DhakaBoy

In view of our upcoming move to Sydney, I have tried to estimate our potential living costs based on various other threads on BE. We are a family of 3, which includes a preschooler. Just wanted to have a reality check on these estimates.... any feedback will be graciously received.

MONTHLY COSTS:
Rent ($450/w x 4w) $1,800
Grocery ($200/w x 4w) $800
Utilities (gas, electricity, water) $250
Public transport for 2 ($50/w x 4w x 2) $400
Landphone $20
Mobile phones for 2 $100
Internet $60
Preschool ($70/d x 3d/w x 4w) $840
Restaurant ($80/w x 4w) $320
Weekend activities ($150/w x 4w) $600
Miscelleneous $200
Total $5,390

freebo

Depending on where you want to live the rent sounds a little low, especially if you expect a house, can't comment on the others as I don't pay the bills but they don't sound too far off, maybe also a little low.

carolinephillips

Rent is too low. Where I live you can double it.

freebo

You can easily double it and even then not get much in many areas.

mecheng

RENT:- depends on where you live but given there are 3 of you, you'll require a 2 bedroom apartment as a minimum. Rent will depend on where you live but if you're living inner city (approx. 10km of the city), which covers a number of suburbs, then $450pw is quite low. Such a figure would more likely get you a 1 bedroom apartment, but of course the further you move out from the city, then the lower the rents will likely be. I would suggest you look at realestate.com.au &/or domain.com.au to get an idea of the market. Rents advertised as $pw are usually calculated monthly by first, dividing pw by 7, multiplying the figure by 365 and then dividing by 12, at which point this is $pm. It's different to say London where the $pw is x52 and then divided by 12. Not a huge amount of difference, but a difference nonetheless.

GROCERIES:- I would think this is a fair estimate but be warned that grocery prices in Australia on many levels tend to be higher than the UK. Unfortunately, the competition in Australia is far less than in Europe.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT:- depends on where you live and where you want to travel but sounds like a fair estimate. Unfortunately Sydney does not have an oyster card system - it's a crappy ticket system that has to be among the worst in the western world.

LANDPHONE + INERTNET:- I'd bundle the landphone with the internet as BT does, otherwise you'll be paying closer to $30 for line rental alone. There are a number of companies that include iiNet, TPG etc etc.

Hope this little bit of info helps.

DhakaBoy

Thanks mecheng. I was looking to live within an hour's commute to CBD. Sutherland Shire seems to fit the bill. Bundling landphone and internet is an excellent idea. TPG looks good!

DhakaBoy

Thanks freebo and carolinephillips.

Steve2009

There's 52~ weeks in a year mate. 4.34~ weeks per month. I'm not trying to be smart, It will likely colour your figures a lot differently.

Tubbs2Oz

We currently pay $480/week in Berowra Heights (right up North of Sydney), 45 mins commute on the fast trains. $190/28 days train ticket. So basically up this way all seems about right! Don't forget that preschool wise if you are both working you can get 50% tax rebate quarterly.

Good luck.

Beedubya

That rental figure is good for Sutherland Shire, you will get a very modern, decent unit (apartment) for $450.00 per week but not a house.


http://www.rent.com.au/searchr.asp?S...SortBy=p.price



Ask any questions you have about the area and I will try my best to help you.

ABCDiamond

In some parts of Sydney, $450pw is a lot. In others it is low.
It does depend very much on the location.

ABCDiamond

Some examples:

Milk: 2 Litres Own Brand
Tescos: Own Label Whole Milk 2.272Ltr/4 Pints £1.55 = A$2.48
Woolworths: Homebrand Milk Whole Bottle 2L $2.24

Cadburys Milk Tray
Tesco: Cadburys Milk Tray 200G £3.99 = A$6.38
Woolworths: Cadbury Milk Tray 200g $6.99

Rice 2KG
Tesco: Own Label Long Grain Rice 2KG £2.43 = A$3.89
Woolworths: Homebrand Rice Long Grain 2kg $3.18

DhakaBoy

Interesting comparison! Thanks for sharing this. when the exchange rate returns to a more decent level of A$2 to a pound, it will look more like this:

Milk: 2 Litres Own Brand
Tescos: Own Label Whole Milk 2.272Ltr/4 Pints £1.55 = A$3.10
Woolworths: Homebrand Milk Whole Bottle 2L $2.24

Cadburys Milk Tray
Tesco: Cadburys Milk Tray 200G £3.99 = A$7.98
Woolworths: Cadbury Milk Tray 200g $6.99

Rice 2KG
Tesco: Own Label Long Grain Rice 2KG £2.43 = A$4.86
Woolworths: Homebrand Rice Long Grain 2kg $3.18

Exchange rate favouring, Australia would definitely look much cheaper!

DhakaBoy

Thanks for pointing that out, Steve. It does add few hundreds more to the monthly figure!

DhakaBoy

Thanks Tubbs20z, its comforting to know that we might be able to find something at around $450/w. Initially, my wife will not be working, so we may not qualify for the 50% tax rebate.