# 95K salary for family of 4??



## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Hello All,
In a dilemma now.....was offered job with 95K + super. Additionally with car allowance. Possible to live in sydney for family of 4 (have 2 kids going to school). Guess have to pay AUD4500 per annum for each kid.
New place would be near Homebush... anyone know a good school and good place to stay for a family of 4?
Please advise.......


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2011)

H95 said:


> Hello All,
> In a dilemma now.....was offered job with 95K + super. Additionally with car allowance. Possible to live in sydney for family of 4 (have 2 kids going to school). Guess have to pay AUD4500 per annum for each kid.
> New place would be near Homebush... anyone know a good school and good place to stay for a family of 4?
> Please advise.......


Can only tell you that grocery shopping will be a no brainer if you are staying near homebush. There is a huge market that sells things at wholesale prices. People usually do their month's shopping there. Being near would certainly be an advantage in that regard.


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## twister292 (Mar 25, 2011)

95k is not a bad salary...You can maintain a family of 4 without too much trouble in that much..


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

I think you need to work out your rental cost and budget $200 a week for groceries. I think it will be tight (especially as you have to pay for schooling and medical). 2 kids = OK on that salary, 4 kids, I think you need 110k for similar as the 2 kid living.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks for the input, ausimmi,twitter292. Do anyone know of a good public school near homebush? Or near strathfield south or maybe surrounding area which is a good place to live with good public school. Have 2 kids, 11 and 9. Have also seen the rental there are quite expensive Aud 500pw. I have been searching for weeks now, read a lot(or maybe too much) of information and now still confused... Can anyone living near surrounding advise or drop a note of advise. Really appreciate it.


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Sorry, I don't know enough about schools to recommend. I would look at the AU Government My School Home | ACARA website as a start. 



H95 said:


> Thanks for the input, ausimmi,twitter292. Do anyone know of a good public school near homebush? Or near strathfield south or maybe surrounding area which is a good place to live with good public school. Have 2 kids, 11 and 9. Have also seen the rental there are quite expensive Aud 500pw. I have been searching for weeks now, read a lot(or maybe too much) of information and now still confused... Can anyone living near surrounding advise or drop a note of advise. Really appreciate it.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

amaslam said:


> I think you need to work out your rental cost and budget $200 a week for groceries. I think it will be tight (especially as you have to pay for schooling and medical). 2 kids = OK on that salary, 4 kids, I think you need 110k for similar as the 2 kid living.


Thanks Amaslam. Actually 2 kids only and wife will not be working. Medical initially will be paid by company as we will be applying under 457 ( basic medical only). Think will be geting medical coverage on top of the one provided. Do you know how much to allocate? Any good public school to recommend?


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Sorry, read Family of 4 as 4 kids rather than 2 kids, you should be fine on 95K just that the first 3 months are very expensive as you need to pay for deposits, school fees, household items (furniture, tv, internet install, etc.). Your bank account will be 

But then it settles down and you can start saving again. My advice is not be too picky about the first unit as you will almost certainly move in 6 months or 12 months when you find something better and more to your liking. The first unit is to get in quick and stop the costs of hotels ASAP. 



H95 said:


> Thanks Amaslam. Actually 2 kids only and wife will not be working. Medical initially will be paid by company as we will be applying under 457 ( basic medical only). Think will be geting medical coverage on top of the one provided. Do you know how much to allocate? Any good public school to recommend?


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## Darla.R (Mar 27, 2011)

H95 said:


> Thanks Amaslam. Actually 2 kids only and wife will not be working. Medical initially will be paid by company as we will be applying under 457 ( basic medical only). Think will be geting medical coverage on top of the one provided. Do you know how much to allocate? Any good public school to recommend?


If that's the case you should be given the living away from home allowance until you reside permanently in Australia. People I work with in a similar situation are given it and it's worth hundreds of dollars a week. I don't know how it works but I'm sure someone will tell you about it.


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

It's possible but won't be easy and won't be comfortable.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks all for your reply. On the LAFHA, I think it's up to the company and in my case I would not be getting this. We are really worried whether we made the right choice to go to Sydney with this package. Still considering whether to accept this package or not. Most worrying is the cost of living and the ever increasing housing price. Anyone can recommend place to stay where my work is somewhere in homebush near Olympic park ?


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

H95 said:


> Thanks all for your reply. On the LAFHA, I think it's up to the company and in my case I would not be getting this. We are really worried whether we made the right choice to go to Sydney with this package. Still considering whether to accept this package or not. Most worrying is the cost of living and the ever increasing housing price. Anyone can recommend place to stay where my work is somewhere in homebush near Olympic park ?


Your package is fine. The reality is though that like everyone else in a city like sydney having two incomes is absolutely essential for survival or to avoid being in a dangerous area in the western subs.


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

H95 said:


> Thanks all for your reply. On the LAFHA, I think it's up to the company and in my case I would not be getting this. We are really worried whether we made the right choice to go to Sydney with this package. Still considering whether to accept this package or not. Most worrying is the cost of living and the ever increasing housing price. Anyone can recommend place to stay where my work is somewhere in homebush near Olympic park ?


I think, unless your lucky, you'd be looking at a 2 bedroom unit around that area. I would prefer Ermington/ Rydalmere to Homebush West. North Strathfield shouldn't be bad. I would suggest Northmead, Winston Hills, Baulkham Hills, these are really good suburbs with good schools and are not far from Olympic Park, but the traffic in morning peak is not good.


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

Weebie said:


> Your package is fine. The reality is though that like everyone else in a city like sydney having two incomes is absolutely essential for survival or to avoid being in a dangerous area in the western subs.


I wish you're replies had some reality attached to them.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks Aussiejock, weebie. I have gone through real-estate website and the price of the house are quite expensive but not as expensive near Sydney CBD area. The places Aussiejock recommended seems quite good but first I have to make sure the schools are good ie good teachers, no bullying etc etc. Tough job to search all these in a few days. After going through in details, maybe it is possible to go as we do not indulge in a lavish lifestyle. 
Anyone living near baulkham, Winston or northmead has any recommendation for good school. Is there any other fees to pay other than the aud 4500 per annum for visa 457 holders. Any other advise are very much appreciated. Thanks again.


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

H95 said:


> Thanks Aussiejock, weebie. I have gone through real-estate website and the price of the house are quite expensive but not as expensive near Sydney CBD area. The places Aussiejock recommended seems quite good but first I have to make sure the schools are good ie good teachers, no bullying etc etc. Tough job to search all these in a few days. After going through in details, maybe it is possible to go as we do not indulge in a lavish lifestyle.
> Anyone living near baulkham, Winston or northmead has any recommendation for good school. Is there any other fees to pay other than the aud 4500 per annum for visa 457 holders. Any other advise are very much appreciated. Thanks again.


All the primary schools in Baulkham /Winston Hills and Northmead are very good schools. Can't comment on the other areas I mentioned.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks all for the good advises. More concern now is the schooling for my kids. Do we go to apply directly to the school or via ministry of education? Can my kids start school in the middle of the school term or wait till next year? Thanks.


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

H95 said:


> Thanks all for the good advises. More concern now is the schooling for my kids. Do we go to apply directly to the school or via ministry of education? Can my kids start school in the middle of the school term or wait till next year? Thanks.


All you have to do is get a place to live and take your children to the local school. They can start any time.


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Each public school has a 'catchment' area. So for some of the really good schools parents will live in that 'catchment' area. Then that school must make a place for your child. 

When contacting schools ask them what their catchment area is (usually a link to a map). 



H95 said:


> Thanks all for the good advises. More concern now is the schooling for my kids. Do we go to apply directly to the school or via ministry of education? Can my kids start school in the middle of the school term or wait till next year? Thanks.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks for the good info. So my next step is to find the preferred school first, then try to find a place to rent (hopefully not so expensive as budget about aud 450-500) and then register them asap once rental has been sorted out. This will greatly reduce my searching time.... 
I read in other forum that it is advisable to prepare summary of your family, fill in the forms etc to be given to the property agent in order to minimize application time. According to the forum, there will be many people viewing a good place and spee will be an advantage.


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## Ains1209 (Apr 16, 2011)

*Cost of Living!*

Hi

We are in a very similar situation. 

Due to move to Sydney in July as my husband has been offered a position paying 110,000AUD per year - is it possible to live on this with a family of 4 (2 adults 2 children) - one child will be attending school and one will be at nursery, and everything seems so expensive!

My husbands new company does LAFHA which will give us a huge chunk of his salary tax free but i'm still really concerned about managing to live on our salary.

Have been looking at rentals in Balmain area but so, so expensive so any suggestions for around about there but just not so expensive. Also does any one know if you have to pay the school fees up-front or can you pay them monthly, our credit cards are going to be maxed up to the limit!

Many thanks


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## mavzor (Feb 17, 2011)

The average sydney wage is 61k p/a ex tax.

Simply put, balmain is an upper middle class place to live. As its price reflects it.
Depends what you're expecting.

Cast your living net a little wider, and use google maps to determine a good 30 minute radius from where you'll be living. 

Having lived 7 years around ryde, it's a great area. But it depends on what you're used to.

Single income or dual? 

110k can be hard in a single income, and australia is geared fairly heavily in favor of dual.


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## yks (Jan 24, 2011)

Ains1209 said:


> Hi
> 
> We are in a very similar situation.
> 
> ...



I am not too sure about the Balmain area ..but believe me that package you hvae mentined is huge ... 

and if you are getting LAFHA then its huge huge 
you would be lookg at 6500+ in hand
so stop worrying ..

2 bed in : 2500 dollars in rent (which i would say is waste of money...rather you look at some suburbs where you ca get 3 bedders for 2000 a month ..it might be a bit away from the city centre )
groceries : 2000(believe me this is huge)

still you will have a margin of 2000 

YKS
:ranger:


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## Ains1209 (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks so much for replying to me - was really starting to get very up-tight about the whole thing!


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

Ains1209 said:


> Thanks so much for replying to me - was really starting to get very up-tight about the whole thing!


Where in the metropolitan area will your husband be working? If we knew we would be better able to help you.


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## Ains1209 (Apr 16, 2011)

Hi

He won't actually be allocated his area until we arrive - so that is what is making it even more difficult to decide on a location!


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## shussel (Feb 18, 2011)

H95 said:


> Thanks for the good info. So my next step is to find the preferred school first, then try to find a place to rent (hopefully not so expensive as budget about aud 450-500) and then register them asap once rental has been sorted out. This will greatly reduce my searching time....
> I read in other forum that it is advisable to prepare summary of your family, fill in the forms etc to be given to the property agent in order to minimize application time. According to the forum, there will be many people viewing a good place and spee will be an advantage.


For school applications the NSW Department of Education have a standard enrolment form that you have to take to the school, with proof of birth and immunisations. I'm sure you can submit the information via email as well. If you're searching and comparing schools have you come across the My School website? Here's a link: My School. 
We moved to Sydney over a year ago and found securing a decent rental property very competitive, once we realised how many people turn up to view properties we prepared an appliaction pack with references and a covering letter about us, we had it ready to hand over as soon as we found a place we liked. 
Good Luck with your plans, lots to think about!


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

Each school has enrolment forms, you don't need to contact DET for them. Parents usually approach the school and fill the form in there. My School website only intimates how a school has performed on a given day. Not the information required to decide whether the school is good, bad or indifferent.


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## shussel (Feb 18, 2011)

I agree. It has been widely discussed in Australian media that the My School website shouldn't be used as an indication of a school's ongoing performance, but if you're starting from scratch and want to know which schools are in a specific area, and their size etc. it's a good place to start. In fact, it's the only place I know that provides this information en masse. I personally feel you can't make a final decision without visiting a school in person (hopefully you have the time to do this) but online research will certainly help narrow down the search.


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## Aussiejock (May 26, 2007)

Ains1209 said:


> Hi
> 
> He won't actually be allocated his area until we arrive - so that is what is making it even more difficult to decide on a location!


I would certainly try to get some idea from them as the Sydney metropolitan area is much bigger than Glasgow. Might his area be outside of Sydney? Do you know where their head office is? Commuting in Sydney during peak times is not the most pleasant of things, that's why most people try to find the best place to live in an area not too far from work.


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## H95 (Apr 12, 2011)

Hi Ains1209, agree with you as everything seems very expensive and we were actually looking at websites on goods, food etc. Pls also note that need to pay aud 4500 for kids school if you are not a PR. If I am not mistaken have to pay beginning of the school term. 
Can you advise whether the LAFHA is an optional for the company or need to have certain conditions to fulfill? My company did not mention anything about the LAFHA at all. Thanks for sharing.


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## Ains1209 (Apr 16, 2011)

H95 said:


> Hi Ains1209, agree with you as everything seems very expensive and we were actually looking at websites on goods, food etc. Pls also note that need to pay aud 4500 for kids school if you are not a PR. If I am not mistaken have to pay beginning of the school term.
> Can you advise whether the LAFHA is an optional for the company or need to have certain conditions to fulfill? My company did not mention anything about the LAFHA at all. Thanks for sharing.



Hi

So many cost up-front, its a killer! I take it the school cost as pro-rated out if you join at the end of the schoolyear?

LAFHA has to be offered by the company as they pay to be part of it - many companies do not participate due to the cost.


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