Chocoholics

We were told as a rule of thumb to think of equivalent NZ salary as a 15%-20% pay cut from UK salary in terms of spending power. I think for us that has largely proved true - we live in Auckland. We are not as well off as we were in the U.K. Having said that, we are still here after 6 years! We kept our property in the U.K. and we don't have kids and were pretty much looking for the same things as you. We thought of our trip as an adventure and neither of us regret it. As long as you can return if you want to, I'd go for it!

Justcol

I hate auckland, lived there for 2 years any couldn't wait to get away.
That said I would always say to anyone to give it a go, there are some nice places
dotted around that might suit you. I spent a year in Devonport (upmarket) and your any budget should get you a nice
modern character home that won't be either cold or damp in winter.
Devonport has a similar feel to Didsbury and isn't as pretentious as some of the other subburbs. It has a nice bohemian feel, a nice coffee culture, and two or three nice resteraunts. Like Didsbury its only a 10 minute commute (ferry ride) right to the heart of the CBD. the ferries run all day and make nights out in the city a real breeze and no expensive taxi rides home again afterwards ( its 11 bucks return). There are some great little beaches within easy walking distance, narrow neck beach is particularly nice and never to busy.
I would say pay no notice to the racism nonsense, its just an attitude, people in general are not quite as PC as in the UK but its fine.
Crime is next to none and blown out of proportion by those who want to either complain for complaining sake or are not suited to life in nz and are leaving. I have not found a street I would be afraid to walk down at anytime of night either alone or with my wife and you certainly wont find any "dodgy" areas or streets in Devonport.
That's just my opinion, I liked Devonport and I like Didsbury, my son lives on the Boulevard and i was Manchester born n bred so I'm familiar with both.
My advice, give it a go, its only for a couple of years so if you decide its not for you long term at least you'll have had a taste of it and maybe some adventure along the way

bourbon-biscuit

Devonport is a family suburb and can be very quiet at night. I'm not sure it is a good recommendation for a couple wanting a lifestyle that includes an active nightlife, but I could be wrong! Last ferry weekday is 11:15; last weekend ferry is 1am.

Parnell

Parnell? Ponsonby? Newmarket?

moving2NZ2013

Good idea to come now. Whilst you don't have kids and don't need to a make any serious commitment. I think you'll be fine on that wage although I will say don't convert it to £s since the lifestyle you could have materlaistic wise in uk with £80k is far better an you'd have here. I don't think many people move here because if financially reasons because most of us aren't better off finically. We're not. We are better off in time as a family and that's priceless

Justcol

they can get a taxi if they want to get home later than that.
It was just a suggestion, personally I always found Parnell and poncenby overly pretentious

nero

Just a quick response to Dorricks post - I agree with 95% of the post. The only thing I would disagree with is renting in the Viaduct, we did this for a short period of time and were kept awake to 4am in the morning by the bars - great if you are not working and like late nights. But rubbish if you need your sleep and are working. Just a thought

Justcol

Does wanting a vibrant nightlife mean living in amongst all the rubbish and noise.
I know the area where the op is from very well and it's a fairly quite, nice suburb within easy reach of everything Manchester and Cheshire has to offer.
Seems to me they are looking something similar down here, something the viaduct definitely is not

bourbon-biscuit

Yes, true, but it's >$45 to do that and I think my point was more that it's not a very vibrant suburb. I would happily live there but then I have two kids and like a quiet life gardening, reading, and so on.

blueuk808

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the really valuable advice you guys have provided. I didn't want to jump in as I was really interested in the differing views. But it really has provided food for thought.

We have been running through this constantly over the last couple of days and we are still no closer to a decision! It really is a 50:50 call.

Thing is that ultimately we would need a house as ideally we would like to bring a couple of pets over once we are settled. So that sort of rules the apartment variable out. Re-cutting the budget I have $800 a week for rent which looking around seems to get you something reasonable in Parnell, Ponsonby or Devonport. To be honest I had sort of gravitated towards Devonport anyway.

All up and trying to make a budget relatively bullet proof (as we won't have access to or the ability to repay any credit per se) we probably end up with $600 a month to fund any sort of travel plans. And that doesn't really seem like a great deal. Even say 2 trips in the year - 1 internal 1 abroad plus flight home at Christmas - $7200 a year probably isn't going to get you a great deal! Plus while I have allowed a budget for a car ($625/month) that is probably very very low and probably doesn't cover insurance.

The job would provide a relocation package and I could have an emergency fund which might help with initial set up costs, bonds, visa costs etc. So feel relatively comfortable about the set up, and the first couple of months we were planning on staying in the city so that might cut down travel costs possibly but I'm sure that will be gobbled up by something else.

Ultimately, it's the property prices that are causing me the problem I think. It's do-able, but just, and if something goes wrong then it's not going to end well!!!!

But thank you again for the hugely valuable insights and any more comments are more than welcome.

Thanks again.

davros1984

What you've said above really indicates that you've been doing your research on this. The fact that you've taken the time to do this, makes be believe that whatever you do, you'll be successful. I would disagree with your statement on crowded suburbs. You'll probably find that some Auckland suburbs are busier than some of those in Manchester!

No doubt you've have come across some of the very long threads on this forum which have discussed the cost of living and house prices in Auckland - quite a contentious issue.

It is a tough situation, I would argue that you will be really shocked by the cost of things in Auckland, especially as you are not living-in/from London. Manchester (in my view), is probably a much better city to compare Auckland to, although you'll most likely find that if its bars/restaurants and that sort of social life you're after, you'll find a lot more of that back in Manchester or anywhere else in the UK. NZ has a very different culture when it comes to that sort of thing, its almost non-existent in Auckland. There are pockets of it sure, but seriously, its very different.

The NZ culture is much more about the outdoors, about BBQ's, walking on the beach, going fishing, generally doing "free stuff", after a good while it can actually become quite restrictive. I think the best way I can put it right now is people don't plan their weekends around "going out" in the way that Brits tend to call it - and joyfully so! Much more to life than a big night out etc. I have to admit that I have struggled with the drink culture here at times, that it seems a large number of people are out drinking and eating all the time, its a totally different world to NZ where you have to watch your dollars a lot more closely.

Life is short, have an adventure. If you can take a sabbatical or whatever, why not go to NZ for 3-6 months and enjoy yourselves.

To give you an idea of my experience coming back TO the UK!... today, its January 18th, its a gorgeous day here in sunny south wales, been out for a 2-hour walk on the waterfront, went to Swansea yest to watch Swansea V Chelsea in the football, and this morning I put in an offer on a solid brick-built 4-bed detached house (that I viewed yest morning). No auctions, no stress, very simple (and affordable). The complete opposite to how I found housing and doing things in Auckland in general.

The poster who commented about having a car - absolutely true. You'll need a car in Auckland if you want to get anywhere

In terms of money, my partner and I between us were earning the sort of money you've mentioned and I have to tell you, at no point did we feel well off or able to buy a house in Auckland (granted, part of that is because we didnt have 150-250K NZD in our bank account for a deposit). Back in the UK, between us we're about $30-40K worse off a year, however as above we have the spending power to do a lot more here than we did in NZ.

Good luck!

I

garethwm

Hi. Lets face it, thats a very good salary. Youll be able to afford a good lifestyle in a good suburb on that in Auckland, in my opinion, especially without children to support as well. Perhaps look into Parnell, Remuera or Mission Bay for inner city suburbs close to bars, restaurants etc. I know a single person renting in Parnell and her salary is just around the 80k mark. Dont get despondent about things you read on the internet. Compared to other cities of the world, crime in Auckland is relatively mild, I suggest. Is there someone you know living here you can talk to, and trust their opinion, that might help either ease your mind or confirm the bad things you have read?

moving2NZ2013

there is always a risk but if you wait for the perfect conditions you'll never get anything done.

blueuk808

Appreciate there's no perfect conditions, so a lottery win will suffice.

Anyone got 6 winning numbers I can borrow. And not last weeks! Again!

Once again thank you for all for the helpful advice. I think we have come to a conclusion which is we want to go but we probably need a little more money to deal with the rent issue and that it appears we don't get a benefits package. So rent, pension and healthcare are really eating into what is on the face of it, a very good salary.

Once I've had the interview I'll update but once again - thank you.

Parnell

Not sure what line of work you are in or area in which your work would be based. But I have found most jobs over $80k come with company car. So you might be adding unnecessary costs into your equation.

Also note there are opportunities to live in neighbouring suburbs 20% cheaper but enjoy all the benefits.