lardyl

Can't agree - it's more to do with how your Kiwi $$$ earned doing work have far less purchasing power than they did even 12 months ago. If the NZ$ is so strong then why don't we get great deals on imported goods? Because the retailers can't go with volumes as the lower paid here are really really struggling to make ends meet. So there are fewer customers for high end consumer durables and so the margins have to be higher. So profits are taken there. However, in spite of this strong NZ$ the GST hike has hit everyone when it comes to groceries.
Heard an economist today suggest that the move from income tax to sales tax has been good for the economy as it has allowed higher earners to invest more in "productive savings", shares, banks. Mmmm......try telling that to those who are in poverty. Bet they feel good that income has been redistributed upwards. Maybe they'll feel some trickle-down, like they are in the US (not).

Genesis

Totally agree, generally the high cost of living has nothing to do with the weak pound (unless you have JUST arrived and are shocked by the 2 for 1, less in fact, when most hope for 2.5 for one!!) we spend only kiwi $s earned here and life in NZ has never been more expensive in the nigh on 7 years we have been here.

DC10

Ok: so NZD is strong because country is stuffed, GBP is weak because they're really going places...

sheene

NZD is not strong, it is over valued.

Genesis

Its both. The NZD is one of the top 10 currencies traded on earth. We have relatively high interest rates at 2.5% we currently are one of the better performing countries globally and the kiwi IS also over valued by probably 20%ish %? The pound by contrast is shite because the UK is so stuffed at the moment and there is little to attract money into the Uk at a 0.5% OCR. I also wonder if the pound is probably a wee bit undervalued, not much but little bit maybe.

SparkyGaz

Yes it's amazing how many hospital visits and doctors visits are a result of an ...ahem ..'accident'

All in all I would agree, try it for 2 years, you might like it

We love it....others don't, it's a personal thing, but town and cities vary greatly.
If at first you dont settle, try some other town.
Tauranga is the place for me, laid back, friendly, with just enough going on.
There are many comparisons, if you like London and the city life, you will go stir crazy outside of Auckland I think.

South Island is much, much quieter than the north (as my friends there assure me).
If you want to settle here, I think you will make it work and find what you are looking for, but you have to be prepared to adapt....every day is an adventure.

waikatoguy

I take it you all watched Close Up on One this evening.
4 people took an identical shopping list of essentials like bread, milk etc into supermarkets in Auckland, Sydney, London and New York, and they hunted for the cheapest of each item.
London narrowly came out the cheapest, then Auckland, then Sydney, then New York.
Then they had an economist on and he said that the wage vs cost of living equation came out best in Australia, of the 4 countries, England and NZ were roughly the same and the bottom was the US.

There we have it. It's what I've been saying all along. The Cost of Living in NZ is not vastly different to any other comparable country.

waikatoguy

If you asked an international investor why he is investing in NZ dollars, he will tell you that it is because NZ is seen as a safe haven, economically. That's what they say. Whether they are right is another story. But the sum of these investors are pretty clued up people.

waikatoguy

I think I'm coming across as very defensive about NZ ... never mind. I can't help sticking my oar (ore/awe) in. Blame my upbringing.

welshrgeordie

Hi waikato guy ,
You should post that info on the thread titled nz so expensive....... although IMO it still won't shut the constant moaners up

sheene

Yes, you are absolutely right, and all the people who are leaving NZ are wrong.

bourbon-biscuit

Ah, nothing like polarizing the debate to increase the interest

chocolate cake

The Close Up shopping list was poor. It would have helped if they were comparing like with like, but they didn't. Instead they got Countdown's own brand or Cornflakes in NZ, and in London were shopping at Sainsburys (which from experience is the more expensive the UK's big 4) and got Kellogs Cornflakes.

It was no surprise that UK would be cheaper than NZ, I'd expect the like for like to be much cheaper. However in UK food is VAT free, where as in NZ it's at 15% GST.
I happen to think food ought to be GST free in NZ, but Labour's policy of 0% GST on fresh fruit & veg is just half way house.

Re: NZ$'s strength, and it is comparatively ought to lead to cheaper prices of imported goods but there's ot a great of evidence of it.

sheene

A debate requires opposing views, otherwise it is not a debate. Sleep on.

lardyl

Now that this has descended into the usual

ex-pat Kiwis or ex-OE Kiwis
and
those who feel they have to justify being here/coming here/returning here
and
spouses of Kiwis
- v -
some British ex-Pats who live in NZ and are struggling along

then it's time to walk away or order pizza and watch the thread.