aussie dollar free falling. ask ur parents buy shit loads of AUD and keep it in the bank. nvr know when rate might go this low again. according to online websites its about 2.45 now. ( not buying rate yea)

central banks coming in, rebounded back to 2.5 now......good time to buy some, but it may not be bottom yet.....

been dropping like mad.. meaning have to work longer hours to enjoy holidays in msia this summer.. ..

2.5 is darn cheap already.. anywhere below this is even better.. save damn hell of a lot on tuition fees..

Moumosea -  I think we are in the same boat, going through the process of applying to universities in australia for engineering. I have also put in my application to uwa and uni of adelaide for chemical engineering - 2009 intake. Like you, I have not decided whether to go to Adelaide or Perth so I put the application in first and decide later if and when I receive an offer from them.

According to the universities' 2009 brochures, it seems that the total cost of studying in Uni of Adelaide is cheaper compared to UWA.
BTW, international students applying for undergraduate programs at Uni of Adelaide are automaticaly considered for those scholarship offered by the University (of couse based on academic results and merit).  No separate application is required but only those received before scholarship closing date of 31st October will be considered. Further, you don't have to pay AUD50 application fee if you apply through IDP.  Otherwise I suggest you submit at the IDP Subang Aussie Open days on 14th & 15th October as application fees are waived on those days.

My parent has put an estimated budget of AUD 420 per week to study at UWA and AUD 315 per week to study at Uni of Adelaide as cost of living (including accomodation). Anyone can tell me if these amount are sufficient???.
Lemonfish - Are you also studying engineering (what engineering).  Mind sharing your experience studying in Uni Adelaide with us.  How's the lecturers, accomodation, availability of part-time jobs, industrial placement, etc, etc.

i heard people say 300 is totally not enough to come in to Australia

i heard people say 300 is totally not enough to come in to Australia

It all depends on where you end up. Trying to live with $250/wk will be near impossible in Melbourne and Sydney (rent is that much, if not more). $250/wk gets you a long way in Hobart and Wollongong.

This just in : interest rates cut to 6%, 1% cut. RM trading at 2.48 to the AUD. My money changer will take 1.10 for SGD. I don't know if it's bottoming opt or not. AUD went up 0.05 against RM 45 mins after rate cut announcement.

Anyone who thinks there is a recession better look at the property market through. Finding a place is near impossible, as no one is selling or renting (in anticipation of the rate cut).

i heard people say 300 is totally not enough to come in to Australia

250/wk in Melb CBD n Sydney CBD is no way near unless you are sub urb then would be possible.

there wont be a recession in Australia for sure; more of a achievable slowdown for the good sake of stabilizing the problem from global economic position in RBA eyes.

what do you mean finding a place selling or renting is impossible?

property in Australia will only recover by 2010 as assume by most if the major plan work in the picture; injection from US Fed is not making any good so far; looks like someone just flushed money in the toilet bowl.

You must be damn far from the city to find a place for $250/wk. 45 min commute one way maybe?

You must be damn far from the city to find a place for $250/wk. 45 min commute one way maybe?

I don't  know about Sydney and Melbourne, but my experience in Brisbane and anecdotal evidence from Adelaide is that no one is selling and/or renting. Rents may further stabalise or even go down. Thus making it near impossible to find a place.

People are hanging on, waiting for the rate cut and the subsequent interest rate cut to be passed on by the banks. I'm not going into the whole debate on whether banks will pass on the rate cut: suffice to say, people will start shopping around. 1%  is a damn lot.

Recession in Australia? Are you kidding? Not when they still seem to hit something everytime they dig a hole in WA and QLD. The issue right now is more of keeping the surplus rather than worrying about a possible deficit.

AUD selling at 2.56 today... it's such a nice change after being 2.8/2.9 for most of the year... hopefully it doesn't shoot up again at the end of the year like it usually did in the past.

SGD is going strong, almost 1 to 1 now.... good news for Sporeans over here... no wonder they can spend like crazy Bad news for me since it means I'm doing electives there at the end of this year...

That's quite risky to be honest, i think you should settled your accomodation before you arrive in Melbourne. If you want to search for accomodation there, then i hope you have somewhere to stay there. I know a few universities will provide accommodation for new students for a week or so.
Anyway arrived early in that place and start settling your accomodation asap. And i find this website particularly useful in knowing the location and direction to any particular destination(from your accomodation to the university). And also ask your uni by email or whatever mode of communication if you can accessed their private rental database, i find this useful as you can searched by price or suburbs and etc option and most of the rental properties are mostly occupied by students.

which campus are you into 1st?
City, bundoora?

have you been to Melb before?

i only spend roughly 50-60 dollar per week excluding rent and bills...sometimes even less...i eat at home quite often though...
btw ivango88 are u from sunway A-levels last time? ur name sound familiar

i think his surname is "go"..haha nvm then...
rental per month is 758 dollars with bills at roughly 130(including electricity,water,internet access and phone bill)

Hey, thx.. The site is helpful. Ya, RMIT did have a temporary place for us to stay, well, will it be that risky? cause i thought uni notice board usually have a lot of ads about accommodation.

I was looking around at the map of melbourne that day, and thought of budgeting, so went online and look for share rental price, and I do not know where to stay as far as convenient is concern, so I hit this question up. Well, probably somewhere near the city or st.kilda? parkville? I dont know how far it's to travel from let's say st. kilda. that's why I wanted to know where am I suppose to stay.

How much do you guys spend a week for everything?

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Added on October 7, 2008, 6:58 pm

Nope, I have not been to melb before. I will be at city campus.

well; if you really planning to look. try www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au

why not try rmit temporary stay?
u can try unilodge n many more.

I can pin point some area you might prefer

Zone 1-Caulfield, Hawthorn,Chadstone(holmesglen area), Malvern East, Brunswick;Docklands; St kilda, CBD, Richmond; Murrumbenna; Carnegie
Zone 2- Glen Waverley; Box Hill

those area does have good profile and near city.

tell you; from caulfield it took me about 15 mins by train to city using limited express; prolly abt less sometime.

when you look for place in melb; look for transportation availablity; it does help alot n its frequency. But do not stay so near to train station; its damn annoying.

Hey thx a lot, that's really informatics, just the thing i want... I actually thought of walking distance to uni. but then how much does it cost for u to travel down by train?