mandvcgs

Hi all

So we've been looking through all the forums and we wanted to seek some more specific advice on our situation and get some advice from people who have done it and see if what we are thinking makes sense.

We are husband and wife 33,32 with two kids 4yo and 5months + a dog. We live in a nice house (rented) in the south east countryside. I run a Buisness and my wife works pt. We have become disalutioned with the work life balance. We work work work just to survive (peaks and troughs lifestyle) and struggle to spend time as a family. We feel our kids future is tainted by the lack of family time and due to heavy population of the uk for them to flourish you need to go above and beyond and I can't afford to provide that for them. The housing market is hilarious and the sacrifices to buy property let alone afford a place you would want to live in seems very backward.

We wouldn't be moving to NZ for financial gain that isn't our motivation. The move is based around lifestyle for our family. We want to increase the work life balance in a beautiful country where our kids can flourish in great schools whilst still working in the jobs we love.

We would be moving over on a skilled migrant basis and I have spoken to employers in NZ that would be keen to see me and the positions would be around $100k + car ball park. $74k after tax? For the first year that would be the income with my wife seeking work once our youngest is older. We would bring over around £20k to absorb the move. Auckland is looking like where we would be heading due to work but I am slightly concern about rental cost etc and just don't know if that salary will cut it. We don't want gold toilet seats or a Ferrari but don't want to move from a nice area to a hovel. Like I said it's all about the family lifestyle but wherever you go money will facilitate this to a point. My sister is currently in Auckland but her visa expires in march and there is a chance of other family moving out there separately to us. This isn't a whimsical thought it is the front runner on two options we have to change our lifestyle.

We have loads of other questions to try and narrow down locations but thought it best to see if we won't be flat broke first.

Any thoughts or advice would be great

Thanks in advance.

Genesis

Hi, prices in Auckland are awful too. I would recommend a move to NZ if only for your kids welfare and the fact that the UK, generally is over popultated. NZ is not. However you find Auckland very clogged up!

Inspite of all the many negative aspects of life in NZ I love the quality of my life. But I live in a small provincial town and avoid the bullies!!

Alas I have to share the roads with kiwis who are abosolutely terrible in the driving department (there are even media exposes about this!!). The best I can do there is to drive defensively and keep my distance from every other driver. They really are shite, unfriendly aggressive drivers. It is a piece of piss to be friendly, respectful and safe on the roads. Kiwis make it seem like splitting the atom with a chain saw!!!

mandvcgs

Ha! Yeh I've heard that. Luckily I drive a white van so engaging asshole mode is second nature!

I think for us initially we like the fact of being near people in a more built up environment. Whilst we find our feet not feeling isolated is important for my wife but perminantly it's not us, we like to socialise but also like to turf people out and just relax in space so further down the line we'll be looking to be on the fringes.

It's all about the kids really but we need to atleast be able to buy wine.

inkedneonurse

Best comment ever

Munchkjn

Have a look and see what properties are available in the areas you are considering in Auckland for around $600 per week. You won't want to be spending much more than that on $100k p/a.

MrsFychan

We didn't come out for "better lifestyle" cos that's a myth. You could obtain that by moving within UK. As for more family time, yes wanted that but unfortunately see husband less here than in UK in same job sector. He lost 7 days holiday on the move, normal holiday allowance is just 20 days here. My daughter was bullied so badly at her first primary school she started self harming. Bullying is the same as every other country unfortunately though there are not that many schools around. We had to sell at a loss to move schools.
NZ isn't all milk and honey you do the same crap you do day to day just in possibly a prettier setting dependant on where you end up. Costs are high and you are taxed on every cent. If 20k is after you have moved and just start up costs then that could last a few months but if it includes cost of visas and move then you won't have much change.

A Rush And A Push

Hi, we are a family of 4 in Auckland on pretty much exactly that salary. If you like I could break down our monthly costs so you could see how far that salary goes. I would have to do it in a few days time though as we are just off on a short holiday 🌞

Your biggest issue will probably be housing as it is pricey in Auckland (both renting and buying)

(the short answer is, you could do it reasonanly comfortably on that salary though budgeting for overseas holidays or trips to the UK could be harder)

We are very happy in
Auckland - but were lucky enough to buy a place 10 years ago before house prices went crazy. It's a different story for anyone wanting to settle here now.

Pom_Chch

It's not a myth though really. I know things haven't gone the way you wished Mrs F, but to say it's a myth to achieve a better lifestyle isn't entirely accurate. On the flip side to your experiences plenty of people come out here and make a good go of it and settle with a much better lifestyle than what they left behind in the UK. What we do here in NZ doesn't even compare to what we had in the UK and a move within the UK wouldn't achieve that either.

Just my two cents!

Genesis

Totally agree with you. A move in the UK would have achieved very little for us in the long run. Still 65 million people using an infrastructure desined for way less people. I refer mainly to the roads. I and my kids would not have the quality of life we have here back in the UK. From what I hear the NHS is at breaking point.

The quality of lifestyle has rocketed here in NZ for me if ONLY for its less populous nature of NZ. There are many other things about NZ that make it a great place to live. On the flip side there are shit loads of bad things about NZ. Trick is to either live where it does not happen, avoid going where it does and negate the things you have no power over, like the shite driving. It is everywhere and can't be avoided.

Genesis

Very sorry to hear about your daughter's bullying and the issues it caused her. Must have been awful. My son was bullied, we changed school too. I was bullied in the Uk as an adult and it had a terrible effect on me.

Like shite driving, suicide, bullying and all the other dysfunctional things that prevail in this country no one in power seems to want to do much about it. She'll be right seems to be the ethos for everything that is anti-social/plain wrong about Aotearoa.

desmondo84

Another family of 4 in Auckland here too lol. 100k plus a car is enough to keep you ticking over but you won't be 'flush'. Can you get Southern Cross medical cover thrown in too? Unfortunately the exchange rates isn't great for you but 20k is nice amount if you need it.

I guess longer term you need to think about if you want to buy a house and where that would be. Property in Auckland is obviously nuts. In a nutshell:

bad stuff
- rents are very expensive. check what you will get for your money...
- traffic is horrific on the motorway. do you need to commute or can you take a ferry or train....
- standard of rentals poor.

good stuff
- Auckland has HEAPS to do. So many parks, beaches, suburbs, cafes etc etc. If you like the outdoors then you'll never be bored I reckon.
- within 2-3 hours drive, heaps of more awesome places to explore.
- Obviously you have the sports stadiums, Arty stuff and the usual city stuff if you need a break from the outdoor
- climate pretty mild. Can get wet but generally doesn't last too long.

I think the key is to live in the right place. Somewhere with a sense of community, somewhere were you don't need to commute too far to work etc. If you send up in some soulless suberb with a 90 minute commute then it ain't gonna be a lot of fun...

You're doing the right things -really look into the cost of living.

mandvcgs

That's reassuring, that's the number we had come up with.

mandvcgs

Thank you, the breakdown would be super helpful. The cost of renting is a big one but I think was thinking of using the cash brought over to soften it and after the first year we would have got a better grasp of where we would like to live. I had a plan to have a separate "emergency fund" to cover flight costs back to the uk in the first year. By year two my wife would hopefully be working increasing our income and for holidays and the likes.
Enjoy your break!

mandvcgs

Hi, thank you for all that. its looking like we are on the right chain of thought. As suspected I won't be flush but that's fine at first. You're spot on on the housing and I'll be back to pick your brains on locations later on.

mandvcgs

Hey sorry to hear about that. I was bullied at school, I took up martial arts and no-one ever went near me again. We could move in the uk and I am in an industry (private estate management for Hnw-uhnw) that would facilitate quite a change in lifestyle if I went back into employment but we fancie a real change not just a re-jig. Not too concerned on the holiday thing atm I am self employed and we haven't had a holiday since our honeymoon 7 years ago. The 20k will be free cash not used for visas etc. It's good to get both sides of the coin so that we can see the general spread. I hope life levels out for you and your family.