Sydney vs. Seattle - Cost of Living

Some interesting comparisons:

• We spend less on fuel here, even though it is twice as expensive (we drive less)
  
• We spend 1% more on clothing here (retail prices are more like +15% actually)
  
• Rent is 23% of our income here, compared to 13% in Seattle
• We're able to save more here, and the quality of life is higher
  
• Internet is constant at 1% for comparable wireless
• We pay cash for a lot of stuff here, because there are a lot of places that don't take plastic
• Health care was 5% in the US (out of pocket), vs. 1% here for better cover

Update: So, just having done our US taxes, we made much less money in 2009 due to the move (and subsequent unemployment), and paid far more tax. The tax hike was due to the tricky rules for how long you have to be in AU before your foreign taxed income is deductible. If I hadn't flown home for those 6 weeks last summer we would be getting back $2400, but instead we are paying $500. I feel ok about it - the US needs all the help it can get right now.

TOTAL INCOME ............................................................. US TAX

UPDATE: 2011 Cost of Living and Taxes below

So after a year I thought it was time to tally up the expenses again for a year-on-year comparison. Note that the data is taken from roughly a 3mo period from each year. For 2011 I broke out some more stats and compounded some others, like others+stuff = stuff 2011, and health insurance+medical 2010 = medical 2011.

Karin figured out we could file an amended 2009 return because we now pass the residency test. Note that you are only allowed to leave Australia for 30 days per year to avoid being double-taxed by the IRS. Also, the 2011 TurboTax interface is much improved over the 2010 version with respect to foreign income.

UPDATE 2014 - Long-term subjective review:
Sydney is extremely expensive.  Much more so that Seattle.  Although wages are higher.  You should ask for ~40% more coming here, e.g. 70k USD -> 100k AUD to maintain the same standard of living.  Housing is a big one, but then, once you have kids, it's the daycare which will slay you financially.  It can be easily as expensive as rent, which is insane on it's own.  For a crappy 2br apt in Sydney you can expect to pay $2000/mo.  So that + daycare can be as much as $4000/mo, and possibly more depending on your income.  Honestly I don't know about Seattle daycare costs, but this combination makes having a kid in Sydney ill-advised.