oh yes, and North Lakes is really a very nice area. You're about 15 min from the beach and Settlements Cove (which is a very nice family hang out place at the beach). Sometimes when my husband gets back from work we just go down to Redcliffe, have a braai at the beach in the middle of the week (the city provides you with electric barbies, so you don't have to make a fire or use your Skottelskaar!). The North Lakes area also have 3 very good schools, North Lakes State College (public), Bounty Boulevard (public) and The Lakes (private). My kids go to North Lakes and at the orientation session I attended a couple of weeks ago they said that North Lakes State College is the only public school in Queensland to have international accreditation. My 14 year old daughter is very happy there and we love the school. All the schools are within walking distance if you stay within the catchment area.

I'm not familiar with any of the other areas, so I can't comment, but it seems to me like North Lakes is becoming the town for RSA immigrants.

Ultimately you just have to take the leap and decide your location of the internet (as we did) and then hope for the best. But remember if you're really not happy in the area you live in, you can always move once you've had a chance to look at various areas.

[TimeToGo]

Just another quick question on you post, Heidi:

2. Flight tickets for family of 5 through IOM was R40 000 (kids aged 2,4 and 14)

Who is IOM?

Also, you mention buying car seats. Is there a problem with taking a car seat over there? We did this when we went to Dubai and that airline (Emirates) treats any kids stuff preferentially.

Many thanks,

John

Edited December 6, 2012 by Johnwatt

[AlBrough]

Just another quick question on you post, Heidi:

Who is IOM?

Also, you mention buying car seats. Is there a problem with taking a car seat over there? We did this when we went to Dubai and that airline (Emirates) treats any kids stuff preferentially.

Many thanks,

John

International Organization for Migration

http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home.html