flower19

Hi
We are in process of applying company sponsored to come to oz. We have been in Auckland for 4 years. We are coming to Melbourne. OH keeps hearing how expensive Melbourne is which is slightly worrying us. We have to send money back here to cover mortgage and we will be on a good wage. How have people found it who have moved from Nz to oz please? It is expensive here but I don't know any different now so if its like for like dollarfor dollar for bills food etc we should be ok.
what are other peoples experienecs ofjumping the ditch please?
thanks

Beoz

Expensive is only relative to your earnings comparable elsewhere.

Buzzy--Bee

You've asked the same question several times on here, and in PMs. New Zealanders love to tell everyone that other countries are really expensive, when the reality is that out of the UK, Australia and NZ, New Zealand would be the most expensive country I have ever lived in.

There are so many things here that are free too unlike NZ, and you don't have to pay any tax until you have earned AU$18000, whereas in NZ you are taxed from $1.

And your earnings should be around twice what they are in NZ.

These answers won't change if you ask the same question another time! Stop worrying, I don't know of anyone that has moved from NZ to Australia and become financially worse off because of it.

BB

commonwealth

there are fewer sheep in oz.

flower19

i know i know :-) its just OH was being told by an Ozzy at work who comes from Cheltenham but has been in Auckland for 10 years that Melbourne is seriously xpensive so we started to worry again :-/

its just we have a good standard of living here and on a different planet better than we had in the UK so i think we are oth just a bot worried about walking away from here!

we both said we love NZ but we think there might be a "better" life in OZ- opportunities for kids etc pensions....and of course there is the bit that if the kids are likely to move to OZ to live when they are older we might aswell go there now!!!

Sorry its just time for go for it now and the logistics etc of moving with two littlies is just sinking in!!! ahhhhh.....

PS wages are the same not going up! well they do go up if you convert back to kiwi but we will be on like for like - same dollars therefore my question are prices like for like?

Beoz

Well they say, and they'd be correct, that you need about 2.2 from pounds to $A dollar to have a comparable living, even though the exchange rate is about 1.6. No idea what the NZ equivelent is but that's really what you need to track down.

flower19

hiya
i cant remember anything about our bills in the uk etc
managed to wipe the uk completly from my mind
hence why i was asking if anyone has jumped the ditch from nz as nz is my only real frame of reference now- sorry
i know milk and bread is cheaper etc and probably nz lamb
we struggle to get by on 200 dollars nz to feed us - but most expensive is formula at 16 a tin and need at least two tins of that week!!
anyways- any input would be great- think we are going to still jump but any extra info from people would help us sleep better at night :-)

bcworld

No there aren't.

http://www.top5ofanything.com/index.php?h=d4d1ef5e

flower19

in relation to populaiton nz beats hands down as there are approx 4million people but 40million sheep!!
compared to is it 20million in oz correct me if im wrong ) to 80million sheep!

so 10 sheep for every person in nz compared to 4 sheep per person in OZ



but still bet its cheaper to buy nz lamb in oz than here!! certainly bloody is in the uk! go figure!

Buzzy--Bee

You are either being highly paid in NZ or badly paid in Oz.

BB

flower19

highly paid here - dropping two pay levels out of management = same pay as here = far lesssss stresssss = more time with littlies = is the crux of why we want to go

Buzzy--Bee

Great reason to come, the lifestyle here is fantastic and at my work anyway the work-life balance is the best I have ever had, I know three families at my kids school who have moved from Auckland this year.

BB

DeepSix

i was in NZ for 10 years.. been in OZ for about 14 months now

OZ feels cheaper than NZ, has more choice of everything
but.. i am also on a hell of a lot better wages in both of the jobs i have had since getting here

I cant give you figures.. but the wife says the shopping is cheaper for food..

it will all be fine... I might go back to NZ one day ( as i am now a citizen) but if i do.. it will be with a ton of AUD behind me.... :-)

commonwealth

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how to prepare a kiwi:

Kiwikaye

Hi, we moved from NZ (Christchurch) to Oz earlier this year. We have lived here before, so knew what was what. Melbourne can be expensive, but a lot depends on where you want to live, where you send the kids to school, etc. We are currently surviving on my wage alone (plus Centrelink's contribution) in an ok rental in a reasonably good family area. This is something we couldn't do in NZ and one of the reasons we came back, so OH could study. (The other 10,000 reasons being the earthquakes, naturally). . Feel free to ask if you want to know anything specific about areas, or whatever.