Brisbane Cost of Living

comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 127
Location: Brisbane

Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:40 pm

 

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BrainDamage,

In case you didn't read my whole reply above, I'm going to repost the link with the budget info I gave.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/search.php?searchid=442753

You should find lots of discussion on budgets there.

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ntaylor5123
New Member



Joined: 08 Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Kansas City

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:31 am

 

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Thanks for the information. It is greatly appreciated. I will be sure to check out those links. It is a bit nerve racking to think about all of this even though even though moving down that way is only an idea right now and hardly a for sure thing. Again.Thank you and I am sure I will have more questions for you in the future.

Nick

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BrianDamage
New Member



Joined: 22 Feb 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Edmonton

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:58 am

 

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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

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 127
Location: Brisbane

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:53 pm

 

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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.

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 127
Location: Brisbane

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:34 pm

 

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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.

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 127
Location: Brisbane

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:24 pm

 

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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.

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BrianDamage
New Member



Joined: 22 Feb 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Edmonton

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:58 am

 

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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

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lpotter
New Member



Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Australia

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:47 am

 

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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).

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