Aussie lifstyle?

Question

I am living in a 600$ house in Scotland soon to move to the Gold Coast in Australia. What i struggle with is they say you can have this lifestyle on 50$K a year in Australia what is the secret? Is it taxes , cost of living, To be honest it doesnt matter cause it is warm and relaxing here i come!

Answer 1

Good on ya. I have lived in Cumbria beautiful but freezing . I spent half my time trying to keep warm. Here you spend a bit of the time cooling down but no hassles most places are airconditioned. Bring your sunglasses hat sunscreen passport and get up up and away.

Answer 2

Are you thinking in Pounds or Dollars?

$65K gross per year is the average adult male wage in most states.

I presume that you own your place in Scotland outright, so when you sell it you can use all the proceeds to resettle here.

Factor in the cost of relocation, stamp duty on a house and all that and you should be able to resettle here adequately.

If you wait till the Aussie dollar goes down and for any local busts in the housing market where you want to buy, you could do OK. Timing is critical to success or you could blow some of your money.

If you want to purchase a house outright with the proceeds of your sale in Scotland then the above is important.

If you can work, then a little mortgage will expand your choices, but don't forget to save some of those wages for visiting the homeland, or doing stuff when you are here.

If your retired it is even more important to keep some put away and not spend the lot.

I always suggest a holiday first and then a bit of research.

Answer 3

I don't fully understand your question.

Australia is a very expensive place to live. $50K a year is the average out of main city suburban wage. To live a decent lifestyle on $50K it would be expected the household be a duel income.

There is no way you can afford a $600,000 house on $50,000 a year, single income. Interest rates are ridiculous and keep going up and up, taxes are considerably high compared to the rest of the world and our cost of living it expensive, Wollongong one hour south of Sydney has recently been compared to that of New York in terms of the cost of living.

$600,000 isn't even going to get you that luxurious a house, it will get a basic 2 story house is a good suburb. For top notch housing your looking at at least a mill.

Answer 4

If you're thinking of exchanging your current lifestyle in Scotland with a similar one in Australia, particularly the Gold Coast - then I think you really do need to do some quick research. $600K will buy you a nice home but that's about it. Once you've spent your $600k  you'll need much more than $50k per year to have an easy life. Firstly do you have to work for your $50k or will you have that coming in anyway? If you don't have to work, then yes, you can certainly have a good time for $50k especially if you can do a little part time work too ... but if you need to work for it, then no, you won't have much left over. Rates on your property, utilities, suitable work clothing, transport, health insurance, food etc.etc. will quickly chomp away at that - assuming we're only talking about the one income. If you have to support a family on $50k then forget it! Life will be tough!

Also, don't forget that if you're looking for the warmth and relaxation, if you're working 5 days a week just to keep your head above water paying your bills etc. you'll probably be in the airconditioning for those 5 days a week, and on the weekend, you'll be sweating like a pig trying to keep up the maintenance on your garden etc.

Life is not always as rosy as it appears in the glossy magazines. I really hope you've done your homework before taking this big plunge.

Answer 5

I reckon you should do well.

I live on the NSW coast just north of Newcastle.  My house is a modest 2 storey worth about $500K and it used to rent for $350 per week.

I know some single blokes who live up near the Gold Coast in rented houses and part time jobs and they do alright.

$50k for income is average and as someone else said if you are a family you will probably need more than that, but if you are a single then you'll do well.

I think a lot of our food prices are a lot cheaper than the UK and also petrol.

Answer 6

I dont know about cost of living now but many years ago I got on a train in Sydney to go on spot of leave and soon there was a two up school going. and a card game in another carriage and cans of beer being handed aroundDefinitely a more relaxed and friendly style of living.