Now that you have set your goal, set a few small deadlines and engraved your life and death bucket list. It’s time to simplify, cut all ties throw off the bowlines, sail away, explore! Dream and discover! Follow my steps below to find out the easiest way to simplify, save and pack for Australia.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!” – Mark Twain
Here are 10 easy steps to start simplifying:
It is time for Freedom! Time to start saving properly and declutter your life.
Declutter & save:
1. Play the ‘what can you live without?’ game: Go through everything you own and as yourself ‘what can I live without?’. Stick everything you can live without in a box, list on
e thing a day, on Ebay, Facebook or Gumtree until a month before you leave. Then save every penny you earn. I promise, this will make you feel so much better.
2. Keep your fingers out of the honey jar! Make sure you put all earnings in your Australian adventure pot/savings account. I managed to save £2000 selling junk I haven’t used in years and I am sure you can too.
#simplifyforaustralia
Let us know how your simplify adventure is going! Use #simplifyforaustralia on all of your social media posts.
Bills & Payments
3. Bills: Make a list of everything you pay for monthly. What can you cancel now? Cancel it. Stream Netflix off a friend for a few months.
4. Bill reminders: If you can’t cancel it right now, set reminders for when you need to.
5. Direct debits: Remove the direct debit for cancelled bills so that the company in question has to ask you for money instead of wrongfully charging you for a month and you scrambling to get that money back weeks later.
Quit your job
6. Pick the date: you know you need to quit by. Make sure that before you leave the actual building you have an employment reference written and handed to you, you request your P45 and ask how many days annual leave will be paid out to you. I promise this will save you a lot of time and effort in the future.
Tip: Ask for your P45 to be emailed to you or mailed to a friend that can scan or copy it as soon as possible. You will need it to claim your tax back.
7. Claim tax back: Fill in a P85 tax form and get some money back. If you are leaving the UK before the end of the tax year (April 1st to March 31st) then you have been paying too much tax. The HMRC has been charging you as if you will be paying tax for the full year. Meaning you have been overpaying tax and you can claim a nice chunk of money back for your travels.
8. Notify Student Loans: If you have a student loan, the HMRC will notify your Student Loans Company that you have left the country, which means they will send you a letter warning you of the costs if you’re earning and not paying your loan. To solve this, make sure you won’t be earning over the threshold. Send them a letter stating that you won’t be earning over the threshold and that you have the savings to keep you afloat through your travels. It helps to include a copy of your bank statement as proof. They will then put your payments on hold for a year, but you will still be charged interest.
Print save and archive
9. Printing all your flight and accommodation confirmations and your visa is very helpful. Especially when you first arrive as proof of your plans to a customs officer or if you travelling through another country before you land in Australia. Having a copy of your visa is also very important for most of your work essentials. So make sure you keep in your Adventure Book or somewhere safe. Also, keep digital copies in your email or saved to your phone for easy access.
10. Save & archive: Make sure you have a copy or access to everything you may need or make sure a trustworthy family member can look after a copy of the following for you:
- Your passport
- Headshot photo for if you lose your passport.
- Visa
- Birth certificate
- Any and all graduation & education qualifications
- Any licenses you may have
- Your resume
- Reference letters – always good to get before you leave
- Leases
- Proof of relationship between you and your partner
Next, here is the hard part… packing!
This is where you need to be as simple as possible with. You don’t need to bring that giant sun cream from your grandma or massive first aid kit. Follow my next step to discover the ultimate packing list for Australia.
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