Is the cost of living really so much more in Australia?

[shrimponastick]

Was just watching 'Wanted Down Under' - and the family were calculating their daily living expenses.

After adding up the costs of shopping, utilities etc they were significantly worse off compared to living in the UK.

I was just interested if that is really the case? Don't your shopping/eating habits change accordingly?

Salaries are higher.
Less imported foods -or further distance keeps prices of fruit and veg high.
Big seasonal price differences.

We went in April and were amazed by how expensive everything is, but that is partly down to the weak pound v the au dollar, dp is Australian and we are used to getting much more for our money than we did this year!
I think many people that take part in that program think property will be really cheap, but that's not the case anymore, and again the exchange rate effects the value of their home here if they sell it.

I think there's still this enduring idea that its all so much cheaper here, as well as being sunny all the time. People are unreasonably surprised to find that it's like lots of other western countries - expensive. The property market is more affordable right now.

The mark up on quite a lot of goods is shocking, so we go online. There's periodic talk of putting GST on online purchase to protect Australian retailers, but it would STILL be cheaper than some of the cheeky prices they charge.

For fresh food, we buy at a wholesale outlet, seasonally, and Australianly. This means no grapes for several months, but this is no big deal, we eat the fruit that IS cheap.

The real issue is what's going to happen here now prices of iron ore have dropped significantly as China reins in production. Standby for a drop in the dollar, but a rise in unemployment.

It is the weakness of the pound versus the Aussie Dollar that is causing it.

However, in the last month the Aussie Dollar has begun to weaken as global commodity markets have begun to weaken. Australia is a major metal exporter and the strength of those exports especially to China has driven up the currency over teh last 5 years. Now the Chinese economy is contracting the Aussie Dollar is now weakening but stil has a heck of a long way to go to get back to £1 = AUD 2.50. It is currently around £1 = AUD 1.50.

The same has happened to the NZ dollar and is the reason we did not emigrate to New Zealand last year. Our visa finally expires at the end of this month - just as their currency finally begins to weaken.

Absolutely - shocking markups, low competition for the consumer dollar = everything seems to cost three times what it did in the UK when we lived there. Plus there are expenses that were avoidable in the UK sych as needing to run two cars because of distances involved and poor public transport. We nominally earn more but our real standard of living is much, much diminished

It's all relative isn't it if you are earning dollars then it's no big deal but the number just seem huge, $4000 a month in rent seems mental to me. $500 a week for groceries, can you imagine spending £375 in tesco's ?

Well you still need to eat, don't you! My budget for food in the UK when I left was 60pounds a week. That included cleaning products etc. The equivalent to 60pounds here is about $94. There is NO way I could get a weeks shop for that here NO way at all. VERY basic shop here $200. Lucky to get that...that is usually only if I don't need cleaning products/household stuff.

Take into consideration that you have to pay for public schools/preschools here, plus you have to get the booklist (text books, study books etc) that your child needs - schools rarely supply them) And you have to pay doctors. And there is no cap on prescription charges. There is no affordable (NHS etc) dentistry.

Also, in summer, yeah you have your heating off, but if you want to live in comfortable surrounds, you need your air con on. So your utilities bills don't get a break!

And no, wages are not always higher.

It's everything though isn't it. I am totally used to, and quite like, eating seasonally. The meant and fresh produce is of a very high quality, and I find the meat to be a good price.

But when I wanted a fitted sheet for a single bed I couldn't believe how expensive they were. It's all the ordinary things like that which make me swoon. Our (ordinary state school) school top is $34, the jumper is $40.

And sometimes it's too easy to compare things like if you are buying a pair of Converse for example you can see the price is three times as much. Or things on itunes. The exact same thing, 3x as much-no shipping of course for itunes!

Wanted Down under is ridiculous. They show them houses that are literally hours from anywhere on those new estates, or 'just an hour and a half from Melbourne or in really bad areas. They always say they want a better family life hen the wife says it will all be fine as she will go back to work. I paid $86 a day for daycare. That is never mentioned. No Granny looking after the kids when you are an immigrant!

I wrote to the BBC and complained when there was one with a lad with special needs and Nicky Campbell was taking them round some residential home that was all fantastic and wonderful and in a Forest. No mention of how much it would cost. Thousands. At the end of the programme it said their visa had been rejected but it annoyed me so much that this false impression was being given. You get nowt for nowt here! At my dd's school if you don't pay for swimming lessons/school camp/trips-you don't go.

Einsty Agree re two cars! I didn't learn to drive until I moved here & realised that it was that or getting everywhere on the bus (in temps of 40...unbearable to say the least). So now we have 2 cars, with all that entails. And road tax is NOT cheap here!

Thankfully, just recently dh has been given a company car & petrol allowance. Unfortunately it is a single cab ute, so we are not yet able to get rid of his car, as he needs it for when I am at work. Having 2 dc he needs more space than the ute cab. He is working on getting a twin cab, but in the mean time we still have to run 2 cars fully insured etc. So aren't really feeling the benefit of the company car yet!

Yes it is bloody expensive.

Hint: just had DS's school uniform list - polo shirts @$24 (£16) and I'll probably need 2 or 3.
My friend's DS here needs 100% cotton polo shirts - she has chosen to order them from M&S in the UK because she can get 2 for ~£5, plus £15 P&P to Australia - so she gets 2 for £20 and they're 100% cotton, while I have to pay nearly that for 1 polycotton one.

Variation in fresh fruit and veg prices is phenomenal - possibly the worst I've seen is grapes, which can go from ~$2/kg to ~$16/kg in a week. The supermarkets don't absorb the price alterations, they're passed straight on to the public.

Petrol is about the only thing that is still cheaper, but if you do compare it to the UK prices, then it's no longer that much cheaper because of the exchange rate. I've been coming to Australia since 1997 (when the exchange rate was, iirc, ~$4 to the £1) and petrol has always been the same in figures, penny for cent - so petrol in the UK should be around £1.50/L at the mo, as it's ~$1.50/L here.
Oh and the trains are cheaper. But not all of them. It might only cost me $11.40 for a return to the city, which is 2h each way; but if I were to take the train to the international airport from as few as 3 stops away, it would cost me $15 one way.

Even though the NMW is higher here ($15/h), it still works out expensive.

I still buy clothes and things for DS from the UK when we go back - not only cheaper but better quality! Underwear for me too; and casual shirts for DH all come from the UK. Books - either I get them from chazzer shops, bargain basement shops, Book Depository. com or Amazon.co.uk when they're doing their "no delivery charge" to Australia.

Friends of mine will buy large toys from American sites and get them shipped over here because it's still cheaper, even with delivery costs, than buying them here.

Rates and utility bills can be frighteningly high, depending on area - I am so glad I persuaded DH that we needed to get solar panels for hot water and electricity to keep our bills down, other people in my area have seen their electricity bills double this year (comparing same quarter with same quarter last year) - we'll have "paid it off" in less than 5 years at this rate.

Then there are all the costs that you don't have in the UK - health care costs, dental, bank charges (these are amazing! they charge you for anything they can think of!).

I too cannot believe the cost of linen here. I can't remember the last time I bought stuff for us! I ask the grandparents for linen for the girls for Christmas!

I did get a good deal on a sheet pack, only for the seams to give after 2 uses/washes. I soon realised why it was such a good deal!

And it is telling that it is cheaper to buy books overseas & pay shipping than buy them here.

YY to bank charges! When we first came over our first bank charges were $50! Now we have a flat monthly fee, thankfully.

Thankfully our school allow you to buy plain non logo'd stuff, so I can use target for cheaper shirts etc. But dd wanted school dresses ($90 a pop). Thanks to MIL she got it, but there is NO way I could do that!

I am taking back the Leappad I bought for dd2 to Taaaarrrget as it was $168 and my MIL is buying me one from amazon for US$99-and it's the next model. The same one that you can get here is $60.

I got my fitted sheet at Next in the end and I live right next to Brandsmart with it's many, many discount linen emporiums.

Has anyone heard from SunnyDelight? I hope she is OK.

Ah yes, I forgot about having to supply everything for school - only just found out about that because DS is starting in February! So we will be paying for all his school books, text and exercise, and there are "voluntary" (ha!) payments that have to be made as well, fuck knows what those are for. Uniform is compulsory from 5/6yo as well.

For a nation of seafood lovers, fish is bloody expensive too. The local fish is often the most expensive! The cheapest fish comes from sewage-filled rivers in Vietnam, not something I'm keen to eat, tbh. I always buy fish from either Australia or NZ (it should be better, although of course one never knows).

And it appears that the NSW premier, Barry O'Farrell (they're called Liberals here but effectively they're Tories), is taking a leaf from Scameron's book and cutting services for education, special needs and the elderly - oh joy.

Savoy - I have - I have her mobile number. She is sort of ok but not really as far as MN is concerned and has no intention of coming back. PM me if you want to.

My dd2 won't wear the un-logoed stuff as she got told off in prep for showing her knickers on the monkey bars. So now she is a uniform maniac. DD2 has some plain ones from Next. They are much admired as they have the scalloped edge collar.

Did you know that if you use the Book Depository with your VPN on it's cheaper?

Thanks Thumbwitch, I will when dd has got off the real computer. Can't do it from the ipad and I am cruelly making her do her homework as we are having a teacher strike.

Course, I could have put them in Camp Australia for $60 each......

I didn't, but thank you! Will try that next time. :)

Of course, now the Australian Govt want to start charging everyone on overseas imports so that the Aussie retailers aren't so disadvantaged, and it inflates the cost of bringing stuff into the country - but I really hope that doesn't happen. There are some exceedingly greedy people here - I know there are everywhere but they seem to be less regulated here!

If you are earning Australian dollars, you can't compare to pounds using the exchange rate - a 2:1 ratio is much more realistic.

Some stuff is more expensive (food, luxuries), other stuff is much cheaper (petrol, utilities etc.).

We pay $440 a week in rent and receive 750pounds a month in rent in the UK.

Where the hell do you live that utilities are cheaper, Arana? Mind you, I'm 3y out of date with utility bills in the UK now, but people I know around here are receiving electricity bills of ~$900 per quarter - that's a lot of money!

Maybe we are in the honeymoon period but as expensive as Australia might be the UK is bloody expensive when you aren't working and here we both have good jobs, I lost one and found another with a 20% pay rise in 3 weeks. In the UK I was earning less in June 2012 than I was as a grad in 1999.
I still think it was worth the upheaval personally.

Final gas and electric bill for us in the UK was £600 for the quarter. It's about the same I guess.
Lack of variety in food is my biggest gripe and the fact that IGA is causing a massive stink about a woolworths opening because they do not want competition choice introduced to the neighbourhood as it'll drive down prices and the local people agree, I find that odd.

Oh and we've been here 8 weeks and I've already had an M&S delivery of shoes and tights !

When I see posters talking about pounds I still tripple the amount (as when I lived there and the pound was strong) to get a feeling for the sums they are talking about. I think that is still fairly accurate compared to income.

$500 a week on groceries is insane! Finally, I feel more frugal than someone.

$500 is a good week it's been $750 when first got here