Influencer says you need €10k saved to move to Australia as she opens up on experience

It’s a long way to Tipperary for Keely McGrath who has packed up her life and moved to the land down under.

Originally from Tipperary Town, Co Tipperary, influencer Keely McGrath or better known as LordKeely to her social media followers has shared her decision to move to Australia and at times it did not go down as well as she expected. 

Keely is known for her bubbly personality, her fashion tips for mid-size girls and infectious charm. 

Keely moved to Limerick at 18 and before embarking on a trip to Australia it was her home away from home as her and her partner lived in a cosy apartment on South Circular Road, Limerick city.

Keely said: "When I moved to Limerick I never left until Australia. The only time I moved back home was a few months before Australia to save on money and be at home with my family. I just loved living in Limerick, it was my home by whole adult life and where I met my partner."

Keely began to grow her following during the pandemic but there was always a creative instinct within her from a young age. 

Keely laughed: “I fell in love with social media when I set up my own private blog then my sister Rebecca and I set up our own YouTube channels when we were eleven and twelve so I feel like my love for social media was always there.

“I use to follow some girls in England and they would just tag their outfits on Instagram so I decided to do the same and then I slowly started to notice my following grow. During the pandemic I was not as shy and I really started to put effort into my content. I think I gained ten thousand followers during the pandemic so it grew so much.”

Although deep down Keely always knew she wanted to do something creative she thought maybe university might be an avenue to explore this before her following grew.

“I went to the University of Limerick to study English and New Media. I did that for two years and I hated it so I then decided to just drop out and do my own thing.”

Keely has not looked back since and went on to open her own jewellery business, Twenty Eleven Jewellery which allowed her to quit her full-time job and become fully self-employed. 

Keely said: “I opened my business after the pandemic and I always knew it was something I wanted to do. I knew I was creative enough and had the willpower to do something on my own.”

Keely and her partner Jamie were at a crossroads at this time in their lives, the business allowed Keely to save enough money for a down payment on a mortgage which was the original plan for the pair, however they decided to take the leap with their money and move to Australia first.

Keely said: “I think some people are moving for a better life and some people are moving because they don’t want to miss out. I was a bit of both, a lot of my friends were moving over and I thought I was going to be lonely if I did not. My partner and I were always thinking about it.  

“When I left my full-time job, I had a bit of money saved up from the business and I didn’t know what I was saving for, Jamie and I ended up deciding it was for a mortgage or to emigrate. Our plan now is to stay in Australia for another two years and save up money to come back to Ireland and get a mortgage for our forever home.” 

On where Jamie and Keely will settle when they land back home, Keely said: “Limerick is where Jamie wants to live but I don’t want to live in the city anymore when we go back so I want to go to the countryside. I would like a house with a big garden so we can have a lot of dogs but close enough to the city so my kids can know both lives.”

When Keely first moved over to Australia, she shared a video of tips on moving in which she said you would need €10k saved to live comfortably while you get settled in the country.  

The video caused a lot of backlash and mixed opinions on social media and Keely still stands to her statement and is unsure why it got such a negative reaction. 

“I really did not get the backlash. I had posted a video recommending that people should not come over here without €10k saved and some guy from England who moved there with €2k with his girlfriend said it was a load of rubbish. He went on to say you can come over here and do a sh***y little job and be ok and that I was a princess for saying this and just trying to scare people.”

When you move to Australia, if you move over on a Working Holiday visa you are required to do 88 days regional work to stay in the country on that visa for two years and this played a part in her reasoning behind bringing €10k.

Keely said: “Luckily a lot of people did back me up but some took his side. It can all go wrong and I shared the highs and lows of the experience. When we first moved over here we had to buy a car for our regional work which cost us $7k and then we had to leave our first regional work, which was on a sheep shearing farm as they were abusing the animals. We then had to stay in a last minute Airbnb for two weeks and if we did not have the funds there we would have been f***ked and stuck in a situation we would not have been comfortable with.”

Overall moving to Australia is not as glamorous as  social media makes it look.

Keely said: “When our first regional work ended we were seven weeks unemployed and some people do go over there and land on their feet but others go over and struggle for a while. Even if you get on ok with your regional work, getting to Sydney is a whole different story. I made more money in Ireland than I will ever make in Australia and my partner is the opposite and it is different for everyone and people need to realise that.”

Keely also went viral for another video in which she said “there is no money to be made in Sydney.”

Keely said: “The reason I said this was because me and all the Sydney girls were left with no money after the weekend. It is a different kind of broke. I knew if Jamie and I went to the mines in Perth we would be making a bomb, however you are sacrificing a social life and for me that wouldn’t work. 

“The idea I had been led to believe when I moved to Australia was you move over there and get to live this lavish life and go to these amazing boat parties and have a lot of fun and save all this money at the same time and that is just not the case. If you are living somewhere such as Sydney and doing a normal job you have to choose between having a social life or saving.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Keely McGrath❣️ (@lordkeely)

On being a woman and navigating the employment market in Sydney, Keely claims Australia is “a sexist country”. 

Keely said: “It is very much a man's world over there. My partner is on a much bigger wage than me and they would not even consider hiring a woman for the job that Jamie is doing. It is a little bit of a sexist country but men do have better opportunities in Australia than women. Women will always be hired in jobs over there to show face such as traffic control jobs. Even men who went out there with no experience compared to women get the job over the woman even if they are applying to the same jobs.”

On what she misses from Ireland, Keely says she misses a good Irish Chinese the most.

“Jamie and I would do anything to have a 4in1 with curry sauce when we are hungover, the Chineses in Australia are not the same, I do not believe they make them anywhere as good as Ireland. I also really miss the grocery prices in Ireland. It is outrageously expensive in Australia for groceries.”

On advice to anyone wanting to embark on a journey to Australia.

Keely said: “Don’t feel peer pressured to go if you think you have got something good in Ireland. You don’t have to give it all up to move over. You might end up looking back and wondering why you did it. I also think it is a good experience and you should go and explore the world. 

“I don’t think you are a failure or a loser if you stay in Ireland and have a good job and are comfortable. If you are interested and scared just take the leap it is worth it in the end. I am on and can see both sides.”