[jamesthecarman]

Woo hoo! This is my kind of question.

I did virtually the same thing. Just without the working holiday visa.

Jobs - I had the catch 22 of trying to find a job without a working visa. I had to get a job offer in order to get a working visa. But in order to get a place to want to hire me they wanted me to already have a work visa. Hopefully you have better luck.

I came over with around $4,500 US and lasted 6 months. BUT there were some catches involved.

My 3rd day all the cash I had on me was stolen ($1,800 US). Don't carry it around. Don't leave it in an unsupervised car.

I also had bills to pay back home. This was around $300 US a month.

So that means I had $3000 for 6 months. But I also had to use my credit cards after having my money stolen.

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Would the $3000 you have be paying for a return ticket? What about your ticket over here, is it already paid for (or will be paid for). Are you planning on returning in the next year?

To get back to the US costs around 800-900 US.

If you come in August good chance Air NZ will be running a half price promotion. You have to buy your ticket in July. This is for round trip for under a month.....but I don't think you have to take that 2nd trip (you'd need to check their TOC).

[b:6159345b0b]If your $3000 is JUST for living expenses (food/transport/rent) and not for transport here and back home......[/b:6159345b0b]

The below figures are in NZ Dollars

$450 (maybe down to 400 or up to 600) a month for a decent place to stay. (Stay away from South Auckland.....it's not a ghetto as we know it, but it's not a pleasant place....and it's around $20 a day for a bus into/out of town)

$300 a month for food (variable on how much you eat. I can survive on $40-$60 a month in groceries....plus lunch takeaways of $7 a day)

$500 for a cheap used car. Make sure it has a current Warrant of Fitness and Registration though. And make sure it runs.

Public transport is expensive in AKL, depending on how far away you are from the city.

$350 for 6 months of car insurance

$20 of gas for a week if your not driving much (with conversions it's about $3 US a US Gallon for petrol).

[b:6159345b0b]Add that all up and it's about 4 months.[/b:6159345b0b]

3 months for $3000 NZ. That's around $2200 US. Got another month after that depending on how you are at being a tight wad :icon_wink:

I'd start looking for work within 3-4 weeks, enjoying/getting bearings for the first few. Took me 6 months to find a job willing to take me on, but you have an advantage in that you already have a WHV.

You may want to look at applying for residency before coming over. Takes about 4-5 months, and if your young with a university degree you may get the 100 points needed without a job offer. Then you can work for whoever is hiring, rather than whoever is willing to take on a WHV (I think you have a 3 month max in each position).

Good luck!!
James (Mom's womb 1979-1980, Florida 1980-2004, NZ 2005-?)