How is Australia more expensive?

[tracy123]

You would make a good case study for a medical student by the sounds of it.

 

What are you saying about me Chris? come on now don't be backwards about it, you like these throw away lines, so explain what you mean... :wubclub:

[Guest chris955]

Well I think you are saying you like to live your life vicariously through others and make up lies about friends etc ? You then say you find the practise weird. Please correct me if I am wrong. Were you saying that someone else was lying about their actual experiences ? Maybe I misunderstood as you were abit vague.

[tracy123]

Well I think you are saying you like to live your life vicariously through others and make up lies about friends etc ? You then say you find the practise weird. Please correct me if I am wrong. Were you saying that someone else was lying about their actual experiences ? Maybe I misunderstood as you were abit vague.

 

 

yep that's the one...

 

 

Back on topic

 

I know I’m Australian so maybe I’m just a little to thick to understand but I’m willing to give it a try....

 

Now the way I understand how some people work out what is more expensive is they take an item, let’s say a tin of baked beans, now in Australia it’s $2 and in the UK it’s .50p.... So now we X 50p by 2.2 or 1.6 whatever formula seems to work best and that’s how we work out what’s more expensive where..... Now have I got that right?

 

So what happens when I move to Australia and my wages are higher or lower than the UK? Does the price of a tin baked beans really matter?

 

To me (and I know I’m a thick Aussie) but surely we should work out our weekly shopping then work out what percentage we spend in total to gauge what is cheaper. If we spend more on shopping, more on rent etc, etc, etc, but after everything is paid out of our wages we have more spare change wouldn’t that then make Australia cheaper?

[Guest christi]

I compare what I paid in the UK to what I pay here. Its natural to do that

When I see 2 kit-kats on 'special offer ' for $5, I think thats a bit exteme.

Our wages here, sound a lot in $s, but when you convert them back to the pound, they are not as high as you think, about the same as the UK for us anyway

So people are going to compare prices,

We pay twice as much for our food here, our phone, Electric, Household Insurance is sky-high

,Internet,the only thing we can see which is cheaper is fuel, and the way thats rising, its not going to be for long. Plus we use far more fuel here than we ever did in the UK, as we have to drive miles for anything

Water and Power is going up again in 2011, by about 26%, the newspapers are telling us

If people are happy to pay the prices here, and not compare, thats fine for them. But a lot of us are pretty shocked at the cost of living here. Not what we expected.Even the locals are moaning, so its not just us "outsiders", who think its very expensive to live here

[Guest]

You're absolutely right, how expensive things seem is nothing to do with the exchange rate it's relative to how much you earn. It's almost impossible when you're a newbie to Oz not to convert but then at that point it is probably you're hard earned £ you're spending once you're earning $ then it is irrelevant.

 

The important conversion in terms of cost of living is Aussie wages to UK wages - I believe overall Aussie wages are 2.2 x UK wages SO if things cost 2.2 x more then quid pro quo. Of course in certain occupations you will earn much more in Australia eg mining and others less eg in my experience IT and of course it depends where exactly in those countries you reside. Maybe if I'd moved to Sydney not Perth my view of IT salaries would be different.

 

I think the main reason this is such a popular topic is people yet to make the move need to know if they'll be able to manage and however true it is saying 'it's the amount you have left after paying for essentials' doesn't help because they won't know until they are here! That's why I offer 2.2 x UK salary as a guide, if you are being offered a job on less then your lifestyle will not be as comfortable.

 

In our case my salary wasn't even 1x my UK salary BUT since the difference I didn't 'need' in the UK it didn't matter - my choice was to be happy not rich!

[ali]

I think some things are more more expensive - my father in law kept telling me how much cheaper tomatoes were in Adsda, I pointed out that he hadn't bought any here and it hadn't stopped him eating them when I bought them.

 

Would Asda ready meals at two for 5GBP make me move back ... no it would't. I earn $ and I spend $, I have enough to pay my bills and some left over to go into the savings.. Collectively, my hubby and I probably earn a little less than we did in the UK ... but it's not something that has made living here difficult.

 

House prices have risen here, but the house we bought in the UK sold for 1.5 times the amount we paid for it. our very first house in the uk - we managed to get just what we'd paid - we felt lucky because lots of people were selling at a loss.

 

My advise ... some things will seem expensive and others won't. Don't convert $ to pounds ... you earn $ and spend $ there's little point converting when you live here

[Guest siamsusie]

I find prices in Australia pretty reasonable..apart from the internet and flights abroad... . I gave up converting many moons ago, I earn dollar.. simple.

 

 

Living in WA (north) there we drove kms for most things, here in Tasmania everything is on our doorstep...

 

I have to say Australia has been kind both to my husband and myself.

[Guest chris955]

AVOID MAKING COMPARISONS. Really, avoid it. Australia is expensive and getting more expensive, whether it is more or less expensive than the UK or the US or Guatemala is irrelevant. The facts are that Australia has become much more expensive in the last 5 to 10 years and the speed of increase appears to have outstripped many other countries which has caused people to tighten their belts.

If as an aside you are better off since coming here that is excellent, if you are worse off since coming here then that isn't so good.

[Guest guest33730]

I find prices in Australia pretty reasonable..apart from the internet and flights abroad... . I gave up converting many moons ago, I earn dollar.. simple.

 

 

Living in WA (north) there we drove kms for most things, here in Tasmania everything is on our doorstep...

 

I have to say Australia has been kind both to my husband and myself.

 

Unfortunately I am in the unusual position of living in Aus but still earning my dosh in the UK - It's not good!! I keep telling myself that if I can get by now then hopefully I'll be quids in when the exchange rate gets better but for the moment I still have to convert everything to pounds!!

 

Daniel

[Guest chris955]

There are lots of people in your unfortunate position. When the rate was up around 2.70 it would have been great for you but now obviously that much harder, when it goes back up it will be good again.

 

Unfortunately I am in the unusual position of living in Aus but still earning my dosh in the UK - It's not good!! I keep telling myself that if I can get by now then hopefully I'll be quids in when the exchange rate gets better but for the moment I still have to convert everything to pounds!!

 

Daniel

[tracy123]

Unfortunately I am in the unusual position of living in Aus but still earning my dosh in the UK - It's not good!! I keep telling myself that if I can get by now then hopefully I'll be quids in when the exchange rate gets better but for the moment I still have to convert everything to pounds!!

 

Daniel

 

Earning in £s and spending in $s is a lot different to earning and spending in dollars.

 

As I say it all comes down to whats left at the end of the week.

[Guest guest33730]

 

As I say it all comes down to whats left at the end of the week.

 

A migraine?

 

Daniel

[Guest siamsusie]

Unfortunately I am in the unusual position of living in Aus but still earning my dosh in the UK - It's not good!! I keep telling myself that if I can get by now then hopefully I'll be quids in when the exchange rate gets better but for the moment I still have to convert everything to pounds!!

 

Daniel

 

Yes Daniel... my sympathies entirely.... BUT when you are earning $ this will give you a good indication of what you can live on.

 

The exchange rate coming from the Uk has played havoc with many people's budgets...it has also been good for the people leaving Australia... UK bound. it's been a first for Australians being able to enjoy a good exchange rate for many a long year.

 

UK pensioners have my utmost sympathy !

[gpo1971]

Like we've said, there are any number of factors that affect this, and its all relative and all personal.

We are better off here than we were in the UK. Full stop. And so are all our family members who live here. But obviously, plenty of people aren't. It just depends.

Reading on here that someone thinks its extortionate or someone else thinks its reasonable will probably have no bearing on you.

[Guest famousfive]

Surviving on an average wage here in australia has become more and more difficult over the years,as far as I can see.Some wages seem to have been stagnant for years and unfortunatly chefs wages are one of those affected.Meanwhile the cost of rent,food,electricity and just about everything else has gradually been rising.For a country that did not go into recession there sure are a lot of families struggling.Hours have been cut left,right and center and then other people are working longer hours for no extra pay just to keep their jobs.

 

We live a modest life at the best of times but have found there is never money left over.What we once considered as basic necessities have become luxuries here.Good thing the beach is 3mins away or else our kids would get to do very little.I am not surprised that personal debt is very high here,people do not seem to be in debt because they splash out,far from it.High personal debt is needed just to survive in our neck of the woods.This of course is not the case for all but it is becoming more so with each passing year.

[Guest Guest31881]

I sit here and read all these posts about cost of living in Australia/UK and the arguments it causes. What amazes me is the fact that no one is really wrong or right with their statements. It all depends on where you live, and what your perspective of prices is.

 

Some will come on here and claim that UK utilities are cheaper than Australia and quote figures to back them up, forgetting to also mention the price rises that have been announced. Some will claim that Australia utilities are cheaper but forget to mention the fact they use less heating or the hot water is solar powered. Both sides of the argument only remember the good points and happily forget the bad sides.

 

Food is another argument based discussion. I live in a smallish town and we do not have large supermarkets, just a BiLo and a Co-Op. We have one butcher and our cost of living is higher than in other areas with more competition. Once a month we have a day out at Toowoomba and do a bit of shopping while we are there, it is cheaper than where we live and makes a decent day out. So does that make Australia expensive, not really I have lived in urban and rural areas of the UK and it is exactly the same there, it is cheaper to live in towns than it is in the quieter rural areas.

 

Just one last point, for those who say you are now earning $ so think in $ it does not work if you are one of the Thousands who for some reason (either work or pension) is paid in £ then have your monthly money converted to Aussie Dollars. But the strange thing is, I do not see these members on here very often complaining about prices. They have seen their income drop by at least 30% over the last couple of years. If like me they were told that last year that pension would not be rising because the UK inflation rate was negative in September when Pension rises are calculated for the next year, then they would have every right to complain. You also have the UK state pensioners here who do not get a rise in any year, their pension is frozen from the day they receive it but again i do not see many on here moaning.

 

If only some people could see how stupid their posturing looks to the vast majority of members when all they are trying to do is score points of each others posts, to make themselves look good, when actually it makes them look foolish.

[Paul1Perth]

Peace and quiet didn't last long then :tongue:

 

Yep, they just closed one thread on "Australia is expensive do your homework" as it was getting a bit personal and off topic and someone starts another thread up on almost the exact same topic. I have a feeling it's all been done a thousand times before with the same people raising the same issues and using the same arguments.

 

Fruitless in my opinion.

[Paul1Perth]

You're absolutely right, how expensive things seem is nothing to do with the exchange rate it's relative to how much you earn. It's almost impossible when you're a newbie to Oz not to convert but then at that point it is probably you're hard earned £ you're spending once you're earning $ then it is irrelevant.

 

The important conversion in terms of cost of living is Aussie wages to UK wages - I believe overall Aussie wages are 2.2 x UK wages SO if things cost 2.2 x more then quid pro quo. Of course in certain occupations you will earn much more in Australia eg mining and others less eg in my experience IT and of course it depends where exactly in those countries you reside. Maybe if I'd moved to Sydney not Perth my view of IT salaries would be different.

 

I think the main reason this is such a popular topic is people yet to make the move need to know if they'll be able to manage and however true it is saying 'it's the amount you have left after paying for essentials' doesn't help because they won't know until they are here! That's why I offer 2.2 x UK salary as a guide, if you are being offered a job on less then your lifestyle will not be as comfortable.

 

In our case my salary wasn't even 1x my UK salary BUT since the difference I didn't 'need' in the UK it didn't matter - my choice was to be happy not rich!

 

I'm in the Perth IT industry too and had to put up with lower wages for a while when we first came but now I reckon I've more than caught up.

When I first left Uni in 86 I worked for Ferranti in Cheadle. My team leader was a really clever guy with a degree in electronics and an MSc in Physics. He was promoted to project management whilst I was there and was doing well.

 

It's turned out a bit strange as we now work for the same company again. Ferranti were taken over by the same multinational that took over the Aussie company I work for, hence he is on our mailing list. Thought I would drop him a line and see how he is going.

 

His response was he's not had much of a pay rise for some 10 years and is now in logistics and bored. In my job we've had rises every year and feel like I'm doing OK.

 

I did a check on-line yesterday (for another thread) to see what the wages for my profession would be like in the UK. The site said it advertised system Engineers jobs for UK, Europe and the world.

There was one job in the whole of the UK and that was in sales. Couldn't believe it at first but did several different options on the search, thinking I was doing something wrong, but no.

Did a search for any location and there were loads of systems engineering jobs in America, which I though would be as bad as the UK. Apparently not.

 

Found another site on salaries Systems Engineer Jobs, Average Salary for Systems Engineer Jobs

 

There are a couple of graphs on the page showing trends and averages in salaries.

One showed average salaries in sept 2010 around 38,000 pounds and trending down.

Worrying as the same graph shows salaries back in sept 04 at 35,000.

 

I'm on a touch over $100,000 here so doing OK I reckon.

[Guest guest30038]

I'm on a touch over $100,000 here so doing OK I reckon.

 

Smug bugger! :wink: :biglaugh:

 

kev

[Paul1Perth]

Smug bugger! :wink: :biglaugh:

 

kev

 

Hi Kev,

Judging by some of the salaries around mate it's just OK. I've been with the same mob for about 15 years and get increments every year. Just keeps mounting up bit by bit.

[Parley]

I think you're lucky to get pay rises every year.

I'm not sure how common that is these days.

[Guest guest36187]

Earning in £s and spending in $s is a lot different to earning and spending in dollars.

 

 

 

 

THis is a good and valid point. I earn $ and spend $.

 

For my parents who dont work and bring their pension over.....they are earning pounds and spending Dollars. They lose 600$ per month with their pension.

[gpo1971]

Our place does performance related raises. I got 7.2% last year. I think a 'meets expectations' raise was about 4%, so decent sums.

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Our place does performance related raises. I got 7.2% last year. I think a 'meets expectations' raise was about 4%, so decent sums.

 

Think yourself lucky, the wife who is a nurse and me a prison officer will not have a pay rise for 3 years, along with many millions of others, plus............... on the 4th year we are going to have a pay cut, because in 2013 we are having our pension payments increased. It was on the news yesterday that council pensions alone, there was a £100 billion pounds deficit and there is 140,000 council jobs going because things in general have been totally mis-managed and it is jo public who now has to suffer.

 

For those of us who are thinking about emigrating, the $2.2 to £1 rate IS relevant, because this is close to what you need to earn in Australia, to have a similar standard of living and it would be a disaster for anyone who took a job at the current rate of $1.55 to £1 rate, they would be skint if they did this and find everything really dear.

 

I continuously post this, to help new PIOers and i felt really good not long back when i saved someone from accepting a wage offer, based on the current rate.

[Guest Bobby]

Depends on where you work when it comes to wages, as a refrigeration enginner doing mostly contract maintanence and faults I find I earn about the same in the UK than in Oz but I had to do more hours in Oz to get it, don't anyone tell you that Oz did not suffer from the world wide recesssion because it did, maybe not as much as the UK but there was and still is a call for immigration to be slowed down as people were losing or finding their hours were being cut due to the downturn in the ecnomy, you have to shop tactically in both Countries to get the best deals and they are out there if you look.