Brisbane Cost of Living

Thanks Comet and all, very helpful info.
My kids are 7 and 4. So Grade 2 and pre-school.
I would more than likely need a car, so seems about 30-40 min to Brissie from Capalaba, Alexandra Hills?

And you are right Ntaylor, it is a daunting question

You can check the grade your child will be going into with this chart.
http://education.qld.gov.au/etrf/prep.html

Also, just a side note, but they would say year 2 instead of grade 2 hear. I never say it like that though, at least not yet!

Your 4 year old would be going into Prep next year (like Kindergarten). The school year usually starts the last week of January here and runs all year with extended breaks for holiday times. If your 4 year old is turning 5 before June 30th then they would be in Prep this year.

I send her to kindy here(preschool) two days a week. We pay $20 per day and you get that reduced a little bit depending on your income. Everyone gets the minimum reduction which is about 16% off, which is what we get. Her kindy is excellent and generally has a really long waiting list, but we got lucky and she got in. You don't have to send the kids to kindy and it's up to you to pay the fees if you do. I did have her at a childcare centre that had kindy and you paid for the whole day whether you used it or not, the cost there was $48 a day I think. So finding a place like she is in now is difficult, it's like an actual little school that only runs from 9-2pm.

As far as commuting goes I'd expect about 40 minutes to the CBD from my house, could add about 5 minutes depending on where you are in Alex Hills. If you're travelling at the busy time you could possibly add close to another 30 minutes. I'm really not sure because my husband takes the bus. He leaves at 6:30 and the bus only takes 35 minutes, but they do have special bus lanes and things to help them get there faster. To go at a slower time you'd have to leave before 7am for sure.

Parking really is pretty expensive there. It would be about twice as much as taking the bus or train. We have one vehicle because I need it to get around and do errands, and my husband uses the train/bus during the week.

I think you could expect about $300 a month for parking, or about $130 for a bus/train ticket. If your job provided a parking space it wouldn't be too bad though. The ride would be a bit of a pain though, there isn't exactly a big freeway running to the downtown area. It's two lanes in both directions and there's lights most of the way.

When were you thinking of moving here? Have you got your visa yet? I see that your wife is Australian so it should be pretty easy for you to get your visa if you havne't already.

I thought I should give you a link to our blog:
http://haleyculver.spaces.live.com/

I've started it just before we left Canada. So all the entries from May 2007 to now are from Australia. There's lots of photo albums on the right, many of which are local places. There's albums for Wellington Point park, Cleveland Point park, Southbank, Dreamworld/Whitewaterworld, Australia Zoo, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Kuranda, etc.

The blog entries from May and June have a lot of comments about the differences in Australia compared to Canada.

Thanks for the school info Comet, appreciated once again.
As far as migrating we are looking at a 2 year plan.
Takes a while to weight our options, and make a decision.
Being established (I am in my late 30's, wife in 40's) takes a while to take care of everything.

I will check out your blog for sure!

I may have some more questions for you in time

Price of petrol is around $1.30 litre, or about $5.00 a US gallon.
Loaf of bread around $3.50
2 litre of milk around $3.50

The rental situation here is cutthroat. Around Brisbane, home selling prices increased about 17% last year alone, depending on area (up to 49% in Inala).

That said, Brisbane is a great place to live, great weather - never gets cold (unless you are from Darwin like my wife).

i noticed you guys are from alberta (specifically northern alberta!).

this may sound like a ridiculous question, but how are the winters in australia/ queensland? i know they would not be comparable to the -50, but what type of clothing would you wear for their winters? the spring clothing you would wear in edmonton?

just trying to decide what type of clothing to pack. thanks!

Most days during the winter were about 20-25 degrees, maybe down to 15. It does get pretty cool at night though. The coldest day last summer was about 12 degrees I think, it was windy so a light jacket or sweater was definitely needed.

The coldest night last winter got down to about 2 degrees I think, but usually it was probably closer to 10 at night. There is basically no heat in the houses though, so at night it can get pretty cold. So make sure you bring something warm to hang out in during the evenings and something warm to sleep in.

Most days I just wore jeans/pants and a t-shirt. If it was a bit cold and windy then a sweater or light jacket would do just fine. I remember house hunting in the middle of winter and I would show up wearing a t-shirt. The aussies kept saying how I must be freezing. It was a bit cool but not that bad.

So yah, I'd say the weather is generally like a nice summer day and can be a bit on the cool side.

The aussies kept saying how I must be freezing. It was a bit cool but not that bad.

So yah, I'd say the weather is generally like a nice summer day and can be a bit on the cool side.

Nice to meet someone like myself, and you aren't that far away either.
The school kids were off on a school trip to Canberra last week, and we had to get them to the school by 5:30am, for an early flight, I came along wearing my short sleeve shirt, and all the other parents were rugged up in jumpers and jackets. Everyone just looked at me, as if I was mad, but then they realised I was English !

I had the same reaction last winter. We arrived in May and I thought the weather was great, it was just like the weather in Canada in May. In July & August I kept going to open houses wearing t-shirts and everyone thought I was nuts, at least until they heard I was Canadian. I used to drive my real estate agent crazy by cranking up the air conditioning in the car in August, he started bringing a jumper to wear when he rode with me!

I do find it a lot cooler this year, although generally I could wear a t-shirt most days. Although something long sleeved for the morning helps. So I think I'm adjusting!

We're in Capalaba, where about are you? Is your wife Canadian or is she from the UK as well? I know there's a Canadian lady in a UK moms group here although I've never met her. Just mentioning it in case that's your wife.