What is the cost of living in Perth in Western Australia?
Perth has some expensive areas and also its cheaper areas, and some districts which are in the middle. It’s important to research where you study and or work. The cost of food and transport can make cheaper rent irrelevant so be careful and do your homework.
The big expenditure items are rent, transport and food so let’s examine these in more details.
Accommodation
A one bedroom flat can cost from $200 to $400 per week in good suburbs with good access to public transport.
A two bedroom flats can cost from $275 to $450 per week, there are more expensive option available, and there are plenty of newly built apartments with great views, pools and Gyms, the cost of these range from $400 to $650 per week
It is worth considering renting a whole house, for three people a house close to the city can cost around $160 per week each and can be more cost effective than living in an apartment. In the outer suburbs 3 or 4 bedroom houses can cost as little as $360 a week to rent, however you need to factor in transport and time spent travelling.
Travel and transport in Perth
A good second hand cars can cost from $2000 to $5000, but be careful when you purchase, make sure you have a friend who understands cars, or take the car into a garage for a quick look over. THE RAC can also help.
Get a small car with not too much mileage and one that is less than 5 years old this can be done.
The cost of unleaded Petrol in Perth is around $1.35 per litre on cheap days, usually Mondays, on other days it can cost as much as $1.60 a liter..
Perth has a suburban railway network as well as a bus service, in the inner city transport is free on the CAT services http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/
Most of the coastal suburbs are not serviced by rail, however the bus service is good.
Towns such as Fremantle, Mandurah and Rockingham are by the sea are serviced by rail and Freeways
Food
Fast food restaurants or food hall will cost between $5 and $15.
When shopping in a supermarket, be aware red meats are expensive, look for the price per Kilo, chicken is usually cheap to buy.
Farmer market are best to use when buying vegetables, they can be 50% cheaper than Supermarkets.
There are many Asian shops in Perth and its suburbs where the price of foods such as Rice and lentils are well below that of the big brand supermarkets so the key is to shop around, to get the cheapest prices you will have to look around the city for retail outlets that are price sensitive.
When shopping at Coles or Woolworths saving can be made by purchasing the stores own brand items.
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