Young(ish) single budget

[JonnoA]

Hi all,

 

Been browsing to find any recommendations for budgets, but think most people on here tend to be families or larger households.

 

Am moving over in Feb and just wanted to ask rough estimates of a monthly or weekly budget to live a comfortable existence. I will probably be flat sharing and be close enough to work to walk (near George street). I don't drive and like to eat out a couple of nights a week...plus like beer!

 

Thanks in advance,

J

[Petals]

Where are you moving to, each State is slightly different and of the cities Sydney is the most expensive.

[Rupert]

Hi all,

 

Been browsing to find any recommendations for budgets, but think most people on here tend to be families or larger households.

 

Am moving over in Feb and just wanted to ask rough estimates of a monthly or weekly budget to live a comfortable existence. I will probably be flat sharing and be close enough to work to walk (near George street). I don't drive and like to eat out a couple of nights a week...plus like beer!

 

Thanks in advance,

J

 

I work in Sydney and Brisbane and both have "George St" as one of the main streets in the CBD, so you are going to have to be more specific to get good advice.

 

Living in Sydney you would probably need about $500 per week for a flat and maybe $300 if you are sharing. For everything else, take what you need in Uk and multiply by 2.5 and that should cover it. There is no point looking at anyone elses budget, we all live differently.

[JonnoA]

Sorry, meant am moving to Sydney!

 

Have found plenty of rentals on Gumtree and the like between $200 and $250 per week sharing, so will budget $1250 per mo th for that...more meant general single living. I live in London, things here are v expensive eg pint of beer £4 - £4.50 most places, so hope they're not like $10 a beer!

 

But electricity, gas etc...heard travel is cheaper and eating out is a lot cheaper (here I tend to spend £30 to £50 on a standard meal out)

 

So any ideas on general living would be great...especially for 30 y o singles who might know where I'm coming from!

 

Cheers

[Rupert]

Sorry, meant am moving to Sydney!

 

Have found plenty of rentals on Gumtree and the like between $200 and $250 per week sharing, so will budget $1250 per mo th for that...more meant general single living. I live in London, things here are v expensive eg pint of beer £4 - £4.50 most places, so hope they're not like $10 a beer!

 

But electricity, gas etc...heard travel is cheaper and eating out is a lot cheaper (here I tend to spend £30 to £50 on a standard meal out)

 

So any ideas on general living would be great...especially for 30 y o singles who might know where I'm coming from!

 

Cheers

 

Rents are paid weekly not monthly and people are often paid weekly or fortnightly too, so might be worth thinking of your rental budget in weeks not months.

 

It is swings and roundabouts with general costs, honestly there is no need to over think this. If you need £200 a week in uk then you need about $500 here. That is really all there is to it.

 

Very surprised you heard eating out was cheap though! But as I say swings and roundabouts, travel certainly cheaper.

[Guest guest73691]

As Rupert has said, it is hard to give an estimate for weekly/monthly budgets as everyone will have different ideas about what they consider a comfortable existence. I arrived in Sydney in May and found for the first few months that I was spending a lot more than anticipated, mainly as I was out and about exploring and meeting new friends. Also, there were a lot of other outgoings for getting myself settled here e.g. for furniture for my room (as most rooms will come unfurnished). I found that I needed to buy quite a lot of clothes as, especially now it is summer, I found that a lot of the clothes I brought from the UK were not really suitable for the heat. Then again I only came over with two suitcases of stuff, so I did start with something of a capsule wardrobe!

 

In terms of renting, there are a few websites I found specifically for finding room mates - I can't recall which ones I looked at, but maybe try google. I found Gumtree to be a bit limited when I looked. It also has loads of 'room shares' advertised, but I didn't fancy sharing a room or living ten people to a 2 bed flat :-) It depends how many people you are thinking of living with and in what area (and I suppose how nice you want the place to be), but I'd say that rent of $200/250 is at the lower end. I certainly pay more than that - I live about a 15 minute walk from George Street.

 

I wouldn't expect eating out to be cheaper than in London (especially when you factor in alcohol with your meal), though it does depend where you go. There are certainly some restaurants where you could spend an absolute fortune, but they are nice for special occasions!