I'll be heading over with my wife, (no kids,) who will at some point be working as well, but to start with I'll be on a salary of AU $100,000.

I'm aware Sydney is expensive, but keeping in mind higher taxes, etc., wondering if we'll be able to get a nice place in a good (i.e. close to water) neighborhood,etc. We'll be renting, and will probably just buy a cheap car to get around when necessary..

Any thoughts appreciated.

Hi Beach:

You should be fine with $100,000. I'd use about 35% for taxes (maybe more, maybe less but you want estimates) which leaves you 65000. Assume 1200-1500/month for a 2 br apt in a beach area (it's usually less, but let's work some higher than normal scenarios). Car is a one time sort of purchase, but Sydney has excellent mass transit so you don't need it the second you get there.

To get real numbers go to these sites:

Taxes: http://www.ato.gov.au
Cars: http://www.drive.com.au
Rent: http://www.domain.com.au and http://www.realestate.com.au

Household stuff and consumer goods: Get an idea from www.ebay.com.au and au.yahoo.com Shopping link.

Can't speak for groceries since I'm not there yet.

The rents are listed per week. I will be living in one of the Northern beaches areas (Dee Why, Harbord, Curl Curl, Manly) and they are $1000-1200 for a 1 BR (and also many 2 BR in Dee Why/Curl Curl/Harbord).

Best of luck