shazniko

Hi everyone!

I am a midwife and my hubby is a mechanic. However, my worry is if we emigrate we are going to really struggle. In UK we are mortgage free, and have no money worries - I work 2 days and my hubby works 4 days per week so we manage childcare between us. The impression I get from reading several comments on the forum is that we would have to work more hours for less pay which would mean we would have to arrange childcare for our kids which is a big no no in my book as I didn't have children for other people to raise them!

We are not materialistic people at all but we really don't want to struggle if we move to NZ as the kids will suffer too. We are considering NZ for better opportunities for the kids in the long run. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

Any advice from those of you who have already taken the leap would be fab!

Thanks very much.


Shazniko

sr71

If you are mortgage free in NZ then I doubt you'd be struggling with you working those jobs.

And I think NZ is a much nicer place for kids to grow up, depending on where you live obviously. Our 4 year old is far busier and visibly happier and more outgoing than what he was in the UK 4 months ago. And although people argue the merits of the NZ education system, it still produces highly skilled graduates that have no problem getting work anywhere in the world, and are well respected and in demand.

shazniko

Hi sr71

We have a 4 year old and 2 year old too. We would love to buy a lifestyle property so the kids could run around but still be mortgage-free which NZ would allow us to do, I think. However, do you find NZ quite expensive though considering the high taxes and having to pay for absolutely EVERYTHING? Its just when you read some of the threads on this forum there is a massive amount of people moving back to the UK! If it was just me and my hubby we would definately take the risk but we really don't want to screw up our kids lives, education etc.

I only work 2 x 12.5 hr shifts per week which pays me £1000+ per month but as far as I am aware I would have to work full-time to get the same wage in NZ which really defeats the purpose in trying to have more family time! My husband earns a good wage too so we manage to save quite a bit each month. Do you manage to have any savings in NZ?

Reading this back it sounds as if If I am being mega negative - I really don't mean to be - I just want to weigh everything up whether it is going to be a good move or not.

Thanks again.


Shazniko

sr71

I don't know what midwifes earn, but going by this :

http://www.careers.govt.nz/default.a...103&id1=J35172

it would seem you could earn similar to what you are on in the UK.

I always find it impossible to say whether someplace is expensive or not, it does depend on your tastes and lifestyle.

benandlea

Have you had a look at the cost of living calculator at http://www.emigratenz.org/cost-of-li...w-zealand.HTML ?

According to that calculator (clicking frugal options, no car, basic rent in Dunedin), a family of four would require £41000. This doesn't take into account tax credits which would provide some extra cash.

I'm not sure how realistic this is though. Thoughts anyone ?

bourbon-biscuit

We came out here on $40 plus penals (about another 15%) and REALLY struggled until dh got a new job bringing in about $60K and I got part time for $6K. And we still struggled- but we had a fair mortgage during a hard winter when petrol was sky high and interest rates soared and we hadn't fixed

Mortgage free I think we'd have a nice potter of a life with a family take home of $40K