Groceries
As a new migrant, you will inevitably compare grocery prices with “back home”. The fact is, some things are cheaper and some things seem super-expensive (especially with the current exchange rate). After a while, you stop comparing and just modify your shopping to get the best value.
Australia has nothing like the variety of prepared meals that are available in UK supermarkets.
A lot of fruit and veg is grown locally and the price fluctuates greatly depending on the level of supply. A recent example; storms in Queensland destroyed most of this year’s banana crop and the price of bananas in Perth went from about $3/Kg up to $12-$15/Kg! Peaches and plums can be $6/Kg one day and $2.50/Kg the next day.
At “growers’ markets”, fruit and veg can be MUCH cheaper than in the supermarkets. For example, recently in Perth celery has been scarily expensive ($5 for a whole celery), whereas at our local growers’ market, celery has been $1.99.
Total food bill for our family of 4:
$300 per week.
Specials
All supermarkets run weekly and daily specials – the price of individual items can be reduced substantially, sometimes by 30-50%. Therefore, if you are able to allocate enough time to the process, you should be able to reduce your weekly shopping bill significantly – I would guess by about 20% overall.
Alcohol
Alcoholic drinks are not sold in supermarkets (at least not in WA) – they are generally sold in “bottle shops”, which may be attached to a pub/hotel or may be a separate shop. Some of the supermarket chains do have bottle-shops as a side-line, located near the main store.
Note that every week retailers have specials which can reduce the price by 20% or more. Also, beer is much cheaper if you buy a “carton” of 24 cans/bottles or a “block” of 30 cans, rather than buying 4 or 6 at a time. Often there are savings to be had by buying wine by the case or half case. Wine casks (wine box in the UK), holding 2, 3 or 4 litres are also fairly popular and work out cheaper in general than bottled wine. Below are some prices of drinks advertised in specials catalogues that dropped through our door in June 2012.
Emu Draft Beer (aussie mid-strength 3.5%) – 1 block (30 x 375ml) for $28 = $2.14 per litre
Full strength aussie beer (5%) – 1 carton (24 x 375ml) normally about $38, on special for $30 = $3.33 per litre
Imported premium beers (5%) – 1 carton (24 x 375ml) normally $55, on special for $45 = $5 per litre
Wine – red or white 4 Litre wine cask – 2 for $20 = $2.50 per litre
Wine – “reasonable” (opinion of author!) bottle of red or white – $10 on special (normally $13)
Spirits – 700mL bottles of gin, blended whisky etc. – $30
Eating/Drinking Out
Here are a few indicative prices seen when eating and drinking out around Perth:
Cup of coffee = $3.90, mug = $4.50
Full cooked breakfast = $20
MacDonalds burger/fries/drink meal – $6.95
Large pizza (pickup) – $5.95
Gourmet/wood-fired pizza (pickup) – $18.00
Fillet steak main course with potatoes and a few veg = $35 – $40
Glass of wine in restaurant = $8
Bottled full-strength beer in pub or restaurant = $6 – $8
Pint of Guiness in a pub = $8 – $10
Estimated total for beer/wine, takeaways, eating out for our family of 4: $80 per week.
Cars & Traveling costs
an old ’97 Mitsubishi Pajero 3.5L 4WD, worth maybe $8,000. Insurance is $600 per year, annual
licence (road tax) is $555. 6-monthly services are $270. Repairs are running at about $1200 per year. I estimate I’m spending $2,500 per year on fuel.
a 2011 Hyundai i30 2.0L, bought new for $19,000. Insurance is $520 per year, annual licence is $472. RAC membership (covers both cars) is $200. Annual service is $220. Repairs estimated at $350 per year. Fuel costs are running at about $1,500 per year.
Petrol (regular unleaded) is around $1.30 a litre in Perth at the time of writing (June 2012). At the same time oil is about US$96 a barrel.
Total Car Costs:
Each car is driven about 10-15,000 km per annum. Total running costs, ignoring depreciation: amount to about $5,400 per year (Pajero) and $3,250 per year (i30), total $8,650 for both ($721 per month / $166 per week).
Of course, if you change your car every few years, depreciation becomes a significant cost. On this basis, overall running costs obtained from the RAC are about $1/km for the Pajero and 56¢/km for the i30. So, based on only 15,000km per year each, the total cost is $15,000 + $8,400 = $23,400 per year!
Public Transport
From Duncraig into Perth CBD (a 2-zone journey), the standard fare would be $3.80 per journey, totalling $38 per week (10 trips). This can be reduced by 25% to $28.50 per week by using a “SmartRider” card.
Schooling
Here are the education costs for one child in a private high school and one in a state high school.
State High School
No official fees for state primary or high schools, but each family may be asked to pay a “voluntary contribution” which may be up to $235 for the year.
There’s a stationery order (about $60) at the start of each year, plus the cost of any excursions or incursions (eg. plays put on at the school).
A contribution towards the P&C (Parents and Citizens Association) may also be requested ($60 this year at my son’s primary school).
Total for state high school (approx):
$400 per year = $33 per month = $8 per week
Private High school
Annual Tuition Fees = $7,985 (Year 12)
Other costs (approximate) = $1400
Examples of “other costs”:
Resources Fee ($375 per year)
Building Levy ($550 per year)
Camp fees ($220)
netball/athletics/swimming carnivals – $30-$50 each
Total for private secondary school:
$9,385 per year = $782 per month = $180 per week.
Note: this is a “middle-tier” private school. Fees for the “top” schools can be around $20,000 per year for tuition alone. Some private schools, especially Catholic ones, can be quite a bit cheaper.
Running the Home
In this section we list the main costs that our family incurs in running our home, excluding mortgage payments.
We have two school-age children, one dog and we run two cars, so that probably makes us a fairly typical Australian family.
Running the Home
Here are the main running costs for our home over a year.
Council Rates (City of Joondalup) = $1693
Water Rates = $892
Water Usage Charge = $416
Building Insurance ($418,000 cover) = $675
Contents Insurance ($113,000 cover) = $425
Electricity = $1,700
Gas = $750
Phone = $1300 ^
Broadband internet = $600
Foxtel Pay TV (Basic + Sport) = $840
Total of these housing costs:
$9,291 per year = $774 per month = $178 per week.
^ Phone – comprises a landline service and locals calls with Telstra, calls to Mobile and international with iiNet, our broadband internet provider. We also all have mobiles, which are not included in this. We could almost certainly rationalise all this and save money…something I keep meaning to do!
Sport and Recreation
Of course, this will vary enormously between families, but the following list is not at all unusual:
Family membership of the local tennis club = $420 per year
Golf (6 day membership of private club) = $1500 per year
Leisure Centre membership (Swim + gym + group classes) = $830 per year
Leisure Centre membership (Group classes only) = $645 per year
Swimming/yoga/gym (casual) = $12.50 per session
Winter kids sports (Soccer & Netball) = $250 per year
Summer kids sports (Teeball & Surf Club) = $250 per year
The total cost for our family: $2,500 per year = $208 per month = $48 per week