How easy is it to save?

dazftw

I have a chance to head to OZ in January. The main reason I'm going is to save for college. I'll have maybe €6500 - €7000 before I leave but I need to come back with about €18000. I'm going to be staying in Sydney, I know its probably the most expensive place but I have a friend there so it will be easier to get
settled in.

Planning to do the 3 month regional work also.

I'm really just looking for some advice on saving.. Is it possible? I don't smoke and don't really drink that often.

jank

How long are you planning to stay and work here and what kind of pay are you looking at?

Cooperspale

That's a fairly serious challenge you are setting up for yourself. It is possible within the 2 years but if you are not particularly qualified to begin with, be prepared for a hard slog.
Your main problem will be the temptations around you.... pals partying, doing trips etc etc.
I have to say that I've never known anyone on a WHV to return to Ireland with that sum of money.
But you might be the one to do it.
Best of luck.

hussey

You want to make a profit of 11k ($15k) ?

If you start college in Sept and 3 months farm work, you'll only really have 6 months to save - so 2.5k+ a month

Seems like a hard task - if you had some good work exp behind you, then yes
If you want to save on casual work, like farmwork and barwork then I would say no.

What profession are you in? years exp

markymark21

dazftw wrote: »

I have a chance to head to OZ in January. The main reason I'm going is to save for college. I'll have maybe €6500 - €7000 before I leave but I need to come back with about €18000. I'm going to be staying in Sydney, I know its probably the most expensive place but I have a friend there so it will be easier to get
settled in.

Planning to do the 3 month regional work also.

I'm really just looking for some advice on saving.. Is it possible? I don't smoke and don't really drink that often.

Depends on what job you get and how good you are at saving. I know a guy who went to work for Harvey Norman for a year in Melbourne. He went with his girlfriend so what they did was use one of their pay cheques for spending (hers funnily enough!) and one for saving. He made great money working for Harvey and came home with $20,000

Now he is also a tight ****er so that has to be taking into consideration. Personally i'd find it hard to be scrimping and saving every penny while in Oz. You are their to enjoy yourself after all!

Chet Zar

Can't see the logic here OP, unless you'll be in a very high-paying job. Oz not cheap! It's kinda like saying you're going on holidays and going to come back with more money than when you left.

mandrake04

markymark21 wrote: »

Depends on what job you get and how good you are at saving. I know a guy who went to work for Harvey Norman for a year in Melbourne. He went with his girlfriend so what they did was use one of their pay cheques for spending (hers funnily enough!) and one for saving. He made great money working for Harvey and came home with $20,000

Now he is also a tight ****er so that has to be taking into consideration. Personally i'd find it hard to be scrimping and saving every penny while in Oz. You are their to enjoy yourself after all!

What he only made $20K in a year? Hardly great money.

Damokc

You should be asking, how DIFFICULT is it to save?;)

dazftw

The thing is, its not a holiday! I'm going over to work to save rather than do it here. I don't think it would be possible to save that much here in a year. Especially the fact my job is gone in December. I have a friend who's doing farm work and he said if you get work that you can stay on the farm with it'll be much easier to save cause you won't be spending much. He's working 7 days a week 12 hours a day. I'm doing 4 - 5 days a week 12 hours a day atm in my job. He has said I can have his bosses number if I come over. I'd be happy with $19 - $20 an hour. I don't have any profession so it's labour work I'm looking for or something in retail.

btw it's college for 2013 I'll be spending the full year in OZ

fizzlefozzle

If you have a friend there, then it will make it easier, especially if he helps you get set up and if you are motivated, and you have a strong conviction to keep working, and earning money, not much can go wrong.

Either way, there are challenges in being in another country. Setting yourself up with high expectations might just cripple your enjoyment of what could be a fun year later in life (after college).

It will cause a lot of initial stress, in trying to get setup with a job, trying to find a place, and managing a new city / new environment / temperature etc.

There is no guarantee of that job your friend has in mind, prior to arriving in Oz, is there?

If you set yourself some lower bound limitations ... like have a safety plan in case you don't find a job, or go beneath a certain cash threshold ... this might be nice, to kind of keep your mind focused.

Set some minimum goals for yourself initially, and as are over there, start re-evaluating constantly those goals, based on what's happening. Sometimes, you have to be flexible.

There is always a pragmatic solution :: sometimes it's not what you initially want :: but what you get is the best solution for you at present. If coming down under is the best solution, then do that.

Letting go of expectation appears to help the process along.

Hope you get the money you want, and if not, i hope you enjoy the challenge of trying, and having fun anyway.

mise_me_fein3

You can save quite a bit but it's not a happy life.

You'll have to cook all your food, make sandwiches, eat noodles every now and then, never get taxis, limit going out on the beer to hardly or never.

If you do all this and you get a ****ty job that pays about 800 a week you could save about $400 and then of course you'll get some tax back in July.

Mostly depends on your job. If you get work on the sites it is very possible if you go on ABN...you'll pay no tax but here the big issue is not going out.

Considering $1 is usually 0.75 euros these days, you'd need to save 18,000 euros?..$24K, that's pretty tough....I'd just go to the farm for the whole time if I were you.

Mellor

mandrake04 wrote: »

What he only made $20K in a year? Hardly great money.

Yeah, I don't know how that both lived off 20k either. Obvious the guy got mixed up, they might of earned 80k between them and saved 20k.

I go out quite a lot, i spend quite a lot, but i've managed to rack up some savings this year. That includes buying flights home to ireland at xmas. But if really had to, and tried to save hard. Then 10-12k a year was possible. I doubt I would of enjoied it though.

jank

If you are earning a decent amout in OZ then it is very possible to save that much. I did it, I am not a tight ass, been on 3 holidays this year, pay for gym, trainer, eat out, clothes etc. One thing that helps though is that I dont drink out half as much as I used to. A big night out drinking is $$$. Much better to have friends over to play guitar hero while making cocktails or glasses of spirits. I have saved basicly 30k this year alone. Plannning for the same next year. Wages in OZ are very good, yea its also expensive but its only expensive if you buy **** you dont need. One tip for those that want to save.
Pay your savings account first, pay your bills then and then pay for the fun stuff. Do that month after month you will see the results. Some people havent a clue about money.

So to the OP, yes it is possible.

Clooney George

That's a pretty serious task you are location up for yourself. It is possible within the Year or so but if you are not particularly competent to start with, be ready for a difficult slog.

Business Gifts

dazftw

Some great advice there lads thanks. It definetly won't be an easy task but I think it's possible. I have a good head about money in terms of budgeting it bills/savings 1st.

The job is not set in stone obviously but 3 lads I know 2 of em brothers have all gotten jobs there so I reckon it would be no problem if I go for it.

I guess I'll have to drop the expectations and plan when I get setup over there. No point in planning now which is what I've been doing.

I'll have 5000 euro after flights and visa so I reckon I could last a month or so on that.