What's it like living in Sydney? researching re-location

[naturalbilby]

Hi,

we are a one income family, struggling on less than 40K pa in Adelaide, where rents are lowest in Australia.

dh is in the running for a job in Sydney (Ryde) for 65K pa, where rents are the highest in Australia, so i've been told.

I'm trying to work out what it would be like to uproot our family (me, dh and 7 month old + stepchild who visits each school hols).

We would know no-one and have no family there.

People warn us the 65k pa in Sydney would not be enough to live on, what do you think?

I've lived in Adelaide for a long time, have worked out how to live cheaply here e.g live in a housing co-operative scheme, but all those things i've taken years to work out, i won't know any of them in Sydney - i guess i am worried it will be expensive while i work on acquiring "Local Knowledge".

I travelled when i was young and like new places, i'm just scared about moving somewhere expensive (in comparision to where we are now).

DH has a soul destroying job here, that is wrecking his physical health, so for that reason alone, i am prepared to move, but i don't want to bankrupt us by moving somewhere we can't afford. We have nothing in the bank and no credit cards.

Are you a Sydneysider?
Do you think a family of three (plus child support for another child) could manage on $65k pa in Sydney?

We think the job would be located in Ryde. Would it be a good idea to look for accom to rent in that government area (reduce petrol costs) or better to live further out of Sydney for cheaper rent (not really sure where that means) and commute?

ANy suggestions, i'd love to hear what a local has to say on this matter.

All i know about Sydney is what i see on TV current affairs shows (and i'm sure that is exaggerated).

thanks

(i've tried googling etc Sydney cost of living etc but didn't get real far, you get lots of info for international students coming to study in Sydney, but not for families like us who want basic accom not "executive living".)

[Emmandcasp]

well- we are in the city and looking at moving. Currently DH commutes 1.5 to 2 hrs EACH way to wk, we pay over $100 a week just on road tolls (not even petrol etc). I am looking to move to the suberbs of Sydney but am a bit freaked about the isolation- used to a close knit inner city appartment community.
I think its pretty expensive here. Rents depend on where you live. But anything under $300 to $400 a week would be considered cheap I think. Have you looked at realestate.com etc at the rental prices in the area you like? Sydney is really many small cities close together and your experience of the city depends on where you live. Public transport is not great and traffic is bad. Look also at the public transport and see if there is housing on the same train line etc etc.

[LibbyK]

I have lived in Sydney all my life and to be honest, I can't wait to get out of here. EVERYTHING is expensive, the people are rude and it's busy. The two people I know who have uprooted their familes and moved here knowing no one with no family have been very miserable here (they both no longer live here). That is not to say that you would be, but it is a very big place.

We are in the North Western suburbs. It would take us about 30-40 mins to get to Ryde in peak hour from our house and cost about $14 in tolls per day, not to mention petrol. You couldn't find anything to rent in our area for under $300 per week.

The tolls are ridiculous in this city, it costs DH $25 per day in tolls, going around them is just not an option, it would take him HOURS to get to work.

Is it an option for your DH to look for a better paying job in Adelaide?

I agree with Emma, have a look on realestate.com.au and check out rental prices in the area you like and then maybe give your insurance companies a call and do a price comparision on all your insurances and rego etc. This is what we did when we were looking to move to Bris (was heaps cheaper up there). Actually have you look into moving to Bris? There is probably more work up there than Adelaide and it's cheaper than Sydney and about 1/2 the size.

Good luck, let me know if you need any more help

[naturalbilby]

i have the real estate webpages, but because i don't know what the suburbs of Sydney are, or what they are like, i have no idea what to search for.

so you both mention looking a accom prices "in the areas i like" - that's the whole sticking point, i don't know which areas to aim for. I don't have the local knowledge to know what end is up!

it had crossed my mind to make sure wherever we looked at was close to a train line too, i spend $20 a week here on petrol, so $14 in tollways would be out of the question for me!

I would love to know where the vibrant community centres, women's centres, permaculture groups etc are located in SYdney, maybe i would aim at putting us somewhere within co-ee of that sort of environment. I don't even know if there are housing co-ops in Sydney, so much to find out.

My dh can't find a better paying job in Adelaide, we love living here and lifestyle is great, but jobs for dh's skill base are not great, he works on a specific computer brand that is not huge here. What he earns is lousy pay for Adelaide too. His industry has no union, no base rate of pay etc, and workers are incredibly exploited.

We would move anywhere for a decent job, Brisbane would be fine, if there was a job for dh.

I've lived in a big city of ten million before (London for two years when i was half my age) and i was glad to move back to a small city of one million. I know i can live anywhere there is a latte and these days, that is just about everywhere.

i really appreciate your posts Libby and Emma - thank you so much

[hanabi]

Brisbane really is the IT and call centre hub of Australia. Living costs are cheap compared to Sydney and there is a lot of mobility within these industries so you wouldn't need to feel tied to the job that brought you here if you decided it wasn't a good fit.

[alzarex]

we lived in Sydney on that income for a while and it hurt, a lot but we managed

however we have since moved to Perth and it is divine in comparison - head west we're a friendly bunch over here

there's no tolls but pub transport isn't brilliant (getting better tho)

[~Harmony~]

move to brisbane! we're only 4 hours from there!!

[Jamie]

Oh Sydney. When Pat was looking for work when he finished uni he said he would work anywhere except Sydney!

Definitely check out maps and see what public transport is available. A lot of people commute to Sydney each day from the Central Coast and from Newcastle and surrounds.

I believe that pay rates in Sydney are higher because it costs so much to live there. Unless you love the lifestyle I believe it's not the best idea to get a job there. Any extra money you earn will be taken up by living/travel costs. You also need to factor in how travel times will affect your family. Will your husband be happier in this job even if it means he has to leave at 7am and doesn't get home until 7pm each night?

What sort of work does he do?

[Eilleen]

My brother and his girlfriend live in Sydney and they love it (bearing in mind that they're very much no children, yuppie type couple).

The Western Suburbs and the North west seems to be a bit more reasonable in rental prices and if you get a job in Liverpool or Parramatta then you won't have to pay so much or travel so long to commute. There are quite few large companies with offices in these areas.

Food can also be cheap but you would have to know where to go to. I know we got some great bargains at the local markets my brother goes to. (They live near Liverpool - the actual suburb name escapes me atm).

I'm not too happy with their education choices though. All large schools (public and private schools) with no alternative education available within a 30 min radius of where they live. Then again, they don't have kids so they're not worried about that.

Can your husband go "sideways"? Perhaps go into a related field but not what he normally does?

[Eilleen]

FWIW, I loved living in Sydney (for the short time I spent there). But that was a single person and my rent and living expenses were subsidised by my job. Plus I lived right in the city (Woolloomooloo) so I walked everywhere.

Perhaps that's another thing your husband could consider is have the company subsidise some of the living costs? (He's have to negotiate it).