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The cost is worth it
Since arriving in New South Wales in 1998, Richard and Linda Jones have encountered many different expenditures
It was over eight years ago that we received our letter advising us we had been granted permanent residency in Australia. Given that we had an entry date in which to validate our visas we spent almost a whole year saving as much as we could to give us as much as a financial cushion as possible when we arrived in Australia.
As our departure date neared we had to arrange for our savings to be transferred to Australia so we contacted the Commonwealth Bank in London. This was a very painless exercise and within a day of arriving in Sydney we had a bank account set up as well as EFPOS cards (switch cards) for use in ATMs. One initial shock to us was the cost of bank fees (no matter which bank you are with). They are very expensive, charging on just about every transaction, including Internet banking. In the UK we were accustomed to paying absolutely nothing provided the account was in credit. In Australia you have monthly fees regardless of the state of your account.
One of the first major items we purchased here was a car. We sold our four-year-old one in the UK for around £2,000 only to discover that in Australia we would only get something much older for the same kind of money (around AUS$5,000). We ended up getting an immaculate nine-year-old Mazda 121. This car took us everywhere and was very reliable. Our theory is that the warmer, drier climate is generally easier on cars so they tend to last longer in Australia – you still see many cars over ten years old in good condition around.
On the other side of the coin we found that new cars tend to be cheaper unless you purchase a European model (although prices for these have now started to come down as well). In general the term 'European' carries a lot of credibility in Australia (not just for cars) and is used as a cachet for 'prestigious' and therefore expensive. You will often see the term 'European Design' used as a selling point.
Petrol is much cheaper in Oz, though. At the moment a litre of unleaded fuel can range from AUS$1.15 to AUS$1.30 – around half the cost compared to the UK. When we gained employment we found our salary packages were constructed differently, too. There is a basic figure plus superannuation (pension) on top and for my first job I also had a leave loading which was a little bonus come holiday time. Leave loading isn't that common though, unfortunately.
Another difference in Oz is that everyone has to complete a Tax return at the end of the fiscal year (June). We, like most people, engage the services of an accountant to submit the paper work to the ATO (Australian Tax Office) but if you are confident enough you can do this by yourself. Airfares within Australia were very expensive up until a few years ago, but thanks to Richard Branson Virgin started a low-cost internal service which was later joined by Jet Star, an off shoot of Qantas, and flying around Oz is now relatively cheap.
Although we haven't done any direct price comparisons we are pretty sure food is cheaper, especially meat, fruit and vegetables. Aussie wine (which I think is probably the best in the world) is also very cheap. Beer is comparable but again imported European brands do cost more. Richard thinks the quality of Australian beer has come up considerably in the last five years and there are more European imports here as well now.
House prices are difficult to compare as it differs from city to city. We live in a suburb 25 kilometres north of Sydney and if we were to buy an equivalent house the same distance from the heart of London it would cost us considerably more than what we paid in Australia. One big difference we found in purchasing a house was was getting a mortgage. In the UK we were used to 100 per cent or 90 per cent loans. In Australia when we applied the norm seemed to be an 80 per cent loan. We were very impressed by the way the mortgages were structured. For example, interest can be calculated on a daily basis and there are all sorts of different accounts to try and help reduce the mortgage term.
The cost of keeping in touch with family and friends in the UK is extremely cheap. We don't worry about how long we are on the phone and speak to someone in the UK usually once or twice a week. With the aid of technology keeping in touch is even cheaper. We speak to our relatives in Scotland, Kent and Germany for free using Skype.
We would say that overall we have a higher and better standard of living with more disposable income in Australia. It always shocks us how expensive the UK is and we reckon that what we pay in dollars we pay in pounds, especially when eating out, filling up with petrol and holiday accommodation prices. So for us it would be a big shock if we had to return to the UK.
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