Hockley Heights Gazette

We had heard that the UK is an expensive place to live - but where are the COLD hard facts? Well, see the pic for a comparison of winter 2005 in Perth compared to this winter in the UK. I haven't got the water figures as yet, but my hunch is that Oz is more expensive.
The numbers are over three months. Petrol here (or diesel in our case) is about two and a half times more expensive than Oz, groceries are about double, but travel is relatively cheap.
Homes here are definitely more expensive, to both rent and buy. For instance, our house here is costing us about 2100AUD a month, but our relative mansion in Perth is only costing our renters about 1500AUD a month. These figures are a bit rubbery given that I chose the winter of 2005, not 2006 for the Australian numbers, simply because winter 2006 was so weird with us packing up a house and me moving out. This means inflation may well make the final figure for Oz closer to $5600 with 18 months at 5% p.a.
Amazingly, Kym and I are earning good money here and are wondering how people on an average gross UK wage of around £23000 survive (e.g. with a couple of kids and one income). Another worry is those on fixed incomes (e.g. pensions) as these prices continue to hike.
One weird cost I was not prepared for is called Council Tax. This is like Council Rates in Australia, but here it is paid by the occupier, not the owner. That means Kym and I pay rates on our property in Perth, and here on the rental! Current Council Tax for Basildon is £172 or $430 each month! And, as I misquote Monty Python, "What have Basildon Council ever done for us?!"