Cost of Living in Australia

It’s difficult to calculate an average cost of living in Australia as it depends on an individual circumstances. And although it’s in the same country, some states tend to be a bit high which distorts the overall calculation.

I’ve only been to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. My cost of living comparison would be around these states. If you’re moving to a state apart from the above three, you can still use this as a guide.

Houses/Units
The price of accommodation is dependent on the location, as it’s always been the case. The closer you are to the city, the more expensive it gets. Suburban accommodation is fairly affordable but it gets expensive when it’s close to the train station, bus station, shopping centres and parks. The average city house is between 400K and 1M, while the average unit is between 300K and 800K. For a suburban house, the average is 300K – 900K while the average unit is between 200K and 600K. If you’re renting, an average city house rent is 300-700 per week while an average city unit is between 150 and 500 per week. A suburban house rent is between 200 and 500 per week while an average suburban unit is 140 – 400 per week.

Transportation
The transportation in Melbourne is much cheaper than Sydney. A day ticket in Melbourne which is around $5.00 and entitles you to get on/off in any stations within your trip path. While in Sydney, a day ticket (also called ‘return ticket’) is around $8.00 and entitles you to 2 travels (i.e. to your destination and from your destinations) Buses are included in the Metcard ticket in Melbourne, you can also do the same in Sydney but if you’re travelling just a bus, the one ride fare is about $4.20, so I suggest getting a weekly ticket that includes both busses and trains in Sydney.

Food
This is dependent on what sort of things you buy and use. Weekly we spend about 150 at Woolworths for groceries, 100 for meat and 50 for veggies and fruits. That’s a total of 300 per week. Aldi is known for their inexpensive products, some say we can end up with 2 bags full of stuff at aldi compare to 1 bag at Woolworth or Coles. I did shop at Aldi and they are right. But not all the products we’re using are available at Aldi, we still need to shop at Woolworth or Coles for these items. There are weeks when we don’t do groceries, we just go to the local fruit shop and get our bread, milk and fruits from there, that’s between 30.00 -50.00.

The price of a to-go (take away) lunch or dinner is between 5.00 and 10.00. An entrée in a fine restaurant is between 10.00 and 25.00, the main course is between 35.00 and 60.00, and dessert is between 20.00 and 30.00. A bottle of wine is between 10.00 and 50.00, while a glass of beer is between 4.00 and 6.00.

Utilities
We’re paying an average of 400.00 per quarter on our electricity. Now it gets a little higher during winter as we frequently use the heater, likewise in summer when we make use of the air conditioning.

Our average water usage is about 250.00 per quarter, considering we hardly water our lawn and plants, and we have our cars washed at the enviro-wash center. A car registration is between 400.00 and 600.00 per year, a pink slip is about 40.00 – 60.00 (pink slip is a car check prior to registration), and a car insurance is about 1,300.00 - 2,000.00 per annum. Petrol price is about 1.35 per litre (it’s a bit expensive these days because of what’s happening in the Middle East and the Libyan war). You can get a second hand car for about 5,000.00 and a brand new car is between 16,000.00 and 60,000.00

Clothing
Local and china clothes are normally inexpensive but the quality is not that great. You can get a top between 5.00 and 20.00, pants are around 30.00 – 70.00, and jacket is about 90.00 – 150.00 Imported goods are normally expensive; they are from 90.00 to 250.00 To get the monthly expenses we’ll just get the monthly expenses of each and add them together.

House            (200 x 52) / 12 = 867.00
Unit             (150 x 52) / 12 = 650.00
Food                               350.00
Power                              133.00
Water                               83.00

Total Expense for House Renting = 1,693.00
Total Expense for Unit Renting  = 1,476.00

So there you go, if you’re renting a house your monthly expense is about 1693.00 compared to unit which is 1476.00, that’s 217.00 difference per month. If you’re walking distance to work that’s a good savings of 260.00 per month. Also, some units include water in their monthly rate, that’s another 83.00 savings per month.I assume that you won’t do as much grocery as an average family that’s why I put in 350.00 per month. You can ration your groceries accordingly and that could save you heaps more.