Littleplanet

Hi, this is my first post so i apologise for going over old ground but i have red lots of posts on a number of different sites and am totally confused as to whether or not a move to NZ would be affordable.

I have just received a job offer in the Far North with a salary of $57,000pa, i am told this would equate to to roughly £27k in the UK.

We are a family of two with a littlen on the way! As such we would be reliant on the one wage to start with. We are looking at living in Whangarei and estimate paying rent of between $250 - $300 per week. As with so many of these posts my primary question is whether this would be affordable? I realise we wouldn't have the same access to material goods as we do in the UK but we are ok with this and our fundamental concern would be ensuring the new born would be well cared for and looked after.

Any advice would be well received, also if anyone has any opinions on Whangarei that would be a massive help as well.

Many thanks in advance.

phil01

Hi,
first of all whereabouts is your job offer...Whangarei is in Northland but not the Far North that is a different area...as in it would be a heck of a commute from Whangarei - depends which area?

It is liveable...we have managed ok on about the same, roughly take home pay of around $830 a week, rent is around the $250 we pay $290 in Ruakaka, just south of whangarei...we wanted to be by the beach so pay that for a 4 bed bungalow 2 mins walk from the surf beach. Yes you can live on it but not by the Beckhams standard. We pay around $200.00 a week on shopping and bills are around $23.00 a week for electricity, no gas, no TV licence, broadband and phone for us is around $28.00 a week, we have Sky TV at around $18.50 a week, then there is running the car around $20.00 in diesel a week plus you pay for mileage on diesels but we don't do much that is around $180.00 for 5000kms.

Whangarei and Northland are beautiful areas, fabulous beaches, my daughter goes to a great school and we love the area in general...any questions feel free to ask...

Littleplanet

Phil

Thanks for the advice, that is reassuring to hear.

The job offer is with the District Council who are based in Kaikohe. I have been told its about a 40min commute from Whangarei which seems reasonable to me, given that the roads are somewhat quieter than where we are now on the edge of London and of course the scenery would be more spectacular.

I am sure we will have a load more questions for you over the next few weeks. Many thanks.

Avid

If you aren't a materialistic person then I can't see why you should have any problems with this wage. It's around the average for a NZ household.

You won't starve to death on it..but you better REALLY like beaches and sunsets, as they'll be your main source of entertainment!

P2L

You would be entitled to Working for Families Tax Credit too so long as you work 30 hours (?) a week

http://www.ird.govt.nz/wff-tax-credits/entitlement/


This might help towards the rent quite considerably.

HTH

Avid

That's the spirit! Make sure you've got your state handouts lined up before you even set foot in the country

brussels_sprout

57K NZD is not 27K GBP !!!!
It is about 20K GBP. You will have to claim the Working Families Tax Credit asap . To do this, You have to get IRD numbers for all the family, you may also be entitled to Rent benefit too.

That's the spirit, Avid, give all your taxes to the government and don't claim anything back that you are entitled to

If you can buy your house outright then you will be OK. Otherwise you will be fairly poor on only 1 salary. At least your heating bills will be very low up there in Northland

lapsed kiwi

I'm not sure I'd like to commute daily between Whangarei and Kaikohe, it's about 85km of single-carriageway road. I'd say an hour each way would be a realistic driving time, and you're going to be using $25 worth of petrol each day. Have you thought of living somewhere closer to work?

I agree that 27k UKP is a reasonable equivalence in terms of spending power, although the actual exchange would be lower.

phil01

Boll**** fairly poor on one salary!! Depends what kind of lifestyle you want but we have managed really well on one salary of that amount and there are a fair few others that choose to have one parent working and manage well!

Yes I would agree with lapsed Kiwi...Kaikohe is around an hours journey so it is a fair distance, you want to be looking at KeriKeri which is a beautiful little village closer to Kaikohe or Paihia again a lovely area.

Oh and we have never claimed any benefits but manage fine on the one income!

P2L

I was merely pointing out that if they feel they would struggle, there is help available should they CHOOSE to claim.

I don't believe anyone has the right to sit in judgement of other peoples way of living, especially if they have children.

And before you ask, No I don't claim Tax Credits although we are entitled to it! Why not? Because I haven't got round to it yet.

brussels_sprout

Have you bought your house outright, have you been in NZ a few years and pay less rent ? We pay 350 a week rent and i travel 40km to work each day, but petrol and cars and car insurance are very cheap here, food is not too bad, it is just the price of houses which has gone bananas (like in England).

Avid

Well...I guess giving vast quantities to the Japanese government for the last ten years and getting NOTHING in return has made me forget the basic concepts of socialism.

I wasn't really commenting on 'littleplanet's specific situation, just saying it's funny that this website has some people saying that immigrants into the UK shouldn't claim benefits and others advising people to get their benefits sorted out before they've even emigrated from the UK.

I'm just enjoying the irony. And I hope Littleplanet does as well because, let's be honest, $57,000 for a family of three means you have to take pleasure in the simple things in life.

happynz

You mean they didn't give you a free set of Ginzu steak knives?
Bastards...

Avid

No, but they collected my garbage 4 times/week....

The binmen should have been using a Rolls Royce considering what the average person pays in local tax.

phil01

No I rent a 4 bed bungalow 2 mins from the beach at $290 a week and don't commute to work as I bring my truck home every night so our only fuel costs are trips out and shopping...can't you move closer to work?

We live very well on the one income and at present are feeding 5 of us, me, wife, daughter, her mum and step dad (here for 9 months). But we don't have the travel to work costs and yes we are buying a house but have gone for buying a section of land and having a house built all in is costing us $350k that's for a 4 bed, 2 bath, dble garage, detached house about 5 mins walk to the beach.