claire hopkins

Hi All

I have been reading the thread about being happy in NZ! I noted a fair bit of negativity their people, but now brings me to ask some questions:

1.How expensive is basic health and dental care?
2.What is the average monthly cost to heat your home in the winter?
3. " " " " " for living really i.e. utilities, insurances, food
for a family of 4, rent on a 3-bed on the outskirts of Auckland?
4.How much are you expected to donate as far as schools are concerned - 2
kids aged at the moment 12 and nearly 10?
5.Are the rental properties really that bad?
6.How difficult is it to move from NZ to Oz?

I ask these questions as we will be submitting our EOI for the Feb 1st pool
with 125 points without job offer (at the moment- doesn't seem to be a demand for welders). We would be coming on a budget, we do not know the likelyhood of succeeding as our eldest has Cystic Fibrosis and this will obviously incur more medical needs though this info will be on the EOI, we may even be declined immediately but we can only try.

We would appreciate any feedback from you guys.

Cheers Claire, Paul, Jordan & Anya x

livewire

By negative do you mean realistic? I'm sure lots of people can give you plenty of information about living costs in various areas of the country.

It's well worth your while looking into the costs associated with treating cystic fibrosis - medical care is far from cheap here: prescription charges and medication can be costly. Also the range of available drugs is more limited.

I think there is a website where you can find out what's available and how much it is subsidised, sorry but I know nothing at all about this condition, hopefully there will be someone on here who does and can help you.

cottageinthesky

Hi Claire - I'm sure you are already aware of the Cystic Fibrosis website, http://www.cfnz.org.nz.

I work for a national real estate agency, which supports The Cystic Fibrosis Society - I am looking to organise a fund raiser for The CFS in Wellington and my contact is Andrew Walklin, Chairperson, Cystic Fibrosis, Wellington who can be contacted on mobile 0274 391 052 or email [email protected]

ukkiwi

Rentals - some good some bad, you get what you pay for.

NZ to OZ - if you have NZ citizenship then you are free to live and work in OZ. Otherwise you'd need to apply for one of the various OZ visa's on offer. Have a word in the OZ immigration forum.

Sue

Don't know if these are any good but they will make a good starting point for you:

NZ Warm Homes Report
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/...tml/index.html

Market Rent Information
http://www.dbh.govt.nz/housing/tenan...t%20region.asp

Sue

JAJ

It's now 5 years to get NZ citizenship.


And NZ citizens no longer get full permanent residence rights in Australia anyway, unless they apply for and are granted Australian permanent residence under normal rules.

They can live, work and study in Australia but only as temporary residents.


Jeremy

glennf

OK Claire and family here we go..

1. Average visit to doctor $55 for adults $35 for kids. We have just taken out health insurance with Southern Cross and it costs about $150 a month which covers most things except GP costs. They have a policy called Wellbeing and you can add modules to cover things like GP costs, dental etc. Check out their website www.southerncross.co.nz and they have an online calculator which will give you an idea of premiums. They will not cover pre-existing conditions but if you have cover in the UK with BUPA you can transfer your policy to Southerncross under the same terms.

Dental is pretty much the same as the UK but no NHS. i.e. expensive. If you have any work needed get it done before leaving the UK, particularly for kids.

2. Haven't been here for a full winter yet but try and get a house with an open fire or woodburner as the only alternative is electric heaters which are quite expensive if you are used to a warm house. There is also a tip on one of these threads about dehumidifiers, damp is definitely a problem (in Auckland) so you need to consider this as well. We pay our gas and electric by monthly DD and pay about $150 a month. We're keeping up so far. What seems to make a big difference is whether your hot water is heated by gas or electric. Electric works out quite a bit more expensive, we have an instantaneous gas water heater which is very good and only heats the water you need.

3. Cost of living, food we spend about $250 per week. House contents and car insurance about $200 per month. Rent depends very much on where you live and the quality of house you want. It is similar to UK in that prices and rents vary significantly depending on school zone. I saw someone had recommended a web site for rents, I suggest you only look at the upper quartile figure, you will be very lucky to find a good quality house in a good area for less. For a 3 bedroom place I would budget between $400-500 per week.

4. School donations, I don't have any experience of this at the moment as our kids have only done one term. Hearsay tells me it's not that much, less than $200.

5. Mostly yes. Be prepared to look at lot's of places and don't expect to get a good place cheaply. It's a very good idea to get some temporary accommodation for at least three weeks when you first arrive otherwise you will feel under pressure to get a house straight away. We found that there are so many other things to do in your first couple of weeks here it is very difficult to devote enough time to house finding. Most areas of Auckland have a weekly local newspaper, these are the best places in my experience for the rental ads. Agents will charge you a fee of one weeks rent for arranging a rental, you can avoid this if you can find a place to rent direct from the owner but beware! There is lots of info on this forum about the pitfalls of renting, take note!

6. The requirement for NZ Citzenship, which allows you to move freely to Oz, is now 5 years residency in NZ, otherwise you have to apply for a visa, don't know how difficult that is.

Hope this helps, Glennf

shepslady

Hi Claire & Co

I really dont know how being immigrants would effect you with the medical costs associated with your childs CF. I am very familiar with the ongoing treatments & hospital visits that occur with a CF child. My neice had CF & all hospital visits etc were free for her. She was given a high users card so prescriptions were only $3 per item with no cost for repeat prescriptions. Repeats usually given for a further two months supply.There is a very good support group in NZ for CF families & no doubt if you are successful in your application to move to NZ you will find the nearest group in your area quite easily.
I wish you & yours the very best of luck.

Regards
Cindy

GINGERSEAMONSTER

I was going to post a similar question to the one Claire has about cost of living in NZ. My wife and I are hoping to move down in aprox July ’07. I have been reading several books on NZ, followed a few of the threads on here and looked at several of the websites on various towns and regions. At the moment I think I have narrowed my search down to 3 possible areas- Whangarei in Northland, New Plymouth and Tauranga. I would probably look to live in the outer suburbs or a town nearby. My wife works as an Accident and Emergency Sister and all these 3 towns have large hospitals.

One of my questions would be how does the cost of living vary between these places? I know that NP is the cheapest for buying a house, but as it is further south may need more heating, but what about other factors. Does anyone know of a way of comparing day to day living expenses, or anyone with experience of these areas shed some light on it. Do the figures quoted by glennf apply across the board. ?

I know from experience in UK that a weekly shop can vary by as much as 20-30 quid from Kent to Lancashire, (Lancashire, aka Gods’ country, being the cheapest!!!) does the same apply here? excluding AKL, don’t want to live there, can’t afford it for starters!

Also, do the wages paid for comparable jobs in the private sector vary greatly between these areas?

I appreciate it might be difficult to answer these questions accurately as no houses in the 3 areas will be identical, and no jobs the same.

Final question for now, any ex-pats living in these 3 areas, if you had your time again, would you move to the same place again? If not, were in NZ would you move to?

Many thanks in anticipation of your answers,

Gary

glennf

Hi Gary,

I've been to both New Plymouth and Whangerei and they are both nice places but you may find them a bit quiet (depending on where you are from in the UK). Haven't been to Tauranga yet but it looks like a nice place and apparently is undergoing a bit of population surge at the moment. The Bay of Plenty area is very popular for retirment and people wishing to get away from the big cities.

As far as cost of living is concerned, one thing I didn't mention in my previous post although I think it has been mentioned in other threads, is that where you do your shopping has a significant effect on how much you spend. Like the UK there are several types of supermarket and the prices do vary. Foodtown/Woolworths/New World are Tesco quality supermarkets and generally the priciest but most convenient way to shop. Pak'n'Save/Countdown are Morrisons/Lidl/Netto type places which are cheaper but don't have the deli counter, in store bakery etc; then there are the individual shops which tend to be the cheapest but means you have to shop in the old fashioned way, fruit and veg from the grocer, meat from the butcher etc. We have found that by spending a bit more time and using a bit of trial and error to find the cheapest places you can save $20-30 a week by avoiding the supermarkets. What we tend to do is go to the supermarket once a month to get all the soap powder. loo rolls etc and do all the food shopping elsewhere.

You will find differences in prices between the provincial towns and Auckland but these can be offset by increased transport costs. New Plymouth in particular is really out on a limb, between 5 and 6 hours drive or a 45 minute (expensive) flight from Auckland.

As for insurance etc can't help I'm afraid but if you look up someone like AMI or State on the web and e-mail them I'm sure they will give you indicative premiums.

Salaries are definitely lower in the provincial towns, but this depends on what you do and who you work for. NP has a thriving petrochem sector at the moment so if you are in that business then it would be no contest but otherwise think of Auckland as London and you get the idea with regard to salaries and house prices.

In my experience things like petrol, utilities etc cost the same wherever you are, although petrol might be very slightly more expensive in some rural areas.

You may draw the same conclusion I did from these ramblings, the suitability of the three places you have identified all depends on what you are looking for from your move to NZ. Look on http://www.stats.govt.nz and you will see all are fairly sparsely populated places in UK terms, that may be what you are used to but don't forget that in NZ you cannot hop in your car and be at the Trafford Centre in half an hour to do your shopping! These places are relatively isolated (in UK terms) so the facilities you have nearby are what you will get. Don't get me wrong, both NP and Whangerai (don't know about Tauranga) have decent shopping centres, cinemas etc, but for a UK comparison think in terms of somewhere like Lancaster or Chesterfield but without the proximity to fast transport links and you'll get a good idea. Tauranga is a bit different as it's nearer to Auckland and doable for a day trip (as is Whangerai at a pinch) but the nearest big(ish) city to NP is Palmerston North which is a good 3 hours away.

Finally, NP is on the West coast and is much more exposed than the other two (I expect being from Lancs you're used to the wind and rain) so budget for higher heating bills.

Hope this helps,

Glennf

scottish

Like most of NZ house prices have rocketed in the last few years. The Bay of Plenty has seen a dramatic rise where a typical 3 bed in a nice area can set you back $350k and the closer to the beach you get the higher. An example is our first rental sold for $400k - 3 bed, tiny garden but nice house (freezing in the Winter). Our next and last rental was on the beach, an old Lockwood and valued at over $1 million but lovely and warm in the Winter.

Watch for NP from what I have been reading house prices there have also rocketed.

Elec costs can vary. We were anything from $80 - 150pm with $80 being more the norm. But when never had kids, tumble dryers etc and sat in teh dark with candles (lol... last bit obviously a joke haha).