ABANERD

Can anybody help with info on approximate cost of living for two in: Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
Thank you

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Use the Search at the top of the page. Just search thread titles with "cost of living"... there are hundreds of them.

ABANERD

Didn't find any!!! thanks

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Well then you need to learn how to use a search facility.... I can find 230 of them in the 'Australian' board alone.

You can't possibly believe you are the first person to ask a question about the cost of living... surely?

Bermudashorts

Accommodation is the biggest expense for most people and I expect the thing that varies the most between places. Why not use a website like www.domain.com.au to compare house and rental prices.

galba

Can't compare the different cities but can give you an idea if comparing UK and OZ (Perth).

We are international expats, so we move around every 2-3 years. As part of the package we are given a Commodities & Services (C&S) allowance which covers the difference in living costs between the UK and whatever country we are in. There are companies out there that work this all out and feed the numbers back to the companies employing expats. Living costs include such things as clothing, petrol, food etc.

When we arrived in Perth in August 2007 we received nothing - this means that the UK was rated above or the same as OZ but in the last 3 years this allowance has gone up and up so that we now receive over £13,000 a year. So, in theory, the UK is much, much cheaper than OZ in relation to everyday costs.

ABCDiamond

But that would be due mainly to the value of the £ wouldn't it ?

An income of $100,000 in Aug 2007 only needed £41,275
An income of $100,000 in July 2010 now needs £57,340

An extra (C&S) allowance of £16,000 would be needed to remain the same.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Sorry mate but this smacks of desperation...

Regardless if its due to the value of the pound or not, it surely means that people coming from the UK, at this min, are going to find Australia very expensive?

ABCDiamond

Correct, to your last point, but the question is comparing: Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

And the drop in the value of the GBP makes no difference to the comparison of those three.

As for desperation ?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Come on now.. we all know you are determined to paint Aus finances in the most favourable light you can come up with.

ABCDiamond

It is also about the cost of living, not about the cost of moving, and how far your UK capital in £ will last.

There is a big difference between a person living in Australia and being paid in A$ to the person working here on assignment and being paid in GBP, with an extra GBP allowance to cover the exchange rate changes.

ABCDiamond

Compare apples to apples though.

What I like to do is show people that not everything is as black as some people like to portray it.
If some people like to think that showing the true options, if people wish to look around, is painting in a favourable light then so be it. There are enough others who delight in showing ONLY the negatives that they can find, as often as they possibly can, starting fresh threads on the same subject as often as they can.

And then complaining when someone, like me for example, comes along and gives an alternative view. Some people only like to see one side of the story....

Iando

For the original poster, as a rule of thumb I have found if you take the UK price and x by 2.5 you will not be far off the price here. Doesn't work for everything but will give you a guide. Just a pity your £ only buys you $1.75!

BadgeIsBack

But doesn't everyone fuss over the value of the pound? (Right for the initial move, not so important in the long run).

And someone pointed out that people paid in pounds are hurting.

EDIT - address the question.

We found that salaries are not a lot lower but the house prices were a a lot lower. Melbourne has probably caught up in areas..

coolshadows

agreed!