I see a lot of folks in these forum are looking at Canada and Australia as destinations; here is my 2 cents of worth about living cost in Sydney as we have been here many years and moving to Canada soon.
1) Accomodation in Sydney: Rental is higher compared to Vancouver. Depends where you live. Good areas in Sydney are those in North Shore and Eastern Suburbs (very expensive). Inner city apartments (1 -bedroom, 65sqm) can costs anywhere between $450 to $800 a week! My friend is paying $2,000 a month for a small apartment in North Shore, no views, no car space. Inner West areas can be cheaper. Best to go to realestate.com.au
2) Petrol: It is usually automatically 30% more expensive than Canada because there is a 30% Fuel Levy in Australia (nationally). Wednesday is the best day to pump petrol; price variation can be 25% throughout the week (I still don't understand why). You could be paying between $1.10 to $1.35 a litre between Wednesday & Thursday!
3) Bank Fees: Very expensive, try use non-big 4 banks, some global banks like HSBC and ING have good offers, but limited ATMs. Australia allows banks to charge so much fees, and also transaction fees using credit cards...etc...so this s quite a shocker to many.
4) Food: Let's look at some comparison. Cost for a cup of cappucinno: $3.00 to $3.80 a cup, but the cup is 1/3 smaller than Canada and 1/2 smaller than USA. Take-out meals, hard to find deals less than $10.00 for a meal (including a drink). Things that are expensive in Sydney: Seafood, lamb (don't laugh), vegetables. On average, we found food in Sydney is approx. 30% more expensive than Vancouver.
5) Cars: Cars are more expensive in Australia because of the import duties; it is generally around 20% more expensive than Canada.You need to buy CTP (insurance: compulsory, which is around $500 a year), licensing fees ($100 a year), car registration $285 a year)
6) Utilities: You have to pay for water, gas and electricity. Our bills are: Water: $253/Qtr, Electricity, around $250/Qtr (very high in summer because of the heat).
7) Parking: One of the biggest hidden costs in Australia, tolls everywhere, parking fees is very expensive, can cost up to $22 per hour
in downtown. Best take trains or buses. No free weekend rates, street parking is around $4.40 per hour in suburban areas and $8.80 per hour in downtown
that sums up...hope it does not scare you...been going up very fast!
1) Accomodation in Sydney: Rental is higher compared to Vancouver. Depends where you live. Good areas in Sydney are those in North Shore and Eastern Suburbs (very expensive). Inner city apartments (1 -bedroom, 65sqm) can costs anywhere between $450 to $800 a week! My friend is paying $2,000 a month for a small apartment in North Shore, no views, no car space. Inner West areas can be cheaper. Best to go to realestate.com.au
2) Petrol: It is usually automatically 30% more expensive than Canada because there is a 30% Fuel Levy in Australia (nationally). Wednesday is the best day to pump petrol; price variation can be 25% throughout the week (I still don't understand why). You could be paying between $1.10 to $1.35 a litre between Wednesday & Thursday!
3) Bank Fees: Very expensive, try use non-big 4 banks, some global banks like HSBC and ING have good offers, but limited ATMs. Australia allows banks to charge so much fees, and also transaction fees using credit cards...etc...so this s quite a shocker to many.
4) Food: Let's look at some comparison. Cost for a cup of cappucinno: $3.00 to $3.80 a cup, but the cup is 1/3 smaller than Canada and 1/2 smaller than USA. Take-out meals, hard to find deals less than $10.00 for a meal (including a drink). Things that are expensive in Sydney: Seafood, lamb (don't laugh), vegetables. On average, we found food in Sydney is approx. 30% more expensive than Vancouver.
5) Cars: Cars are more expensive in Australia because of the import duties; it is generally around 20% more expensive than Canada.You need to buy CTP (insurance: compulsory, which is around $500 a year), licensing fees ($100 a year), car registration $285 a year)
6) Utilities: You have to pay for water, gas and electricity. Our bills are: Water: $253/Qtr, Electricity, around $250/Qtr (very high in summer because of the heat).
7) Parking: One of the biggest hidden costs in Australia, tolls everywhere, parking fees is very expensive, can cost up to $22 per hour
in downtown. Best take trains or buses. No free weekend rates, street parking is around $4.40 per hour in suburban areas and $8.80 per hour in downtown that sums up...hope it does not scare you...been going up very fast!