Decent seafood (Moreton Bay Bugs, for example, reef fish, even prawns) is relatively inexpensive. I’ve compared with overseas prices and we’re bloody lucky. I buy from Gambaro’s in Paddington or the fish and chips shop in Rosalie where the price is just above wholesale.
I also believe accommodation here is not too dear if you avoid the glitter pubs. Even the four star pubs have specials from time to time in the off-peak seasons. I recently spent a few nights at the Gold Coast International for just over AUD $100per. Overnight stays, either in Europe or the US, challenged the size of my wallet at last visit.
Fruit and veggies, for the quality, are very inexpensive.
Wines, especially the shiraz and other reds, have already been mentioned.
Swimming or sunning at our marvelous beaches is free. Most bush walks are free. The clean air is free. The undiluted sun (warning - skin cancer is also free, treatment is not) is free.
The unintentional comedy of our politics and politicians is also free.
The cost of living is far cheaper in Brisbane for this kiwi than it was in NZ. We bought our house at the right time – there’s no way we could afford it now since the real estate market went batshit crazy.
Mangoes come to mind for me and good wine as cheap buys. I do think prawns are hella expensive compared to 20 years ago. But then I couldn’t afford whitebait in NZ either and it was breakfast food when I was a kid.
Oh I just thought of something else. We pay less out of pocket for medication, especially if you have a health care card.
And I know when I was whinging on an email list about the cost of neuropsych assessment for my kid, I got a reality check. We pay a fair amount less for IQ testing than is standard in the US.
That is of course true when you’re in a city of some size near the coast. In the interior, well… I was in a small town grocery store one day when a customer’s special-ordered red cabbage arrived on the Greyhound bus. :eek:
Last time I was in Adelaide (three years ago), I found that food prices were not all that cheap, and accommodation wasn’t much different than what I would have expected to pay in many places here in the US. The only thing that made that whole trip affordable for me, frankly, was the astronomically low Australian dollar at the time (IIRC roughly 1 A$ = 0.52 USD).
The wine, though, was indeed delightful. It’s a damn shame that we can’t seem to get much more than the big vineyards here (e.g., Jacob’s Creek, Rosemount). What I would give for a bottle of St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz…
Austrlalian, Korean, Japanese and American-made cars appear to be slightly cheaper in Australia than in Europe. Euro-brands are obviously cheaper in Europe.
Just an example, but a short tube ride in London is £2.20 ($A5.50). London is an unusually expensive city, but I’d argue that Sydney has the same position in Australia.)
Desert aside, Australia’s cities have a significantly lower population density than comparable cities overseas. We may be “crammed” in by comparison to the land available, but not at all by international standards.
As an contra-example of house prices, the average UK house price (May 2004) is about £152,000. In London, it’s £250,000. The June 2003 (boom-time) Australian average house price was around $A292,000 (£117,000).
Just off the top of my head, Stella Artois and Becks are produced in Australia.
Products that are cheaper in Australia:
Fresh produce, as mentioned.
Insurance and petrol, vis a vis Europe.
Movie tickets.
Dining out (restaurants, not fast food). Australia seems to have cheaper menu prices than the UK and no tipping culture as in the US.
Opals aren’t necessarily cheaper that much cheaper, but you WILL be given a lot more information about the grade of the stone you’re getting re color, “fire,” and whether the stone is solid opal or “enhanced” (doublets often have a layer of darker material underneath a thinner stone of opal to give it more color; triplets will have a thin slice of opal sandwiched between glass and a darker backing). No such explanation is required in the US, as far as I know, so you really need to be careful that you’re not getting ripped off. I do think that more high-quality stones are available there, though.
Sunfish- that is true anywhere you are away from major areas. I lived on Thursday Island in the 1970’s and we had to order our fruit by barge from Cairns- mind you we had all the fish, turtle and lobster that we could catch . So I guess there are trade offs.
Now I live in mediocrity in Brisbane where primary produce in real terms costs about one third it did in the 1970’s- and unless you are holidaying from overseas it is rather pointless expressing it in US dollars. Here you are paid in Australian dollars, taxed in them and charged in them. BTW- were you aware that in the 1970’s the Australian dollar was actually stronger than the US counterpart?
It’s true that there are always trade-offs, Cicero; they exist here too, for certain items. That particular event just stuck in my head for a couple of reasons. First, while I knew some of the locals would travel occasionally to Port Augusta (roughly a 3-hour drive one way) to do massive grocery shopping, it never occurred to me that they could also special order a vegetable at the local store. And second, I hadn’t yet become aware of Greyhound’s all-purpose delivery function out in the bush, and my view was rather colored by my Greyhound experiences here.
I didn’t know about the relative strengths of the Australian and US dollars back in the 1970’s, but given what I remember of the US economy in those days (I was still just a kid), I’m not surprised.
The exchange rates for the various trips I made in the early to mid-1990’s and then in 2001 ranged considerably, from something around 1 A$ = 0.77 USD back in 1993 to the previously mentioned low rate in 2001. Given the cost of my airfare (always on the high side, since I never stayed less than a month and usually closer to three months), it really is true that I would never have made it in 2001 if it weren’t for the exchange rate.
That said, because I had limited resources (grad student/postdoc living on government grant $), I was thinking of costs as if I were getting “paid” whenever I exchanged my traveler’s cheques. The money had to stretch as far as I could make it go at Woolworth’s or wherever, and at that point I was only thinking of dollars, not whether they were Australian or US. That’s what brought the observation that, all things being relative, the cost of living wasn’t significantly lower than what I’ve seen outside of the big cities here (for which I suppose Sydney would be the better comparison). I freely admit that I don’t have a longer-term appreciation for the real cost of items, but that’s more from a lack of opportunity than a lack of desire to find out.
And what are you doing awake at this hour anyway? Of course I was a mere child in the 70’s (cough cough).
From my observations of comments by my American online friends nothing much here is different- styles of eating obviously change from location to location. Export markets and air cargo mean that no great bargains can be found unless you happen to be on the spot and someone wants a few tax free dollars.
There is one thing that, in a sense, makes Australia a bit more attractive, if not cheaper. Other day I saw the Governor of Queensland (really more a ceremonial position) going to the races in his Rolls Royce. No escort- wasn’t needed.
Now Sunfish- tell us about your escapades as a college girl in the outback <wink wink>.
I have a tendency to wake up when the sun comes up - great in the summer, more problematic in the winter. But since I’m up, what better thing to do than coast through the SDMB with coffee in hand? And of course, dear, we were all just children in the 70s. *:: pats Cicero’s arm comfortingly :: *
One other thing that pops to mind in terms of expenses is road-related. I once was in the position of having to replace a flat tire for a Land Cruiser out in the bush - the garage wanted over A$300 for a new one. (!) A perfect illustration of the impact of supply and demand on cost.
As for my time out in the bush - I’m sorry to report a distinct lack of Paul Hogan-type adventures for the most part, since I never did catch sight of the fossil poachers that were supposed to be lurking about one year. I spent a lot of time by myself with naught but kangaroos, emus and sheep for company, which meant that my weekly trips in for groceries and an evening meal with the park rangers were pretty much my only opportunities to keep the ol’ social skills from getting too rusty.
However, I did meet some great people (and real characters), and I really appreciated the laidback approach to life that so many people had. Wish I could have bottled some of that and brought it home.
Remember to convert it! That is US$480,000. Your suburb is right next to UQ remember, it’s in a prime location. I’d say my house is closer to the CBD though.
You’re right about buying it at the right time though.
You sure? If my gf and I go to the movies without using any deals and with no concessions it’s almost 25 bucks.
