If you earn $1000+/wk in NSW you surely wouldn't feel the pinch.

The UK has been around a long time...Australia's written history could just be a few paragraphs in brisk comparison. The outback has a long way to go..especially it's geography..big European economies are a world away( collectively it controls the prices of Oil and other commodities..now you feel how it is outside the Empirehehe).. so, Down Under is more expensive than the UK...but a lot better than Africa.

But one thing I find silly really is how the car market is in Australia! How can a 10 yr old car with high mileage..err..kilometerage..can still cost thousands of $$$..it is not even vintage or a collectable vehicle. Why are cars here so bladdy expensive?

Anybody please ..explain that to me. You can't ask the locals this question, you get that look

I bought a second hand car here when I arrived and sold it 18 months later with a very minor loss, 2% or so.
You buy a car in the UK and after you drive it from the forecourt, it is worth 13p.
Used cars are valued here, hence dearer but don't depreciate so rapidly. They do not degrade so quickly here due to the climate and types of journeys, so I am told, and this seems to be correct.
Swings and roundabouts again.

After being here for 2yrs+, I still find Australia more expensive. Especially in SA were we dont get the vast choice of thing,s . Car's especially are over priced, The quality of goods are just not the same, once fully living on the $$$, it just does not seem to go as far as the pound.

It wouldn't, it is worth much less

On the whole I think it's a little cheaper to live a nice life in OZ than in the UK and a little cheaper again than in NZ. I don't think it's as cheap as ppl in the UK and NZ make out, but still cheaper. On one nurses income we rent in a nice beach suburb, run two cars and seem to do OK.

As for the quote below RE second hand cars in Oz- this is soooo true and something we found so stressful when we hopped the ditch. I spent $$$$$ on an old Corolla but was the book price on redbook, so I do hope we get our cash back because in NZ that'll buy us a very nice nissan stationwagon. Second hand cars and beer are the only things I've found to be cheaper (and better) in NZ.

I would say it's about the same, but a lot depends on the individual. It seems slightly cheaper to me, overall.

We're "lucky" in that we'l be moving from Singapore so will find food, wine, healthcare, cars and housing ridiculously cheap.

(Trying not to think too hard about the lower salaries and higher tax, though )

Try Aud 3000, plus uniform and excursions for one, in a government state secondary school

Daughter No 3 has commited the crime of being talented at music and the school is charging like a wounded bull. My son has to go there in 18 months.... I'm dreading this next new wave of school bills.

That is not far off what we pay for a private school, per year.

A couple of things.

Arrogance regarding history is something that really annoys me. Australia has some of the oldest continually inhabited areas in the world. Take the Wurundjeri aboriginals that have lived in Keilor for 40,000 years and were around when Tasmania was still connected via a landbridge to the rest of Australia. And in any case all Australians can rightfully lay claim to their ancestors history too.

Secondly, car prices are obviously driven by their value in the market - their value is not determined by what you think they should be in comparison to other countries, their value is determined bye what buyers and sellers are willing to pay - it is that simple. It's like people who complain about their house prices and say things like "It's worth $500K" - No, it's worth what someone will pay for it.

And in many respects I think the UK car prices are ridiculous and are unrealistic. They don't last as long over there so do depreciate more, but easy credit, keeping up with the Jones's etc has a big effect on them beng undervalued. Many of my colleagues were obsessed with changing cars every 2-3 years and it's turned them into a disposable commodity.

1. Food is more expensive?

Of course it is, Australia allows very little foreign food to be imported(complete bans on certain food such as bananas).

This also means 1st world prices must be paid to the farmers for this food. Now farmers whinge they dont get paid enough, and maybe its true but they are certainly doing a whole lot better than the 3rd world food producers who export to the US and Europe.

This is a GOOD thing for Australia. It maintains a strong food production base.

2. Travel is more expensive?

Of course it is, the market is just under 22m people for gods sake. There is no grand alliance of local nations for unrestricted travel. Even NZ has restrictions.

Anyone who whinges about travel has only themselves to blame, it is something that is sooo easy to research ages in advance.

3. Cars are expensive?

Again small market, some imported some home made.

I could go on.

So what?.... what did they manage to build in those 40,000 years?. I put more together in a 40min period of second year woodwork.

One thing I am sure of, it is not as cheap as it was, or, not as cheap as people think it will be...

and depends on circumstance.

I find some things more expensive, others in fact quite a bit cheaper. Curiously, all our routine expenses seem cheaper. It seems that all the one-offs cost a fortune (annual car rego - OK once a year) but all the expenses that come in on a 3 month cycle are cheaper - rates, utils, water, etc. Groceries big exception.

I worked out that a one day travel pass in London on my salary was something like twice(three?) the price of the same in Melbourne.

Been here for a year now.. but for me, personally, I find living in Australia cheaper than living in the UK.. I do find that supermarket food is more expensive... so!!! stop using the supermarket for everything and anything !!!!and suprisingly (or not) the weekly shopping bill isn't vastly more..

Em x

I was looking at changing my current daily driver and the total cost of the new car is $153000. Out of that the total tax I would pay is just a baw hair under $55000 so a car valued at $98K costs $153000. I won't be buying a new daily driver. How does that compare to the UK?