”Alcohol Comparisons.
In Western Australia were lucky enough to have alcohol in the supermarkets. Well Bws, Liquorland are linked to their respective supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles. But in Aldi we can buy beers, wines and spirits at a reduced price. So here are the prices you can expect. Aldi have their own brands which are nice and some branded.
Aldi you can expect to pay
Storm/Saint Etienne 6 pack beer $8-9
Carlton dry 12 pack $27
Storm/Natural Blonde 24 pack $30-35
Darley's London Gin 1 litre $30
Vodka Crush 4 pack(vodka cruisers) $11
White wine bottle $5
Dan Murphys
Chris has found a favourite lager, its called Hoffler 24 pack is only $35
Emu 6 pack can $20
Hahn Superdry 24 pack $49
Great northern 24 pack $43
Bombay Sapphire 1 litre $68
Gordons gin 1 litre $55
Vodka Cruisers 4 pack $21
Wine, again cheap, you can get a nice bottle for under $10.
You can also sign up to get a dan Murphys loyalty card and discounted prices.

Gemma

”For camping gear, fishing and outdoor stuff in WA:
- BCF
- Anaconda
- Camping Culture
- Eagle Outdoors

Michelle

”Our bills for a 4 bedroom property in Joondalup, Perth are:
Mortgage $2555 per month
Council Rates $1590 per year (or can pay in 2 or 4 instalments)
Home insurance $106 per month
Gas $15 per fortnight
Electricity $67 per fortnight
Water $50 per fortnight
Optus 2 x Contract phones $98 per month
Rego on Nissan Navara $960 per year
Car insurance on Nissan Navara $552 per year
Medibank health insurance Silver cover $122
Netflix $19 per month

Gemma - 2023

”Typical bills for a family of 5 in Perth, Western Australia.
- Mortgage - $2,600 a month (4 bedroom house, North of the river, 2 minutes from the beach and 25 minutes from the city. A typical rental for similar property you could be looking at $600 - $800 per week.
- Food shop (family of 5) - $250 - $300 per week
- Phone contract - $95 a month (phone and contract)
- Internet - $80 a month
- Car insurance - $99 a month
- Life Insurance - $70 per month (2 adults)
- Gym Membership - FIFO Rates - $50 a month
- Men's hair cut - $35
- Takeaway coffee - $6.60
- Home Insurance (building & contents) $68 a month
- Fill up a tank of fuel (unleaded) average of $100
- School fee's - Public primary - $50 voluntary fee per child per year - Private Secondary school - $6,800 per year
- Womens hair - colour & blow dry - $360
- Health insurance - $360 a month for us as a family
- Train ride into the city return - $10!

Leigh - 2022

”We are a family of 5 that live in Currambine, close to beach - 25 minute drive from the city.
Mortgage for a 4 bedroom house on a 640 sq block - $2,500 a month
Food shops - $300 per week
Phone bill - $97 - monthly
Gas - $145 every quarter
Water - $300 every quarter
Internet - $89 - monthly
Men's hair cut - $45
Boys hair cuts - $30
Women cut and colour - $300 roughly
Fill up car tank of unleaded - $90 - $120
Life insurance - $40 monthly
Building and content insurance - $67 - monthly

Michelle - 2022

”Public Schools vs Private Schools in Western Australia
For public school's you are usually asked to pay a voluntary contribution fee. For primary schools it is roughly $50 per child per year. You are given supplies lists each year, which includes the schoolbooks, pens, pencils etc. That will cost you roughly $150.
For secondary schools you typically pay a voluntary fee of $250 per child per year for years 7-8 and roughly $300 for years 9-11.

Private Schools
Private schools are a lot cheaper than what you would pay in the UK.
Here is an example of school fee's for private schooling:

Kindergarten - $4,000 - $6,442
Primary - Year 2 - $4,380 - $6,482
Year 3 - Year 6 - $4,510 - $6,496
Year 7 - Year 9 - $6,320 - $10,826
Year 10 - Year 12 - $6,920 - $10,766

Leigh - 2022

”For a family of 5 - $250-$300 pw

Leigh

”Family of 3 $200 pw

Claire and Kevin

”Cost of living - (a quick snapshot to give you an idea)
Home loan - much higher than UK (however, we do have a bigger house and pool)
Shopping (food) - about the same as UK
Clothing - can be cheaper than the UK
Furniture - similar or as above, can be cheaper
Fuel - about half the cost of the UK
Rates - again higher than council tax (bigger house)
Electricity - same (then we installed solar so much less)
Health Insurance - don't have to pay in UK so an added expense (you can survive on Medicare, publicly funded health care insurance in which UK has a reciprocal agreement in place)
If no healthcare then Ambulance cover is required - again an added expense
Insurances - I'm sure they are similar to the UK

Amanda

”Incomings -
Husband's wages - similar to the UK (he is a fitter supervisor)
Mine - much higher than the UK (Project Manager in State Government)
Hope this helps a little, as we were under the impression, everything costs more before we moved over and as above indicates, it certainly doesn't!

Amanda

”If you are after British goodies, there is a fantastic British shop in Joondalup. They sell all sorts including groceries, sweets, crisps, cleaning products. They even sell football memorabilia!

Gemma

”Big W & Kmart are brilliant shops for kitting out your new home. They both sell really good quality homeware. Both do a really good loyalty scheme where you can earn points as you shop. Some people save up their points and use them for Christmas presents. Big W is Woolworths points and Kmart is flybuys.

Gemma

”To work independently as an electrician in Western Australia, you need to get your electrical licence. This can be done once you start working for an electrical company, they will then sign off your hours and you need to complete and pass a course to get your licence. Once you have your licence your salary will also rise by a fair amount. I started off on an hourly salary of $24 an hour and now on $45 an hour, I have been here for 1 year.

Liam

”Carpenters!!
As a carpenter, I found there were quite a few names of products that are different over here. It took a little while to get used to the Aussie way of things. I'm used to building timber framed house, which there aren't as many of here. Rather than your typical carpenter doing all carpentry work in the UK, you get different types of carpenters here, such as roof carpenter, then your 1st & 2nd fixing carpenter etc.
Your salary might not be as good as the UK to start with, but after a few months, once you have proved yourself, your pay will then go up.

George

”The sun and UV here are so strong. Don't bother with anything below factor 50, use mozzie repelant too and seek shade! It's not the UK.

Jade

”So one thing my son loves the most about schooling in Australia vs UK is the school uniform. In public primary schools the uniform is very relaxed and any footwear is allowed. My son loved that he could wear trainers to school every day instead of formal school shoes.

Kirsty