ElizabethC

[QUOTE=mumomonty][QUOTE=kaz Hen]

Sounds like you, Spazhen, have been away too long and don't realise that in the last 4 years it has become very difficult for the average earners to live here in a basic manner.

Rubbish. As an average earner I live very well thank you very much! pssst...(and I can afford shoes, my house is warm and (and I do realise this may come as a shock) it's even insulated.

It may be that NZ'ers and Uk'ers have different priorities in disposing of their income - I don't know - but I've been reading this forum for some time and having lived here all of my 50 years I can say that NZ'ers are not as strapped for cash as many posters say. Most of us lead very nice lifestyles - of course that is not to say there aren't poor people and people who struggle.

But 'very difficult for the average earners' - nonsense.

mumomonty

[QUOTE=ElizabethC][QUOTE=mumomonty] Liz C: I was addressing the other person whose comments I had replied to as she appears to live in the UK and remember it when it was affordable here.

I think this is a British expat site and not a kiwi one anyway and as you've possibly (emphasis on 'possibly') never upped sticks to move 12k away and start again then maybe you are not qualified to answer. I mean no disrespect in this comment at all, but I think the difference may possibly for the 'recent' expats and not the kiwis who have already established themselves here and have possibly got on the housing ladder/ subdivided a farm etc.

I stress that most kiwis have told me personally that it has got very difficult for them financially since 2000 - 2001.

I like it in NZ but I tell anyone contemplating the big move like it is.

ElizabethC

[QUOTE=mumomonty][QUOTE=ElizabethC] That's a good point - moving IS expensive and so is starting again and I do understand that - my point was only that middle income NZ'ers are not all struggling. And I am qualified to answer that.

I think it's good to tell things like it is but sometimes constant generalisations can give a wrong perception. I'm just helping to balance things out.

babybella

[QUOTE=mumomonty][QUOTE=ElizabethC]
You like it in NZ, well hey you could have fooled me!
So since it is a British Expat site and not a Kiwi one does that mean nobody wants to hear a kiwi view about their country and about the issues they have moving 12,000 miles and starting again!
And who is 'spazhen' I'm confused.
KAZ

Tooanfrom

Been here in NZ for 25yrs--GO TO AUSTRALIA

Batty

I'd say that the citizens in most Western countries find it financially difficult these days. I don't see any difference here than I did in London or Dublin. People are being sucked into debt and when your disposable income has to go to pay that off well you're left with not very much to dispose of at the end of the week.

We don't have children to support and are both working so we don't have the outgoings other people on here have. Still, I've seen people post who had little or no mortgage, earned over $100k between them and still didn't have enough I don't know HOW you could spend that much money and still be short but that's just my opinion and how I choose to live my life.

I suppose you expect a lot more from a country if you're uprooting your family and moving to the other side of the World. My husband is a Kiwi so we came 'home' and we don't have the pressure on us that we would have if we came 'cold'. But, I think NZ is a great place to live and I've lived in three other countries including the UK. Every person has their own perspective and sees their World as it relates to them but just because I'm loving it here doesn't mean that someone else will and vice versa.

There is so much information on the internet now that all the practical things can be researched thoroughly but all the research in the world won't prepare anyone for actually living here - for better or worse.

sky

I think the kiwis on here will be a bit sensitive when you call their country but I don't know why really when they don't actually live here themselves. I hear it every day from ordinary kiwis here that this country has gotten very expensive over the last four years, so what would you like us lot already here to do? Shall we all lie and tell you the holiday brochure version?
I thought this forum was a british expats forum, it's fast turning into an over sensitive kiwi forum.

xpat19

Hi Geoff. Cant comment about Oz as we haven't been yet, but have been in NZ for 4 years now.
House prices have got ridiculous since we've been here, and if you do end up in Auckland you'll probably have to spend at least $400,000 for a house as you say you're looking for a largish one.

If you're going to be living on just the one wage you'll manage on $60,000, (you get taxed on every cent of that,) but possibly won't have much left for luxuries.
Best of luck with your decision

babybella

Better that than a manic depressive British site.
KAZ

livewire

It always make me smile when people who make the effort to tell a few truths about NZ always get called doom and gloom merchants. It doesn't only happen on this forum but on others as well.

I think that people have to keep a very open mind about what it's really like here and how easy is it going to be to find what they are looking for.

This isn't the crime free, clean green, PureNZ uptopia painted by the advertising companies. The are some places where you are be able to find it BUT the hard part is finding work in those places that pays enough to live on, not survive on but live on. Then you need sufficient capital to buy somewhere to live and some good schools to send your kids to (if you have a family)

The reasons why so many Kiwis live abroad and can't afford to return home? why do so many live in Oz?........................see above.

melting pot

Talking of depression, its always being quoted on the TV here how 1 in 4 Kiwis are on anti depressants.....seems a high amount of people, so the Kiwi way must have some flaws in its quality of life for all these people to need tablets to get through day to day.

K9s

I think I need some and I'm not a Kiwi

mumomonty

It's been explained to me that it's because of lack of magnesium in the soil here in NZ.

sky

Why don't you come back home Kaz, when do you plan to. I can't understand if you like it so much here why are you living in a country you hate

Servant24kids

We did a reccy of both Australia and New Zealand and our conclusion was that Australia was definitely the best country for a better standard of living. We would have gone to Australia but could not meet the immigration requirements at the time without a lot of expense with agents.

I spent part of my teens in New Zealand and love it here. I do not regret coming here rather than Australia, as to me it is home. However, we have an income of around $70/75,000 and although we have to budget carefully, we manage and are happy. I could not imagine living in Auckland with $250,000 (pounds converted) and an income of $60,000. Of course others do it and survive (a lot of Kiwis have to, not having the capital you are bringing over). You would not be able to afford the more affluent areas but that does not mean you will be in the rough areas. However, you would really have to keep that mortgage low with that income. It really depends on what you are used to in the UK and your expectations of what you would like in New Zealand.

We have no desire now to go to Australia. A lot of people here do. Australia is a very popular immigrant destination. If you have the opportunity of living in Australia I would take it and try it out first. We are only across the ditch if you really do not like it.