Hi

I'm a midwife, currently AHPRA approved and have a good job to go to. I plan to move in September. I've read lots of things and overall i'm worrying about money.

I will be earning a base rate of approx 60k which will be topped up to 65 - 70k with over time. This is all before tax. I will be moving alone so only have myself to support but i'm still worried this wage is unrealistic for city living.

Any thoughts would be great?!

Thanks!

 

I think the average wage for QLD is around $67,000, a single person on that money should manage fine. It will depend on where you want to live and the life style you want to lead. Your wage should give you a life style approximately similar to earning around £30,000 in the UK. You will find that certain items are comparatively more expensive in Australia to the UK and other stuff is cheaper.

Try not to fall into the trap of doing direct comparisons on prices with the exchange rate it does tend to give a false sense of the cost of items. I have found the best way of working out how much things will cost is to compare the % of my wage i have to spend on the item compared to the UK or how many hours work I would have to do to pay for something.

For example, if my rent in the UK is £1000 a month and i have to work 20 days to earn that money and the comparative rent in Australia only takes 15 days to earn enough money then although it may seem more expensive in Australia, it does work out less in real terms.. There , now I have totally confused you.

Good luck and I think a single person will manage fine on that money .