What better way to celebrate the my new blog being glammed up for the first time than a price breakdown! My most viewed and well received blog to date is my Disney World Price Breakdown & I feel like it has done so well because it’s something we all want to know! Being transparent about the cost of travelling, I hope can make decisions easier for you when planning your travels!

This is the full 101 guide. From the first step of applying for your visa, right up to getting the basics set up when you land. This is how much it cost me in my experience & hopefully will prepare you for this exciting adventure in your life!

Pre Move Costs:

Visa– The first step and very straight forward. People generally talk about applying for your visa being a long a difficult process, when in reality you click a link, fill in your details and pay. This is the *link*. This is the official Australian Government website, this is the only website you should apply through. It took both myself and jordan around 20 minutes to complete both applications. Within 24 hours we both had our Visa’s granted! Very straight forward and not very time consuming at all!

Flights– We opted to fly with Emirates when moving to Australia, simply because they have the largest weight allowance. Emirates allows for up to 10 bags with a combined total weight of 32kg. For me I used a large suitcase from primark & a kitbag to fulfil the total 32kg allowance! This is a very handy tip to know, because I struggled to fit everything into one bag… I mean you are packing up your life! We’re flying home in August with Qatar & I will keep you posted on a review! In terms on my thoughts of flying with Emirates, I would highly recommend them. Especially if it’s your first time flying to Australia, I’d really encourage you to book with emirates for the extra luggage bonus!

Resume– A small thing you may forget that will make a huge difference! I used this website to build my resume & jordan did the same. Since being here I’ve adapted it multiple times to update addresses, personal details and rearrange the skills on it based on the job I’m applying for. I’ve recommended this website to friends and they have agreed that it’s the easiest way to build and adapt a resume! It comes with preloaded sentences based on the job title and makes it a lot easier if you’ve never written one by yourself! I have no affiliation to this website, I just had a great experience with them and it was very affordable.

That wraps up the pre travel costs! Of course you will have things like suitcases or personal items you might want to buy. However, these are the 3 core things you will need to do before moving!

Fast forward; You’ve landed in Australia! Congratulations! This is an incredible achievement! This is also a very daunting time. I was very overwhelmed the first week I moved to Australia because your starting everything from scratch.

First Week Costs:

SIM Card– A lot of people encouraged me to grab a free SIM card at the airport arrivals lounge. I didn’t do this. I don’t regret not doing this either. In your local Cole’s or Woolworths, you will find SIM cards. This is where you want to go. You don’t want a contract! The most reliable service in Western Australia (especially if your going to the mines for regional work) is Telstra. I bought the $50 per month package which gave me 60gb data and you standard free texts and calls with Australian numbers. Once you set this up on your phone, you will download the app & this is where you chose each month how much you’d like to pay for data. It’s flexible and no ties!

Bond– This is essentially a deposit for your house/ apartment. In terms of Perth, we’ve found domain the most accessible website for viewing houses. I know that in Sydney there is an incredible company which does short term renting which I’ll link *here*. On domain, you will see the price of weekly rent and how much you will need to pay as your bond. In our experience this was $3000 bond and 2 weeks rent which was $1500, total of $4500 starting payment. DO NOT BE SCARED OF THIS NUMBER!!! This is what we paid for our own house. When we initially landed here we rented a room in shared accommodation. This required no bond, only a two week rent payment which was $400 split between two of us. Shared accommodation is very common here and you will usually find rooms available on Facebook groups like Irish in Perth or Irish Around Perth. This is an affordable way to start living in Australia!

Driver’s License– I didn’t know you needed to change your license. Very important that you do this before you start working, as many companies require you to have an Australian license. If you have a UK driving license, this is a very straightforward process if you do it within the first 3 months of your visa being granted. Visit the Department of Transport closest to you & ensure you bring all the correct documents (you will find this on the link, don’t worry I’ve got you haha). This one is a little bit more expensive than you’d imagine, however it’s a necessity!

White card– on the topic of regional work this is also a must have. Your white card allows you access to work on worksites. If your like me and chose to do civil mining for your regional work, you will need to get a white card. I personally done mine with Paragon, this was a one day course, very easy for someone with no prior experience in this area! Also very convenient to get the course done and have your physical card in the one day! You may think you don’t need to do this in your first week. You do. It will make your life a whole lot easier having it done before you start applying for jobs!

These are the 7 main parts of the moving to Australia process, that I can think of in my own experience that you may want to account money for when planning! A car is another thing some people may want to account for (we did), however it’s not an essential purchase in your first week!

If you found this Moving to Australia | 101 Price Breakdown helpful, please like and subscribe for more! Each week you can expect to see a travel blog, a review and a coffee chat about my favourite things!

CYA xx