Oz costs

Oz Costs

What it costs to live in Oz - everything from bread to petrol and cars to houses.

To put things into perspective somewhat, I've added some costs for various things like food, cars, clothes, houses, etc. All costs are in Australian dollars (A$). Quantities are given in metric (as that's what we use down here). For your reference:

Please note:

• Prices for the same thing vary with the remoteness of the store, the size of the city / town, the brand you buy, the store you buy it from, and in some cases (i.e. petrol) even the season, date, phase of the moon, etc.
• A Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been implemented from July 1, 2000. This means the prices of most goods, except fresh foods, went up by 10%. However, many other taxes, most notably the wholesale sales tax, were scrapped or reduced, so a lot of prices actually ended up going down or staying the same. All prices below are GST inclusive.
• Prices here are generally the cheapest possible in a city sized settlement. If you just waltz in and pick up the first item x that you see, you will pay more than what is listed below.

Here comes the shopping list.....

Food

Item	Cost
480g Loaf of bread	A$1.50
2L Bottle of milk	A$2.10
12 Eggs	A$2.00
Apples	A$3.00 / kg
Oranges	A$2.00 / kg
500g Cornflakes	A$3.50
410g Can of Baked Beans	A$0.80
Beef sausages	A$3.00 / kg
Frozen chicken	A$5.00
250g Butter	A$1.00
2L Fizzy	A$1.50
A Beer	A$1.50
375g Chocolate	A$4.00
A Whopper	A$2.70
Fast food lunch	A$5.00
Dinner at a restaurant	A$15.00 +

Clothes

Item	Cost
T - Shirt	A$2.00 - A$30.00
Jeans	A$20.00 - A$80.00
Knit jumper	A$25.00 - A$100.00
Socks	A$2.00 - A$15.00

Electrical

Item	Cost
34cm TV	A$200.00
68cm TV	A$450.00
VCR	A$150.00
DVD Player	A$150.00
Fridge	A$800.00
Stereo	A$200.00
Computer	A$1500.00
Washing Machine	A$600.00

Accomodation

Item	Cost
Campsite	free +
Single hotel room	A$60.00 +
Double hotel room	A$80.00 +
2 Bedroom rented house	A$180.00 / week
4 Bedroom rented house	A$200.00 / week
4 Bedroom house	A$250,000.00

Cars

Item	Cost
Daihatsu Sirion (small, manual, 1.1L engine, 4 door, 2 airbags, electric windows and mirrors)	A$12,000.00
Mitsubishi Lancer (medium, auto, 1.6L engine, 4 door, 1 airbag, air conditioning)	A$16,000.00
Ford Falcon (large, auto, 4.0L engine, 4 door, 2 airbags, electric windows and mirrors, air conditioning)	A$31,000.00
Nissan Patrol (4wd, auto, 3.0L engine, 4 door, 1 airbag, air conditioning)	A$40,000.00
Used small car	A$500.00 +
Used medium car	A$1,000.00 +
Used large car	A$1,500.00 +

Miscelaneous

Item	Cost
Local phone call	A$0.20 (untimed)
Video hire	A$4 / night (new release)
Car registration	A$600.00 / year
Movie ticket	A$12.00
Bus / train ticket	A$2.00
Parking	free +
Petrol	A$0.95 / L

Some final points:

• Public toilets are free, even at airports and the likes.
• Restaurants and bars are obliged to provide drinking water on request and without charge, although a stingy few will attempt to charge anyway.
• Pay per use showers are available at places like service stations / caravan parks / hotels, especially in more remote locations.
• Tipping is not expected, with the salaries of waiters, porters, taxi drivers, etc such that they do not depend on tips to make a decent wage (in theory at least). It is nice to leave a tip if you think the service warranted, but no 10% rules or suchlike apply.
• Bargaining is only really accepted at some markets, prices are otherwise fixed.
• Oz has comprehensive consumer protection laws, but there is still the potential to get ripped off. Shop around.

Related links:

The Royal Australian Mint

Where most of the money comes from

Where the rest of the money comes from

Pages about the introduction of the GST