mexnick

This is a little concerning. As a family we're not on mega bucks in the UK but can afford to live in a house big enough for us all in a nice location. The prospect of going through the massive process of taking us and our lives to the other side of the world only to find ourselves in a worse financial situation is a scary one!

It seems a little tricky to get a clear idea of what the cost of living will be in real terms, other than looking at house prices the rest is a bit of an unknown. I've been offered a wage of around $75K, my wife would like to continue working part time as she is here so her earning potential we're estimating would be around $30/40K. We are looking of renting a home at a cost of around $500 a week. On paper it would seem there is a decent amount of money left but of course that all depends on what all the other costs are, electric/gas/food/council tax etc etc, any thoughts on these figures, are we potentially setting ourselves up for hard slog??

Bo-Jangles

You need to do the maths and figure out potential cost of all the things you need or would want as a minimum in your life. Search back through post on here - there's plenty of threads about cost of living and people's budgets with average costs for utilities, internet, running a car, insurances and such like.

Don't forget all the things you will pay for here that you don't have to pay directly for in the UK such as Doctors and school fees (AKA 'donations'). as a starter with a family of growing kids you will easily chew through $200 per week on groceries. We do about $140 to $150 per week for two adults alone with minimal frills and next to no alcohol.

BtotheR

This is very accurate. Power costs over there are pricey too - in the winter we paid around $250 - 300 per month for electricity (we only had gas hobs on the oven which had a bottle(!) which is not uncommon) and on top of that we would go though firewood too to try and keep the house warm, with limited success. The advice to look through past threads is worth it especially about groceries - even though things are grown in NZ prepare to pay twice if not three times as much for certain things. Have a look on pak and save online or Countdown to look at food prices. I would say in Auckland to get a reasonable house closish to town you are probably looking more like $600-750 a week rental for a 3 bedroom house. A

There are lots of pluses to living in NZ - you just have to be prepared for the minuses.

Bo-Jangles

I think you'll need to up that budget quite a bit more - $550 to $600 a week would be entry level and would just about get you into some of the cheapest (read least desirable or farthest out) suburbs such as Papakura, Henderson, Otara, Helensville, Manurewa, Pukekohe, Beach Haven and Glenfield.

hallie_day

True. I am shocked by the rental prices as I had heard rent was cheaper in Auckland.
We are moving to North Shore in September/October and looking to rent while we find a place to buy/land to build on to avoid staying to long with the in-laws for more than a few weeks. As it will be over the summer I am happy to downsize to save money for the house, and treat like a bit of a holiday. However, we are looking at Birkenhead and I reckon we will have to spend $700 per week to get a 2 bed that looks livable in (but still a glorified mobile home or apartment). It's going to be a struggle after moving from 5 beds in London.

By the way, what's wrong with Beach Haven (serious question)? My husband said it was a dump when he was a kid but that it's slightly better nowand some of the houses seem ok. And obviously better vaue that Chatswood or Birkenhead...... Schools maybe?

Justcol

Beachhaven was the poorer cousin a few years back. However, once Auckland prices rocketed people started looking for affordable places to live and the more run down, lower socio economic suburbs suddenly found themselves in the spotlight as the latest up and coming area. In reality, nothing changed, just the house prices went through the roof and developers made the most of it by snapping up cheap properties, flattening them and building six new ones where one had once stood. I don't think there's anything wrong with the place, it's now no different to many other areas in the city. Some of the houses are smaller and packed in a little tighter but it's ok

Justcol

I wouldn't like to try and get by in Auckland on less than $100k, particularly with a family. Unless you are bringing a pretty sizeable chunk to put towards a house it's going to be tough. Will your Visa tie you to the job you've been offered for a specific length of time ? If not you can come and get settled in, then look to the provinces and other regions for another job. Property, which swallows most of your income gets much more affordable and better value once you leave Auckland and it's catchment area.

You may be better off looking at Australia. Better wages, more affordable housing, lower cost of living.

hallie_day

Thanks Col.
I completely understand as we live in Tooting, the poorer, but rapidly gentrifying cousin to Balham and Clapam.
We are hoping to buy land and build so we can build something a bit more energy efficient than most of the avaialble properties.
And we can design a property that is logically situated - we have noticed a lot in the area have no back garden to speak of, but parking for 20 cars at the front......

Bo-Jangles

I don't get what that's all about either, a lot of places it seems it's all for show at the front end. Big grand entrance, driveway and massive front lawns and then a little postage stamp, deck or courtyard at the back.

hallie_day

We're looking at 4/5 bed family houses and barely any of them have enought space in the garden for a modest swimming pool and BBQ area. And that's how we're convincing the kids to move!!

mexnick

What about if my wife is earning similar to me, we'll then have a potential combined wage of around $150k?
I have been looking at sale prices of decent sized houses in somewhere like Titirangi/Laingholm areas following recommendations earlier in this thread and it would seem that our earnings versus mortgage ratio would be similar to where we are now in the UK. Theoretically it looks doable on paper but I know that isn't always a realistic picture what with all the other variables to consider.

MrsFychan

mortgage wise the same as the UK may look good on paper but to live day to day here is much more expensive than the UK. You wont get what you had in the UK here in NZ for the equivalent money, your standard of living will be lower here on a day to day basis

Justcol

I would just suggest to do as much research as you can and take into account all potential outhoings
Mortgage
Rates
Car + insurance + maintenance + rego
petrol
Services ( electric /gas/ water)
School costs
Phones + contracts
Sky TV

Bo-Jangles

You are taxed on every cent of income - no tax free element of pay

Mortgage interest rates - cheapest floating rate around 5.7% in NZ (lowest it has been in decades) and fixed term and longer term rates are still in the high fours (4.5% to 4.8%). In the UK there's much more competition and incentives to switch mortgages; I see you can currently get two year fixed rates around 1.6% in UK

Things you pay for out of your net income separately which you don't pay for in full or directly in UK:

Healthcare - doctors visits, practice nurse and physio appointments and such like which are only partly funded
Dentists - full private cost (no NHS subsidies or anything)
School 'donations'
Rubbish collection (upto $200 per year depending on where you live)

Other things need to allow for:
Parking or other commuting costs in Auckland
Mobile phone and internet plans - not as much choice and not as cheap as UK
Generally cost of food, services and other shopping - food, eating out, clothes, school uniforms, shoes etc. all veer towards the high end compared to UK , or else there's little opportunity to shop around and avoid high costs because we simply don't have the alternatives at the 'budget' end of the spectrum such as your Ikeas, Aldis and Lidls.

Justcol

Would now be a good time to mention $20 for a kilo of tomato's and the infamous cucumber scandal