The Cost of Living
(in Melbourne)
What is Cost of Living? To put it into a simple term, as
some may not understand, it is defined by dictionary is: “the average cost of food, clothing, and other
necessary or usual goods and services paid by a
person, family, etc., or considered as a standard
by the members of a group”
So basically it means that you need to get a job and receive
a certain amount of salary to maintain and survive based on your needs to
support yourself and/or your family.
When I landed in Australia, I didn’t know much about the
average cost of things especially in Melbourne. I know it’s expensive compared
to Singapore only because of the wage comparison. It took me a freaking while
to figure out to make sure that I am able to buy and pay for things and also
save up “x” amount of money every month. Only because I spend time driving to
JB and get stuffs from Giant or Tesco, plus petrol, food and massage and still
have some spare change, it took a while to digest.
But one thing for sure is I know I am not be paying
exuberant amount for Baby Milk Formula as I have past that stage. Phew!! But what I conclude from my gifted
intuition is that the holy cows are specially selected just for Singapore, in
which, they are treated with royal treatment eg. Gold plated milking machine and
fed with the highest of the highest grains and hay, no difference from the
White Cows from the Elite Towers that are being fed. Thus the price
justification which I truly and wholeheartedly agree. Don’t you?
Sorry about the milky rant.
For myself, I started off working as a casual in a hotel
earning around $40K for the first year. But now I am in a government sector
with a different pay scale.
Everyone earns differently. Based on the trade and
experience and also being a new migrant, you have to know what your spending
powers are. You can live moderately or lavishly even if you earn below the
market value.
So to me, cost of living is about SMART SHOPPING.
Based on the links below, it tells you the average cost of
living for a person in Melbourne and Australia.
I will generally go through some basic expenses and tips as
it’s really difficult to compare every single product out there in the market.
FOOD
Milk
Melb. Avg - $1.32
You will be able to get milks from $1/litre from Aldi,
Woolworths and Coles cheaper than the average price.
12 Large Eggs (Dozen)
Melb. Avg - $6
You can get a dozen of 700g eggs less than $4 from if you
don’t get it from the major supermarkets.
Fruits
Fruits are generally cheaper in Australia if you don’t mind
not eating much of the exotic fruits. Hard to do comparisons are some fruits
hard to get during certain seasons.
Meat
Meats are a little complex because everyone’s taste bud is
different. Even if it happens to cost a little more than you expect, the meats
are definitely fresher.
Cookies, Breads and Spreads
Breads here are bigger and thicker than breads in Singapore.
Popular brnds can cost anywhere starting from $3 and as cheap as $0.80 for the
local supermarket brand.
Cookies and spreads like Peanut Butter, Nutella and Jams are
definitely cheaper in Aldi. But always keep an eye on Coles and Woolworths
where they have frequent “special’ sale on these items where you can stock up
and save some bucks.
HOUSING
Housing is a little complex. Some live in rental houses or
rooms and some own their own home. Monthly mortgage or rents varies
individually. Talk to your broker or bank if you think can or want to afford a home.
Go for it.
Utilities
As utilities also differ from households to households. For
those living in a rented home like myself, bills come quarterly and you have to
pay them. To prevent them paying a ‘big’ amount quarterly, try paying them
weekly or fortnightly. E.g If average Electricity or Gas Bill comes up to about
$250 each, try paying the utilities company $30 fortnightly. So by the next
billing cycle, you will be only paying the remaining $70 for each bill.
Dishwashing Cubes and
Laundry Powder
Get them from Aldi. Definitely a big saver if you have a
family. 4kg for less than $10 and it does the work.
CLOTHES
Because clothes are based on seasonal conditions and if you
have kids who outgrow them like bean sprouts growing from green beans in a secret
science experiment, you definitely be going into departmental stores like
K-Mart, Big W and Target. They have fairly good range of clothes and
affordable. It’s surprising that they can last for at least couple of years. I
have been doing that and loving it.
Look out for Special Sales. Go grab them if you really need.
TRANSPORTATION
Although the refined petrol is coming from Singapore, it is
still cheaper than Singapore.
Petrol ranges anywhere from average $1 Unleaded 91) to $1.50
(Unleaded 98).
Cars? Nope. Not going into those details of getting a car in
Australia. Second hand car? New car? Novated Leasing? Car insurance? Balloon
payment for your car loan? It’s all up to your preference. Go figure it out.
It’s just too big of a topic.
OTHERS
Entertainment
If you are an avid beer drinker or a smoker, your expenses
will rise accordingly. As for myself, I don’t fall into these categories and
those savings go into my bank account.
If you intend to go for movies in the cinemas, there are
cinemas that charges $10 flat which I say it pretty affordable if you want to
bring your kids out now and then.
I have given some generic samples of examples with small
tips and hope it may serve you some sort of usefulness. Always keep your eyes
open. Look around. Talk to friends. Talk to people. Look out for sale stickers.
This is a hard topic to talk about. You need specific data
on a specific product on a period of time, taking in inflation factors. Just remember to refer to the links up there.
If you think you can give better data comparisons, feel free
to comment and show me how smart you are in SMART SHOPPING. I am all ears.
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