I was years ago and I am still bound by a court judgement so cannot discuss it

(Winter) Ah, bring on the days of scraping ice off the car and lagging the pipes to stop the freezing ... reminds me, firewood to collect today ... wouldn't think I was an hour from Brisbane would you?

Aus is expensive, and I have been to UK recently.

However some aussies/residents wont accept that.

Woman in coles yesterday was doing a taste sample of cheeses. Nice cheese but $9 for 100 g Aussie partner says thats bloody expensive when I was in the UK anyway he gives example of some prices blah blah and this aussie broad wouldnt have a bar of it nope he must be wrong and why the hell would australia need 8 supermarkets like the UK er derr!!!

BTW yesterday we were searching for hotels in brisbane CBD and the hotel parking was more than we paid to rent a new travelodge room (advance website booking) in central london

I really cannot understand how folk say that the cost of living is about the same in both Countries....are they for real I have been back in the UK 4 weeks afetr 3 years in Perth and I cannot belive how cheap it is here compared to Oz except for petrol of course

We ended up not too bad with petrol bills, much smaller car and doing far less klms, cars there seem to be far more aware of the economy/emissions factors than in OZ, helped a lot with the scary bowser price

I got the impression rates/council tax was the big difference, oz being cheaper, however the way our rates are going up I dont know how much longer that will be a factor. Our councils sold off the water and thats now supposed to go up $800 just for connection over the next couple of years

Dental fees here are astronomical.
Beef is cheap.

Overall i find Aus a substantially more expensive than the UK.




oh and the cost of a decent pair of trainers is a joke here too

The only thing I can say is that real people don't obsess over Tesco t-shirts, underwear, and other mundane things non-real people worry about that's why -(despite the fact that supermarket prices really are the bad thing here). There's no real getting out of that one. Having said that, I found prices in the UK supermarkets were not all that they were cracked out to be - in *some* cases. I know loads of Australians who think some things are expensive here and they are getting ripped off. Again real people, not just the ignorant battlers who can be relied on to get the short straw - more's the pity.

Most of us will list all the things that we think cost more here, or are truly exorbitant. Books, for example.

I say it balances out because of all the things I do find cheaper here - like the things I have to pay or a service will be denied. If Australia really was expensive, and life was a daily struggle I would not be here.

Can't say I have done a cost comparison for about 5 years now ... it (whatever that is) costs what it costs, I like it here so it doesn't really matter.

Not to say I don't shop around but the cash aspect of it really isn't important.

$90/kg

Maybe I shouldn't be at the $30/kg down here.

I agree - it's clear if something is really expensive. Then you decide whether you need it or not and whether you can get it further afield. You won't get me obsessing over run of the mill things.

but 'obsessing' is all part of the fun Badge

Only for decent gear, my old man. Only for decent gear.

Not for t-shirts, net curtains and the like.

I'm not a 'label' person by any means but i do like a good pair of trainers...its the chav in me

Whenever I complain about high prices here I just get told "its a small market" and that is the standard answer for everything!

To run in, I hope?

As said before, I buy, really, quite expensive clothes, but never labels in the fashion sense of the term, and then run them for 5 - 10 years. I've even picked up hardly used items on Ebay for 25pc of their new price. I know a family who don't even work, and are quite coy about their income - lets just say they do well - who still buy on Ebay because they think it fun, and don't splash it about.

I find no price really has me concerned because I don't buy or want to buy clothes in supermarkets.

If buying something expensive I might have a quick look online. It took me all of 30mins to work out that $999 for a Plasma TV wth Blue-Ray player thrown in is not much to worry about.

The old adage - if you have to ask, you can't afford it, is true sometimes.

Nice to think that the local drug dealers still keep in touch with the ordinary things in life.