Awla2000

Iam a software developer with 7 yrs of exp,
I will travel to New zealand
is 70,000 NZD is a good salary to live in chch in good way with my wife and my little son 2 years old.
And how much is tax will be on that salary, also can i save from it.

Hope you can help me , beacuse i dont have alot of information about NZ
Thanks

MrsFychan

checking on IRD website tax would be juts over $14000

https://www2.e-services.ird.govt.nz/...yL3N1Ym1pdA!!/

pixiewink

Hi,
Before considering a move to NZ you must do lots of research and get as much information as possible...then when you think you have all the information you need....search for more....

Search this site...inside out, there is lots of information to be had....it will include the good & bad experiences of NZ.....

70k would be workable I am sure for you providing you can find affordable accommodation in Christchurch......& don't have very high expectations of what you can afford. Cost of living is high in NZ..due to its remoteness...

Good Luck with your research....you have come to the right place for information....

davros1984

The 70K question is a tough one to answer.

It depends on "where" in NZ.

If you were to live in Gore or Invercargill - great salary.
If Auckland - not at all.

BEVS

Hi Alwa2000 & welcome.
I have tweaked your thread title to reflect that you are looking at Christchurch at the moment.

I'm not in the Christchurch area at all but my husband and I manage on less than $70K gross pa. There again we now have no mortgage ,although we did start with a rental for 2 years and then a mortgage. We managed on approx $50K pa with a rent of $300 per week but that was over 9 years ago now.

From what I read here, the sticking point may be the cost of renting or buying a house .

Tom1983

Will your wife be working???

$70,000 single income???

With a 2 year old - good luck!

One word of advice, bring your stuff with you. Otherwise you're money will be swallowed up on rent if you come over and seek furnished properties.

Anniemannie

No! Rent can be $500 a week, food is extortionate and shoes cost the earth. I love it here but am heading home on Wednesday. Integration for ur wife will be hard to meet new people. The city will never be rebuilt and there is nothing to do. Central heating is non existent and u will freeze in the winter. Don't take me wrong, I have loved living here and am sad at going home but take my advice unless u come over with at least 30k in the bank then don't bother. Good luck with ur decision but $70k is no where near enough

Snap Shot

Please don't tell the truth, you will just get shouted down.

Awla2000

Thank for all,
You think now that this will be difficult

Tom1983

Awla it will definitely be difficult

The cheap places available for rent usually get swallowed up within minutes and are often not very well cared for. They're usually apartment blocks or units and are in areas such as Linwood or the city.

You'll do well to get your hands on a cheap property rent wise. Rents have increased heavily since the quakes and will continue to do so whilst EQC just sit on their arses, twiddling with their pens and report back to that useless twat that they're doing a good job. How I hope the people of Ilam boot him out at the next general election

To give you an idea, it's taken nearly 2 years to get a response from EQC, 2 effin years about obtaining access to our first apartment we were in. Surprise, surprise they just said it's on our list and we'll hopefully get it looked at as soon as possible. Translating that into English, we know it needs doing but we're more focused on some fantasy stadium than helping out homes

Just take a look at the recent backlog of approvals in the council. The whole city is a mess

I don't want to put you off, there's plenty of good parts about this city away from orange cone after orange cone. Just with your expected salary on one income, it certainly won't be easy.

Have a look on realestate.co.nz for the price of rentals so far. It'll give you an idea of what you'd be looking at.

Software developer, do you mind me asking who you'd be working for?

Catchafire

We came over with $500, started on $55k/year and are doing alright.

Christchurch will actually be rebuilt, you don't know how his wife will integrate, some people have better social skills than others, houses can also be warm and insulated, there are heaps of things to do and food is cheap if buy seasonal produce.

BEVS

Do you really feel that comment is fair to this forum or it's users Snapshot. I don't. It is well documented that many can find NZ to have a quite expensive CoL compared to earning potential & the housing issues in Christchurch are made plain .

I haven't heard that the good people of Christchurch and Canterbury have all turned into stiffs ( theghostofdustybin excepted) over winter nor that their digits have been falling off due to frostbite .

It's all a bit sweeping isn't it TBH.
Christchurch will be rebuilt. Homes can have central heating. Families do live there.

BEVS

Hi there Awla.

I think that English may not be your first language and that you do not live in the UK.

Sorry if some of the posts are off topic or too many words. Christchurch is a city with problems and that can make people feel quite emotional .

Do you have a job in Christchurch please?

If not, why is this your choice?

The difficult part to me is the cost of housing. Rent.

Will you have NZ residency?

Tomsk

Slightly scared that I'm taking this off topic, for which many apologies Awla. I know very little about Christchurch, apart from the fact that my daughter is currently at university there, & intermittently bleats about the lack of a social life as there seems ( in her opinion) to be a lack of nightclubs etc. But sounds to me that with a wife & 2 year old your priorities will be slightly different. Good luck with your decision making, NZ has lots of positives and negatives, and we all have different experiences.

But I am responding to Snapshot's comment above. I cannot, and will not, ever try to question her experiences, and I absolutely respect the fact that life in NZ hadn't been kind to her, despite huge efforts on her part to find work. But, please show me where you've been shouted down for telling your truth. Bizarrely I am one of those who is actually happy here, & I rarely contribute any more because the overwhelmingly negative responses on this board simply don't match my reality...... so it's easier for me to back off and get on with my life here. I don't recall seeing anyone shooting you, or any of the other negative posters down, minor "life's different for me" type responses maybe, but nothing as aggressive as your postings seem to suggest.

I don't want to cause offence or start an argument, as I say, respect for all you've done and been through. I really hope that things take an upward turn for you very soon. But, seriously, NZ doesn't have to be a disaster for everyone, somehow many of us actually do manage to make it work and to build good lives here.

Thank you, and I reckon that, at this point, I'm ready to bow out & leave BE.

Snap Shot

Bevs, Tomsk, I will take a chill pill and drink my tea. Thank you for your input.