I think food here is just as expensive as at home......and yet I earn less than half that I did in the UK. I hate shopping there, but I go to Pack and Save as it does work out cheaper......and like Glenda, I usually buy what's on offer.

Fruit and veg and meat is definitely cheaper at the small local shops. Good quality clothes aren't cheap either, but then again, Kiwis rarely dress up to go out!

Rent is $470 a week for us. When my hubby was back in England, me and the 2 kids survived on my wage of just over $3000 a month. I managed to pay the bills, buy petrol and food, and extras like swimming lessons, school fees and uniform etc but any luxuries like birthday presents were not affordable.

We definitely have to think before spending now whereas at home, I just bought what I liked when I liked!

We've just bought our own house, so things should get better as we'll be mortgage free quickly........we've got a small mortgage that won't take long to pay off.........I'll update on how that's going when it starts.

To put it in a nutshell, we were wealthy enough in the UK to buy anything we wanted outright .....but still had 23 years of a huge mortgage to pay.

Here, we're not wealthy, but more or less own our own 4 bed house by the beach. We each have a car........one 2nd hand and 1 brand new.

I work on the bottom rung of the primary school instead of near the top so I don't have meetings til 7.00pm 3 nights a week.......if it's sunny,I take my work home and do it when it's dark! At the moment, hubby doesn't work........so we are using savings for luxuries but soon we will have 2 incomes.

Entertainment can be cheap/free here..........especially when the sun is out.....so we save loads there.....ther's always something to do.

I'm not as wealthy as my friends back home in monetary terms, but as far as lifestyle goes, I have definitely got the best deal!! I've also got used to watching my money too.........it hasn't done any harm.... a bit like when you buy your first house and you're frightened to death of not being able to pay the mortgage.......and it soon begins to get better. I'll never be rich, but I'm free to spend my time and money as I please! Quality!

Fisheress