MrsFychan

did you notice the lack of heating in most of them???

Stuck in Auckland

Outdoor indoor living

simonsi

Hey one had HRV (think thats stands for "Hasn't got Reasonable Ventilation")

To the OP - lack of a log burner or heat pump means you will be fully reliant on electric room heaters which can sap power, especially if the house is even slightly damp. Best budget power back to ~$350/mth for the winter months if that is the case.

Tom H

I'll give you one money saving on that budget you have

Sky

Don't bother wasting your money with that rubbish

Just get a free view box and then sign up to Netflix. You'll still be able to access tv on demand.

Then sign up to one of many vpns to receive the likes of I PLAYER and itv catch up.

Sky NZ is a complete waste of time, unless you're happy with 10 minutes of TV followed by 27 mins of Harvey Norman adverts. The only decent channel on there is an extra $10 on top. Joke of an organisation....

redetzky79

We are pretty well stocked up in terms of clothes thanks to my wife and online shopping


That could be the pain in the first month or two until our container arrives. I plan to buy some second hand, temporary stuff for the transition period, I'll also be coming alone first so that my family don't suffer the inconvenience. I'll be looking at reselling all that to get some money back, hopefully.


We're not planning to go back to Europe so often, maybe once every 2-3 years. We've been living abroad for the most part of the last 15 years, both us and family are used to it. If the family wants to visit, they will have to pay for their tickets. I know it will be difficult to go on a trip to Fiji etc, especially in the first year until my wife starts bringing in income, but we will be equally happy with a camping trip to a lake or something. As long as we're together it doesn't really matter so much. We will have beaches all around Auckland so our daughter will be happy if she can collect her seashells

I have a separate budget for the "first installment" to get the house equipped with the basic stuff. The rest will come from Europe, we have recently furnished our apartment so we have pretty much everything new, it should last a couple of years before replacing and at that stage we should be financially sound with two incomes.


That's true, I have similar experience but surely, considering how many houses for rent are out there, I should be able to find something reasonable.

Yeah I read about that. Wouldn't be the first time I have to do it, I give myself one month to find a place to rent. Maurewa is just an example of how far from the city center I would probably live, I will be looking at other areas once the whole "Moving to NZ" becomes more real and I get more understanding about schools etc.


I will definitely look at the train option as a cost saver. I'm not too worried about the parking, there's a good sized car park in front of the "office to be" according to google street view. And due to the traffic, I plan to leave for work earlier each day to secure ma place

Yeah, that's something to look at definitely. I'll try to find a place with the AC unit at least and then get some oil-filled electric radiators


Thanks for the tip. We don't watch TV at all, it's only our daughter with kids cartoons. I might actually consider just using my smart tv with Netflix, HBO GO and Youtube apps.


I really appreciate all the feedback and advice, thank you all for your help.

Bo-Jangles

That's still some hefty expectation that you need to budget for - depending on availability of free accommodation to you and if bunking in with family, but from our experience of staying a few days at Air BNB and a holiday park / caravan for a week in the UK, flights, taxis, hotels, transfers, parking, hiring a car, eating out, lodging / care for pets etc you need to allow about $10k for the three of you to go to the UK for four weeks; which means you need to put aside $220 to $250 per month to afford that every three years.

Manurewa is one of the least affluent and therefore cheaper areas of Auckland for housing; so not really the best place to choose as an indicator. You definitely need to up your rent budget if you want to move to better suburbs.

MrsFychan

we have just booked to go back to UK, outside of school term and for the 4 of us flight only are just shy of 8K with insurance .

A Rush And A Push

Ok you’ve obviously done lots of research which is great. I’ll give you feedback on where I differ from your figures - we are in Auckland, 2 adults, 2 kids (age 7 and 10)

Power - we have no gas and no wood burner so everything is electric. Ranges from lowest $100/month in summer to $280/month highest in winter.

Water - we are on water meter, don’t scrimp on using it (baths, watering garden etc), bill is $50-60 a month.

Mobiles - I’m on prepay and get an $8 monthly pack that has 60 mins and 250 texts - never use them all - any unused carries over to next month. I think other half and I get free calls to each other anyway as we are on same network (2 degrees). You can get packs with data too.

Our contents insurance is $503 a year so you are pretty spot on with that, obviously you can play around with excess amounts and how much you are insured for.

We don’t pay any bank fees but that’s because we have a mortgage with them.

We don’t spend anything like $150 a month on clothes, obviously we could but I don’t feel we need to.

School donation costs vary massively, Generally the schools in the more affluent areas have higher donation amounts as they get less funding from the govt. I’d say $500 a year is right at the top end of what an NZ state primary would ask for as a donation. Some lower decile schools don’t have one or its maybe $50 a year. Each schools website will tell you what the donation is. Our school is $80 per child per year.

Uniform - we get some passed on from other people, shirts about $35 new, skorts about $45. I prob spend about $100 a year on uniform. If I were buying it all New maybe $200-250? Again school websites will tell you uniform prices and it varies from school to school.

mcuddy1

Good luck with your move,
I won't quote figures as others have done Wifey works 30 hrs weekly, but over all we clear 130k between us before tax.
We live in Chch and have very little left. We have small mortgage.
Whatever you budget for in NZ it's never enough, life is so expensive here.

Justcol

Two of us bring in about 130 between us
We have a small mortgage and have never been so well off
I guess it depends what you choose to spend your money on

Errrrrm

Here’s ours
2 adults 1 7 yo 1 18yo
$300 groceries
$50 bits you forget at shop
$90 has and elec
35 home broadband and mobile phone
$45 catholic school board fee
$10youngest school and activity fee
$ 40 eldest school and activity/text book fee
$65 home contents building and car (x2) insurance
$480 mortgage
$50 council rates
$60 in diesel ( not inc ruc)
$8 rubbishy collection
$60 med insurance
THEN sports/dance clubs average of $160 term
Swimming lessons $160 a term

And if your child is good at sports then they play rep sport for your region that costs a lot of money in travel and coaching ( $700) per season

There’s lots more but these are the basics.

BEVS

Okays.
There seems to be a rush of the measleys this weekend.

Perhaps some of you can give context to your posts by saying what area of New Zealand you live.

The OP is looking at Auckland.

Justcol

I'm in Otago but don't see it as relevant.
Food, service's and small mortgage are pretty much the same everywhere.
Its only house prices that vary.