The true cost of expat living in Australia

HappyMJ

Minimum wages in Australia are currently $15.51 per hour...£9.95 per hour. Sounds good but rent is so high that it's almost unaffordable even on that wage. Where I used to live the rent for the smallest 2 bed flat is currently about $250 per week. 1 bed flats are rare. If you want a 3 bed house that's an absolute minimum of $350 per week and that's a very small house with almost no land. The nicer more average homes maybe with a garage or maybe an ensuite or maybe 4 bedrooms is closer to $500 per week. There is no such thing as working tax credits and housing benefits are minimal.

jungle_jane

Getting on the property ladder in Australia is SO expensive...the legal fees are sky high and property prices are stupid. its much more expensive to buy than rent - hence the Aussie dream of owning a house. cost of living is huge out there too and anything you buy (unless its produced in Australia) is expensive due to the remoteness of the country.

i have lived in 4 countries in my lifetime...Australia was the most expensive by far....unless of course you have a job paying a really fat salary....

chewmylegoff

generali wrote:

My rent on my new place, 4 bed house with a nice big garden in a great suburb 30 mins from the City is a little over $600. In the UK that would be £800.

Per week I presume you mean?

PasturesNew

HappyMJ wrote: »

Minimum wages in Australia are currently $15.51 per hour...£9.95 per hour. Sounds good but rent is so high that it's almost unaffordable even on that wage. Where I used to live the rent for the smallest 2 bed flat is currently about $250 per week. 1 bed flats are rare. If you want a 3 bed house that's an absolute minimum of $350 per week and that's a very small house with almost no land. The nicer more average homes maybe with a garage or maybe an ensuite or maybe 4 bedrooms is closer to $500 per week. There is no such thing as working tax credits and housing benefits are minimal.

Min wage $15.51, 2-bed flat $250 is 16.12 hours' work.
UK min wage £6.08 x 16.12 hours' work is £98.

Either my maths is wrong, or that's cheaper than a grotty bedsit here.

LHA in my financially dire area is:
1-bedroom £104/week
2-bedroom £127/week

Generali

The minimum wage is $15.51/hr but it's a bit more complex than that.

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx

It depends on the industry you're in etc. Also, taxes are much lower in Aus than in the UK so net wages are commensurately higher. You can get a nice 2 bed flat just outside Wollongong for $250, eg (link) which would be fine for an adult couple to share. You could cycle to the beach from there in yuor swimmers and 'thongs' (filp flops).

Rents I do mean per week.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

The minimum wage is $15.51/hr but it's a bit more complex than that.

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx

It depends on the industry you're in etc. Also, taxes are much lower in Aus than in the UK so net wages are commensurately higher. You can get a nice 2 bed flat just outside Wollongong for $250, eg (link) which would be fine for an adult couple to share. You could cycle to the beach from there in yuor swimmers and 'thongs' (filp flops).

Rents I do mean per week.

What's the equivalent of council tax like?

Here it's 10-15% of takehome pay, which is crippling.

bendix

PasturesNew wrote: »

What's the equivalent of council tax like?

Here it's 10-15% of takehome pay, which is crippling.

I'll defer to Generali's more recent knowledge on this, but when I lived in Sydney (2002-2004) I don't recall paying anything equivalent to a council tax (although I was renting so perhaps it was swallowed up in the rent).

My memory was that Sydney was a relatively cheap place to live. I was earning around A$180,000 a year and paying around A$2000 a month rent in Balmain, a very nice suburb, which enabled me to take a ferry to work - one of the loveliest experiences imaginable.

I meticulously put A$5000 a month aside as savings every payday and never wanted for anything. I drove a nice car, ate out and generally lived well.

As a general point, having been open-minded enough to get out the rut of living in the UK and taking risks (I've lived and worked in New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and now Hong Kong for 16 of the last 20 years) has been my financial saving grace. I couldn't have been in the position I'm in now - ready to retire at 47 if I choose to - if I hadn't had that expat lifestyle.

And financial considerations aside, it's been a fantastic adventure full of wonderful experiences.

Generali

They still use the system of rates over here which are payable by the owner of a residential building rather than the user of a building as with council tax (ie the landlord pays in Aus whereas the tenant pays in the UK). The landlord also pays water rates which is the charge for having the house connected to mains water and sewerage. The tenant pays the water usage, a charge per litre for water used.

$80,000 pays for a reasonable life in a nice area if I'm careful for a family of 4. Money is a little tight but not ridiculously so. $100,000 would be enough for Mrs Generali to be a stay-at-home mum in a nice rented place in our suburb. To buy we'd have to move further out or move to a cheaper city (any other than Sydney in Australia!).

FTBFun

I'd love to go back to Australia on something other than a working holiday visa. In fact I've been talking to a recruiter about jobs over there recently but have had to defer it to the summer due to my brother's wedding in July (and I have Olympics tickets).

More likely to be Melbourne than Sydney though.

chewmylegoff

Melbourne is rubbish. All that ridiculous graffiti art, theme bars and every other man wearing a trilby. It's like hoxton, but with flies. MCG is the one good thing.