Long term work in Oz - whats the best way to manage my money?

Candice0903

Hi everyone,

I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to finances so im hoping someone can help me.

Im moving over to Australia at the end of the month to work for a few years. When I get there I need to buy a car (around £3,250) and I may need to pay a lump sum deposit on an apartment (£2,000).

I will also need to use some of my savings for general living until I start getting paid my wages.

So, the question is.... what do I do with my money to give me the most sensible spending? Should I transfer as much money as I think i will need from my UK account to a new Oz one (when its set up)? Should I pay for as many things as I can on a good overseas spending credit card and then pay off the credit card from my UK account? Should I just spend on my debit card and have the money come direct from there?

At the moment I have a Tesco credit card which I always pay off before I get charged interest and a current account with LloydsTSB.

Should I get a new credit card? A new UK bank account? Im slightly overwhelmed by it all.

Hope someone can advise me

TakeThis

Metro Bank Debit and Credit card. Halifax Clarity too.

Use Metro Bank debit for cash withdrawals and HC for purchases. Metro Bank CC for general back up.

Forget about the Tesco card and Lloyds Bank for use abroad.

If you need large amounts of cash, then take out the max. daily amount from each of the three cards, but cover the CC card withdrawals immediately as they appear online, with an online bank transfer. You can repeat each day. Interest charges on the CC withdrawals will be minimal, especially if you cover the withdrawn amounts within a day or so. Pennies.

This is the best you can get.

You can also look at the Norwich & Peterborough Gold accounts.

Candice0903

Thanks TakeThis, I will check them out

spottydog

I presume you are coming out on a 457 long term business visa? With regard to pay you may find you get paid fortnightly as it is quite usual here.

With bank accounts you can generally get no account keeping fees if you deposit at least $2k a month. The exception to this is NAB's classic accoutn which has no fees. Most the big banks will let you set up an account online before you arrive, the advantage of this is you can put some money in before you get here then turn up at your branch on arrival and get your cashpoint card and take your money out.

For larger sums of money (>GBP1000) I'd look at the money transfer companies like ozforex or moneycorp for the best rates.

GBP 2000 for an initial payment on an apartment sounds quite low, I guess your not in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. Upfront you normally pay a 4 week bond (generally lodged by the agent with the government) and 4 weeks rent. Also rentals here are generally unfurnished so you need to budget for fridge, bed etc. although you can get these cheap second hand on gumtree etc. Luckily the council tax equivalent is paid by the owner.

Where are you going to as if you are in one of the big cities you may be able to get away without a car initially. When buying a car some states charge stamp duty to register it in your name which can add to the cost and also whilst it is not a necessity to have insurance here no rego includes what the UK would class as third party so insurance is important in case you hit another car even if your car isn't worth insuring