Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

He wouldn't survive round here with the boys :scared:

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

When I was working in Sydney, I commuted 40kms each way, which was less than I did in the UK.

To drive to the beach in the UK was an hours drive, here it is 2 minutes.

To drive to the shops in the UK was 10-15 mins, here it is 3 minutes.

Currently my wife works and drives 12km each way to work. I do the school run, and shopping etc.

Our fuel costs, with two cars, are less than when we were in the UK, with just one car !!

Therefore, in my case, and probably others too, driving is less here in Australia.


The point is that everyone is different, some will use more others will use less, but for some people to just say that we will all use more is WRONG. It gives the wrong impression to people who are not here.

I have seen you say how much fuel you use on previous posts, but without expaining to people that it is for business use. Not everyone runs around all day long, some people just drive to work, school etc, like my family.

But Yes, if you drive between NSW and QLD every day, I agree that you may well use more fuel than you did in the UK, unless of course you drove from London to Glasgow, and back, every day in your UK job.

It varies. It depends on personal circumstances. You use more. I use less.

Not everyone will use more ......

Not everyone will use less ......

When you say... who are you talking about ? If you pick the right place to live, day to day travelling can become less, and yet you can still do more.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

I think you are right. It would be good if people explained their circumstances when making quotes like that, then people would be better informed in making their choices.

I know that some people who have made that comment, actually lived 20-30k from the local shops. And in their case, it is expected that the fuel use is going to be very high.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Hello

I used to live in Oz(2 years ago) but now live in NZ but probably be back in Oz within 3 years (work).

I found money went a long way in Aus and we always had loads left over at the end of eachmonth and even managed to save!!!!!

Here in NZ, same wage, no horse to feed (and they cost a lot) and we are ok but no excess so my question is:

Has Oz gotten more expensive during the last 2 years?

Apparently it's gone through the roof here over the last 4 years.

Thanks :-) Mumo

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Some things have gone up quite a bit, petrol only 12 months ago was 85 cents/litre, now its around the $1 mark, it was as high as $1.25 in Brisbane at one point, but has dropped dramatically again. I think insurance has substantially increased as well (post 9/11). But many things havent gone up in ages (despite what some people say), where I live for example you can still buy a dozen eggs for $1.99, chicken breast fillets are still regularly for sale for $8.99/kg & I can still buy 2 loaves of Wonderwhite bread for $5, all in Woolworths + heaps of other stuff has stayed the same or not increased by more than a few cents. Some food has gone up, but in general it hasnt been too bad where I live. In other things like whitegoods & electrical etc prices have dropped dramatically in the last 5 years, you only have to look at the prices for things like computers/tv's/dvds/digital cameras to appreciate that. Many new cars still sell now for virtually the same price that they were selling in the mid to late 1990s, look at the Nissan Pulsars as an example.

I guess the bottom line is that no one can realistically complain that the cost of living should never go up, as always things like food increase in price because of the increased costs to produce it.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Yes it has, there are a lot of threads on OZ cost of living if you do a search for current prices, I go on our arrival which was 5 years ago, sorry not the two you are looking at but in the 5 years most of our bills have almost doubled. Houses have also doubled, although that is one cost thats not moving much now, although that again depends where you are, some areas increased 17% perth, darwin 21% but sydney went down, building materials are certainly still rising. You could say OZ was cheap compared to europe in the early 2000's but not now. New zealand still seems to provide new arrivals with the biggest shock probably because wages are lower too.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

It will depend on what you buy, and where you buy it :)

You'll get mixed answers ;)

Bread, milk and eggs are cheaper, for us, than they were 3 years ago.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Some examples rounded off as doing them from memory not digging out receipts again

Medical insurance, was $1200 now $2200
Our first home $195,000 now would sell if we still had it for around the $450,000
Food now $280 can remember bills around $150 at the beginning.
Swimming pool we paid $12,999 last time all in, no pool now but replacement would be advertised at $18,999 plus all the extras.
Rates, were around $1200 last bill was $2200 but thats mainly land value increases.
Petrol I think was in the 60c range, hard to remember it varies weekly, recently its been anywhere from 99c - $129

Notable things that have come down are airconditining units, however they are selling off as new units will soon need to be installed.
Cars have come down I think it was due to import duties.

Hope that helps

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Keep your eye on them. They tend to skimp on the boot polish and sell what's left over on the black market :cool:

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Some of our actual examples (as I keep full daily records):

$1,579.77 annual Rates in 2003 exc Actual water use
$1,670.18 annual Rates in 2005 exc Actual water use
6% increase

$127.24 pw Food in 2003 ave pw
$112.83 pw Food last 5 months in 2005 ave pw
-11% Decrease (found better shops)

$20.73 pw Elec 2003 pw
$23.45 pw Elec 2005 pw (exc Ambulance Levy)
13% increase

$29.42 pw Medical 2003 pw
$33.60 pw Medical 2005 pw (this varies depending on our health)
14% increase

I can't recall the actual petrol cost per litre in 2003, but I just paid 92.5 cents today. (It was 95.9c on Dec 2, 2004)

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

And if you drove diesel cars you'd be using less, much less.

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

Your rates are twice what we pay. :scared:

Re: Cost Of Living Melbourne V England=THE SAME
 

This could be UK compared to Oz for rises over the years, we are under constant threat of our gas/elec bills going sky high due to lack or resources, so depressing :(

We pay more rent here in UK (only an average home), on top of that nearly £1k p.a. rates and £250 p.a. water - we did not have to pay that in Oz :( All in with the rent.