Kris wrote:

>G'day Carlos.

Good day, Kris.

>Born and bred Aussie living in Sydney replying here. With regards to
>your main points:

>You will find a job here. Maybe not instantly, and maybe not exactly
>what you want, but there is plenty of work for anyone who's honestly
>looking for it. With your qualifications i would expect to earn no
>less than $50K/year (=3D$40K after tax) if you got something at the
>bottom end of your field, maybe $75K ($60K after tax) if you find a
>good job. With a few years of local experience, a good command of the
>language and local conditions you should be earning $100K or more
>($75K after tax) within a few years.

Those are AU$, right? Providing that we could bring some savings to
AU, what amount would you expect to be needed for the initial payment
for a nice house for 3 members and which of the three earning ranges
you mentioned would be the minimum needed to get a bank credit to keep
paying the house?

>The schooling system is fine. The state (public) schools are more than
>adequate. The mainstream Catholic schools are similar and quite
>reasonably priced (from $1K to $3K per year). Independant schools can
>cost up to $20K per year per child (without a cap at 3 kids like the
>Catholic system) - that's very expensive for most people. Most
>tertiary education is free or payable by a government loan that is
>repaid via extra taxes (only when you earn over a certain threshold
>and only till the loan is payed out). Kids can generally have a great
>time growing up here.

Are the 1 to 3K Catholic schools available for immigrants? In my
country, public schools are not very good, Catholic schools are rated
as the best schools and aren=92t too expensive either as they are
usually subsidized but it is very hard to find a spot for the kids
because of the low offer and high demand.

>Health can always be better but rest assured that if you are seriously
>ill you will be looked after immediately. If you are ill but it's not
>life threatening you may wait (even up to 2-3 months) for an
>operation. General practitioners available everywhere. All free.
>Private insurance can ensure immediate attention and choice of doctor
>but will be about $250/month/family but may still leave you with some
>out of pocket expenses.

Do you think that private insurance is a must? Using 250$ a month just
for insurance looks pretty hefty  on a family budget, and makes me
think that earning 26$/hour for a normal 160 hour month (the bottom
range you mentioned before) is not enough to carry that burden.
Summarizing: 250$ insurance +  125$ kid=92s school (Mid level Catholic
school) + 1500$??  House credit +  800$??
Electricity-water-phone-internet =3D  2675$ without putting food in the
fridge=85 Am I too far from reality here?

>Remember, "free" in the above means "your and my taxes"!

Noted.

>Life can be expensive here. A house is quite a burden - you will not
>get anything "nice" for less than $400K in the greater metropolitan
>areas and prepare to pay twice that for something "nice" in an
>established area not far from the city. Go to www.realestate.com.au
>for a bit of a browse.

>Grocery prices are on par with other developed countries; see the
>prices at http://coles.com.au (go to shop online and enter postcode
>2222 as an example). Petrol is currently around $1.20/litre. I find
>that Coke ($3 for a 2L bottle in the supermarket) and ice-cream ($5
>for a single scoop at ice-cream parlours) are more expensive here than
>anywhere else in the world! (With the exeption of resorts and other
>tourist havens of course).

Gasoline is around 0.023US$/litre here if you use the =93official=94 rate
of exchange (which no one uses here) and 0.015US$/litre using the
=93black market=94 more realistic one. 2L Coke is around 1.7US$ and one
scoop of ice-cream is around 3$. Anyway, don=92t be too excited;
inflation was around 30% (as per =93official=94 figures) last year and is
around 600% accumulated for the last 11.

>For recreation you have choices - you can spend plenty of money on
>ready-made activites and attractions, restaurants, etc. Otherwise, if
>you like the beach and bush you have endless days of activities at
>your doorstep for no cost at all.

Beach is nice, as long as there are no sharks at sight :).

>Sydney has plenty of eye candy, Melbourne has a deep soul. They're
>very similar but also very different. I could live in Melbourne any
>day (very Euro feel about it. If you love the theatre, arts, etc. then
>Melboune may be your pick). Perth is beautiful but a 4hour flight to
>the nearest other civilisation (Sydney). I find Brisbane too
>hot/humid. Adelaide is a bit inactive for my liking. The areas north
>of Sydney (Hunter Valley, New England and Mid-West, all 1.5 to 4 hours
>away) have plenty of coal mines and power plants; not sure about other
>states.

Ok.

>Most overseas visitors that I've had here have been very positive
>about Australia. But, remember, it's just another place and only as
>good as your attitude / daily job / family life / health, etc. If you
>are prone to homesickness and nostalgia you may be bitterly
>disappointed - many have been in the past.

That is absolutely true.

>Good luck in your endeavours!

Thanks for your advices!

Regards,

Carlos.

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