Cost of Living in Victoria - From Uk to Oz

[Kimbodia]

Hi All

My husband and I have been giving thought to a big move down under, we are looking at Victoria based on his work background, Mechanical Design Engineer/Draughtsman with a state sponsorship. We have an 18 month old daughter and hope to have another child in the next year or so.

We live a comfortable and happy life in the UK, own (mortgaged) a lovely home and generally enjoy life but love the idea of an adventure and a crack at a different lifestyle, we don't want to grow old having never tried something different, we would like to think of it as a longterm move. We'd love to try living somewhere with a better climate that the UK (I know Victoria isn't Queensland weather but its still warmer than the UK and may be the only state available to us for now). We currently live off my husbands sole wage whilst I take a career break to be a fulltime mum, I plan to be off work for the next 4 years or so.

We are looking for help/advice on the cost of living, we've read very mixed reports about Australia, some saying its a great place to be, others saying its painfully expensive compared to the UK and not to go! Can anyone give their thoughts on this? We're not looking to be rich, but don't want to move to the other side of the world to struggle with everyday life.

We would especially be interested to here from people who have recently made the move from the UK and how you're finding the cost of living

Thanks in advance

[kaz101]

Hi Kimbodia,

Have you read through the 'Cost of Living' sticky post at the top of the forum? It may be up to date but it will give you an idea.

We're in regional South Australia and we've found it much more expensive than the UK once you are earning dollars here. We've been here 3.5 years and we love it. If you do a search on the forum you'll find some threads about the pros and cons of moving here.

Regards,
Karen