|
HookShot posted:Whereas I spend around $125-$150 a week for two people on groceries here in Canada it's more like $200-$250/week in Australia for the exact same stuff. Goddamn that's a lot to spend on food and thats coming from someone used to Perth prices.
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 05:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:05 |
|
|
Frogmanv2 posted:Goddamn that's a lot to spend on food and thats coming from someone used to Perth prices. Yeah, thats ridiculous. I'd say around the 150/w mark is pretty good for just pure groceries for 2 people if you're one to cook at home/plan ahead/pack a lunch for work. I also recommend Melbourne mainly because I am completely bias and think it's the greatest city in Australia. If you're Canadian and move to Melbourne I hope you like hockey so I have more people to play with.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 06:10
|
|
|
Seriously? I mean sure, I'd only buy extra lean beef, chicken breasts instead of thighs, etc, but I mainly stuck to the outside of the grocery stores (fresh fruit/veg, meats, dairy) and hardly wandered into the aisles. Husband and I both work from home so all our meals were home cooked except the odd time eating out, like maybe once/twice a month. Either way, buying the same stuff is more expensive in Aus. Extra lean ground beef, for example, was $15/kg when I left Australia, it's $10 in Canada. I still buy the same stuff, and spend at least 30% less on groceries now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 06:18
|
|
|
HookShot posted:Seriously? I mean sure, I'd only buy extra lean beef, chicken breasts instead of thighs, etc, but I mainly stuck to the outside of the grocery stores (fresh fruit/veg, meats, dairy) and hardly wandered into the aisles. Husband and I both work from home so all our meals were home cooked except the odd time eating out, like maybe once/twice a month. In Melbourne at least I stick to Queen Vic/South Melbourne market for meat - I can get 4 porterhouse steaks, 4 chicken breasts, 6 lamb chops, gourmet sausages and 1kg of casserole beef/lamb for around $50-60. Add on say, $50 worth of vegetables and $50 worth of random groceries and that would be about right for 2 people. If theres a week where I need a heap of bathroom stuff or cleaning stuff, sure, it'll blow out, but I think a budget of 150-200 max for 2 people is fair. Still more expensive than Canada though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 06:22
|
|
|
Another vote for Hobart here. While it is getting into the colder months and really short days it's not as good, but in summer Hobart really shines with its long days and awesome food. It is cold in winter though but if you are from Europe or North America, comparatively it's really not that bad. It's also a beautiful place to live, just don't go to Devonport.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 06:37
|
|
|
NoArmedMan posted:In Melbourne at least I stick to Queen Vic/South Melbourne market for meat - I can get 4 porterhouse steaks, 4 chicken breasts, 6 lamb chops, gourmet sausages and 1kg of casserole beef/lamb for around $50-60. Add on say, $50 worth of vegetables and $50 worth of random groceries and that would be about right for 2 people. If theres a week where I need a heap of bathroom stuff or cleaning stuff, sure, it'll blow out, but I think a budget of 150-200 max for 2 people is fair. Still more expensive than Canada though. Oh yeah, I didn't really have any real markets near me (there was a butcher but their prices were way worse than the Coles next door, and the fruit stand down the road always had rotting fruit. Brisbane!) so basically all my food shopping I did at Coles. The beauty of suburbia.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 06:43
|
|
|
Friendly Fire posted:Another vote for Hobart here. While it is getting into the colder months and really short days it's not as good, but in summer Hobart really shines with its long days and awesome food. It is cold in winter though but if you are from Europe or North America, comparatively it's really not that bad. I travelled around Tas in a motorhome for 10 days in July once, and yep it was cold but gently caress man Tasmania does cold well. Everywhere has nice fires and is heated, and the cold is kinda pleasant when you have a nice whisky and some fuckin chowder from the Stanley Hotel in your gut. Well maybe not Stanley cause it's really far away but you know what I mean. Chowdah. The best thing about Tasmania is that you guys loving LOVE your local produce. It's such a point of pride to use local stuff and I love that so much. Can't wait to get married there in October 
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 07:03
|
|
|
Hobart is also great in that it's small enough that everything is easy to get to, without being so small that there is nothing to do.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 07:29
|
|
|
You guys are making me pretty excited about moving to Hobart for grad school at the start of next year 
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 09:36
|
|
|
Friendly Fire posted:Hobart is also great in that it's small enough that everything is easy to get to, without being so small that there is nothing to do. Hobart is pretty awesome, that said I wouldn't recommend anyone move there that is looking for a big city experience as the guy asking about moving here was.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 12:37
|
|
|
We're 2 people in Melbourne and spend around 150$ weekly on food while eating pretty well (cooking from scratch, eating out once per week or so). That said, we buy most of our groceries from Queen Vic market (knowing where the best value stalls are, taking advantage of late-day bargains etc. - for reference, "diet beef mince" is $5-6/kg, potatoes are $1-1.5/kg and free range eggs are $4.50/12). YMMV though, depending on your habits of course. Pompous Rhombus, yay grad school starting buddy! (Although I'll probably start end of this year) plasmoduck fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Apr 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 15:58
|
|
|
Is it true Melbourne requires super short showers due to water supply issues? My wife may not be able to handle that.
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 19:12
|
|
|
leidend posted:Is it true Melbourne requires super short showers due to water supply issues? My wife may not be able to handle that. Australia is the driest inhabited continent. Most places have water restrictions, and with El nino kicking in soon, the East Coast is going to be in drought conditions fairly shortly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 02:25
|
|
|
Western Queensland has been in a terrible drought for some time now  We on the coast keep getting rain including flash flooding, bugger off out west god dammit!
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 02:33
|
|
|
Yeah, even when I lived in Brisbane like 4 years ago you weren't supposed to have more than four minute showers, and use less than 50 litres of water a day, because the dams were down to like 15% capacity.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 03:34
|
|
|
Lizard Combatant posted:Melbourne is great but Adelaide is a cheaper version with nicer weather. Huh? Adelaide has way more in common with Perth than Melbourne. leidend posted:Is it true Melbourne requires super short showers due to water supply issues? My wife may not be able to handle that. I lived in Melbourne for the past three years and was never told (let alone forced) to have short showers. As far as I know the most water restrictions Australian cities ever have to put up with is sprinkler/garden watering bans during super drought periods.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 10:11
|
|
|
freebooter posted:Huh? Adelaide has way more in common with Perth than Melbourne. Probably, but if you're comparing it to either Melbourne or Sydney as I was, I'd go with Melbourne. I doubt many people from overseas know anything about Perth.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 10:16
|
|
|
I dunno. Hot weather, so-so public transport, outdoorsy lifestyle, excellent beaches? Sounds more like Sydney than Melbourne.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 10:33
|
|
|
freebooter posted:I lived in Melbourne for the past three years and was never told (let alone forced) to have short showers. No one has ever enforced showers since its pretty much impossible, but we did have the government handing out "shower timers" that set to 3 or 4 minutes via the newspapers at one stage due to our water supply getting so low. That would've been about 5 years or so ago. I think our water storage got down to 15% or so at that point. Now our water storage is much better and we have the yet to be used desalinisation plant. Next time around our restrictions shouldn't be as harsh.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 17:10
|
|
|
Coming from a place where our many "creeks" are 40 feet wide with whitewater and you don't need to maintain your lawn because it's always naturally green to 4 minute showers would be a bit of a shock for the wife. But she'll get over it.
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2014 21:18
|
|
|
NoArmedMan posted:Now our water storage is much better and we have the yet to be used desalinisation plant. Next time around our restrictions shouldn't be as harsh. Also people are not as water free as they used to be after that last drought, some good habits have been formed so when restrictions roll around well be in a good place. Will be interesting when we have to turn on the desal plant, and we will have to use it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2014 03:02
|
|
|
leidend posted:Coming from a place where our many "creeks" are 40 feet wide with whitewater and you don't need to maintain your lawn because it's always naturally green to 4 minute showers would be a bit of a shock for the wife. But she'll get over it. As NoArmedMan said, it's a guideline, not a rule. I don't see why we should limit our showers when the industrial sector gets to elephant down as much water as it wants.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2014 03:34
|
|
|
leidend posted:Coming from a place where our many "creeks" are 40 feet wide with whitewater and you don't need to maintain your lawn because it's always naturally green to 4 minute showers would be a bit of a shock for the wife. But she'll get over it. You wont ever have to do this. The most they do is things like only watering your garden on Sundays and Wednesdays but Sydney hasn't had to do that for years. The shower thing is more of a education thing about saving water in general.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2014 05:02
|
|
|
Fists Up posted:You wont ever have to do this. The most they do is things like only watering your garden on Sundays and Wednesdays but Sydney hasn't had to do that for years. Hahaha, that's been a thing in Florida for years, I kind of assumed it was almost universal.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2014 06:30
|
|
Fists Up posted:You wont ever have to do this. The most they do is things like only watering your garden on Sundays and Wednesdays but Sydney hasn't had to do that for years. The shower thing is more of a education thing about saving water in general. Even in Vancouver they have lawn watering days, which is ridiculous because there are maybe two months per year where your grass may go a bit dry without watering at all. Anyway glad to hear. Will be starting the process soon, see you goons in 2020 or so.
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2014 20:51
|
|
|
Back in this thread again. So, after last year spent in Melbourne jobless and mostly unhappy, I came home to the UK in December and landed a full-time job at with my old employer and have been there for three months. I just found out today that they're sending me to Melbourne for a month to support the team there. Flights, apartment, wages plus daily expenses, all paid  I don't really know how to end this post?! Looking forward to experiencing Melbourne with AN INCOME finally, dear loving god.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2014 19:35
|
|
|
Hahahaha that's awesome.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2014 23:47
|
|
|
That is fantastic. I really think Melbourne is one of the best cities in the world, but not if you're broke.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 00:52
|
|
|
Haha isn't that ironic, we'll have to have some more goon meets as I think the melb crew has been a bit slack lately.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 01:21
|
|
|
hahaha thats awesome.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 06:07
|
|
|
I've spent the past year in Perth on a 462 Work and Holiday, and I've had an amazing time. I had trouble finding work to start, but eventually I landed a great job at a little wine bar and have been working there for about 5 months. Even on minimum wage, I've found it surprisingly easy to enjoy myself. I usually spend like $20 on groceries a week by eating canned tuna fish and rice primarily, with the occasional indulgence in a kangaroo steak. My rent is about $500 AUD/month, I was even able to fund a 2-week trip with surplus savings over to Sydney (amazingly beautiful) and Melbourne (meh). I've decided I loving love it here in Perth, so my fiance and I have decided to live in Australia instead of my native USA. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to introduce my fiance (an Aussie citizen) to my family in America due to a failed B2 visa application and subsequent year-long visa-waiver revocation as her passport is now flagged with 'intent to immigrate' because the US consular officer decided she had intent to immigrate during her 2 minute loving tourist visa interview. Evidently this is incredibly common and I'm an idiot for not knowing that B2 visas are only for retired geriatrics with shitloads of tourist money to burn in Vegas, but hey, we live and learn. Any tips on how to not go insane during the visa application process? I'm getting a prospective marriage (300) visa with my fiance, and it's sucked a lot of the joy out of what is supposed to be a significant event in one's life (engagement). Going through the medical checkups, x-rays, HIV tests, filling out police check requests, getting fingerprinted, speaking with callous immigration lawyers, and writing down my entire life history seventeen times on each of the 20-page forms, etc etc has been loving dehumanizing as poo poo and really depressing. All of that on top of the fact that I have to spend the entire processing time outside of Australia (and thus loving physically separated from the woman I plan to marry) for 5-10 months. To rectify this I've got myself a WHV for New Zealand and we're moving there while it processes, since we can't stay in America either thanks to the failed B2 application and refuse to spend the next year of our engaged lives separated by 10,000 miles because of some arbitrary BOP THE STOATES ruling. I keep thinking that it'll all be worth it when it's over, but jesus christ. krazysigmarite fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Apr 26, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 08:25
|
|
|
Hahaha thanks guys! I was just laughing down the phone when they told me, I thought it was a joke? I don't even know when I'm leaving but I think pretty much when the visas come in so in the next couple of weeks.freebooter posted:That is fantastic. I really think Melbourne is one of the best cities in the world, but not if you're broke. Agreed. It's going to be so weird not feeling cripplingly guilty over buying a drink or a sandwich. This is what last year was supposed to be like, so I'm so excited to get the opportunity to do this. It's also going to look AMAZING on my CV. Omgz posted:Haha isn't that ironic, we'll have to have some more goon meets as I think the melb crew has been a bit slack lately. I know, right? Totally up for goon meets, at least one pool night needs to be arranged! I've forgotten what the weather's like this time of year in Melb, it is really cold and wet yet? My suitcase still has most of my clothes from last year still in it so I guess I don't really need to pack, ha.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 11:19
|
|
|
Just got back from our honeymoon in Australia, and I really have to agree, Melbourne is a truly great city. I have a question, though... why is soda so expensive there? A 20 oz equivalent Coke would run 4.50 AUD, whereas back in the states they are usually around 1.50 USD. It's not like they're being imported; the Coke was bottled in AU using actual sugar instead of HCFS. Is it a tax thing maybe? Literally the first thing we did once we cleared customs in Dallas was get a meal and bask in the glory of unlimited free refills. Though honestly, that's my biggest demerit towards Australia. That, and it being a fifteen hour flight away. Speaking of which, I want to thank Australia for having a classy airline. It makes me happy that Qantas exists, to show the rest of the world how it's supposed to be done. Finally, gently caress Tigerair.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 15:44
|
|
|
Omgz posted:Haha isn't that ironic, we'll have to have some more goon meets as I think the melb crew has been a bit slack lately. We've been having nearly weekly meets until I went away, not my fault if you refuse to eat chicken and drink beer >:|
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 02:48
|
|
|
NoArmedMan posted:We've been having nearly weekly meets until I went away, not my fault if you refuse to eat chicken and drink beer >:| I meant like full on goon meet, all the goons etc
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 03:07
|
|
|
Golbez posted:I have a question, though... why is soda so expensive there? A 20 oz equivalent Coke would run 4.50 AUD, whereas back in the states they are usually around 1.50 USD. It's not like they're being imported; the Coke was bottled in AU using actual sugar instead of HCFS. Is it a tax thing maybe? Literally the first thing we did once we cleared customs in Dallas was get a meal and bask in the glory of unlimited free refills. Real sugar isn't that cheap compared to HCFS, and fuel to transport it is also alot more expensive than in the USA, I'd say they're the 2 main factors in "soda" (they're soft drinks here by the way) being so expensive. Especially in Melbourne which is as far away from the sugar cane region in northern QLD as you can get on the mainland. Here everything costs so much for 2 reasons, taxes/excises and distance (fuel). It blew my mind to goto Vegas and get free alcoholic drinks all night (as long as you tip the waitresses!), because here anything alcoholic is hit the hardest by the taxes/excises and fuel cost rule. At any casino here, you have to pay the full $8-$10 pricetag, and you're lucky if the server brings your drink back within 1/2 an hour. It's probably the only job I would say that I saw a clear benefit from being paid by tips.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 11:35
|
|
|
krazysigmarite posted:
It's hosed. I've just finished off the process, in the same situation as you - American on a working holiday, married an Australian, and went through the entire spousal visa process in Perth. We used a de facto partner visa due to our own circumstances. It's a long and stupid process, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Why do you have to be outside of the country for the whole process, though?
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 12:35
|
|
|
Omgz posted:I meant like full on goon meet, all the goons etc I would be totally up for this. I'll be over probably for most of May I think, still no idea what my schedule is but I'm sure I'll be free some/most evenings, and I'll be working in the CBD (Bourke St GPO I think) so easy to get to most places.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 13:44
|
|
|
krazysigmarite posted:Any tips on how to not go insane during the visa application process? I'm getting a prospective marriage (300) visa with my fiance, and it's sucked a lot of the joy out of what is supposed to be a significant event in one's life (engagement). If it helps, my PR visa when I migrated to Perth from Minnesota back in 2008 took 20 months to be processed.  It took so long I had to come over on a 462, then leave the country 5 months later once it was finialized, since I had applied offshore originally. That was for both my wife and I, and was before you could apply online, so it came out to be what seems like reams of paperwork in the end, all handwritten. She came over on a student visa before I did, so we did the whole 11000 mile long distance relationship for about 5 months as well.We're both citizens now, and that was almost as much drat paperwork as the PR visa was. It was basically the same info, so I just dug out the PR application and copied over all the stupid things like addresses from the previous 10 years, every country you've visited in the past 10 years, etc... And then when you have kids you get to fill out the same number of forms, just in reverse this time, to get US birth cert/passport/SSN. And yes, they ask all the address/travel questions that the AU visas do. If anything, you'll get very good at remembering all your old addresses.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 15:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:05 |
|
|
Rudager posted:Real sugar isn't that cheap compared to HCFS, and fuel to transport it is also alot more expensive than in the USA, I'd say they're the 2 main factors in "soda" (they're soft drinks here by the way) being so expensive. Especially in Melbourne which is as far away from the sugar cane region in northern QLD as you can get on the mainland. Thanks! And I grew up saying soft drink, but living in the midwest I'm exposed heavily to "pop" so I figured "soda" was a safe middle ground. Surprised about the casino thing; I figured that was a global thing, since it pays for a casino to get people drunk. A loss leader. (Ironically, the only place Australian that I had free refills of booze and Coke was the one place where it's impossibly expensive to ship to - on Qantas over the Pacific Ocean)
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 18:29
|
|