luvwelly

Absolutely get your point. You have made the right decision for your situation i.m.h.o. The only lifestyle aspect as professionals you would find cheaper here compared to UK if applicable, is private school fees.
In general cost of living, petrol is a bit cheaper - that's about it.

The quality of the housing stock is a bit scary here as well when it comes to sinking your life savings in, plus earthquake risk etc.

Only lifestyle benefit if you don't cut the commute by coming to NZ (many do) is warmer sunnier weather in general on North Island.

Remoteness of the rest of the world should not be underestimated when it comes to visiting relatives in UK or holidaying in general. Even Australia is at least 3 hours on a plane.

Stormer999

Even Australia is at least 3 hours on a plane.

Luvwelly don't miss the point and massive advantage of that distance....

Join the queue in any European airport/ferry terminal and see the big disadvantage of close proximity to population masses and the problems associated..........

Bo-Jangles

You underestimate the advantages of having the choice , no one is forcing you to go to the ferry terminals or airport.

Say that again when you've lived here for five years. Like the whole of Europe is one seething mass of problematic population anyway, for heavens sake.

Stormer999

No you miss the point......my reference is living with terrorism and all of the implications that go with it.

NJ16

You are correct (luvwelly) in what you have said.

Schools fees are 50 % (in some cases) less than we pay in the UK and in truth the NZ schools look to have far better facilities.

Other than that our investigations led us to conclude that the cost of living was higher than in the UK ,but standard of living (e.g.standard of housing/infrastructure) was appreciably lower - certainly in Auckland.

I suspect that Auckland was probably a special case and that as house prices are less in other parts of NZ that the cost/standard of living was closer to if not better than UK- but that is something,sadly, that we will probably never be able to confirm!

babybella

Car clamping is def a lot more. I got clamped in Welligton at capitol gateway cause they reckoned I wasn't shopping there (I waasn't) but was only there for one hour in a 3 hour slot. $250 it cost me to be released, had I been thinking quicker I should haave bought something cheap quickly and argued the toss.
We are better off with my husbands wage as he pays less tax here. But worse off as I am not working, been too busy sorting out the house and walking the dog on the beach. But quess I should start looking.
Things I have found more expensive. I think as new comers we always think everything seems expensive as the denomation is higher.
But toilettries (face wash for teenagers) are higher
batteries I bought 2 aa one's at pack n saave for $8
Coffee is more
Cheese usually about $12 (but can be bought on special for $9)
Clothing: not such a choice aas no Asda/Tesco. However the packers packed my winter boots back in June so I quickly bought some at next before we left. I found almost the idential boots here but clarks (a better brand) for exactly the same price.
My son just bought 2 pairs of Jeans at just jeans for $100 for the two and t-shirts 2 for $30.
On the whole we are slightly better off here and my hubby does not have 1-2 or sometimes more commute to work each day.
And I get to walk the dog on the beach every day.
Kaz

hoover23

HI, iv,e read this thread and just woundered why food was more expensive in NZ? Im comming over in a few months (I hope)

waikatoguy

(If it is more expensive, and you have to assume it is based on what people have said here, these could be some reasons)
Economies of scale (ie lower customer base with the same fixed costs)
GST (Goods and Services tax on everything in NZ)
Transportation costs to a more spread out population
Less competition

hoover23

Thats the sort of thing i thought but i thought id ask in case there was another reson

waikatoguy

Another reason, I think, is that the NZ dollar is overvalued, because investors are taking their money out of Europe and the US and plonking it into Oz and NZ where it is seen as a safe haven (rightly or wrongly), economically. This drives the cost of NZ goods upwards in comparison to other countries when you convert the prices based on exchange rates.

Bo-Jangles

It was still relatively expensive (especially food, clothing and electrical items) prior to all the volatilty with currencies. The high dollar should make the cost of imports cheaper but apart from the saturated flat screen TV market, we may as well say 'yeah right', whatever for all the difference it has made. Retail industry seems to take a far higher cut of the pie here.

Talking of pies, there's a 'fancy' new range of pies in the supermarket, who'd have believed some puff pastry and four bits of meat and some onions in gravy could cost $16.99

barnsleymat

Because the supermarkets are running a racket.

When you do come over never go in a Belgium Beer Cafe, the prices will make you cry. They market Stella as some sort of amazingly trendy high class european lager and sell it in small glasses for an astronomical fee.

For the price of one glass I could have bought 3 pints of the stuff in my local back home. Totally barmy, but the locals seem to fall for it like the poncy over priced coffee.

hoover23

16.99 for a pie? Even with onions. Now im worried. (Hope it was a big pie)

jmh

I know a couple of people who work in retail and they were telling me about price fixing by suppliers. One says she went out of business because she couldn't compete with the shops who are importing directly from China, and the suppliers wouldn't allow her to drop her prices to meet market demand. I think there is something wrong in the supply chain. I'd be interested to hear what others think.

To be fair, we would all sell at the highest price we can get, so I'm not anti free enterprise. Maybe when more people start buying on the internet and bypassing inflated prices, the market will change and become more competitive. After all, Fonterra say we should pay global prices, why not become global shoppers. I realise we can't do that with food, but we can with other goods. Given the predominance of goods manufactured overseas in the shops we need not feel we are being unpatriotic buying from overseas retailers.

One thing I wouldn't be doing is getting into the retail sector here. Food, though, maybe.

Having said all of that, the small market means there is not so much money sloshing about. I sell goods globally on the internet and don't even consider promoting in NZ. I focus on the US because, although they are in deep doo doo as far as the economy is concerned, there are a lot more rich people there than here.

waikatoguy

I've never seen a pie for $16.99, I have to admit. The run of the mill mince ones are around $3.