The Cost of Living

I just bought a car! A good car! One that won't crap out on me in a week like the *ing Volvo. That is what we call it, me and my roommates, the "*ing Volvo." It is sitting in our driveway at the moment with plastic shopping bags over the window to keep rain out. It is absolutely distressing. I hope to construct a lawsuit starting next week.

Meanwhile, I've purchased a beautiful little blue Toyota Corolla. With much help from the parental units, I must note. I will name the car Peter. He's sort of a pastel color. I got him on Easter weekend. Easter... bunny... rabbit... Peter Rabbit... it makes sense in a loose sort of way.

All the car talk got me thinking about the differences between American and Australian costs of living. There are so many things I took for granted in the States that are simply unavailable here. Everything costs. I go to buy shampoo that in the States would cost $4.50, and here it is $12.00. The eyeliner I buy in Florida for $6.00 cost me $18.00 at a Target here. My face moisturizer... $20 or so at a department store... $60 here. And shisha tobacco (for a hookah)? $90 here versus $12 in the States. Quite a disincentive, and there's no free lunch.

Even the little things like paper clips or pads of paper come at a cost. One never finds them simply lying around for the taking. Phone calls on a land line are $0.40 a pop. A couple weeks ago I was thoroughly thrilled over the discovery of a trellis in someone's bulk trash. You must understand this in context. There are no "extras" lying around in Adelaide. It's as if ants have descended on a picnic and snapped up all the crumbs. There are no scraps of paper for note writing. No buckets lying around to use as trash cans. No extra pens on offer anywhere. Of course it doesn't help that I'm building my world from scratch, but the mentality here seems to be: If you need something, you buy it. Often at a cost.

The only thing I've found to be reasonably priced in Australia is produce, provided you buy local at the market.
It is no coincidence that the bulk of my diet these days consists of vegetables.