Simply can't afford to live in NZ

[KiwiHopeful]

Think very carefully. If you want certain things from life and you have a certain standard in the UK then New Zealand may not be for you.

That certainly sums it all up quite nicely, Vee. ?:) In fact, I think MB should make that the tagline of the website! ;)

I know I'll be taking a large cut in pay in NZ, and finding a house may prove difficult. ?But I know that when I move in, I'll know my neighbors--unlike where I live now, where I can count on 2 fingers the number of times I've been in one of my neighbor's houses (or vice versa) in the 8 years I've lived in this neighborhood.

(Lest you think I'm antisocial, I'm not. ?I've surveyed my students on this issue several times, and removing the kid's friends from the total usually yeilds similar results.)

I believe that though my kids will probably still want the latest sneakers and jeans, they won't get ostracised or beated up in school for not having them.

When I say 'Go out and play' they will have a place to go out and play--like I did when I was a kid.

Saturdays and Sundays will be spent in the park or at the beach, which certainly must be cheaper than the mall.

Most importantly of all, I won't have to hear 'terra, terra, terra ... be scared!'

Please don't consider this 'piling on,' Gossage. ?We all have different values, different things we want out of life. ?When I read your posts--after swallowing a bit of anger and your rude dismissal of the way of life of an entire country!--I was actually happy for you. ?You know what you want, and it isn't in New Zealand and you found out sooner rather than later. ?That's a good thing and you've saved yourself much, much misery further down the road.

However, it seems to me that you really never wanted to be in NZ, as it was just a stepping stone to Oz. ?If Oz is what you want, then pour your energy into getting that and let go of your disappointment over NZ.

It sounds like you're on a difficult path, so I say to you with all sincerity, "Good luck!" :)

[moggy]

You can't afford to live in NZ?
In the UK I earned 45K GBP, hubbie around 16K
We owned a 3 bed ex council house in the north of England, no garage, and small mortgage.
We didn't have to worry too much about money, but bills and taxes were high, petrol was high.

We now own 10 acres of land, detached house, 4 garages, sleepout, shed, oh not forgetting the swimming pool and guess what? no mortgage
I have only had one temporary contract since getting here, so have been living off hubbies wages of around $45K mainly.
We are soooo poor that we can only afford to run two cars and two motorbikes (better cars than we could ever afford to run in the UK)
We are soooo poor that we can only afford to eat fresh lamb 3 times a week.
We are soooo poor that we only usually eat out once a week.
oh and we are soooo poor we have had to put the cats on half rations (not)

Every morning we wake up and look out at a fantastic view, drive half an hour to Christchurch (half the commute of the UK) work only the hours we are paid to work and drive home again. Unlike the UK where hubbie regularly worked 2-3 hours unpaid overtime per day.


Soooo us poor unpoverished NZ residents have it really bad, yes you are right not to move here.
I really hate having all this land
I really hate not needing two wages to support the family
I really hate having a higher standard of living
but most of all
I really hate not having the stress I had got used to ::)

[Dawn]

Moggy [smiley=023.gif] [smiley=026.gif] [smiley=041.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] Well said, we've often commented on how sorry we feel for you and your crap life. You're a real trooper to put up with all that and not head back to the UK. We don't know how you cope!

I'll know my neighbors--unlike where I live now, where I can count on 2 fingers the number of times I've been in one of my neighbor's houses (or vice versa) in the 8 years I've lived in this neighborhood.

We're like that and we're not anti-social either. It's just that on the few occasions we have mixed we quickly realise that people think we're from another planet in the way that we think. More often than not we end up exchanging 'here we go again' glances and quickly head for home. I don't wanna sit round someones dinner table or coffee table slagging other people off, blaming the countrys problems on immigrants, blacks and asians, pretending to be interested in their new telly, hi-fi, kitchen, car or whatever else they try to fill their empty lives with. It may mean the world to them and it might make them happy and that's cool but it means nothing to me.

The few like-minded friends we do have are becoming more and more interested in NZ themselves. They're doing the usual and waiting to see what happens to us before making the leap themselves! We don't mind being guinea pigs.

Vee, we will be up in the north for a bit coz we're driving round, trying to see as much as we can and getting a feel for the place. Then we'll head for Welli and the Wairarapa and then across into Marlborough and Nelson and on down to Christchurch and such. We'll be waiting for somewhere to 'speak' to us although of course we'll have to settle where the job offers come to start with. How old's your daughter? Our oldest is 16, she will have just left school when we come over, she's a bit nervous.

Not long now guys, 3 months and counting!! :o

[Pulsarblu]

Message to all....

I was not an high earner in Singapore but I do get to travel a lot, almost twice every month for company business and on company expense. That really help me to save a lot on expenses compared to when I am not travelling. Food, lodging, transportation and such. My wife, she travels a lot too and enjoy even more luxury than me. 5-6 star hotel, ex. restaurants and such. We are dressed comfortably in nice clothes, good food, nice apartment BUT we never really got a life besides work, SHopping!! ($$$) and other forms of recreation that need money. In actual fact because we hardly see each other, we end up using luxury to satisfy ourselves. It really sounds quite pathetic. We decided this is not the life we want and will put a stop to it.

That is when we decided to move to NZ with of course lowering our expectations. I agree we must earn a decent living here to survive and get the necessary. However there are many things money cannot buy. Family cohensiveness is one example. I have friends in UK who work till their bone just to look good on the outside.

We lowered our expectations and still can live here comfortably. Now my wife can stop working and become full time housewife which is really nice. I am in IT so earn quite a bit which is really good too. What I am saying is that, it takes a lot of courage to make the change and adjust. However once you do that, I believe many many of us here in this forum never regret and look back.

When you look at the country to migrate, never compared it to your home country. There is no end to it and will eventually make you very miserable. There are pros and cons about NZ too. To me, Singapore is wonderful place to live, I just want to broaden my life experience.

All I want to say....
Pulsarblu

[moggy]

Moggy ?[smiley=023.gif] [smiley=026.gif] [smiley=041.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] [smiley=eusa_clap.gif] Well said, we've often commented on how sorry we feel for you and your crap life. You're a real trooper to put up with all that and not head back to the UK. We don't know how you cope!

Thanks for the support, it is tough you know, there are days when I think longingly of the traffic jams and road rage and I miss my old burglar alarm and security locks, I do miss all the company of 100s others you had in the UK when climbing a hill in the middle of nowhere - here you have have to do it on your own.


Sorry I get pissed off hearing people asking the question how do Kiwis cope on their wages. The thing is that you don't appreciate till you get here how many things you don't pay for, some might just be little things but they all add up.

Free 2 week full time business course for new migrants
With the exception of Chch Central - no car parking charges
Free use of BBQs in the parks
Free business advice from the tax people
Free social events from work (for OH the bosses buy beer every friday)
Free admittance to many tourist attractions

Rates are in less in dollars than they were in pounds
Tax is less when you take into account there is no National Insurance on top
ACC health care far outstrips the UK and it is free
Car inurance costs less in dollars than it did in pounds
Bike insurance is a fraction of in the UK

This is how us poor NZ residents survive - there is less coming in but a lot less going out - simple maths.

[Pulsarblu]

[/quote]

Free 2 week full time business course for new migrants

[/quote]

Hey moggy, where you get that? I have been searching for ages. What is the program name?

Pulsarblu

[kokopeli]

Hi Pulsarblu,

For business advice and info, try www.biz.org.nz - an NZ-wide government sponsored enterprise agency. ?They provide all sorts of information including training and advice.

If you're in Canterbury, the Canterbury Development Corporation are pretty good. ?See their website at www.cdc.org.nz. ?They provide training and also have low-cost incubator units to help get small businesses off the ground.

The IRD also have teams of small business advisors all over NZ. ?They will come out to see you at home or work. ?And they do it for free. ?No point in paying any more than you have to! ;)

Going back to the original theme of this thread.....

....Before we got here, I wasn't expecting to see many high-end European motors such as BMWs, Mercs, Range Rovers, Jaguars etc because everyone told me how ?expensive they were compared to NZ wages. ?The reality is that there are loads of prestige vehicles over here and I've seen more Ferraris in Chch than just about anywhere else I've been! ?Okay, I don't know whether these cars are bought, leased or stolen but the fact that they're on the road says a lot about disposable income. ?

The point about not converting NZ$s to GB?s is a good one, although I think it can be qute revealing sometimes....

We paid ?180 for a PSP in the UK last summer and bought the same thing in NZ at Christmas time for $180. ?Looking through the paper, you can buy a new Toyota Landcruiser here for $79,950, yet the same model in the UK is ?49,950. ?How does that work? :-/

I'm sure there will be loads of comparisons the other way. ?I'm not trying to say that NZ is cheaper than the UK, only that wage levels don't give us the whole picture on their own. :)

[Glenda]

I have seen a job that will give me $777/wk income but after rent of $400/wk I just dont see how I can make $377 feed, cloth and insure me and two kids. ? The maths simply dont add up or am I missing something?

I think soooo much has been said on this thread that my tuppence-worth will only be repeating itself. ::) However the answer really has to be to adjust to living within your means.

I have at present a similar income and a rent at $400/wk also.

My utilities and insurances (car and house contents) add up to $89 per week. The food bill for me and the four kids and is around $250 per wk. A little math shows that there is less than a hundred dollars left per week for school lunches, clothes, gifts, petrol and car tax, dentists, doctors, furniture, and trips out.

What has become obvious is that the rent is too high for income and, since I now do not have a partner who can contribute to the cost, I was looking for a more modest property around $300/wk. (Since then it was decided to have a house built as part of the divorce settlement, so I stay here at the rental paying too much rather than have the bother and cost of removals).

We have been so poor in the UK before that we could not afford to tax and insure the car, cut down trees for firewood, and won our luxuries with a good hand at village whist drives (!). We've been rich enough to buy our clothes in London's finest and have an eight-bedroomed house.

One thing I have noticed over the years is that the more money one makes, the more one wants to spend.

Obviously, NZ has not wholly impressed gossage otherwise she would be more eager to alter her lifestyle to suit. Indeed, she admitted she was more interested in Australia. The wages are lower here - those who have done their homework know that - but they also spend less money here. It really seems to be up to the individual as to what is important to them.

:)

[Dawn]

Pulsarblu, I so respect what you said in your first post on this thread and you said it so much better than I did! There are so many things in this life that can't be bought and it seems us lucky lot are, at the very least, interested in discovering what they are.

Just want you all to know that this forum has been a source of strength for me over the last 18 months or so and I am so grateful to you all for being supportive, understanding, kind, helpful AND realistic!

Because of this forum I don't feel as if we'll be alone when we land, you lot have made me feel that should we need a helping hand or a friendly smile and a cup of tea wherever we are in NZ, there'll be someone not too far away ready and willing to offer one. We're only too willing to offer the same in return.

Thanks guys, you've made all the difference :)

[gossage]

People seem to think that I didnt do any research into NZ. I did!! And the 'cosmetic' issue was more about cleanser, toner etc...........clinique etc not sunscreen. I did say skin care products!!!!!!!!!!!

Also about buying a house..................I too cant afford to buy a house in the UK even though I too am professional. But the situation is no better in NZ, unless you are taking money from the sale of a house here. Of course you do get a lot more for your money but if you havent got the money in the first place.......................

And just to set the record straight I havent said it is not for me..........yet. I am still considering it..................you know researching my options. I have spoken to many Kiwis and it is them folks who have told me how difficult it is to budget. So I got my info straight from the horses mouth so to speak. Like I have said there is no point in being surround by a beautiful landscape if you have no money to enjoy it.

Moggy have very lucky you are. But not every one is in a position to have no mortgage and I am sure this makes a huge different to your finances each month.

BTW at no point did I make any reference to anyones intelligence. So please Welshgirl stop with the shit stirring!!!!!!!!!!!! If people have a strong belief then I dont consider them of low intelligence. Have you never heard of debate? It is were people have different opinions and discuss them, actually something quite common on forums..................strangley enough!!