After the recent electricity Bill post, i thought i would give a general costing of what we pay out each month to give everyone in the Uk a rough idea of what to expect.
Starting from June when we arrived, it will cover as much as I can remember and our most recent bills.

House Purchase $295,000
Stamp Duty $ 11,000
Conveyancy Fees $ 600
Car Purchase $ 19,000
Stamp Duty $ 881
Rego on the car every 6 months $ 170 (every 3 months)
Also you can pay $330 every 6 months, $485 for 9 months & $637 12 months

Driving Licences $25 for the test
$130 ish for the licence for 5 years
Car insurance $345 (fully comp for us both)
House Insurance $206 (for the year)
SA Water $140 (October to December)
Electricity (Origin) $607 (October to December)
Telephone (AAPT) $117 a month but that inc Broadband
Foxtel (Sky TV) $ 77 a month (Big Value Starter Pack)
$10 installation fee (that was a special deal)
Petrol (Kia Carnival 3.5lt) $200 a month (roughly)
Shopping (Woolworths) $180 - $240 a week
State School Fees $197 a year (x 2)
Uniform $350 for 2 kids polo shirts, skirts, trousers
sweatshirts, shoes, hats etc
Gardener (optional hehe) $30 every 3 weeks (yeah, we are lazy)

I think that covers most of the basic things. i haven't included eating out and taking the kids out because it can vary so much, its difficult to say. But for example a trip to Waterworld cost me $17.50 for me, and the 2 girls, Hayley gets in free. That doesn't include sweets, hot chips or drinks once inside. I also haven't included any of the College costs that Steve has incurred getting his bloody licences, but if anyones interested I can find out.

Hope this give a good idea of what you can expect.

Cheers

Jo

Jo can I ask how many Kilometres you cover in that month - just interested as I will eventually buy a carnival as we had the same in the UK and it is a fab people carrier.

Sasha :)

Thanks Jo, Great post.
I think there are similar in FAQ but prob. a bit out of date, so cheers for taking the time to do that. :cool shake:

Hi Jo,

Just a couple of questions, if you could help. I wish I could get house insurance for $206 a year, does this include your contents also, just paid our last insurance renewal on the house and it was a whopping $693.00

Car insurances can vary though as you can get either market value policy or an agreed value policy. Comes in very handy if you car is written off. I pay $434.00 a year on an agreed value of $15,000, if my car was insured for market value it would be cheaper but I would only get about $8,000 and I want to be able to replace the vehical with something similiar don't want to have to pay out of my pocket for the same standard of vehical if it is wriiten off in an accident.

Very informative post there Jo.

Jet :)

Jet

That was with AAMI

Building Cover $350,000
Contents $ 50,000
Extra Personal Valuables $ 5,000

Excesses

Building $300
Contents $300
Personal $100
I like this one earthquake excess $200
We also had 45% discounts on that policy after showing our policies from the UK

Jo

Sasha

I'm sorry I'm not sure what i do a month, I'll keep a note & let you know. However a word of warning, I wouldn't get a Carnival unless you are going to buy 2002 and newer. Ours had cost us a fortune and we are getting shot of it. So far its had 2 new engines, at 75,000 k's and again just before xmas at 103,000. Now the Catalytic converter has gone on it and I've been waiting for parts for nearly 5 weeks now. It also has a very nasty clunk sound as you turn any corner and we think the drive is going on it. Now this car is only 5 years old. Apparently there was a design fault with all the 1999-2001 mondels but Kia kept quiet about it as the fault was in the engine. Luckily when ours went we did some reasearch on the net and found out about the design fault. most of the stuff has been done under warranty but we are still out of pocket for about $1100 and still have to pay for the catalytic converter to be replaced. My mate who works at the RAA recommends the Toyota Tarago, hardly anything goes wrong with them and parts are easily available. I wouldn't touch a Kia again, tho my friend has a Sedona in the UK and loves it.

Jo

That is interesting Jo. We found we couldn't get the same sort of car here in Oz as we had in the UK as ours was a diesel and the executive model which had leather seats, loads of gadgets and gismos plus it was of the ones that allowed the two rear seats to spin round. It didn't cost a lot in the UK but here we haven't been able to see the same sort although we don't need one right away.

I'll certainly check out the Toyato Tarago though, thanks ;)

At the moment it is costing me about $130 a week for fuel in our F250 truck and I suppose that is doing around 500 - 600 k's per week. So anything cheaper than that is tempting :rolleyes:

Sasha :)

Ours is the top of the range model. Has leather interior, full air con all round the car, CD player and the seats spin round in ours but you have to take them out and manually do it. They don't turn on the spot like the UK version. My friend has the basic Sedona which she paid about 13,000 quid for and her seats move around.

Its a nice car, don't get me wrong and theres plenty of room, especially in the back as the seats push forwards. We bought a people carrier as we assumed rellies will be visiting from the UK and the extra seats would come in handy. plus with 3 kids I can cart all their mates around after school etc etc.

however, I think there a better people carriers on the market.

Jo

Thanks Jo for taking the time for such an interesting read,cetainly helps to get an angle on overheads in SA. :)

Jo

That was an excellent post - and I'm sure its had most of us still in the UK reaching for the calculator and the exchange rate!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do that, it must have taken you a long time to get all that info together. :love29:

Heather

I know it is the Carnival but what spec name is that then Jo? As we couldn't find ones with the leather seats etc over here.

Sasha :)

Great post JO..........Thanks ! :D

Sasha

Its a Kia Carnival Classic 5dr Wagon Auto 2.5 MPI Petrol

Its a year 2000 model. In a previous post I said it was 3.5ltr but on checking the paperwork its only a 2.5lr (sorry)

Jo