Worried about the cost of living

[SueRich]

Hi All,

I'm starting to get a little concerned about the cost of living in Oz and just wanting some advice and someone to ease my mind!

I have looked at all the bills we pay here in the UK and then all the bills we would have to pay in Oz. Apart from the odd one or two things (for example fuel) everything else seems to be more expensive in Oz! I know there are some things we would save on (do not have to have MOT each year) but this is give and take as there are also extra bills (for example health insurance) that we would have to pay down under.

I have looked at wages and if I work in the same sort of job and the same hours in Oz as I do here in the UK then I would earn double what I earn now so I guess this evens everything out... But i'm still worried!

Advice and reassurance needed please.

Sue

Ps: This is what I have estimated that we would pay in Oz per year for some bills (in £'s not $) - Gas & Elec: £1700, Rent: £12000, Council Rates: £1000, Home Ins: £600, Car Tax (for 2 cars) £250, Health Insurance: £2000, Equivalent of Sky TV: £850, Water Rates: £450.

Do you think I have budgeted enough or too much???

Also, does anyone know if you have to have a TV licence in Oz - Can't seem to find this info on the internet.

[leedslass123]

Hi Sue
We have been here a few years now orginally from Leeds

Cost of living in general is higher but like you say the wages are alot higher as well so its all relative we find

Costs all depend on whether you would be renting or owning a home as well as how many people in house etc etc.

Just to give you a rough idea pls see below what we pay in a 4 x2 home with a mortgage (all in $ not sure what rate is back to pounds)

Mortgage - $2600 per month
Gas - $126 per quarter
Elec - $ 120ish per quarter (depends if we have had air con on or not)

When we rented it was $320 per week but average os anywhere between $300-$600 per week depending on house, location etc

Council rates $1600 per year in our area, not payable if you are renting home owner pays, they are paid for the full year in advance but you can split them into 4 equal payments

Home Insurance - $135 per month with contents

Car Insurance - $90 per month for 2 cars. You get 3rd party insurance inc in the rego (car tax) but we choose to upgrade to fully comp

Car Tax (rego) - $1000 per year for 2 cars

Health Insurance - $120 per month full cover (for 2) inc hospital cover etc, lots of different plans so again price is variable

Foxtel (sky) - around $50 all depends on what package you choose

Petrol is around $1.32 a litre at the moment

Our food bill is about $120 per week as we only buy tinned food/bread etc in the supermarkets and shop for fruit/veg/meat at markets which is alot cheaper.

There is no TV licence to pay here and also one thing to bear in mind is that we dont pay things like National Insurance.

We live on just one wage and manage more than comfortably. At first it can seem really expensive as you still convert everything back to pounds. Once you start earning dollars and paying in dollars its all relative.

Hope this helps!

[Cozzy]

Good ask Sue Rich!! And Great reply LeedsLass, Thank you for taking the time to do this. Its really good to hear it from someone whos doing it over there. If you dont mind me asking what does the Salary earner in your household do for living ?( I understand if im being too nosey here). Im a plumbing and Gas engineer and we (Family of 5/Me+ Wifey & 3 Saucepan Lids + dog!) coming over middle of next year and just trying to gauge things a bit as to what i will earn against what we will be able to afford. My first reaction to your thread was $2400 a month on the morgage, i was like whaaaaat!! but then having thought about it a bit its not so bad against the expected salary! I think im doing the old mistake of thinking in ££££ like you mentioned.

Thanks for your help and sorry to Sue for hijacking the thread a bit!
Dave (Cozzy)

[Give me a break!]

We are far better off financially here, my OH is on three times the salary he was on in the UK. There are many things that are cheaper here than in the UK and many things in the UK that are cheaper than here. It is all realative and once you weigh it out we are much better off here than in the UK. People who are quite well off in the UK then come here seem to have a harder time in my opinion. So if you are a top earner with a top propery you may be worse off I dont know as I was never well off

[leedslass123]

Hi Dave
My OH is a diesel mechanic based in perth he doent work away or anything. Like you say its all relative when you compare it to salary and other things. The worse thing you can do is compare it in pounds to the wage that you earn in the UK. My OH is on a salary around 2.5 times that he was on in the UK as well.

There is so much that can be taken into account but I always find that you spend what you earn and live within your own individual budget and circumstances.

As mentioned there are things that are cheaper and other things are more expensive

[Dalboyne]

Just to say thanks - great thread, really helpful!

[Cozzy]

Thanks again, great thread. Threads like this help sooo much. Cant wait !

[martync]

Are wages higher over there? They are if you work in a salaried job - PAYE but what I'm worried about is that i work as a contractor here in the UK and earn a good living. I have my own limited company.
I have not heard much about contractors working in Oz at all and my job if i work as a PAYE (staff) is naff here in the UK and only a bit better in Oz.

Can anyone shed light on this?

I work as an engineer in Oil & Gas normally.

[Stu]

I was a scummy contractor in Oil & Gas as well. It depends on what field you are in but with some of the big projects I've heard of contractors getting stupid sums (more stupid than the UK!), I have heard $2500 to $3000 per day being talked about but not actually met anyone getting that!
I would speak to Hays here or the like to see what they say.
I came across and took a slight pay cut (however got 25% increase after the first month to reflect the market) and I would class the wage to be about middle of the road. This has got us a nice house with pool, near the city, and two foriegn holidays a year, with one being back to the UK, so I think we're doing pretty well.

[charmedp3]

We too are in a far better situation here than we were in the UK and in the UK we both worked... here, only OH works. He is earning nearly 3.5 times what he earned in the UK and so the cost of your weekly bills really is relative to the increased earnings.

We personally found car insurance to be really cheap.... $330 for my small car and $500 ish for a landrover discovery... contents insurance around $30 pm, health insurance is around $180 pm,

You also learn to shop around and where to get the best bargains on your weekly groceries. Fuel is cheaper Monday to Wednesday and even DVD rental is cheap on a Tuesday.... you don't pick these things up right away but you soon figure it out....