I’ve been a bit quiet on the Australia front recently, but for regular readers, you’ll know it’s a big dream of ours to eventually get out there. The plan has gone on the back-burner a little since discovering I’m pregnant. It might sound ridiculous, but I feel much more comfortable giving birth here in the UK (this despite the press doing their best to persuade us all that our hospitals are tired and failing). We also received a blow a few months ago regarding our application and it seems neither of us are as desirable as we once thought. The pressure is now on both of us to retrain which means our 3 year plan has now turned into a 10 year one. Sigh…

We are however, constantly researching, plotting, and fantasising about a life down under. Our children will enjoy an outdoor lifestyle, we’ll enjoy a better work / life balance, and the retirement options over there are immeasurably better than here in the UK. Both Craig and I have folders on our laptops filled with useful links and resources, and spreadsheets with recruitment contacts, estate agents and crudely worked-out budgets. So when I spotted a brand new Cost of Living Index from Budget Direct which allows you to compare the cost of living across a range of different factors in major cities throughout the UK, Australia and the US, I immediately bookmarked it.

Interactive tools like this are infinitely helpful as they allow you to visualise how far your money will stretch when the novelty wears off and the hard slog begins. Here in the UK, most of us could say, with no hesitation, how much a half decent bottle of Merlot costs at the supermarket. We all how much our weekly commute sets us back, what we’re paying for broadband and how much cash we’ll need for a night out on the town. But hardly any of us actually know how these costs compare to those in the States or Australia.

I always imagined most of these things would be cheaper in Australia. They haven’t been hit as hard as us by the global recession and they’ve a growing and prosperous infrastructure. But (amazingly) I’m not always right, and it seems this is the case here.

I popped London, Sydney and Los Angeles into the calculator and was a bit taken aback by the results. I appreciate I’ve picked three of the most expensive cities I could have chosen, but as Sydney is the ultimate dream for us, I wanted to see how it compares to the money pit that is our nation’s capital. Surprising the cost of housing is much the same in London as it is in Sydney, but most utilities are, on average, far more expensive in Sydney. This includes mobile phone contracts and broadband provision which are at least twice as expensive. The only area where the UK prices exceed that of Sydney is in heating, water and electricity - but even here the difference is negligible.

The price of alcohol on a night out is more expensive in Australia, clothing is also considerably more expensive (see below), as are most items you will typically find in your weekly food shop. It’s certainly an eye-opener.

The only area where the UK blows Australia out of the water is transport. We’ve long known that the UK has ridiculous transport costs with yearly hikes well over the rate of inflation - it’s in the news year upon year. It therefore shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise that it’s much cheaper to get around in Sydney.

So what does this mean? Well it means we’re a little guilty of wearing rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to Oz. Of course there are much cheaper states to live in than Sydney, and they’ll need to be! Although we’re both convinced we’ll earn more and work slightly fewer hours in Australia, any dreams of us dining out every night and living the life of Riley will have to stay just that - dreams.

If you’re thinking of making a big move, or even just fancy a nosy about what life could be like somewhere new. I thoroughly recommend Budget Direct’s nifty tool. It certainly makes for interesting reading.

Featured Post in association with BudgetDirect.com.au