I've been a bit off the radar for the past week - don't worry I'm still alive! I've just relocated to the other side of Australia to start my regional work which will qualify me for my second year visa. It all happened a bit suddenly and I didn't have time to plan on some posts to cover the moving and settling in time but don't worry - I'll be making up for that soon and have lots lined up! But for now, I'm back with a competition for all the backpackers who read my blog - I've joined forces with a new company called Backpay to offer you all the fantastic prize of all that dollar you forgot about. Remember when you arrived in Australia and everyone was talking about new back accounts and superannuation funds? Well, the money in that superannuation fund is something that you get back by filling out the right paperwork. For most backpackers that can mean getting thousands of dollars returned to them upon leaving Australia - a pretty sweet deal if you ask me! I'm looking forward to claiming mine back when I leave, but for now I'm sure there are plenty of backpackers who have still left theirs unclaimed and would love a cheeky cash boost.
Founded by a former backpacker, Backpay is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Damien, who spotted a niche in the market after progressing from being a backpacker himself, to starting his own backpacker accommodation in Sydney, and eventually setting up the company. Back in 2000, during the Sydney Olympics, Damien moved to Australia for a working holiday and now, 15 years later he prefers Damo as he's now a proud Aussie citizen. After years of getting to know backpackers personally, Damien discovered that it was a pretty common occurrence for many of them to leave unclaimed cash in the form of superannuation and sometimes tax. This year has seen the launch of his new company, Backpay, which is here to solve the problem, with Damien remaining passionate about driving the business towards returning every dollar to backpackers after they leave Australia. The only criteria travellers have to fulfil is that they have been in Australia at some point on a working holiday visa and that they have now left the country - you cannot claim while still in Australia.
Now I'm still a long way off claiming my own superannuation or tax back, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought carefully about how I would spend it... My top five ways to spend it seem to boil down to the same final list:
- A month in Bali and Fiji
- Travelling Europe
- A flight home and some serious shopping
- A new car
- Savings for a big trip like South America
How would you spend yours?
WIN - WIN - WIN
To win the chance to claim back your super and tax free of charge - click this link to like my Facebook page then comment on the link to this post and tell me what you would spend the money on! The winner will be announced Friday 20th November.
Good Luck!
