Want to take a look at some comparisons? Want to know how grocery shopping and bills compare for example? You are in the right place!
If you have any comparisons that may help those moving to Australia, add it to the form below!
Shop Equivalent
”Everything Stores:
Brodie
B and M - Kmart
Home Bargains - Big W
Matalan - Target
”Food Shops:
Brodie
Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose – Woolworths
Aldi, Lidl - Aldi
Asda - Coles
”Clothes Shops:
Brodie
Cotton on
Next is now here too online
Primark - no equivalent that I’ve found but Kmart, Big W and Target do reasonably priced clothes.
”Electrical Store
Brodie
Curry’s - Good guys
Harvey Normans
Argos - Big W
Apple Store – Apple Store
”Pet Shops:
Pets at Home - Pet Barn, Pet Stock, Pet City
”Furniture Shops:
Brodie
IKEA - IKEA
B and M - Kmart
Big W
”Fast Food
McDonald’s - McDonald’s (they don’t have curry sauce over here but do have Aoli which is incredible! )
Burger King - Hungry Jacks
KFC - KFC, Chicken treat, Red Rooster
Nandos - Nandos
Dominos - DominosChinese and Indian take away a just aren’t even close to the UK’s so make the most of them before the move !
Brodie
Bills
”- 2 adults 1 child
Tanya
- Thornlands (bayside of Brisbane)
- pw rent: $530 (this is low currently for our area this is due to us been in the same house for 3 years and them only just putting it by $30 the max they could this year in July 2022)
- Weekly food cost: average $200
- Monthly utilities cost: we don’t pay rates because we are renting, we pay half the water bill every quarter, approximately $40 we pay phones, internet and electric which adds up to a total of: $415 approx.
- Kids' ages and any childcare costs: Harry is 6 and goes to before and after school care on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We have childcare subsidy help and have a 15% withholding amount, so we don’t owe anything at tax time and get money back we pay about $100 a week and slightly more in the holidays.
Examples of bills
”Child Care – School Age - Bayside, Brisbane
Child Care: Before and after school care (this is standard price no government assistance on these prices) snack are included also.
Before school care: 6am – 8.45am = $19.00
After school care: 3pm – 6pm= $27.00
Vacation care: Extra money is paid on top of this for excursion they may or do incursion they may have.Standard vacation care fee: 6am until 6pm= $53.00
Tanya
”Dental:
Tanya
- $165 for child 6 monthly check up with clean
- Initial Appointment - $250 – including x-rays and 3d scans
- Hygienist Fee For dental clean: $170
”Wifi: Aussie Broadband - $149
Tanya
Gas and electric combined = $140 ish per month
Phone Bill: $70 for two phones with one including English call bolt on.
”Live: Springfield, QLD
Kiara - April 2023
Family: Me, my husband, 3 kids
Moved over: November 2022
Rent: 535 (pw)
Electricity per year: $1700 (billed quarterly)
Water per year: $324
Phone contracts: $40 per month x 2
Internet per month: $79
Food shop per week: Approximately $300 - Coles
Grocery Shops
”Shopping
Brodie
Our basic food shopping for a family of 5, 2 Adult 3 young kids averages about $350 dollars every 2 weeks. This can vary but gives a good indicator for what to aim for as food here is a lot more expansive than the UK especially at the minute after covid. Some examples of food are (as of the 18/6/2022 based on woolies):
Bread Tip Top The One White 700g - $3.70
Butter (Table Spread) 1kg - $2.45
Milk green top 3l - $5.35
Eggs 12case 700g - $5.30
Beer Emu 375ml x 30 case - $56.00
Wine White Yellow Tail 750ml – $10.00
Chicken 1.1kg - $14.30
Mince Meat 1kg - $13.00
Bananas 750g - $3.90
Strawberries 250g - $6.50
Nappies size 6 little ones pull ups 40 pack - $11.50
Baby Wipes 480 pack - $10.00
Dog Food pedigree dog food 8kg - $25.00
Toilet roll 24 pack - $ 12.60
”For a family of 4 (2 adults and and two boys (12 and 10), we spend around $350 per week on food. This is split over Aldi and Woolworths. We cook most food we eat, and don't really eat out too much and like to each well. Aldi isn't the same as the UK, but over the 3 years we have been here its gotten better. The chocolate from there is from Germany and Belgium and beats any Australian chocolate!
Lisa
”2 adults and 1 kid (Bayside Brisbane) $200 pw
Tanya
Other
”Incomings -
Amanda
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!
”Cost of living - (a quick snapshot to give you an idea)
Amanda
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
”Gym:
Tanya
- Gym Fee: $35 per week for a specialized high-performance gym
- Other gyms: $25 on average per week unlimited times, 24hrs access.
”Out Of School Activities:
Tanya
- Tennis Lessons = $170 for 10 weeks during school term time only
- Swimming Lessons = $20 per half hour lesson, in groups of 4 (October to May season)
- Soccer Team Fee - $350 for the season (March – September) during school term time, teams of 6, under 8 team, Wednesday training night and Friday is match night. They do added extras of school holiday programs also.
”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