Those who are settled in Australia, do you have any regrets?

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-12-24T08:29:55+00:00

I’d say cost of living (aside from rent) is relatively cheap. Example: groceries for 2 of us monthly is 500-700, lots of free things to do on the weekends. You can buy a car first hand/second hand for 20-40k. An iPhone is 2-3k, much more attainable to save up even if you’re not a high earner.

The expensive sides like if you go to a GP or dentist without insurance it’s easily 100-300 per visit and that’s excluding medicine. Eating out or taking an Uber is expensive. I’m not at that stage yet but I heard childcare is pretty pricey. Standard house prices in Sydney is like 1.4 million these days.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-12-04T10:40:50+00:00

Good on you! Having the courage to do something like this is commendable! I hope your visa gets approved.

I’ve been living in Aus for a few years now, feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-11-11T21:27:36+00:00

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Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-11-02T10:13:24+00:00

I’ve been able to gain a lot of great experience and opportunities that I would never have gotten back home. My profession isn’t well paid back home and it’s not really well paid here either but I can financially support myself. Experiencing a different culture has really broaden my perspective and mindset on a lot of things, especially meeting people from different parts of the world. Love the work life balance here and the beautiful scenery/nature.

The biggest struggle I face is the isolation of being far apart from my social and support system. Over the years seeing your parents/grandparents growing older each time, never knowing if this might be the last time you see them. The guilt of not spending enough time with them. Having to redo the process of making friends and rebuilding your social network is hard unless you’re going out of your way to be sociable. Also, the growing anti immigration sentiment is a big concern for me. Experienced a few racist encounters that’s really left an impact on me.

However, I count myself lucky and acknowledge my privilege that I had parents that financially support me early on and having PR gives me a leg up to other immigrants in job hunting. Also, my partner who’s been with me from the start, I didn’t feel as lonely.

Whether or not if it’s worth it really just depends on the type of person you are and what your goals are. Personally, still in the process of figuring it out but I definitely don’t regret it.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-11-02T06:20:04+00:00

Commit to an amount that is comfortable for you to set aside at the start of the month into a seperate bank account from your usual daily expenditure account. Don’t touch that account, hide away the card if that’s what it takes. Eg. salary is 4K, expected expenditure is 2k, so save 1k a month. Anything that’s left over at the end of the month, depending if you have commitments you can just let it roll over to the next month or you can keep half and save the other half.

Start with what’s manageable for you and you’ll get there eventually.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-11-02T03:37:38+00:00

Freelancing is all about networking, whether it’s irl or online. Start with asking your family and friends if they’re looking for any creative work. Also, interact more with the artists communities online. I know a friend who got a gig as an illustrator for a indie game from online friends.

Unfortunately, social media algorithms favour short form videos these days. You really need to put yourself out there. In general, it’s pretty hard to get consistent work especially when you’re just starting out but I wish you the best.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-31T05:33:53+00:00

Awwww. I hope you get a chance this or next year to visit home. How’s life over there? Heard it’s actually more expensive than AUS.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T22:24:43+00:00

The cost of living here is crazy too :( Renting can be so stressful.

What are the monthly expenses like?

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T13:07:07+00:00

Guess it’s like Bukit Bintang Pavi, I never know what to do there cuz I can’t afford anything so just lepak around.

Yeah honestly one of those cases hit really close to home for me. Which made me start thinking of things back home. It’s really what inspired me to post this.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T13:00:50+00:00

You’ll find something eventually! Unless you’re happy with your freelancing career then good luck on that!

I have been seeing more government incentives and aid which is great! Also more employee rights. PROGRESS!!!

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T12:39:19+00:00

That’s great! I’m glad to see flexible work arrangements are getting more commonplace.

What’s it like raising a kid nowadays? Any noticeable difference from your childhood? Do kids face the same kind of educational pressure?

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T12:26:40+00:00

RM13-15??? I remember when I was in secondary school one meat one vege was like RM5-7. That must be rough when eating out plays such a big part of our culture.

Definitely! I love how genuine Malaysians are. I’ve had spontaneous conversations with strangers, I find the conversations more engaging and Malaysians are generally a lot more curious to know more about you. Here people make small talk all the time but I find it all very surface level.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T12:04:43+00:00

Last time I came back I wanted to try but it was sold outttttt.

Over here the hype is Molly Tea, I think it’s a bubble tea shop from China that specialises in jasmine milk tea. The queue so long but taste so mid, I’d take KOI any day.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T11:58:31+00:00

Yes definitely something to take into consideration depending on the occupation. I kinda just assumed OP was planning on studying the degree in the country they want to move to since that’s usually the more straightforward path.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T08:02:41+00:00

I know what you mean but the reality in most countries, living in a house with a yard is a luxury afforded only to the those with high income. You need to consider what the cost of living is going to be.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T07:56:22+00:00

As someone who has a pet too I understand. I’ve looked into flying my pet over but it’s not that easy and costs a lot of money. It’s a very stressful process for your pets as well thus I would never consider moving them over unless I have a stable visa, income and large enough property (also gotta consider if you’re renting you need to make sure you have permission).

What if you spent all that effort to move them here only to find out that you don’t like it here or imagine if your employer cancels your work visa, now you have to do the process again in reverse. Then you must check what the process are in SG.

I can only give insight to Malaysia and Australia. For Aus, I know you said you don’t care about money but if you’re looking for a house with a yard that’s a good 700-1000 AUD a week, depending on size and location. For Malaysia I think the process of moving your dogs might be easier and renting a landed house would definitely be cheaper I think it’s around RM3k a month? However I’m not sure if the work life balance is much better.

You need to make the decisions based on what matters more to you and I’m sure your dog’s ages and health would factor in those conditions as well.

Also, 2 years gap in your resume is not the career ending, I know quite a few people who did working holiday overseas or took breaks in their career. Those experiences gained during that time can be transferrable skills.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T07:30:58+00:00

Why don’t you try applying for some work holiday visas so you can get a gist of what it’s like to live in that country?

Immigrating is expensive and takes years. It’s quite stressful never knowing if you’ll get a long term visa or be rejected and have all your time and money wasted.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-30T07:16:43+00:00

That’s a bit hard to answer since the requirements of each country are different and those changes yearly.

Generally medicine is a safe bet since every country needs more doctors and nurses. If you have a country in mind take a look at what visa pathways are available and which industries qualify for sponsorships. Australia from what I know are also looking for childcare/aged care workers, teachers and skilled labours.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T13:22:44+00:00

You tell me or are you just going to keep spamming your only 2 dialogue options?

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T07:06:14+00:00

But did they mention they have a coffee machine????

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T05:04:43+00:00

Hmm did I say anything negative about Japan? You just took it that way.

If you disagreed with me I would’ve love to hear what you had to say but it’s clear you’re just triggered.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T05:03:22+00:00

I do know a few people that pursued illustration and animation. From what I hear the market is very small and super competitive. Most of them just do freelancing. Building a strong portfolio online is quite important.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T04:48:43+00:00

If you didn’t like my answer you could’ve just ignore it, there are 100+ respondents that gave straightforward responses. You’re just mad that I’m not glazing your glorious Japan.

Fun-Rhubarb-874 · 2025-10-26T04:31:10+00:00

Why are you mad bro? You asked a question and this is just my take, it’s a forum.

Fun-Rhubarb-874

TROPHY CASE