Hi all, after reading so many postings on here about low wages, high cost of shopping (some items, that is), high taxes and utilities etc I was wondering if anyone is as well off over there as they were in the UK, or even better off? I'm sure there will be some business owners or self employed types who have exploited the opportunities that living in a new place can bring (and, of course, those who no longer have a mortgage), but what about those who are employed and have similar jobs to what they were doing back in the UK? Does any occupation pay a similar rate to the UK, or is it the case that everything is a good percentage lower?

While we're gearing ourselves up for the worst case scenario, it would be nice to think that there's the possibility (however remote!) that decently paid jobs await us! :sign03:

Jim

NO...... :D :D but mortgage free.... :happy45:



Corker

Were not well off here, so looks like we will be paupers in Australia! :doh:




Simon.

When you say 'similar rate' I guess you're talking about a $ - £ conversion. You certainly don't need to achieve this to have a similar level of living. If you accept that pay is lower, but cost of living is lower too, then we reckon we are broadly on a par with how we were in England - though it took us a while to get there.

A lot of it is down to how much equity you have in your house and what sort of mortgage you will need here. When we still owned our house in UK, and had no equity here plus with all the costs of an international move, we were pretty hard up, far more so than in the UK. Now that we've sold up in the UK and bought here we're vastly better off, and now better than we would have been there. It's been interesting to see both sides but for us this has certainly been the deciding factor.

Whilst we aren't now going to Adelaide I got a job offer which was offering the same money as I was on in the UK once you worked out the exchange rate.

Good original question.

So what's the average amount of equity taken to Aus?
5K
50K
100K
150K
200K +
????????

Do people set a safety limit, i mean do people think:
"when i get down to x. K we will return back to blighty"

Also working times, the UK is alledgedly going to work 48Hrs max soon even if your self employed this wil be enforced, how i have no idea. BUT.........

Is the same working rules already inplace in Aus.

In my occupation most of the anual wage is made up from overtime..... No overtime (or booking of it at least) would result in a lot lower income.

SOrry to go on.

Do you base income on DUal income as in UK, as many who post seem to only have one parent working ( possibly due to "settling down" period------- an excuse i may use my self ) :lol:

Hi,

I came over and earn the same here in real terms as I did in the UK and still skint here. We find that apart from petrol the cost of living here is about the same as the UK. Employment terms generally not as good here also, fewer holidays, lowers sick pay entitlement etc.

Standard of living pretty similar. We don;t have as big a mortgage but having said that the property values here seem not to rise like they often do in the UK so you will not see the growth on the house value that makes the mortgage a good investment.

We were hoping that my wife would not have to work here as she did in the UK but that is not the case, she is looking for work now.

It really is quite tough unless you come with a truck load of cash from a UK property sale.

Good luck.

If you are dissapointed with wages IN Adelaide, then there's always the mining sector to enter - there is a massive resources boom in Australia now (and a skills shortage) which means that wages are high. A sparky can expect to earn about $70-100k per annum, but do remember that you'd also have to live in the outback (most likely) and work in worse conditions than if you were working for the electricity board etc. Oh - and a working day in the mining sector is usually 10-12hrs. Doesn't allow much time for the coffee shops/festivals in Adleaide either - mining towns aren't all that cosmopolitan;).

Big Employers in SA seem to be BHP, Santos, Heathgate and Oxiana. In addition to their own HR, they usually recruit through recruitment agents such as Chandler Macleod, Addecco TAD etc. May be a route into the sector as a contractor before getting a "staff position".

You don't need a high salary to have a great life in South Australia - IMHO things a a bit less materialistic over here. It's more about who you are (ie. are you a "good bloke") than what you drive/wear/live in - and the beach is always free.

Do you really want to be paying the government 40% tax.....?

RR

My husband transferred within the same company from England to Adelaide. He was approached out of the blue 18 months ago by his American boss (American manufacturing firm with businesses worldwide), and asked if you would be interested in relocating as they were struggling to fill a position over here due to the skills gap (works in Finance).

He works longer hours with more responsibility here - for less pay and pays more tax.

We hoped I would not need to work over here, as I worked full-time in UK - but we find cost of living to be pretty similar to UK all things considered - and if we want the finer things in life, such as holidays, meals out etc , we need an extra source of income.

I am not complaining, we enjoy life out here and have no regrets - but I have yet to meet a rich migrant :-)

Sally

No we are much worse of over here and hubby self employed! Lauren

I am amazed at all these replies.

We left UK and have gone from a small 3 bed house with large mortgage in NW London to a large 5 bedroom house here (with mortgage). We both worked full time in UK and had one car.We now have 2 cars and I have just started an Internet business at home and my wife works, so we are on just over 1 income but we find our costs are much less here and quality of life greater.

We could never have gambled with me giving up a F/T job in the UK.

First 18 months working as a contractor in IT project management meant that I earned significantly more than as a salaried IT manager in the UK.

Now that I'm earning an honest living again as a wage slave - the base rate is lower, but when you add super (included in the UK gross wage but extra here) I get about the same, possibly slightly more.

I don't do the sums deliberately - but I feel much better off and that's the main thing.

P

I agree with you. Wages very much the same only thing is hubbie doesn't get time and half and double time for any over time but if we moved to Adelaide he would get that as well. Up here though he stuck a deal that he gets a share of any profits on swimming pools he builds so we should be getting large lump sums every now and then once they have finished and all paid for.....in theory and is a bit of an issue at the moment as he's starting to feel a bit taken for a ride which is highly annoying as it was one of the reasons we stayed up here and didn't move to Adelaide last year <_<

We do however have 2 cars, and will be getting a mortgage but for a massive house with pool and in comparision to what we had in the UK far better in fact our dream home....once we start to build the thing!

We are still skint though as we were in the UK but we live to our means and socialise far more here.

Cost of living is much on par with the UK when you earn the dollars and pay out in dollars.

I also have a part time job which fits in great with the girls and school so I bring in a little bit extra and have been earmarked for a better job which should in itself pay far better than what Roy is earning freeing him up to not work as many hours during the week. He does however have every weekend off which is something he never had in the UK and he does get home for dinner every night so we can have a family meal toegther so all in all he is on a better wage than the UK if that makes sense???

Sasha :)

Yes i earn the same on a good day here what i did in the uk.If i can do 2 good days and 3 nice easy days with early finishes i'm happy. :rolleyes:
And i'm self employed so i do have that choice.

I earn almost one third more than in the UK for a similar job with similar responsibilities (but 1 week more per year). I know Debs, who is also employed in a school support role, also earns more :D

Marius earns slightly less, but has to go through his 2 year training period and exams first here before he can register again as chartered, after which the salary always increases.

Ask again in a coupke of years' time - it always takes about roughly that long to get back on the same level of earnings after a big move such as this (on average, in my opinion). :)

I dont normally reply to threads like this but

Hubby is self employed works a 5 day week normally till 4 but sometimes finishes earlier.

I think were better off here as we have a higher mortgage/ 2 loans and manage to pay all the bills just on his wage.

I have started work mainly because i was bored at home but the extra does help and it allows us to save that bit extra each week.
My wages as annette has mentioned is higher(working in school as sso/teaching assistant) than what i got in the UK but i think it depends on what job your doing and also whether its on a casual basis or permanent.

Debs xx

i think it varies greatly from profession to profession

Hmm.

We were self employed in the UK.We did well but boy did we have to work for it!!! 7 days a week was just the start.
Staff problems/red tape and so on were unbearable.

Here we have used those profits for a different life altogether.

Some days we can be like Tom and Barbera from "The Good Life" - other days "Steptoe and Son" :lol:

Other days....................do I care.The pool might beckon.

We only have a small income against what we had in the UK but flippin' heck are we enjoying the change of lifestyle :clap: :clap: :clap:

That's my 5c worth,I know that not everyone can manage to start again - dunno if I consider us lucky or that we just worked hard.

Family motto "Luck is when the paths of opportunity and preparation cross"

;)

Me and hubby both work and earn in aussie terms a very reasonable combined wage. Hwever it is lower than the uk but that is more due to my hubbys wage. We have a mortgage which is practically the same as the uk but we can afford it and we do a lot of entertaining at home so out house is our palace really and we love it. We have 2 cars and no debt other than a credit card.

We are lliving a good life here but do budget for bills etc. WEe are happy with the way our life is and money really doesnt make us richer as people we do that through our socialising and our family life. Where in the Uk can you have dinner then go to the beach at 730 walk and have a good few hours of fun for free? We do a lot of things and many of those are free or very inexpensive.

I think you live to your means and our goal this year is to pay the credit card off so we will be even better off this time next year. Initial setting up costs here does soak up your money and once thats gone you have to adjust yourself to earning the $'s and budgeting as such.

Tis all relative IMHO

Earning roughly the same (when converting back to pounds) with a pension thrown in on top which I didn't have back in the UK. I'm actually working less hours too (40-45hrs). As we're looking at houses at about the same price as where we where in the UK, we're in escence not really better or worse off financially. Granted the houses are bigger, extra bedroom, bigger land, garages, maybe even a pool thown in for good measure - it starts to look a bit better then :chuckle: Doing the maths though, we're going to be landed with a bigger mortgage than the UK due to moving and setting up costs here - lucky they'll give us another 5 years to pay it off :P

Absolutely spot on there.

We had a four bed place on a big plot in the UK and have bought a similar sized house for exactly the same money in Adelaide. Therefore, taking the relocation costs into account - which were massive - we are landed with a bigger mortgage on a higher interest rate. As you say, we get an extra five years to pay it off.

As far as the mining industry is concerned it will be very busy for the next 5-10 years. I am working in this industry, and having transferred from Oil & Gas I am about 25% down on income. It's the first time in my life I am having to work on a budget, which is definitely not on :angry:

Im just thinking that I guess it also depends where you come from in the UK. Having paid a mortgage for 20 odd years in the south of England we were pretty well set up and have a bigger house than we had in the UK, at half the price on a straight pound-dollar rate. If you come from a UK area with cheaper housing/cost of living then the relative differences will vary for your own circumstances.

I earn more here than in the UK, and its hours to suit and I'm self employed.
Rachel is on the same as she was in the UK but she is happier working for a private hospital here than the NHS in the UK.

Paul

My husband works full time and I recently started work part time - when I compare what we earn here to what we were earning in the UK under the same circumstance 3 years ago (I have been at home for 3 years) here we earn 60% of what we were earning in the UK.

In the Uk we had a huge mortgage and 2 cars and I guess we were more materialistic in some ways. Here we have a small mortgage, one car and are more frugal. We socialise a lot more now but usually at ours or others homes. We are also more involved in our community than we ever were. All in all ours lives are better here even though we have less money. I guess it depends what your priorities are.

we earn more than in the uk, but have a bigger mortgage, and 'lost' alot of money too.
i think the cost of living is higher in australia, especially for essential items, and getting higher every week.
but in spite of this we seem to be able to save well.
hope we can continue to hold out. :unsure:

Been here a couple of years. I earn around half the salary I was on in the UK, which means my wife has to work full time. Both wages added together just fall short of what I was earning in the UK.
Needless to say her indoors is non too happy about working full time,.she only worked 2 days a week in the UK.
We find if we want to have the same standard of living we had in the UK, we need the same amount of money coming in.

I earn about the same as I did in the UK and I am better off. We go out more for food, run around in bigger cars, (I say cars cos I only had one in the UK), run a house which is 3 x bigger and buy loads more meat and friut from the supermarket.

Nick

I work in banking (both here and previously in UK) and earn pretty much the same here as the UK, if not, a little bit more, my OH is an Occupational Therapist (both here and previously in UK) and works in health care and only earns about two thirds of his UK salary.

Pound for dollar he's at least $25000.00 down on his UK wages.

Don't get me wrong it would be excellent if he was earning the same equivellent here, but the thing is, we didn't come here to make a million! money isn't always everything.

I know it's generally people who don't have to worry about money who come out with statements like 'money isn't everything', this isn't the case here.

We both have to work full time, we have a mortgage, i moan about the cost of living here, and we're having to save for jobs that we want to do around the house but we're managing ok. and we're happy!

Angie

Hi
No not on any where the same amount of money in the job i have taken.But i new i would not earn as much.
Unless i go to roxby down's that is.Any offer's welcome.

All this cost of living is more in Adelaide....

I dont see how it is.

http://www.southaustralia.biz/move/cost_of_living.htm

Basically, if you earn $60,000 in Adelaide you can do more with it than the equivalnet 24,000 sterling.

Absolutely, of course you can! But the point is that for many/most who move out here, earning that equivalent is not an option...

I would have to agree with you on that Elaine . I would love to find a job paying $60k !!

Hi

Ok making a direct comparison with pound to dollar...

Jon's wages here are just over half of what he earned in the UK...so we are well done there.

I earn about the same as i did in the UK but it works out less as i have childcare costs here....in the UK i worked from home so didn't have these costs. I do 4 days a week.

Again comparing pounds to dollars....our mortage is less here but not much less.....

But i would say we are better off....as in the Uk we had alot of debt which we don't have here, but having said that i am quite surprised how expensive every day living can be.

Being a chef, jon could earn wages more on a par with his Uk wage and probably more if he was prepared to work split shifts,weekends, evenings or even work away in remote areas doing something like 2 weeks on and 1 week off etc.....but that's not what we came here for.

We made the decision that we would both work.....Jon is home by 2.30pm so he is here to pick up the kids from school & day care.... I start work in the morning after i have done the school run and dropped matthew at daycare...

We do have to use school clubs during the holidays...


lorraine

I think its down to planning and setting boundaries.

In UK we both worked, had a reasonably large mortgage but a great house to show for it, were constantly overdrawn in the bank and could rarely afford the luxury of a night out.

Here we both work, have a similar sized mortgage but a bigger house and savings in the bank for 'a rainy day', we go out for meals once or twice a week, go to the movies once a fortnight or so, spend lazy weekends on the beach or in Belair National Park, or up Mount Lofty (the list is endless). We have a better quality of life and we have control of our spending I think this adds up to a better standard of living and our money is going further.

I'm not convinced it's becuase we have a highter income, we don't, but it is definately because we could start again with some cash in the bank and we've spent it wisely and carefully.

We have only been here for 6 months, but I have more optomism than ever before (and less grey hairs!) .

I'm gonna stop now becuase I just realise how happy I am and I'm crying!!
Sarah

Quote:I'm not convinced it's becuase we have a highter income, we don't, but it is definately because we could start again with some cash in the bank and we've spent it wisely and carefully. :Quote

I think thats about right really.

If most could start over again they would do things differently.

Just putting it on the visa (specially when the kids are young) soon mounts up, and takes an age to pay off.
Starting afresh with a little in the bank would make me think a little bit more before throwing the visa on the counter so quickly.


Can i ask a question for those that posted.

Did you buy your houses before you got your jobs/incomes, or afterwards?

Cheers

Mik

Thanks for everyone's responses.

It's really helpful and made me feel even more that the decision to move to Oz is the right one even though it will probably be a struggle money wise for the first couple of years.

By the way I'm Adel. Hi :dance: . I've not replied before, Jim normally posts on here.
I've just put our one year old to bed and thought that it was about time I joined in rather than reading the posts and asking Jim to include my questions in his responses.

I'm looking forward to our "holiday" there in February/March and seeing everything in the flesh as it were.

Adel :sign60:

but not every comes to adelaide from a city, although i bet here many come from SE england which i guess is little pricey.

but almost everything in adelaide i could get cheaper in england.
except for petrol, some meat, and picture hooks.

all our visitors are suprised on how expensive it is here, and those that visit again are shocked on how much the prices have risen since the last time that came.
we haven't even been here 3 years yet.


edited for embarassing spelling mistakes

I find it hard to imagine anyone with a family and mortgage managing on less than $60K a year in Adelaide. Having been out here for over a year now, every bill we pay is higher than that in England, with the exception of some food items, clothes and petrol.

How strange, having just got back from a holiday in the UK I found everything there very expensive compared to here! Certainly our gas bill (for cooking and hot water) is far cheaper than we used to pay for oil in the UK. And petrol being about half the price of England makes a huge difference to our monthly bills. If you shop in the right places (i.e. not the supermarkets) for your food, you should find food bills quite a bit lower too. And of course, you can entertain yourselves in a fine climate for a lot less money than you can in the rain - walks on the beach, bike rides in the park, free open-air film showings, cheaper eating out (if you're selective)... Stopped for some (revolting) fast food in the UK and the price was more in pounds than we'd pay in dollars here!

I think it's about quality, not quantity, here....

Quote
"We had a four bed place on a big plot in the UK and have bought a similar sized house for exactly the same money in Adelaide. Therefore, taking the relocation costs into account - which were massive - we are landed with a bigger mortgage on a higher interest rate. As you say, we get an extra five years to pay it off."

Just wondered whether the above means you have a 30 year mortgage term?

Angela :)