Australia’s reputation for a laid-back lifestyle is being overshadowed by the cost of living and housing crisis. Homeownership has become almost unattainable, and rents in cities like Melbourne and Sydney have soared, making financial stability harder to achieve.
While Taiwan also faces housing affordability issues, particularly in Taipei, rent outside the capital remains reasonable. Wages, though lower than Australia’s, better match the cost of living, making life more manageable. Essentials like groceries, petrol and utilities are also more affordable, easing the pressure of day-to-day expenses.
Life in Taiwan offers additional benefits, especially if you hold an APRC or spousal visa. With these, navigating life and work becomes simpler, and the overall lifestyle feels less burdened by financial strain. Taiwan provides an alternative where I can find a better balance between work, living costs, and long-term financial stability — something increasingly difficult to achieve in Australia.
I’m still here partly for the reasons above as well, though from Europe not Australia.
Taiwan is really an easy place to get by (due to low cost of living and safety and convenience ) but you do need to figure out where the money is going to come from to save a bit of cash.
Also need to consider if you can go back to where you come from someday and if you want to raise kids here. And if you like diversity well we ain’t got much diversity round these parts except some tribes here and there.
Taiwan is a great place if you can find a small business for yourself.
Start studying Chinese in the mornings and get a job working in the afternoon. Then start your own business.
I came here and started a business in 1988 and studied Chinese 8am - 12pm five days a week. Twas a few decades ago but it paid long term dividends.
My son born and raised here until he turned 19 then went to Australia to do his undergrad at UNSW then followed that up with a JD Law degree.
He met his GF in first semester of undergrad and got married after he finished his law degree. He has a good job as does his wife, good joint income but yes living in Sydney costs a lot when you want to live well.
They have 2 children and childcare costs them A$800 a week.
I wonder how much utilities have gone up in Taiwan in the last few years. It’s crazy in Europe.
I also live in Italy and we have one of the highest prices for gas. Driving is becoming an expensive luxury. I don’t understand how the EU can really pull of the EV switch when I look at Italy. Maybe major cities but I’m in a small town and I think we have 2 small changing places.
I can’t say about the safety of Australia but it becomes really tiring all the time worrying about petty crimes in Europe. Just had a package stolen today for example for some usb cables. It’s always on your mind, like is this a safe place to park my car overnight? Did I make sure it’s locked and nothing is showing like a backpack?
I think people get used to it but if you’ve lived in places in East Asia you understand it doesn’t have to be this way.
Not much, despite all the noise. My place has 3 ACs, and I run at least 2 of them at any given time. Plus a gaming pc and a dishwasher. Electricity bill was less than 3k for the period.
I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s a similar story in Australia, especially in the cities. The housing crisis has led to a lot of visible homelessness, and it’s really heartbreaking to see so many people sleeping rough or struggling to get by. The rent prices are sky-high, and with the cost of living going up, people are being squeezed out of their homes or just can’t afford a decent place anymore. You see a lot of junkies and people dealing with addiction too, especially in areas where there’s a lack of support. It adds this constant layer of unease, like even just walking around you notice it more and more. It feels like a growing issue that no one’s really got a proper solution for.
I thought so. I think Taiwan subsidizes energy for its citizens. Beyond the China issue, the political parties seem more in tune with the daily lives of the people compared to other countries ran so poorly.
I’m of the belief that you can only stretch the elastic band so much. I don’t think the cheap NTD level is sustainable for much longer. The gap is just too big. I’d give a few more years max. At that time growth will be hit a little but our purchasing power will be much better internationally.
Utilities are heavily subsidized in Taiwan, and the government price controls essentials like crazy. It’s really only expensive if you’re a high user, like ac running all the time in every room kind of deal. Otherwise the max summer rate is basically average rate in eu countries from what I hear (people were saying they pay 60 cents us per kWh in the eu).
You should see the state of some of the cities in Europe, yes some are beautiful and you can live well in parts but the homelessness , the crime levels and asylum seekers everywhere in the city centres and housing shortages are terrible in some countries. Australia hasn’t had to deal with the refugee/economic migrant wave as much , could be worse !
You are from Melbourne yes? @justintaiwan recently moved back there as did another friend of mine from Taichung as he wanted his kids to do high school there then perhaps tafe or Uni. This is quite common for some families that want a different education for there kids if they have that opportunity.
In Australia, we’ve seen an unsustainable surge in immigration post-COVID, which, coupled with the government’s longstanding failure to implement effective housing policies, has led to a critical situation. The demand for housing has now far exceeded supply, creating a deep-rooted crisis that seems increasingly difficult to resolve. With inadequate infrastructure to support this population growth, rent prices are skyrocketing, homelessness is rising, and the housing market feels like it’s spiraling out of control, leaving many Australians with little hope of relief.
Why what happened ? Just cos it’s after the summer period?
Was in Portugal this year honestly thought it was great, biggest nuisance were the tourists like me packing out the place. Hard to make a living in Portugal and supposedly local ppl have massive issues now with housing as well , very high property inflation .
It just looks dead. Stores are gone. Building abandoned. Looks like a dying city. I believe the population is dropping. Officially the numbers don’t look so drastic but you realize it’s because they’re pulling in immigrants from much poorer countries. It’s a weird experience and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Hvar island where I went to was beautiful. I thought I would enjoy Zagreb but it looks like Hvar is its own unique experience.
I very much enjoyed Lisbon. Great food. Prices are moderate for European standards. On my list of places to go back again.
Funny enough the egate at the airport broke when I arrived. The immigration officer looked at the issue for a minute and saw the line growing. Gave the I don’t get paid enough for this and just told everyone to go on through.
I could have stayed there for as long as I wanted with 0 record of me being there
University fees are outrageous at the moment, with some programs costing upwards of $75,000 for what amounts to little more than a glorified degree in something like basket weaving. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify the expense, especially when many of these courses don’t guarantee a return on investment in terms of career prospects.
