MEL-SYD weekly commute - talk me out of it

[QF WP]

Good explanation justinf. That's why knowing AFF'ers is handy - they can become your friends.

 

[Flashback]

A great first post ncairns:!: Welcome to AFF.

 

[medhead]

I would really appreciate any information that you can provide on LAFHA, this is proving a bugbear for me. By PM if you don't want to clog up this thread.

 

[QF WP]

Have to second that comment Flashware. ncairns, you have set a high bar for your future posts

 

[serfty]

Welcome to AFF ncairns.

A very good first post.

Working in Syd fow a few months with a weekly commute was the genesis of my Frequent Flying back in the mid 90's.

Much of what has been posted in this thread is quite true.

 

[ReLoad]

I concur, great debut post. welcome aboard ncairns.

 

[Joy6328]

I'm similar to The Rok.

I fly ex BNE one week out of each month and hubby does FIFO 2:1.
the pro's: it's nice to miss someone and be missed, it's cheaper running a house for just one person, you talk more, it can strengthen your relationship, it really does make time together special, you actually have date nights!

the cons: you miss them, fights are more serious, the tough things are harder on your own, you can resent your partner if you feel they are living the high life of dinner parties and 5 star hotels etc.

All in all it works for us, but our family thinks we are nuts and my hubby often has to defend "abandoning" his wife and new baby.

I see it as an investment in our future - new career path etc - and I'm fiercely Independant so I manage

 

[Flashback]

I see it as an investment in our future - new career path etc - and I'm fiercely Independant so I manage

I think that's the key to it, and the last comment is most definitely relevant to my situation! SWMBO is quite independent as am I!

 

[Justinf]

great post ncairns. Hope to see more of you around these here parts.

 

[Justinf]

At first I found the travel to be fun. I was on a rotating basis leaving from MEL and travelling to BNE, SYD, PER, ADL and LCN. This happened every single week of the year.
Up at 4am on a Wednesday and never got back home until midnight Friday. LCN was OK because I had family there at the time. But the flight times (or lack of) was a shocker.
It took a good two years until it started to wear thin. I travelled J only on the PER trip and sometimes returning home on the BNE trip.
Time was so tight most of the time. After a while, that's when the booze set in.
Overall I would say I am in a better position to deal with it now if it happenbed again.
It's a great opportunity. It is tiring. But you get used to it.
It has a lifespan though. It's not something you can do for years and years and years.
This website is a great resource and there are some truly excellent human beings here. If I had've had this resource when I was going through my problems, I probably wouldn't have had as many problems.
Always go with your gut feel.

 

[anat0l]

A silly idea, perhaps....

Encourage your SO to join AFF?



It's heartening listening to all of you open up on this matter. I think I could only do something like this as a single. When married I think it will be quite difficult, and nigh impossible once I have kids.



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Aust Freq Fly app: bringing this anat0l content to your mobile.

 

[Joy6328]

If my wife wasn't a full time student trying to look after 3 kids, we could sustain this lifestyle indefinitely - I think she enjoys her peace and quiet - but there is too much pressure on her - and next year we'll need an au-pair or nanny to support her studies - which starts make it uneconomical.


Slightly off topic - but we are onto our second au pair and can't recommend it highly enough... Makes such a difference to our life - and although she enjoys it as well as she travels with Poppy and I - the help and quality time she gives us is invaluable

 

[moa999]

Can you live without any sort of football coverage? (real footy AFL) any blockbuster will be on at 11pm. - Most hotels do not/are not getting the fox footy channel

We have twin children, and this was not only very hard on them, but unbeliveably taxing on my wife.

Sydney footy coverage much better this year. SevenMate showing all swans, all giants and i think all fri and sat nights (but check if hotels have digitaltv). However the local bastion Club Swans in the Xross has gone under.

Twins... wow

I travelled a lot for work a few years back.
But I would imagine I am not the only one who has gone through this problem.

Justinf... thank you for sharing that and glad it worked out. There are enough on this forum who are happy to help out however.

I live in SYD and spent 5 years in my last job commuting between either SYD-MEL or SYD-BNE week after week. I worked on long term projects as a consultant, so had to commute to wherever the project was located. The shortest period of commuting was about 3-4 months and the longest lasted about 2 years. I'm in my 20's right now. It was fun at first but the novelty of travel soon wore off very quickly. Plus i got sick of getting up at 4am to catch the 6:30 flight every Monday morning.

* You should be entitled to LAHFA (Living Away From Home Allowance). This will make rent and food a lot cheaper as it will come out of your pre-tax salary. Please note the government will soon be stripping this benefit but this change is targeted towards people who migrated here from overseas.

Great first post! Note given the changes to Laffa please get advice on this and discuss with future employer as they have to sign off on it.

 

[medhead]

The booze thing has been mentioned, I did start out going out every night to eat and have a couple of drinks, the pub next to my hotel is owned by the same people and gives a 10% discount; plus the bar maid was nice. Anyway, the thing that stopped me was budget. There was no way I could make my budget eating out every night, and that is critical if paying for yourself. So something had to go and it couldn't be flights or transport or airport parking so eating out it was.

If you do this and you are paying, Budget is the next most important thing after family/relationships. Track the spending religiously, I use an app called "ixpense" but no doubt there are many options.

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]

Sydney footy coverage much better this year. SevenMate showing all swans, all giants and i think all fri and sat nights (but check if hotels have digitaltv). However the local bastion Club Swans in the Xross has gone under.

Oh, I was going to comment on the footy, I record the real footy (the RAH RAH), put it on iPad and watch it on the plane each week. No reason you can't do the same for lesser football codes.[/FONT]

 

[Justinf]

The booze thing has been mentioned, I did start out going out every night to eat and have a couple of drinks, the pub next to my hotel is owned by the same people and gives a 10% discount; plus the bar maid was nice. Anyway, the thing that stopped me was budget. There was no way I could make my budget eating out every night, and that is critical if paying for yourself. So something had to go and it couldn't be flights or transport or airport parking so eating out it was.

If you do this and you are paying, Budget is the next most important thing after family/relationships. Track the spending religiously, I use an app called "ixpense" but no doubt there are many options.

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]

Oh, I was going to comment on the footy, I record the real footy (the RAH RAH), put it on iPad and watch it on the plane each week. No reason you can't do the same for lesser football codes.[/FONT]

My dinner budget was spent on draught beer. I would happily pay for a $6 subway sandwich and a $9 bottle of wine out of m own pocket. It can be done.

 

[medhead]

My dinner budget was spent on draught beer. I would happily pay for a $6 subway sandwich and a $9 bottle of wine out of m own pocket. It can be done.

Understood. My budget was all out of my pocket, so only in that situation did budget stop me drinking. When I've allowed $650 per week I just couldn't sustain that at $750 per week If someone else was contributing to my expenses it would be a different story.

 

[ncairns]

I would really appreciate any information that you can provide on LAFHA, this is proving a bugbear for me. By PM if you don't want to clog up this thread.

Your first point of call for LAFHA should be to contact your HR or payroll department as they will be able to assess your eligibility. If you are self-employed then it becomes more complicated as any allowances paid would be considered a Fringe Benefit. It's easier to approach a provider who specialise in these payments or other salary packaging.

The key points to note are:
* You will living away from your usual place of residence for more than 21 days
* Both the move and your employment or role is temporary or has an end date, for example a fixed-term contract.
* You intend to return to your usual place of residence after completion of your employment
* You have been assessed as eligible and have completed a declaration

The ATO has some useful information (just search for LAFHA - I can't post links yet as I'm still a new member). But if you have any specific questions PM me.

 

[medhead]

Your first point of call for LAFHA should be to contact your HR or payroll department as they will be able to assess your eligibility. If you are self-employed then it becomes more complicated as any allowances paid would be considered a Fringe Benefit. It's easier to approach a provider who specialise in these payments or other salary packaging.

The key points to note are:
* You will living away from your usual place of residence for more than 21 days
* Both the move and your employment or role is temporary or has an end date, for example a fixed-term contract.
* You intend to return to your usual place of residence after completion of your employment
* You have been assessed as eligible and have completed a declaration

The ATO has some useful information (just search for LAFHA - I can't post links yet as I'm still a new member). But if you have any specific questions PM me.

Thanks for the info. My first thought is my HR department is totally useless. For example, I enquired with HR about more info on LAFHA to determine my eligibility. (as in before I would even talk to my boss about it, am I eligible?) They kicked it back to my boss to develop a policy!

I was later talking to my boss about some other issue and mentioned talking to HR. His response was interesting!

But as best I can work out (from ATO searches) I'm not eligible and your list of points kinda confirm that.


Sent from the Throne (80% chance) using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[Joy6328]

This might be helpful?

http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=TXD/TD201117/NAT/ATO/00001

 

[ncairns]

The tax declaration relates to claims for travel allowance. The ATO makes a distinction as to what is a travel allowance vs living-away-from-home allowance.

LAFHA is usually paid when the employee takes up temporary residence away from their usual home for longer periods. Travel allowance is usually paid when the employee travels in their usual course of employment and stays in hotel-like accommodation.

@medhead - Sorry to hear you are not eligible. However, if you are required to travel interstate or overseas as part of your job then you should be able to claim a travel allowance as a tax deduction as per the link provided by Joy6328. Provided you only claim the amount as set out by the ATO then the only records you need to keep to substantiate is a travel diary. If you receive any payments from your employer then you will also need to record this as income in your tax return. If you travel regularly you may find yourself with a nice windfall in the form of a tax refund