mvagusta

Sorry I can't figure out your how you come to that judgement.

Why don't you break it down to a monthly expense. As others have said it's not a great wage for a family but I don't see your reasoning for a single person.

Deancm_MKII

That's because everything's so bloody expensive in Australia.

Here's an example for a single person:

1/2 bed flat $1500 per month
Car running cost $200 pm
Travel to work $110 pm
Groceries $600 pm
Other food $200 pm ($10 per day lunch at work)
Mobile phone $100 pm
Internet $90 pm
Entertainment: $1200 pm minimum (this is as a single person mind you with an active social life in Melbourne, and it's a conservative figure)

Total so far is $4000 and we haven't even taken into account things like electricity, gas, credit card or whatever else may come up.

Amazulu

No doubt that Australia is expensive but if you lived in London I reckon these things on your list would be more expensive:
Flat
car costs
travel to work

Groceries, mobile phone, internet would be cheaper

For the other stuff: some will be cheaper, others more expensive.

Overall COL would be a bit more here, but not by much. UK and Australia are both expensive countries - especially in major cities.

Deancm_MKII

I am finding the costs of rentals in Melbourne to be about the same as London and in London, having a car is a really bad idea. Quicker and easier to get the tube.

Amazulu

A decent flat in a decent area of London for under GBP1k would be hard to find.

A single, western guy without a car would have to be gay - or at the very least a metrosexual.

Overall COL is similar with Australia a bit more expensive.

Deancm_MKII

I never bothered with a car in London when I lived there and I am definitely not any of those things you described.

In fact, most of the people I knew in London didn't bother with a car either, unless it was provided by the company they worked for.

Amazulu

Sure, but then a metrosexual/gay living in central Melbourne would not need a car either.

Overall COL is similar with Australia a bit more expensive.

Deancm_MKII

But they would if they wanted to go outside of a 3km radius. In Australia it doesn;t matter what your sexuality is, you are gonna need a car. Life in Oz is very difficult without one.

Right now I would say it has swung the other way. Comparing my COL in London to what I pay in Melbourne, well I am paying more in Melb.

bcworld

Really? How else are they gonna get down to Screech Beach late at night?

Deancm_MKII

Familiar with it are you?

Amazulu

que?

Amazulu

I reckon you could get by without a car in Melbourne - but, for me, life without a car is pretty shite wherever you live.

Economies of London and Melbourne are very different at the moment. London is in the grip of recession and Melbourne is not. Now I know that you will have friends in London who are still doing well - I do too. But the fact remains that a lot of people in London are battling, and the costs there are now reflecting this. Basic reality - a LOT of people are moving from London to Melbourne, not so many the other way.

COL is similar with Australia slightly more.

Deancm_MKII

Yes, you can get by but it is pretty shit.

Yes, agree. Most of my friends in London say they don't even notice that there is a recession going on. It's as though London has it's own shielded micro-economy. That said though I also know quite a few who are affected by it and the further out from London the worse it gets.

Amazulu

My friends over there who are still doing okay are having a field day as they still have good incomes, very low interest mortgages and falling prices. Great if you can maintain it but projects are starting to dry up and are not being replaced. As government spending cuts start to bite (have not really started yet) it's going to get interesting.

mvagusta

Just goes to show that people are different.

If I was spending like that I would be up to my eyeballs in debt. To me some of these prices are extravagent.

You can get a 4 bedroom house in perth with pool for $1600 pm although why a single person would want such a big house remains to be seen.
Entertainment is a luxury and is not a requirement in living expenses and I'm sure that some of the others listed could be reduced quite a bit.

Each to there own but I would put electricity and gas higher on my priority than entertainment,mobile phone or internet.