Can we live on wage of around $75k per year?

[Guest Keefo]

Hi all

 

We have posted this comment on the british expats site and perth poms as we are thinking of moving to Perth or Adelaide but we get mixed replies.

 

My wife is a teacher who after looking at various sites has found with her 8 years of Maths teaching she could earn around $75k p/a.

 

My question is would we be able to survive in a decent suburb of Adelaide with a rental of around $350-450 per week.

 

We have been given a breakdown of certain costs like rent,water,electric,gas,mobiles/internet/car etc on the other sites to live in Perth and we reckon we could have around $1000-1300 left at the end of the month, this is after tax has been deducted from the wage.

 

At first we probably won't even have internet or car so that wasn't factored in the monthly leftovers.

 

We were thinking of Perth as my parents friends have lived there for over 50 years so they can point us in the right direction and have relatives with contacts etc but we are also thinking of Adelaide as we have heard it is slightly cheaper and also it is a friendly place to live.

 

I am a CAD Draughtsman so would look for work once ovr there but would also be prepared to turn my hand to almost anything.

 

any replies would be helpful.

 

Keefo

[Guest teamV]

Hi have a read through the site as I think we do this every week or so ,I read on the perth site some people said, you would need over 120k for a couple without any kids,75 sound like a very good wage in Adelaide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kev.

[tinkertailerdog]

can you do REVIT or Microtation? REVIT is becoming more popular and MS is a tool that the likes of BHP use, would certainly open many more doors if you had either of those on your CV. I imagine you would find work a lot easier in Perth, but property is more expensive, double edge sword.

 

Personally i couldn't live in Perth because of its remoteness from the rest of Australia, though on the up side you are closer to the UK etc. It still amazes me the vast expanse of this country where it takes 3 hours to get from Adelaide to Perth, nevermind from Melbourne or Sydney which i imagine is probably a half hour extra.

[Guest Helchops]

We worked out that for us, we could survive on $60K joint income as an absolute low point without really going out or doing anything and we have a daughter and that factors in Childcare.

 

I think you'll be fine on 75K the issue is finding permanent employment as a teacher which is something we're in the middle of searching for at the moment. From what we can gather, TRT (temporary teaching - cover work) is the way most people then go on to secure some sort of contract whether that be for a term or a year.

 

We're allowing about three months in our budget where neither is us will earn any money. After that, we'd be struggling!

 

So the problem is then that you can't really put an accurate budget together as you just don't know what you'll be earning. What we did was assume the worst and imagine that we both worked in a coffee shop or McD's for a few months on minimum wage whilst in pursuit of our dream job, and it turned out it was survivable, but only just.

 

That takes the pressure off a little I guess...

[Guest BrianS]

If you go to Perth or even here in Adelaide a car is almost a must definitely in Perth as everything is so far apart. Just my observation

[Guest bigal]

Perth is a very expensive place to live just going out for a meal is expensive apparently more expensive than Sydney.

On the other hand WA has much more employment opportunities than SA.

[waynecaz]

You can defo live off $75k in Adelaide ... My hubby works at the Tafe and gets sim to that .. we pay $450 wk rent have 2 kids .... and i dont work !!!

[Guest cbeeb]

just ensure her experience transferred, it might not phone DECS(they have changed name).

[Guest Richie_T]

Keefo,

 

What area of business do you have CAD experience in? I am a civil engineer and we are constantly looking for more draughtsmen for the Southern Expressway project here. If you want to contact me personally then inbox me your email address. I sit next to our CAD manager.

 

Richard

[Guest D&L]

Richard

 

Would your CAD manager consider a draftswoman?? I'm in Adelaide and want to get back in to civils/CAD. Please could you pm me your company's details if you think they might be interested?

 

Cheers

 

Lyndsey

[Guest pixie7]

As other have said $75k is fine for 2 to live on but please factor in the time (few months) and expense to get registered as a teacher- skills assessment (a different one to the one for the visa!!) $110, registration $350ish and then you need Mandatory childprotection and first aid courses $110 and $60ish I think. I would also say you may struggle to get into supply/relief teaching without a car and of course she wouldnt be earning 75k straight away as wages differ as relief teacher and she probably wouldnt get full weeks work straight away.

 

Not trying to put a dampener on things just be realistic- in 6/12 months time she may well be on 75k but I would advise you need another source of income at first- but if you could turn your hand to most things there are defo jobs out here for you and she could probably get something whilst waiting for teacher assessment and registration to go through.

 

Good luck! x

[Guest wijaya]

Hi

this is our experience.

Currently both us (me and my wife) are working with combine income around 60-70 k nett. I haven't done any thorough calculation but reckon that each month we could save around 1000-1500. We have a house, bought around 500 k, with 20 percent mortgage. (This is from selling our house back in England). This is our second year here. In the first year, we only could manage income around 30-40 k. So, along with others, I would say it takes a while before you could reach the ideal income you hope for. So if you factor in these, you will be fine.

 

Regards

[Guest Richie_T]

PM'd u

check your inbox

 

Richard

 

Would your CAD manager consider a draftswoman?? I'm in Adelaide and want to get back in to civils/CAD. Please could you pm me your company's details if you think they might be interested?

 

Cheers

 

Lyndsey

[jim and adel]

There's a view that Perth is really expensive - often from people who have never been there! There was a thread on here recently about cost comparisons between Adelaide and Perth that might be worth a read. For what it's worth, here's my contribution from it:

 

I reckon there's something of a myth about property prices in Perth. Of course if you want to live close to the CBD and beachside you'll pay a premium, but once you get 30-40 mins away from the CBD prices drop a lot and are pretty much on a par with suburbs equally far from Adelaide's CBD.

If you were looking to be close to Adelaide CBD and beachside, say at West Lakes, Tennyson, Henley, Grange, Glenelg or Brighton you'd likely pay a higher price than Adelaide's median and be pretty similar to Perth levels. Perth has more top end suburbs and luxury CBD apartments which pushes its median up, so if Adelaide had three or four extra Glenungas or Burnsides scattered around its median would also be higher, but this wouldn't be a reflection of prices in many other suburbs.

Some on here live close to beach and CBD, but the majority don't - look at how many members of this site are in Seaford, Noarlunga, Aldinga etc. If you were willing to live as far from Perth's CBD as Aldinga is from Adelaide's (in Rockingham, for example), you'd be paying prices pretty much on a level with what you pay here.

 

Also, I'm not sure why Adelaide is seen as having a lower cost of living – utility rates are higher here as are taxes. Some food is cheaper, some more expensive, usually depending on the season, and overall I'd say there's very little difference.

 

If you're willing to do anything to work, then you'll be okay in either place. Don't assume, though, that the $75k will be an immediate figure; it might be, but you should ensure you can survive your 'worst case scenario'.

 

Jim

[tinkertailerdog]

Richard, that must mean you work for KBR (assuming you're on the consultant side)? I think we lost out to you guys on that project, i work for AECOM.

[Guest Keefo]

Sorry everybody only just back onto this site....thank you for all the replies. We only did EOI in February this year now we have case officer, done police checks and had medicals on Monday so hopefully get visa soon. After lots of research around Perth we now have started thinking about Adelaide again.

[Guest Keefo]

Keefo,

 

What area of business do you have CAD experience in? I am a civil engineer and we are constantly looking for more draughtsmen for the Southern Expressway project here. If you want to contact me personally then inbox me your email address. I sit next to our CAD manager.

 

Richard

 

Richie, unfortunately I haven't worked in civil. Were you just after general Autocad draughtspeople? I know it's a bit late now but just out of interest. Thanks and sorry for v.late reply.

[xzibit]

Keefo, if you can use Revit then you will stand a much better chance of getting a job out here. If you're on the architectural side the PM me when you get here, may be able to point you in the right direction for a job. Rich has moved back to the UK so he'll not be much help lol.

[Guest Keefo]

Keefo, if you can use Revit then you will stand a much better chance of getting a job out here. If you're on the architectural side the PM me when you get here, may be able to point you in the right direction for a job. Rich has moved back to the UK so he'll not be much help lol.

 

Ha ha thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately I don't use Revit. I have seen Autocad jobs advertised in one off engineering/manufacturing companies in Perth but I'll see.

[xzibit]

Download the free 30 day trial and get learning lol.

 

For your reference, a residential drafter working for one of the home builders will get about $40k - $45k a year, a drafter working for an architect about $50k - $65k (same for structural drafters), but if you know Revit, $65k - $85k is achievable. It's worth trying to get some experience on.

[Guest Keefo]

Is it 2d or 3d

[Guest Keefo]

Download the free 30 day trial and get learning lol.

 

For your reference, a residential drafter working for one of the home builders will get about $40k - $45k a year, a drafter working for an architect about $50k - $65k (same for structural drafters), but if you know Revit, $65k - $85k is achievable. It's worth trying to get some experience on.

 

Don't companies usually want people with oz build experience for residential draughters and need this that and the other.

[xzibit]

Revit is 3d. No building is pretty similar here really, there's not much to learn. I didn't have any issues when I arrived.

[Guest Keefo]

We worked out that for us, we could survive on $60K joint income as an absolute low point without really going out or doing anything and we have a daughter and that factors in Childcare.

 

I think you'll be fine on 75K the issue is finding permanent employment as a teacher which is something we're in the middle of searching for at the moment. From what we can gather, TRT (temporary teaching - cover work) is the way most people then go on to secure some sort of contract whether that be for a term or a year.

 

We're allowing about three months in our budget where neither is us will earn any money. After that, we'd be struggling!

 

So the problem is then that you can't really put an accurate budget together as you just don't know what you'll be earning. What we did was assume the worst and imagine that we both worked in a coffee shop or McD's for a few months on minimum wage whilst in pursuit of our dream job, and it turned out it was survivable, but only just.

 

That takes the pressure off a little I guess...

 

A bit late but did you find regular work as a Teacher?

[jtct]

Hi have a read through the site as I think we do this every week or so ,I read on the perth site some people said, you would need over 120k for a couple without any kids,75 sound like a very good wage in Adelaide.

 

 

Kev.

 

 

Some of us even manage on half that - we're pensioners (UK that is) and own our own home!