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Sydney...cost of living

Sydney...cost of living

Old Jan 16th 2009, 9:45 am
  #16  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

Originally Posted by northerner
I find the cost of living in Sydney less than the UK (we were in Manchester for the record).

As a figure hasn't been put to council rates yet I'll jump in. We pay about $1000 a year for our house. That's about 1/3 what we paid in Manchester!

Graham
Ours is well over $2000 here in Brisbane
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Old Jan 16th 2009, 11:26 am
  #17  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

Originally Posted by Grayling
Ours is well over $2000 here in Brisbane
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Old Jan 17th 2009, 3:59 am
  #18  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

I stuffed up on my figures for rates in my earlier post.
The way NSW and QLD does it is different, and I mixed it up.

I currently have two rates bills in front of me:

NSW:
Rates for the quarter payable Dec 2008 $328.20

QLD:
Rates for the quarter payable Jan 2009 $644.34

However..
The QLD bill includes Water, but the NSW one doesn't:

The actual rates only breakdown is:

NSW:
General Rates $328.20 ($1,312.80 per year)
Water $321.95 ($1,287.80 per year)
Total $ 650.15 NSW ($2,600.60 per year)

QLD:
General Rates $336.60 ($1,346.40 per year)
Water $307.74 ($1,230.96 per year)
Total $644.34 QLD ($2,577.36 per year)

Not much difference really.
 
Old Jan 17th 2009, 5:42 am
  #19  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

All the previously mentioned figures seem to be very good ones for preparing an initial budget. My only comment is on telephones and Internet.

If you have ADSL2 in your area you can use Naked Internet, this means that you only pay for the Internet which usually includes a generous allowance of free local and national calls, generally enough for the average family. For overseas calls I would use Skype because the quality is now so good, their latest software controls the echoes and line noises.

You buy a VOIP modem which is connected to your phone line, you plug any ordinary phone into it, could be cordless or anything, generally an answering service that can be accessed elsewhere is included along with a few other things for free. The average charge for both phone and Internet is $79.95 allowing for about 25 GBytes a month. The biggest problem is that during a power cut your phone does not work but if we ever get ADSL2 in our area I will get a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) to keep the phone going.

Fax machines do not normally work with Naked Internet but I have a solution for that. When scanners used to be very expensive I had a device that connected a fax to a PC to use it as a scanner, all that it did was to generate a dial tone, still have the device so I can use it to keep my fax machine going. No doubt soon someone will come up with some software to send faxes over Naked Internet.

There is another system called Extreme Internet, that is similar but uses wireless broadband and I understand is very expensive.
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Old Jan 19th 2009, 4:03 am
  #20  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

Originally Posted by northerner
I find the cost of living in Sydney less than the UK (we were in Manchester for the record).

As a figure hasn't been put to council rates yet I'll jump in. We pay about $1000 a year for our house. That's about 1/3 what we paid in Manchester!

Graham
Really?
Where in manc? Where in Syd?
If you've exchanged somewhere like Macclesfield for Northern Suburbs I'm not surprised.

North London for 20 min walk from CBD same costs.
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Old Jan 25th 2009, 8:03 am
  #21  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

Originally Posted by Willin
Really?
Where in manc? Where in Syd?
If you've exchanged somewhere like Macclesfield for Northern Suburbs I'm not surprised.
Were in Swinton, now in Hills District.
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Old Jan 25th 2009, 9:36 am
  #22  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

I found grocery shopping more expensive in Oz than in Scotland as there isnt any equivalent of Asda (i.e. no real price wars) just Coles and Woolworths if I remember correctly but specific things like red meat and seafood were less in Australia and eating out is far cheaper and far more common. Food seemed more important to Aussies I felt, in the workplace guys talked to other guys about food and restaurants whereas i cant say i've ever experienced such conversations in the UK the equivalent over here would be alcohol and pubs.
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Old Jan 26th 2009, 7:21 am
  #23  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

Originally Posted by CaptainMerton
I found grocery shopping more expensive in Oz than in Scotland as there isnt any equivalent of Asda (i.e. no real price wars) just Coles and Woolworths if I remember correctly
Do you have an ALDI near you ?

Some ALDI prices today: (all but fresh produce are national prices)
  • Truss Tomatoes $2 kg
  • Bread 700gm white $1.09
  • Eggs 700gm Dozen $2.59
  • Apples Red, small & nice tasting, $2.00 kg
  • Ice Cream 4 litres $4.49 (great for kids bulk eating ice cream)
  • Jaffa Cakes 300gm pack $3.49
  • Milk 2lt $2.39
  • Sugar 2kg $1.45
  • Margarine 500gm $1.09
 
Old Jan 26th 2009, 7:48 am
  #24  
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Default Re: Sydney...cost of living

I find the quality of Aldi better in Australia then I do here. That is only my personal view on what I have experienced. People are free to debate this if they like.



Originally Posted by ABCDiamond
Do you have an ALDI near you ?

Some ALDI prices today: (all but fresh produce are national prices)
  • Truss Tomatoes $2 kg
  • Bread 700gm white $1.09
  • Eggs 700gm Dozen $2.59
  • Apples Red, small & nice tasting, $2.00 kg
  • Ice Cream 4 litres $4.49 (great for kids bulk eating ice cream)
  • Jaffa Cakes 300gm pack $3.49
  • Milk 2lt $2.39
  • Sugar 2kg $1.45
  • Margarine 500gm $1.09
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