Thirty pounds a year was enough to enable a man to live there without being contemptible. He allowed ten pounds for clothes and linen. He said a man might live in a garret at eighteen-pence a week; few people would inquire where he lodged; and if they did, it was easy to say, "Sir, I am to be found at such a place." By spending three-pence in a coffeehouse, he might be for some hours every day in very good company; he might dine for six-pence, breakfast on bread and milk for a penny, and do without supper.
 |
| Samuel Johnson in 1772 |
Item
|
Per day
|
Per week
|
Per year
|
|---|---|---|---|
Clothes
|
4 s.
|
£
10
|
|
Rent
|
18 d.
|
£
4
|
|
Food
|
7 d.
|
4 s.
|
£
10
|
Coffee
|
3 d.
|
18 d.
|
£
4
|
Now, this website tells me that £1 in 1750 would be the equivalent of £190 today, and this in turn equates to A$350. This gives us an annual budget of $10,000:
Item
|
Per day
|
Per week
|
Per year
|
|---|---|---|---|
Clothes
|
$70
|
$3,500
|
|
Rent
|
$30
|
$1,500
|
|
Food
|
$10
|
$70
|
$3,500
|
Coffee
|
$4
|
$30
|
$1,500
|
For a writer in Melbourne, the coffee works out about right. The food budget would be roughly equivalent – $2 a day will give you bread and milk for breakfast, while $8 will fill you up in Chinatown. Unfortunately, one would be hard pressed to find accommodation at even the most dingiest dive for $30 a week. The clothes budget, both then and now, is wildly disproportionate.
