Money money money!
 

Hi There,

Quick question. We're a UK family of 5 (kids are 7, 6, 2) and we're considering moving to Cambridge on a PR visa. We've done all the research on house prices etc and have tried budgeting from what we can get on t'internet but would really appreciate some advice on what we realistically need to be earning (combined, we'd both like to work) to maintain a decent standard of living. We're not extravagant but we want to be comfortable - what do you reckon a target should be? We hear so many stories about high cost of living etc that some clarity would be really helpful

Thanks in advance

Re: Money money money!
 

Oooo. How long is a piece of string. Everyone is so very different.

What is your idea of a comfy decent standard of living over a given year ?
I don't mean costs of basics. I mean your own living standard expectations. Holidays, outings, eating out. Entertainment and the like.

Re: Money money money!
 

as BEVS says depends on so many things, area, what you are prepared to compromise on. we are a family of 4 and earn over 120K before tax and we only just get by, no fancy holidays, only 2 kids clubs a week. We are on our second home 3 bed with a study. first home was a 4 bed with bigger section but the area was wrong for us (schooling problems) and we lost money having to sell it and move, So I would advise everyone not to buy until you have actually lived in a area for a couple of years and the honeymoon period is over, unless the cracks show earlier than that.

You need to understand that you are taxed on every cent you earn over here and that you have to pay for GP appointment which vary again from area to area but have seen prices from $35 - $55 if you get funded if not then its more like $85 a visit. Rubbish collection again is dependent on area as is whether you pay for your water on a meter or not.
Schools charge a contribution per child, again depends on school and decile scale and you will have to buy all the stationary a year again can vary from $60 - $100 a year and then you may have a school that requires a uniform.

This winter our house hold bills (gas & electric) have been Aug $390, July $513, June $360, May $382. We only have one gas fire in the living room, as we are lucky enough to have piped gas (some areas do not have that and they have to buy and hire bottled gas). The rest of the house if we have run out of jumpers to put on is heated by portable electric heaters, and we have heated blankets for the beds.

House insurance is $1,300 a year. Contents is $450 - sorry can't find cost of car insurance at the moment.

house hold shopping varies dependent if I have to buy laundry stuff or animal food, ohh yeh and if MrF comes along :sneaky:, can be anything from $200 - $350 a week, if I stock up.

there's some costs to get your teeth into

Re: Money money money!
 

Scrape by: $80,000
No frills: $100,000
Comfortable: $120,000
Good life: $140,000

Re: Money money money!
 

is that before tax?

I'd say before tax
No frills: $100,000
Comfortable: $140,000
Good life: $160,000[/QUOTE]

Re: Money money money!
 

Is the above for a family with three children?

Re: Money money money!
 

I would say not, but suppose it depends on area and willing to compromise

Re: Money money money!
 

Ok. I'm going to tweek it, I've not got any kids (yet) so I'm not sure how expensive they are but I'm going to guess.

Scrape by: $100,000
No frills: $120,000
Comfortable: $140,000
Good life: $160,000

Add $15,000 for Auckland.

Re: Money money money!
 

Agree with that. Also with the idea that you might need an extra 10% to live within commuting distance of Auckland CBD.

Re: Money money money!
 

I would agree with this, we get by, not too many frills, earn $130,000 between us, i work part time and both adult daughters buy their own stuff. Is expensive.

Re: Money money money!
 

For NZ standard of living I would agree but if you want a standard a bit more like UK then I personally would say you need to put another 20k to be comfortable and over 200K to have a good life. but then that comes down to what standard of life you put as comfortable and what you came from in the UK and what you yourself consider to be comfortable and good. For me good would be able to afford holidays out of the country and comfortable would be not having to count the pennies and being warm in winter.

Re: Money money money!
 

Depends on renting or buying
Also cost of house if your buying and the size of your mortgage.
I'm in Cambridge, its a lovely place but house prices are climbing.

Re: Money money money!
 

house prices are climbing all over NZ, lack of stock at the moment is seeing multiple bids for properties which obviously bringing the prices up.

Re: Money money money!
 

Its crap eh !!

Re: Money money money!
 

Thanks everyone for your responses, really helps to put a guide to what we are thinking about. No point spending all that money going half way round the world for better weather (and therefore more fun life) then realising that you can't afford it!