Gill and Rob

Q1 Yes we would have.
Q2 We did extensive research before we came here and felt very prepared to make the move. The one thing you can not take into account, is how you will miss your family and friends.
Cheers
Gill

sky

Thats not fair, if you know a way you should share
I suppose if I had never uprooted my family to the other side of the planet I would be financially very comfortable now too.
Do you shop differently?
Get better deals on things you buy?
Do you bulk buy as a big family group?
What? what?
Come on spill the beans

ElizabethC

This house we have been in for 4 years - not flash and have a mortgage of about 80.000. Not a great thought when you are 50 - but .

I have never really lived in a cold house - apart from a rental when I was young. Checked the thermometer - house at 23c at present.

I do not think that wages are good here - have to take in the difference in populaion I would guess.
Cheers

sky

Kids all grown up? nearly grown up? no kids?
Think kids are money pits God love em. We lived in a rental then a four year old house and now a 20yr old house and this one is the warmest to be honest

Panda_Pops

Hi,

I'd like to think I'm more of a optimistic realist than a head-in-the-clouds, rosetinted, idealist.

I know it's going to be tough, I know it's going to be different, I know that it might not be for us, but the opportunity is there and it just seems a shame to waste it.

I seems to me that most of the gripes people have stem from a lack of money which leads to a loss of quality of life. I wonder how the people who are happy with the move cope? Are they all lottery winners or something?

I still stand by what I said, I guess it's just how you measure success.

I know it's not really English to be an eternal optimist, but to make the move with scepticism just seems crazy to me....

bookemjano

Ditto me to all the above optimism comments - can't wait to get there, try it, evaluate it, decide whether to make a new life there. And if it provides lemons I'll just use them to sharpen my vodka.

pixi-dust

my feelings too.
Here's to a big adventure!

SteveNZ

1: Yes
2: If i'd have known the answers to all of my questions before coming here - then the whole sense of adventure would have gone.

Those who do not take risks go nowhere. Life is a journey - one of discovery. How many discoveries can you make if you never expand your horizons.

I've seen nobody so far in my limited time on these boards who has been unhappy with NZ - who has not also had financial problems. Whilst I do feel for these people - it is certainy not the fault of the country that they have problems. It should not even be the country's problem to be honest!

If anyone is looking for what government benefits you can get in NZ - then I suggest that emigrating is a bad plan. Moving country is VERY expensive. With a considerable 'break' in the natural progression of any career - it is harder and takes longer to get establised. Prepare for this. Do not go overboard on initial purchases - and certainly do not underestimate how long it might take to get a job (unless you already have one lined up!)

Get one thing totally straight from the start. The much exhaulted "Quality of Life" in New Zealand has NOTHING - and I REPEAT - NOTHING - to do with money. you WILL NOT have more money to spend. you WILL NOT find everything here cheap, and YES, doctors etc cost money. Factor it into your plan - then GET OVER IT!

This is a DIFFERENT country to the UK. The culture and lifestyle are different. What;s important to families is different. - yes the roads in auckland are crowded - but it's still only as hard for me to get to work in the CBD as it used to be to drive into PRESTON in Lanacashire.

Just remember - even at 1.5 million people - that STILL puts auckland at a higher population than a great many cities in england and they ALL have traffic problems too....

Steve

Panda_Pops

Hooray for optimism!!

Your life doesn't end until you're dead.....
(and even then it might not be, depending on your beliefs)

PP
x

bookemjano

Yep - and I'll be reincarnated as a moderator with the power to delete negative and pessimistic threads.

Pinkie Pie

PMSL....

hubbard

No financial problems whatsoever (joint income of $200K and no kids) just think other countries have more to offer than NZ and as skilled migrants we have options - USA (via family connections), Canada +and OZ (through skilled immigration).

Sorry Steve but NZ categorically does not float or boat in the slightest. Our preference is the UK over NZ, but will try another Western nation before we make any decisions to go back to UK.

Pinkie Pie

Can we have your jobs when you go then please!!! We'll even retrain if necessary...

hubbard

Sure - senior Business Analyst (perm) and Network Architect / technical specialist ($75 per hour)

Pinkie Pie

Perhaps not then... Think I'll just shuffle off and try and figure out how to set the timer on me breadmaker ...