paulry

That's a lot higher than the gas/electric bills we used to have. It was generally in the region of £120 PM combined. We've not yet had our first bills in Australia yet but it'll be interesting to compare because my Australian home is about the same size as the one in the UK.

My "where the (bloody) hell are you?" remark was from the Aussie tourist campaign a few years back

Do you have your Aussie PR visas yet?

Dorothy

Well then, call me either a dysfunctional Aboriginal or horrible bogan, since I've built in one of those estates. Do I feel ripped off? Not a chance. We have a much nicer home here than we had in our home country for a lot less than we would have paid for equivelent.
So, the poms wanting the big house, pool, 2 shiny SUVs in the driveway...That's not a "class" thing then? From what I've seen over my 5 years here is that the Aussies couldn't give a shit about big houses or shiny cars.
Please, don't let any of us stop you.
You would assume incorrectly. Clarkson is actually a great place to live. It's close to public transport, close to the ocean, there is shopping centre and it's only 10 minutes to Joondalup with its hospital and larger shopping centre for what is not available in Clarkson.

You both are a couple of complete ****wits.

Japonica

Nope, not quitting Aus...

It's remarkable that for some people the higher cost of living here (in some areas) is such a surprise. Is anyone doing research before deciding to come out?

We asked relatives in Perth what their utility bills averaged. We did two reccies and gathered info on costs of renting, buying, we saved grocery receipts to compare prices. We priced out everything from wine to take away. We checked wages and tried to estimate what taxes would be. We looked into school fees, insurance, average council rates, car rego, you name it.

We have found a few things cheaper here than back in Canada. Utilities definitely. The CAD and AUD are about par. Back in Edmonton, we used to pay about $190 a month for water and electric combined and $90 a month for gas in summer but $200 a month in winter. Keep in mind we had snow on the ground from end of October until April. At the peak of summer here in Perth, the electric was about $95 for the month ($191.70 for 58 days) and the highest we paid for gas in winter was just over $100 a month ($322.40 for 96 days).

Things were tight the first 10 months or so that we lived here. Since then my husband has gotten one pay raise (with another coming in January), and has been working a lot of overtime and out of town work. So, our finances are in better shape than when we first got here and better than when we lived in Canada.

Part of it as well is, as many point out, lifestyle. We aren't extravagant people by any stretch of the imagination. We met with two mortgage brokers before building our house and one told us that we could get a mortgage for what was then 5x hubby's annual salary. Why on earth would we do that? It's crazy. That's part of that "Aussie dream" myth. We didn't expect to arrive here and buy some palatial mansion with swimming pool in Cottesloe with multiple SUVs and all the trappings. It's real life. You work, you pay bills. Granted, for us, now that we're not contending with snow underfoot and windchill for half the year, it's a happier existence, but still, it's not like winning the lottery.

Australia may not be for everyone, but it suits us just fine.

golgo13

I guess one of the main things to remember is that due to the strong pound over the last 10 years and also up to a point the UK media advising us that the UK has gone to the dogs perhaps, may have brain washed some of us in some way or the other. But one thing that everyone may or may not subconciously realise is that in Aus there are far more opportunities to better yourself here. The 'old world' baggage of the class system etc is not quite as evident and re-enforced here as my French friends pointed out.

Additionally a majority of Brits as previously metioned want the beach suburb with the nice house all at the cheap prices. I remember going home in 2008 for a holiday to the UK for two weeks and the whole time I was there the amount of TV shows on there depicting Oz as utopia can be overwelming,

I mean they showed a place in Sydney where you could get a detached 4 bed house for 137,000 pounds. They did fail to mention it was approx 2 hours from Sydney and also quite a way inland.

I guess the grass can be always green if you give it a go?!?

Dreamy

We've just had ours through the door this morning - $1000.32 - its always around that amount. Biggest problem is that every single electrical appliance always seems to be switched on.

Yes, I know, I could switch them all off, but that would involve more action and less procrastination on a daily basis! Our bills were always high in the UK too, same reason.

pomtastic

I guess it's all down from where you came from in the UK, people you mixed with, what your expectations and experiences in life are. Personally, Clarkson for me would be going backwards but I can understand that some people think it's great.

Grayling

ozzieeagle

The only way to work out gas and electricity prices is by their respective meter Units. Gas is worked out by the MJ and Electricity by Kilowatt Hour KwH. Electricty is far easier than Gas to work out per unit. Typically if you are paying Electricity charges of anymore than 19Cents per Kwh before GST then you are being over charged. With Gas it should average out at 2.4 cents per MJ. Then there's the Supply charge...

The reason this is important is to do with how much energy you use which varies widely. Electricity is the more important factor here as most people tend to use more Energy in a household as Electricity than Gas.

I personally am a high Electricity energy user.... 4 computers, 2 fridge freezers, 4 TV's, old refrigerated Airconditioner, Electrically heated Spa which is always on etc etc... so my usage is on average around 46 Kwh per day. The average household uses around 22 Kwh. Hence even though my current Kwh price is 16.9 cents before GST I still end up paying 800 bucks per quarter. I need to get my usage down to less than 25kwh per day.... Which I will have to do by the end of next year (The Smart meters are coming !!!). The reason all of this is so important is there are plenty of people paying the higher rates for their usage which can work out at least 50 to 80 bucks more per month more expensive, on the average usage of 22 Kwh per day..

Think of it as driving past a petrol station charging 1.25 dollars per litre to one thats charging 1.45 per litre.

Sorry to bore people with this, but it's vital when comparing gas and electric prices.

Here is a table of good competitive prices for both units, and you should be paying around this for your energy needs.


Electricty prices...
http://www.australianpowerandgas.com...north_gdgr.pdf

Gas Prices
http://www.australianpowerandgas.com...hedule_gas.pdf

Comparing any other way is useless as it's like comparing running costs of a Smart Car to a Toyota Land Cruiser.

ABCDiamond

Our electric bills are highest in the summer (Dec-Feb), with the last few years summer bills being:

2006 $425.75 3,128 kwh
2007 $371.75 2,697 kwh
2008 $507.90 3,301 kwh
2009 $548.97 3,474 kwh
2010 $540.02 2,957 kwh

One thing is for sure, the kwh unit cost isn't going down. It has gone from 11.82 cents per kwh average in 2003 to 18.7c in 2010

joho

I had to have a smart meter put in as we switched to solar,shall be very interested in my first bill *gulp*. May I suggest that you have some of those timer plugs for things you tend to forget about. time them off for most expensive time of day.

Jo

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Mine is along those lines as well. Two teenage/early 20's sons, each with a bedroom set-up that would give a gaming arcade a run for its money.
Four TV's, two laptops, two desktops, two fridges, PS3, xBox360.....well you get the idea

Margaret3

lets get the popcorn out

Kooky.

I always had you down as a dysfunctional bogan, TBH.

Dorothy

Well, first off I don't come from UK. You have no idea what people I mix with or what my expecations or experience in life are. What I know of you though is that you are judgemental about a place and people you have no first hand knowledge of simply because of rumour.

Kooky.

Well as I couldn't resist commenting on this thread, if only to be silly, now I'm here I'll give my opinion on "location location location".

We used to rent in McMahons Point, one of the most des res areas of Sydney's Lower North Shore. Loved the area, couldn't swing a cat in the damp, draughty, termite-riddled cottage and couldn't afford to buy anything even that size.

We decied that our priority was space and moved to an area that local colleagues told us wasn't up to much. We love it, we have room to swing all 3 of our cats should we so desire. Colleagues seem a tad envious of our lovely modern, spacious apartment and all its facilities, too, and the busy road and factory outlets seem to have been forgotten about. It's our home before it's an investment (although it would make a great rental property should we want to move).

Who gives a shit what other people think? If you live somewhere you like, it's safe, and it works for you, who's to knock it?