Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

I do much more paid work here than I did in the UK. However as I stayed at home and did 24/7 unpaid work for 11 years that's not difficult :D

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

Wow... 11 years without sleep. I'm on the phone to Guinness now. :)

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

That's what the first few years felt like :lol: However, automatically sleeping so you wake up the second a child is standing by your bed about to vomit or because the boogy man is outside the bedroom window doesn't make for a great night's sleep but most men wouldn't get that. My husband could be offered a beer in his sleep and he'd wake up. A child screaming a yard away from his head gets missed completely :rolleyes::D

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

Hmmmm.... all sounds frighteningly familiar. :)

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

How do you blokes do it? Every guy I know is the same when it comes to children wanting something in the night. They're deaf. How??????????? :curse:

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

Am I the only person who thinks Australia is not that expensive?
I think if you compare something using the exchange rate right now it will look about 33% more expensive than August 2008. But its just artificial...
We have been here 4 months now and we just compare prices by saying this meal cost me 2 hours work to buy....We always agree that things are cheaper if you compare it as a function of your new pay.
We live in Mackay where it is pricey 'cos the rich pickings at the mines round here. But even then it seems okay.
For example I was drinking some beers at last night. I bought 6 beers from Dan Murphys for about one fifth of an hours pay. Back home on my old pay it would have been half an hours pay to buy 6 pack of premium beers...does that make sense?
We are happy we made the move even though we lost thousands of pounds moving when we did!!
HKA

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

It's just the two of us, everyone else says its exp

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

I hear you...

Wouldn't say it wasn't expensive but you are one of the first posters in years to explicitly not talk about FX rates but to work out what is it as a function of your new pay...way to go...!!!

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

I did ....in my case it is infinite:lol:

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

OK, OK. I got a decent sandwich in London in 2010 for 10% of my hourly pay in 2005. I couldn't get the same sandwich here for 10% of my hourly pay I know that. However I could get much cheaper Sushi. So I guess it depends what example you pick!

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

Well as a six pack costs about $16 as minimum that puts you on $80 an hour. 40hr week and that's $166k a year. I'm not surprised you don't think its expensive.

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

I don't compare directly to UK prices any more, been here too long for that. But I cancompare to the prices I was paying when I first got here 6 years ago, and the have gone up horrendously.
Looking at costs back home, they don't seem to have risen so steeply. Hence for my point of view its now far more expensive to live here than when I first arrived, and thats what really matters. Livin here is no longer anywhere near as cheap as it used to be.

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

We definitely find food and alcohol more expensive than the UK.

However (and this is something you may not all be considering), the first year (or two or even three) of moving you often find yourself having to rebuy many of the items you had originally and stocking up your house. Sometimes from an absolute perspective, this can all add up.

When we first moved to the UK (from NZ) we forever seemed to have to buy each and every item we took for granted when we lived in NZ. Therefore the first couple of years seemed expensive as much of our disposable income was going on bedding, kitchenware, storage etc etc. Our overall perception of our wealth and savings was impacted by these purchases.

Mid 2008 we moved to Australia - although we shipped most of it here, there were still plenty of bits and pieces we needed to buy to (and I am a sucker for wide screen TVs etc ;). Hence the pattern repeated, although luckily to a lesser extent.

Anyway the point I am trying to make is that Australia seems less expensive to us now than when we first moved as we have more $ to paydown the mortgage or treat ourselves.

Furthermore, the longer you live in a place, the more opportunity there is to find bargains and good service.

One point I must make is that dental work here is prohibitively expensive. I was given a quote last week to do $13,600 worth of work!!! A trip to Asia might be in order :blink:

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

:eek: ..Yep, go to Asia, for that price you'll get a brand new set of 32:D

Re: Why Australia is Expensive?
 

Might be worth starting a new thread here (sorry to go off topic) about whether anyone knows of a good dental clinic in SE Asia that they have used and are happy with.

The dentist here that supplied that quote, well the extractions alone cost $450 each (and I need 2 teeth removed)!!

Might just get some of that over priced Aussie alcohol, ring up my big mate Bryan and get him to administer a left hook....:thumbsup: