sr71

Have a read of some of the horror stories coming out of there now.

Trenchfoot

This is probably the most importaint statement in this thread if you are reading it from the UK or elsewhere.

We checked out, as far as was possible, the cost of living before making the move. We made two classic mistakes when doing this... 1) we thought in pounds so everything (at an ROE of 2.7 $/£) looked super cheap 2) we didn't factor the small stuff, you know the things on your bank statement that you don't remember doing or buying when it drops through the postbox.

We calculated how long we could live on our savings before generating some income became a priority. The reality is that it is a lot quicker than we estimated when sitting down back in the UK.

I don't think anyone come's here to make their fortune (which puts me in mind of another thread). But equally you wouldn't want to be here (or anywhere else for that matter) if you are going to totally potless.

sparkie down under

interesting thread this. I certainly agree with most being said here, especially making the mistake about thinking in pounds and earning dollars.

I think, at the moment, things are very hard. Since coming to NZ I find my money, (wages), buys less and less and I see it getting worse.

I didn't think for a moment that I'd make as much money in NZ as I was in Wales, (and boy was I right). I came here for a "better" life. Sadly the "better" life costs more than I thought and that miscalculation is biting deep.

To stand still we, (better half and me) have to work as hard as we did back home and we earn less for it. However, on the other hand we have more land than we ever could have afforded back home. Likewise a bigger house.

hindsight - lovely thing that

whitesand

THe problem is that the houses are too expensive, particularly in the cities, in relation to the salaries. The cost of living would be more manageable if the houses were much, much cheaper. Hope this will happen soon.

ukkiwi

Yep - crunch is biting there too.

CarolineSwan

ok im going to be different.. We are not struggeling what so ever here, yes we are on probably a third of what we were in the uk but our out goings are def cheaper here. we do a weekly shop we dont think what we put in trolly we just put what we want in there. if we need anything we buy it .. we always have some of garys wages left at the end of the week maybe 200 or so, but i think compared to some hubby has a good wage. also i have taken on a part time job i only get 13.50 an hour but it pays for lucys nursery so she gets new friends and it gets me out meeting people so it serves 2 purposes and i love it , i will get a raise once im all trained up so will be better, but we use this wage just to save , it just goes into my account and builds up , this will get our holiday to fiji or dream world etc

genisis i have thought about the cleaning job myself , i had a cleaner when i had lucy as i was stressing at not being able to keep up with my OCD lol and she made a bomb , my boss has a cleaner so the market is def out there and hey id get to be mrs mop my fave past time haha , once lucy gets her 20 hours in nursery it could be an option

Ps we won 435 bux in lottery at weekend what a bonus we had 5 numbers but so did rest of nz lol typical ..our missing 6th number was on line underneath we were sooooooo close lol

GILDOC

Thanks so much for all your replies, very helpful. We haven't quite made the final decision to emigrate and are still considering Oz too. Though we will def be waiting until the economy picks up before we do anything, thanks again

pricklykina

I would say that it is much much better to earn $20 per hour than be on UB. Unless one likes to be a bludger. $20 is not an horrendous wage here.We survive without having mega bucks and live in Auckland. I am 15 mins from work and hubby cycles. We don't feel hard up

Charismatic

The "credit crunch" hasn't had a huge effet on me but wages here are very low. New Zealand has many positive points but that really isn't one of them.

Bellasmum

It's far easier to get a good paying job when you are already working Browner.

I fill vacancies where I work. If I had two applicants of equal potential for a good vacancy and one was on the UB and one was working for $20 an hour I know who I would select.

pixi-dust

Do you think the crunch is more noticeable in the big cities?
I was just wondering, as we've seen and felt no change where we are.
Shops are still busy, nothing has closed down etc.
Are small towns more isolated from, it?

mickey_d

I do at the moment, working evening shifts in an apple packhouse. It'll put about 7k in our savings account by the time the season ends.

jmh

Some jobs in NZ are filled by word of mouth, so if you are not in there you won't hear of them. Even getting a low paid job may put you in front of someone who, if they see good skills and a great attitude, may be in a position to offer something better down the line. Doesn't mean you stop looking for something else in the meantime.

mickey_d

Absolutely, I work on design in Materials Handling for my old employer in the UK (when they need me). While working at the apple place have met some blokes installing materials handling equipment there, so I now have a couple of contacts over here. One of them has even worked with equipment exported here from my UK employer!!! (small world)

harrogate girl

Dubai is also going the same way as the rest of the world my husband was offered a job at XMAS his ex Boss offered im 250,000,per year plus bonus plus fully paid apartment and six first class flights per year He DID NOT take up the offer!!!I was gutted.. but have to say it would have been short lived as lots of the jobs have stoped or not even started IN Dubai one of the guys left from his place of work only to be back in Christchurch now with No JOB!!! I have had people arrive from the Uk with little money but have gone on and done quite well, worked hard but have so much more fun as a family, so if its a heigh wage you are looking for dont take the first offer of money.
Lin