Hi

[Tippet]

Hi there, I'm from Hillcrest Durban and will be flying to Brisbane for a job interview early November, which seems very positive, if all goes well, I'll be coming over to Brisbane on a 457 visa early next year, probably Feb 2008 with my hubby and kids.

Can anyone give me an indication of what the basic cost of living is in Brisbane for a family of 4, my daughter is 9 and my son is 5.

Thanks

[Legalbuff]

Hi Tippet,

I'm not living in Aus yet, but here is what I did and found helpful to work out a "budget" to see what we would need:

A) Read all you can on this forum and dig around in the "money" section - people make very helpful comments on for instance what water and electricity etc costs;

Go on the internet and find "Coles" and work out more or less what is in your grocery cabinet every month - this gives you an idea on what your groceries will cost;

c) Go and google "furniture shops in Aus" and find "Ikea" and look at what furniture you'll need and more or less what that will cost - gives an idea of what setup cost will be;

d) Go and google "Real Estate in Aus" and see more or less what you would be willing to live in , and how much that will be;

e) Ask the forum about schooling cost, someone should know;

f) Take you SA budget and work around that - you know what your families needs are;

g) Remember a bit of play money - you don't want to be stranded without friend and have no money to do anything with.

Good luck - ask this forum anything - everyone is helpful and great and good luck - and WELCOME!!

Edited October 8, 2007 by Legalbuff

[MzT]

Hi Tippet,

It's really hard to take into account the different circumstances when making a budget for someone else. For example are you going to buy a second hand car outright or will you buy a more expensive one on finance? Do your kids play a lot of sport? Do you want to send your kids to private school? etc.

Just off the top of my head (we are also 4) you should look at between $300 and $400 per week for a 4 bedroomed house to rent, depending on what area you are looking at. Groceries for 4 people will set you back about $300 - $350 per week. School fees, anything from $50 per year or so for a state school to $1500 per year for a Catholic school to $3000 + for a private school. Regardless of what kind of school you have to buy the books yourself, which is about $100 to S200. Our electricity account is normally about $350 per quarter. Our combined phone accounts (home phone, broadband, 2 mobile phones) about $300 per month. Legalbuff has a good idea there, so feel free to post any other expenses you would like to know about.

[Heather]

Hi Tippet,

It's really hard to take into account the different circumstances when making a budget for someone else. For example are you going to buy a second hand car outright or will you buy a more expensive one on finance? Do your kids play a lot of sport? Do you want to send your kids to private school? etc.

Just off the top of my head (we are also 4) you should look at between $300 and $400 per week for a 4 bedroomed house to rent, depending on what area you are looking at. Groceries for 4 people will set you back about $300 - $350 per week. School fees, anything from $50 per year or so for a state school to $1500 per year for a Catholic school to $3000 + for a private school. Regardless of what kind of school you have to buy the books yourself, which is about $100 to S200. Our electricity account is normally about $350 per quarter. Our combined phone accounts (home phone, broadband, 2 mobile phones) about $300 per month. Legalbuff has a good idea there, so feel free to post any other expenses you would like to know about.

I agree with MzT - just on the car - I would try and not buy anything on finance when you first arrive if you have intensions of buying a property and getting finance for the property - you are able to borrow more if you do not have any cars on hire purchase or leases or if you have no credit cards...a lot of people are under the false impression of having to have a credit history - bring those with you in the form of reference letters - eg from your existing insurance saying no claims etc, maybe from letting agent if you have been renting - that sort of thing - most banks will lend you money for a house now without a credit history..

Hope this helps

(Im from Winston Park)