US Survival Tips for Aussies

Prices

The following comparisons will generally not be very helpful for Australian tourists visiting the US. Australian tourists will find that the appalling exchange rate will make almost everything in the US expensive. The comparison is intended more as a guide to the cost of living in either country. For example, someone living in the USA will find alcohol is dirt cheap relative to their weekly pay-packet, when compared to the same person living in Australia.

Cheap (compared to Oz):

• Alcohol is cheaper than our Duty Free prices. Another difference is that (in some states) alcohol is sold in supermarkets and drug stores.
  

  <...> distilled spirits are cheaper here (US), but including the exchange rate, I think Wine might be cheaper in OZ. <...> -- Julian Elischer (Feb 1996)

  <...> Although alcohol may be cheaper in the U.S. , quality wine is by far cheaper in OZ. <...> -- J Watson (Mar 1996)

  
  
• CDs. Mail order CD clubs also offer far better value than the Australian equivalents.
  

  <...> compact disks, however, are cheap (US 12-16) new. Most big cities have used CD stores where they sell for as little as $$8.00 (ie, "CD Solution" chain in miami) bring em home! <...> -- dgold01 (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Chicken (in supermarkets).
  
  
• Petrol - don't forget advertised prices are per US gallon not per litre.
  
  
• A brand new car can be bought for under $10000. Update: I wrote this original point way back in 1996. Since then a number of things have occurred. Obviously inflation has had an affect. But probably the biggest factor in the Australian market has been the introduction of the GST (goods and services tax). The effect of this is that cars are now relatively cheaper in Australia than they were in 1996.

  <...> We live here in backwards Colorado and I can you now, there's not a new car to be had for less than $13000.00 at most and then it's bare as hell. :-) <...> -- rubyo (Jan 1996)

  <...> 7K will get you a Geo metro I think. <...> -- Julian Elischer (Feb 1996)

  <...> Most cars cost even more than $10,000, especially the bigger ones. Probably $15,000 to $20,000 is the average. I don't know if this is true about Australia, but I've found that most Europeans drive much smaller cars than we do. -- Cathleen Foster (Feb 1996)

  You are not going to find any car below $10,000 US. There's a car, a KIA, that advertises it's around $10,000, but if you want luxury, like an engine and seats, you're going to pay around $15,000+.<...> -- Scott Campbell (Sep 1996)

  <...>Not really..........My mother in law has a Chrysler that cost her 36000 USD which would be around 70000 AUD. In Australia you can buy a Holden Statesman which has all the same features as hers for around 60000 AUD. A Chevy Impala starts out at around 37000 AUD. No-one in Australia would pay that for a bog standard Commodore. Also General Motors chairman Bob Lutz said that Holden was "the best GM division in the world" which may be the reason GM is looking to Holden to build the 2004 Pontiac GTO which will be a rebadged, left hand drive version of the Holden Monaro<...> -- Eagleone35c (May 2002)

  
  
• Clothes are not only cheaper but are also of better quality .
  

  <...>Clothes in the U.S. in addition to being better & cheaper as you mentioned are available in far more variety. The economies of scale help the 'Outlets' to deliver *fantastic* bargains. However quality wool clothing is still cheaper in Australia (I think). It seems to be very difficult to locate it in the U.S. <...> -- J Watson (Mar 1996)

  
  
• Nappies [diapers].
  
  
• Airfares: especially for domestic flights. One way from LA to San Francisco can be as low as $US19!
  
  
• Connections to the Internet. For $15 a month you can get unlimited time online.
  
  
• Consumer Electronics:
  

  <...>the US has gone "rebate" mad. Most electronic items like computers and accessories, cordless phones, TVs, DVD's, etc. can be purchased with some sort of rebate applicable. It might go something like this for say a new computer: Normal advertised price $1100 - less instant in-store rebate of $100 - less mail-in manufactures rebate of $200 - less Internet mail-in rebate of $400 (if the purchaser decides to sign up with that particular internet provider) = total final price $400. Now when the computer is purchased, the tax would be charged on the full price of $1100 then the $100 instant rebate would be deducted. The other rebates would be mailed to the consumer as cheques (checks) once they had filled out the appropriate rebate forms and mailed them in by the required date. Usually, the final price is advertised in great big print and the small print says "*after rebates". Sound complicated? It is somewhat and I am sure that on less expensive items, many rebates are not claimed because people forget about them or mail them in too late.<...> -- Daron Cooke (Jun 2002)

  
  
• Coffee:
  

  <...>My husband has just come to Oz from the States and big differences I've noticed of his expectations are:<...> He has a heart attack at the idea that a cup of coffee costs more than 25c in Australia.<...> -- Alina Holgate (Feb 1996).

  <...> Where in the USA does one get coffee for 25 cents? The lowest price for coffee is a buck ($1.00), and that's if there's nothing else in it. If you get Cappuccino or Late, or anything like it, the price can range anywhere from $2.50 to over 5 bucks...and that's for a thimble full. -- Scott Campbell (Sep 1996)

  <...>I'm living in New Jersey but I work in Manhattan and the cheapest coffee I buy cost 50 cents and that is just a regular cup.<...> -- Hernan (Nov 2002).

Expensive (compared to Oz):

• Rent in the San Francisco Bay Area at least.
  

  <...>Rent is very expensive in major metropolitan areas, especially on the East & West coasts, but cheaper in smaller towns and the Midwest.<...> -- Carol Liu (Feb 1996)

  <...>You could pretty much say everywhere. I lived in Louisiana and even that was more expensive than home. <...> -- Justin Ridge (Feb 1996)

  <...> Rent is high in SF Bay Area (I've lived here all my life) but the Bay Area has the nation's highest cost of living. It's much cheaper in suburbs or rural areas. Even in Oregon rent is much cheaper than in California.-- Cathleen Foster (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Baby Formula. Cans are generally about half the size, but about the same price.
  
  
• Lamb (in supermarkets).
  
  
• Medical care without insurance is very expensive. With it, it will still cost something like $400/month for a family, plus there is an excess [deductible] of around $250 per person per calendar year.
  
  
• Cheese:

  <...>cheese, with Lb to Kg and $Oz to $US conversions taken into account I found the prices to be 2 to 3 times more expensive in the U.S. Maybe it was just where I went shopping (New Jersey).<...> -- J Watson (Mar 1996)

  
  
• Milkshake:

  <...>My Parents-in-law recently visited their eldest son in Boston. They were there for 3 weeks and by the end of that time my Father-in-law was hanging out for a milkshake. He eventually found a place that served milkshakes and when he went to pay for it, he had to ask the attendant 3 times if he had said the correct price. One milkshake cost him US$8.00!!!!!<...> -- L Stein (Nov 1999)

  
  
• Car Insurance:

  A mere compulsory third party insurance policy on your vehicle can cost up to $900 aud and the maximum sum insured is usually only about $300,000. In Oz a similar policy costs $130 aud and the maximum sum insured is usually about $20 million. You must have the policy before you can register a car or be licenced etc. <...> -- Melissa Berglas (Sep 2000).

  
  
• Electricity:

  <...>electricity in the US, at least in Texas, is at least 3 times as expensive per unit cost than it is in Australia and what's worse, in many parts of the country, the average household uses considerably more than the average Australian household due to heating in sub-zero temperatures. In Texas, we have the opposite because summertime temperatures average near 100F and air conditioning is essential. To give you an idea in real terms, our average monthly electricity bill for 2001 was US$185 per month - a wopping $2200 for the year - and that's only for a 2 bedroom townhouse with only 2 people. By comparison, my average quarterly electricity bill in suburban Sydney in 1999/2000 was just over AUD$200 per quarter - $830 for the year - and that was for a large 3 bedroom house with 2 people. If we take the exchange rate into account - no, best we don't go there... <...> -- Daron Cooke (Jun 2002)

  
  
• Mobile Phones:

  <...>believe it or not, cell phones in the US cost more to buy initially and the call costs are higher than in Australia. Most Australians don't pay any up front cost for a new phone since they are usually bought on a plan. The US is heading that way but has some catching up to do. Quality of service is higher in Australia than on most US networks also.<...> -- Daron Cooke (Jun 2002)

Comments from Australian readers are in green whereas comments from American readers are in red [comments for Americans are in grey].. All other opinions expressed on this page are my own and accept no responsibility for any interpretations or uses made of these opinions.