livewire

But I know many people whose salaries are the same or better than they were in the UK. There is plenty of wealth in this country, you'll see it if you travel around Auckland for the day, there's a helluva lot of poverty too.

What really frustrates me is that many employers have a deliberate policy of depressing the wages offered to immigrants (a reflection of the risk they are taking perhaps?) and they will over-sell the lifestyle to hide this when recruiting from abroad.

Once you've got yer feet under the table you're in a strong position (say after 6-12 months) to be asking for a payrise. The economy here is much more based on bargaining and haggling, if you don't ask you may not get.

If you are in an area where there's a strong labour market there may be another employer out there who will be prepared to pay you more for proven NZ experience/track record. If not, there's always the West Island - where a lot of Kiwis seem to end up anyway.

thebears

Thought it worth mentioning that I managed to live an okay lifestyle while a student and in my early career life. Paid my fees during the early stages of user pays where the cost per paper rose from $30 to $300 in the first 6 months of my tertiary education.

I ran a reasonable 4 door japanese car which was comfortable and cheap to own - insurance, petrol etc. We used to fix our cars by visiting the wreckers with a spanner, screwdriver and borrowed anything else from the wrecker.

Admittedly travelling and having a baby has made me appreciate higher quality clothing. NZ and Australia still put up with cheap and low quality clothing.

We went away every weekend - be it skiing, away on my yacht ($2000) or at a friends batch in Taupo. I had 3 part time jobs to pay for it - My parents could afford to fund me but part of the process of leaving home is to fend for yourself. What sort of work you ask? Cleaning toilets 3am to 7am working behind a bar from 7pm to 1am, working part time in a office 4pm to 10pm. Not all 3 every day of the week but enough to get by and enjoy life.

Our deepfreeze used to be full of either Snapper, Eels or what ever else we caught. We used to grow our own silverbeet, carrots.

Part of my tertiary education was in Otara and if you can remember back this has been notorious for Tongan V Samoan fights. No I didnt feel threatened, probably as much as someone from Crawley feels in Crawley.

My flat was comfortable and in a good area (Bucklands Beach). It was a 3 bed and even now would be suitable for my family.

I used too cook for my girlfriends or take a bottle of wine and pizza to the beach to see the sunset go down (or sun rise).

We used to have plenty to keep us occupied with out spending anymoney.

Kiwi

Lenny the Lion

Well done

livewire

That reminds me of my student days. We had a fantastic time - used to walk miles into college and back without even thinking about it. I lived in a terrible victorian terraced house whith 7 other people that would've made the "Young Ones' " pad look palatial. I worked in a restaurant at night, slept on the floor and would party until the early hours on the weekends. We pooled together half pennies (what's a half penny mummy?) to buy a pint of milk at the corner shop in Lipson and argued over whose turn it was to cough up 50p when the meter ran out. The college's outdoor activities club provided a mini bus up to Dartmoor and we used this to go rock climbing at Dewerstone, tramp the moors or go horse riding. 3 years of rocking fun.

Would I do it again now - not on your nellie! Been there, done that and gave the T shirt to Oxfam. Student days are brilliant but they're not real life, just character forming

Lenny the Lion

And you try telling the kids that today....and they would never believe you!

Apple12

You need to move south! We spent Easter in Central Otago and we had no traffic issues at all.
In case anyone is interested, drive the Dansey's Pass road between Oamaru and Naseby. It is simply stunning, especially with the autumn colurs. Head to Naseby in winter for some good old-fashioned outdoors curling (complete with a wee dram), or any time of the year for excellent mountain biking/walking. Good pubs for dinner. The wine tastings are superb, really recommend the pinot noir at Mt Difficulty in Bannockburn... a fantastic holiday all round.
Anyway... back to the OP...

AustinWong

Hi I am Lawrence, and I live on the Coromandel in Thames, Originally from Malaysia (many moons ago). Its dem Auckland beggars that jam up the roads.

hahah

So glad I don't live there.

Yes cost of living in New Zealand has gone up. Mainly because of housing costs. I don't beleive the average New Zelander can comfortably afford a house anymore.

Rent is not particularly cheap either.

It does come down to your standard of living and what you do for a job.

I see lots of people earning less than me, have less than me but I think they may be happier. Like wise I see those with more that are less happy.

I am planning my escape to the UK for 2 years.

Check out house prices on www.realenz.co.nz

If you are as a couple earning $60k plus you will have a modest comfortable life in NZ if you are living adn renting out of the main cities.

kiwichild

1 in 5 people WORLDWIDE experience a mental health issue or a mental illness. This is not a NZ ONLY thing

Young drink drivers are also a WORLDWIDE phenomenon resulting in death and injury or varying degrees.

If the clothing is 'shabby' it's probably because it's made in China and therefore cheap and of poor quality. This also happens in OZ and elsewhere.

If you're going to criticise a place try to stick to your personal experiences of it and not make generalisations that have no base in terms of specificity to a particular location.

kiwichild

[QUOTE=livewire
If you are in an area where there's a strong labour market there may be another employer out there who will be prepared to pay you more for proven NZ experience/track record. If not, there's always the West Island - where a lot of Kiwis seem to end up anyway.[/QUOTE]

If the Industrial Relations law reforms here stay in place there will be no point in moving from NZ to OZ for low to middle income earners who would work in a workplace employing 100 or less.

The battle is now on in the High Court of Australia (not at all like the HIgh Court of NZ. The HC of A deals in interpretation of constiutional law only.)

We await the outcome with baited breath.

AustinWong

Haha,,,sounds like another Manukau Polytech candidate

livewire

livewire

Is this the new law that enable employers to sack employees without reason? It's truely shocking and an erosion of the rights of many in the workforce. Aren't people working in the aviation industry also worried about compulsory drug testing? Quite why an employer needs to know if a check-in clerk is on heart medication is beyond me.

ezvanetree

I lived in NZ for ten long long years and left in 2001. I liked it for the first three years, but that was because I was a student and was used to doing it rough. Then I started working and found, even back in the 1990's, that housing, for what you got, was ridiculously priced. Our interest rate was 9.5%--things are a bit lower now but NZ still has the highest rates in the OECD. Not to mention a very weak dollar. And the comment about buying in the Warehouse is true--I got tired of buying such cheap stuff all the time. I just felt that I never had anything 'nice', whether it was furniture, clothing, appliances.

Forget the 'kiwi lifestyle'; I never could figure out what that meant, since I didn't see people doing things differently than what I had seen in other countries (I grew up in Canada). For me, it seemed the lifestyle consisted on NZers congratulating themselves on living in NZ, and talking about 'kiwi ingenuity', which referred to nothing unique as far as I could see.

I visited NZ last October and was shocked at what scrappy lives people seemed to live--more so than I noticed when I lived there. Most of my in-laws, all educated, reasonably high earning people, have never been out of NZ. They were interested in nothing but their gardens, house prices and their system of heating their homes (something I used to laugh about when I lived there--everyone talks non-stop about their 'wood burner' 'night store heater' etc. Enough already--just heat your home and shut up about it!!)

Two older women told me that if they were younger and could start over, they would have left NZ long ago. They saw nothing positive about their country, with sky high housing prices (in Dunedin, where I was), poor job prospects for their grandchildren and long long waiting lists for health care. I felt sorry for them, because NZ promised a lot in the 70's and 80's and is now really the poor cousin of the western world. I wouldn't live there again on a bet and stayed much too long but hey, if some people on this forum are finding life great in NZ, more power to you--you are doing way better than I did. I ran screaming for the airport.

Batty

I wouldn't dispute any of what you say, for you. That's your truth and your experience but truth is subjective and dependant on our own unique viewpoint. I didn't stay in my own country when I was younger - it was too small for me and I imagine that if I was a Kiwi I'd have been away too. But. Some poeple like talking about their gardens and their homes and yes, their woodburners too You get to a certain age and these things become very important to you - you spend a lot of time there, much more than you would have done when you were in your twenties say. We're not scrimping to get by - I haven't even worked out a budget yet (after nearly a year here) and that's something that the majority of people do, even those who don't live in NZ. We don't have children here which obviously makes a huge difference financially.

It's financially tough everywhere these days - who doesn't live to their income? And beyond in a large number of cases. I'd never say to anyone that NZ is wonderful, come here and you'll be happy for ever. Neither would I say that you've got to give up what you've become used to, to live here. I haven't - I don't want to and don't see why I should have to. People should make the decision to move (whether it's just down the road or to the other side of the world) with their heads and not their hearts.

My truth is that it is NOT crappy here - I have a lovely house (and a lovely bush garden) that is very warm with my lovely woodburner My lifestyle is totally different to what it was before I came here - I've cut three hours a DAY off my commuting time for a start; I've got loads of friends that I have time to see; I love living so close to a city and still be able to buy a house - we had to move 50 miles out of the city where we worked to be able to afford a mortgage before.

The defence rests your honour

ezvanetree

As you say, everyone's experience will be different. However, I do want to point out that my in-laws are the same age as I am--30's and 40's. I am talking about my husband's many siblings and their spouses, not people in their 70's. Of course people want to talk about their gardens etc, as I do, but let's move on from the topic after three hours, shall we?

I lived in NZ from age 28 to 38 so probably just the age a lot of people on this forum are who are moving to NZ. I just found NZ a place where a lot of people lived a fantasy life--they talked about the 'lifestyle', the 'kiwi way of life', 'kiwi ingenuity' etc, but it just wasn't based on reality. Most of the things people thought were unique to NZ were common things found every where.