I'm going to do a year's clinical fellowship at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in East Melbourne. It's located at St. Andrew's Place right behind Parliament and am looking to rent a flat. Budget is a major concern. Looking at spending A$1,000 per month inclusive of rent, utilities and food. Think that's enough? I heard there are flats partly subsidized by UniMelb. Will also be doing conference work at Royal Melbourne and St. Vincent's and possible at Royal Children's so I might qualify for partial subsidy.

Hope someone can help me regarding details.

Thanks in advance.

East Melbourne is an expensive suburb to live in, and your $1,000 monthly budget is probably just about enough for a rental flat. Perhaps you should try neighboring suburbs or look at shared accommodations. To get a feel of rental prices, have a look at
this site.

Expect utilities (water, gas, electricity) to be around $50 per month, and groceries & housing essentials (toilet cleaners, detergent, etc.) should be between $35-50 per week.

A large McDonald's meal costs $6, typical food court/cafeteria meals cost between $7-10, mid-range restaurant food is between $12-15. A movie costs around $14 (discounted to $9 on Tuesdays), a weekly Zone 1 (Melbourne CBD and surrounding suburbs) public transport ticket costs $25. Phone calls to the Philippines cost around $0.70 per minute. Oh, and self-service laundromats can cost you around $5-7 per week.

If you can get shared accommodation, a $1,500 monthly budget should allow you to live comfortably.

All money figures provided are in Australian dollars.