As I am writing this post, it has been almost 2 years and 6 months that we moved to Australia from Nepal for educational purposes. Since then, Sonisha and I have been almost on our own in this new place, new country and different culture and lifestyle.
I should also mention that Australia is the first country that we have been outside of Nepal. By mentioning this personal story, what I mean to share here is that moving to a new place is certainly as challenging for everyone as it was for us.
Being a student in Australia, exploring the developed city and advanced lifestyle, we eventually learned and came to experience the local culture.
With time, our time here started being easier and we slowly got adapted to the new world.
Common questions
Being on our own, one main thing I did here was a lot of Google Search!
Obviously I asked a lot of questions to Google and browsed hundreds of websites.
This helped me to get the answers for the queries I had, helped to clear the confusion and much more. With time I started browsing different informative websites which helped me to better understand different aspects like:
- renting in Australia
- mobile plans, carrier, NBN, ISPs
- gas and electricity connection and companies
- working in Australia, paying taxes, awards and pay rates
- doing a business in Australia
- staying away from phone and email scams
- how to get discounts as a student
If you look at the list above, there are a lot of questions one can ask. This is where the following websites will be helpful.
I am writing this blog post to share how I utilised different websites in Australia when I was a very newbie and had many questions.
If you are an international student or anyone residing or planning to be in Australia, these websites will be certainly helpful at some moments of your life.
Whirlpool Forums – forums.whirlpool.net.au
One of the best websites on this list that I enjoy visiting the most is forums.whirlpool.net.au. As the URL suggests it a forum, a community discussion website where you can post your query about anything be it NBN, renting, job, phone plans or whatever and other users like you and I comment on the personal experience on the very topic.
I find this very helpful when making decisions, getting insight into what other people have experienced or think about.
For example, if I want to know which is the best gas – energy company in Adelaide, then if I post my query other users can share their experience with their energy company, good and bad sides, this will help me to get a better idea – to make a better decision.
You don’t need to always post a question as doing a simple search might reveal that it has been already asked and answered by other users.
Finder – finder.com.au
You might have landed on finder.com.au‘s article quite often while making a google search! like: How to get a credit card in Australia?
As the name suggests, Finder is where you can find information. Generally, I visit finder.com.au when I need to know the different phone plans available, how to apply for a credit card, which credit card is better, which credit card offers better rates, what are the current offers in the market and so on.
This website has plenty of articles on different topics like utilities, credit cards, shopping deals, international money transfer, car loan, insurance, home loans etc.
You would be amazed to know this article on how to send money to Nepal from Australia is so precise and accurate!
Finder also offers side by side comparison of different products and services like phone plans and credit cards.
Also you can perform a free credit check here! đ
Domain – domain.com.au
domain.com.au isn’t just a regular real estate website. It does offer and provides all the services with a real estate website does but there is something unique and very helpful that made me include it in this list.
If you scroll down to the history of a property (unit, house, apartment) most often you’ll be able to see the history of the property. History meaning here the price it was sold on, and the rent it was last rented on.
While the data mightn’t be the latest sometimes, this property history will be very insightful when you are going to rent a place and you want to know better how much was it rented before.
Flying Solo – flyingsolo.com.au
If you are business-minded or you are planning to start a business in Australia then this is the website you should visit first.
flyingsolo.com.au is a complete information portal in itself having tonnes of articles, resources and tips on starting a business in Australia and doing business the better way.
It also offers articles and materials on how to do marketing the right way for your business.
Apart from the articles, this website also has a got a dedicated and very active discussion forum and business directory!
Isn’t it a paradise for a business? đ
paycalculator – paycalculator.com.au
Paycalculator is simple. It is a calculator which helps you to calculate your pay.
But the plus side of this website is it does the right way keeping in mind all the tax calculations calculated weekly, fortnightly or annually.
It gives you the tax amount you should be paying and the next pay you should be receiving.
I find this website very simple to use and yet helpful. While working in a casual role and your hours and pay is varying every week or fortnight and if you were wondering how much should I be getting after deducting the tax then this site does this job in a second.
Also, you can get the estimated tax return you will be receiving in the financial year.
No sign ups required no any catches here.
reverseaustralia – reverseaustralia.com
Have you received strange calls from unknown numbers in Australia?
And sometimes you get a voicemail and call saying you are under arrest for breaching tax, amazon prime subscription has expired… and bla bla.
A lot of Australians receive scam calls and some end up losing a lot of money to scammers.
If you get a missed call from a new number or want to check who is the caller before accepting the call then please make use of websites like reverseaustralia.com. This website gives detail of the numbers based on the complains and reports made by the other users.
UNiDAYS – myunidays.com
Student life has got its own advantages – a lot I say!
Among all – is you get lots of discounts and concessions being a student.
All you need is say you are a student and show id card or validate via school email if asked.
UNiDAYS is a collection of offers, deals, promos and discounts all for students. You might need to create an account and verify with your school email address for accessing the offers.
Ranging from clothing to technology products to pizza discounts, UNiDAYS is a must-visit site for any student in Australia.