PerthPomToBe Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Piccolo, that is very similar to what my partner is making and we are living a very comfortable life! I have the one child too. We pay 475 for rent, have two decent cars and have all the mod cons like foxtel blah blah blah! Im sure you get my drift! Try and not worry about it too much because if you come here and love it, you will make it work no matter how much money you will be making. You wont know untill you try it! Also I just wanted to make a point aswell about the comment your family member said about mums over here dont tend to go to work. In my opinion it is much more common for mums to work over here than in the uk. If they do choose to stay at home like myself then it is because they can afford to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piccolo Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hiya, thanks a mil for that reply, really helpful and puts my mind at ease a bit more. Ya my Mum said that probably because all the women she met through my sister weren't working!! And hey, if we can afford it, I won't be either....I'd much rather be at home with my little girl. And if I can't afford it, then I will work. I feel a bit more resolved to come out to Perth after reading some of the responses on this thread. I think though we were being a little close minded in relation to where we wanted to live (NOR) and I think if we broaden our view a little, we'd probably get a lot more for our money house-wise further out of Perth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerthPomToBe Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 You wont have to move too far away to get a decent house on your budget. Ok my house feels a little dated but once I have all my new stuff arrive on monday it is going to look fab!! I have a 4 x 2 with a pool and garden in Atwell, I am 15 mins from the ocean, fremantle and city. I have lots of friends who live nor and have similar budgets to me and have lovely houses too. I would say when you arrive come and have a look about, you dont have to move to Bunbury to afford to live here!! You will find that a lot of mums have to stay at home here too because of the other partner working FIFO, my OH works for the Oil and Gas industry and I have no option than to stay at home for the time being. My 3 year old has to go a couple of weeks without seeing his daddy sometimes so I dont want to have him hardly see me either and be in daycare all day, but then we can afford that luxury... some families cant. Im glad you feel a little better about your decision, some people are just so full of doom and gloom sometimes! You live within your means here just like you would in the UK. Bev xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 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. Good post. Pretty much bang on. A lot of people are comming and not understanding that there is a good chance their lifestyle will be significantly worse than in the UK. Some assume that because there is sunshine and a beach all will be well with the world. But the reality is all the sun and beaches in the universe wont help when your sat there stressing because you cant pay the bills or when Christmas is comming and you cant afford it. I am one of the lucky ones as i am in mining. But even miners find that life is getting tight. Last November i remember one of the supervisors comming to ask if he could use my phone because his moble had been disconected due to him not being able to pay the bill. A income of $100k, particularly if it is from a sole earner is going to be a survive existance for a family. A lot of people also assume that WA in booming. The reality is that some industries are, but a LOT are in a very bad way. My nieghbour was laid off from his job in construction before christmas. He managed to find another working on the road works going on on the Roe highway. He is working perm nights for $57k a year and is worried as at that income they are just falling into debt to keep a roof over their heads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kazzy65 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 You know, everyone has their own opinions, pros and cons. At the end of the day there IS only you that can make the decision on whether to take the plunge or not. I know that I'd rather regret having done it, not liking and returning home than not having tried it at all and always wondering 'what if'. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 You know, everyone has their own opinions, pros and cons. At the end of the day there IS only you that can make the decision on whether to take the plunge or not. I know that I'd rather regret having done it, not liking and returning home than not having tried it at all and always wondering 'what if'. Good luck. I agree partly with what you say. But. It is a HUGE gamble that has the potential to wreck lives. Lets take an example that i have seen a lot. Couple, SAY AGED 40 with a couple of kids sells up in the UK and moves to Oz. They have spent a lot of their savings on gaining their visas and the move. Sell the house and arrive here. Cant find work or can only find work that pays a wage that they can barely survive on. They spend what money they had from the house sale fairly quickly because it is now effectivly their income and setting themselves up. They realise that this is not going to work. But now they are stuck. Even if they manage to get the money together to move back (and i know a fair few that are desperate to and are trying to scrimp and save the pennies). They arrive back in the UK with no jobs and due to the UK economy not much prospect of getting jobs. They have no house and because UK banks no insist on fairly large deposits its going to take years to save it up. Even when they do, they are now in the position of having another 25 year mortgage meaning that they will still be trying to pay off a mortgage when retired. In essence there life is stuffed. Is that really worth it? It does work for some, but i come across a lot who have expectations that are just not based in reality. There are so many that think they are going to come here get the big house by the beach and spend days having a beer around the BBQ. When in reality they get here and go holy cr*p i cant afford a house. An increasing amount - partly due to some of the expos that are ran in the UK think they will get a great paying job in the mines and all will be sweet and roses. Fact one, the mines are not short of applicants for 99% of positions. The skills shortage applies to specific skills that are in short supply. Fact two, a lot of the salaries in mining are actually not that great. We pay truckies working underground on 12 hour shift working 14 days on 7 off $75k a year. Not exactly huge and is one of the main entry points for a job. But, we have loads of applicants and the chances of someone comming from the UK and just getting a role is close to zero. Its very much a who you know industry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piccolo Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Okay, but what if you've secured a job BEFORE you make the move so you know exactly what your weekly income will be. Then surely once you take all potential outgoings into consideration, you'd have an idea of whether you could make it work. I won't lie, yes we do probably have a vision of having a beer and BBQ for dinner on a Tues or Wed evening after work because the weather is so much better there than in Ireland....but is that really so unrealistic to imagine? However bad things are in the UK, they are MUCH worse in Ireland. Our house is in negative equity so we can't even sell it, it's like a noose around our necks, it is TINY and if we want more children, it's not the kind of place I'd want to bring them up either. So while Oz has its own problems as a pp mentioned, I'd rather have them there than here in the doom and gloom of Ireland's failing economy and "jobs for the boys" cronyism attitude of the Irish govt. Rant over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 So while Oz has its own problems as a pp mentioned, I'd rather have them there than here in the doom and gloom of Ireland's failing economy and "jobs for the boys" cronyism attitude of the Irish govt. Rant over! 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerthPomToBe Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Piccolo, don't bite! Some people are just out looking for an argument! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piccolo Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Couldn't be arsed Perth Pom To Be.....way too off topic for what I'm trying to figure out currently, which was the original basis for this thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Couldn't be arsed Perth Pom To Be.....way too off topic for what I'm trying to figure out currently, which was the original basis for this thread 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piccolo Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Thanks fo that, mmmm ya I had done out figures and come up with $1260 a week to run a house. I will have redundancy money so planned to buy a second hand car outright. So this is what I had figured: Rent + Mortgage in Ireland $480 Utilities $175 (as far as I know if you rent you don't pay water charges and council tax?) Healthcare $58 Pet Care $10 (Food and any vet visits) Petrol/Tax/Insur $100 Groceries $300 Eating Out $50 Recreation/Sports etc $48 Then I've added in House Insurance and low level Health Cover in Ireland also $38 a week for both. We don't want to break cover here due to pre-existing conditions. I wouldn't say we're wasteful, we would be environmentally conscious and recycle, turn off lights, don't leave water running etc. Can I ask how you manage to "cool down your house"? Do you mean you put on air con and once it's cool, you switch it off and put on fans is it? Also, why do you feel it would make a difference to bring a 3 year old instead of a one year old out to Oz? At least her flight would be free now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks fo that, mmmm ya I had done out figures and come up with $1260 a week to run a house. I will have redundancy money so planned to buy a second hand car outright. So this is what I had figured: Rent + Mortgage in Ireland $480 Utilities $175 (as far as I know if you rent you don't pay water charges and council tax?) Healthcare $58 Pet Care $10 (Food and any vet visits) Petrol/Tax/Insur $100 Groceries $300 Eating Out $50 Recreation/Sports etc $48 Then I've added in House Insurance and low level Health Cover in Ireland also $38 a week for both. We don't want to break cover here due to pre-existing conditions. I wouldn't say we're wasteful, we would be environmentally conscious and recycle, turn off lights, don't leave water running etc. Can I ask how you manage to "cool down your house"? Do you mean you put on air con and once it's cool, you switch it off and put on fans is it? Also, why do you feel it would make a difference to bring a 3 year old instead of a one year old out to Oz? At least her flight would be free now!! 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Looks like we are both pretty close then on the figures. I didn't want to copy it all but there was some really sensible advice in this post. It's not always obvious until someone points it out to you. I'd just like to add, since this is turning into a Martin Lewis type thread, that we've really had to change our habits as money is not plentiful. We bought a large freezer and on occasional Saturdays we head over to Market City for the general public sale. - http://www.perthmarket.com.au/wholesale-clearance-market It's leftovers from the weeks trading and you can buy in bulk or just get what you need and it's stupidly cheap. Meat and fish are available too and you can get there early, pick out a bargain and then wait around to see if the prices drop. You'll see a lot of people just standing around in the fish market and they know that the casual buyers will pay the marked price but when the trader has sold as much as they think they are going to they'll shout out the new price and hoards descend on the prawns. It's good fun and the kids love the chaos of it. Freo Market on a Sunday afternoon/Evening is good too. They'll sell off all their perishable stock cheaply and we usually buy enough fruit and salad for the week for less than $50. The bread stall is great quality too and we just load up the freezer with stuff. Fuel prices fluctuate quite a lot too. This site; http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/fuelwatch/pages/home.jspx publishes pump prices and where to find the cheapest deal. From what I've learnt prices seem to dip midweek and peak Friday/Saturday to catch people wanting to head off for the weekends. The great thing about here is that so much is free. Whilst the museums back in London were free, events and theme parks would often cost the price of a small car. Finn kayaks often have taster days near Applecross and we got to try a couple of their kayaks for free. Lovely people too and when I have the money I'd certainly buy from them. Fremantle Arts Centre has a free music event every Sunday in the summer. Sit in the beautiful courtyard with a picnic and let the kids make friends while you enjoy some music outdoors. The Meeting Place in Freo is a community centre that does some great courses for very little - singing or guitar lessons, creative courses - most of which are less than $100 for several sessions. http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/Facilities/The_Meeting_Place_Community_Centre If you want to treat yourself but money is tight then Groupon sometimes have good deals for Perth as do Shopadocket. Finally, there's Verge Surfing. I was a little apprehensive about doing this when we first arrived - routing through other people crap, come on! One afternoon we were heading home through Cottesloe when we passed what looked like a Moebius table. I've never stopped the car so quickly. The glass was missing but there it was, what looked like an original. We ended up going back and trawling the streets and found a lovely 60's bookcase too. Now we wait for the nicer parts of town to have a chuck out and plan for a good early morning surf. If like us, you like 50's/60's design or a bit of formica then you can find some epic pieces. Happy hunting everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Fremantle Arts Centre has a free music event every Sunday in the summer. Sit in the beautiful courtyard with a picnic and let the kids make friends while you enjoy some music outdoors. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Pet Care $10 (Food and any vet visits) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 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. I had heard about a good voucher book so I guess that must be the one, cheers. Spookily, I was at FAC today too. Mrs Portlaunay was on a course there and I took the kids to chill out in the garden about 3pm. I also meant to ask, what's the pic in your avatar? It looks very much like a little street close to where I used to live in Fochabers in Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piccolo Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 well you most certainly have got me thinking! Just to answer a few points. I hear what you're saying re the heat and the stress with a one year old but waiting is not an option because the longer we stay here, the less of my redundancy package we have to facilitate the move in the first place so we have to bring our baby...she's 13 months now so who knows, she could be 18 months by the time we travel. As for the pet costs, I do plan to get insurance definitely as we have it here and it has been invaluable. It's pretty cheap here, haven't priced it in Oz yet. I didn't even think about home contents insurance in Oz, is it a must do you think? Thanks for all the info and links to farmer's markets and activities for free....great ideas. I had heard about verge surfing alright....sounds good to me!! One question about the cooling down of the house....if you close all the blinds etc....does that not mean you're going around with all the lights on in the daytime, thus driving up your electricity bill? Also, ya you may be right re the water usage charges, maybe it's the rates that we don't pay when we rent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 I also meant to ask, what's the pic in your avatar? It looks very much like a little street close to where I used to live in Fochabers in Scotland. It is the Railway Inn in Lower Largo, Fife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 I didn't even think about home contents insurance in Oz, is it a must do you think? One question about the cooling down of the house....if you close all the blinds etc....does that not mean you're going around with all the lights on in the daytime, thus driving up your electricity bill? Also, ya you may be right re the water usage charges, maybe it's the rates that we don't pay when we rent? 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 We cut our water bill by about 20% by usiing a dishwasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 We cut our water bill by about 20% by usiing a dishwasher 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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