The cost of living in Australia- HOW MUCH??

"OK, so you want to go back to university - that's fine. But why Australia?" my Dad was asking, nearly two years ago. Inexplicably, the theme from Family Fortunes ran through my head as background music while I considered my choice of quick fire answers. Was it:

(a) "why not?" - the enigmatic reply

(b) "it's got better weather" - the chav answer

(c) "the laid back lifstyle" - largely based on the holiday I'd just come back from

(d) "the cost of living's cheaper" - the uninformed response

(e) "I need a change and I wanna spend more time with Dave" - the truth.

I opted for a combination of (c) and (d), and steered clear of (e) for more credibility. At that point a big Family Fortune "EH URR" (not there) warning noise should have gone off in my head: Like a lot of poms, I really did think living in oz for two years was going to be cheaper than blighty. Doh!

So it was with growing dismay that after arriving, all excited and optimistic, I soon found out the truth: Which is that with only a population of 21 million, Australia's consumer market is small so there aren't many companies competing for your attention. So they don't feel the need to bring their prices down. Ever.

The first rip off I encountered was shelling out $300 for a second hand bed. Back then this amounted to about £120. At my first opportunity of seeing it in proper daylight (after I'd paid for it of course), this bed revealed some very dodgy looking stains on the mattress. Ugghh! As soon as possible, this mattress was booted out into the street for the annual big rubbish collection so we could replace it with a new one. Which cost $1000 - approx £500. Interestingly, within half an hour of putting the old mattress out in the street, it was snapped up. Presumably by someone in a knackered old ute. Clearly we weren't the only ones feeling the pain of buying household essentials in Australia.

Books and DVDs are outrageously priced down in this part of the world, which hurts if you're a student trying to buy textbooks. On average I have had to pay about $120 (£60) per new book, which I have to buy three of for each of my four semesters. It's cheaper to buy them from Amazon UK and have them sent here. Recently, I have been using textbookexchange.com.au for buying and selling used books. This has saved me a lot of money but the prices of second hand books are still astronomical. It is possible to buy and sell the same book for the same price using this website however, so I guess it amounts to a free book.

And don't even get me started on banks. For the equivalent of a current account, you have to pay for the privilege (about $5 a month), you don't earn any interest, you will be charged for using another bank's ATM and charged for ordering a cheque book. There are one or two international banks, such as HSBC, who are now dipping their toe in the Australian market, hopefully about to bring some sanity into this financial world of con artists.

Other unexpected expensive surprises include broadband (ADSL2 only really available in the cities), healthcare (no NHS AND no paid maternity leave!), used cars (in Queensland where they last forever), shoes (unless you go to a shop smelling unnervingly of rubber), household furniture (unless you can get to one of five Ikeas in the whole of Australia - one in each state except NT and Tas) and ALL, and I mean ALL, appliances (see blog entry for Nov 2007).

It's not all bad though. Reasonable prices can be found in high street clothes shops. This is because the clothes are made in China and will shrink or fall apart in a wash temperature warmer than a penguin's arse (Australia has those too).

So, after all this whinging, I suppose the burning question is: Would I have abandoned going to Australia if I'd have been warned about all this beforehand? Would I have stayed in Blighty to attempt a change in career and life experiences??

"EH URR".

To bring or not to bring: Washing Machines!

Now, at the risk of conforming to stereotype and having a right old moan, appliances in Australia, compared to the UK, are either Not Good or criminally expensive. I’m not sure what the reason is for this but it took me by surprise when I was in the process of shacking up with Diver Dave. I bemoaned my fabulous no nonsense dyson that my Stepmum had volunteered to ‘look after’ and my beautiful sleek Hotpoint washer dryer with blue digital display-à-la-volkswagen-dash that I’d had to flog in a hurry on ebay for only £100 before I came away!! Yes - you read it right folks - unless your ebay user name is treadtrader you missed out on a billy bargain there. For the equivalent money on the Australian ebay I had to settle for a very inferior plain old washing machine with absolutely no digital display whatsoever and some of the little symbols rubbed off. Apparently we paid a premium for this unknown make because it’s a front loader.

Front loaders are new in Australia and seem to be viewed with a great deal of suspicion. The average aussie home will usually have a laundry secreted somewhere, sometimes quite cleverly (although not when it’s in the bathroom), which consists of a washing machine -often the sort of top loader that you may not have seen since the 1970s - a wall mounted tumble dryer and a funny looking basin unit that your washing machine pipes have to be attached to. I have yet to see a front loader in Australia installed under a counter with hidden plumbing like in the UK and so laundry apparatus seems to take up lots of space unnecessarily. But as far as aussies are concerned, the only saving grace of front loaders is the fact that they are highly water efficient and you get a rebate from the government (in Queensland at least).

So my Top Tip re washing machines is that if you were considering emigrating with a great big container of belongings, remember to pack your washing machine. You won’t find another one like it for the same price.