FTO AUSTRALIA

Hey Victorian peeps!

Long story short.. CHCh earthquake scared the sh*t out of us. So much so that we are leaving the city. My company wants to send me to Melbourne which is pretty sweet.

Google sucks for relevant information for comparing cost of living between NZ and AU, so I turn to the venerable FTOAU community

Issue: They want to send me on a same pay basis (each $ NZ = 1 $ AU); automatically I will be 8-9% better off, but I have my doubts that the living costs are on the same level as CHCH hence this post...

We live comfortably here, but will we in Melbourne?

Can anyone give me some sort of indication of cost of living in Melbourne?

Currently we live in a brand new 2 BR apartment with double garage just within the lolwutCBDisleft in CHCH..

My company has an office in Tullamarine so we are looking at getting a place somewhere near there; probably something like halfway between tulla and the CBD (as my missus is likely to be working in town). Open to suburb suggestions.. safety is important as the missus will likely have to get herself to and from public transport on her own.

We would be looking for a new'ish house/apartment to rent. Ideas of rental costs would be swish!

We won't have a car when we come over so an indication of public transport costs would be awesome as well.

What else? Perhaps some ideas on what some specifics cost? Since I am coming over dollar for dollar these would probably be my best comparison/indicator.

Bread, $3.50-$4.50 NZ
Milk, $4.20 NZ +
3 ltr bottle of fruit juice, $5 NZ
Fuel, $2.16 / ltr NZ (91 octane)
Dozen eggs, $4 - $6 NZ
Kilo of Basmati rice, $3.50 NZ
Kilo of potatoes, $1.70 - $2 NZ
Kilo of bananas, $2.50 - $3
Kilo of tomatoes, $3 - $7 dep on season NZ
Movie ticket, $16.50 NZ
3D movie ticket, $19.50 NZ
Flat white coffee, $4-5.50 NZ
600ml bottle of Coke at a corner store, $4.50 NZ
Phone rental and Internet (30GB), $100 / month NZ
Bottle of beer at a bar, $8 - $9 NZ
RTD at a bar, $8 - $9 NZ
Dozen imported beers on special, $21 NZ
Cheap asian meal, $9-10 NZ

We will also be storing all of our crap here and starting fresh.

Cheap dual core laptop, $900 NZ
32" LCD TV, $550 NZ

That's probably all I can think of really; most other stuff can be 2nd hand if needed.

As for car; I do plan to bring my FTO over, already have quotes for shipping. What does it cost to get a car road worthy upon importation (not talking about import tax or the work that needs to be done). Ballpark would be nice. Also, ongoing fees to the government. I know your system is different, though not the specifics; this is what we pay on an ongoing basis:

WOF for car, $50 / 6 months NZ
Registration for car, $400 / 6 months NZ

We don't have compulsory insurance; what's the dealio with that?

That's all, have at it

Milk, $4.20 NZ + ............ AU = $1 per L
Fuel, $2.16 / ltr NZ (91 octane) ....... AU aprox $1.67/L 98 octane (SYD)
Movie ticket, $16.50 NZ ..... $8 - $19 depends on the day.
3D movie ticket, $19.50 NZ .... As above.
Flat white coffee, $4-5.50 NZ ......... $3-4 large take away
600ml bottle of Coke at a corner store, $4.50 NZ ........ About the same.

Just some things for you

Mate I've been over there, everything seems more expensive (In NZ $) than over here. So it seems you will might end up better off in the end here. Can't say living costs here are 'cheap' though. I'm sure you will end up living equally as comfortably in Melbourne.

tullamarine doesnt have a public transport system... you would be looking more, Ascot Vale, Essendon, Maribrynong...

I would recommend that you google real eastate agents tullamarine and see what comes up, put your name down n start getting an idea on prices in the different areas, etc. you will be looking at around 3-400 a week rent in those areas for a 2 bedder.


here are a couple of links regarding the train network, prices and where and what ticket to use. you can also get, 5 trip tickets, weekly and monthly tickets. We also have another ticket system called Myki, but i would suggest familiarise yourself with the Metcard system as its straightforward with no hassles.
http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/maps ... twork-map/
http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/news ... march-2011

Fuel we have 91, 95, 98... 95 is 10c more per lt than the 91 and 98 10c more than 95. Theres this "4c off a litre fuel offer" that work in conjunction with supermarket chains but there not worth it... i dont think (personal opinion).

bread is about the same,
milk is less,
we dont normally drink 3L of fruit juice, we have 2L for about 3.50,
eggs are about the same,
havent bought enough rice to give an answer,
potatoes, shop around u can get a bargain,
bananas approx the same
tomatoes- cheaper
no idea on movie tickets,
flat white 3-4.50
600ml coke- 2.5-3.0
internet access would be best to do research, we have 3 main telcos all which are currently in a price war when it come to internet and phone calls
beer, depends on the beer
what the hell is a RTD?
asian meals, 7.90- 10.00

we dont pay WOF, when u go for the roadworthy certificate is the only time you would pay for the WOF (unless you get pulled over by police, have the car inspected and they deem it defective and then you have to have the car inspected again)
car registration $624 approx currently.

insurance is not compulsary but part of the registration fees pays for something similar to 3rd party. Most people have comprehensive insurance or 3rd party including fire and theft.

anything else?

oh, and for registration in Vic, this might be helpful:

http://vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Registr ... ration.htm

vipfto imported his car from NZ when he moved over, PM him

some other helpful links

Looking for houses to stay?

www.realestate.com.au
www.gumtree.com.au

Looking for second hand furniture
www.gumtree.com.au

Best is find out your exact workplace location and have a look at the surrounding surburbs on realestate for rent prices and stuff. Gumtree cant sort places by location but have a look at it because you can get very good rentals there as well from people who doesnt want to spend the money to advertise on realestate. Have fun house hunting.

Really, everything should be cheaper except your rent. If you live in/near the CBD i dare say it will be more expensive, except for that day to day things should be cheaper.

Good sh*t guys, thanks for all of the replies..

What is Essendon like as an area? Pretty safe? How about the surrounding suburbs?

Two more questions to complete the set..

1, what is an average salary in Melbourne?

2, anyone know any retail analysts in Melbourne? (would settle for anywhere in AU for a comparison). If you do, what are they being paid (ballpark ok).

If you don't know a #2, data analysts or business analysts (I pretty much do aspects of all 3).

FTEvolution wrote:What is Essendon like as an area? Pretty safe? How about the surrounding suburbs?

Two more questions to complete the set..

1, what is an average salary in Melbourne?

2, anyone know any retail analysts in Melbourne? (would settle for anywhere in AU for a comparison). If you do, what are they being paid (ballpark ok).

If you don't know a #2, data analysts or business analysts (I pretty much do aspects of all 3).

1. Average salary? Impossible to say, it depends on your position.
2. Haven't heard of too many people being retail analysts, but data and business analysts are paid very well. But again this depends on what company / position / experience. Senior business analysts are on a 6 figure salary, whereas the rest approach that mark or at least in the high 70/80/90s.

As for Essendon, generally it's not too bad. If you go towards the west side of Melbourne it can start to get dodgy. South East is generally a safe area depending on what suburb you're in, most of us would be from there also.

Heaps of kiwis come over to aus because the benefits are better and the cost of things are lower. Im kiwi so i should know

Lol, western suburbs dodgy? Typical eastern suburbanites view

Google map tullamarine, theres plenty suburbs around it.

Public transport is 10.70 i believe for a zones 1 & 2 fullfare. Works across all train, tram and busses.

Essendon is nice. The houses are a bit more established so prices are a tad higher than your more outer suburbs.

Im sure we can show you the wonderful city of Melbourne!

Well, i'm in melbourne (excuse my lack of punctuation, surfing from my phone)

I am in a hotel on Lonsdale st near the parliament gardens, considering that I need to work too, what is in walking disrance that I *must* see once im done for the day? I leave on friday afternoon..

I spent hours wandering around swanston/queen vic markets and the area yesterday.

probably wont check this site too much while working, so feel free to add me on facebook to msg me etc. Nathan Forsyth, just changed my profile pic to my car so should be easy to find.

So far, melbourne is pretty awesome..

Nate

The Aquarium is alright: http://www.melbourneaquarium.com.au/

Melbourne Museum has the Tutankhamun exhibition on at the moment: http://museumvictoria.com.au/

You will have to ask some of the younger members about clubs/pubs

$2.16 for 91RON fuel! Wow! I should stop complaining at $1.639 98RON! Yeah I remember when we went to Auckland in 2000 that everything seems to be a bit more pricey.