Petals Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 So many posts requesting information about the cost of living. On newcom today they were talking about this site http://www.numbeo.com/common/ All you have to do is hit on the map of the world where you want the information and sign up and you can find out lots of stuff. The information is posted by people who use the site and live in the places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I haven't looked at the link Petals, I'm sure it will be a help for people thinking of moving ... The problem is what people perceive as a decent standard of living and their expectations ... Take a certain well known member of this site who has posted that he earns $250k a year, is just him and his wife yet constantly moans about how expensive everything in Perth is, how he can only afford a house at xxx etc etc. He lives an hour away from me, we live on one wage of less than half that amount for five of us, yes of course it would be nice to have more but we do ok, got everything we need and are happy enough that our lifestyle is more than worth what we have to pay to live here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 I haven't looked at the link Petals, I'm sure it will be a help for people thinking of moving ... The problem is what people perceive as a decent standard of living and their expectations ... Take a certain well known member of this site who has posted that he earns $250k a year, is just him and his wife yet constantly moans about how expensive everything in Perth is, how he can only afford a house at xxx etc etc. He lives an hour away from me, we live on one wage of less than half that amount for five of us, yes of course it would be nice to have more but we do ok, got everything we need and are happy enough that our lifestyle is more than worth what we have to pay to live here... I agree but we have to forgive the big users they would not survive a big downturn lol. I just put it up for ordinary people who just want to know the price of tomatoes, mandarins etc, just like me lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Thing being of course is those of us here long enough realize how much better we had it a decade ago earning far less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishgirl1 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 We earn double what we earned 4 years ago and to be honest we find it tougher now than what we did then, things have increased so much in the last 5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobj Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Thing being of course is those of us here long enough realize how much better we had it a decade ago earning far less. Cheers, Bobj. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Australia Trade Connect Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 When I look back on the amount we lived on as a family of five when my husband was a mechanic and how much more we earn compared to 20 years ago when we first arrived in Australia. There is no doubt that the cost of living has got more expensive but with that salaries have increased. I wonder if our lifestyle just changes the more we earn and we tend to spend up. When I arrived I remember the treat was taking my boys to McDonalds for $2 meal deals, now we eat out a lot more and my very large boys still expect mum and dad to pay and it is a lot more than the $2 meal deals. Not that I am complaining I love my lifestyle and what I do know is so long as you have enough to live on and pay the bills life can be pretty good here. There is no doubt not having enough money to live on would make you miserable no matter where you live in the world. I think the link is very helpful for people to work out there own expenses but the reality is until you are here you will not know how much you are going to spend but a lot of Australians will be on similar salaries and they survive so it is all about being careful at least in the beginning. I do think some people expectations are very high and that can make the move difficult. When my mother was short of money it meant she had to make soup for dinner as there wasn't enough money to buy meat. I have heard some people complain of not having enough money because they can't afford two cars or a holiday that is a bit different! Speaking from experience I wouldn't miss my somewhat poor days as we spent a lot of time having fun without spending money and again Australia is the best place to do that. Well I think I might stop at McDonalds on the way home for an ice-cream as I haven't done that for years. Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 I must admit I really prepared myself for a shock with regards to cost of living when we moved over 18 months ago but so far I haven’t found it that bad. Granted, it’s just myself and my OH so I can’t comment on school fees etc but we both have very similar jobs to those we had back home, live a broadly similar lifestyle and have so much more spare cash at the end of the month than we ever did back in the UK. Plus we run two cars here and didn’t have any back home. I’m certainly not saying this is the case for everyone and I can’t comment on how it has changed since 10 years ago as I wasn’t in Oz then but I do wonder sometimes whether people compare prices here with those back in the UK using the current exchange rate. If I’m trying to compare costs with back home (which I try not to do any more now I’m earning dollars) then I tend to use an exchange rate of between 2 and 2.5 AUD to 1 GBP. This has a fairer reflection on the wages I’m earning in a very similar job to the one I held back home – for which I earn somewhere between 2 and 2.5 times in dollars as I did in GBP. I think this will be true for many people. Sure, some things definitely are more expensive here regardless of what exchange rate you use. Supermarket groceries for one. It’s not everything – a lot of things are around the same as the UK if not a bit cheaper - but there’s always something that really pushes the price of your basket right up. I’ve generally found this to be fresh food like cooked meats, cheeses, fish as well as fruit and veg. I think the ambient groceries tend to weigh in around the same as in the UK. Interestingly, uncooked meat doesn’t seem to be too bad. A big bonus for me is car running costs – especially petrol prices. In real terms they’re less than half what they would be in the UK. We’d be paying around $3-4 per litre over here if that were the case. Even if you insist on using the current exchange rate that would still be around $2.70 a litre. At the moment in Adelaide unleaded is around the $1.30 mark after supermarket discount. In total we pay around $800 per year in rego and comprehensive insurance for each of our cars. This works out to be around the £400 mark. You can barely get road tax for that these days in the UK. Sure, second hand car prices are higher – but on the plus side you benefit from this when you sell the car so there’s no massive net loss. We didn’t run a car back home as we couldn’t afford to. Here we run two. Most Importantly, beer by the pint works out about the same using the old $2-£1 rule. $8 here, £4 back home (I’m from the South East, I know it’s cheaper ‘oop north). Even beer from the bottle shop isn’t too bad if you buy by the case - $45 for 24 bottles here, maybe £15-20 back in the supermarkets in the UK. We certainly spend more on wine over here but then we buy better stuff. Why wouldn't you when you live in one of the world's greatest wine regions? You can still pick up the same Hardys and Wolfblass stuff that’s in the supermarkets back home for less than $10 per bottle. Works out around the same. Even rental costs seem to be reasonable here in Adelaide. We’re renting a 3 bed house with large garden, garage etc in the suburbs – 10 mins drive from the CBD, 5 mins from the beach for $400p.w. Back home we were renting a 3 bed place with no garden for £1200 per month (around £277 a week or $554 using the 2:1 rule). So far we’ve had no nasty surprises with utility bills either compared to the UK – they work out around the same. Plus we have the added bonus of not having to pay council tax as we're renting. I guess we have moved from an expensive part of the UK to one of the cheaper cities in Australia which may have skewed things a little for us. Still, our quality of life here is certainly better. Although I really do miss the pubs… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest 47403 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Just had a look and compared Adelaide to the nearest point in the UK local to us and there really is truth in if you earn roughly 2 - 2.2 times what you earn in the UK your standard of living will be totally comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest26012 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 There's no comparison for me. I live in oz and I earn $ so I live by what I earn. Do your research. A lot depends on your profession tbh! These links are useful as they give migrants a rough idea of the costs. Don't compare to the uk, as I said, it all depends on your profession and what you will be earning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 We find the cost of living comparable, probably better than in the UK. A lot of people who comment on the UK being cheap haven't lived there recently..cost of living is dreadful with bills taking up the bulk of your wage. Eating out here is expensive so just as well the weather is conducive to picnics and barbeques, nothing beyter IMO, pick your own ocean view table...byo...suits us and suits a lot of others making Australia a real cost effectivelifestyle in beautiful surroundings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishgirl1 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Just to be clear when I made my original post I wasn't comparing to other Countries I have been here just short off 25 years and I stated fact in that 5 years ago things was alot cheaper my shopping,power bill,gas bill,council rates and water rates and so on were nearly half what they are now (not everything of course). It is the same in a lot of Countries I presume, add to that the fact my Children are getting older and everything costs alot more as they become bigger people and not little people anymore, I ddn't work 5 years ago and we managed just as good, I think the more you earn sometimes the harder it gets to be honest. We like to Holiday I admit but we rarely eat out, we are more the type to BBQ at home and have a few drinks be it at our house or family/friends houses x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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