SYDNEY × 3 · LIVING TOOLS
Compare the whole cost of a room
Sydney room cost calculator: rent, bills and transport
Compare up to three rooms using your own rent, bills and travel costs. Keep weekly spending, monthly spending and move-in cash separate.
SYDNEY × 3
What does cheaper rent cost you in travel time?
Compare two or three Sydney rooms using your own costs and door-to-door journeys. Put your current room or first choice first; it becomes the reference. A lower rent alone does not settle the choice.
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Your comparison
Enter the rent for two rooms to start a comparison. Other costs can be completed as you check them.
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Sharing includes only the cost and commute numbers you enter. Names, locations, monthly limits, notes and photos are excluded. Anyone with the link can read the numbers. You can switch between nine languages.
Our money-and-time comparison method
Weekly minutes = (outward minutes + return minutes) × commute days. Annual minutes = weekly minutes × 52; holidays and changing rosters are not deducted automatically. The first room is the reference. Hourly trade-offs divide the difference in complete weekly costs by the travel hours added or saved; move-in cash is excluded. This is your comparison, not a fare, travel-time forecast or a value placed on your time. Check both journeys at the times you would actually use them.
Open official journey planning ↗ · Neighbourhood guides ↗
Try it: save $70, travel 6 h 40 min more each week
Illustration, not market rent quotes. Both rooms use $25 bills and $120 everyday spending per week, with other recurring costs set to 0. Replace the assumptions with your own figures.
| What I checked | Room A · longer commute | Room B · shorter commute |
|---|---|---|
| Rent / week | AUD 350 | AUD 430 |
| Bills / week | AUD 25 | AUD 25 |
| Travel / week | AUD 30 | AUD 20 |
| Food and everyday spending / week | AUD 120 | AUD 120 |
| Weekly cost entered | AUD 525 | AUD 595 |
| Outward door-to-door trip · minutes | 60 | 20 |
| Return door-to-door trip · minutes | 60 | 20 |
| Return commute days per week | 5 | 5 |
| Weekly return commute | 10 h 0 min | 3 h 20 min |
Room A saves $70 a week but adds 6 h 40 min of travel: $10.50 saved per extra travel hour. Room B costs that same $10.50 per hour of travel avoided. Decide whether either fits your roster, family and daily routine.
How the comparison works
Weekly = rent + bills + travel + other room costs + your common everyday spending. Monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12. Annual = weekly × 52. Move-in cash = bond + moving/setup + first rent payment, shown separately. Each displayed amount is rounded to cents.
Enter the actual first payment requested. Prepaid rent also belongs in the ongoing rent estimate; it is a payment timing, not an extra ongoing charge. A refundable bond is shown as cash needed, not consumption.
Use the advertised billing period carefully: a calendar month is not four weeks. Add only your share of a shared bill. Use official journey planning to check a travel allowance, then enter it here.
Open official journey planning ↗Worked example: lower rent, higher weekly cost
Illustrative numbers, not a property advertisement or a Sydney market average. Both options use AUD 120/week for food and AUD 0 for other weekly costs.
| What I checked | Room 1 | Room 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Rent / week | AUD 350 | AUD 380 |
| Bills / week | AUD 25 | AUD 0 |
| Travel / week | AUD 50 | AUD 20 |
| Other room costs / week | AUD 0 | AUD 0 |
| Food and everyday spending / week | AUD 120 | AUD 120 |
| Weekly cost entered | AUD 545 | AUD 520 |
| Monthly equivalent | AUD 2,361.67 | AUD 2,253.33 |
| Bond or deposit | AUD 1,400 | AUD 1,520 |
| Moving and setup | AUD 200 | AUD 200 |
| First rent payment | AUD 700 | AUD 760 |
| Move-in cash entered | AUD 2,300 | AUD 2,480 |
Room 2 costs AUD 25 less each week, while needing AUD 180 more at move-in. Over 52 weeks the recurring difference is AUD 1,300.
Enter the actual first payment requested. Prepaid rent also belongs in the ongoing rent estimate; it is a payment timing, not an extra ongoing charge. A refundable bond is shown as cash needed, not consumption.
Try illustrative numbers Seven questions to take to a room viewing ↗
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A worked decision, not a live quote
Would you make the same housing choice if you worked from home three days a week? In the A$70-per-week, 80-minutes-per-commuting-day example above, five days saves 6 hours 40 minutes: A$10.50 for each hour saved. Two days saves only 2 hours 40 minutes: A$26.25 per hour. Keep the actual weekly rent difference, change your commuting days and travel cost, and compare again. These are hypothetical trade-offs, not rental prices or a recommended value for your time.