kiwiwoodpecker

Hi all.we have been looking into moving to nz for about 6 months.I have just got offered a job earning $47000 basic with some guarenteed overtime.
This was good news but i have been looking into the pay and it is about 1/3 lower than the wage in the uk.
We as a family are not looking to mave to nz to make a fortune ,but i do not want to be worrying if we have enough money to live on.
My wife will take on part time work but not straight away as we need to settle our 2 daughters in aged 7 and 4 years.
I have heard of the cost of living calculators but could anybody direct me to them. Also are they fairly accurate. The job is based in christchurch so we need to find rented accomodation there.
Could anybody tell me if this is an average wage in christchurch and what is the general cost of living like, utility bills, food, fuel, concil tax etc.
Many thanks for any help
Paul fiona chloe issy

Antstar

http://www.emigratenz.org/cost-of-li...w-zealand.HTML

Here is a link to the cost of living calculator, it's also worth looking at the website (emigratenz.org) in general as I think it will answer a lot of your questions.......

kiwiwoodpecker

thanks for that. Have just had a look at the website and it looks like it will be a great help.
i have just tried the cost of living calculator and it looks like we are going to struggle! Thanks again for the info.

Antstar

Yeah, in all honesty, with 47k two children and little or no income from your wife, I thought you would do. NZ isn't a cheap country to live in from what I've seen. But at least you are doing the smart thing and checking now rather than realising this after you've relocated your family half way across the world!

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

newkiwi

Id second that; your wife would probably have to look at getting a job too....
christchurch is probably cheaper than auckland but still not that cheap.
look at trademe.co.nz under rented accommodation to get an idea of what rented accommodation will cost.

if from what your saying your wage in the Uk was upwards of GBP40 k you will find a really big dip in income

Trenchfoot

I think the nail was pretty squarely and firmly struck on the head there.

It is much better that you are asking these questions now rather than transport your family to the other side of the world and then struggle to make ends meet.

We're finding the cost of living here seems pretty comprable to the UK in many respects, broadly speaking for example:

Pack'n'save bill $1200 a month - Morrisons £600 a month
Telecom $100 a month - BT £45 a month
Genesis $100 a month - Southern Electric £45 a month

Give or take we're spending the same (or just slightly less) for the same goods and services in NZ as we were in the UK. We're in Auckland and I am sure there are regional variations (rent for example) but I would doubt if the basics (food, elec, phone, insurances etc.) would vary too much up and down NZ. Perhaps someone from Christchurch, or wherever, could chip in with an idea of their costs?

Trench

Genesis

You are roughly gonna have about $3k a month after tax. I guess it is just about doable and income from your wife will help matters..also if you have PR you can claim family tax credits (at the moment) and with 2 kids and sub $50k earnings you should get a fair bit. We got none for the 1st year a wee bit for the 2nd and a big bit in the 3rd year as all the increments we raised to assist middle earners to. We have 3 kids and earn a bit more than your projected figure..so that should help out aye?

kiwiwoodpecker

thanks everyone for all your advice its much appreciated. I shall check out the websites that have been mentioned.
My wife was hoping to stay at home for the first few months to make sure the kids settle in,but she may have to think about starting part time work. The problem is she is a teaching assistant in a school in the uk and apparently in nz they dont recognize teaching assistants we have been told.so she would have to start again!Does anybody know if this is true?

j19fmm

NZ schools have Teacher Aides, but certainly not on the scale of the UK. They tend to be assigned to children with specific problems rather than being there for one whole class support. Like the UK perhaps your wife could try being a parent volunteer first and getting yourself known. Not going to bring money in I know but perhaps a foot in the door. Or perhaps work in one of the many Child Care Centres might suit?
Good luck