swans

Doesn't mean anything,prices rise and fall same as the UK I expect.Exchange rates rise and fall so they have no meaning.

You need to work out how much it costs in local currency,for example people say the cost of cars here is very high,to me they are dirt cheap.A 6 cylinder falcon or commodore runs at around 30 weeks average wages.For a smaller car some of them will be around 10 weeks wages,in general anywhere from 15 20 weeks wages will buy most small cars..Second hand cars are ridiculously cheap,4-8 weeks wages will get a car that lasts for years,they are almost disposable items,throw away and get another one rather than fix it.

loaf of bread around $4,say 7 minutes work,and so on for everything.

People see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear.If you put a bit junk in the shopping trolley it will cost $50,the same $50 will also buy a few decent steaks and fresh fruit and vegies.

People here are the same as anywhere else,they buy houses and buy cars on average wages,they get by.Two people on below average wages can earn $100k a year,$36400 of that is tax free,and not a lot of tax to pay on the rest.That $100k is around 65000 quid a year,seems a fortune to me .When I left the UK my wages were around .4500 quid

Good luck

geordie downunder

The above is based on average wages of $75 k a year.

rinkerdink

I'm in Brisbane and based on the short time we've been here, provided you are prepared to shop around for groceries I reckon x2 would be about right ie half of the dollar cost in most things puts in £. If you don't want to shop around and like to buy the same things at one place every week (like most people do in the UK) then it would probably be x3-4 for the proportion of your salary you spend of groceries. Most other stuff the 2x will even out. something's more expensive others cheaper. I reckon you can save $100+ p/w by spending half a day shopping for food instead of 90mins in one place, my one personal pet annoyance is that you can't seem to get reasonable value in one shop for everything every week.

Wine very cheap, beer quite expensive
Brand new i30 with upgrades (trophy) $18k doubt you'd get the same for £9k.

But your opinion will probably be totally different to mine...

chris955

You cant base anything on an individual deal though, the list price for the base model i30 with no upgrades is $22,000 so to get one with upgrades for $6000 less is a fantastic deal and should be jumped on. Hyundais are not common here and buyers definitely dont benefit from the extremely good pricing they do in Australia. For other makes it is the other way around so not always a good example.

newkiwi

I think it is useful. Obv costs vary across Australia, and the UK for that matter, but that's why its just "a rule of thumb". It's not precise, but it is a lot better than taking your UK salary and multiplying it by the exchange rate of 1.6 or whatever.

If you are moving from Stoke to Sydney then the multiplyer is of course higher than if you were moving from Knightsbridge to rural Tasmania. But on average about 2.5 is not too far off the mark imo.