What is an OK Ozzie salary?

[Guest fluxsta]

It is a difficult question you have posed as you really do live to your means. But, you will quickly learn to adjust to aussie living and spending. There is not a vast selection of goods on offer in shops like is asda or tesco so that will cut some spending! And after just returning this week from a trip to the UK I will say that apart from beer, I thought most things were more or less on a par with Adelaide. It is definately more expensive in the UK now than when we left 2 years ago. (It didn't stop me shopping though and I still spent a months wages!!) I spent most of my shopping time converting the pounds back into dollars to see how much it costs. Honestly, once you forget the £ and live by the $ you earn everything sort of seems to fall into place and things appear to be more reasonable. It is a shock when you first arrive and you will probably think OMG its so expensive in the supermarkets when you are frantically trying to convert back into £'s, but the quality of fresh produce and meats are far superior and you really do have to learn to get away from the all under one roof idea of shopping. We find that if you use local businesses for groceries and meats and supermarkets for pantry goods it works out a lot cheaper, and usually they are farm fresh goods too! You get leaflets mailed every wek so you can see where the offers are.

 

I believe that $80,000 is more than enough to live comfortably on, there are endless activities that are family friendly and free or gold coin donation so you seldom have to worry about the cost of social activities and when you settle into your new social network, you will find yourselves invited out to bbq's and soirees most weekends. (the aussie way is to bring your own food and drink, this works well as you can afford to attend more do's and not feel pressured into having to spend $100's when you host your own evenings.) Also save your beer, soda and wine bottles as you can recycle them for 10c each, this is a good little earner, its surprising how quickly they all mount up!

 

You will have a large outlay of finaces when you first arrive as you buy cars and any white goods that you are not shipping and obviously rental costs vary by the suburb and proximity to the city/sea views. We live in the south at Aldinga and the average cost of a 4 bed new build home for rent is $400-$450 pw which includes water and council taxes. we have found utility bills to be considerably cheaper than in the UK, but we have solar panels for our hot water and only really need the heating on for 12 weeks of the year. We are out most of the day so that saves on air con bills too. Water rates are ridiculously cheap, but are due to increase when the desal plant opens but we are only paying about $175 a quarter which is roughly the equivilent of what we paid in pounds per month on our water meter!!! Our winter gas and electric bill combined was less than $400 (for the quarter) we paid well over £100 a month in the UK.

Many people will agree when I say that the general standard of living is improved when you come out here, many families are not high earners but still manage to lead very comfortable and satisfying lives, more so than they would in the UK. I know that we couldn't afford to send our girls to ballet and dance classes as well as swimming classes over there, here they can pretty much participate in whatever they like as well as having the lovely fresh air and beaches to enjoy for free, the miles and miles of cycle trails and nature walks on offer and countless safe, clean and needle/glass free parks to play on.

Australia is not for everyone, it isn't always a scene of the grass is greener, in fact it can be damn hard at times and some families may struggle to make it work for them; and there will always be someone who will bring out the total negativity of the place, but for the most part the sun shines brightly on us and we are greatful.

If you work hard, you will make what you have do and love your new life in Aus. Good luck and have a great christmas!

 

 

Very informative and inspirational....many thanks. Happy Christmas!! Staying in Aldinga on reccie Feb 2011...i read that it is very nice!!

 

 

[Guest guest3462]

We love it here, 5 min walk to the beach and we have a lovely park on the square the kids love. It is a trail from the city, but a pleasant drive. My OH works at RAH and he doesnt think twice about the hours drive twice a day. Life is sweet just at the mo! :-) Hope you get sorted out soon and get out here as soon as poss! Merry christmas! x

[Guest fluxsta]

We love it here, 5 min walk to the beach and we have a lovely park on the square the kids love. It is a trail from the city, but a pleasant drive. My OH works at RAH and he doesnt think twice about the hours drive twice a day. Life is sweet just at the mo! :-) Hope you get sorted out soon and get out here as soon as poss! Merry christmas! x

 

 

Magic stuff!! Hoping to get money together by next xmas, sitting IELTS january, nursing reg can go off then it is just save save save....sell car, send belongings, book flights....hello Oz! forgot to mention secure employment ;-)

happy days....snow snow snow here....

 

have fun!

 

[Guest the umphs]

We've been here 2 months and still spending our transferred £'s so it is v difficult to not compare in the early days. We do find ourselves comparing and I have to say without having earned anything yet it does seem on the face of it to be expensive. HOWEVER, as people have pointed out things are affordable, particularly in relation to salaries. What I will say is food is extremely expensive. Cauliflower or no Collyflower (!?), the lack of competition it seems causes prices to be VERY expensive in the major supermarkets. HOWEVER, we have found that you can't just do ya Friday big shop anymore. Shopping in local markets/traders, Adelaide Central market, closing times, etc, etc seems to be a good way of saving money. And good. Spending with local traders is much better way of strengthening the economy versus giving all your hard earned cash to Tesco. Probably why the economy here has recovered so quickly....

 

England can stick is 'thingy-flower' up its whatsit. Or up Ricky Ponting's....

[Guest Nomoreengland]

not once have i stated that im not happy in australia. All I have done is said that Australia is expensive and that you need to earn more over here than in england to afford nice things.

 

 

Hi, why are you even in Australia????? If you don't have kids, don't give advice! Sorry to sound rude but you appear to be very down on your current experience in the country and I am really interested as to why you continue to stay somewhere that you appear not to enjoy living in?

[Rob and Mel]

If you are so concerned about the price of cauliflowers then why dont you get a veggie patch?

 

We have started one and the kids really enjoy growing things in it.

 

It keeps your bills at the shops down.

 

We could not have done this in the UK.

 

Or maybe we could of grown ice pops!!!

 

Rob and Mel....and the kids

[Guest Guest75]

Cauliflower - Definitions available for Cauliflower from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus

 

:snowman6::xmas3::santadance:

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

If you are so concerned about the price of cauliflowers then why dont you get a veggie patch?

 

We have started one and the kids really enjoy growing things in it.

 

It keeps your bills at the shops down.

 

We could not have done this in the UK.

 

Or maybe we could of grown ice pops!!!

 

Rob and Mel....and the kids

 

 

Wehave just moved into our new home....and 2 of the first things we did was make 2 veg beds so we can grow our own buts and bobs....this also keeps the kids busy too.....

 

HG

[scooterdan]

Wow...i wish i earnt some of the salaries mentioned on here....we are around $68000 total.....but besides that they are 2 of us and we live very well, dont really worry bout what we buy! We have active social lives, out every weekend pretty much, eat out lots!! I dont find shopping expensive really...maybe im used to it!

 

But as said earlier we started butchers for meat, grocers for greens etc....defo cheaper!!

 

Give it time...

[Pommy99]

Hi all,

We are still thinking of trying to move over in 2011 after a reccie in 2009 and validating our visa. Because at the time we began the visa process the exchange rate peaked at 2.5 and is now at 1.5 ish we are finding it hard to work out a decent ozzie salary. For a family of 6, 2 adults and 4 kids does Aus $ 75 to 80 sound enough to live off????

Hope you can help,

thanks .

 

The weather is free but has been pretty miserable so far this year!

 

Just about everything except petrol is more expensive IMHO.

 

I reckon you will need more than $80k with four kids.

 

I have 2 kids, I don't smoke, I rarely drink, I don't live on any benefits and I earn $80k and spend $80k.

 

However, the bottom line is that if you want your children to have a future move to another part of Australia or stay in the UK. There are no prospects in SA for young adults.

 

And to all the 'clever dicks' who respond to any criticism of Adelaide as if it were a personal attack on them ...Yes I know where the airport is and will be using it because although the UK is miserable cold and violent, there is culture , better education and a future, and you can't say that of Adelaide.

[Guest guest3462]

If you are so concerned about the price of cauliflowers then why dont you get a veggie patch?

 

We have started one and the kids really enjoy growing things in it.

 

It keeps your bills at the shops down.

 

We could not have done this in the UK.

 

Or maybe we could of grown ice pops!!!

 

Rob and Mel....and the kids

 

Your veggie plot looks fantastic!! I wanted to set one up this year for the girls and me, but beacuse we went overseas I didn't want it all to wither away wehile we were gone. Do you think if I bought seedlings I could still get one established this year or should we wait til next spring?

[Guest fluxsta]

The weather is free but has been pretty miserable so far this year!

 

Just about everything except petrol is more expensive IMHO.

 

I reckon you will need more than $80k with four kids.

 

I have 2 kids, I don't smoke, I rarely drink, I don't live on any benefits and I earn $80k and spend $80k.

 

However, the bottom line is that if you want your children to have a future move to another part of Australia or stay in the UK. There are no prospects in SA for young adults.

 

And to all the 'clever dicks' who respond to any criticism of Adelaide as if it were a personal attack on them ...Yes I know where the airport is and will be using it because although the UK is miserable cold and violent, there is culture , better education and a future, and you can't say that of Adelaide.

 

Each to their own......not sure where you live in UK, but I have done the maths....and we can survive on $50k......3 kids under 4, two adults, no luxuries. Sorry, but the UK is crumbling and offers nothing for my children. it doesn't have to be Oz, but it ain't happening her under this coalition governent. Members of this site appear to me to have objective comments , no clever dicks and i don't perceive that anyone feels that any comments are personal attacks, just not realistic appraisals of situations. I am glad you know where the airport is, I will be visiting soon on my reccie and will make up my own mind about what is best for myself and my family......

[Guest Guest75]

Each to their own......not sure where you live in UK, but I have done the maths....and we can survive on $50k......3 kids under 4, two adults, no luxuries. Sorry, but the UK is crumbling and offers nothing for my children. it doesn't have to be Oz, but it ain't happening her under this coalition governent. Members of this site appear to me to have objective comments , no clever dicks and i don't perceive that anyone feels that any comments are personal attacks, just not realistic appraisals of situations. I am glad you know where the airport is, I will be visiting soon on my reccie and will make up my own mind about what is best for myself and my family......

 

We came here for the "experience, because we can,we could see what was happening in the UK over 10 years ago ( so many people are apathetic and don't vote! (IDIOTS!) - also for a different ending to our life story - rather than sat in the local miserable pub with miserable people trying to be happy that we'd paid off our mortgage.

 

Money never came into it as a basic part of the decision.

 

I must say it was an added bonus that things were cheaper then - but that is the problem,people hark back to the "good old days / when the exchange rate was $2.50.blah blah"

 

I'm surprised that Pommy99 can manage to spend that $80k a year though!

Your outgoings are huge!!

Do you have a fancy house/ rental/ hooge mortgage??

Your answers are going against the norm here - just really wondering if you are making an effort to save money??

[Guest Jo&Phil]

The cost of living has certainly risen in the 8 years I've been here (but that's probably true the whole world over). Some grocery products are certainly more expensive, which can, in part, be attributed to Australia being a relatively small market (eg: 20 million people in comparison to 60 odd million) and its location (difficult to get cheap and quality comparable alternatives from overseas).

 

I have noticed that tinned stuff is certainly more expensive if you convert it to pounds and pence as are all those 'extra' things that went into the shopping basket, (crisps, biscuits, chocolate, etc). We don't have children so our need to buy this sort of thing to top up lunch boxes and for snacks is reduced ... though are desire for chocolate doesn't appear to have abated.

 

However, I have personally found the quality of fresh fish and meat for the price paid is significantly better than the UK and the opportunity to eat well out for a good price is greater. I've found that I shop differently (love the Central Market) and buy different things to when I was in the UK and I actually cook more ... although I still miss M+S 'ready' to cook stuff, especially when I come home from work uninspired by the contents of the fridge!

 

Sometimes it seems that people can have an expectation of a larger salary here than one the job would command at home and this may lead to disappointment. In my experience, most salaries are comparable in terms of what you earned in the UK - it is unlikely that you'll be paid mega dollars more to do the same job you were doing in the UK and your budget will probably go proportionally (overall) to the same things.

[Guest Guest75]

Too right on the much smaller population and retail market here Jo and Phil - also the distances are a lot larger for transport.

 

I've worked in the grocery industry and done business in most EEC countries - it is amazing what is made where now!

The consumer base "back there" is more likely to be nearly 500 million if you consider the entire EEC.

 

We want to escape the rat race , live with only 20 million people and still want to pay the 500 million people price!!!!:shocked:

[Diane]

... there is culture , better education and a future, and you can't say that of Adelaide.

 

Apart from all the other things you say in your post, this is one that I would disagree with. In my personal experience, the standard of education here is good, choice of schools is far better than I would have had in the UK for my kids (in a particularly overcrowded part of Essex) and having the choice of three Universities in this city alone, one of which (Adelaide Uni) ranks way up in the top Unis of the world - I think gives choices and options that are easily as good as in Britain - even better I guess now that Britain is going to hike the price of going to Uni so much. For the future, well if the kids grow up and want to go elsewhere, who am I to stop them? - I think someone on here has in their signature the thing about giving your kids wings and letting them fly..... For our family, I think/hope moving here has done this for my kids.

 

It's not perfect and there are certainly some things about Australia and Adelaide that have me grinding my teeth, but life is what you make of it at the end of the day.

[Lazy Cow]

I would just like to point out that the age of your kids can make a big difference to costs.

 

My bills are closer to, an in some instances exceed, those quoted by AdelaideinJuly...but then we have two 'big' kids -15 and 18. What that means to us, is that we effectively cater for four adults so we spend every cent we make. Easily

 

I can't compare our prices to UK ones, haven't been back over for a few years so I have nothing to compare with but as many people say, you just have to live on what you have. I have everything on direct debit, I pay my school fees by installment and do all I can to spread costs over the year. It can suck at times but it all works out in the end lol.

 

As for the free sun etc that's true but my kids like meeting up with their mates and going bowling, shopping, films etc probably much like kids the world over. When they were littlies, the beach and our pool were good fun...now, unless they're off jetty jumping, they don't want to know!

 

I totally wouldn't make finance the only reason for moving over - or not - but neither would I not come because of it. I just wanted to make the point that the ages of your kids can make a huge difference in food, electricity, transport etc costs...even if they get a job!

LC

[Guest fluxsta]

Hiya Tyke,

 

Thanks, not sure if your comments about saving money were directed towards myself? if they are, believe me we are trying! We have no mortgage here in UK and minimal debts so the move is very appealing;-)

 

And as you state, moving to Oz was a better way to end your 'life story'.....that was put very nicely. I have always understood that i didn't want to be down the local wingeing over my pint of ale stooped over a Daily Mail agreeing with columnists about the current conservative policies, or lack of investment in blah blah blah or whether Peter Andre's new haircut is awesome or not? ;-)

 

All I know is that our planet is a mighty big pond and the whole experience of examining another place to lay our hats seems like a mighty big adventure, and if no expectation is placed on it and a little hard work put in, then the end to our 'life story' may be an enjoyable and satisfying one

 

 

We came here for the "experience, because we can,we could see what was happening in the UK over 10 years ago ( so many people are apathetic and don't vote! (IDIOTS!) - also for a different ending to our life story - rather than sat in the local miserable pub with miserable people trying to be happy that we'd paid off our mortgage.

 

Money never came into it as a basic part of the decision.

 

I must say it was an added bonus that things were cheaper then - but that is the problem,people hark back to the "good old days / when the exchange rate was $2.50.blah blah"

 

I'm surprised that Pommy99 can manage to spend that $80k a year though!

Your outgoings are huge!!

Do you have a fancy house/ rental/ hooge mortgage??

Your answers are going against the norm here - just really wondering if you are making an effort to save money??

[Guest Nomoreengland]

To put this thread into persperctive - the average income per individual is 60k per annum. For those of youin the UK, $120k per household would be average. Like any country, earning anything less than average you will always struggle, especially with 4 kids like some of you have mentioned.

[Guest The Dimmocks]

We are on a very very below average income then :shocked:.

 

We get on great and certainly dont find it hard to survive.

[Guest Nomoreengland]

Yeah but it depends where you live. Do you live way down south near Norlunga where the rent is cheaper? If you live more centrallly in Adelaide rent is a lot higher unless you are willing to live in a shed.

[Guest The Dimmocks]

Yeah we live "way down south" and pay $320 per week rent, which is about average for "way down south" (dont quote me on that). People choose where to live, if they want to live in an expensive area than they pay the expensive rent. People have choices in life and they do what they want to do, although not all choices work out, we didnt choose to have 3 kids, but it what we got so we live with it and wouldnt have it any other way.

[RockDr]

To put this thread into persperctive - the average income per individual is 60k per annum. For those of youin the UK, $120k per household would be average. Like any country, earning anything less than average you will always struggle, especially with 4 kids like some of you have mentioned.

 

Where on earth are you getting your numbers from?

The median (i.e. half of the population earns more, half earns less) individual weekly gross income in the UK in 2010 was GPB 499 National Statistics Online - Earnings

That's about GPB 26,000 a year, or AU$ 42,000. Even if you assume all households have two incomes (which is nowhere even close to reality), you're nowhere near an average household income of $120k.

[Guest Nomoreengland]

The average wagein England is less becasue its a lot cheaper so lower wages go further. This is reflective in minumum wages - ie Uk - 5 pounds 91p per hour whereas Australia is $15 which is 9 pounds and 55p.

[RockDr]

The average wagein England is less becasue its a lot cheaper so lower wages go further. This is reflective in minumum wages - ie Uk - 5 pounds 91p per hour whereas Australia is $15 which is 9 pounds and 55p.

 

Oh so you're admitting that the numbers you pulled out of thin air were completely made up then?

 

So now you're trying to tell us that minimum wages are directly related to cost of living? Shouldn't you be looking at cost of living if you're trying to determine cost of living?