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How a Singaporean Survived in Australia while Studying

Let’s face it – studying overseas is not going to be cheap, but with that saying, it doesn’t have to hurt your pocket or even wipe out all your savings. Whether you’re going to get support from your relatives or manage your own finances, chances are you might experience a few financial hurdles at times.

One Singaporean who migrated to Australia to pursue his studies shared their experience.

A 36-year-old Singaporean Thomas Danny Jeyaseelan spent A$50,000 during his first year. He was in his early 20s when he managed to migrate to Australia and got lucky to enter the University of Queensland for his communications degree course. For his accommodation, he chose to stay in a spacious apartment shared with a housemate located near the Brisbane River. His parents were the ones funding his school fees which cost about A$20,000 per year.

On his day-to-day expenses, he said that he was spending an amount of money buying quality groceries and eating in restaurants. He also managed to buy a second-hand auto for A$9,000, and then cost him A$10,000 after two years for the maintenance.

Mr. Jeyaseelan told that he had no good sense of cash flow before and remembered that he had to let his dad know about his condition and the dad would top up on his account. He even lost about A$100 at the roulette table at the Treasury Casino in Brisbane.

According to him, his parents never complained about him overspending in Australia because his parents wanted him to be comfortable there.

After he got some words from his dad, he then started to save money by buying only supermarket house brands and food from the canteen. When he decided to take a postgraduate degree at the University of Melbourne, he became even thriftier and decided to live in a flat with students from Australia, Japan, China, and India. He also managed to find part-time jobs like being a waiter and a gardener to earn extra income.

Studying overseas, particularly in Australia, can be really expensive if you don’t know how to manage your funds well and be diligent enough to find ways on how you can earn extra income while studying. The same thing goes when you are planning to make a permanent move to Australia. Applying for Australian permanent residency is one thing, but allocating a certain amount of money for this is another.

Australian migration demands a lot of preparation and planning. You need to discuss this matter amongst your family member in order for you to be prepared for any challenges that may come along the way.

Source:
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/students-overseas-share-budgeting-secrets

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