akm

Hi,

I am looking for a bit on info if anybody could help me.

I have been offered a job in Christchurch, working as a welder. I have been told the hourly rate is $24 and there is a minimum of 40 hours per week available.

I am curious to know what standard of living i could expect to have with this wage for me and my wife. Would we be struggling to make ends meet or would it be comfortable?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

AKM

MrsFychan

is that rate after tax? remember you pay on every cent you earn here.
what visa type would you come over on?
there is a minimal income you need to achieve but can't find it quickly on the Immigration site but think its around the $50,000 mark but someone will be along to correct/give the actual amount soon I am sure.
as for living I'm not sure if that would cover living costs, medical costs etc but as I'm not in Christchurch I could be wrong. again someone is bound to be along soon and give you a on the ground info for costs there.

Caz8NZ

ditto re Mrs Fychan on the visa thing - if you have a visa then.....
before tax that would be $49,920 per year - if you worked 52 weeks in the year.

If it was just you - that's fine - quite a typical wage, even if you take into account a few weeks off a year. Not amazing but ok.

For two of you to live off it will be tight.

barnsleymat

It's about $50k a year so possibly $820 a week take home pay (thats with no kiwisaver) so things would be pretty tough going. You'd just be able to clear the basics on that and nothing else.

It'd be a pretty basic existence, the cost of living is a real problem.

waikatoguy

Thats about the average NZ salary, so there are plenty of couples in NZ that live off that. What is your current UK salary?

akm

hi thanks for the replys.

we would be coming out on a working holiday visa to start with and then after 6months trial, the company is willing to sponsor me for us to stay.

i am currently on £27 an hour just now in the UK but that is working nightshifts.

waikatoguy

ok. You're going to be worse off on 50k $NZ in NZ than you currently are now in the UK on 27 k pounds. A working holiday sounds like a good idea though, and there might be an opportunity for overtime here too??

Edit : Sorry, after reading Barnsleymat's post below I realise I misread. 27 pounds an hour not 27k pounds per year? You're going to be way worse off here in NZ then on $24 an hour. Way worse off. That's more than double what your equivalent NZ salary will be.

barnsleymat

You'd need to be on $70 an hour to have a similar lifestyle over here.

Jan n Neil

Stay in the UK brother 24 bux an hour is not a lot compared to what you are on, and it is more expensive here on the whole


Neil

Justcol

You will NEVER get anywhere near the equivalent of £27 an hour in nz.
I've never heard of anyone getting much more than $25 as a welder.
You'll really struggle to support 2 people on $50k.

chippy64

Rent for 2 bedroom plus will be from around $300 plus per week. There are cheaper places but they will generally be in less desirable places or poor condition. Look on Countdown website and do a weekly shop for an idea of food prices. On top of that will be transport costs, electricity, phone and you will have what's left. There are several posts on here with guides on utilities costing.

akm

hi all,

thanks for all the advice, really got some serious thinking to do in the near future then.

mikesurf

Depends on the lifestyle you are after. If you are just looking for an outdoor lifestyle, hiking, surfing etc then you would be okay but if you are used to a good social life forget it, you will struggle to afford one good night out per week on that salary.

scottishstacey

Hi there,

Thats definitely a very big drop in wages compared to what you are on. Would that be for nightshift in NZ or or normal shift? Saying that, what would you earn in the UK if you werent doing nightshift (if you dont mind me asking)

The wages definitely arent as good for a lot of jobs. My OH had a job offer on a similar sort of rate - i actually cant remember if it was 24 or 26ph. They said it would go up after a certain time but wether that would of happened we dont know.. We didnt accept the offer but it was mainly due to other reasons rather than money.

I think the most you'd get a hour is $30, i dont know what happens with overtime in nz, how much extra its paid.

Dont dismiss the idea completely though - would your wife be working?

A 2nd income would help a lot. Theres loads of cost of living threads on here that should help

best of luck

Justcol

Even the most generous places in nZ will only pay time and a quarter for nights
that would give $30 ph giving a top line of $62k