Assanah

Yep,read his post...surprised? Just wanted to point out that money is important and there might be a problem with an attitude about money not being important, expecting to earn less but then wanting to study wanting to do this and that. I am not able and not willing to predict whether or not TommyLuck will be able to afford a decent standard of living here. I sure hope he will. But I am generally not a fan of these 'money doesn't matter' attitudes. True you can't take money with you but neither will you be able to take your family, friends, country, garden, pets etc. with you. What is left then?

TommyLuck

Assanah - You've not heard about the significant increase in tuition fees at English universities starting this September, I presume?

I came out with a £15k student debt, plus overdrafts to clear, I graduated in 2004. An average student with the same 'full loan' that I took out, ten years later in 2014 is estimated to graduate with £30k to £40k debt, which is frankly shocking.

It has a minor benefit of stopping all the mickey mouse qualifications, but that is quite a hit before you've even started your career.

Cornishkiwi

When I say I earn more I'm not comparing apples with apples. I have a better job here! Moving from rural Cornwall to Auckland the opportunities are better ( as you would imagine!).

TommyLuck

I'm feeling somewhat patronised.

Apologies if you find this post equally as patronising.

Let me put it this way ... I'm by no means rich. I'm not a homeowner and don't even own a car.

But I have manged to get to a stage in my life whereby I paid my own way through university, cleared my student debts, have paid for a wedding, managed to have a couple of holidays a year and still get to a stage where (and I've done the maths on this) ... I have enough saved that I could move to NZ, flights, shipping costs and all and live in NZ for 12 months without a job.

Not that I would do that. It'd drive me nuts. Hello, boredom.

Perhaps, bearing this in mind, along with emigrating I could use this as an opportunity to do a vocational qualification in order to change my career to do something more rewarding.

Im sorry if some of that come across as crass and as if I'm patting myself on the back, I did say I felt patronised. To suggest I don't realise the 'importance' of money is laughable.


My point, which I thought I made clear, was that I'm not moving to New Zealand to make money. I've done that living in London and I'm more than willing to earn less, quite a bit less in order to (among other things) improve my family life, which currently consists of seeing my daughter for about 2 hours a day Monday to Friday. Whilst paying £800 a month for her Childcare.

I realise the value of money, I just don't care if my nextdoor neighbour owns a Ferrari and is holidaying in Bora Bora ... If that comes to me then great, I'll enjoy it.

If it doesn't I'll make my own enjoyment with what I've got.

Money, by definfition, is important. Making money and worrying whether I'm going to get paid in NZ what I get paid in UK is a misnomer for me.

TommyLuck

Not heard this saying for ages, now I've head it twice in a day!!

waikatoguy

Are you guys sure that by moving to NZ WILL (necessarily) put you on a lower wage? Surely it can't be like that for everyone otherwise there's something weird in the maths. If you look it up, the average salary of someone in the UK is very similar to the average salary of someone in NZ. So if someone in making less than they did in UK, then surely someone else must be making more (law of averages)? Or am I completely batty?

Snap Shot

What a truly intelligent comment. The oft quoted refrain you can't take it with you was heard by me at an early age. I didn't quite get it as you can't take, as you say, a lot of other things with you either. However, your synopsis is quite correct.

bourbon-biscuit

Oh well, I pay approx $5k per year here for undergrad- the same course in the UK would now cost me GBP9k- approx $18k.

TommyLuck

I've grown up in a family that never had much to spare, I'm sure others on this board did too.

But I had a top, top childhood.

Therefore, money, to me, isn't a priority. Of course one makes sure you've got enough to get along with and to do things one might like to do. But we can't have everything. But I make no apologies for thinking about what I might want to do when I get to NZ, some of it may not come to fruition, and that's fine.

It's funny when I go to mates houses and they're stocked full of the latest gadgets, a high spec TV, a bed that could sleep 4 people, a top of the range Apple Mac, and then they spend the first half an hour in the pub bemoaning thier debts ...

What ever happened to working towards and saving up for the things we want?

davros1984

FYI... I am on a better wage here than I was in the UK. I work in IT. It's not as much of a commodity here compared to the UK, hence the wages on average are higher (in my opinion). They're even higher in Oz....

bourbon-biscuit

I was going to say earlier on that lower wages haven't been the situation for us- in fact lower wages in the UK put us off returning- but then I knew I'd get replies pointing out that my husband had undergone further training in NZ to get that better wage. Which is true, but those training opportunities and career fast tracks weren't available in the UK; in some ways, in some work areas, NZ remains a bit of a land of opportunity for some people, albeit it one with frustrations and sacrifices.

TommyLuck

I knew I should have paid more attention when learning about computers and stuff.

Though I work in publishing (what with online publishing and now eBooks) my IT knowledge is basic. My best mate (and best man) is a proper geek, I never caught the IT bug like he did.

It makes sense though, if businesses in New Zealand need to do any sort of work with people overseas, good reliable IT is a must, one would think.

simonsi

His post screams "financially aware" to me, not "money doesn't matter"....IMHO (did you miss the part about having $60k unearned income over the next 3yrs?? Many NZ students would kill for that, many students worldwide come to that).

simonsi

Sorry but speaking from within, the Global IT industry makes its money because, on the whole, IT is neither good (or not good enough), nor reliable.

TommyLuck

Ah, a bit like my Rugby coach, an oncologist by day. What happens to his job when he, or someone cures cancer ... ?

Imagine being the oncoloigst who make all other oncologist jobless.

Of course, I jest.