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Massive debts
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This is the entrance to our beautiful estate, just 5 minutes from our house to the beach - yes we are THAT luckyLBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0 -
And what a stunning beach it is!LBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0 -
I agree! We have been over here for 5 years and have absolubtely no regrets, great lifestyle, huge house and a pool.
You have nothing to lose and eveything to gain - DO IT DO IT!Mortgage = $277,000/$440,000 Started 29/06/10Sealed Pot 2012 = $910Sealed Pot 2013 = $790.80Sealed Pot 2014 = 543.500 -
Anyway, would love to say done gloating but I'm probably not. A few details for those of my nosey friends
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Its a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house, beautiful inside with a huge back garden. There is a park at the end of the street and the primary school is just round the corner. There is a shopping centre and a nice little row of shops including the Whistling Kite pub (google it, its to die for!) about 3 minutes in the car away.:D
Financially (I know this is what you are all really interested in!), we are very very well off. My husband hasn't yet taken his trade test thingey as he is waiting on a reference coming from the UK, so he is working as a Trade Assistant (sparks mate to you and I). He brings home $1000 a week AFTER TAX. I applied for a got a more senior position at work. I salary package our car (bit like a lease with every cost including fuel factored in and taken off my salary before tax), and even after that coming off I bring home $3000-3500 per fortnight AFTER TAX.:j:j
We pay $990 a fortnight rental, our electricity bill is $200-300 every 2 months, we pay $98 per month for Foxtel (Sky) in 2 rooms full package. We pay $118 for our phone and broadband - it is Soooooo expensive here and there isn't much opportunity to shop around as there are only 2 providers in Secret Harbour:eek:. So we are splurging a bit, but our broadband is unlimited and its good service. Groceries are expensive, but we have managed to keep our bill down to around $200 a week, and my brother in law has been visiting for the last 3 months so have been feeding 3 adults and at least 1 child (we have a lot of kids over for dinner:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:). We keep costs down in the same way as we did in the UK. I still meal plan, and buy my meat from a wholesale market, so buy a big pack, make a lasagne, chilli, tacos and spag bol. We tend to eat and make everything fresh, and to be honest its the convenience foods which are really expensive.
Life is good, we have savings in the bank, save on a regular basis towards a mortgage deposit in the next couple of years. We have just paid $3060 for our permanent residency which my work has sponsored me for, and its all good in the hood:D. We have saved for and are just about to buy a jetski. From Gumtree of course. It is a luxury but we spend a'lot of time on the water, and for the next few years its going to be the closest we get to a boat! I'm due a pay rise in July of approx $3k, (yearly increase which the union has successfully negotiated every year), and I will go up another increment in my band at work at the beginning of December so thats another $3-4k. We are planning to save the entire $6-7k of that towards our deposit. We still budget every week, I still know every penny going out of our bank account and I still transfer odd amounts to our savings, to keep a nice round number in our bank account:p. Some things never change:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.
We both took out a credit card with our bank, this is ONLY to build a credit history in advance of when we expect to apply for a mortgage. Of course, we also have a direct debit in place to pay the full balance at the end of each month (10 days before the minimum payment date):D.
So whilst it might seem like we are splurging and being a bit reckless, we have properly planned our finances, and I have taken every lesson learned on here and tucked in away somewhere safe. I use the MSE principles every day of my life. :money::j:money::j:money::j
Yes we have some luxuries - the jetski purchase being a big one, however we have spent many a day on the water with friends, and not paid a penny. We do a'lot with our leisure time and they do hold their price here.
Anyway, it was supposed to be a quick update, I'm off for a quick mooch around friend's diaries before I shoot off to pick Cole up from school:).LBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0 -
Forgot to say we have furnished a 4 bed 2 bath house, with all cash. There is NOTHING on HP in this house, and I am very very very proud of that.:jLBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0 -
Tomorrow's jobs - list stuff on Gumtree to sell. Proceeds of course into our savings
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I have registered for Aussie eBay, so will make an attempt at a clearout and start doing some selling.LBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0 -
Thank you so much for the update! I feel jealousy and awe in equal amounts
but overall I'm thrilled it worked out for you.
Now I've just got to think of a way to make Australia want me :rotfl: XxDebts @ LBM £23,729.31. Debts @ 08/04/2016 £0 :j
Best win so far - holiday to Florida0 -
It all sounds perfect,im glad its all going so well for you.
im a tad jealous :rotfl:MAKE £2022 in 2022 no 29 £2022/£434.10
Mortgage@ 1/1/2022 £17540 / £1601.39
pay all your debts by xmas 2022 £15000/ £1865.29
https://www.facebook.com/groups/680889456637403
you tube channel never too old0 -
I followed you from the beginning and I am so pleased that all the hard work, going back to uni to qualify as a midwife, living away from your family to practice as a midwife, etc, etc worked out so well. You are reaping the reward for having made positive steps to change the life of your family. WELL DONE YOU, enjoy every minute of it.0
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Thanks all for your well wishes, hope it doesn't come across like I'm rubbing your noses in it!!!!LBM 30/6/9 Unsecured debts [STRIKE]£25,323.48[/STRIKE] £0 :T Debt free
Left for life Down Under 4th August 2012 - living frugally and have learned my lessons :j:j:j:j0
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