Survival Kit
A Guide to Surviving in Perth
Perth receives many interstate visitors, who seeing that the weather is perfect one day and well, perfect the next, decide to make our fair city their home. However before venturing over to the West, they may need to pack more than their interstate football club membership into their suitcases.
The Ration Pack
It would be a good idea to consider preparing a survival kit, as according to Average Retail Prices of Selected Items for the September quarter 2008, there are a few things that are, on average, a little more expensive in Perth than in other capital cities.
For example it may be a good idea to pack some loin of lamb as the average cost in Perth was $18.80/kg, which was the highest out of all of the capital cities. Pork more your style? Pork loin chops were the highest at $15.67/ kg, while Bacon was also the highest at $4.73/kg. Fancy a sandwich and a cuppa? You don’t need to bring bread as the average price of white sliced bread in Perth was the second lowest out of all the capital cities ($3.35 per 650g-750g). Unfortunately you won’t be able to put anything your sanga, as butter was the highest at $4.48 per 500g and cheese was the second highest at $5.58 per sliced 500g pkt. Better throw in some Teabags too as they were the highest at $3.85 per 180pk. Happily, milk was second lowest at $3.49 per 2 Ltr bottle, but sadly for the sweet toothed, sugar was the second highest at $2.77 per 2 kilo bag.
Actually, if you are planning an extended visit to Perth it might be worth your while logging on to the ABS website and downloading a copy of the Average Retail Prices of Selected Items (6403.0.55.001) for a larger list of products. The average prices in this publication are presented for the purposes of making price comparisons between the capital cities for individual items and the publication is published quarterly. Sometimes the selected grades, brands, package size, etc. for some items differ between cities and may also differ from one period to the next due to changes in product specifications.
However it is a handy reference guide to check what prices are doing between the capital cities and it may help you to choose to relocate somewhere other than Perth especially if you like tea with your milk.
Sunny Side
Cheer up though, there was some good news for Perth this quarter, with some items on the list where Perth was showing the lowest prices. For the healthy amongst us, carrots were the lowest price at $1.66 per kilo. Is your boss irritating you? Toilet paper was the lowest at $6.59 (per 8 x 180 sheet rolls). Local sporting team underperforming? Facial tissues were the second lowest at $2.04 per pack of 170.
BYO
However if you prefer to drown your sorrows, possibly the worst news of all is that it is definitely BYO. Full strength beer came in second highest $41.67 per 24 x 375ml bottles. Draught Beer (low alcohol) purchased at a public bar was the second highest at $3.42 per 285ml glass and full strength Draught Beer was second highest at $3.63 per 285ml glass. Alas, if you are a spirit drinker, Scotch was the highest at $5.95 per 30ml nip.
It’s enough to make you weep into your fermented carrot juice!
Article By:
Nellie Gaynor,
Information Consultant
and Bargain Hunter
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