rld1177

Just finished up my first week in Melbourne, moving from Denver, Colorado (with about 8 years in London before that).

Some initial thoughts:

Buy Australian is 80% of the problem with prices here. Keep out cheaper imports and keep power in the hands of a couple supermarkets and you get 2.99 bananas.

Food and drink costs here are twice as bad as the worst thread warning on this site. When I first saw a 2 liter of coke going for $4.5 vs .99 cents or less in the USA, or sandwhich meat with enough content for 2 sandwiches at $7 I had to do a double take. To 'save money' I thought Id buy two sandwhich meat packs, cheese, and bread and dropped about 25$ on that alone. On the other hand, you can get a Hungry Jack breakfast for $4.95 and a large dominos pizza (pick up only) for 6.95$ so I can only guess Australians are going to pack on the pounds like Americans the next few years when healthy, decent food (no comment on bananas, see the other 1000 posts on this topic) is out of reach of the middle class. I am north of 160K here as well, single, and feel very middle class here. 125K in NYC at least I felt like I was doing OK and 110K in Denver seems like 300K in Australia.

That said, I have yet to explore the markets, search out bulk buys, that kind of thing, but you know you are in an expensive place when you fear buying 'the next round' at a work function because you know you will drop 100 USD for 7 drinks, and you silently curse the woman drinking 20$ wine glasses when the other guys are on 8$ 'cheap' pints.

The city itself is fairly clean, not too busy, and has a laid back feel. Employment here is high as everyone knows but it does feel like there are too many people doing similar jobs - Id say the work life balance in the USA is far worse but despite higher unemployment is perhaps a bit more efficient. Everyone here of course will draw conclusions based on one employer quite likely however so this is simply based on experience at a large bank.

The property market and general attitude remind be of the USA in the late 1990's - full employment, property prices 'only going up', lucky people sitting on houses that are worth 4 times what they were say 15 years ago but flat to down over the last few years, serious discussion about the merits of interest only mortgages (you would be laughed at for this in the USA now), and banks will to give you 30K limits on your credit cards (already offered one in person and this in a 4 year temp visa!!), again just like the USA 12 years ago. In short it feels like a 'fun ride' for a couple of years if the house of cards doesnt all blow up, and if commodity demand stays up so the government can tax it and hit the middle class with things like carbon taxes, etc. Id say if you are single and on north of 120K you could come here and have a decent life but dont think for a second you are anything but middle class vs what you could do in the UK or, especially, the USA for that kind of money.

Don't mean the above negative, just observations. The city is beautiful, people are nice enough (remind me a lot of british that are in shape but spent a bit too much time in the gym and thus lost some of the ability to grasp sarcasm), and the outdoor options are great. I'd just think hard on it if your offer does not include a good relocation package and the 2.2 ratio of pounds to dollars everyone notes. Re USD to AUS Id say 3 to 1 at least from most major cities, 4 to 1 if you are coming from Denver like I did where you can buy a condo for 50K and a really nice one for 100K.

GoldCoastMag

Welcome to Australia -and Melbourne, glad you found the positives.

We found that it does become easier to find what you are looking for (eg bagels/black beans), in our case and we do a lot of home cooking. Gradually our tastes have adjusted.

Bananas were 99c per pound in Florida, that isnt much different when you are getting 2.2 lbs per kilo

benhila

Your 8 years in London must have had a huge impact. Welcome to the class-less society!

jad n rich

Having spent 6 weeks in USA/canada recently I can well believe any US citizen arriving would need resuscitation after the first trip to the shops.

We drove from LA to chicago and came back to SF on amtrak and nowhere was even remotely priced like aus.

I think the fat/obese % in both countries is very similar, at one stage australia had advanced on USA.

Melb is probably one of the most expensive bits of australia to be fair, some places are slightly cheaper, housing and stamp duty in qld for would be half the price. But wages are not that much lower.

Travel as in airfares overseas, hotels etc are Need hotel rooms for business in brisbane next month, I could go 5***** luxury in USA for half the price of a old dump. Mind you we did find bedbugs in a very very swanky hotel in Dallas so that took the shine off a bit

Melbourne is a good place, by aus standards a lot to do there and not too far to drive somewhere decent for a weekend.

Mummy3

My OH goes to the US a lot and is horrified on every trip with the availibility of donuts, coke, fast food etc.
Do people grow their own in Aus? or are the creepies and possums a problem?
Lunch meats are high in salt anyway!!

rld1177

Does it feel class-less to you? I'm still new here and have a lot to learn but I guess the point I was making was 70K vs 140K in the USA, especially say Denver where I was last year, yields a far better life - nicer car, much nicer house, good vacations, private schools. You could fill up a car with food on 100 USD so you could live a nice middle class life on even 35K. Here I'd guess that is poverty levels.

Here I personally dont see 80K vs 160K as having as big of an 'impact' on true lifestyle. Ive been looking at apartments from 450 a week to 800 a week and while I see improvements obviously for more money it is not so dramatic. A pub dinner of fish and chips and a beer near work was 27 dollars. On say 160K that is no problem but the average earning here is about 65K I think. The local news here noted 150K if you are married with kids is very middle class. That said there are plenty of bankers where I work north of 350K and they are not exactly living a 'class-less' lifestyle. Same goes for people in mining. I do wonder how people outside of mining and banking get by here, but I guess as the other person noted I need to focus more on learning what to buy and eating at home more.

One point about USA food prices to be fair, there are a lot of govt tax breaks and things behind the scenes that keeps prices lower, maybe that isnt going on in Australia and you see the impact of no import competition + no government subsidies?

Very exciting place to be at any rate! Cheers

benhila

My remark was kind of tongue-in-cheek.

In my books money has nothing to do with class and "class" as in lower, mid, upper is an archaic concept anyway.

I do take your point, though, that cost of living here is sky-high compared to either the USA or the UK.

elice_in_oz

We've tried growing doughnuts in the garden but the possums got fat on them and the council fined us for harming an endangered species!

More seriously, it looks like the trend is definitely towards growing your own, especially around where we are (hippy country ). And yes, the stoopid possums can ravage a vegetable garden easily so it can be a bit of a labour of love.

To the OP, do you live in the CBD or inner suburbs? Even supermarket prices seem inflated to me when I venture into the CBD

We have a local butcher who sells chicken breasts for $6.99/kg which from memory is way cheaper than the supermarket. Our greengrocer is often cheaper than the supermarket for in-season fruit & veg, and Aldi do have a decent selection of every day stuff at lower prices. I agree that the first few supermarket trips can be a shock, but if you make the effort to seek out the better value places, you will see a drop in your shopping costs. Vic market is of course the best place to get all your fresh stuff, but be aware that fruit & veg is a lot cheaper in the upper sheds (along Peel Street) than in the ones near the deli hall. Also, meat and fish can be good value, but you have to know the best times and days to get the cheaper stuff, usually the day before a day off.

TBH, I don't think people earning AU$ should be converting and comparing to US$ or UK£ as everything will automatically appear extremely costly because of the strong AU$. But then again, it seems that people on here can't help converting... We came to Australia when the UK£ was very high and we thought it all was soooo cheap. Yes prices and COL have risen since, but when I compare how much costs have increased in Europe (France and the UK) and here, there is not much difference. Just that the falling € and £ have made it look like prices have risen only here.

MUST LEAVE UK

I must say, having just got back myself. I was shocked at the price of some basics, even plain old pork cuts where megga. But it does pay to shop around.
I was at the bayside centre in Frankston. At one end you have a big safeway, with a small aldi on one side and a grocer on the other. The bread and eggs at the grocer where almost half the safeway price !!! next door !!.
Oh and was I having such a good time I was high on Melbourne or is the water in the bay less salty than the UK, tasted so to me on a swim.

rld1177

So true and good advice for new people here - Im finding the same and things are the reverse of the USA - the big supers actually are often not just a little more but a lot more vs markets, corner shops, etc. Seems to be a lot of strange '50%' off sales too on random products so maybe it is good to look for deals and buy when you see them. Case and point I found a nice suit store on collins selling 400$ designer suits under 200 each going out of business - so I guess it pays to just be flexible and be willing to cut out things. Happy hours here also seem decent - finding some god bars with 5 dollar pints between 5-7 so no worse than london and actually a bit better.

Noorhanna

Hi all,

Very interesting reading all your comments about the cost of living in Melbourne. My family and I are thinking of moving out there. We currently live in London, UK. The cost of living is making me think other wise of the move. Can I get more advise please? Food shopping on average to a weekly shop in the UK, how much more expensive is it working out when you convert to the current £ from the $...?

Also do they have supermarkets like we do here Tesco's, Sainsburys etc that sell clothes, toys, household items for cheap but not bad quality?

Clothes for kids and adults, are they more expensive than the UK? Do you see any of the same stores as you have in the UK, i.e. Next, Debenhams, Gap, TK Max or other outlet shops?

Anyone been to the Doncaster area? What kind of shops do they have there? As that's the area likely moving to.

If someone was earning in the region of $350,000 pa, would they be very well off and just get by? A family, with two young kids that is.

Really apprecaite any information, advise, insight to what life is really like in Melbourne compared to UK.

Thank you and look forward to hearing from you.

Hanna

Buzzy--Bee

You would be among the top 0.1% of earners in Australia.

BB

elice_in_oz

We earn half that and we consider ourselves well-off so I would say you would be VERY well-off on $350,000.

Noorhanna

Thank you for your reply. That's great to hear
but am confused as some ppl have said due to the cost of
living the exchange rate should be looked
at as €2.5 to every £1. If this is the case then €350,000
works out around £150,000 which is no better
to what earnings in the UK are.

Is €2.5 to every £1 realistic?

Do you mind me asking if you have kids and
do you rent, own a house, can afford to travel back to
the UK once a year, etc.

How much does health insurance cost for a family
of 4?

Thank you so much for your help.

Hanna

benhila

This thread is becoming somewhat surrealistic.

As noted by others, you'll be earning a fortune compared to most.

Of course, if you live in 4 houses and eat 12 meals a day (all in Michelin star restaurants) it may not be enough.

Otherwise, you'll be fine.