Comparison - cost of living Australia (out of interest)

[MangoTango28]

Random post, no real purpose but I find cost of living fascinating around the world. Always have. I have been reading posts about increasing costs in the UK and was keen to compare it to Australia where I live (orginally UK)

People are always saying to me how expensive they believe Australia to be but I don't see it that way to be honest. Food is sky rocketing though at the moment (lettuce and berries are off the shopping list for the foreseeable!!!)

I have been redoing our figures ready for a finance planning meeting (need to sort some extra insurances) and done a breakdown of our costs and thought others may find it interesting (or maybe I'm strange?!) I have converted to GBP based on Google conversion . I am not gloating just thought and interesting topic discussion .

We are 30. No kids (yet)

Monthly avg costs
Joint earnings per month after tax (avg) = £7190

Mortgage = £1146
Rates = £55 (more next year)
Electric = £85
Gas = £17.25
Water = £100
Contents insurance = £25
DP phone = £17.25
My phone = £46.93
Car 1 Insurance = £30
Car 1 Registration = $43
Car 1 Petrol = £114
Car 2 Insurance = £17.83
Car 2 Registration = $36
Car 2 Petrol = £40
TV subscriptions = £20
Spotify = £11
Food Shopping = £450

Leaving approx disposable income = £4936

Disposable is spent on savings, days out, hair, beauty, clothes , all the crap!
Possibly one or two items I may have missed that will come to me!

Last year we saved really hard for our house deposit whilst renting. We were lucky to be able to put a big chunk (DP does do lots of overtime )and this year has been doing up the house .

Is anyone suprised by the cost comparisons at all or as expected compared to where you live?

Really? :/
my rates are going up I did comment this as last year paid on build but I have spoken with friends etc to get rough ideas what's to come and also their bills etc and all very similar .... so I don't think anything's 'off'

Same with wages .
I will be going PT down the track so we will be in a very different position like you say.

Mortages is nowhere near a mil so that'll be making a difference.

What do you both do for work?

Just saw you're planning kids. Wait until you're paying childcare fees & you'll understand cost of living.

I cried with happiness when our youngest finished daycare two years ago because it was crippling us financially.

very very true!
fully disclosed no kids yet but the topic was still relevant to bills etc which was my main interest .

Trying to save in prep ready for these times and not working/ earning as much.

even after daycare we will have holiday club, before school club that sorta thing ahhhhh then teenagers ! Scary!

DH is a financial advisor, earns quite well for where we are. I'm off temporarily due to health but going back PT shortly. No idea what, though.

Our council rates are over 2k a year. Water rates are $350 before you even turn on a tap. Perhaps we should move to WA! It sounds so cheap in comparison.

Teenagers. Not ready for that yet..... Financial brain shorting out.....

It sounds as if there are major differences between states. BFF has just got rid of pool in NSW because of water rates.

I think are rates will also be nearer 1.5 this year , last year 1k (dollars) due to build . It's such a pain to have no transparency before the bill arrives!

There's massive differences in costs all over the country. I'm very worried fir pensioner parents & friends with huge mortgages & limited income increases.

How much is your local primary school uniform polo shirt?
How much is your smear test?

I find this an interesting thread given I live in NZ and NZ are so suppose to have much higher costs of living but it really is about the same. I am probably a lot more frugal than you but I earn much lower than you, and I am a single mum with a DD at uni whose currently living bludging off me at home.

• Electricity bill is only $50 higher and I am in the lower South Island where its bloody freezing atm so heating has been on a lot.


• Rates are only $20 more expensive (and that includes water).


• Car regos are cheaper here e.g DD just paid $55 for six months


• Food $500 (max) for the two of us


• Contents is slightly cheaper.

I am mortgage free due to inheritance, and I first went onto the property ladder in the early '90s.

Out of interest OP what is the price of petrol per litre over there? Its topped nearly $3 for 91 and just over $3 for 95, and govt has removed a signifcant proprotion of govt tax on petrol. I spent $80NZD to full up my car with 95. DD drives a granny small car so it was only $60.

DD is on 91. Also not sure if its the same in Australia but costs of petrol differ across New Zealand, its more expensive in the South Island because we do not have Gull. I also avoid using supermarkets if I can, my fruit and veg is a lot cheaper from the local markets. I have also cut down on the meat.

Your gas is cheap! Surely that will change even in WA. Our mortgage is double yours, our food costs at least double, and you have no medical - we have health insurance and still spend average of hundreds a month. 3 dc, 40 per gp, a single physio appt is100 for me, 70 for dp, dp & I have both had those recently, a specialist appt might be 180 after the rebate, then there are prescriptions etc.
then there is childcare and dc and occasionally our own activities. Our 6yo does auskick, gymnastics, basketball and swimming.
and then there are holidays… it climbs very quickly! We could easily spend less on food and going out and buying dc clothes but I wouldn’t want to cancel their activities.

I'm in Aus and the cost of living is high. But you honestly wouldn't think it was with how much people spend here.

House prices are insane. We are looking to buy and I honestly can't get motivated to sell our house and then overpay on the next one 🙄

We don't pay anything for doctors as we have a great bulk bill centre. I won't ever say the NHS is better.

We have 1 car although I imagine some time in the future we'll need to get a second one. Bought brand new for $22k. A friend has just spent $65k on a car, money she doesn't have according to her, but her and her dh haven't had a new car in such a long time so felt they deserved it.

Lots of Australian's try to keep up with the Jones's. Our interest rates are slowly rising and this will be a big wake up call to many to stop being so feckless.

I can't comment on cost of polos but my recent smear was free of charge.

I live in Australia but probably not a good example as I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘typical’ Australian.

I’m single, no kids and earn around 70k a year (before tax). Mortgage is $700 a fortnight. Currently no ongoing car expenses apart from registration which is about $200 every 3 months. My car is nearly 20 years old and will need replacing soon. Would buy a second hand car 2-3 years old but at the moment the price for those is around the same as brand new. For the type of car I’m looking at (compact SUV) I’m looking at 30k - 35k. Ouch. Have some savings to pay down the first 15k but the rest will need to be a loan.My train pass is $105 a month. Work in the CBD so driving to work is out of the question due to parking costs,

Rates are $300 every 3 months, has and electricity combined $400 every 3 months and water around $150 every 3 months. I spend way too much buying lunch at work and takeaways but don’t dine out much and then it’s mostly pub meals.

I’m in Adelaide (South Australia) for reference.

That is interesting - I was under impression NZ was more expensive then aus also!

petrol is floating between around $1.60 - $2.00 depending on day - luckily we don't run one of the cars to much. I imagine it's going to get higher by end of year though!

heinsight?

Wow at the berries. I live in inner Melbourne, close to an Aldi, a Coles and a Woolworths and all berries are about 6 bucks a punnet, with strawberries about $5. And even cheaper at the market. I just bulk bought some nappies, in case of a price hike, but they were actually on sale, so cheaper than they've been for over a year. Waiting for our electricity bill - we've not had the heating on, in order to save $$. It's freezing, but I bought us all wearable blankets and fleecy things. I've never been warmer!

What are your jobs OP? You have a huge amount of disposable income left every month. I'd be doing something with that - savings, investments, luxury holiday whilst you can.

Hi Op,

Prices higher but so are wages.
So as a resident don’t notice the high prices but would if I were here on holiday.

Some prices:
Iceberg lettuce $12 but scarce and news reports of price will increase to $15.

Cinema $25 and luxury $48 adult admission prices.

House prices in Capital prices in established suburbs are eye watering. You can buy a new build an hour out if capital cities but transport links poor and very few amenities.

Re: mortgages we never had the big house price drops.

People here borrow far more than in Uk, indeed up to 8 times salary !

Interest rates increased the other week 0.5 % and home owners are panicking and fixing their mortgages.

Sick pay is bad here. You get a maximum 20 days a year and then have to use unpaid leave. The only exception is if you are injured at work and are sick from this and then Workcover pays your sick pay,

so higher prices, higher income

hope this helps 🐈

Eekkk I meant 10 sick days per year!

Yes but sick days (or personal leave as it's known as) carries over @tinkerkitten so if you don't use 2 weeks every year, when you need it it's there.

Op, perhaps it would be better to ask what certain things cost where each reader is from, that way you may get a better comparison.
Eg. Loaf of bread, kw of electricity, a litre of petrol.
Also include how much they may have increased over a year or two.
I agree, it really is fascinating.

Things like house prices and so mortgages vary a lot by area though.

The house prices I see in here, for other parts of the U.K. are crazy high to me.

For reference the only houses near me in the 350-500k are 5 bedroom detached and either executive new build or come with land and outbuildings.

You seem to have a high salary relative to low housing cost- I'm in Sydney and i think even a 1 bed apartment is double that! Are you paying medical insurance at all? Your foodbill seems very low as well- I suspect you eat out so you don't have to cover that many meals- would be good to factor that in?
In general I think food/accomodation is expensive her- transport/fuel is cheap (even though everyone is whinging about petrol costs)