Pieter en Lindie Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Hi All,We have read quite alot on the forum and cannot come to a definite decision on this one. Comparing to the cost of living in South Africa, would you say that Australia is cheaper, the same or more expensive. Our experience in South Africa is that salaries are not keeping up with the costs of living, eg. house prises are not less than 1.5 mil in Cape Town where we live, which means that the morgage would be in the region of R15 000 alone. Than you need to add to that all the normal other expenses of schoolfees, medical, food etc. The problem is that the white people do not get the good salaries anymore, doesn't matter how good qualified you are.Would we experience any of these problems in Australia and specificly in Adelaide. Will most salaries be enough to cover general basic cost of living.Your honest opinions are much appreciated and I know that you all said that costs should be calculated as an percentage of sallary, but is the salaries keeping up with the costs of living.RegardsLindieIe: Just for interest sake, my husband is in the pharmaceutical industry (sales manager) and I am a Health and Skincare Therapist) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berndt Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Hallo Pieter and LindieWe have been in Australia (Brisbane) for just over 6 months.We came over on a 457 (4 years visa) but are in the process of submitting the application for permanent residency.The reason why I say this, is that I think the cost of living in Australia higher is, if you are a NON-resident.We currently pay private medical aid and do not get a child allowance (my wife does not work currently)But as you can see, my wife is not working but we do get by.We are renting currently.We have only one car. I make extensive use of public transport (bus) and it is great and far cheaper.Groceries are also getting more expensive every day - especially fresh things. We are getting by with all the monthly costs, but we have not purchased a house yet.House prices here have also risen dramatically. In the past 6 months that we were here, I have seen is going up at least $20,000- $30,000. Houses we would be bale to look at would be bottom of the range $360,000 to $380,000 which equals R2,000,000 (sound like monopoly)To answer your question I think cost of living is probabaly the same if not slightly less. Facilities are great and there are a lot of things you do not pay for e.g. ADT, alarms, high insurance.CheersBerndt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeemm Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Hi there Pieter and LindieWe've been here about 8 months now and just bought a house, I have to agree with Berndt that house prices in Perth have gone up a lot over the last year, but that said the market does seem to be leveling off ,a bit, I reckon if one chooses a reasonable suburb, its better to be paying a bit more per month towards your own mortgage rather than someone else rental. Also, you are building your own capital base when you buy a house. The gov. does give a 1st time home buyers grant of $7000.00 now which there is talk of uping for certain category houses, as well as lowering the Stamp Duty which is really high (in our case about $15K) but then again, every country has this sort of tax when you buy a house and at least in Perth we see it come back in services of some sort. clean roads, well maintained parks, etc. As Berndt says there are numerous things PR visa's allow that 457 doesn't re. medicare etc. Things like petrol are interesting in that the price varies from week to week and station to station (not brand to brand necessarily) so one station might charge 114c per litre another may chanrge 110c per litre then some of the chain stores like Coles or IGA (Pick & Pay etc) discount the fuel by giving a voucher for every purchase over about $30. so you get about 4c off that as well. Cars in general cheaper, electronic stuff prob. about the same. The thing is once you actually move here and are earning AU$ its not good to convert to rands anymore otherwise you'll feel everything is expensive. For me I generally spend a smaller % of my salary on the regular stuff (food, bond, petrol etc) than I would on SA. But of course it depends on the lifestyle you want and where you live etc. We don't eat out a lot, have no children (yet, but there are many rebates from taxman if you do have) no real medical issues etc. One thing, Optician and Dental care are not covered by Medicare and even some private Medical aids don't cover it so that's costly. Also, my wife works as well, but as a contractor, so some time we have the 2 incomes other times not. Hope this helps.JoeHallo Pieter and LindieWe have been in Australia (Brisbane) for just over 6 months.We came over on a 457 (4 years visa) but are in the process of submitting the application for permanent residency.The reason why I say this, is that I think the cost of living in Australia higher is, if you are a NON-resident.We currently pay private medical aid and do not get a child allowance (my wife does not work currently)But as you can see, my wife is not working but we do get by.We are renting currently.We have only one car. I make extensive use of public transport (bus) and it is great and far cheaper.Groceries are also getting more expensive every day - especially fresh things. We are getting by with all the monthly costs, but we have not purchased a house yet.House prices here have also risen dramatically. In the past 6 months that we were here, I have seen is going up at least $20,000- $30,000. Houses we would be bale to look at would be bottom of the range $360,000 to $380,000 which equals R2,000,000 (sound like monopoly)To answer your question I think cost of living is probabaly the same if not slightly less. Facilities are great and there are a lot of things you do not pay for e.g. ADT, alarms, high insurance.CheersBerndt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangaroo Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Hi Pieter en Lindie Have a look at this very interesting and valuable thread: Yes, cost of living again - the third post there, made by Swerwer, is an excellent indicator of how cost of living can be calculated and how one shouldn't get caught up in the direct conversion from dollars to rand. On our LSD trip, we've also found it to be a very accurate reflection of how to integrate the rand with the Oz dollar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Pieter en Lindie,The cost of living in Australia in general is roughly 20% more than in South Africa I would say. Adelaide is the cheapest state, housing is still relatively affordable, however the salaries are equally lower than other states. However, having said all of that, if you take your expenses of many items as percentage of salary earned you will find the cost of living here is about the same and cheaper in some instances as in SA. Each person however has other habits and lifestyle choices, but thats my and other people's view in general. One thing, forget to multiply everything by 5 or whatever the exchange rate is, it will drive you nuts, work on % of salary in the beginning rather. As a very rough guide for Adelaide you will need about $ 800-1200 per week to live an average middle class life, again the definition of average might differ from person to person. Rent for a relative good say 3 bed 2 bathroom house in a good area is about $ 300 - 350 per week avarage, food about $ 250 per week, gas about $ 15 per week( paid every quarter ) and electricity about $ 30 per week and the rest I suppose depend on lifestyle including the house and food price, you can elect more or less expensive, i merely state rough averages based on my and other Saffer's experience here. School ( secondary ) is about $ 400 per year, temp or perm visa, no worries . I hope that helps a bit, let us know how you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle M Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Ek het op die site af gekom op my soeke http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htmHoop dit helpPS: Scroll net bietjie af, die lys is "down under" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter en Lindie Posted March 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Ek het op die site af gekom op my soeke http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htmHoop dit helpPS: Scroll net bietjie af, die lys is "down under" Thank you very much for all your input. I think that makes sense although financially I suppose one is always wary. Especially if you have children. Greatly appreciatedRegardsLindie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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