Cost of living and wages compared to Ireland

Pass&move

We've received our permanent residency visa in the last few weeks and have until the end of the year to validate. I've only just started making contact with agencies. I've 20 years experience in Telecoms so am hopeful of finding something, but from what I've read I may not get anywhere until we're there.

I'm a bit concerned with some of the things I've read about the cost of living. One post on another forum suggested that someone from the UK should be looking to earn 2.5 times their UK salary in oz to have the same standard of living and this was agreed with by several others. Does this sound right? I know different tax rates etc need to be taken into account, but if it's anywhere near right I may need to be earning more than I thought not to really struggle (we have 4 kids).

woolymammoth

First, congrats on the visa!
Second, everyone has an opinion on the whole cost of living thing. A quick search of this forum will show you that. But to be honest, you're moving to a different economy. With different salary rates, different tax rates, and different prices for everything. But it's just a different economy. You have to try and get your head past the Ireland comparison, and get into aussie prices.

just take what your salary will be, and break it down to a week or month figure. Have a look at Domain.com.au for property / rental prices in an area you're moving to. Look up motormouth.com.au for a guide on Petrol. Check out Woolworths or Coles online for food prices, and build up a weekly shopping list. The Good Guys or Harvey Norman for electrical price estimates.. etc. Slowly you begin to build a "cost of living" picture for your family. The numbers are bigger, but it's all relative, and with the amount of markets, butchers, budget retailers etc, it's real easy to be frugal if you want to be. Most people aren't.

hope this helps..

mandrake04

Pass&move wrote: »

We've received our permanent residency visa in the last few weeks and have until the end of the year to validate. I've only just started making contact with agencies. I've 20 years experience in Telecoms so am hopeful of finding something, but from what I've read I may not get anywhere until we're there.

I'm a bit concerned with some of the things I've read about the cost of living. One post on another forum suggested that someone from the UK should be looking to earn 2.5 times their UK salary in oz to have the same standard of living and this was agreed with by several others. Does this sound right? I know different tax rates etc need to be taken into account, but if it's anywhere near right I may need to be earning more than I thought not to really struggle (we have 4 kids).

What you are talking about is a factor, that factor has been around for years as it gives a better picture of the difference between the AUD and GBP. It was traditionally 2.2 but now agreed to be around 2.4 - 2.5 (for UK v Aus) This has been tried and tested for at least 10 years.

If like most people you use the exchange rate it will give you a false value of your earnings, Australia is expensive compared Ireland but if you look at a similar scenario Ireland is more expensive compared to Poland.

Example

Average salary in Australia $72960

Average salary in UK £30400

$72960/£30400= 2.4

for the Brits earning £40K then they reckon it should be about $96K which is about right, if like most people you make the mistake of using the exchange rate which is £1=$1.46

£40K x 1.46 = $58.4 which is absolute pish

Similarly if you want to work it out for Ireland

Average salary in Ireland is €37422

$72960/€37422= 1.94

€40K x 1.94 = $77600

if you used today's exchange rate €1=$1.24

€40K x 1.24 = $49.6 which is a joke.

In theory it works very well, you have to take into account that the average wage is not uniform across the country like the average wage in Tyrone is not the same as the average wage in London and the average wage in Donegal is not the same as average in Dublin. If you are moving to a big city like Sydney then use the average pay of your occupation in Dublin.

You can also use the factor when calculating costs per earnings compared to Ireland, if you are earning x1.94 then if you use it to work out the price of a beer.

Bottle Beer $6 /1.94 is equivalent to €3.10 in Irish wages but if you used the exchange rate its €4.80

Pass&move

Thanks woolymammoth. To be honest I don't think we've realised we've actually got it yet. We didn't do too much research before now because we weren't at all sure we'd get it. What you say makes a lot of sense, I suppose there're too many variables to make simple comparisons, but the temptation is to try to do that initially. At the moment I don't know what the salary range for the equilavent of my job is, but hopefully the agencies can give me an indication of that. I'll look at the websites you've mentioned, do a few dummy shops of our typical grocery shop and get more of an idea of what our outgoings would be. Thanks for all the helpful info.

Pass&move

Thanks mandrake that's very useful. Does that factor take into account differences in income tax rates? It's clear I need to do a lot more research. It seems even before doing that I'll need to be earning a good deal more than I initally thought. I've made a few contacts in my line of work down there, so I should be able to get an indication of whether that level of salary is realistic.

woolymammoth

no bother at all.

I always dislike those 'factor' comparisons.. because a factor of salary comparison doesn't really equate to the same costs for goods & services in my view. it's tempting for sure to have a nice simple bit of math, and it sounds about right, but it can be misleading. Some things here are wildly more expensive, others are significantly cheaper. It really depends on what you're buying, and where you're buying it from.

like before, domain.com.au is probably your best comparison to Daft.ie
Also, broadband comparison http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/
Coles and Woolworth are the largest grocery players in the market, but they're not the only ones depending where you live. Local butchers, fruit&veg shops, and farmers markets can be a lot cheaper for some items.
Mobile phone / plan comparison http://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones
utilities / energy comparison http://www.switchwise.com.au/
health insurance http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/dynamic/compare.aspx
also https://www.onebigswitch.com.au/
on the health insurance topic, consider recent legislation.. 'encouraging' people to get private insurance; http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/lifetimehealthcover.htm

mandrake04

Pass&move wrote: »

Thanks mandrake that's very useful. Does that factor take into account differences in income tax rates? It's clear I need to do a lot more research. It seems even before doing that I'll need to be earning a good deal more than I initally thought. I've made a few contacts in my line of work down there, so I should be able to get an indication of whether that level of salary is realistic.

ball park income tax & levies for myself is about 25% of my gross, married with no kids.

Wife earns about 1/2 of what I do and she pays 20%

use http://www.paycalculator.com.au/

also as a PR you will get family tax credits etc.


It might take a few years to get yourself established, it might seem like a struggle at the start but starting from scratch you expect that.

d.pop

Hi, congrats on the visa, great move espically with kids.
I won't repeat it all here again as you should be able to find it but I did a little table a while back of how much we are spending. 2 adults 2 kids ( primary school age) in Perth. Works out at around $1250 per week after tax to be comfortable. This equates to around $90k before tax.
Never really put too much store in conversion factors to be honest as you need to earn enough to cover your own lifestyle.
Look at your rental expenses, do a fake weekly shop online at Coles/woolworths and add on all the other bits and pieces to see how much you need.
You'll be fine, anybody with a trade or qualification usually does well in oz.
Best of luck.