Money?

[ShellBda]

I have been sitting here looking at my financial situation and trying to determine how much I can save over the next 8 - 12 months. I will be moving to NZ without a job and will look for one when I get there. I am a single mother with an 18 month old son who will need to go to nursery while I look for a job. Needless to say, how much money would be a comfortable nest egg to have saved to pay for initial expenses while I am job hunting. I will need to find somewhere to rent, buy a car (2nd hand), pay for nursery, food, gas, health insurance etc. I am sure there is more. Bottom line, if I plan on having 2 years worth of living expenses in the bank, what would be a good amount to plan on per year?

Shell

[MotherBear]

The one important fact to take into account when talking about cost of living etc. is having some idea where you intend settling. In cities like Auckland and Wellie you're talking about higher costs for most things whereas in the more provincial towns and cities, it probably won't be so high. Also it depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to live and whether, due to your circumstances, you're prepared to cut everything to the bone to survive whilst you look for the all-important job. Everyone is different and has different needs.

As an exercise, how's about taking a look through the Master Website List . In there you'll find property sites where you can see how much the kind of rental you're looking for will cost. There's car rental or car dealers and even online food/household sites where you can 'do' a weekly shop. It won't give you all the expenses you're likely to meet, but it's a start and you can tailor it to suit your own particular needs. I hope the links are still current as they have a tendency to become defunct over a period of time, which is a tad annoying.

Perhaps others can chip in with an overview of their typical expenses for things like insurances, rates/council tax, phone bills, electricity, nursery care etc.

[ShellBda]

Thanks MB. Will take your advice and try to find out the different costs. Quite honestly, Bermy Girl and I were hoping to avoid Auckland because of the higher cost of living. While we will have the house in Palmy North and the monthly mortgage payment is very low with both of us paying, we won't be able to live in it unless we find a good paying job in Palmy North. That said, I have a feeling we will be looking for jobs in Hamilton or possibly Wellie (due to its closeness to Palmy North) and will have to settle and rent there for a while, at least until we get our PR.

Of course, it would be really helpful it others could give us an idea of approximately weekly expenses.

We will have to find a place with a minimum of 3 bedrooms as no matter how much I have to cut back on expenses, I am not sharing a room with Bermy Girl (nothing personal) - you just never know when Dave will stop by lol

[Bermy Girl]

As if... Why anyone would even think that we'd be okay with sharing a bedroom...they obviously haven't heard the snoring... Not to mention that I'm not a nun either...although come to think of it there probably isn't much difference these days...

[Taffy]

Well, I guess your situation is slightly unique if you and BG are looking at living together for the time being. If you've got a mortgage and you need to pay for childcare, I would say you'd want a family income of $50,000 (NZD) per annum to cover all the bills and have some left for the 'unknowns' that may crop up.

Estimating expenses is pretty difficult for other people. You may have special dietry needs, like Bermuda Rum, or with the young children there's lots of expenses with nappies etc too.