Hey
Good advice so far, I remember when we were planning to move out I often read treads like this, then groaned at the frequent reference to how expensive everyone thought it was here, thought they may have misjudged or got it wrong somehow.
The bottom line is, its the same but different, I agree you live to your means, I am nurse and on a good wage and my partner is in real estate so income is variable, we live on the Gold Coast. We do have additional expenses here that we did not have in the UK such as health insurance. We budgeted at home and do the same here, meals out are more of a treat, my son will be going to private school next year, something I would never have considered back home but is more the norm here.
Over the almost 3 years we have been in Australia (we did not come out with much money) we have made careful decisions, but still managed to make incorrect choices or make fantastic finds by accident. How much you spend will be based on what your expectations are, what standard of living will be acceptable to you e.g. rent could vary widely based on where you choose to live
Happy to give you a run do of our costs, if you pm me