Cost of living Ireland V Australia

mel.b wrote: »

Rent: check out www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au Also check out www.gumtree.com.au for shared places

Car Rego: In Victoria, you will be paying around $520 per year.
Victoria: http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Registration/RenewCancelOrUpdateRegistration/Feecalculators.htm
NSW:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/feesconcessions/registrationfees.html
QLD:
https://www.service.transport.qld.gov.au/eQuote/eQuote.jsp
WA:
https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/tabs/FeeCalcVehicle.aspx
In Victoria at least, you have to pay your 'rego' (motor tax equivelent) by the due date. If you dont your car is considered unregistered and unroadworthy and you will have to have a full road worthy done (similar to NCT) before it can be registered again.
Car insurance is just too individualised to comment on (and in some states not compulsory)

Phone / Internet: Check out www.bc.whirlpool.net.au for a comparision of broadband plans. Also check out www.telstra.com.au and www.optus.com.au for info about phone contracts. I find internet and mobile to be really expensive in Australia compared to Ireland.

Gas / Electricity: Check out www.switchwise.com.au for information about gas and electricity prices. Just enter a random Australian post code. I find my bills cheaper in Ireland, but it just may seem that way as they arrive every two months here compared to quartely in Victoria. If you are going to live in QLD, Darwin etc, expect your bills to be higher due to running the air con.

Petrol: Check out www.racv.com.au for daily petrol prices in Melbourne. Also www.motormouth.com.au for an overview of prices in the capital cities. Unlike Ireland, petrol prices can vary widely from the morning to evening in Australia. Last time I was home, I needed to get petrol but was running late for lunch. When i went to get it two hours later it was 8c/l more expensive! It's generally cheaper to fill up early in the week and don't be surprised to see petrol jump 10c/l for a long weekend.

Cars: Check out www.carsales.com.au and www.carpoint.com.au

Clothes: Check out www.myer.com.au. More upmarket than debenhams, but not as upmarket at Brown Thomas. Also www.target.com.au - they dont have an online shop but do have their latest catalogue on their website. Would be between dunnes and Debenhams.

Groceries: www.woolworths.com.au and www.coles.com.au You could do a dummy run with the online shopping to work out what the price of groceries would be. On the woolies site at least is also their catalogue with specials in it. Woolies and Coles basically have a duopoly (?spelling) on the market however Aldi is making inroads.

Schools: Not sure exactly here as each state is different and it would also depend on what visa you come over on. Check out www.britishexpats.com There are a lot of knowledge people over there with info about costs for schools. In Victoria at the very least you will be paying a 'voluntry' fee and for school books.

Health Insurance: I've never worked out how private health insurance works in Ireland, but in Australia you can get it for private hospital cover as well as for 'extras' such as optical, dental, allied health (speech therapy, physiotherapy etc). Depending on what it is, you will get either a limit that will be refunded (ie/ $200 per year for speech therapy) or a certain amount refunded such as with dental. Check out www.iselect.com.au to compare plans. I find dental in Australia really expensive - I was given a price of over $1500 for a root canal....I decided to get the tooth pulled out instead! If you have a pre-exisiting condition you may have to wait 12months before they cover you for that.

Banking: Just about all banks will charge you for having an account with them. ANZ has an account for $5 / month that has unlimited internet banking and ATM withdrawals. Over the counter transactions charge like a wounded bull. If you make a withdrawal from another banks ATM you will pay up to $2.50 per transaction. Have a look at www.infochoice.com.au In addition most companies will charge you an 'admin' fee for paying your bill, generally a couple of dollars.

Other expenses you will have if you buy are council rates and water, however if you are renting the landlord pays the rates and you just pay for the excess water charges. Rubbish collection is included in council rates. No tv licence in Oz though, although you have to put up with ads every 5mins (seems like it anyway!)

Having lived in Ireland for 3 years and made a couple of trips back to Australia I find Australia to be so much more expensive to live. However especially since the changes in the tax bands and the USC, I'm starting to question why I am still here and who knows what is going to happen after the election and in the next 12 - 24months

Also check out www.britishexpats.com as there is lots of info about the cost of living on there and also some threads that give an idea about salaries, if they are good or not and what would be an equivelent salary in the UK.

Hope this helps and good luck with making the decision:)
Mel.b