I think some of the best places in Melbourne can also be the cheapest - if you love dumplings, check out Shanghai Dumpling House in China Town... or KunMing if you want the best salt and chilli squid/prawns in Melbourne..
so for a single person what's a good budget for spending cash? i've already booked hotels and flights.
Depends on what level you want to enjoy yourself. I'm budgeting on about $100 / day for food/drink/misc bits and then $200+ for buying stuff. So about $900 for the entire 3 days. Obviously thats overkill for some things, so that can be spread out on other stuff like drinks out at night and the like
That really depends on what you want. Are you planning on staying at a backpackers and eating at the cheapest place you can find, or are you looking to make a big holiday out of it?
Melbourne has some very good cheap restaurants, as noted above. It also has some that are amazing but expensive. You could spend anywhere from $10/meal to $200/meal depending on where you go and what you're looking for. It's probably wise to budget about 50% more than you think you'll need for food, just to account for impulse purchases.
Do you drink? Alcohol is heavily taxed in Australia, and is quite expensive. A night out on the town can easily cost $50-100. Typical prices are about $10/pint for (decent) beer or about the same for a shot of spirits, more for the top shelf stuff. (I've just noticed that you're from Sydney, so you're already used to this. Melbourne is a bit cheaper than Sydney, but not much.)
Public transportation will cost you $7/day if you stay in the city and inner suburbs, $12/day if you head out into zone 2. Melbourne has quite a good network in the city, although it can leave a bit to be desired as you go further out. Taxis are more expensive, obviously.
Swag is another area where it really comes down to what you want. I'm sure plenty of people can go the PAX and come away with nothing but the memories. Others may need to be careful not to go over the weight limit for their return flight... I'm not even going to guess how much you'd spend on swag.
Do you just want to see PAX or are you going to check out some of the other attractions? You'll need to decide what you want to see and factor in the ticket and transportation costs.
Depending on how much swag you want, that should be more than enough. That will let you eat well and enjoy your time without being worried about chasing the best deal the whole time. You'll want to pickup a myki starter pack on the skybus from the airport to southern cross station (unfortunately we don't have a rail link like Sydney). Otherwise you can buy a myki card at the station for $6 and you'll need to put $28 on it (assuming you only need a 2-hour pass for the first and last days, add $3.50 for each of those that you need more).
After that all of your spending is up to you; though as it stands you shouldn't have any problems. You could easily enjoy yourself on half of what you've allocated, even eating quite well with a bit of care. You could get by on a quarter of it, although you would need to think about it and watch your finances. Still, having more set aside is always good, it allows for contingencies and for extra splurges when those contingencies don't arise.
{nb: these are based on buying things at non-expo rates and not buying swag. Food bought at the expo and swag will obviously increase your expenditure}
thinking of ordering one in june/july so i can just bring it with me.
You can, and if you want you can register it online so you can check balances etc via the web. Or just buy it at pretty much every station / petrol station / convenience store in melb
thinking of ordering one in june/july so i can just bring it with me.
You can, and if you want you can register it online so you can check balances etc via the web. Or just buy it at pretty much every station / petrol station / convenience store in melb
Depending on how much swag you want, that should be more than enough. That will let you eat well and enjoy your time without being worried about chasing the best deal the whole time. You'll want to pickup a myki starter pack on the skybus from the airport to southern cross station (unfortunately we don't have a rail link like Sydney). Otherwise you can buy a myki card at the station for $6 and you'll need to put $28 on it (assuming you only need a 2-hour pass for the first and last days, add $3.50 for each of those that you need more).
After that all of your spending is up to you; though as it stands you shouldn't have any problems. You could easily enjoy yourself on half of what you've allocated, even eating quite well with a bit of care. You could get by on a quarter of it, although you would need to think about it and watch your finances. Still, having more set aside is always good, it allows for contingencies and for extra splurges when those contingencies don't arise.
{nb: these are based on buying things at non-expo rates and not buying swag. Food bought at the expo and swag will obviously increase your expenditure}
my outgoing luggage limit is 25kg and i've got a 65L/kg bag as linked below so i doubt i can get HEAPS of swag. I plan on ditching clothes like old socks and underwear in order to make way for swag but with 3 days of clothes is about 1/3 of the bag....but will see.
will avoid that: probably stick with subway, macca's (that's McDonalds to you yanks!), hungry jacks (that's burger king to you yanks!), plus other quick food joints!
edit: Any good Portuguese chicken burger joints like Ogalo or Oporto in Melb?
edit2: if $800 AUD is considered to be safe, then what's would be your absolute minimum?
thegh0sts on
Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Absolute minimum? $50:
$34 for Myki card and 3 x daily and 2 x 2-hour fares. (Note that this budget cannot afford SkyBus, so you'll need to get the bus to Broadmeadows and find your way to your hotel from there; you have 2 hours).
$16 for food (1 5pack of Mi Goreng or similar, a loaf of bread, a small jar of peanut butter, and some tomatoes should get you through with a few dollars to spare).
Bring a water bottle from home (assuming they allow them at the showgrounds). Toast for breakfast (using the iron in your hotel room if necessary), Mi Goreng and a peanut butter and tomato sandwich for dinner.
Utterly inadvisable; you'd have a terrible time. But it could be done.
Realistic minimum? ~$150 should do it.
Same travel budget.
$20 dollars/day for food can go a long way if you're frugal. There are plenty of cheap places to eat (both nicer and cheaper than maccas if you look around). Don't buy anything at PAX, especially not food or drink (showgrounds prices are well outside this budget).
$36 in reserve for unanticipated spending.
In total, but you'd have to watch your spending somewhat if you were to rely on it. You're also only looking at 2 meals per day (and looking for cheap places for those), and nothing bought at PAX. Not really recommended, but much more doable than the $50 suggestion.
Honestly, your best bet is to initially assume that you'll spend $200-300 on food and travel, then after the first day base your purchasing decisions on how much you have been spending up to that point.
I meant $200-300 in total for all 5 days, not $200 per day. These are all estimates, and really do vary based on your preferences.
My recommendations are based off the following estimate per day:
$10 breakfast
$10 lunch
$20 dinner
$7 transport
50% allowance for unexpected costs.
These estimates are typically assuming that you are watching your expenditure, but are likely to splurge a bit. Food costs are likely to be lower than stated if you look around. I'd recommend that you look into the type of food/restaurant that you like and are comfortable with, and make your own estimates accordingly. You can get away with $5/meal for breakfast and lunch and $10 for dinner if you look around, but I'm assuming that you will treat this as something of a holiday.
I'm also assuming you take the Skybus to Southern Cross station [it's Spencer St station, dammit] rather than the longer route using public transport.
[Edit]: for what it's worth, Melbourne prices aren't that different from Sydney prices. Cheap dumpling houses are cheap, most pubs are around ~$15-25 for a decent meal, most restaurants are ~$15-35 for a meal, etc. There's a wide variety of quality and cost, so I'd recommend you do your research. I doubt you'll spend more than half your budget on food, though, unless you go for fine dining experiences or head out on the town (you could probably fit one night out in your budget, but more would be pushing it).
For what it's worth, see if you can find a copy of "The Age Good Food Under $30". I got a copy from the local newsagent for $5, but it might be harder to find in Sydney (although you could always pick it up once you get here). There are plenty of options for dinner in the $15-20 range. Anything listed as being an 'inner' suburb is easily reached by public transport.
Have you budgeted for internet access? If you're relying on buying it from the hotel, be aware that they are usually HEINOUSLY expensive; $60 for 1GB is not uncommon. The budget I gave you assumed that you would either go without or use your phones data allowance if you have a smartphone.
i won't have a notebook going into PAX AUS. will be using my phone's 3G connection to do most of my facebook, tweeting and email...though 3g data is limited to 200mb but it doesn't count facebook and other social networking sites
thegh0sts on
Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
i won't have a notebook going into PAX AUS. will be using my phone's 3G connection to do most of my facebook, tweeting and email...though 3g data is limited to 200mb but it doesn't count facebook and other social networking sites
mega.... bytes? what is this strange word you use?
i won't have a notebook going into PAX AUS. will be using my phone's 3G connection to do most of my facebook, tweeting and email...though 3g data is limited to 200mb but it doesn't count facebook and other social networking sites
mega.... bytes? what is this strange word you use?
cheapest plan i could get
i hardly get calls mostly get my emails on the phone, bit of fb and twitter.
Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
EB expo has nothing on PAX! they need to abolish that crap of an expo and have PAX AUS alternate between Sydney and Melbourne.
I have yet to be to either, having avoided EB expo mostly as I do not like EB Games. However I have heard good things (albeit not great things). It would be awesome if pax went to both cities though.
EB expo has nothing on PAX! they need to abolish that crap of an expo and have PAX AUS alternate between Sydney and Melbourne.
I have yet to be to either, having avoided EB expo mostly as I do not like EB Games. However I have heard good things (albeit not great things). It would be awesome if pax went to both cities though.
I remember reading on Twitter that PAX AUS 2014 will be in Melbourne again.
This was mentioned after the tickets were sold out and people were still wanting to buy tickets, they were told that "PAX will be back at Melbourne in 2014"
EB expo has nothing on PAX! they need to abolish that crap of an expo and have PAX AUS alternate between Sydney and Melbourne.
I have yet to be to either, having avoided EB expo mostly as I do not like EB Games. However I have heard good things (albeit not great things). It would be awesome if pax went to both cities though.
same, i used to like them when they had good staff but now the staff is all gone and i don't even walk into the stores any more...I just go to JB instead even though they're prices aren't as competitive as before.
But keeping on topic, any one got any good ideas for budgeting? i appreciate DaCraw's ideas but surely there's others with suggestions.
thegh0sts on
Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
EB expo has nothing on PAX! they need to abolish that crap of an expo and have PAX AUS alternate between Sydney and Melbourne.
I have yet to be to either, having avoided EB expo mostly as I do not like EB Games. However I have heard good things (albeit not great things). It would be awesome if pax went to both cities though.
same, i used to like them when they had good staff but now the staff is all gone and i don't even walk into the stores any more...I just go to JB instead even though they're prices aren't as competitive as before.
But keeping on topic, any one got any good ideas for budgeting? i appreciate DaCraw's ideas but surely there's others with suggestions.
It really depends on what your wanting to do. One thing to keep in mind is Melbourne (like Sydney) is expensive. Also I assume most are going to pick up things when down in Melbourne, make sure you have a way to get this back to where you live and remember postage can be very pricey. I say this as I work for a company transporting people to and from the airport and you would not believe the number of times people do not account for this. On top of this have secondary plans for getting to and from the airport, also maybe look at staying at somewhere like St Kilda which is cheaper then the CBD and there are numerous backpackers available rather cheaply (base is apparently rather good though I haven't stayed there myself so take that with a grain of salt) and it doesn't take very long to get into the city from St Kilda. Be aware some areas of St Kilda I would recommend staying away from for various reasons, so be sure to your research first. Also public transport now require a Myki card which I think costs around $6 and then you have to top it up with money to use, so don't expect to be able to use change to pay for tram rides etc.
Otherwise in terms of food, you could get by on very little but I would recommend budgeting $50ish a day for food and you can eat quite comfortably and not cook yourself at all (this is assuming your going to use places near the con to eat and not buy food there which I have no idea about the price of, along with buying premade sandwiches etc for lunch). North Melbourne which is not to far away has many nice places to eat as does the Vic market. You could also go up to Lygon street but we are getting further and further away now (and more pricey).
All this is to the best of my knowledge as I lived in the area for quite some time, but mileage may vary as how much I eat compared to others will of course vary quite a bit.
Oh any coffee drinkers must make there way down to Little Collins street to a coffee shop called Quists, it is small, but the beans they sell are amazing. Just make sure you get fresh beans pored out and not the ones prepacked. The prices are extremely good as well.
I use the same rule for any of my trips. $200 per day in the local currency including the arrival and departure day plus $200 extra for emergency stashed with my passport.... Not sure if it is going to be enough for me for PAX though, as I am sure there is going to be lots of suff that I want to get. You can do it with less if you have previous knowledge of where you are going (cost of transport, cost of food etc), or if you want to put extra time into research, but I am lazy so I don't bother.
if only Australia post offices are open on weekends then i would go a little nuts but then they're not and i am limited to a 65L bag so i would need to control my spending.
Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Posts
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Depends on what level you want to enjoy yourself. I'm budgeting on about $100 / day for food/drink/misc bits and then $200+ for buying stuff. So about $900 for the entire 3 days. Obviously thats overkill for some things, so that can be spread out on other stuff like drinks out at night and the like
Melbourne has some very good cheap restaurants, as noted above. It also has some that are amazing but expensive. You could spend anywhere from $10/meal to $200/meal depending on where you go and what you're looking for. It's probably wise to budget about 50% more than you think you'll need for food, just to account for impulse purchases.
Do you drink? Alcohol is heavily taxed in Australia, and is quite expensive. A night out on the town can easily cost $50-100. Typical prices are about $10/pint for (decent) beer or about the same for a shot of spirits, more for the top shelf stuff. (I've just noticed that you're from Sydney, so you're already used to this. Melbourne is a bit cheaper than Sydney, but not much.)
Public transportation will cost you $7/day if you stay in the city and inner suburbs, $12/day if you head out into zone 2. Melbourne has quite a good network in the city, although it can leave a bit to be desired as you go further out. Taxis are more expensive, obviously.
Swag is another area where it really comes down to what you want. I'm sure plenty of people can go the PAX and come away with nothing but the memories. Others may need to be careful not to go over the weight limit for their return flight... I'm not even going to guess how much you'd spend on swag.
Do you just want to see PAX or are you going to check out some of the other attractions? You'll need to decide what you want to see and factor in the ticket and transportation costs.
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
After that all of your spending is up to you; though as it stands you shouldn't have any problems. You could easily enjoy yourself on half of what you've allocated, even eating quite well with a bit of care. You could get by on a quarter of it, although you would need to think about it and watch your finances. Still, having more set aside is always good, it allows for contingencies and for extra splurges when those contingencies don't arise.
{nb: these are based on buying things at non-expo rates and not buying swag. Food bought at the expo and swag will obviously increase your expenditure}
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
You can, and if you want you can register it online so you can check balances etc via the web. Or just buy it at pretty much every station / petrol station / convenience store in melb
that too
my outgoing luggage limit is 25kg and i've got a 65L/kg bag as linked below so i doubt i can get HEAPS of swag. I plan on ditching clothes like old socks and underwear in order to make way for swag but with 3 days of clothes is about 1/3 of the bag....but will see.
http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/product/previous_season/porter_65__2011?tab=specifications
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Well that tarpaulin material in a giant shopping bag, see people with them all the time but can i find a pic of one when i need it? no... /sigh
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Yup thats the stuff...Works awfully well for transporting lewtz if you use packing tape on the outside - even passes airlines description of luggage
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Went to Vue last weekend, $600 for the two of us. Definitely not for the budget minded traveler!
edit: Any good Portuguese chicken burger joints like Ogalo or Oporto in Melb?
edit2: if $800 AUD is considered to be safe, then what's would be your absolute minimum?
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
$34 for Myki card and 3 x daily and 2 x 2-hour fares. (Note that this budget cannot afford SkyBus, so you'll need to get the bus to Broadmeadows and find your way to your hotel from there; you have 2 hours).
$16 for food (1 5pack of Mi Goreng or similar, a loaf of bread, a small jar of peanut butter, and some tomatoes should get you through with a few dollars to spare).
Bring a water bottle from home (assuming they allow them at the showgrounds). Toast for breakfast (using the iron in your hotel room if necessary), Mi Goreng and a peanut butter and tomato sandwich for dinner.
Utterly inadvisable; you'd have a terrible time. But it could be done.
Realistic minimum? ~$150 should do it.
Same travel budget.
$20 dollars/day for food can go a long way if you're frugal. There are plenty of cheap places to eat (both nicer and cheaper than maccas if you look around). Don't buy anything at PAX, especially not food or drink (showgrounds prices are well outside this budget).
$36 in reserve for unanticipated spending.
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Honestly, your best bet is to initially assume that you'll spend $200-300 on food and travel, then after the first day base your purchasing decisions on how much you have been spending up to that point.
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
i have $830 squared away for the 3 days so hopefully that should be enough.
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
My recommendations are based off the following estimate per day:
$10 breakfast
$10 lunch
$20 dinner
$7 transport
50% allowance for unexpected costs.
These estimates are typically assuming that you are watching your expenditure, but are likely to splurge a bit. Food costs are likely to be lower than stated if you look around. I'd recommend that you look into the type of food/restaurant that you like and are comfortable with, and make your own estimates accordingly. You can get away with $5/meal for breakfast and lunch and $10 for dinner if you look around, but I'm assuming that you will treat this as something of a holiday.
I'm also assuming you take the Skybus to Southern Cross station [it's Spencer St station, dammit] rather than the longer route using public transport.
[Edit]: for what it's worth, Melbourne prices aren't that different from Sydney prices. Cheap dumpling houses are cheap, most pubs are around ~$15-25 for a decent meal, most restaurants are ~$15-35 for a meal, etc. There's a wide variety of quality and cost, so I'd recommend you do your research. I doubt you'll spend more than half your budget on food, though, unless you go for fine dining experiences or head out on the town (you could probably fit one night out in your budget, but more would be pushing it).
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
For what it's worth, see if you can find a copy of "The Age Good Food Under $30". I got a copy from the local newsagent for $5, but it might be harder to find in Sydney (although you could always pick it up once you get here). There are plenty of options for dinner in the $15-20 range. Anything listed as being an 'inner' suburb is easily reached by public transport.
Have you budgeted for internet access? If you're relying on buying it from the hotel, be aware that they are usually HEINOUSLY expensive; $60 for 1GB is not uncommon. The budget I gave you assumed that you would either go without or use your phones data allowance if you have a smartphone.
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
mega.... bytes? what is this strange word you use?
cheapest plan i could get
i hardly get calls mostly get my emails on the phone, bit of fb and twitter.
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Mel Flight to Sydney @ 8:56 $95 on Sun 21st July
Oaks on Lonsdale 3night for $459 (apartments are cost effective alternative)
Total : $593 + admission price
hmm, why does it have to be in melbourne instead of sydney ><
Because you get EB expo I guess.
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
I have yet to be to either, having avoided EB expo mostly as I do not like EB Games. However I have heard good things (albeit not great things).
I remember reading on Twitter that PAX AUS 2014 will be in Melbourne again.
This was mentioned after the tickets were sold out and people were still wanting to buy tickets, they were told that "PAX will be back at Melbourne in 2014"
same, i used to like them when they had good staff but now the staff is all gone and i don't even walk into the stores any more...I just go to JB instead even though they're prices aren't as competitive as before.
But keeping on topic, any one got any good ideas for budgeting? i appreciate DaCraw's ideas but surely there's others with suggestions.
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
It really depends on what your wanting to do. One thing to keep in mind is Melbourne (like Sydney) is expensive. Also I assume most are going to pick up things when down in Melbourne, make sure you have a way to get this back to where you live and remember postage can be very pricey. I say this as I work for a company transporting people to and from the airport and you would not believe the number of times people do not account for this. On top of this have secondary plans for getting to and from the airport, also maybe look at staying at somewhere like St Kilda which is cheaper then the CBD and there are numerous backpackers available rather cheaply (base is apparently rather good though I haven't stayed there myself so take that with a grain of salt) and it doesn't take very long to get into the city from St Kilda. Be aware some areas of St Kilda I would recommend staying away from for various reasons, so be sure to your research first. Also public transport now require a Myki card which I think costs around $6 and then you have to top it up with money to use, so don't expect to be able to use change to pay for tram rides etc.
Otherwise in terms of food, you could get by on very little but I would recommend budgeting $50ish a day for food and you can eat quite comfortably and not cook yourself at all (this is assuming your going to use places near the con to eat and not buy food there which I have no idea about the price of, along with buying premade sandwiches etc for lunch). North Melbourne which is not to far away has many nice places to eat as does the Vic market. You could also go up to Lygon street but we are getting further and further away now (and more pricey).
All this is to the best of my knowledge as I lived in the area for quite some time, but mileage may vary as how much I eat compared to others will of course vary quite a bit.
Oh any coffee drinkers must make there way down to Little Collins street to a coffee shop called Quists, it is small, but the beans they sell are amazing. Just make sure you get fresh beans pored out and not the ones prepacked. The prices are extremely good as well.
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
and many post offices are open Saturday.