Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

Only aussies are that thick surely.:)

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

I was over in Europe in July/August and I am even more convinced the COL is roughly the same between UK/Aus with groceries much cheaper in the UK. In France and Belgium things were even cheaper, so COL in mainland Europe is less than Australia.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

I've never understood this way of comparing things even though loads of Aussies use it. It's a ridiculous way of comparing things.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

For us, we pay $160 health insurance monthly, $200 for daughter's braces monthly, about $250-$300 groceries weekly, rates $450 per quarter, car rego $1000pa (2cars), mobiles about $200 per month (OH uses his a lot for business), electricity $150 pm, home insurance $800 pa, foxtel/broadband $160 per month, car insurance $500 pa (one car), home phone $50 per month, prescriptions/medication/doc's visits about $75 monthly. All up our outgoings are about $6k per month, what with mortgage, kids clubs, piano lessons, cleaner etc but I have lived on way, way less than that in my time here too.

It's swings and roundabouts I reckon - don't forget tax on your income is higher here and interest rates on your mortgage are knocking on 9%. But I agree with Quoll that whenever I go back to UK, I find things quite a bit cheaper in the supermarket, especially fruit and veg. Even eating out is not much different price wise these days. Prices have increased considerably across the board in Aus from when I came over 7 1/2 years ago. However rates, petrol and so on are a lot cheaper in Aus, there are more free things to do and you get a lot more house for your money.

Hope that helps with working out your budget!

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

Both doing the same jobs as we did in the UK (Hubby Optimisation Tech oil refinery, me Teacher) We go out far more than we did in the UK, entertain more and have bought quite a few new things i.e TV's, Fridge, cars etc but the money goes much further here. I think the main reasons are that we have no debts (cars etc paid upfront), credit cards clear, no private school fees (equiv 25k pa), we are renting so only pay rent, utilities, rego, insurance etc and small mortgage on our land + rates. However, This will change very soon as we are about to start building on our land and the mortgage payments will obviously go up.

We have worked out that in theory even with the mortgage we will still be finacially better off than we were in the UK.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

If you take into account your biggest bill is your mortgage the interest rates are much higher in Australia , in my opinion if you cross reference the average house prices it is more expensive in australia

someone posted a good article last week stating 18 of Australia's city's are in the top 50 most expensive in the world and most of the population is focused around the 18 city's , so you cant escape the house price situation unless u live
in hicksville which is close to the back of nowhere or you come cashed up enough to buy outright

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

'fraid not. Some aussies use it comparing going out (e.g. $50 on a night out would cost £50) but some brits use it when their employability turns out to be less than they think it is. :blink:

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

You've mentioned this before.

But for me, you lose credibility when you say French supermarkets are cheaper than UK ones. That can only be true for someone who didn't manage to make it out of the beer and wine section. ;):D

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

I thought it would be cheaper, but it's the same, some things more expensive and vice versa...but it's not cheap at all.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

Hi

We are originally from Slough and have moved to Perth. We have found that the cost of living is the same. We are no better off, but neither are we worse off.

Tracey

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

:D It's hard to get out of the beer/wine section given the prices.
French supermarkets are cheaper than Australian ones, not just a bit but radically so. I reckon 20-50% on most stuff.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

Spot on

We earn double what we earned in the UK and unlike in the UK, have no debts whatsoever.

The fact we used the bulk of our equity (not much) in the UK to have a 'clean slate' when we arrived in Aus, to finance our move and to establish ourselves out here, means that our projected mortgage repayments (if we stay) will see us being no better off financially than we were in the UK.

This prediction, and the pressure which comes with needing to ensure income remains at it's current level is not only a headache but is causing me to question as to whether we can *really* afford to live out here at all.

I'm working longer, more stressful hours and have seemingly less time to do 'my own thing' than I've ever had. This goes against everything we came here for really.

Still trying to figure out where it all went wrong (in terms of the above)

We could rent indefinitely but with that comes a certain sense of 'temporaryness' :confused: to our stay here.

Kids love it though, which makes it even more difficult to bail out and return to UK

:(

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

But would you be any worse off?

I guess things change in 5 years time interest rates might be higher in the UK, who knows.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

All the experts are saying That intrest rates must come down and stay down in the UK is to remain stable, they forcast for rates to drop as low as USA rates in the next 2 years.

Re: Is it really that expensive to live in Oz?
 

When I lived in the lovely village of Mougins-le-Haut (Cote d'Azur) for 2 months in 2003 shopping in French supermarkets was much more expensive than in the UK (London SE16). I can see that some items may be 20-50% cheaper but other items would be 25-100% more expensive.

Vive la difference! :D

With Aus and UK I find that Aus is similar to UK during Aus winter but cheaper than UK during Aus Summer. A plus point of the UK is that the prices don't fluctuate as much as Aus, so if someone doesn't buy seasonally then they could end up with a bigger bill in Aus.

But if the $ gets stronger then the UK will win out which might keep some of the chavs at home :lol: