monthly expenditure

[gurumr]

Hello,

How much money should i bring to NZ (NZ $). Need to know the monthly
expenditure either in Auckland or Wellington.I am single and wil be on rental basis.
ready to share the accomondation if any.

Please let me know the average monthly expenditure in this two areas.

Thanks,
Guru

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by gurumr

Hello,

How much money should i bring to NZ (NZ $).

I think the answer to this is 'As much as you can possibly afford'. I've heard it said that $1000 per month would be adequate but this question is quite difficult to answer because different people have different expenses. Some can live fairly cheaply whereas others like a better standard of living. I would think Auckland and Wellington prices would be higher than other areas so the best thing to do would be to budget carefully when you first get there so you can see how your money is working out. If you think you're doing well then you can relax a bit.

There are other threads on the forum that give various costs and links to shopping websites so you can see how much food and household items cost but, of course, not all of them are for Wellington or Auckland. Pulsarblu in Wellington was on here recently saying he could manage on NZ$200-300 for about 2 weeks, but he has a wife and maybe(?) one young child. If you can share accommodation/water/heating/electricity etc. that would cut your costs quite a bit. Check out on the real estate agents' websites how much the type of place you are looking for would cost, then you'll know it should be a lot cheaper if you can find someone to share with.

[gurumr]

Thanks Mother Bear for the information.

I have some questions that i need to clarify.

1) Do i need to show any security Deposit while my Interview with my Case Officer

2) i am planning to manage 10000 NZ $ as savings and my prediction on monthly budget there would be 2000 NZ $. Is this fine.

[MotherBear]

From what I've heard, a lot of the interviews are done via the telephone, so the answer to that would be no. I'm not sure if you have to show any financial statement other than maybe a bank statement, but I don't know at which point you would do this.

If you take $10,000 to NZ and you estimate that your living expenses etc. will come to NZ$2000 per month that should last you for about 5 months. Hopefully you should have a job before then which should cover your living expenses. Personally I would think $2000 would be more than enough for one month for a family, let alone if you are single.

[gurumr]

Thanks MotherBear for the info

[alan&moyra]

Yep I agree with MB we are a family of 3 and we spend about $2000 pm but thats with 2 cars, food kindo fees and rent

[rasin]

Hi Alan, MotherBear,
Can I assume that $2000 per month is provided that meals are home-made and eatting-out is only occasionally? And $2000 covers occasionally medical expenses and kids education (assuming new immigrants don't get any subsidy or benefit)?

Thanks...

[MotherBear]

I can't remember offhand what your visa status will be when you immigrate but, if you have PR or a long term WP, then education will be at domestic rates rather than international, which can be quite expensive. By domestic rate I mean that you only contribute a small sum now and then I believe, but someone who knows more about how this works can hopefully fill you in.

Medical expenses too would be cheaper than if you didn't have residency or a WP. These expenses will be the same when you are newly in NZ as when you've been there a long time. When you ask about subsidies and benefits, do you mean like Child Benefit? There is something I think is called Family Assistance that you get if you have kids. Previously I think you had to be in NZ for 2 years to qualify for this but it may have change so that you either get it almost immediately or not long after you've been in NZ. Someone will correct me if I've got this wrong.

Just how far $2000 would go depends really on how well you budget. Some people find it easy but others struggle. As Alan says, his family manages on that amount, so I guess he's got it sorted.

[rasin]

Hi Motherbear,
My hubby is on 1 yr WP (not PR) hence no medical/child or any family subsidy.. We need to buy our own medical insurance or we take the risk of paying high fees when needing medical treatment.
In addition the rental at Wellington is quite high $500+ per week for furnished house with reasonable location. Hence don't think we can survived on $2000 per mth :(
Alan, can share how you manage that? :)

Thus from now till the kids and me were to join hubby in spring, we'll be saving hard and working hard...

cheers..