Considering the jump....

[sundaymorningstaple]

The girls who do synchronized swimming always use waterproof makeup.

[Benji1975]

Happy New Year all, been here 3 weeks now. There is so much i have learned so the moment the maid starts i will start blogging it and link it here. It's just my musings about being chucked into this melting pot.
Long and short, it' still all good but obviously still finding feet so many facets are still weird at first exposure.
In basic 'bloke' terms though (for the men on here)...it's not a massive deal. I have access to all my online accounts etc back home and netlfix and napster stlll work. My points of reference are intact.
I'll blog all the details on the upfront costs as this was a bit eye opening...the house plus twins into kindergarten has involved some pretty hefty upfront costs. Without the hard negotiated advance/relo....we would not have done this as would have meant a massive spend out of our own pocket.
Bottom line is we now have $15-20k tied up in house deposit and school deposit. And then we have just paid the school fees upfront for first term etc. I reckon $30k spent in first month. Ok, that is two children in private kindergarten which is expensive but its a choke on anyones cashflow.
This is probably not representative of the vast range of experiences but i thought i'd just share where we are at....(wouldn't change it for the world)
regards
Ben

[JR8]

Good stuff, and bring it on. Following through on your experiences will be potentially very useful to those who follow.

Happy New Year btw!

[Primrose Hill]

Happy New Year.
Writing it all up will be good.
Daughter's school fees is currently a shade under $50k pa.
Then 18months later it will be university fees, fingers cross she will get home status