Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Jun 29th 2008, 11:35 pm
#16
Account Open
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 4,298
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
To give you some very rough numbers, food will cost perhaps $150 per week, rent $350 at least, phone and internet $25, gas & elec maybe $40 or $50, rates maybe $30, petrol maybe $50.
That adds up to approx $650 per week. If you are taking home about $850 per week, that leaves you with $200....approx GBP100 per week to cover everything like insurance, schooling, entertainments, clothing, saving for the future.
Jun 29th 2008, 11:44 pm
#17
Cad and bounder
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,080
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
I think aswell you have to think of other things in your monthly outgoings. Most people pay somesort of unsecured credit repayment in the UK (i.e loans, storecards, HP, credit cards etc). Probably most people when they come to Oz don't have these outgoings straight away. I'd make sure you budget in advance for these sort of outgoings in the future.
Jun 29th 2008, 11:44 pm
#18
Social Grenade Thrower
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: South Coast, NSW
Posts: 3,625
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
On a personal level I think 25k in UK is low when you have a family, kids and pets as well, unless your wife is working and bringing in more income. It of course depends also on where in UK you live and work and whether or not you have a mortgage etc.
Jun 29th 2008, 11:49 pm
#19
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Mornington, Vic
Posts: 51
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Guess it also depends how much you factor in return trips to the UK as part of the cost of living. I appreciate some people are not interested in going over but plenty others would want to go every couple of years or so.
Jun 30th 2008, 12:13 am
#20
On the Dark Side :-)
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: South Wales to New South Wales!
Posts: 3,065
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Our outgoings per week in NSW for a family of 3 are:
Groceries - $160
Petrol - $75
Rent - $325
Water - $5 (we're in rented so pay very little)
Gym - $14
Gas - $15
Contents Insurance - $9
2 x mobile phones - $24
Motor Insurance - $15
Electricity - $25
Phone, Broadband and Foxtel combined - $45
Total Per week - $712
Total Per Month - $3085
Total Per Year - $37020
So our annual expenditure on the Everyday things - no savings, no spendings, no after school activities, no eating out, no holidays is $37020! That obviously needs to be what you take home. So...based on $50,000 a year, you should just about be able to pay your bills....but in my opinion...you couldn't really do much else.
Hope this helps
Rach
Groceries - $160
Petrol - $75
Rent - $325
Water - $5 (we're in rented so pay very little)
Gym - $14
Gas - $15
Contents Insurance - $9
2 x mobile phones - $24
Motor Insurance - $15
Electricity - $25
Phone, Broadband and Foxtel combined - $45
Total Per week - $712
Total Per Month - $3085
Total Per Year - $37020
So our annual expenditure on the Everyday things - no savings, no spendings, no after school activities, no eating out, no holidays is $37020! That obviously needs to be what you take home. So...based on $50,000 a year, you should just about be able to pay your bills....but in my opinion...you couldn't really do much else.
Hope this helps
Rach
Jun 30th 2008, 12:20 am
#21
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,316
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
To cut a long answer short, I would say - no, you will be worse off in Australia.
To give you some very rough numbers, food will cost perhaps $150 per week, rent $350 at least, phone and internet $25, gas & elec maybe $40 or $50, rates maybe $30, petrol maybe $50.
That adds up to approx $650 per week. If you are taking home about $850 per week, that leaves you with $200....approx GBP100 per week to cover everything like insurance, schooling, entertainments, clothing, saving for the future.
To give you some very rough numbers, food will cost perhaps $150 per week, rent $350 at least, phone and internet $25, gas & elec maybe $40 or $50, rates maybe $30, petrol maybe $50.
That adds up to approx $650 per week. If you are taking home about $850 per week, that leaves you with $200....approx GBP100 per week to cover everything like insurance, schooling, entertainments, clothing, saving for the future.
Last edited by MartinLuther; Jun 30th 2008 at 12:22 am.
Jun 30th 2008, 7:29 pm
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Teesside
Posts: 76
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Surely it depends on a few other factors. Say you live in London and earn £25k and you moved to the Adelaide suburbs you would probably think the cost of living is cheaper in Oz. Likewise the reverse say you earned £25k and lived in Middlesborough but you moved to Sydney then you would probably say its more expensive in Oz.
Jun 30th 2008, 9:40 pm
#24
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Leeds
Posts: 37
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Think i'm even more confused now
Jun 30th 2008, 10:59 pm
#26
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Canberra
Posts: 8,378
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
So in answer to the original question IMHO if you are comfortable in UK on $25kpa you will be struggling in Aus on $50k.
Jun 30th 2008, 11:28 pm
#27
On the Dark Side :-)
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: South Wales to New South Wales!
Posts: 3,065
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
You also need to bare in mind that we're renting at the moment. If we were to buy, our rent/mortgage would increase by around $160 (based on $260k mortgage) per week plus we would have to pay rates at around $20 per week and water would also increase by $10 per week.
To summarise (sorry I sound like I'm in a board meeting or something!!)
Hubbys basic wage - $56k
With Overtime (lots) - $95k (roughly)
Our Take Home Pay - $65k
Annual Outgoings while renting - $37k ($28k remaining)
Annual Outgoings if buying - $47k (18k remaining)
We are by far a wealthy family! I shop in Op shops and Garage Sales all the time (mainly because I love getting bargains!) and buy all the cheapest brands in the supermarket.
I dont want to put a downer on things for you, just putting across what our financial situation is so that you have an idea of what to expect.
Hope this helps
Jul 1st 2008, 1:16 am
#28
(^v^)
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: North East Tasmania
Posts: 2,199
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
my OH earns @ $60k but we are mortgage free and have no kids, his work is at the bottom of the road so no big fuel bills, so yes even though his is not a high wage we are financially better off.
Jul 1st 2008, 1:29 am
#29
A rather curious boy
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 5,917
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
Obviously it depends on your lifestyle, where you choose to live, etc... but it is a fair guide to say (like the OP) that you need to have twice as many $ as £ to have the same standard of living. This guide has been good regardless of the exchange rate. (All the exchange rate determines is the value of the £s that you're bringing over.)
Although people bang on about groceries being (debateably) more expensive here there are lots of things that are cheaper: petrol, council tax, eating out, most entertainment, insurance to name a few.
Now I know some people are going to come in and say that some of those things are more expensive and it may depend on where you live but usually it's because they're comparing apples and pears and it comes down to their own personal choices or circumstances. The classic is that although the petrol is cheaper here you have to drive 3 times as far. Per capita Aussies drive about the same average miles as Brits so on average people are not driving 3 times as far, it's the people who've decided to live a long way out. I moved from city to UK to countryside Aus and I am driving further. However I'm not driving further than if I had moved to countryside UK (which would have cost a lot more).
Although people bang on about groceries being (debateably) more expensive here there are lots of things that are cheaper: petrol, council tax, eating out, most entertainment, insurance to name a few.
Now I know some people are going to come in and say that some of those things are more expensive and it may depend on where you live but usually it's because they're comparing apples and pears and it comes down to their own personal choices or circumstances. The classic is that although the petrol is cheaper here you have to drive 3 times as far. Per capita Aussies drive about the same average miles as Brits so on average people are not driving 3 times as far, it's the people who've decided to live a long way out. I moved from city to UK to countryside Aus and I am driving further. However I'm not driving further than if I had moved to countryside UK (which would have cost a lot more).
Smart and well thought answer. I think there is a lot of sense in your reply.
Jul 1st 2008, 1:30 am
#30
A rather curious boy
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 5,917
Re: Cost Of Living - Is It This Simple
That's a very good point, perksy. I think many of us forget we're coming from a 3-bed Barratt Box in a provincial town or minor city where property is relatively cheap, to one of Australia's major cities and expect a McMansion with en suites, pool and rumpus room for the same money. Which also needs heating/cooling and maintaining. (Yes, huge generalisation just to illustrate the point.)
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