”Everything Stores:
B and M - Kmart
Home Bargains - Big W
Matalan - Target

Brodie

”Food Shops:
Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose – Woolworths
Aldi, Lidl - Aldi
Asda - Coles

Brodie

”Clothes Shops:
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.

Brodie

”Electrical Store
Curry’s - Good guys
Harvey Normans
Argos - Big W
Apple Store – Apple Store

Brodie

”Pet Shops:
Pets at Home - Pet Barn, Pet Stock, Pet City

”Furniture Shops:
IKEA - IKEA
B and M - Kmart
Big W

Brodie

”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 - Dominos

Chinese and Indian take away a just aren’t even close to the UK’s so make the most of them before the move !

Brodie

”Where do you live including State?
North Brisbane, QLD
Who is in your family?
Just me and my partner (plus a small dog!)
Move date:
31/08/2023
Or rent (per week):
$520 per week for a 3 bed detached home in Morayfield, QLD (a cheaper suburb!)
Electricity per year:
appox. $800 - $1000 p/a
Gas per year:
We have external gas canisters x 2 which cost approx. $100 each to replace (every 5-6 months)
Water per year if applicable:
As renters we only pay for water usage and this works out roughly $300 per year
Phone contract/s per month and number of contracts:
2 x phone contracts (with handset payments) - $90 per month each
Internet per month:
$75 per month for NBN/Fibre
Steaming services per month and details:
Disney Plus - $13.99
Binge - $10
Food shop per week and where do you shop?
Generally we shop at Aldi which costs approx. $90 for a week for 2 people
Woolworths is more expensive and works out at about $130 a week
Take aways/eating out cost per week:
Take out is generally cheaper than the UK! An average meal for 2 is around $50

Jess - September 2024

”Where do you live including State?
Palm Beach, Gold Coast, QLD
Who is in your family?
Just me, my partner and a small dog
Move date:
03/09/2024
Rent (per week):
$850 per week, for a brand new, 2 bedroom apartment
Electricity:
appox. $110 per month
Water per year if applicable:
As renters we only pay for water usage and this works out roughly $20 per month
Phone contract/s per month and number of contracts:
We own our phones, so have a sim only deal - $40 per month each
Internet per month:
$125 per month
Steaming services per month and details:
Netflix - $8 per month
Food shop per week and where do you shop?
We tend to shop at Woolworths and Coles, but we also buy our meat from the butchers and try buy fresh produce from the farmers market. We like to eat at healthy as possible and spend approx $200-250 per week.
Take aways/eating out cost per week:
We don't really get takeout, but if we eat out it is much cheaper than the UK and will usually be $50-60 for 2 meals and 2 drinks (and the food quality is much better than the UK)!

Daisy - October 2024

”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

”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

”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

”Gym:
- Gym Fee: $35 per week for a specialized high-performance gym
- Other gyms: $25 on average per week unlimited times, 24hrs access.

Tanya

”Out Of School Activities:
- 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.

Tanya

”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