Thought I'd ask you lot, what things are peeing you of and we're getting ripped of with. here in the UK.
And might be part of the reason your moving.
Of course there's the fuel £1.07 a ltr here in west lothian. scotland.
Not far from grangemouth oil refinery Were it's £1.09 in the garage just out sie the gates of the Bp refinery.
But other things as well.
as a trucker, I have to have a medical at 45 yrs old (another 20 years for me :rolleyes: I wish lol )
that costs around £97 here .
And now we've to get these new didgi cards so we can drive them at a cost of £38. just so i can do my job.
my wife as you know is a nurse £78 a year now to stay registered, it used to be every 3yrs but, thats changed.
So whats getting to you..

Where do I start....

Petrol, $1.40 ish a litre but goes up at weekends (gouge the customer)

Groceries, $$$$$ ever changing, hardly any bogofs, and if a butterfly flaps its wings in asia strawberries go up $3 a kilo (gouge the customer)

Health, No NHS, health premiums have just gone up and the government had to stop the companies raising them above inflation (gouge the customer)

Utilities, Gone up, again the gov has stepped in to stop them going up too much (gouge the customer)

Insurance, Not too bad, but you do pay GST (vat) and stamp duty on your premiums, stinks of double taxation to me.

Housing, Rents are cheaper, buying is becoming rapidly unaffordable.

When you factor in that salaries are genrally lower, your money doesnt go far.

I used to believe in Rip Off Britian, then I moved to Australia!!!

Most people manage to survive though. :thumbsup:

Dont expect Oz to be all that much different

Like AB says, petrol goes up at weekends and always during holidays (easter, xmas etc). Ok so it is still cheap compared to UK but you soon stop comparing and realise it's going up and up and up and for no reason. And now they're thinking about Fuelwatch (which we have in WA) going national to help with prices, which is a crock cos all they've done so far is watch the prices go up and up and prosecute some poor independant who sold petrol for LESS than he put on their official paperwork!!!! :blink:

Groceries have also gone up, again lots is cheaper than the UK but you stop comparing after a while.

Rates we find are cheaper, the same amount in $s as we had to pay in £s, utilities, phone etc. pretty much the same.

Of course the interest rate is far higher over here...

I guess we were lucky (?) in one sense in that my OH was grossly underpaid in the UK so he's on a heck of a lot now which makes a big difference.

Petrol prices are a huge talking point over here. Be ready for it :lol:

.....and don't forget mortgage interest rates - how much longer before I'm paying 10% ?!! My mortgage co has upped my rate twice without a national rate rise because they need to pass on their charges so they can still make a nice fat profit. Wonder how much profit they'll be left with after all those house keys have been handed in :she:

Yep I agree :yes:

Although it was included in my list :wink: :)

Petrol doesn't go up or down at the weekends where I am - the woman in the garage says it's just not worth it for them so we're lucky in that sense along with the discount the Queensland government gives us on the litre.

The rip off things that bug me are things like the extras you have to pay out for the red tape crap, such as blue cards for health and safety, blue cards for safe working with kids, drivers licence, all the little things like that. Also Telstra (BT aussie equivalent) bloody major rip off in my book :angry:

Banks charging to use other ATM machines, fees etc

Then the other silly things not that you have to do for cash but everything needs to be signed and countersigned by a bloody JP....drives me insane that one!

Food some is very cheap others more expensive and general bills seem OK to me.

Don't you know any JPs? :whistle: :grin:

don't get me started on bank accounts. Young un has a high interest one but didn't get any interest at all last month. I checked the (incredibly) small print and she has to make a minimum $25 deposit to get any interest at all. Childrens bank/savings accounts here are major rip offs in my book

ALL banks are rip-offs :rant: ... especially bloody Aussie ones! :she:

Wonder why all states dont get that? esp considering ours has a budget surplus... :angry:

take it you're with bankwest then?

i had a major row on the phone with them recently, they charged me interest on our credit card even though i'd paid the balance off in full. basically when teh statement comes I usually make payments up until the due date as the money comes in, easier that way, and always done it like this. she just keeps repeating "you paid in the statement which is why interest has been charged" whatever that meant. :angry:

upshot is we moved our credit card to HSBC and in the process of closing our bankwest hero and savings accounts.

will leave k's money there though.... BTW does anyone know if her interest will be taxed?

Your too bloody far away if your a JP :lol:

Bridie,

If I remember my research and asking Eric questions many moons ago....... you have to pay tax on her savings!

One of the things that worries me as mt mum invested for my kids years ago and we've added to it. Hate to think what I might be paying!

what you are supposed to do is get k a tfn and complete a tax form every year. You won't pay tax unless she earns over the tax limit in interest.


OH last night told me that our mortgage has now gone up by over $400 a month in the last year with nearly $200 of that in the last month alone :omg:

didnt know she needed a tfn, will apply for one and get it sorted, thanks Oh :thumbsup:

Just found this:

So, do children need to lodge a tax return? If their only source of income is interest and it comes to less than $772 per year (due to the low income tax offset), they are not obliged to lodge a return.

Children under 16 who earn less than $420 investment income per year do not need to quote a tax file number (TFN) to their financial institution, but they do need to provide their date of birth. If they earn over this sum, they need to quote a TFN or else tax will be withheld from their interest payments, and will need to be claimed back by lodging a tax return. The situation differs slightly for dividends. There is no threshold as there is with children’s bank accounts, and so a TFN should be quoted to avoid the company withholding tax.

So I think she should be ok

jeeez i only asked.... :rolleyes:

remember i'm still working in Uk money.

I've got a £90,000 mor on my house i pay £836 per month just over a year ago i was paying £510.
A loaf of bread (unless you go to lidl were it's 30p and out of date before you get it home). £1.10.
Gas and electric i have cards pay around £35 into each per week. (gas heating).
Child savers - cigaretts. £5.10 per 20 packet Lambert and buttler.
DVD's (i get for free :whistle: ) but a new relise will cost you £16. aprox,
Road tax around £100 per year depends on size of car.
Then there's tv licence £110 I think.
My council tax £1100.00 per year.


And coming soon breathing and pumping tax (fart here in scotland :wink: )-

Can't believe how much the mortgages have been going up.

As for the clarification on childrens saving, thanks, it's good to know that there is some kind of threshold.

crikey ... think i might go to scotland, its cheaper up there!!!

just thinking about what we pay out ...
council rent - £240 a month
council tax - £100 a month (£998/yr)
gas and leccy - £100 a month (gas 60, leccy 40)
house ins - £15
car ins - mine £60, mals £25 (£700 + £270/yr)
other dd's - approx £200 (royal college ofnursing, contact lens, stuf like that)
debts - incl credit card £300 (250 is credit card we pay extra to get it paid off)
sky package - £60 a month (incl phone, all sky channels and broadband)

mals car tax is £110/yr, mine £180/yr

petrol currently £1.07/L, diesel £1.16/L

bread £1.30, milk £1.50 4 pints, thank god for supermarket deals on cases of lager!!! - 2 x 18 440ml cans of stella for £10 i think was what we paid a couple of months ago :D :lol:

whats everyone else paying? (yep, i know my rent is dead cheap :D but it is in a crap area :D )

tiredwithtwins Yes we can always find cheap deals on beer.funny that :rolleyes: ..lol..

A 3 bed council house, front and back door with f/b garden, My daughter pays £86 per week. Saying that it's not a great area.

just thinking about what we pay out ...


Mortguage (interest rate 9.07 %) $800 a month
council tax -1000 yr)
leccy - $100 a month
house ins - $65 per month
car ins - $90 for both, per month
Broadband $55 per month
Phone $65 per month

Car tax (rego_ $550 per year EACH

petrol currently $1.38

Decent wine $10 per bottle
Slab of bear $ 45

Rememeber no free scrips for kids. Adults scripts $27.50

No free dentists.
No maternity pay
No paternity leave
GST and Stamp on most insurances etc

my feckin mortgage is over $3k now :(

:o :o :o

Fek me sideways :o

We were so lucky to only have a 60 k mortgage when Matt got sick, otherwise we'd have lost our house for sure! Theres something to be said for buying a crap shack :thumbsup:

Yeah :rolleyes: That ^^^^was me again :blushing:

Hevsxx

:o :(

3k an I'm greeting about £839...


My wage as a truck driver, on locals 5 days a week mon - friday.
£296...

I'm a big trucker a dirty wee fffffrr.

With the price of rentals rising like mad here, at around $320 - $400 per week, all of a sudden our $1900 mortgage repayments a month don't seem quite so bad :S