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-   -   Making ends meet. (https://britishexpats.com/forum/new-zealand-83/making-ends-meet-638002/)

Genesis Oct 28th 2009 8:11 pm

Making ends meet.
 
I just worked out at an exchange rate of 2.3 the following. In the UK we earned about 50k GBP as a couple. That translated into $ (less our mortgage) left us with 100,000k kiwi dollars a year before tax. Well over here we have about $85k, yes and like the UK it all goes BUT our standard of living here is way better than it was in the UK and we are doing it on $15k less!!! Interesting. Food for thought.

Add to that we run 2 cars here not one and the fact that we have kids now who are waaaaaaaay more expensive than the babies they were at the time when we had 100k per annum..and remeber this too...the 100k almost 5 years ago was worth more than the $85k today.

Madmaxdeux Oct 28th 2009 9:55 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 
A funny thing when I was on a WHV (the first 500 UK ressies to be isued an open work visa ;)) living in NZ back in 1995 I remember being paid $8.5 per hour which converted back at the $2.12 exchange rate even back then to 4 GBP per hour. Then I went back to the Uk and ended up working for 3.30 GBP per hour! Of course the exchange rate made all the differance in comparing apples to apples.

But a few thing now and still does strike me today is the cost of running a car is still cheaper in NZ, the cost of used cars is still higher than the equvilant in the UK, the cost of chocolate bars (Mars Bars) is still expensive and the cost of houses is still more affordable and you get more for your real estate buck.

Have wages kept pace with the cost of living? The answer to that is firmly no and that is the same as in the UK.

You worry about the exchange rate well if your leaving NZ then now is a good time to do it but would you be able to live the same lifestyle back in the UK for the price you pay here?

Stormer999 Oct 29th 2009 4:13 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 
What is a comfortable income for 2 with no mortgage or rent to pay pre NZ tax? rural and city.

Madmaxdeux Oct 29th 2009 6:15 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Stormer999 (Post 8054898)
What is a comfortable income for 2 with no mortgage or rent to pay pre NZ tax? rural and city.

Depends where you live and how much your Rates are I would say.

Lets put it this way if your retired and you are linked to the NZ superannuation scheme then it would not get you by in Auckland very well but it would in somewhere less urban.

Thats a very broad question to ask with many answers.

Genesis Oct 29th 2009 6:23 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Stormer999 (Post 8054898)
What is a comfortable income for 2 with no mortgage or rent to pay pre NZ tax? rural and city.

Well we have 3 kids and live well on the above at around $85k. But we do not service things like HP for cars neither do we have many holidays. But then agin I am perfectly happy in the locale and I adore my 12yr old Honda!!!! Having said that we have almost paid off an interest free term for the spa pool and I guess now that is almost paid off we could afford a nice hol once a year. Which will be nice.

Stormer999 Oct 29th 2009 6:46 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Genesis (Post 8055163)
Well we have 3 kids and live well on the above at around $85k. But we do not service things like HP for cars neither do we have many holidays. But then agin I am perfectly happy in the locale and I adore my 12yr old Honda!!!! Having said that we have almost paid off an interest free term for the spa pool and I guess now that is almost paid off we could afford a nice hol once a year. Which will be nice.

Which tells me that you are better off in NZ than UK taking into account your property quality and 100% better off lifestyle? Sounds good to me. Reading too many 'glass 1/2 empty' posts from people who do not realise the massive decline in law and order we Brits are suffering at the mo. News released recently that London suffered over 80 FATAL knife stabbings last year...add up all the other ways to kill someone and multiply it out to cover the whole of the UK and we are obviously trying to enforce our own solution to overcrowding!

cypherpunk Oct 29th 2009 9:12 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 
At this exchange rate and current prices, the average UK house price is lower than the average NZ house price (Halifax average price Sept 2009 = £163,533 vs QV nationwide average Sept 2009 $387,567) and interest rates here are much higher.

Also re crime, the UK murder rate is at its lowest for 20 years and per capita is better than NZ (one murder for every 95,000 people vs one in 85,000 in NZ).

Genesis Oct 29th 2009 9:13 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Stormer999 (Post 8055217)
Which tells me that you are better off in NZ than UK taking into account your property quality and 100% better off lifestyle? Sounds good to me. Reading too many 'glass 1/2 empty' posts from people who do not realise the massive decline in law and order we Brits are suffering at the mo. News released recently that London suffered over 80 FATAL knife stabbings last year...add up all the other ways to kill someone and multiply it out to cover the whole of the UK and we are obviously trying to enforce our own solution to overcrowding!

There is a slight downside to the property angle in that kiwi houses (even new ones) are not built to the standard of victorian ones that I am used to. However its something you learn to live with and upgrade where necesarry to improve said build. They take more maintenance but I accept that as part of my new life. More importantly I live in a beautiful quiet neighbourhood with a rural outlook and mountain views. The thing we have here that was not available in Northampton is space. I remember there were double yellow lines outside my house in NN1. I so appreciate being able to park outside my house 100% of the time. When you have little babies and 2 weeks shopping, parking near your home is an issue. So yes we are sooooo much better off here and I never stop appreciating it. I still feel excited about being in NZ almost 5 years on. We all know NZ has big problems like anywhere but here for me anyways they are not in my face like they were in Northampton. There it was day to day wall to wall anti social shite that me and my family had to live with. I was so sick of it. Its a part of my life that irked me hugely and simply by travelling 12000 miles and moving into my neighbourhood I cut it out 100%. I don't think I could be more content anywhere..except maybe on the shores of Lake Taupo or somewhere like that..however I very much doubt I will ever be able to afford that!! Palmy is a great compromise!!!!!!!

luvwelly Oct 29th 2009 11:23 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Stormer999 (Post 8055217)
Which tells me that you are better off in NZ than UK taking into account your property quality and 100% better off lifestyle? Sounds good to me. Reading too many 'glass 1/2 empty' posts from people who do not realise the massive decline in law and order we Brits are suffering at the mo. News released recently that London suffered over 80 FATAL knife stabbings last year...add up all the other ways to kill someone and multiply it out to cover the whole of the UK and we are obviously trying to enforce our own solution to overcrowding!

:rofl: NZ's crime figs adjusted for population are no better in most categories....where I live at least I do feel safe here however but I also felt safe in UK. NZ has comparatively poor OECD stats for many things including child abuse levels and some age groups of suicide.
Glass half-empty posts are to assist you in removing your possibly 'grass is always greener' specs'
IN any country your quality of life will improve by either not reading or not believing what you read in the Press/media. The British Press is notorious for seeking out the negative in absolutely everything...here there's a bit more awareness of how stories reflect to outsiders and the tone is considerably more on side with Team NZ.

luvwelly Oct 29th 2009 11:27 pm

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by Stormer999 (Post 8055217)
Which tells me that you are better off in NZ than UK taking into account your property quality and 100% better off lifestyle? Sounds good to me. Reading too many 'glass 1/2 empty' posts from people who do not realise the massive decline in law and order we Brits are suffering at the mo. News released recently that London suffered over 80 FATAL knife stabbings last year...add up all the other ways to kill someone and multiply it out to cover the whole of the UK and we are obviously trying to enforce our own solution to overcrowding!

Knife crime was always the British way..it's rising gun crime which concerns me since that is the American way.

Stormer999 Oct 30th 2009 11:25 am

Re: Making ends meet.
 

Originally Posted by cypherpunk (Post 8055489)
At this exchange rate and current prices, the average UK house price is lower than the average NZ house price (Halifax average price Sept 2009 = £163,533 vs QV nationwide average Sept 2009 $387,567) and interest rates here are much higher.

Also re crime, the UK murder rate is at its lowest for 20 years and per capita is better than NZ (one murder for every 95,000 people vs one in 85,000 in NZ).

Seems the one statistic that really matters:-
England....1,040 people per sq mile
NZ...........41 people per sq mile.......and before anyone says Ah but NZ has mountains down the middle....then so does England!
The official BBC figures for house prices UK.....£224,064....for a detached house......£344,989. These are not influenced by the selling market guru's.

Madmaxdeux Oct 31st 2009 12:18 am

Re: Making ends meet.
 
Ah well at the end of the day I personally would not give up New Zealand and any of its problems to moved back to the over crowded UK.


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