Cost of Living in Sydney

Many comments within these pages are misleading eg #Cupid, FOOD prices my friend actually vary within Australia to a degree than can only be called 'stupendous'.
I have lived in many countries, Uk,USA,South America etc. I removed myself from the dump called Australia to the Czech Republic because in my opinion it is still a British penal colony run by criminals.
Economically the country is in shambles, virtually every public utility is owned by overseas investors, it does not stop there, for example there are only 3 hotels within the Blue Mountains district of N.S.W that are NOT owned by Chinese investors. They own the restaurants and other tourist utilities and hire locals to run them.
One can be excused for thinking one arrived in Asia when arriving at Sydney International airport.
Sydney IS a pretty city with the harbour etc but is soon becomes boring once one has seen the opera house and harbour bridge!
The inhabitants are somewhat retarded, all they can think about and talk about is 'da footy and meat pies'.
Australians in general are the most politically unaware of any people I have ever come across within the Western world, that includes the Southern States of USA, which is saying a lot about the inhabitants of Australia!!

Yes, and that’s exactly part of the job of a buyer’s broker. I have a client in her early 70’s whom I rented apartments to for several years and she suddenly came into a small inheritance. She actually called me and said, “Jeff, I have some great news…one of my relatives passed away…” which of course left me in puzzled silence. She explained that this relative left her money, and then had the sensibility to say “I shouldn’t have said it that way.”

With new funds in hand she was excited ditch the rental life and buy her first apartment ever, an apartment she told me would be her retirement home. I carefully culled appropriate selections for her and previewed units to make a list of top recommendations. But she saw some pictures on a website and totally fell in love with a relative large apartment on the 4th floor of a walkup building far from subways but which oozed prewar character. The hassles of getting things up or down 4 flights up was precisely the reason this unit seemed like such a deal compared to the more expensive doorman + elevator buildings I showed her.

When we viewed the apartment, she already had clear difficulty in making it up the stairs, but she told me she was “absolutely in love.”

It took substantial persuasion and tactful discussions to help her understand that if this was to be her “forever home,” and she expected to live here for the next 10, 15 years or more, she HAD to give thought to what it would be like to navigate those flights of stairs at age 80, 85 or 90.

Fortunately, I was able to convince her to view some of the attractive apartments I was recommending that were somewhat smaller, but in elevator buildings. The one she finally bought had an elevator, 24 / 7 doorman, a block from the subway and featured a rooftop solarium.

I stayed in touch with her over several years and she recently called me asking me “Guess where I am right now?? I’m in my rooftop sooo laaaa reeee ummmmm !!!” She insisted I come join her for lunch and during lunch she told me how much she loves her building and thanked me profusely for dissuading her from purchasing the walk-up apartment in the little building far out of the way. As it turned out, she had developed some issues with her hips that may eventually require surgical intervention and she described having an elevator and 24 / 7 attendant as a “lifesaver.”

The job of a SELLER’s broker is always to “sell the house.” But for the BUYER’s broker that job is ensuring the client gets a good deal on a great property that best meets the client’s needs. A buyer relies on his / her agent / broker for exactly this insight and expertise, even when that means being told “Nope. I know you love it, but this is not right for YOU.” Contact me bryankingston001@gmail.com to get your apartment

Hi guys,
Some numbers for those wandering about costs in Sydney. This is based on a couple's expenses (without children).
- Rent (1 bedroom apartment in Randwick area): $560 per week
- Private health insurance for couple: $300 per month
- Electricity bills: $45 per month (we do not use much AA or heating)
- Gas bills: $45 per month (we cook a lot at home)
- Supermarket: $650-$750 a month (again, we cook a lot at home)
- Public Transportation: just walk to work
- Car rental (car sharing): $130 a month (just used to do shopping every two weeks)
- Lunch at work: $10-$12 each lunch
- Coffee: $3.00 each coffee
- Internet at home: $59 a month
- Mobile phone: $30 each person, each month
- Gym: $80 per person, per month

Taking all expenses into account, as a couple we spend approx. $5000 per month (on average).

my friend and i are wanting to move to sutherland eaerly next year, how much is a good cost for livng there per week

I would say, 4000AUD a month should be ok for a single person. I pay 370$/week for a room in the city and spend around 300$/week for food, gym, mobile etc. If I go out for drink, 100$ is easy.

I lived in Cairns, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
The food prices in the supermarkets are the same, doesn't matter where you are.The prices indicated on the website are accurate.

Eating out, Cairns and Melbourne are very expensive, even the price of the daily lunch menu is way more than here.

In Sydney, I would say eating out at a normal bar/pub is quite reasonable compared to the other cities in Australia. Most places offer great deals, like $10 burgers and $12-15 steak, even at prime locations like Darling Harbour.

There are two expensive things in Sydney:

1. transportation
The first 8 rides are full prices, after the 8th the rides are at half prices. The weekly cap is around $60.
I live only 20 minutes away from work, however I have never payed less than the $60 cap.

2. Accommodation
If you are single, you need to be very well off to afford a 1 bedroom unit in the city. Below $500 per week without utilities it is impossible to find something.
Two-bedroom apartments are around $7-800 per week.

I work in an office in IT, my hourly wage is $25 which is quite average in an office environment. I work 37.5 hours a week, that equals to $937.5 per week, but this is before tax. My net wage is around $700 per week.

I rent a room in a 6 bedroom shared house for $250 including bills.
Mobile: $6 per week
Insurance: $12 per week
Transport: $60 per week

Total fix spending: $328 per week

Tax rates in 2018:
Tax rate

0–$18,200

No tax

$18,201–$37,000

19c for each $1 over $18,200

$37,001–$80,000

$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000

And taxes - kind of interesting system, gradebale.
https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Host/?anchor=STC&anchor=STC#STC/questions - check here your taxes.

@#SM

Hey man, your degree may not be recognized but PMP is international and I just got hired as a developer, so good news for IT. Lots of job in the area and a degree doesn't seem to be an issue.
The package I'm seeing through some jobs on linkedin, indeed and others range from 60-90k/year for mid level, 100-180k/year for senior and management roles. Good luck! By the way, try stackoverflow jobs!

I'm single age of 35 and having of 4+ years experince in development sectors. I want to migrate in Aus for better job, may I have any chance without ielts

No jobs in Sydney or anywhere in Australia unless you're in the medical field or allied health.

hi,
i gotta offer from a company located in sydney, (Level 23, Gateway, 1 Macquarie Place, Circular Quay, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia) salary 3925AUD,
i am single, please anyone advise me the cost of living ( rent + food)/month.

We have live in Sydney for 5 years. When we arrived it was expensive. Now property is unaffordable. It's increased by 70% in 4 years. Driven by Chinese investment and tax incentives for renting your property.
As a family we earn $250,000 per year before tAx but with 4 children cannot afford to save anything and will never be able to buy a house in a reasonable nice part of the city within 40 mins commute from the CBD.
LONDON is similar but have much better public transport infrastructure.
If you're coming from a city like London where your house is worth 1m pounds then you might be able to buy in a nice suburb. If not don't plan on staying. just come short term And enjoy the sunshine and beaches. But Sydney is not a great nightlife city. Go to Melbourne for that!

wow Vanessa, you seem to contradict yourself in what you are looking for in a place. I have never heard anyone run Sydney down like that. It is still one of the best cities in the world and absolutely beautiful. I don't know why you would make out that it is so dangerous but yet you also complain that they cleaned up places like the cross. strange. maybe you haven't travelled much.

I just spoke with my cousin who I haven't heard from for yrs said that her son in law with duo degrees in engineering makes 300k in mismanagement position. That sounds too good to be true as I searched on the avg salary in Sydney. Is that possible? What is the avg salary for electrical engineer with duo degrees like? I think my cousin was exaggerating. What u all think?

Hello..
Been offered a job in Sydney. Moving from Auckland with 2 kids (4Y and 2Y). Are living expenses cheaper in Sydney than Auckland?
How about daycare? How much would I have to pay for daycare for a week?
What eould the average pay be for an Accountant with 10+ experiance.

I worked in Sydney as a Software Engineer for almost 6 years.
One factor this website doesn't count for is Job Security.
You might get a 100K+ job in Sydney but that might not last long.
For permanent and more secure jobs these days they're offering as low as 70K-80K package, for a senior software engineer.

Hey, I am a software engineer working on SAP having 10 years of experience in the same. I am planning to migrate
Australia. Appreciate your suggestions on jobs, cost of living and other things that to consider. Thanks in advance!

Ahmed

thanks vanessa for your story.. gosh ... i suppose anywhere can be tough when you're going it alone and especially if you're on a budget

if you are wealthy then you're insulated from the drama of finding money for rent, bills, food, transport and pleasure.. the rich can live a party lifestyle in sydney, london, los angeles or new york

the thing is, whenever you go back to a place hoping it's like what it used to be years before.. usually it's a big disappointment.. everywhere is gentrified and over priced now.. and because rents are so high.. there's not the diversity on shops anymore..

what's the answer?

Sydney has it all ! From fine restaurants to the best movie cinemas and hotels. Prices differ from location to location. If your on holidays and looking for some interesting ways to spend some time, I'd recommend joining meetup.com where you will find lots of interesting groups hosted by locals. If you've just moved here and own a car, why not join the alfaclubnsw.org and join the fun. There are various events throughout the year and joining only costs $99.

Good website with lots of information which is useful for my assignment. :) thank you

Urban Camper that's ridiculous, as if we're going to live inside our car while we build a life in Sydney.. talk about uncomfortable and cramped it would be..

Even Air BnB might be a worthwhile alternative for those doing a short stay..