Come on bro, you think such thing also need to kid? Come to Harbour front Vivo City or 1 Fullerton area, I will show you how cheap is the cofee and make sure you buy me a cup of it. I do agree SG can easily earn much more money, and as an Asian we tend to be Cheongster and be a highflyer as much as we can.

Fully agreed on this, I was in sydney for 2 years and the rental is extremely high. 2 bedroom apartment (non luxurious) at downtown will cost you 550 - 600/week. The rest i think is ok, food & clothing and some IT gadgets it think still reasonable. In the sense of dollar to dollar, I guess if you want to own a house, i think you still can buy a property within 30 km radius to city with 600k to 800k budget.
Compare to malaysia, this is totally different stories. A house could easily shoot up to 2mil to 3mil.

Check out Australian forums. No one thinks that clothing and IT gadgets are reasonable. So many people are buying from Amazon, eBay and online stores now. Fact is that taxes for retailers in Australia is ever so high and the brick and mortar retailers are struggling because things are so much cheaper from Europe and America.

I think you need to be corrected. If you want to buy a UNIT within 30km radius to the city, $600k-800k is ok; not a house. A house at that price will probably be in a suburb that you don't want to live in (e.g. Punchbowl) or with poor public transportation (e.g. no trains). You will struggle to find a decent house in a decent suburb for $800k these days.

how about life and opportunity in northen part, like queensland? so far the talks are all around sydney, perth, and melbourne.

and australia quite high in minimum wage too. you can live but hardly to buy anything

nothing is cheap if you convert to malaysia ringgit. if you earn in australia, you can easily afford most of the stuff especially electronics. you can purchase sony 55" led tv for about $1500 but i don't think you can get the same model in malaysia for RM5k

also, you need to save your salary for 2 or 3 months to get the damn tv but only fortnight in australia(with fresh graduate average salary )

but the housing and electricity cost are not joking. expensive and will keep on increasing. large brick & mortars also pushing government to put GST on the item that over cost $500 in oversea shopping

you earn more and you get taxed more but this happen and normal in all countries.

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Added on December 17, 2012, 6:44 pmaustralian like to compare the price to US/europe just like malaysian too. i bought lot of things from oversea too(thanks to ozbargain) but the warranty is the major concern(although i never had any issues)



This post has been edited by hihihehe: Dec 17 2012, 06:44 PM

Yes I agree here, and I personally know a few people who moved to Australia only to not get jobs that they want and some are back here. Many people mati2 want to go to Australia and think moving to Australia is easy but reality bites.

I personally have had my PR for awhile but haven't even looked for jobs yet. Hopefully the economy improves before my PR lapses...

Yes, really. Unfortunately I don't snap pictures of receipt for the once in a very blue moon that i go drink cofee in MO. But if you agree to reimburse me for the cuppa, I'm more than pleased to show you

This post has been edited by mercury8400: Dec 18 2012, 12:12 AM

LOL! Fair enough. Go again and snap a photo. I really cannot believe a cup of coffee is RM20. That's CRAZY!!

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Added on December 18, 2012, 6:28 amFirstly, I'm not converting to MYR. Secondly, holy hell; how in the world do you save $1500 in a fortnight's salaray?!?! I would probably need to save for 2 months to buy that and I'm not on a fresh grad salary.

Yeah, B&M shops are trying to get that law pushed through but it won't make a huge difference. People will just buy in smaller packages and pay a little more for postage. It'll still be a lot cheaper than Australian retail.

But seriously whoever thinks that Australia is a bed of roses, you really should think twice. Cost of living here is pretty high. Yes, you have better buying power but that is if you convert the saved money and go overseas. From personal experience, public transportation isn't cheap, retail products are cheap either, gas & electricity definitely not cheap, petrol not cheap, parking super expensive, tax is high and so many other things I could say. But I like the lifestyle here, so you've got to make sacrifices. I definitely earned and saved a whole lot more in Singapore than I do now.

This post has been edited by konichiwawa: Dec 18 2012, 06:28 AM

i'm not saying i can save $1.5k per fortnight. what i mean was $1.5k per fortnight is like $40-50k per annum which is normal for fresh graduate. let's say you earn $3k a month and after the rent and bills, you still can save at least $1k per month.
EDIT:Sorry, i should say that you can get the TV with fortnight salary(not save) compare to 3 months salary in malaysia

electricity is high but it comes in every 3 months(usually). carbon tax certainly increased another $100. i'm not sure how it works in singapore but i don't think you have some sort of EPF if you are not PR in singapore.

This post has been edited by hihihehe: Dec 18 2012, 07:53 AM

since you are staying here in Oz, im sure you are enjoying.. i mean in terms of buying power.. you dont have to save few months salary (back in MY) to get branded stuff.. like for myself, i need to think twice to get an expensive bag in MY, here i dont really need to do that..and its affordable..and im not converting at all.. stopped converting when u r in a foreign country when u r earning there..

- public transport to me is cheap, im paying $115 for 4 weeks in Melb Zone 1, unlimited access to bus, tram and train for 4 weeks..
- electricity comes every quarter, and my bill is about $450 and divide by 3months, about $100+ monthly which is almost the same back in MY (my electricity bill is RM100+ per month in KL)
- parking it really depends, i work in CBD, i can park for $14 whole day on early bird rate.. (enter by 10am exit after 4pm)
- petrol depends on which day u pump, its cheaper on wed/thur as suggested by locals here..but it also depends..
- tax is high, i agree, but at least u can see something being done by the government, which is better than MY.. (i cant give u examples, as i dun see anything significant that benefits me yet, but for families with kids, they do get benefits)

yes, i agree, dun expect bed of roses here in Oz, i do have friends that suffer and went back.. if you are single and already have a stable job and good income in MY, you will def suffer here, but if you move due to kids education, then its a different story, coz u will sacrifice so ur kids got better education, and ur family will have benefits..

btw.. i can save $1.5k fortnightly..but im not doing that every fortnight, coz im spending more coz stuff are cheap here :-)

just my own experience...

This post has been edited by annielee: Dec 18 2012, 07:57 AM

the only thing i can't live back in malaysia is the internet connection. i know there is unifi but only available in certain places

Ah ok, fair enough. Hahaha. In Singapore there's CPF, but if you aren't a PR there; some companies give it as an added cash component. However, that's additional taxable income of course.

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Added on December 18, 2012, 8:11 amWell, I don't know about that. I still think 2-20 times before getting anything expensive here. Hahaha.

I guess in general Melbourne's cheaper than Sydney. A monthly train ticket in Sydney is generally between $95-$120. If you want unlimited access then it's around $164-$194. And that's only calculating suburbs relatively near the CBD.

Early bird parking is generally ok but on-street parking in the city can be between $2.50 to over $5 an hour depending on location. Petrol hardly ever goes down consistently on Tues-Thurs anymore. At least that's what I see here. It's averaging around $1.32-1.38 nowadays but 1 day I saw it jump up to $1.58.

Taxes paid are being used to support lazy jobless people who purely rely on doe. I've got no issues with government helping families/people in need but some bogans here purely rely on the doe and for that reason, don't bother getting a job.

Wow, you are really good to be able to save $1.5k fortnightly. Well, technically I save about as much monthly $2k-$2.5k but about half of that is set aside for my parents =)

This post has been edited by konichiwawa: Dec 18 2012, 08:11 AM

Well, if you're earning Oz dollar, your expenditure power will be high.
As what Annielee said, sometimes the grass isn't greener out there. However, for me, for the sake of children's future and education, i would prefer sacrifice myself on some personal hobbies.
I dunno how many of you here are singles or married. If you're family man, your mind will be different.
If you compare the earnings there, buying a house is not an issue there coz major services and facilities has been 'subsidies' under your paid tax. At least you could see something from your tax but not in malaysia. I paid tax and get nothing here...budget 2013 is totally dissappointing

totally agreed, im not married, so im paying high tax and get the least benefits from the government..or should i say no benefits at all..
family with kids got the most benefits in my opinion.. :-)
but im happy here..enjoying the 4 seasons, even though i will be cursing during winter and summer..

and some of you may like Aus coz u came here for holiday, plz dont see it that way, as 'holidaying' and living permanently here is a different story..

I save more than 1.5k fortnightly easily (deducting rent(1 bedroom apartment near the CBD), food, movies etc). If you're a single professional, I don't see why is it difficult?

@ Brissie btw

This post has been edited by bossnass15: Dec 18 2012, 12:45 PM

bossnass, do you mind revealing which industry you are in?

It's tough to get a job there with no local experience - even with work rights.

agree.. i can save $1.5k fortnightly but not easily la..
if im 'obedient' enough not to buy other that the necessaries :-)

SAP.
I've got no local experience at all prior to working in Australia. An Australian company from Australia called me in Singapore (was working there), and I packed my bags and go.
Few months later another Australian company offered me a better package with PR sponsorship. Right now, I'm currently with them.

This post has been edited by bossnass15: Dec 18 2012, 12:55 PM

Do you guys have problems blending in with the locals? I have been to melb for a holiday, some of them are extremely nice but some are outright racist.

I would assume it to be much worse whilst working there because you're snatching their "rice bowl".

Do u guys who work there mix with the local communities or within the migrant communities?

my ex-colleague has 1 disabled kid(5 or 6 years old) and they fork out a lot of money in medical when he holding TR. he just got PR approved few months back and the medical is heavily subsidised. he is a happy man now with his family

it really depends. doesn't happen all the time in big companies and you can report to manager or HR if you get offended

the workplace i am working now have lot of races(indian,mauritius,malaysian,vietnamese,european,irish,and kenya).we mixed well with each other and like to joke around(even with racist joke).we are open and nothing to be worried.

if they are "professional" enough then shouldn't be a problem but a bit hard to get promoted(local always get first)