is it more expensive in Australia….?
The simple answer is no its not! We have found food and utilities to be are pretty much the same as back in the UK. Yes some things are more expensive and some things are less expensive but it all balances out. You may have to alter your habits or diet slightly to take advantage of what is better value in Australia and limit out what is not.
Also just to be clear this is even before you factor in the fact that you may earn more in Australia than the UK. The only thing that might be more expensive generally is rent, but really this isn’t the case either, but I will try and explain this a bit better with this post.
Some examples of food costs
Cooked chicken Costco $5.50 about £3
Cheapest bottle of beer $1 about 55p
most expensive about $2.50 about £1.40
Cheapest bottle of wine $2.50 about 1.40
One litre of coconut water $2
Reasons to think it is more expensive
But like you I have read many reports or comment from people who live in Australia, I have even spoken to friends who are adamant that it is more expensive in Australia. They even say electronics are more expensive but it’s just not the case, equivalent TV’s and Laptops I was able to compare were cheaper down under. And just as a quick example, from a brand we all know and ….. you can currently buy a brand new apple watch (Series 3 or 4) from Apple in the UK and Oz and after conversion, the one bought in Australia is $100 cheaper (Dec 2018). So why do they think it is..honestly I don’t really know but maybe its a combination of a few things.
The Shock effect of different currency values
Maybe it is just that initial shock factor, I know I still get it…how much that’s ridiculous…oh hang on a minute that is in Aussie dollar’s isn’t it. So i need to roughly half it to get the UK equivelant…ahh right that better:-)
I know when I saw 24 beers for $55 I had a heart attack but that’s £30, still very expensive but this is for craft beers which is more readily available in Oz and would cost roughly that much in the UK. Then you start finding your way around and you can get 24 for $35 in more places. Then Aldi do 24 bottles of leo(singa company) for about $31 and 24 Sainte Etienne for $25. So we are now down to about £14 for 24. It’s not a million miles away from what you pay in the UK, it’s just a learning curve as you discover what brands are available and work out what you like and what is worth paying the extra for.
Then you have to factor in the fact that you can get good/reasonable tasting red and white wine for $2/$3(£1.5).
No product or brand adjustment
Another thing people do is move to Australia and try and find the same brands or equivalent as back in the UK, in some cases you can find them but they are not the most cost-effective options. It’s actually the same with food types for example chicken or a pork product in the UK are often the cheapest option for meat but in Australia, its beef and beef also tastes better. In the UK we mostly bought chicken whereas now in Austraila we very rarely get chicken and have a lot more beef or fish.
You will also find strange anomalies with brands especially with perfumes/aftershaves (i.e. think Dior / CK / Armani etc) where expensive brands in the UK are actually cheaper brands over in here and vice versa. So you just need to shop around and compare the prices, can probably do this online by comparing boots and chemist warehouse.
Old data
I think some information is simply basd on outdated facts as well, for example, Cooked Chickens were $12 not that long ago you can now get one for about $7/$8 and can get one for $5 in Costco. Aldi is also having its effect and things are definitely not getting more expensive. It’s quites strange really because we very rarely used ALDI in the UK but now we use it a lot and is the most familiar supermarket, still probably use coles more but Aldi definitely has a place, especially for none food items along with beer and wine.
