Hugh4Star

I'm moving to Australia in December this year to go to Uni while my wife works. I'm now starting to worry because everywhere I look online and every person I know is acting like Australia is the most expensive place on earth to live.

I use to think Toronto was expensive, but it seems cheap in comparison to Australia. $1000 a month all inclusive for a 1 bedroom apartment in a great area, $40 for internet, buying groceries from our little china town where food is so cheap it feels like you're actually traveling through Asia. As long as you don't own a car here, you can live like a king on a modest salary if you're smart with your money.

I guess my question is, are there deals to be found in cities like Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney? For example, if you look around can you find a reasonably priced 1 bedroom flat (no more than $1400/month), are there areas like our china town where food is cheaper? How about farmers markets, are those common? And how about public transportation, how much is it per ride or per month for a pass in any of those cities?

cheers

Sally Simpson

Rental prices will vary hugely depending on city & suburb.
Food costs are generally highish but markets are around & def make it cheaper. Quality of food is good if you don't just stick to the main supermarkets.
How easy it is to get around without a car, will def depend on which city you are in.

Where are you hoping to go to?

OzExpat

Yes, it's pretty damn expensive now! I've lived in Oz, the UK and now the USA and in my experience Oz has the highest cost of living.

I doubt very much you'll find something in a decent area of Melbourne or Sydney for $1400 a month. You'd have to be in outer suburbs to get that.

There are markets like Queen Vic in Melbourne, but I didn't find it very cheap when I was last there. Public transit seemed reasonable in Melbourne though.

Bermudashorts

As accommodation will be the biggest expense, take a look at www.domain.com.au and see what there is in your budget, then investigate the area.

Petals

Been here in Uk for last two months and we think that the cost of living is about the same but utility bills are dearer here as is petrol of course.

Clothes are much the same depending on what standard of clothing purchased, cheap is cheap and dear is dear.

Saw legs of lamb in Chatham todayh fourteen pounds ninety nine that is $30 so similar to Aus as lamb is expensive.

We eat fillet steak and have paid the same price here as in Aus.

Of course we have done ok because the exchange rate is in our favour.

Also noticed that used cars similar to the ones in Aus are the same price as well, just convert them to Aus dollars and not much difference at all.

E3only

5 years ago, my wife & I survived on one salary (50k) – key word being ‘survived’
- 1 bedroom OLD apartment
- 8,000 car loan
- grocery
- dine out every now and then
- we are non meat eaters, non drinkers and non smokers so none of the clubbing going crazy
- went to the markets every other week for vege and fruits

You have to realize, it’s all subjective. My wife took great care of the money I took home. She clearly is the success story behind this . 50k annual btw translates to around 3,100 after tax a month (well 5 years ago tax rates)

Domain.com.au is a good reference to understand the current rentals. If you were flexible in moving out of Sydney and living say 30-40 mins away from the downtown (by bus/train) then it gets easier. Remember, Sydney has good transport system…….

Fact as I said is – it’s all subjective and depends on your lifestyle.

Hope that helps.

Vash the Stampede

Australia is expensive. There's no getting away from it.

JenniGee

We're moving to Melbourne, so have researched & visited there without the rose-tinted goggles on

We found that the biggest saving for us as compared to the UK is on the commute. Currently OH takes the train into London, a 45 minute journey costs us £340 per month. The same trip with a Metcard is going to be in the region of $170 AUD per month!

http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/f...metcard-fares/

Queen Vic Market is great to fill up your pantry & freeezer at very, very competitive rates & we saw people there with their pick-ups, apparently buying for the month.

http://www.qvm.com.au/

As everything, I guess it's swings & roundabouts - what you save on one thing you will probably find something more expensive to spend your cash on. One thing I can almost be sure isn't going to be cheaper though, is buying a car.

For us, housing will be cheaper because we live within the commute to London, so rents are already extortionate, but that isnt necessarily true for other people, so be careful, $1400 won't get you much. I think the key is to focus on the things that are important to you, because your situation won't be the same as other folks'.

Hope this helps

Davesax

I'm sorry , you can't just make sweeping statements like that , especially for the good of people that are considering the move .
It's very subjective like a previous poster said - your lifestyle , state , profession , circumstances . Where are you comparing it to? have you taken the hugely fluctuating exchange rate into account? What might seem expensive one year , could be the opposite this year . Economies are booming , suburbs are growing - people generally don't mind paying for things, because they in turn are being paid .
Stimulus payments!!

Weigh things up , for the lifestyle you get IMO it's good value for money .

BadgeIsBack

Depends how many dollars you earn and what your fixed costs are. I earn a reasonable salry and my mortgage is less than 1/7th of my net income. At those proportions, life gets rosy.

I find it OK - just OK but acknowledge that some things are pricey. I find a lot of the essentials are cheaper or broadly equivalent.

I've always found books, luxury goods, and now branded outdoor gear prohibitive.

BadgeIsBack

Yes I agree. Huge savings.And you will probably earn more dollars than quids too so rather than save half, it might represent a saving of 4 times... I'm convinced people are so busy looking at what seems expensive that they fail to notice what is cheaper..

I find utils, rates, insurance, labour rates and many things cheaper to be honest but others are in the middle of having the sky surgically removed from around their head...

Taxing and registering a car expensive here, but maybe that's why insurance is lower!

JenniGee

Which is another possible saving for us I think - we have a daughter turning 16 next year who wants to learn to drive, we're looking at a minimum of £2500 to insure her for our family car here in the UK at 17, but in Oz I hear, it's a bit more affordable.

As I said before, how expensive Oz is, completely depends on your own circumstances & what's important to your family

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I wasn't hugely impressed by being quoted nearly $2000 for a set of tyres this Tuesday

That was more than double the UK price... no idea why I bothered to check.. but it was about $208 each from Kwik Fit UK and $489 each here !

I settled for ToYo tyres rather than Dunlop.. brought the price down to 'only' $1200

Bernieboy

Be careful when it rains

E3only

Can't compare AU with UK but I can tell you US is cheaper in more categories than not - vast majority.