Pinkchick

Can anyone help me? I'm trying to work out a comparison between cost of living here and nz. I wonder if anyone would be able to give me a rough idea as to cost of monthly household bills (we are a family of 4-2 young kids and would be looking to move to a 3 bed house outside of the city) such as electricity, water, taxes (do you pay a council tax type payment??).

Also when looking for jobs none of them seem to advertise a salary, is this normal?! How do you find out? I'm finding it hard to work out the financial feasibility of a move without knowing what our income will be!
Many thanks

BEVS

Yes. It is normal for salaries/ wages not to be advertised.

Can you write which occupation you would be looking at please. May be able to find a ball park figure from that.

As you rightly suggest, there is no point in trying to figure out what the NZ sums might look like, unless comparing the NZ income to possible NZ costs.

Not many of us can realistically compare to a UK CoL as we do not earn UK pound notes. Only those recently moved could perhaps do that and even then much would depend on their own personal income v expenditure at the given time.

Rates and water rates are levied here in NZ. Also much depends on which area of NZ one settles. Just like the UK some areas are more expensive than others.

Pinkchick

Thanks. I'm a psychotherapist so I may actually end up having to work privately which in the uk can vary in income massively. Husband is a printer but looking long term for a career change so that is hopefully just a starting point.

desmondo84

Which city and how far out? Outer suburbs of Auckland you're probably looking 500-550 a week NZD and that might be tight. We're a family of 4 in auckland and I'd say you'd need 110 - 120K gross/year between you and loads of cash to take with you to get set up.

Pinkchick

I guess it depends on jobs but not looking around Auckland. We have looked at Hamilton/Cambridge though again not central and also bay of
Plenty.

BEVS

You may find you will need to work in practice for a while to help gain knowledge of the NZ working practices, the background of the country and cultural sensitivities.

Careers NZ state that publically funded salary expectation is between $54K and $79K pa .

Taking a midway figure of $67K pa , your PAYE type tax would be around $13K ,leaving a new income of $54K.

You have probably already found the NZ Assn of Psychotherapists which shows the path to becoming registered and so NZ recognised.

Pinkchick

Yeah I've contacted the nz association and it's next on my list to get recognised to be eligible to work in nz. 54k is pretty low IMO is that a reasonable salary to live on in nz taking into account that husband will be working too? Anyone know about childcare costs? I have a 5 year old who is at school but assume we may need some before and after school childcare and also a 1 year old we will need nursery or a childminder for.

Pinkchick

Also yes would ideally work in an organisation first for reasons you said and also working privately is isolating and not helpful in terms of settling in and meeting people; there are just few jobs available unfortunately

BEVS

Others should be along soon to give their input on this . It really does depend where in NZ you settle & also, of course, if you will be mortgage free .

FWIW we are a couple that manage on $60K gross per annum. We are mortgage free but have no kids to factor into the equation.

If I were you and I am not, I would blanket contact all of the NZ DHB's + the private sector and see who can & would fund an overseas psychotherapist. From there you could gain a job offer somewhere and then you would know which area you would initially settle in. Nothing to stop you and your family moving on in time & sometimes the place least expected turns out to be the best. That was so in our case.

escapedtonz

Link for your profession.

https://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs/com...ychotherapist/

You'll be very lucky if you can find a similar job that pays more than what you earn in the UK. It was a shock when I researched my UK profession in NZ as the drop was around 40%. To make the reduction in pay less of an issue I aspired for a job that was similar, but a step up, much higher profile with a lot more responsibilities. That at least meant I could earn the maximum possible which was still around 30% less than I earned in the UK at the time. Luckily for me I was invited to attend a business meeting in NZ at my employers the week before I started and learned we'd all been given a 10% payrise so that lowered the discrepancy even further!!!

All subjective as depends where you live but the costs won't be vastly different.

If you are renting:-
Rent - for 3 bed outside of the city - $450 to $600 per week.
We've rented 4 houses so far. First one was a 3 bed fully furnished in Woburn, Lower Hutt, Wellington with all other bills included (gas, electricity, water, wifi, sky tv etc) $725 a week. We then went to a massive modern new build unfurnished in Churton Park, Wellington at $895 a week + all the other bills, which dropped to $830 a week after 12 months. Stupid of us but it was last minute and there was just nothing on the market that suited us other than that one. Last place in Wellington was a 3 bed older house unfurnished in Tawa, Wellington at $550 a week + all other bills. We're now in a modern 3 bed unfurnished in Bethlehem, Tauranga (by far the nicest suburb in Tauranga) and we're paying $450 a week + all other bills.
You must make sure that you consider schools for kids whilst thinking about a place to live as the majority of them are zoned meaning you must live in the school zone in order to guarantee a place for the children. Out of zone places are difficult to secure.
Water - If the property isn't metered then you will not pay for water/wastewater as it is included in the rates for the property which is paid by the landlord/owner and cannot be passed on to the tenant unless they can prove how much you are using.
We are metered in Tauranga and we pay around $60 per quarter.
Electricity - around $250 a month in winter down to around $115 a month in summer.
Gas - No gas connection here. We are all electric. We had dual fuel in Wellington and the dual energy bill was $400 a month winter and $200 a month summer.
Sky TV - Minimum package is around $50 per month.
Internet - Broadband wifi around $75 a month for 80GB which usually includes a landline.
Some companies off a package deal. We are with Vodafone where we get 80GB broadband wifi, fixed landline and Sky TV for $180 per month plus the cost of any calls.
Mobile phones - Pay as you go for a decent package of calls, texts and data is around $20 per month but all depends how much you use it. If you are a heavy user you'll be topping up throughout the month which costs more.
We're on pay monthly. We pay $39 a month each and get 400 minutes, unlimited texts and 1.5GB of data per month.
Be aware when considering call minutes and texts, the included ones are only for NZ and Australia, not for calling or texting the UK and not for MMS messages which are charged. Also have to pay for Voicemail.
Insurance - Contents only around $30 a month, but subject to the value of your contents and the addition of specific cover valuable items.

Owning your own home:-
In place of the rent will be mortgage payments - current interest rates are between 4.49 - 4.99 fixed for 1, 2 or 3 years. There's also longer term fixed for up to 10 years at 5.99%
Experts are predicting mortgage interest rates will start with a 3 before the end of the year as the New Zealand central financial institution cuts the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to prevent recession.
At an interest rate of 4.69% and with a mortgage of around $530 000 over 30 years you'll be paying around $600 per week.
On top of this you'll need to add buildings insurance which doubles the cost of your home insurance.
Rates - around $3000 per year but subject to the local council and rateable value/council value (RV/CV) of the property you own.

Cars - Road tax is cheap as chips. $130 per year for a petrol car and doesn't matter on the size of engine as it doesn't go off cc's or emissions. Diesels are more expensive around $280 per year. Motorbikes are even more....$560 per year for a bike over 600cc.
Car insurance is around half the price of UK car insurance but not compulsory although advisable.
Fuel - $2 per litre for 91 unleaded. $2.10 per litre for 95/98 unleaded. $1 per litre for diesel.
If you have a diesel car/van/ute etc you must also pay Road User Charges (RUC's). It's just like paying for road tax. Costs $625 for 10 000 KM's. This is because diesel fuel isn't taxed at the pump like petrol.
Buying a car is more expensive.
An annual Warrant Of Fitness (WOF), similar to UK MOT is around $35 a year for cars up to I think 6 years old then they must be every 6 months.
Can't say the servicing costs are any different than the UK. Tyres seem to be the same.

Doctors - You have to pay every time you see a doctor. If you are on a temporary visa under 2 years in duration it'll be the full costs. You must be registered with a GP as not many of them allow walk ins off the street. First consulation will be a new patient appointment where you are seen by the doctor and the nurse and may cost you $100 - $125. From then maybe $60-$70 per visit which will include a script if needed. If you have a temporary visa over 2 years in duration or a Resident status visa then you can have part funded visits (subsidized by ACC) at around $45 per visit.
It's around $20 for a part funded repeat prescription.
Medicines and other items on a script are $5 each at the pharmacy.
Kids are free till they are mid teens but may be dependent on visa status ?
Hospital emergency treatment and admission is covered but may be dependent on visa status ?
Hospital outpatient is not covered and payable by the individual.
Some people opt to pay for annual medical insurance from around $1300 per year which means they can claim back around 80% of their medical costs. The more you pay and the more benefits you have on the insurance the more you can claim for so it's a balancing act.

Dentist - Ridiculous prices.
$80 for a basic check up maybe. Wife was quoted $450 for 2 x fillings recently and that was after paying $250 for a check up, x-rays and a hygienist clean!!!
She's just bought one of these GrabOne vouchers for $180 for a check up, x-rays and 1 x filling included. Since she's pregnant she can't have the x-rays so she's hoping the dentist will take pity on her and do the other filling instead!!!

That'll tide you over for a while.

Do an online shop using Countdown to compare groceries.

Snap Shot

Have sent you a PM.

desmondo84

what an amazing post!

escapedtonz

It's cos AWESOME is my middle name

Damson

Fab post Escapetonz - very helpful. One thing that is driving me mad is not being able to see the prices of houses for sale. On the real estate websites they mainly seem to be "auction", negotiable or price to be agreed. How the heck do you budget for that, or is there another way of finding out even a ballpark figure?

desmondo84

If you search on Trademe and list based on cost then they are in descending order of the ballpark. So you might see the top one listed at 900k, then 3 for auction, then one at 850k, so the auction ones are between 850 and 900 if that makes sense. Gives you a very loose idea. If you email local estate agents they will send you a list of their recent sales. This is probably a better way - look for stuff in the same street with similar land and house size.