Cost of living figures

[uligargon]

About cost of living in Melb?...

can anyone say something?..

thx

[Dolly]

Originally Posted by uligargon

About cost of living in Melb?...

can anyone say something?..

thx

Hi,

We're a family of 4 living along the Mornington Peninsula.

All figures are per month unless othewise stated.

Rent $1380
Food $900
Gas $48 (per quarter)
Electricity $360 (per quarter)
Water $45 (per quarter)
Fuel $1.48 per litre (but fluctuates)
Telephone/Broadband $120
Rego $45
Health Insurance $250
School fees $900 (for 2 sons - per year)
Dog Registration $30 (per year)
Ambulance Cover $140 (per year) - this was taken out before we signed up for Health Insurance so we won't have to pay this again

If I can think of anything else, I'll add to the list.

Dolly

[AG23]

Hi squeaky and all,

I moved from Ireland to Adelaide about 2 1/2 years ago. I love it here as the pace of life is laid back and there is still a lot to do and see. The population is about 1 million but it still has a much smaller feel to it. I came from a city of 60,000 so this is the biggest city i have lived in but its really comfortable.

Although the cost of living is not that bad here it is on the rise and with the feul costs about to go up again it is only a matter of time before the cost of living increases again. But this could be said for just about everywhere you go these days.

The minimum wage you will get in adelaide is about $35k a year which equates to approx. $583.00 a week. (35000/48 working weeks - 20% tax). I have included a link here to a salary survey page from mycareer.

content . mycareer . com . au / salary - centre/
(you will have to put this together and look for it as I could not post a link to another site)

I found this link to be very helpful for me when planning my move. It will give you an approx. salary to expect.

Our cost of living is as follows:

Mortgage - $1300 p/mth (townhouse 200k loan)
Council Rates - $600 p/yr
Water - $40 p/mth
Elect - $260 p/qtr
Groceries - $500 p/mth (our cost very similiar to kaz breakdown)
Car Insurance - $42 p/mth
Health Ins - $150 p/mth (covers 2 people)
Telephone and internet $70 p/mth
Mobile Phone - $50
Fuel - $240 p/mth (hovering around the $1.50 - $1.60 mark at the mo)
Gym - $850 p/yr
Cable TV - $55 (p/mth and still nothing to watch)
Clothes - Be prepared to spend or off to harbourtown (outlet mall)

the cost for a night on the town - if we hit the city for dinner and a few pints we are looking at about $100 - $150 including dinner, a skin full and a taxi. the pint cost anywhere between $5 - $12 (yes, i paid $12 for a pint of Guinness)

forgot to mention... there are only two of us, no ankle biters...

I would be happy to answer any other questions if you have any...

good luck

[RonMan]

I'd agree with AG23. However in Melbourne you would struggle to find a house thats decent for 200k a nice 3 bedroom home even out in the suburbs it likley to be from 260k upwards. Closer to the city gets much much higher upto 700-800k. Also the taxi ride from the CDB to the burbs it likely in the vacinty of $50

As for work there is plenty in Melb

[Soren]

Hi Karen

Excellent stuff. Have also been loking for this kind of info for ages!

Do you know anything about school fees? I somehow got the idea that they are tax deductable. Will most likely be going for a private girls school (13yo).

Thanks
Soren

[RonMan]

Originally Posted by Soren

Hi Karen
...Will most likely be going for a private girls school (13yo).

Thanks
Soren

Can vary but my school was 3.5k Depends on the level of private school thats about average I'd say. ( Christian school )

[dje00]

Hi everyone,
can anybody give me a breakdown for perth Western australia,
Regards,
dje00

[Ric&Martha]

Karen et al.,

Thanks so much for the informative posts. Martha wants to know if those prices are reflective of retail pricing or sales. Our local grocery store generally run weekly sales of various produce and grocery products.

We're moving to Melbourne--what are the major grocery store chains in that area? is there consistency across stores within a given store chain? and how much of the food products found in Oz grocery stores are Oz-grown/produced?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

[kaz101]

Hi Ric,

The prices I posted are the normal prices. There are weekly specials here too.

I can't help you with stores in the Melbourne area.

I don't know exactly how much produce is Oz grown / produced but I would say quite a large percentage. It is usually marked if it's Australian and were we are in South Australia the food is certainly seasonal, but that may not be the case in big cities.

Petrol around here has gone up to A$1.56 a litre now - approximately A$71 to fill up my car now when it was around A$50 when we arrived.

Regards,
Karen

[Ric&Martha]

Thanks Karen! Very helpful.

Dolly, you mention school fees of $900/year for 2 students. Is that public school? I'd expect private to be much higher. If public, what do those fees cover?

Ric