I am moving from Sydney to Zurich and was wondering if anyone has done the same (and can offer a comparison)??
At the moment I believe that taxes in CH are lower, pay is higher (in banking) and women are slimmer! Jury still out on whether living costs are cheaper
Taxes are lower.
Pay is much higher.
Cost of eating out is *exorbitant*
Everything else costs a 'bomb'.
Our grocery bills tripled, because not only were we trying to work out what is cheap, and what is not, we were no longer eating at grandma's for free a few nights a week, and we couldn't afford to go out for take-away so more groceries are consumed. Also, we buy a lot more 'comfort' foods to combat our homesickness and our loss of social-life...
That said, we LOVE it here - we still pinch ourselves and think - well, what the (*&^ are we doing in Switzerland/Europe - but we love our work, we are being paid much higher salaries (30% higher) and are valued much more by our employer (since they had to recruit us across the world)....
Depending on where you live in Sydney, and what your lifestyle expectations are, rent here may actually be similar - we managed to land a demolition rental for 1700chf a month for three bedrooms and a large living area...but we were paying around 1600 a month for a three bedroom townhouse in Sydney before we left, so we thought we were doing ok...two years on we are considering rental up to 2500chf a month, but we now have the finances to afford it...
the only living costs we have found that are cheaper are prepaid mobile phones, the cost of purchasing a second-hand car, and the price of cheap chocolate...the rest is definitely more expensive...
Men are slimmer too
Women are about the same mate. However .....im only comparing to perth
Now, one comment on the taxes ... yes, they are lower, but as Swisspea said there is a big 'user pays' system - so for example no Medicare, everyone is required to have at least minimum private health insurance; garbage bags cost about 2 francs each, but that covers the cost of collection (so not from taxes); oh, and as somebody else pointed out to me recently, the majority of the taxes you pay are actually spent within your local community (gemeinde) - so you can see what's being done with your money!
Overall, leaving out the lack of family support, quality of life over here is fantastic. In the first few months we spent heaps (finding what we liked, and where the good quality/low price items were, and which days things were generally discounted in the local supermarkets) but now our expenses are not so bad ...
Also, check with your employer: do you get paid the "thirteenth month", as some employers do? Not sure why that is, perhaps somebody else can explain it, but there are many Swiss employers who give you a monthly rate, but you get that thirteenth month paid as well ...
good luck with the move
ps... did I mention that it is safer
pss... and the girls are def slimmer ( prob cause a big mac menu - if you're into those sort of things , costs 12.50 )
- a decent two bed/two bathroom flatSHARE with pool/gym in the centre (darling harbour/hyde park) will set you back CHF 350 a week
- you are doing well to get a daily IT contract rate of CHF 760 (CHF15200/month)
- at these rates, effective tax (including compulsory pension) around 38%
- going to see an IMAX movie will cost CHF 24
- the cheapest gym fitness first will cost at least CHF 76 / month
However,
nightclubs are cheap CHF9 or less
unlimited brazilian BBQ meat fest CHF 33 per person
buffet lunch in a revolving restaurant in sydney tower CHF 47
Something you might notice is the aggressive recruitment of skilled people in overseas 'australia needs skills' events, and the heavy bias for skilled, experienced and educated people in the immigration points test. This is for a reason.....Australia is seriously lacking such people locally. Their education system is sub standard and many of their brightest seek adventures abroad. This means standards here are low. Anyone with decent experience can get a decent job. People without experience can get CHF100k in a bank and not get fired even though they are useless. There are more opportunites to move around. The downside of course is that you can't expect people you work with to be efficient or even competent. Hopefully working in credit suisse will be much better!!
Maybe if its relevant to you, check it out.
All the nice makeups like Lancome are lots cheaper But I'm pretty sure that definitely isnt relevant to you. Made me happy though
Some examples of the changes:
- My former job in Perth has seen near a 50% increase in salary. It has been stable here.
- My house has doubled in value and the bubble doesn't seem to be bursting.
- The rent on that house has nearly doubled and now more than covers my small Zurich apartment rent.
- A pint of beer has gone up around 30%, some swanky bars charging A$18 a pint (chf16) to suckas. Actually a decent beer is now cheaper in Zurich.
- Dining restaurant prices in Perth seem to have increased a lot, equalling Zurich in a few cases. On the other hand I've finally discovered some cheap and value asian places here in Zurich eg this
Agreed the taxes are way lower, even after including mandatory health insurance & TV licences etc. Plenty of Zurich price tags will make your eyes bleed. And the Swiss girls, way slimmer and fitter
Groceries are generally equivalent here but potentially better quality, as a few posts have already mentioned. Only difference is that the MEAT here is more, so eat plenty of steaks before you leave Sydney, especially those $8 beer and steak combos!!!
Going to Italy, Spain, UK in fact pretty much 90% of the world is also cheaper from here
I find sydney as expensive as London
rgrds byron
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See my response to the new thread you made with the same question.
CK