Advice plz..

Old Apr 12th 2010, 8:35 am
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Default Advice plz..

Hi everyone,

I really need advice.
As i'm sitting here i'm struggling to make a life changing decision.
Im a South African, and still living here atm, looking to move to New Zealand.
Me and my husband both have good jobs currently, own our own house, and things arent looking to bad.
BUT, as you all probably know and heard by now, that South Africa isnt the safest place to live in anymore. Politics is getting out of hand, and we're not sure for how long its going to looks rose coloured here.
This last week we found an agency in NZ dealing with getting south africans jobs in NZ.They charge you for making your CV more "effective and good looking". A family member lives in NZ, and checked the agency out for us, and they are totally legit. We had to make hundred percent sure after being scammed by agents when we thought about going to Canada. * A dream we gave up on*
What I want to now is , is there ANYONE that is already living in NZ that can give me any advice or indication on how live in NZ is. Asking family just wont do, because they want you to come over
I want to make very sure before making this decision , there will be no turning back for us once we took a step in that direction.
As from what I heard NZ's crime is very low, and that they are very honest people. But what I also want to know is are we going to make a Good living. Will we be able to generate the same standard of living there then what we WERE used to here.
My husband is in I.T ( Linux Systems Administrator / Engineer) doesn't have a degree in it, but have 8 years experience, and studied 4 years in different Microsoft courses like A++ etc.
I don't really have a skill. I studied social work for 1 year, and then started working in admin / secretarial field etc.due to unforeseen circumstances.
Any advice that you can give me would be much appreciated. The uncertainty of making this decision is driving me nuts now

Thanks again
Esmaree
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 8:49 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by esmaree
Hi everyone,

I really need advice.
As i'm sitting here i'm struggling to make a life changing decision.
Im a South African, and still living here atm, looking to move to New Zealand.
Me and my husband both have good jobs currently, own our own house, and things arent looking to bad.
BUT, as you all probably know and heard by now, that South Africa isnt the safest place to live in anymore. Politics is getting out of hand, and we're not sure for how long its going to looks rose coloured here.
This last week we found an agency in NZ dealing with getting south africans jobs in NZ.They charge you for making your CV more "effective and good looking". A family member lives in NZ, and checked the agency out for us, and they are totally legit. We had to make hundred percent sure after being scammed by agents when we thought about going to Canada. * A dream we gave up on*
What I want to now is , is there ANYONE that is already living in NZ that can give me any advice or indication on how live in NZ is. Asking family just wont do, because they want you to come over
I want to make very sure before making this decision , there will be no turning back for us once we took a step in that direction.
As from what I heard NZ's crime is very low, and that they are very honest people. But what I also want to know is are we going to make a Good living. Will we be able to generate the same standard of living there then what we WERE used to here.
My husband is in I.T ( Linux Systems Administrator / Engineer) doesn't have a degree in it, but have 8 years experience, and studied 4 years in different Microsoft courses like A++ etc.
I don't really have a skill. I studied social work for 1 year, and then started working in admin / secretarial field etc.due to unforeseen circumstances.
Any advice that you can give me would be much appreciated. The uncertainty of making this decision is driving me nuts now

Thanks again
Esmaree
It is such a huge decision which is why it is so hard & also why it must be your decision for what is best for your family. Have a look around on this site & use the search button to try and search out different topics. You will glean so much info on here & gather some great viewpoints of what is great & what is not so great about NZ. Lots of different people on here so lots of differing opinions.

Good luck with your search and making your decision.

Dewb
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 8:55 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Hi,

Only been here a few months so far but so far evrything is good My neighbour is south African and from what i can gather there are loads more over here

One thing i must say is you don't come to New Zealand to be rich, so try to bring has much capital with you, food and clothing is very expensive over IMO.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 9:51 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by Him and Me
Hi,

Only been here a few months so far but so far evrything is good My neighbour is south African and from what i can gather there are loads more over here

One thing i must say is you don't come to New Zealand to be rich, so try to bring has much capital with you, food and clothing is very expensive over IMO.
Been here 5 years, we love it and we are staying. Inspite of a number of problems and some large losses financially NZ has met all our expectations. However its not doing so well as a country (mind you where is right now, other than Australia?). Seriously we do have some very very ugly stats. in NZ. But without wishing to sound like I am dissing your country I can't imagine it could be worse than where you are now.

Many many people love NZ and carve a great life for themselves. We have. But many also hate the place. They cite it as isolated, small minded, backward, expensive with crap shops, crap choice and crap housing. All the latter are fairly true, question is can you adapt to live in amongst the mediocrity? Then there are the roads...man are they bad, probably what would make me leave if I could. Bu the rest of the family love it here..I do too just hate the driving standards here and the 3rd world roads.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 10:09 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Thanks so much for your replies.
@ Genesis : I dont think that any place could be worse than this shit hole South Africa. But still I love this place.. maybe not the place, more my family, friends and everything that we got used to here.
I think our roads may look bit worse than in NZ, but the housing in NZ definitely sucks ! lol ( saying without any disrespect, where used to houses build with bricks here lol)
Anyway, what is the salary there on which you can have a relaxed lifestyle, now and then some touring, eating out, having a nice car, maybe nice house, and still save up?
I see there's quite a few posts on crime there.. not to be rude, but is it really crime ( like we in south africa know crime) or is it the occasional crime that you will get in any country.
Where is the best place to live in NZ.. I thought about Auckland maybe.
Really appreciate your input.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 10:42 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by esmaree
Thanks so much for your replies.
@ Genesis : I dont think that any place could be worse than this shit hole South Africa. But still I love this place.. maybe not the place, more my family, friends and everything that we got used to here.
I think our roads may look bit worse than in NZ, but the housing in NZ definitely sucks ! lol ( saying without any disrespect, where used to houses build with bricks here lol)
Anyway, what is the salary there on which you can have a relaxed lifestyle, now and then some touring, eating out, having a nice car, maybe nice house, and still save up?
I see there's quite a few posts on crime there.. not to be rude, but is it really crime ( like we in south africa know crime) or is it the occasional crime that you will get in any country.
Where is the best place to live in NZ.. I thought about Auckland maybe.
Really appreciate your input.
As has been said already you really need to consider everything, NZ is a great country and there are different types of lifestyle you can have here depending on where you live, it is not perfect though and youth crime and gang crime seems to be on the increase, there are drug problems and you still have the issue of Pakeha (european) and Maori cultural differences.

NZ and Aussie have not suffered as much as some in the credit crunch and things seem to be getting on an even keel again, but it can be an expensive place to live depending on your lifestyle, and you are living in the middle of a big wide ocean and it is a long way from anywhere, even Aussie is a 3.5 hour flight away to Sydney/Melbourne.

Auckland is the big smoke, both Wellington (the capital) and Christchurch are smaller and offer different lifestyles and pace of life than Auckland, again it all depends on how you want to live.

Good luck, but please make sure you research NZ well and appreciate what this country can offer you before making such a lifechanging leap.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 10:50 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by esmaree
Anyway, what is the salary there on which you can have a relaxed lifestyle, now and then some touring, eating out, having a nice car, maybe nice house, and still save up?
sounds like you are dreaming, mate.

At the moment, I am alone, however I've never felt its enough even just for myself. ok. I've got less than $1000 after tax each week.

nice car? but it was VERY Expensive (if you want a decent European car). My car is French.

house? what house? I don't have a house yet, I've been living in a crap rental apt. about $460 per week.

Touring? fancy touring? (past 4 years ) only been to New York for my brother's wedding (for 1 month) two years ago, spent $20000 then almost bankrupt when I returned to NZ. and visit my parents (Auckland) just once a year, that's about it.

Eating out? I buy my lunch from Monday ~ Friday and its about $50 per week. Eating out for dinner, maybe just once a week - mostly $12.5 if I am alone.

and grocery shopping each week - $100 each week.

and clothes, shoes, cosmetics, etc - over $100 each week.

Phone & power bills average $200 per month.

I've got a big saving account to pay my tution fees in UK, and I've got no much spare cash left..

+

and car insurance, petrol....

I am so poor...

I can't imagine my crap salary sharing with my kids or hubby. NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo! To have family, I'd need $200000 to support my family. Otherwise big no no. My friend - household income $80000 with two kids & mortgage, and almost bankrupt each week.

Last edited by crap coffee; Apr 12th 2010 at 11:22 am.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 11:19 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by crap coffee
sounds like you are dreaming, mate.

At the moment, I am alone, however I've never felt its enough even just for myself. ok. I've got less than $1000 after tax each week.

nice car? but it was very expensive (if you want a decent European car). My car is French.

house? what house? I don't have a house yet, I've been living in a crap rental apt. about $460 per week.

Touring? fancy touring? (past 4 years ) only been to New York for my brother's wedding (for 1 month) two years ago, spent $15000 then almost bankrupt when I returned to NZ. and visit my parents (Auckland) just once a year, that's about it.

Eating out? I buy my lunch from Monday ~ Friday and its about $50 per week. Eating out for dinner, maybe just once a week - mostly $12.5 if I am alone.

and grocery shopping each week - $100 each week.

and clothes, shoes, cosmetics, etc - over $100 each week.

Phone & power bills average $200 per month.

I've got a big saving account to pay my tution fees in UK, and I've got no much spare cash left..

+

and car insurance, petrol....

I am so poor...

I can't imagine my crap salary sharing with my kids or hubby. NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo! To have family, I'd need $200k to support my family. Otherwise big no no. My friend - household income $80000 with two kids & mortgage, and almost bankrupt each week.
Perhaps more affordable if you cut down on the coffee a bit of course

But yes it can be an expensive place to live if you want to live the lifestyle you may be used to.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 11:25 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by irnbru14
Perhaps more affordable if you cut down on the coffee a bit of course

.
I only spend $3.50/100g each week for my ground coffee beans at Caffe L'affare. Its much cheaper going to the coffee roaster. I don't drink coffee elsewhere or cafe other than my home. I am not coffeeholic. Just one coffee a day. I am sure you spend more money on coffee than I do.

beer? I don't drink beer very often. maybe a few pints a month (maximum).

Last edited by crap coffee; Apr 12th 2010 at 11:34 am.
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 12:36 pm
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by crap coffee
been to New York for my brother's wedding (for 1 month) two years ago, spent $20000 then almost bankrupt when I returned to NZ
Umm should have asked him to pay for his own wedding? scary amount for a 1 month hol for one in NY whether it is $15k or $20k....
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 1:01 pm
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by simonsi
Umm should have asked him to pay for his own wedding? scary amount for a 1 month hol for one in NY whether it is $15k or $20k....
I pay 38% tax!!!

My parents paid heaps for his wedding but not me....

staying in NY for a month is not a joke... $NZ -> $US !!! cr@p.

and his salary isn't great .. (he's not a senior yet) what to expect? working for the poor country govt?

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Old Apr 12th 2010, 1:51 pm
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by crap coffee
I pay 38% tax!!!
OK, you lost me, and we can have this discussion by PM if you want to but I am WAY puzzled by that and I am worried that I may have my NZ tax calcs way wrong so in the forum interest:

Based on your statement of NZ$1000 or just under takehome per week I make that a gross of NZ$69,000 pa giving takehome after tax of NZ$52007 (ie $1000 per week. The NZ tax rates applied give an overall rate of 25% on that salary and a highest rate of 34.7%.

If the above is wrong I´d appreciate knowing where I´ve used the wrong figures but I can´t get to a tax rate of 38% and the gross salary doesn´t make the highest rate of 39.7%....
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Old Apr 12th 2010, 8:26 pm
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by simonsi
OK, you lost me, and we can have this discussion by PM if you want to but I am WAY puzzled by that and I am worried that I may have my NZ tax calcs way wrong so in the forum interest:

Based on your statement of NZ$1000 or just under takehome per week I make that a gross of NZ$69,000 pa giving takehome after tax of NZ$52007 (ie $1000 per week. The NZ tax rates applied give an overall rate of 25% on that salary and a highest rate of 34.7%.

If the above is wrong I´d appreciate knowing where I´ve used the wrong figures but I can´t get to a tax rate of 38% and the gross salary doesn´t make the highest rate of 39.7%....
Re earnings. Kate and I earn around 80k(ish) with no mortgage. Beleive me it all goes and then some. We do have 3 kids and run 2 cars. Mine is a pile of old crap Kate has a nice car. However everything is paid for and we service no debt. Point is even at $71k plus my meagre income from interest abroad with no debt it does not go that far. We do not take vacations regularly and we do not drink fine wine!! I know some will say you should think your self lucky..and we do. One of the reasons for coming to NZ was to improve the quality of our lives. In the Uk we earned around 47k GBP and had a small mortgage but we did not have much quality of life. We had to work 60 hours betwixt us in the UK and here Kate just does 40-45hrs a week. In the Uk it was always always crowded. Here it is not. Here we live in peace, in the UK we did not. So for all its many warts and problems NZ is our personal nirvana. Which is nice. Auckland or Wellington? Wellington every time. Can't do BIG crowds. Just can't.
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Old Apr 14th 2010, 8:34 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by simonsi
OK, you lost me, and we can have this discussion by PM if you want to but I am WAY puzzled by that and I am worried that I may have my NZ tax calcs way wrong so in the forum interest:

Based on your statement of NZ$1000 or just under takehome per week I make that a gross of NZ$69,000 pa giving takehome after tax of NZ$52007 (ie $1000 per week. The NZ tax rates applied give an overall rate of 25% on that salary and a highest rate of 34.7%.

If the above is wrong I´d appreciate knowing where I´ve used the wrong figures but I can´t get to a tax rate of 38% and the gross salary doesn´t make the highest rate of 39.7%....

http://www.whatstax.govt.nz/need-to-know/paying-tax/

The tax rate is just not fair. Don't get me started. :curse:

least, I am a little bit happier here, cos I don't have to pay tax for the royal family's luxury living...
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Old Apr 14th 2010, 11:29 am
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Default Re: Advice plz..

Originally Posted by crap coffee
The tax rate is just not fair. Don't get me started. :curse:
Thanks for the link, at least ours was introduced to fight Napoleon - even if it was never withdrawn - what is NZ's excuse???
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