Cost of Living

Hi there, this is my first thread so hopefully I'm in the right place etc.. for someone to help me with my question........we are in the early stages of researching a move to Perth and wondered if anyone could tell me how realistic is it to live in Perth (outskirts) on a single salary of A$53000, we are a couple with two young children!

Thanks

Hi,

I guess it depends on alot of things really, where you are living, how far you have to travel to work (petrol has been quite expensive), I put about $40 per week into my hyundai accent. 2nd hand cars don't depreciate in value the same here so can seem expensive. We paid about $10,000 for ours which was about 3 years old.

My weekly shopping bill is almost about $300 per week for a family of 4 which is probably comparable to the UK

Have a look on www.aussiemove.com which is great for looking at suburbs/areas in Perth, it gives you a map so you can judge how far you are from the city. It will also help you see which are the most expensive suburbs to live in. Then look at www.realestate.com.au which shows rental properties, and you can get an idea of the weekly rents for the areas you like. I can't remember what my electricity and gas bills were ... but I know my water rates were $30, which was less than average for this area, but we hadn't been using the reticulation on the garden.

Ali x

Hi there, this is my first thread so hopefully I'm in the right place etc.. for someone to help me with my question........we are in the early stages of researching a move to Perth and wondered if anyone could tell me how realistic is it to live in Perth (outskirts) on a single salary of A$53000, we are a couple with two young children!

 

Thanks

How much money are you taking with you will it give you breathing space ect if this is the sole income with no back up well I will leave it to the more informed but good luck

We are managing on not much more than that until I start work in Feb. We live about 15/20 mins from the city and for a 4 bed house paying just over $400 a week. We have a teenager and a 10 year old and our shopping bill can be between $250 /$300 a week, we buy a lot of fresh meat and veg and try to buy whatever's in season. Petrol is cheaper than the Uk but had been rising like Ali said. It's going down now, albeit slowly.

If you're on a 457 visa, you can get some tax breaks regarding your rent, and you should qualify for a living away from home allowance, other than that you don't get anything from the government.

You should be ok on that salary, but it will be hard. We are living from pay day to pay day, but there are lots of free things to do over here, including the beach so it doesn't cost a fortune to go out for the day.

Hope that helps.

tight, but possible. Lots of people do it, just don't expect to live on the beachfront and dine out every night. Cost of living here is about 2/3rd that of the UK with the exception of buying a house. They're a lot more expensive than back home.