StraighttothePoint

Get in there and fill your boots Chook. My wife did exactly that job when we had our son. She was a stay at home mum and did, among other things like art work and picture farming, in house ironging for two years at a great hourly rate. She worked for herself and had about 6 customers in the village and had a ball. Huge benefits. Stayed at home, earned money, there for our son and so on. I tried to say to her that she would get bored but she never, ever did and was in complete control of her on life. Best thing she said was that she had her own money in her purse.

This all looks pretty standard to me from what happens to others in your situation. New to the area and no Aussie CV history. As many are saying it is a foot in the door. Taking something like this gets your CV up and running. It is near minimum wage but you would be off and running. The problem is location. Would you say it was a crap salary if the branch was 10 minutes from your doorstep? Also what salary do you think, as a brand new person in Oz, with no previous Oz experinece here do you think you should get? 40k to 50k is about right for this type of work. Retail only pays about $20 an hour flat rate. Unless you go for a position way above this level you will find that these salary ranges are about right. For many things Perth is not what it seems and average salaries is one of them. Also where people live plays a large part in what happens next in their careers. Too far out of the city and it is harder to balance the books beacuse of the costs associated with getting to work in terms of money and family life. As for my thoughts. I would not add any pressure on yourself. Where you are to get given Cottesloe for example then it would be a nightmare day for you. No I would re-think and accept the salary range is not crap, wait and go for a local area job at the same rates and get your foot in the door that way.

If you need some indepth information on Perth then type / copy and paste in the words Where to live - road and rail links - and why you need to be careful into the search field, then click the search button. Leave out the It will take you to post that gives you a bigger picture of the problem in relation to deciding. It is not a dig at north or south of the river but some interesting facts surrounding the city's infrastructure.

It appears this thread was started on the basis that piccolo, who is planning to come out to Perth with her OH and a baby, was trying to work out of you could survive on circa $1600 a week. This figure was based on what her OH's expected earnings could be. Figures were then banded about and some additional ideas on how to save on expenditure. Again it appears that much of the information added value to the chat. Howvere I think it was Ali that said working out cost of living is very difficult because we are all different and all have different circumstances which is ture. Economoics is about "wants" and some people want more or less than others. (Only one thing I ever remembered from my O Level studying probably should have paid attention a bit more!!). Anyway I noticed that the views to this post is considerable and therefore would appear to be one of the hottest topics on the site. Is there anyway that there could be a single standard post set up, that included a simple tables, that showed figures on what it could look like to live on say a two or three different incomes. For example one that showed $1500 per week and the standard items below that like rent, insurances, food, utilities and other and two anothers that say showed $2000 and $2500 per week. Yes it would be all estimated and be rough calucluations but if that was available then it would may be reduce the number of mulptiple threads that are being started on what is a hot topic. All that then would need to be done is that the tables be updated say once a quarter and a caviat at the bottom saying these are all guides only and should not be taken as gospel etc etc. Alternatively a hyperlink to the internet cloud where the tables could be kept. No idea if this is possible or even sensible but I have noticed that due the considerable rise in realtion to living in Perth this information is now the ultimate starting point for many peolpel as they try and decide to come over or not. Just an idea.

My wife was born here in Perth and had asthma issues when she moved to Scotland. Since she has come back here to live in this dry heat she has been unaffected. Does not sound as bad as your wee one though but Perth climate has got to be better surely versus a cold, wet, damp Aramadale. However that all being said Albany does not have the same climate as we do here in Perth and it does get more damp / wet weather than we do in the city and so think you will need to be more specific from where you get any feedback. Can you get in touch direct with some Albany based people? That may prove more fruitful re relevant information. Try contacting this http://www.asthmawa.org.au/ and ask them if they have any ideas or contacts in the area. They do not have offices in Albany though.

Old colonial town. Slow pace. A fair bit down the road from Perth so trips to the city are, for incomers anyway, a bit of a trek. Unless you have relatives in Perth maybe expensive to come up and stay for long periods. Bring lots of winter woolies and wet weather gear!! I am from your country and believe me it is very cool and wet for long periods down there. Nice though and much, much cooler than up here in Perth. To put it in perspective look at a map and go south from Albany. Not a lot is there? Next stop the south pole. Google some weather sites and that will give you an idea on average temperatures. To be honest probably a better climate for us than too much heat. Once was a major whaling port. And not a lot of people know this but...... Way back in the day before there was any major ports or sea developments here in Perth Albany was where all the imports/ exports were handled including all the incoming mail. The mail was then sent by horse and cart all the way up to Perth. To give you an idea on time it took. It takes about 5 hours by car now. The horses must have been knackered!! It will certainly be a big change from Armadale that's for sure.

Yep we took that decision as well and have one. However if new arrivals are planning to go straight into a rental then that is another good piece of advice. Try and find one that has a dishwasher as part of the deal. If not back to my advice of collecting the cold water I am afraid. This of course raises another point for piccolo. They have a baby and not all Aussie homes have a bath, many only have showers. And if you get one with a bath then means more water usage. Arghhhh vicious circle or what

I suppose taking out any type of insurance is really just deciding on what level of risk you want to take in relation to the thing(s) you are wanting to insure? You do not need to take any home contents insurance. Many people over here do not have any it which I suppose is like anywhere. You could take out the minimum policy level allowed with no extras and a high excess figure and then add in named items like your valued personal effects. You could take out a basic policy which no additions. Really up to how much risk you are prepared to take. Problem here now because of all the recent fires and floods in Oz the insurance companies have all increased their premiums by a fair whack. Our contents last year was $460 and this year the bill came in at $560. We just increased the excess to keep it below the five hundred mark. And we do not have that great a policy only a fairly middle of the road one. House cooling. Assumptions are that you maybe out of the house for part of the day and that if you are not then you only need to use a little leccy when indoors. Running a couple of lightbulbs and maybe a fan for short periods is much, much cheaper than running air con because you are using so much less power. We have a low electric bill and run fans all night in our bedroom for example. Nope air con, especially reverse cycle (cool air in summer and heat in the winter), is a bugger. Water usage, although it has just gone up by between 20 and 30 percent on 1/1/12, is still fairly reasonable if you manage your use. However it could still be another good few hundred per year. I could never get used to when you brush your teeth here that you should turn off the tap and not let the water run. In the northern hemisphere we just kept the tap running all the time. And when you run water for dishes you need to think about when you run the tap initially that you collect all the cold wate before it runs hot. That cold water can then be used for the kettle or other stuff. Water is an extremely precious commodity and some people care about it beause it si so short supply. Of course many do not and just use it and pay for it. It is really up to how you see the world I suppose. I take your point on the cash flow point you make and as I said previously you have to decide what you think is best.

It is the Railway Inn in Lower Largo, Fife.

Just re-read this. Vets here charge like a wounded bull. Maybe need to consider pet insurance rather than paying by visit? I know my mate had his vet just take a look at his cat and he was hit with a $150 bill before any treatment and/or meds. Or of course you take the risk all will be fine. Also I was a bit confused. You say about retaining house insurance and health cover in Ireland but in your Oz budget you have no home contents insurance just health care. Building contents would be paid for the home owner but contents would that not be your option. Our home contents is another $10 a week roughly. Not trying to be negative just trying to get you thinking

And don't forget the Perth Entertainment Book. $60 and it runs June to May and is packed full of great offers. It pays for itself within a week of getting it especially if you use it for the fining dining places. And would you believe it Portlaunay I was at the Freo Arts Centre for lunch today. Excellent and 50% discount with the PEB voucher.

Looks like we are both pretty close then on the figures. There will be variations but totals are relatively close. I am not 100% on water but would you not need to pay for usage? Water rates meybe paid for but you may need to pay usage. Buying a car is cost plus 3 or 4 percent state tax. So if you see something at say 20k you need to add on more for the tax. And of course as we all know when you have budgets they tend to go up a bit so as I said earlier you will not have much leeway with $1600 per week. It is do able though. Cooling down your house is key in the summer months. Running air con does not do that. My wife, being Perth born, was taught to pull down all the blinds and close curtains as soon as you get up in the morning. This keeps the direct sunlight out of the rooms. Also look for a rental with eaves and as much patio cover as possible. Having these gives the house a bit of protection, i.e. keeps the sun off the bricks. Then when you come in later in the day, fingers crossed there is a breeze, and you open all windows and get as much cool air through the house as possible. This process keeps the house much, much cooler and it then allows you to use your air con in short bursts. If you have ceiling fans then they are great because when you are cooling your house you can have those on to circulate the cool air, especially in the bedrooms, and indeed you can keep them on most of the night when sleeping because they are so cheap to run. What tends to happen is some people just whack on the air con and keep it running. It does not cool the house, costs a fortune to run and depending on the type is not that healthly to keep on for long, long periods. I have London on one side of me and Essex on the other and in both cases in the summer it is like a constant hum 24 hours a day. There was even a guy round the corner who took out a bit of a north facing external wall and out in a sliding pation door onto the garden with no patio cover. North faces the sun!! Madness but he had it at "home" so wanted it here. He ended up with all sorts of blinds and covering on it. Hey ho. The downside to cooling down your house the Aussie way is that it is dark and us northern hemisphere types are not used to that. Also Aussie house's do not all have heating in all rooms for the winter. Once you live here and get used to it you start to feel the winters. Again when looking at a rental take note of the heating on offer. You may have a house with gas points only and if so may need to buy a couple of gas heaters. You connect the heaters to the points and then store away in the spring / summer / autumn when not needed. I had a one year old once. Sometimes still think he is one. It is a tough time for them and for their parents at that stage. Lot's going on and changing everyday for everyone. Of course you can give it a go at that age but once they are over the initial couple of years they are more aware, they toddle, they are active and they are more manageable and can start to take part in activities. Coming here is stressful, especially if you are on the border re finances, it is extremely hot at certain times, cold and very wet at others and takes a while to get used to and in general things can be hard enough for two adults let alone anyone else. Waiting will not be for everyone and everybody is different but with such a huge move, and all that goes with it, is waiting a couple of years not an option?

Quite right Pics don't take the bait. Sorry side tracked a bit and so hopefully this will get the thread back on theme. Throwing some figures down may help you with your original question. You say that oh will probably earn $35 to $40 per hour and work 40 to 50 hours per week. Let's just er a bit on the low side and say $40 ph and 40 hours per week. (It is currently 38 degrees here today and so I would guess that a newbie would struggle to work flat out on arrival so hence the lower numbers.) You also confirmed $480 per week out of affordable rent and transfer back to Eire for the mortgage. So $1600 per week income roughly. There are three of us in our family, me my wife and a 20 year old at uni. We are eco warriors and try to reduce all utilities for that reason and not just on cost basis, we shop weekly (once at the supermarket and once at the markets for veggies), we only have one car, we use public transport and we try and save a little. The familiy profile is a little different than yours but your baby's needs probably equate in cost to what we shell out for our son so that may balance out. We have a smallish 4 x 2. Based on that then we might be roughly similar in what our outgoings are. Below is our costs plus what we know about you. Rent and Eire $480 Electric $50 per week Gas $30 per week Internet $15 per week Water Rates $20 per week Water Usage $5 per week (But we are very low users and every drop is a prisoner) Weekly Shop Total $200 Mobiles $25 per week on plan for two Train / Bus tickets $20 per week Spending to cover most other stuff like food when at work, clothes, meals, out for a couple of drinks, cinema etc. $300 Absolute basics and very concious on utility usage so you could be a lot higher. For example we do not use the air con that much and instead cool down the house and then run fans. If you cannot stand the heat then you may run a air con unit constantly. That would put your electric costs way, way up. Indeed you may double them easiliy. We have only Western Australia plants in the garden and so we only water once per week. Anyway above is at roughly $1140 per week already. Now have to consider and add things you do not mention in your posts. Some of these are assumptions obviuosly. A car. Add in $25 per week for insurance and road tax plus a repayment figure if you need to get a loan. Healthcare. Are you going to use the government scheme Medicare or do you want a private plan? Average Private Family Plan $40 per week or take risk and go with medicare. I do not have private health care as we cannot afford it. Dental Care. Government dental is onlf for people on low income and/or concessions but based on your target income you will not get it and so do you want private dental treatment? $10 per week for a family plan or literally $100's everytime you turn up for a check up and clean. We took out the plan as it was agood way of saving dollars. Savings. Even if it was $50 per week for a rainy day or the wee ones birthdays. Petrol. $70 per week depending on where you live. When renting does your costs include garden maintenance? If not say $10 per week. Ok that is another roughly $210 depending on what you decide to do. Rough total so far $1350 per week but with no car loan. Not a lot of wiggle room on $1600 per week especially if you get a car loan and your OH does not work flat out. As I said in a previous post if you want to do it then go for it and all you need to be is realistic. Honest opinion? I would give it a couple of years until the baby is just a wee bit older. But hey who am I. Hope it all adds something into the mix.

I am in that market and to be honest I do not know anybody who has come here to Perth, doing what you do, on a sponsorship other than guys who have been helped to come out because their current employer in the UK has a branch here. You come, you network, you get known, you take a job below your expectations and in time you build up to what you really want via your contacts. That seems to be the more well worn path. If we were looking to recruit then we would be looking for Perth based experience. If we were placing we know that our clients would want Perth based experience. Also companies in the main here deal face to face. Bear in mind that everyone and their dog wants to come to Perth and so the market is very competitive. What you may wnat verus what you need to start one could be two different things. We have people from the eastern states, NZ, South Africa, Asia, Europe etc all trying for the jobs. If you want an honest opinion PM me your CV. I will let you know what the hourly rate may look like. Also let me know a bit about the Melbourne rate offer and we will see if that was realistic.

Don't want to burst any bubbles but the jobs for the boys attitude is very much alive and well here in Perth. Indeed it is really how business works. Applying for jobs, doing a professional bid for a job and all else that goes with these types of things is not my experience of Perth in 8 years. It is who you know not what you know here as well and indeed even maybe much more so. You have to build up contacts and find work that way. Personally I hate that style, and have never succomb to it here, but that has been more down to my position rather than anything else. Anyway the Irish, on the back of the massive Euro grant handouts, had it good for a long, long time!! About time you shared some of the pain

It is interesting because another new breed is appearing out here. There are a few in number, but I suppose it will grow, of people who are making the smart financial move back to Scotland, England, Ireland and /or Wales. The opportunity is huge. If you are in a position where you are ok with Perth but not that fussed returning could be a well worth exercise in terms of lifestyle. If you can turn your Perth assets into dollars and then transfer them at 67p to the dollar your really doing yourself a favour. You would not want to head back to an inner city mind!! Obviously money is not the be and end all but it helps. And if as I say you are not that fussed about Perth either way it is certainly worth considering. My wife works on a checkout and she talks to dozens of women everyday who would go back in a minute if they could, mostly because they miss their families. Maybe this is the right time if they have equity in their house or they are mortage free. Worth thinking about. Taking a fair sum back in these economic conditions would let you live in a decent house, in a decent area and maybe even allow you the luxury of early retirement and/or only the need of a part time job or self employment. Indeed if you are only coming out here for a limited time due to the visa type then getting as much dough transferred back home would be one way to go. Even if that means being frugal here it would be well worth it in the long run.

I moved here in October 2003, bought an old house, kept some capital up my sleeve, maintained the one car family stance and am surviving reasonalbly comfortably. If I was looking at emigrating now to Perth city then I would not do it. Why? Because the figures do not stack up when transferring money to Oz, the hours you need to put in here now to survive are far more than we needed to do when we arrived, it is a two class society here now because with the mining boom prices are geared towards the higher paid rather than the bloke in the street, the number of available jobs for the secondary wage earner are not as plentiful as they were because so many people now need one and there are too many non Australians here trying to influence how Perth is run. The road infrastructure is poor given there are so many new suburbs, the need for a second car is high if you end up living in one of the new suburbs, because there is so much cash here then alcohol and drug related problems are on the increase, the city schools and hospitals are now starting to creak beacuse they cannot cope with the numbers in the system and there are not enough new builds projected IMHO, the prices of staple foods and the utilities are beginning to make ordinary people really struggle so goodness knows what it is like for those that are needing support from the system and the cost of private health care is a big issue for low income earners. Negative? Don't think so because there is not much above that cannot be argued astrue albeit I am sure people will have a their own views. On the plus side if you do come here and are happy to make a go of it then you will survive. Aim that bit lower, manage your income, live somewhere where public transport can be used part of the time so as to reduce costs, shop clever and don't get too worried about what others have. Oh and most of all don't listen to your parents. If they are still in the same place as they were 30 or 40 years ago then why would you? Go for it. So I hope I am being honest in saying I personnally would not move to Perth city now but everyone has to make up their own minds. If you don't do it you may regret it forever.

Just found this guys passport in a Joondalup car park near the shopping centre. Born in Liverpool. NZ passport. If anyone knows him please pm me with his mobile number.

Not sure how buying a motorbike solves the bigger issue of, what appears to be, the State Government's continuing decisions to allocate infrastructure project dollars disproportionatley between north and south of the city? It also does not solve say a family day out, south from the northern suburbs, in terms of the long drive before they even get to the freeway unless of course you buy one each for the husband and wife and attach side cars for the kids. This is bigger picture debate and is just trying to highlight the point that when deciding on where to locate some deeper and more careful research maybe required. It is not all as it seems and a wrong decision on location can be very costly in terms of lifestyle, the ability to settle quickly, state of mind and even just doing the day to day activities. Schools are important for people as well and it would be interesting to do the same kind of analysis on what are the fastest growing suburbs verus the location and volume of new state schools either being upgraded or under construction. If you think high schools then off the top of my head you have Belridge / Ocean Reef and then what north? Is the next one at Clarkson about 10kms further north? Think it could be. What state ones are after that heading north? Nope there has always been this north versus south jokey thing going on but looking at it now it could be getting a bit more serious.

The Mitchell Freeway is the main motorway style road linking the city to the northern suburbs and beyond. The extension to Hepburn Avenue was opened in 1986 and since then the road has only gone as far as Burns Beach Road where it turns into well basically a couple of what could be described as part dual carriageway and part suburban roads. The volume of housing either built, being built or planning to be built beyond BBR and Yanchep is expansive to say the least. Commuting from these places by car to and from the city is an option but is a horrid journey depending on your work location and when you need to leave home / work. The distance from Hepburn Avenue turn off to BBR is, according to Wikipedia, 12.4kms, circa 7.2 miles in northern hemisphere speak. That means in 25 years it has taken successive WA State Governments that long to extend the major road system north. As for trains the same thing applies. Joondalup railway station was opened in 1993 and the next new station is scheduled to open in Butler, a suburb 13.3kms, (7.8 miles) north of BBR, in 2014. So in terms of the northern railway it will be taking 21 years to have any meaningful expansion. Now if you compare that to what has happened south of the river. If you start at South Street slip road, about 10kms (circa 6 miles) south of the city. This was opened in 1982. Since then the freeway now extends as far as Mandurah, 78 kms (circa 45 miles) and beyond via the Forrest Highway to places like Pinjarra. This has all been done in 19 years. Also for train travel a new line from the city to Mandurah was opened in 2007 and only took 3 years to build. There are numerous stations on the line all supporting each of the various suburbs that are springing up in that area. On top of this another couple of facts. The Mitchell Freeway north starts off as a four lane and then drops to two lanes at Hepburn Avenue. The volume of traffic at peak times north causes so much congestion that delays are inevitable. The widening of this stretch of the road has been under discussion for several years with no outcome clarified as yet. However in the south there is a $58 million project underway to widen the freeway between Leach Highway and Roe Highway from two to three lanes in each direction in order to ease the congestion at that point. So what does this really mean? I think it highlights where the state governments are targeting the dollars, it highlights clear bias to the south over numerous years and causes major infrastructure problems in the northern suburbs. Do I care? Not really because I work from home, travel out with peak times and plan my travel accordingly. Who it does affect though are those incomers who are thinking about where to live, city centre / city based employers who are trying to attract workers, people trying to sell their northern based suburban homes and also house builders. For more information visit Wikipedia and type in Mitchell or Kwinana Freeway or Joondalup or Mandurah Line. Hope this helps.

Phil was the advice you received at this end or in the UK before you left? If it was here then I would assume the advice would be bring it because if a company and/or agent arranges that transfer for you could be getting a % of the sum involved as commission. The information that would be interesting is what are the tax implications if you leave your personal pension in the UK, and it matures / is paid out, when you are a resident of Australia and you pay tax here? I would have thought that a part of it would be seen as tax free (as some pension elements are?) and the rest would may be seen as income and therefore taxed. Does anybody know or has anybody faced that? If it has been brought over and rolled into a super fund then the usual taxes would apply. I have trawled these boards and cannot see anything definitive. Comments about bringing your pension over now have been posted, e.g. poor exchange rates, is super that good really, what happens if I go back to the UK, what happens when I retire if I spend more time in the UK than here and revert to UK tax and so on. All these comments pointed to a negative reason for bringing your pension over within the first six months. Not sure either way to be honest because I suppose it is a personal choice based on your own circumstances and your financial position.

No it is not worth nothing and dont think that is what I said or implied. What you are hoping for now is more than the deal that is in place if you keave the UK now and you good luck to you if you get that changed. All I am saying is that not everyone will agree with your stance for various reasons. I have done the math and honestly it is not worth worrying about. As for the point about asking for your money back. Well that is like I'm not playing anymore and I am taking my ball with me Everyone's financial situation is different when emigrating, and the State Pension issue is one of a 100 things that some of us oldies may need to consider, but if it is that much of a priority then may be you need to petition for a change. Good luck with that by the way. As for others it is a non issue.

Can I commute easily using public transport, could my kid walk or cycle to school, can we walk to the local shops, can we be at the beach within a 10 minute drive, can we be aa one car family and can we absolutely not end up in some new house in a suburb in the middle of nowhere. We struck lucky and got the lot in Joondalup.

[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Like many others who use this site I deserted my country of birth to re-locate to Australia. When I was in the process of making that decision I researched everything including the fact that State Pension age rises to 64 and 66, in our cases due to date of births, the point that any State pension paid is frozen, the fact that earning here in Oz still needed to include catering for later and so on. Although it appears unfair that some countries are treated differently that is more than likely down to the tax arrangements between those countries. Bottom line is this is is old news, it means a few quid more a month on a pension that hopefully will never be a main source of income, a pension that will be worthless in terms of amount by the time we get it, it will be money that is taxed because bear in mind it is classed as income and that extra income could push you into a higher tax bracket here and in the end cost you much more than you would be gaining and also again we all chose to leave for here so cest la whats it. Worrying about a day that may never come and not planning for it now that you are here in Australia seems a waste of energy to me to be honest. Sort out the future on earnings here and forget the state handouts is my tactic.

Was is thise you read? It is in the job section. "JaynBev you are so correct Perth is about 10 years behind in IT but it is all about contacts, I wish you luck but please be ready for many ups and downs, Perth is fantastic but they don't like the English to much so its plenty of networking and the ability to change to Perth life. I am thinking about starting from stage one again in another line but my age might go against me (37)." It appears this person thinks it the English are not liked.