International Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Aussie Ladies in Brisbane and further south
Talk to me please about your cost of living down there (water, electric, phone, rates, etc)
I am ready to leave H and move back into the real world. He is welcome to join me if he wants, if not, we'll just have to go back to being in an LDR. So I need to start calculating costs for one and two people.
Also, I've gotten so many conflicting opinions about my CV. I no longer have any clue how it's supposed to read to get me employed. Have any of you heard of any good professional CV/cover letter writers? I guess that is step one.
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Re: Aussie Ladies in Brisbane and further south
I need to live within an hour commute of one of the big cities. My commute in DC was btwn 1- 1.5 hours each way, so I'm OK with that.
If H decides to join me, we'll have to be a bit closer to the water.
Brisbane is one of the cheaper major cities to live in within Australia.
Here are a couple of websites that might help
http://www.auinfo.com/australia_prices.html
http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/queensland/58620-basic-cost-living-queensland.html
As for CV's I am happy to look at it if you want. I used to be a personnel officer in State Government here in Victoria and used to do recruitment. Most Australian work places use selction criteria statements rather than CV's. It is basically a list of questions that you respond to. A CV should be no more than 2 pages.
Try for a public service job- good benefits and pay!
j jaye,, I may take you up on that offer!
I wasn't able to apply for gov't jobs until I got my permanent resident visa. So now I can. If at all possible I would like to not have to work with the general public. That is a big part of my misery up here.
Hm, well right now we pay:
$.24 per kWh (that's going up again in july) for electric
$1.66/litre for gas
$55 a month for car insurance
$142 a month for house insurance
$8-10/ six months for water
GBlake, here's one for you.
I, just today, paid $18.98 for two heads of iceberg lettuce and 2 heads of cauliflower.
Obviously no practical help from me but I wish you all the best in making this decision and I hope you and DH can find a way to make it all work out.
(My mom left Houston about a year ago - she absolutely hated it there and lived with her partner there for years. They are continuing their relationship as long distance and they are both really happy. I really admire my mom for being strong and doing what she needed to do for herself.)
BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks
It just really hit me that life is too short to be this miserable. It isn't even financial. If that was the case, child support will be over in less than a year and we will be all good. It;s more about I hate my job, I hate having to get up at 2:30 AM to go do a job I hate, I hate only getting to see H for two hours a day, I hate being hot all the time, etc etc.
I know that no one is responsible for my happiness but me, and I just can't be happy up here. Frankly moving to FNQ was the worst thing that could have happened to our marriage. **
So yeah, right now I'd rather be happier and see him only every few weeks, than see him for a few hours a day and be miserable.
** I say that mainly because it is so damn hot up here I don't even let H hold my hand. Physically, we are basically room mates that share a bank account.
That's almost exactly what my mom said. She moved to Houston for a relationship and was so, so unhappy - she just hated the city. She's since moved to Santa Fe and is possibly the happiest I've ever seen her. They see each other every couple months for a weekend and it's all fine. Financially, it was a terrible decision as now my mom has all the bills to cover her own apartment and everything, but life is definitely too short if you truly are miserable.
Good luck.
BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks
I shop at both, but that $18.98 was from the "cheaper" local produce market. Last time I looked lettuce was $4.98 a head at Woolies.
j_jaye, if you send me a PM with your email, I'll send you my US resume and what I'm using now as a CV.
I'm just really tired of being told that I'm "too experienced to be employable up here".
No problem- but yes being too experienced is a pain in the butt here in Australia. Employers wont employ you because of the fantastic labour laws which mean an employee can have you over a barrell if you get them doing higher level tasks than their position description details.
As for the FNQ thing I understand that it is so difficult. I spent a few years working in Aboriginal communities up there and definately understand how isolating it can be and how oppressive the heat is. I think you are making the right choice and this will probably save your relationship instead of turning you into a miserable bitter wife!
I have a few friends who have fly in and out relationships. Basically they live down here in lovely cool Victoria and their hubbies work in the mines in Qld or WA. It can be hard but I also think it has saved quite a few marriages.
Have snet PM with email addy
I live about 45 minutes west of Melbourne.
We are currently paying $.20 per kWh for electric for peak 1 and $.22 for peak 2
I don't remember exactly for gas but I think it's in the $1.50 range at the moment
Approximately $50 every 3 months for water usage.
I'm not positive what we pay for insurances since DH takes care of that. He tells me every time before they come out but I obviously don't pay enough attention to remember.
I think iceberg lettuce was around $1 a head recently and I bought a 1 kilo bag of carrots for 74 cents at Coles not too long ago.
Oh and if you are interested, I finally got my permanent residency about 3 weeks ago.
I hope everything works out how you want it to. You deserve to be happy!
I hope you know when I said that stupid I mean the price not you. I went re-read my post. I wanted to clarify that.
Amy congrats!
GBlake, yes, I knew you meant the prices were stupid ;-)
j-jaye I'll get that off to you today or tomorrow.
I was never much into Slurpees. Now, the Krispy Kreme and mexican food could get me into trouble. But first thing first, a job.
And I know this is a personal question, but I'm going to assume that you all live in areas that could be described as at least "nice middle class mid-west suburb". If this assumption is correct, can I ask how much you all pay in rent?
We would have to keep the house in FNQ and rent it out. So I need to calculate the costs for the difference in rent and mortgage AND the new rent (if H comes with me). If he stays up here I'll be looking at a room mate situation.
Rents will surprise you compared to the cost of buying a house. People rent a house out for less than the mortgage and claim the loss on their taxes, counting on the appreciation for profit.
But really, all these questions would be better answered on EB, with way way more data points.
our renters pay $630 a week to live in a 2 bed flat with 2 lock up garages in Manly (which is a middle to upper class area - close to Sydney)
to rent a whole house in the western suburbs would be at least that much if not more - even if its an hour of of Sydney (to live in a NICE area)