Moving to Adelaide

[Guest Adelaideboundsam]

Hi

My husband has been offered a job in Adelaide as a Mechanic on a 457 Visa, I have lots of questions but I'll start with just a few. There is just the 2 of us would we be able to manage on his wage of 50000 per annum until I can find a job? this leads me to my second question how difficult is it to find work? I normally do clerical work but I'm willing to do anything legal.

 

Thnaks for your help.

Sam

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Hi Sam,

Welcome!

It's not cheap to live here but $50,000 pa should certainly be enough. For a decent unfurnished rental you can expect to pay beween $330 and $400 per week although there are cheaper properties than this in some suburbs.

The economy has slowed down and there is quite a lot of uncertainty that's being spread by the European issues. There are still plenty of jobs in retails though and clerical work is still in demand.

There are quite a few variables like how much financial backing you will have....whether you can buy a decent car outright, what furniture and appliances you will be bringing and how much of your income would be needed to live and how much might be needed to set up the new life here?

 

I am sure you will get plenty of opinion and help from member on this site.

 

Tamara

[Guest Adelaideboundsam]

Thanks!

We don't have loads of savings but are bringing a lot of our furniture and electrical goods with us. We would of brought the car to if we could but we've only had it 3 months so sadly can't.

Sam

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Cars are expensive here and the licencing is not cheap. Expect to pay around $50 - $60 per month for insurance (fully comp). The licence fee (road tax) also includes compulsory a injury insurance and will be around $800 per year depending upon the model.

Electricity...around $100 to $150 per month depending upon the heating and cooling system in the house you rent

Water.....around $50 per month when renting and $100 if an owner but depends upon pool / garden / top loader washing machine etc

Gas...around $50 to $100 per month but heating and cooking use will determine this.

Foxtel (satellite tv) $50 to $120 depending upon package.

 

There are ways of living cheaply here. The supermarkets have promotions / specials and it's a good idea to make use of the flyers that are in the letter boxes. For larger purchases...don't pay full price for anything! Everywhere from Harvey Norman, Le Cornu, Good Guys etc will all discount the price if you ask!

 

A lot does depend upon lifestyle though...ciggies and booze are expensive!

 

My OH decided to get a job at one of the local Bunnings (hardware) stores a few years ago whilst he was studying...they are always looking for people and pay $24 per hour for a casual and $19 per hour for a contract worker. He enjoys the people that he works with and is still there 3 years later! There will be plenty of positions advertised in the new financial year at the end of June...likewise with other retailers and it's a great job just to bring some dollars in for all those expenses of setting up the new life.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Tamara

[keldaz]

Hi, we are a couple and have been living in Adelaide for around 9 months. We have been living on 1 wage around the $50k mark. We pay $350 a week for our rental and run 2 older cars. We do get out and about, but rarely doing anything that costs money. From this we can tell you that you will be able to live on $50k, but you won't have much spare. Fun and savings will have to come from your job. Obviously people live in different ways, but we are very good at budget management and are not extravagant people. Hope this helps.

[Guest Adelaideboundsam]

Thank you both that's really helpful.

[jim and adel]

I agree with pretty much everything here - you'll manage if you have to (some do it on less) but there won't be much left over for luxuries. Still, if you're realistic you'll expect to build up a lifestyle here over time, rather than drop straight into one.

 

Just a point about Tamara's electricity costs: in our rental and now our own home we've never yet had a bill that's been as low as the equivalent to $100-$150 per month (three of us - two adults out at work each day and one child out at school and nothing left on standby!) Clearly we're doing something wrong!

 

Jim

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for that. You are totally right...electricity is massively expensive and getting more expensive all the time.

 

I have a mixture of gas and electricity in 2 cottages and 3 houses. I had some horrendous bills a couple of years ago...around $1200 for a 3 month period and I then went on an energy saving blitz.

All the properties except 1 now has gas hot water systems...and the one remaining has an Edwards solar boost tank and panel on the roof. At least 40% of any household electricity use can be through heating hot water. All the houses have low energy globes and many have the new LED globes that only use between 1 and 4 watts!

I have three large 900mm ovens and hobs but I went out and bought the small convection ovens as well...what's the point in using thousands of watts to heat up a pie!!! The ovens are still there but the samller units do save a massive amount.

I have fitted roller shutters to three houses...they keep the heat out in summer and trap the heat in winter which saves lots on cooling and heating costs.

Tumble dryers are gone! I still have them (gathering dust) but I have added a drying room for two properties and the others all have undercover drying facilities for winter.

Two of the older houses (the one I live in and a rental) had rubbish insulation so that was done as well.

 

It's expensive to live in Oz but I have managed to reduce the bills by at least half and we still use loads of electricity. My one teenager is a culprit...he thinks nothing about leaving his computer on for 24 hours a day. That's a 500 watt pc costing 12 kw in a 24 hour day = $4 for the day!! That's crazy when worked out over a 90 day electricity cycle. All the pc's are now set to go into sleep mode after a few minutes of inactivity.

 

Time to do an energy audit Jim!

 

Tamara

[jim and adel]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for that. You are totally right...electricity is massively expensive and getting more expensive all the time.

 

I have a mixture of gas and electricity in 2 cottages and 3 houses. I had some horrendous bills a couple of years ago...around $1200 for a 3 month period and I then went on an energy saving blitz.

All the properties except 1 now has gas hot water systems...and the one remaining has an Edwards solar boost tank and panel on the roof. At least 40% of any household electricity use can be through heating hot water. All the houses have low energy globes and many have the new LED globes that only use between 1 and 4 watts!

I have three large 900mm ovens and hobs but I went out and bought the small convection ovens as well...what's the point in using thousands of watts to heat up a pie!!! The ovens are still there but the samller units do save a massive amount.

I have fitted roller shutters to three houses...they keep the heat out in summer and trap the heat in winter which saves lots on cooling and heating costs.

Tumble dryers are gone! I still have them (gathering dust) but I have added a drying room for two properties and the others all have undercover drying facilities for winter.

Two of the older houses (the one I live in and a rental) had rubbish insulation so that was done as well.

 

It's expensive to live in Oz but I have managed to reduce the bills by at least half and we still use loads of electricity. My one teenager is a culprit...he thinks nothing about leaving his computer on for 24 hours a day. That's a 500 watt pc costing 12 kw in a 24 hour day = $4 for the day!! That's crazy when worked out over a 90 day electricity cycle. All the pc's are now set to go into sleep mode after a few minutes of inactivity.

 

Time to do an energy audit Jim!

 

Tamara

 

Thanks for the breakdown of how you've tackled this, Tamara. Problem is, apart from the shutters (sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to live in a house with all the windows covered up - they make a property look like a safety deposit box) we've pretty much covered the same bases. The house we've had built has plenty of extra insulation (as well as roof sarking), thicker plasterboard, sound batts in some rooms, our hot water is solar boosted (no mains gas where we are so we limit gas to the living-flame fire in the front room and for the cooking hob) and all our globes and downlights are energy efficient.

 

Just before the solar rebate changed we took the plunge and bought the mother of all systems - this has pretty much cut out the bills but will take years to pay for itself.

 

Jim