I found that the most common question asked by people I know who are thinking of migrating to Australia is how much does it cost to live in Australia. Well, I don’t have official statistics or anything so the only way I can answer this is to draw from my personal experience living in Melbourne.

Back when we didn’t pack home-cooked lunch to the work, we spend around $250 per week on groceries with the cost of eating out for lunch included. A lunch meal will generally cost about $10. It’ll probably cheaper at McDonald’s or Hungry Jack’s (aka Burger King) with their $6 burger meals that include chips (French fries) and drink. At selected Hungry Jack’s branches, you even get to refill your drink again and again. In the end, it will always be a lot cheaper to cook your own food than to eat out.

To save even more, instead of shopping at Safeway (called Woolworths outside Victoria, I don’t know why) or Coles, shop at Aldi instead. Sure, the selection of products is a bit limited at Aldi but those you can get there, you’ll get there a lot cheaper than the major supermarket chains. We would first buy our groceries at Aldi then go to the nearby Safeway to buy the rest of the things on our grocery list that we didn’t get at Aldi.

This $250 does not include transportation costs, clothing and utilities. We take the train so that’s $158 for a monthly full-fare Zone 1+2 ticket each. That ticket allows us to take any public transportation within Greater Melbourne. If you live closer to the city (within the Zone 1 boundary), you get to pay less. We only use the car on weekends and it costs us about $30 per week to have it filled with petrol (gasoline).

As for our utilities, our latest water quarterly bill was about $90. During winter time, our gas bill can reach up to $100 per month. Gas (gaas) is usually necessary not only for cooking but for heating homes, you see. Electricity bills tend to rise during winter too due to our need to turn on electric heaters and less daylight. Our winter electricity bill can reach up to $200 in a quarter. However, we are still aiming to lower our electricity, water and gas usage so hopefully, we’ll need to pay less in the future. We are doing this not only to save money but of course to help out the environment. Yeah, I just had to throw that in there.

If you are renting an apartment, you probably won’t need to worry about the water bill as the owner of the property usually pays for the water. So that’s one advantage of renting. Speaking of renting, a two bedroom apartment we rented in St Kilda East (an inner Melbourne suburb, about 15 minutes away from the city by train) cost about $1,200 per month (they will quote the rent in dollars per week though). Apartments will cost more if furnished.

If you are just starting out and you need furniture, go see Fantastic Furniture. They have the cheapest furniture packages that I know of. It’s not exactly the classiest furniture around but they definitely aren’t shoddy either. For $2000, you get a double-sized bed and matress, a dining table plus chairs, living room tables, bedsides (drawers), and a 51cm TV! You’ll probably need to assemble some of the furniture yourself though but I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it. That’s partly how they can sell it for cheaper. I bought my first furniture suite from them and I found the furniture to be sturdy and durable. And they don’t look too shabby either.

For the clothes and other spendings, you will get a better idea of how much things cost here by looking at the various department store chains’ catalogues online. Here are a few of the more popular chains of shops:
- Myer
- Target
- Big W
- Kmart

Now, you have to do the math (or as they say here, maths) and figure out how much money you need to bring with you when you fly to Australia. Be sure to bring enough money with you to last you six months here without a job just to be sure. Note that the cost I quoted above was for two persons living together. Utility bills might be cheaper if you are by yourself living in a one bedroom apartment, for example. It could be more expensive if you are a family of four, of course.

I hope this helps anybody wanting to know how much things cost here.

A reader whose family has recently received their resident visa has sent us an email with some queries on how to find a place to live here. This reminded me of the time when we were still in the process of moving here from Canberra and how we went about finding an apartment in an unfamiliar place where we don’t know anybody and we only have the weekends to drive from Canberra to Melbourne to view the listed properties. The move was difficult but not impossible and hubby spent a few weekends driving and sleeping in hotels.

Anyway for those who are just starting their search, hope these tips ease the difficulty of getting your own place.

1. If it’s at all possible, get a street map of your target destination (Victorian map). This would not only help you in choosing where to narrow your search for a place to live, it would also be handy for the times when you need to find work, schools, parks, etc.
2. A new migrant would probably not be in a rush to own a car and would generally be reliant on the public transport - this would include trains, trams and buses. The easiest and probably the fastest mode of transport (if it turns up!) are the trains. Study the network map for Melbourne and surrounding areas to see which areas have the service. Take note that there are two zones and fare levels within the network. Yellow denotes zone 1 while blue means zone 2.
3. Although most train station names are also suburb names, not all train stations/stops are suburbs. For example, Balaclava station (Sandringham line) is in the suburb of Balaclava. However, there is no Aircraft suburb even if there’s an Aircraft station (Werribee line). To determine if the name is a suburb, try to find the name in this list of Melbourne suburbs.
4. Once you have a suburb name or a postcode taken from the list of suburbs, you could now search for available rental properties at Domain or Realestate.com.au. Enter the suburb name and wait for the site to return a list. Both sites feature a way to view the available properties on a map (Plot properties on map link for Domain.com.au, View on Map tab in Realestate.com.au). Although the map is quite limited in what it shows, it is still a useful way for you to see how near the property is to public transport and parks. Click on the little houses/markers to see a short description and a thumbnail photo of the property.

   

   As an example, I typed in St Kilda East as a search criteria in Domain.com.au, switched to map view and clicked on a property in Blenheim Street. This ad is for apartment unit number 3 at property number 24 with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and 1 parking spot. Located near the bottom of the map is the Balaclava train station while the solid lines on Carlisle and Chapel Streets indicate that tram lines run through these streets. This means that the property is very near public transport. Remember that being close to public transport could be a minus (noisy, a higher volume of people passing through and possibly traffic in peak hours) as well as a plus (easy to get to, numerous options to get away, cheaper transportation cost as you may not have to own a car until much later). Rent is listed as $280 weekly which would probably be paid monthly ($280/week x 52 weeks/year divided by 12 months/year = $1,213.33 monthly).

5. To learn more about the location of the property, go to Street-Directory.com.au and enter 24 Blenheim Street, Balaclava VIC as the address. The map displayed would be quite detailed and you would be able to see train lines and stations as well as tram and bus routes. You would also be able to see that it there are a couple of schools, parks, parking spaces and a town hall nearby. Ticking on the For Rent layer on the left hand side menu of the page would also show all the rental properties being advertised in the area.
6. If you’re curious, you could also learn more about the demographics of an area buying looking at the suburb’s profile. Local newspapers could also shed some light on the lifestyle of the people living in the area as well as the burning issues of the residents there. Typing “St Kilda newspapers” in Google, I found the area’s local newspaper - The Port Phillip Leader.
7. Create a shortlist of properties you would be interested in and contact the agents to inspect the properties. Photos in the ads do help but there is no real substitute to actually being there and imagining yourself walking the streets everyday, envisioning your furniture in the space and seeing how you like the place.
8. And finally, for those who are unfamiliar with the rental application process in Australia as well as their rights and responsibilities as tenants, have a browse at the renting section of the Consumer Affairs Victoria. One particular document to be found there is the especially useful guide for newly arrived migrants and refugees.

I made a couple of blog posts last year providing tips for would-be Pinoy migrants to Australia. Well, recently, we accidentally found a more comprehensive list of tips provided for by the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA). They’re the Beginning a life in Australia booklets. And what’s more is that the booklets are available for free online on their website in Adobe Reader PDF format.

Here is a short description of what the booklet is about according to the DIMA website:

The purpose of this web site is to provide information about life in Australia, settlement services available to migrants and the range of services at the national, state and local levels that migrants in Australia may need.

There are different specialised booklets for each of Australia’s states and territories. So, if you are interested in moving to Sydney, for example, go pick up the “Welcome to New South Wales” booklet. Now, I’m sure new migrants-to-be may not always be familiar in which state or territory your destination city is located, so here is a list of the states and the better known Aussie cities in each one:

• New South Wales (NSW) - Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT) - Canberra (but in the list of booklets, look for Canberra instead of ACT), Queanbeyan (although technically part of NSW, it is real close to Canberra that the Canberra booklet might be helpful, too)
• Victoria (VIC) - Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo
• Queensland (QLD) - Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns
• South Australia (SA) - Adelaide
• Western Australia (WA) - Perth
• Tasmania (TAS) - Hobart
• Northern Territory (NT) - Darwin, Alice Springs

And here are some of the things you’ll find in the booklet (from the booklet’s table of contents):

• What to do soon after arrival - important things you’ll need to accomplish such as applying for a tax file number, open a bank account, and so forth
• Emergency services
• Where to go for help - for migrant resource centres and agencies, legal aid, consumer rights
• Australian customs and law
• Housing - renting, buying and tenants’ rights and responsibilities
• Employment - looking for work, job network services and working conditions
• Transport
• Education and child care
• The health system - Medicare, Private health insurance
• Recreation and media
• Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs - citizenship, resident visas and family visits to Australia
• Local government and community services

Now, if you are not that proficient in English, there are booklets translated into other languages, including Tagalog! Here is the Tagalog translation of the booklet’s purpose:

Ang layunin ng website na ito ay upang magbigay ng impormasyon tungkol sa buhay sa Australya, mga serbisyong nauukol sa paninirahan ng maaaring makuha ng mga migrante at ang hanay ng mga serbisyo, mula sa pambansa, estado at lokal na antas ng kakailanganin ng mga migrante sa Australya.

So, thinking of coming over to beautiful Australia? Get the inside info on how to start your new life here right through the booklets provided for by the Australian government. You can’t get any more official than that.

A reader left us a note a few days back seeking advice on first time accommodations in Melbourne. Although I already tackled it in not-so-many words in a previous blog post titled Tips for Pinoy Migrants to Australia Part 1, I think it’s time I flesh out the topic a bit more.

From experience, if you are a new migrant to Australia fresh from the airport, you will find it a bit difficult to rent an apartment specially if you don’t have a job yet. And when you get a job, the landlord might ask you to produce a letter from your employer as proof of your employment.

As you can see, it could already be difficult to get an apartment even if you are already here. Getting one while still in the Philippines would be much harder. However, I remember hearing that someone was actually able to do just that. I don’t know the details though.

The popular and favoured type of accommodation for newcomers to Australia is to live with family, relatives or close friends who are already here. Living with family is good because you’re not under pressure to find a job and an apartment quickly. Well, hey, they’re family.

However, if you are living with close friends, unless you’ll be paying those friends with some kind of weekly fee for your share of the rent, I recommend that you don’t wear out your welcome and start looking for an apartment of your own as soon as possible. I’m sure your friend will tell you that you could stay as long as you like, but in my experience, living under the same roof with some friends for an extended period of time can sometimes test the strongest of friendships.

Now, how about those of you with no family or friends in Australia? Some friends of mine actually booked a hotel room in their destination city via the Internet just before leaving the Philippines. When they got here, they quickly looked for a job then another (cheaper) place to stay. As an example, a friend lived in a $100-per-day hotel room for twenty days before being able to move to his own apartment. That’s $2,000 in his first three weeks in Melbourne alone. So, before flying over, be sure you have enough money to sustain yourself here even if you can’t land a job for the first three months.

You can book hotel rooms online through websites like AccomLine. I can at least recommend this service as I have used it multiple times in the past.

There is an alternative to hotels though that could sometimes be the cheaper option. There are serviced apartments for rent that are basically like bigger furnished hotel rooms but with no room service (who needs it anyway?). They could sometimes charge you a cheaper weekly or monthly rate instead. I couldn’t really recommend any online service for weekly/monthly serviced apartments since I haven’t the need for one myself but from looking at the Internet, I found the Melbourne Serviced Apartments website. I’m sure you’ll find similar websites by using Google.

Room rates would vary depending of course on the quality of the room and the distance of the hotel or apartment from the central business district (CBD) in the city. So, consult a map of the city you’re going to and decide there if the hotel or apartment you’re aiming for is at a good location. Australian maps are available online at Whereis.com.

If you decide to go for a place that is a bit far from the city, make sure that the place is at least near a train station specially since you’d probably won’t have a car yet. You can find that out by consulting the map. The train stations should be marked there.

When I was looking for an apartment in Melbourne a few years ago, my main priority is to find one that is near a train station. So, having access to the Melbourne Train Network Map made it easier for me to choose which suburbs to look into when I was looking for apartment vacancies.

But, you say, what if I have no family or friends in Australia and I don’t have a lot of money? What then? You can join and log on to the Philippines.com.au forum. Take a chance and ask around there if anybody has an empty room that they are willing to rent out to you or something like that. Who knows? You might even get to meet someone who is willing to take you in for free for a short period of time. Don’t expect too much from the people there though. There are a lot of nice people there but not everybody may be comfortable with the idea of letting a complete stranger live in their home even if you are a fellow Filipino.

Anyway, I hope this helps any of you looking to migrate here in Australia in some way. Good luck.

Update: Thanks to reader Sasha for this additional tip (which I paraphrased a bit):

Hi GJ & Raquel, Pinoys can look for furnished apartments on 3 month leases or more on Domain.com.au or Realestate.com.au or realestateview.com.au which is good.

On October 11, a reader named Mel posted a query about cars for new migrants on a recent post of mine: Errands. Actually, I already responded to the comment, but I just want to elaborate on it further here.

Mel wrote:

May I ask your opinion on purchasing a car upon arrival in Melbourne. I think it’s practical to get a 2nd hand but my husband prefers brand new. However, since we have no credit history or credit card for that matter, how can we go about in applying for a car loan?

In our case, we didn’t buy our own car until my third year in Australia. We found that we could get around just fine by taking the public buses. And that was in Canberra. Here in Melbourne, the public transportation is even better. By that, I mean there are more choices: there’s the bus, the tram and the train. I’ve discussed about the topic of getting around Melbourne in greater detail in an old post if you wanted to know more.

For the sake of discussion though, I’ll just assume you really need a car when you get here. I agree that getting a second hand car is more practical as it would indeed be cheaper than a brand new one. However, like your husband, I preferred a brand new car, so, that’s what we got. But, mind you, we’ve been here for a good three years when we bought our car, so, we’ve already settled down a bit and we had spare cash in our savings to get a car.

In the case of a new migrant, there might be more important uses for the savings. Unless you and your husband have jobs right off when you arrive in Australia, you’re going to need your savings to get you through the first few tough months of job hunting. And then, there are also other necessities like furniture and appliances for your apartment to worry about.

We went with a brand new car because we were pretty sure we won’t be replacing the car for the next five years or so. We knew (and hope) that a new car would last at least that long before we start getting major problems with it. Of course, a brand new car does not guarantee that we won’t have problems with it. But, in my mind, we would less likely have major problems with a brand new car in the short term than if we got a used car.

However, if you’re strapped for cash, then you have no option but to go with a second hand car. But don’t worry though. Second hand cars sold here tend to be reliable. You can have the car inspected by automotive insurance people before you purchase a car so that you know you’re not getting a lemon. Anyway, it’s in their best interest that the car you’ll be insuring with them isn’t going to break down too often after all.

You also asked about car loans. As you may already know, I don’t work for banks and loaning institutions, so I could only guess as to whether you’re actually going to get a car loan or not given your situation.

I do believe though that as long as both you and your husband have stable permanent jobs, you won’t have too much of a problem getting a car loan especially if you aren’t asking for a big amount.

I also suspect that the banks are really just checking for bad credit history. Since you don’t have a credit history yet, you wouldn’t be flagged as having a bad one, right? However, I suggest you get a savings bank account and, if possible, a credit card when you get here so that when the loaning institution makes a check on your finances, it would see that you exist in the system.

In our case though, we didn’t go with a car loan. We tried but got denied a car loan only because I was a contractor back then. Apparently, it was more important for the banks that both Raquel and I were permanently employed than having a good credit history.

Fortunately, we had enough saved cash to buy our car outright. We were also able to afford the car partly because we didn’t go for those expensive SUVs. I frankly do not understand the need for those types of vehicles in the city. If I lived in the bush, sure. But in the city, it’s just not efficient. Our Toyota Corolla is smaller and cheaper than an SUV, but, at least, it doesn’t consume as much petrol and easier to park. And even though it was small, five people could still comfortably ride in it.

Well, I was glad the bank turned down our loan application because we actually saved on not having to pay for the interest on the loan. As you know, a car depreciates over time. By getting a loan, you’ll end up paying more for something that actually loses value over time. By saving money for an outright car purchase, you’ll end up paying much less overall for a car.

In the end, I urge you to consider everything before you go buy a car. Do you really need it for the time being? Would having a car make your life significantly easier? Whatever the case, I hope I was able to provide you with helpful information.

Would-be migrants usually ask us how difficult it is to find work here and how much a certain position pays. Since each situation is unique, there are no clear-cut answers to these questions. There are a lot of factors to consider such as the type and size of organisation you’d be joining, your level of expertise in your chosen field, qualifications, local experience (or lack of), where you are (state/territory) and your negotiation skills. Negotiation is a bit tricky though when you don’t have the faintest idea of how much you’re worth. Quote a low pay and you may get the job but constantly worry about how to make ends meet. On the other hand, asking for too much may also mean that you may never get your foot in the door. Either way, it shows the employer your total lack of resourcefulness and research. Definitely not a good way to start.

Fortunately, there are sites where you could get this sort of information for free. Salary surveys for different jobs in various sectors are available from Hays, MyCareer and Wages.com.au (currently down but may be operational again soon) . Amounts shown are based on the annual rate and are inclusive of superannuation, tax and other benefits.

Another way to go about this is going to job search sites and looking at advertisements that may include salary information. Private organisations seldom give salary information in their advertisements outright but some do. Government positions are usually advertised in the organisation’s web site as well as government gazettes like this one from the Australian Capital Territory government and usually give wage and benefits information alongside job descriptions and selection criteria.

Someone recently left a comment in one of my old posts regarding migrating to Australia. He stated that he’d like to know more about the process and has repeatedly asked for help but it was obvious from his post that he hasn’t done any prior research of his own. He was asking questions that would have already been answered if only he took the time and effort to read the link I’ve provided or just by reading my reply to a previous comment.

To me, this constitutes an unwillingness to do his own homework and trying to pass the work off to me. Well, let me tell you now that if you don’t put in the time and effort to your own application, no one will. Certainly not me, I have posted my experiences in this blog with the hopes that it would serve as a guide to someone who might be undergoing a similar process. My knowledge does not extend beyond what I have gone through and I won’t be able to advise anyone what is the best way for them to migrate to Australia - every case is unique and you’d be better off assessing your situation or going through a professional agent than asking me. Do your homework and read up on the topic, there are a wealth of resources on the internet for anyone who’s determined enough to find it. Stop being so darn lazy! Do NOT give me a copy of your resume without any specific question as to what kind of advice you are seeking, it wastes my time and yours, so don’t even bother. You’d be better served by researching the topic from the following resources (among others):

• Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
• Philippines.com.au online forum
• Australian Computer Society - Assessment for Migration Purposes (assessing authority for IT professionals)
• Skilled Occupation List - points and assessing authority list for specific occupations
• Google! - for any other related topics (search criteria to try: migrate Australia, recognition of prior learning, etc.)