Canadian Down Under

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

What d'ya mean money doesn't grow on trees?

Wish someone had told me that a few days ago......

I've made a concerted effort to not compile a list of things I don't like about living here because it's always best to focus on the positive and I don't want to give any family or friends ammunition in the argument to move home - but I may have to anyway.... Though the list will be pretty short. Okay - only one thing: it's sooooooooooo expensive here.

I will admit to have been splurging a little bit lately (holiday mode spending habits starting early....and I may not have needed a spa visit, but the mp3 player was a must!) so I've created some of my own problems, but the $100 for the locksmith last night was unplanned and the $300 for the dentist for a cleaning (a cleaning!!!!) was completely unexpected. It put me on a rant this morning that I still haven't completely recovered from.

You know - I keep hearing stuff like "Well Sydney is a big city and it's expensive to live in big cities..." but I have to say Toronto is bigger so that logic is flawed.... The big differences I've noticed? (or at least the ones that really bug me...)
  • Car insurance. Here you have to buy two types of car insurance. Which, funny enough, amounts to twice as much in total cost. Go figure
  • Admin stuff like drivers licenses cost at a minimum 3 times as much. (1 year license $60 dollars, whereas in Toronto, if I remember correctly, $50 for 5 years!)
  • Phone bills. Basic line rental - at a minimum $35 dollars. Comparable? Okay I'll give you that but then local calls are billed on top of that. So tell me - what is the line rental for?
  • The other kicker is utility bills. I probably use the same amount of electricity - but I don't have to pay for heating (yes, I have a heater, but I refuse to turn it on...) yet I pay about the same amount as back home where it drops to -30.
  • Don't even start me on the rents.....

Sigh. Good thing I have a good job...

Thanks for listening, I needed to get that out.

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