Assanah

Sorry for not being precise. I meant "OK" in comparison to what you are likely to earn in NZ.

BEVS

OK but everyone's opinions will be biased by their own way anyway.

You can get PG Tips

Just like the rest of us then.

Well no. Course not. Most folk think the same when they come to visit,holiday or recce. There again they aren't budgeting week in , week out against an NZ wage.

From people that have been living & working, earning and budgeting here for a fair old while.

No.
No. It is much more expensive.......for us anyway.

Do you mean a greengrocer? No. It's the same stuff in a smaller shop.
Go to a farm shop or grow your own if you want to ensure seasonal and fresh.
You'll get bananas & tomatoes all year round. You will simply pay more for them if you choose to & can afford to.

Up to you but all our experiences of costs will be against our actual earnings.

If you want figurative costs then maybe start a budget thread although these don't often work well as those with dosh tend to keep their financials close to their chests.It is those on budgets that are more likely to spill the beans & lentils.

TommyLuck

Thanks Bev, very helpful.

By the 'specialist store' I mean like Fruit World, if anyone has come across that shop.

As for the budget thread, good idea, which in turn has given me another idea.

Next time I do a Tesco home delivery shop, I'll fire the same shopping list into an equivalent NZ supermarket website and compare that way.


I've been doing a lot of comparing of prices outside of the general stuff. I'm a big cyclist and with a bit of luck, will be able to commute by bike . Anyway, I'm getting the impression that it might be worth me buying another bike in UK before I leave and shipping it over. A decent bike seems to be 10 to 20% more expensive in NZ.

higgy2

This could be another Topic - friends who do the Triathlon said be
very careful when out cycling as other road users are not bike
friendly.

Assanah

I think nearly everything is at least as expensive if not more expensive in NZ than in Germany. That is to be expected as nearly everything has to be imported and there is virtually no competition within NZ. We expected to pay about 10% more for products in NZ because of the freight and customs but we were wrong. We had to get new shock absorber for our Subaru and paid $400 for two, quick internet check showed prices for the same absorbers in Germany are around €80. Or the new Ipad $729 here and €429 in Germany. Now figure in that we earned more in Germany, paid substantially less for rent, internet, electricity etc. than you know...

Our rent in NZ is extremely high (that is Auckland), Internet is very expensive and capped, mobile costs are similar to the one in Germany, electricity is expensive especially in the winter because we live in a shed with no insulation and no build-in heating system. Public transport in Auckland is bad and expensive - in Berlin I paid €77 a month for public transport (not the cheapest option, you can get for €60 if you buy for a whole year), on the weekends another person can ride with you for free, NYC monthly ticket costs $104 and Auckland $250. Well, did I say that public transport in Berlin and NYC is quite good and Auckland's not?? I never owned a car in Germany or the US, but now we one two, one per person.

Also, prices fluctuate a lot in NZ which makes comparison and budgeting difficult.

Assanah

I own a bike here but don't use it. I think it is too dangerous (again I am talking about Auckland only).

bourbon-biscuit

Sure, but be prepared for it to be quite eye wincing. I rarely buy fruit and veg from the supermarket and milk is two 3l for $5.90 from the veg shop, decent butter is two for $7. Cheese is expensive but in time you'll probably just eat less of it- we used to buy quite a bit in the UK and now we just buy a small block of parmesan (middle range stuff- not import but not rubber, either), and a medium block of something average for cooking with. I don't bother with cheese sarnies, but I eat a lot of avocados at certain times of the year! Also, you get good at buying in bulk when things are cheap. All this stuff takes years to properly get the hang of, but in general expect to pay about 30% more initially.

We menu plan and shop fortnightly, stocking up on fresh stuff weekly from the veg shop. This saves us a hell of a lot compared with popping out often. Also the veg garden will come into its own soon and my dear little hens earn their keep

Mark Smith

Lets hope you don't like buffalo mozzerella cheese. $12 at the supermarket for something that used to cost about 90p. I must learn how to make it or something similar

Tom1983

Right, the version of an MOT I think is about $60 but lasts for only 6 months

For me to get my car licensed on the road, I think it was around $237, cheaper than the $390 I thought I'd pay

Water rates and council rates I don't know as I don't own a property. I think you only pay those if you own the place, I would presume that the rent we pay will add up to include the council rates.

Sky varies from $45 to $91 (if you want everything). Actually no it'll be about $120 if you want everything as there's some channels you have to pay $10 a month for. Certainly wouldn't recommend Soho, Mialto and the Rugby Channel. I don't mind paying the $91 as it still works out cheaper than what we used to pay for sky back in England, not forgetting to include the farcial tv license.

I don't even want to mention energy bills. Experience a freezing cold July and then wait to see your bill. Literally have gone on a major overhall of the electrics in the house to try and lower the bill for August. We're with Contact Energy who apparently were supposed to be the cheapest when I did a comparison, least it's not Meridian (don't start me on them *angry face*)

Be prepared to never understand why food is so expensive especially lamb. Whenever there's an offer on the wine (under $8 a bottle), a huge stock up happens. I do not recommend Pak n Save as they stopped me from purchasing 8 bottles of Oyster Bay when it was on offer, despite the wine being different types.

We currently pay around $100 a month for our phone and internet but that's mainly so that we can have free calls back home. I call my nan an awful lot since she fell seriously ill when she found out I was leaving the country. If only she had a computer and knew how to work skype

One the positive side, I'm paying $900 for my yearly golf membership which is 50% cheaper than the membership I was paying at the course I was a member of back in England.

babybella

I know, it is so expensive and was like rubber the stuff I bought at pak n save. There was only one brand so no choice at all. I think I paid $10.99. Coming from an Italian mother I used to use loads of mozzeralla in the UK. So like a true would be kiwi, myself and a british friend are going on a course to learn how to make our own.
Kaz

bourbon-biscuit

I find it really useful to overpay my bill on fortnightly direct payments and then it builds up all year so that we can be toasty in winter. I don't think twice about having the heatpump on 24/7 for June/July/August and we run a decent sized oil heater in the kids end of the house. Add to that the heated towel rails and the hundreds of dollars of wood we burn each winter and we are not cold- quite the opposite. It's good not to have to fret about the heating in winter. I pay $120 for gas and leccy every fortnight and that usually results in still having surplus at the end of winter, but so it should- that's a lot of money! I'll be cashing in on about $450 on current usage come summer.


Yes, my husband just loves his tennis club which has everything you'd expect of a decent club for less than $200 a year!

It's all swings and roundabouts.

Justcol

fruit and veg are seasonal here so prices vary though out the year, I have seen cucumber up to $6 each
and currently tomatoes are about $13 a kilo,
Nescafe is $7.50 for 100g.
Car wof (mot) is $45 and isn't anywhere as strict as the uk.
Sky TV inc movies and sport is $93.
Petrol is currently $2.12 a litre.
I'm going shopping for a few bits in a couple mins so will pm you my receipt

jmh

Blimey that's expensive - I just bought some truss tomatoes for $8.99 kg and I thought that was pricey. Illustrates how variable it is I guess.

Justcol

I live in Devonport so apparently, according to New World, I'm loaded and can afford to be ripped off

Assanah

In Australia Nescafe is $4.99 for 200g.