Take everything - Take nothing

[Dawn]

Duke, we are that working class family you're talking about who sold absolutely everything and came over with not a lot of cash. We've only been here a few weeks so aren't qualified to tell you how we're managing on a weekly basis but let me tell you what our first impressions are.

We were in the US last Christmas doing the Disney thing (waste of money imho) we had the cash from the house sale and thought it was a once in a lifetime thing we'd like to do for the kids. When we were there we were astounded at how cheap everything was compared to the UK and I mean everything. Houses, cars and driving, groceries, eating out, clothes, shoes, sports gear, everything was cheaper and people get paid well. But would I want to live there? Not if it were the last place on earth, well unless it was all Montana and I had a horse. Don't take any offence please American peeps, just my take.

NZ in comparison to the UK is a difficult one to call I think. There's no sense to stuff just as KH says. The things I imagined would be cheaper aren?t and vice versa. Over the two and a bit years I?ve been on this forum I have noticed that it?s generally been the Americans that seem to think things are much more expensive, the cost of living here compared to the UK isn?t that different all things considered.

The first time we went food shopping in a supermarket here we thought food was expensive. Tesco is massive in the UK, their buying power must be immense, Asda is owned by Walmart (no they?re not as big as those immense stores you have in the US) we?re used to walking into these places and picking up everything we need cheaply. Here in NZ, supermarkets haven?t YET destroyed small business, there are still little individual shops that sell their wares cheaper than the supermarkets so if you go to the butchers for meat and the grocers for fruit and veggies etc etc stuff?s a lot cheaper. We?ve also realised that it?s really only the processed foods that are expensive here so buy fresh ingredients and cook. The veggies are three times as big here as in the UK and they?re fresher and more colourful and in season.

We secured a rental the other day and that is cheaper than we were paying at home for a similar sized house with more land. We went out and bought loads of the basic stuff we?re gonna need, kitchen stuff, towels, pillows, plates, cups, cookware, iron, ironing board, kettle, toaster, espresso machine etc etc and we didn?t buy crap, there was about 4 trolleys full from different stores and we spent about $1000. I don?t reckon that?s bad. We got a cracking deal in the electrical store ? Electrolux brand new model front loading washer, Tumble Dryer, Chest Freezer, Fridge-Freezer, Microwave, Digital Phone, 29? Panasonic TV, Dyson vacuum, 2 sets of headphones chucked in plus free delivery and fitting and all the extraction hose fittings for the dryer $4400. $4400. Yeah, I negotiated but they were up for it and came through. That is loads cheaper than in the UK and not crap brands either. We went looking at furniture today; sofas, beds, tables etc. In the UK we had a lot of handmade reclaimed pine stuff that was moderately expensive not overly so but nice stuff. We were gobsmacked! It?s less than half the price here and yes I know I?m comparing it to ??ssss but vair vair good value!

We?re watching pennies, we?ve got to. We don?t have the luxury of a nest egg sat somewhere gaining interest. We made a bit on the house, we didn?t have any savings, to be honest I don?t think we?re ever likely to have, so what we?ve got has got to work for us. What we do feel is that this place is full of opportunity, if you have a nose for business and an eye for a niche you could get on very well here. We have a feeling that this place is going to be the making of us and in more ways than a few. We are little people, grandiose has never been our style, making an honest living and getting the most out of it is more our scene. Come and join us Duke, there?s definitely room for a few more.

[selchie]

Originally Posted by pianist1

It is a good idea to buy your fridge when you get here since most kitchens have a space allocated for it...and the space is NOT big, so beware.

So, when you say the refrigerator spaces are not big, how not big are you talking? Our fridge is small for an American one: 30" wide and about 67" high. Is that small enough? I hope so, because we just bought it.

[KiwiHopeful]

Originally Posted by selchie

So, when you say the refrigerator spaces are not big, how not big are you talking? Our fridge is small for an American one: 30" wide and about 67" high. Is that small enough? I hope so, because we just bought it.

We have what would be a medium-sized fridge by NZ standards, and it just fits in the space in the kitchen. I just measured and yours would *not* fit in our kitchen.

You can check this site and get a sense of the dimensions available here.

[kokopeli]

Originally Posted by Duke

I WHAT WOULD BE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF FINANCES ONE WOULD TAKE TO MIGRATE?

Hi Duke,

Strictly speaking, the least amount you need to spend would be the money for your visa application (and medical if required) and your flight. We managed for nine months in NZ with the stuff we brought over in three holdalls and a suitcase. And we've got three kids, so it we didn't even have a full case/holdall each!

While most people on this forum who make the move to NZ 'permanent' do appear to ship their belongings, there are a lot of people who don't. I know one family who sold the whole lot and shipped out with just the clothes they were wearing. It would save you from checking in your bags.

Emigrating is a life changing event, so I can see how clearing out your stuff and starting again would add a certain je ne sais quo.......

[selchie]

Originally Posted by Dawn

We were in the US last Christmas ... ... would I want to live there? Not if it were the last place on earth, well unless it was all Montana and I had a horse. Don't take any offence please American peeps, just my take.

No offense on my part, Dawn. I've never been to Florida (you did go there rather than LA, right?), but doubt I'd want to live there. (LA would be an even bigger "no way" place to live.)

KH - Thanks for checking your fridge's size. *Rats*

[welwynrose]

Originally Posted by KiwiHopeful

We have what would be a medium-sized fridge by NZ standards, and it just fits in the space in the kitchen. I just measured and yours would *not* fit in our kitchen.

You can check this site and get a sense of the dimensions available here.

good to know the info on the fridge - we have an american style fridge freezer - so that looks like another thing that can be left behind

[Maggiemoo]

Wanna hear our fridge/freezer epic saga?? We sold our almost brand new Amercian style fridge freezer when we headed out to NZ as we had heard that white goods did not always work after they had been transported, plus we are retail therapy addicts so were quite happy to buy new there!! We rented a house when we first arrived in Tauranga, and we bought just a standard fridge freezer to fit in the fridge/freezer space - it was too tall when we had it delivered but fortunately Noel Leeming just took it straight back and we got a slighter smaller one. Then when we built our own house, we planned the kitchen design so that we could fit in a big American fridge freezer (selling the smaller fridge/freezer to a fellow MovetoNZ forumite!), and we ended up with the next model up from the one we had sold back in UK, albeit at around double the price that they are in UK. Now of course we are back in UK, and where is the big American fridge freezer??? In our lovely house in Tauranga!! And yet again the rental we are in doesn't have a big enough kitchen for the big fridge freezer so we have had to buy a small one again!!!

Fridges eh??! Don't buy one for years, then you buy 3 in a year!!

Maggie

[KiwiHopeful]

One other piece to the puzzle ... You can buy chest freezers or upright freezers here. I assume people put them in the garage, because I can't image where else they would fit!

[Glenda]

Originally Posted by selchie

So, when you say the refrigerator spaces are not big, how not big are you talking? Our fridge is small for an American one: 30" wide and about 67" high. Is that small enough? I hope so, because we just bought it.

I would not all together dismiss bringing your fridge. Some houses do have allocated spaces - our new house has a boxed unit space of 27" wide by 67" high for a fridge. However, other houses' kitchen designs are less formal and, like in our previous rental, have plenty of space for a larger unit.

BTW, you Americans don't realise how spoilt you have been ... in the UK most houses have fridges much smaller and tucked under the worktop!!!

[CrystalLil]

My partner and I came over with some small change, a couple of buttons and a fluffy polo mint in our pockets. We shipped 8 boxes (1 cubic metre altogether!) of mainly sentimental stuff...we didn't think the bigger stuff we had was worth shipping. (Plus my partner had a false memory of leaving loads of practical stuff behind in his mother's garage when he left NZ 10 years ago...turns out he'd actually left a whole load of sentimental stuff instead...can we see a pattern forming?) Anyway - we had a good support network already here for us when we arrived - friends to stay with rent-free for a while, for example, so that meant we didn't need to worry too much about instant outlays. When we did get our own place (rented) we furnished it pretty much from the Salvation Army charity shops, which in Auckland are fantastic - I'm sure they're great elsewhere too. We bought our fridge and washing machine second hand for $80 altogether...the washing machine lasted us about 6 months but the fridge is still going. If you have to do it cheaply, there are ways and means. trademe.co.nz is quite a good place for finding second hand stuff - though I reckon people get a bit carried away with themselves and end up paying more than they need to. The Trade and Exchange paper - which also has a website - is pretty good too. Oh, yes, and garage sales. Where would we be without buying up other people's rubbish for next to nothing???

If I could do it again, I think I probably would try to ship more of my practical stuff - kitchen ware especially. And more 4-point plug/extension leads. Houses here seem to have about 2 power points per room...but overall - no real regrets about leaving stuff behind and starting again!

Lil.