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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> A little Aussie "rant"
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10/04/2015 06:10:06 PM · #1
I need to vent for a moment and cry on DPC's shoulder.

I just renewed my membership, but the $25.00 turned into AU $ 36.89 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that? I am so cranky at the sad state of our dollar :-(

Feel free to express a little sympathy for me and the rest of us Aussies, please.

Thanks for listening *sigh*
10/04/2015 06:14:05 PM · #2
Wanders off to ebay.com.au to see what bargains I can find ;)
10/04/2015 06:39:40 PM · #3
$32.93 Canadian. but of course we are used to it, and then too we are so glad to be Canadian.
10/04/2015 06:47:48 PM · #4
And anyway, it all depends on what a "living wage" is in Australia, doesn't it? I mean, you could tell me 25 bucks American is 10,000 Quinteros, or whatever, but if average wage is 5,000 Quinteros an hour, that doesn't sound so bad :-)
10/04/2015 06:55:08 PM · #5
Interesting...

From CNN money.com

Australia's minimum wage workers -- aged 21 and over -- make 15.96 Australian dollars per hour. After tax and other deductions, that's equivalent to $9.54 US, once the difference in the cost of living is taken into account.

The U.S. with a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour leaves workers with a take-home pay of $6.26 US per hour after taxes, according to the article.
10/04/2015 07:35:10 PM · #6
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

And anyway, it all depends on what a "living wage" is in Australia, doesn't it? I mean, you could tell me 25 bucks American is 10,000 Quinteros, or whatever, but if average wage is 5,000 Quinteros an hour, that doesn't sound so bad :-)


Would it help if we put it in terms of:
With the average monthly wage you could buy 3 assault rifles.....but we can't buy firearms so it doesn't really matter.

..............just kidding guys....lower your sights.
10/04/2015 08:26:18 PM · #7
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

And anyway, it all depends on what a "living wage" is in Australia, doesn't it? I mean, you could tell me 25 bucks American is 10,000 Quinteros, or whatever, but if average wage is 5,000 Quinteros an hour, that doesn't sound so bad :-)


Yes, that IS important, however it is still only a fraction of the story.

For example, our public transport prices in Brisbane are the highest in the country, and third highest in the world (I think we're only beaten by London and.... Oslo or somewhere in Scandinavia, anyway). A lot of our prices are very, very high, so our minimum wage might be higher than yours, but our costs (and our income tax to start with ) are also way higher. E.g. a single adult paper ticket for the train or bus for even just ONE stop is $4.80.

A few more examples of regular supermarket prices (major chain, not the extra expensive independent corner store type): 6 sticks of rhubarb are generally about $6.00 to $7.00, a cauliflower is usually at least $4.50. Regular price for a box (24 cans) of Coca Cola is $27.49. Pork fillet $32.00 per kilo. From time to time, we get to pay up to $16 per kilo for bananas, even though it is warm enough for everyone to have their own banana tree in their backyard (and some people do).

I won't even start on insurance, health care etc..... just wanted to point out that the hourly wage vs cost of a single item isn't the only thing that counts.

Message edited by author 2015-10-04 20:26:44.
10/04/2015 09:27:04 PM · #8
I never buy cauliflower if I can help it, but I paid $1.89/gallon for gasoline this weekend when I filled my truck's tank. I'm amazed. I would love to have a banana tree in my backyard.

Message edited by author 2015-10-04 21:28:46.
10/04/2015 09:28:03 PM · #9
Just to join in the rant, stuff we buy that is produced overseas is usually way more expensive than can be accounted for by the cost of shipping.
For example, I see people referring to their cheap 50mm lenses. Mine (Nikon) cost me $300 at our local camera store. I only bought it because family members gave me a gift voucher for that store.

10/04/2015 09:54:15 PM · #10
One of the few things I'm NOT looking forward to about heading home soon. No more Amazon Prime for this little black duck when we get back to Australia.
10/04/2015 09:55:18 PM · #11
Originally posted by pixelpig:

I would love to have a banana tree in my backyard.


Move to Florida, cheap gas and free bananas.
10/04/2015 10:26:25 PM · #12
Originally posted by pixelpig: I never buy cauliflower if I can help it, but I paid $1.89/gallon for gasoline this weekend when I filled my truck's tank.

1 gallon = 3.78 litres approx. So if I'm thinking this through right, in Australia a gallon of fuel would cost us around $5.50 AUD (we currently are paying $1.45 litre)that's approx. $7.86 USD for that same gallon.
Also I will never forget when visiting a few years back going to Safeway and being able to purchase a dozen large iced donuts for $3.99, here in Aus we have place called Donut King (like your Dunkin Donuts) and for 1 iced donut you pay $3.50 AUD. Needless to say I purchased a lot of donuts that holiday.

10/04/2015 10:55:56 PM · #13
Originally posted by thrumyiis:

Originally posted by pixelpig: I never buy cauliflower if I can help it, but I paid $1.89/gallon for gasoline this weekend when I filled my truck's tank.

1 gallon = 3.78 litres approx. So if I'm thinking this through right, in Australia a gallon of fuel would cost us around $5.50 AUD (we currently are paying $1.45 litre)that's approx. $7.86 USD for that same gallon.
Also I will never forget when visiting a few years back going to Safeway and being able to purchase a dozen large iced donuts for $3.99, here in Aus we have place called Donut King (like your Dunkin Donuts) and for 1 iced donut you pay $3.50 AUD. Needless to say I purchased a lot of donuts that holiday.


If 25USD = 36 AUD, then 5.50 AUD is more like 3.90 USD


10/04/2015 11:56:47 PM · #14
Originally posted by jomari:

Just to join in the rant, stuff we buy that is produced overseas is usually way more expensive than can be accounted for by the cost of shipping.
....

And we are even more special than that...... we even get to pay more for software that is downloaded rather than physically shipped - and it has nothing to do with extra taxes (although that is coming very soon, as well).
10/05/2015 01:20:07 AM · #15
I have travelled extensively throughout the USA, Canada Australia and other places in the world and trust me when I say this.

Whenever I visit Australia a stand in stunned silence when I see the prices for petrol, groceries and everything else they have there. One might want to argue that they have higher salaries, but if anything, most salaries are comparable if not lower than they are in Canada. When I return home I take photos of the prices of groceries and send them to my friends...just to show them what they are missing... I am a nice guy that way. I am always intrigued as to why (in the dead of winter) I can buy bananas for a quarter of what they pay for them...and they grow them there. Did I mention that a case of soft drinks (cola) cost over $25.00/case in Australia... totally beyond belief.

Beetle is right on the money that their taxes are something to behold, but from this man's perspective, they most certainly get more bang for the bucks than we do din Canada.

Everything is more expensive and that is why I have clothing and stuff in Oz... it allows me to have more room to bring stuff to my friends.

Ray

Message edited by author 2015-10-05 01:26:24.
10/05/2015 02:51:24 AM · #16
Maybe we should all post a few pages scanned from catalogues - groceries, white goods, cameras etc.
10/05/2015 03:07:01 AM · #17
Yes of course, I stand corrected.
10/05/2015 03:36:31 AM · #18
Don't forget you have Peter Weir.
10/05/2015 03:51:35 AM · #19
the good thing about the Aussie Dollar being so crap right now is if you sell stock photos and get paid in US dollars you end up with lots more $$ than you thought you had :D
10/05/2015 04:30:37 AM · #20
Originally posted by Penny Lane:

the good thing about the Aussie Dollar being so crap right now is if you sell stock photos and get paid in US dollars you end up with lots more $$ than you thought you had :D

I'm not sure how that works........ If my photo was worth 10 Us dollars, I'd only get credited with 6.77 dollars Aussie dollars right now, so I'm not sure how that is a good thing.
10/05/2015 08:21:49 AM · #21
...and Hugh Jackman
10/05/2015 08:30:51 AM · #22
Originally posted by Tiny:

...and Hugh Jackman


...and Skippy........
10/05/2015 09:17:29 AM · #23
Originally posted by Beetle:

I just renewed my membership, but the $25.00 turned into AU $ 36.89 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Originally posted by Beetle:

I'm not sure how that works........ If my photo was worth 10 Us dollars, I'd only get credited with 6.77 dollars Aussie dollars right now, so I'm not sure how that is a good thing.


Sorry to be pedantic, but one of those quoted conversions has to be wrong (it makes for very confusing reading) and I'm a nit picking accounting person :)

25 USD = 36.89 AUD
10 USD = 14 AUD

Message edited by author 2015-10-05 09:17:48.
10/05/2015 11:33:27 AM · #24
I want a banana tree! That would be soooo awesome!

Does it cost $110,000 to send your kid to one of the inexpensive state colleges? (4 year price)

That's what I'm having the most difficulties with now. I know inflation, but that's ridiculous!

Message edited by author 2015-10-05 11:33:40.
10/05/2015 05:15:58 PM · #25
Originally posted by salmiakki:


25 USD = 36.89 AUD
10 USD = 14 AUD

Yes of course, my cranky head was getting confused with buying and selling
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