NZ is so expensive
Oct 27th 2011, 10:42 am
#61
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Oct 27th 2011, 10:48 am
#62
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Re: NZ is so expensive
Oct 27th 2011, 10:56 am
#63
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I work in the Dunedin post shops and see plenty of people struggle on a daily basis, paying $20 here and there on their bills when they can afford to is so so common.
We both have reasonably paid jobs yet I have to watch every cent, never did back in the UK, wages v cost of living is a joke and the views dont pay my bills.....rant over!
We both have reasonably paid jobs yet I have to watch every cent, never did back in the UK, wages v cost of living is a joke and the views dont pay my bills.....rant over!
Have you experienced the $10 haircut brigade? It floors me every time I am at the hairdressers, when you get girls come to the counter and ask how much hair they can get cut for ten bucks. I never experienced women's hair salons that are no more than barbershops like they have here, just a cut on offer, no wash or blow dry just spritz of water or you get your dampened down and then kicked out with wet hair.
Honestly, I have never in my life seen or heard such poverty case as I have here.
Oct 27th 2011, 11:11 am
#64
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Re: NZ is so expensive
Living like we're expecting the blitz, stockpiling the likes of tins of tomatoes and getting excited when whooop de doo they're ONLY 99 cents a tin. (remembering they're 9 pence a tin in the UK).
They come from warmer climates....Italy/Spain etc......they cost 9p a tin because 65 million of us all club together and buy by the big boat load.....we get cheap tinned tomatoes but have to squeeze together to eat them. They will send them to you at 99 c because you only put in a small order.......
Move to Shanghai or Mumbai they are cheaper again......
Very soon we are forecast to reach a population of 72 million people.....how much a tin then BJ.............
Don't read the lines read between them.....
They come from warmer climates....Italy/Spain etc......they cost 9p a tin because 65 million of us all club together and buy by the big boat load.....we get cheap tinned tomatoes but have to squeeze together to eat them. They will send them to you at 99 c because you only put in a small order.......
Move to Shanghai or Mumbai they are cheaper again......
Very soon we are forecast to reach a population of 72 million people.....how much a tin then BJ.............
Don't read the lines read between them.....
http://http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=87959
Oct 27th 2011, 12:34 pm
#65
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,130
Re: NZ is so expensive
Or have a different set of values. If you value everything in GBP terms, both generally (as money) and specifically (as GBP as a currency), then you may never be happy outside the UK. Tesco's economies of scale on a population of 60M will NEVER apply to P&S in NZ with a pop of 4M and the lower density.
Amazes me that many come here quoting they value the lower population density as a draw, then bemoan facts of life here that are down to the very same lower population density....
Amazes me that many come here quoting they value the lower population density as a draw, then bemoan facts of life here that are down to the very same lower population density....
Oct 27th 2011, 1:41 pm
#66
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I buy goods from abroad, for instance Bicycle parts, which are 50% cheaper landed (including duty/shipping), and this was done with a population of two, 4 if you include the dogs. You are right in one way about the density thing though - you would have to be pretty thick to buy from some NZ shops.
Oct 27th 2011, 5:07 pm
#67
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Joined: Oct 2010
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Re: NZ is so expensive
hey u guys
why don't you change the name of this thread to DON,T MOVE TO NZ !!!!!!
I am a Ping pong pom my self ...... and am left wondering was I as negative about the place as some of you are??? Maybe I was ..... however I am 10 years older and wiser and having lived in NZ, OZ &UK for the last 28 years I am willing to take a chance on NZ !!!
Sorry if that upsets U doubting toms or is that Doubting poms !!
why don't you change the name of this thread to DON,T MOVE TO NZ !!!!!!
I am a Ping pong pom my self ...... and am left wondering was I as negative about the place as some of you are??? Maybe I was ..... however I am 10 years older and wiser and having lived in NZ, OZ &UK for the last 28 years I am willing to take a chance on NZ !!!
Sorry if that upsets U doubting toms or is that Doubting poms !!
Oct 27th 2011, 5:30 pm
#68
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Re: NZ is so expensive
more like the Kiwi "investment property" racket that seems to be the way to make money hand over fist at the expense of first home buyers, etc encouraged by tax loopholes that successive governments feel to weak to close
doubt that immigrants have shoved the prices up more than the land bankers, local planning authorities (who hold the area open for development tight so that land prices are kept hight) and developers who appear take the profit and vanish into the mist
the home-oweners who made all that dough on the property boom are now retirees or multiple home owners with enough family trusts to salt the money away
these and their advisers from property development/get rich quick/tax avoidance fiddles are who you should be blaming not the poor sops who came here and bought leaky homes, over-priced homes and other property. their effect was a drop in the ocean in comparison.
doubt that immigrants have shoved the prices up more than the land bankers, local planning authorities (who hold the area open for development tight so that land prices are kept hight) and developers who appear take the profit and vanish into the mist
the home-oweners who made all that dough on the property boom are now retirees or multiple home owners with enough family trusts to salt the money away
these and their advisers from property development/get rich quick/tax avoidance fiddles are who you should be blaming not the poor sops who came here and bought leaky homes, over-priced homes and other property. their effect was a drop in the ocean in comparison.
Oct 27th 2011, 5:50 pm
#69
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I buy goods from abroad, for instance Bicycle parts, which are 50% cheaper landed (including duty/shipping), and this was done with a population of two, 4 if you include the dogs. You are right in one way about the density thing though - you would have to be pretty thick to buy from some NZ shops.
Oct 27th 2011, 6:01 pm
#70
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Re: NZ is so expensive
This is why we pay more, they don't like competition here.
http://http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=87959
http://http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=87959
Oct 27th 2011, 6:53 pm
#71
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I think you will find that was is some of the sub text is about. Do not come here unless you have good equity or a good wage AND that you are aware of your outgoings V your income.
Oct 27th 2011, 8:19 pm
#72
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Re: NZ is so expensive
There aren't many of these successful expats I'm thinking of on this forum because a) they don't seem to define themselves as expats b) they're not internet forum hooked c) they're busy out there, enjoying the simpler lifestyle. There's lots of them but they're not so frequently found in the affluent little Britain pockets of NZ.
I often think my main gripes and unhappiness with NZ stem from a tendency to over analyse and also to be a bit negative- I'm quicker to draw conclusions that are negative than positive from experiences and information. Whereas my husband is the latter. So I might say to him "I'm so fed up with the cost of the groceries week in week out" and he might say "Oh I dunno, have you seen how cheap peppers and watermelons are at the moment- they're my favourite and I saved heaps on the petrol with the docket". And yes, he shops as often as I. He's ace
Worth noting he was also happier with life in Britain than I was. I'm not diminishing the 'issues' with life in NZ, but there's no denying that perception and subjective experience play a huge part in the extent to which those issues impact on us.
Oct 27th 2011, 9:35 pm
#73
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I don't entirely agree. I think there's another group of people who make living in NZ a success and they don't have equity or the BE definition of a "good wage", though they're probably better than many at budgeting. People who don't have a flash lifestyle in Britain and are genuinely looking for a simpler lifestyle. We get lots of folk on forums who profess they want a simpler more laid back lifestyle but after a few months here they start posting about the lack in the range of stuff, or how the kids here aren't 'wordly' or people here are unaware of European politics or this doesn't compare favourably or that doesn't. They seem to not realise that all those things are the other side of the coin of a 'simpler lifestyle' here in NZ.
There aren't many of these successful expats I'm thinking of on this forum because a) they don't seem to define themselves as expats b) they're not internet forum hooked c) they're busy out there, enjoying the simpler lifestyle. There's lots of them but they're not so frequently found in the affluent little Britain pockets of NZ.
I often think my main gripes and unhappiness with NZ stem from a tendency to over analyse and also to be a bit negative- I'm quicker to draw conclusions that are negative than positive from experiences and information. Whereas my husband is the latter. So I might say to him "I'm so fed up with the cost of the groceries week in week out" and he might say "Oh I dunno, have you seen how cheap peppers and watermelons are at the moment- they're my favourite and I saved heaps on the petrol with the docket". And yes, he shops as often as I. He's ace Worth noting he was also happier with life in Britain than I was.
I'm not diminishing the 'issues' with life in NZ, but there's no denying that perception and subjective experience play a huge part in the extent to which those issues impact on us.
There aren't many of these successful expats I'm thinking of on this forum because a) they don't seem to define themselves as expats b) they're not internet forum hooked c) they're busy out there, enjoying the simpler lifestyle. There's lots of them but they're not so frequently found in the affluent little Britain pockets of NZ.
I often think my main gripes and unhappiness with NZ stem from a tendency to over analyse and also to be a bit negative- I'm quicker to draw conclusions that are negative than positive from experiences and information. Whereas my husband is the latter. So I might say to him "I'm so fed up with the cost of the groceries week in week out" and he might say "Oh I dunno, have you seen how cheap peppers and watermelons are at the moment- they're my favourite and I saved heaps on the petrol with the docket". And yes, he shops as often as I. He's ace
Worth noting he was also happier with life in Britain than I was. I'm not diminishing the 'issues' with life in NZ, but there's no denying that perception and subjective experience play a huge part in the extent to which those issues impact on us.
Oct 27th 2011, 10:28 pm
#74
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Joined: Mar 2005
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Re: NZ is so expensive
I don't have a flash lifestyle by any means, never have, even when I had more money than here, but I'm struggling here as I have never been anywhere else. The prices are simply far too high for food, rents and housing. It's is third-world country with first-world prices. Foks don't come here to get rich but they don't come here to be struggling either, but that's what happens. And it happens becaue prices outstrip earnings.
Yes, there are some who have it very comfortable, particularly as was mentoned, the older kiwis who have several properties, rented out at overpriced rents to immigrants. Yes, there is much wealth around here, but it ain't going to the migrants that's for sure. Nowhere else in the world have I had to look constantly at the prices and watch the money like I do here - even when having a coffee. I noticed yesterday that muffins were $4.25 in one of the Milford cafes. They have to be joking!
Yes, there are some who have it very comfortable, particularly as was mentoned, the older kiwis who have several properties, rented out at overpriced rents to immigrants. Yes, there is much wealth around here, but it ain't going to the migrants that's for sure. Nowhere else in the world have I had to look constantly at the prices and watch the money like I do here - even when having a coffee. I noticed yesterday that muffins were $4.25 in one of the Milford cafes. They have to be joking!
Oct 27th 2011, 10:38 pm
#75
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Re: NZ is so expensive
As a born and raised kiwi, I find it sad to see how things have changed here regarding prices. I left these shores 24 years ago and in the first decade, when ever I came back I was the wealthy relation spending my £££ on $$$. Things started to change in the second decade where my £ started to buy less (even though the exchange rate was still $3 at that stage). Today prices are similar between London and Auckland in my own experience which shocks me.
Don't forget that prices are going up the world over, so I don't think NZ is alone in this. I don't understand the economic arguments but I think the current financial structures are to blame. Those of us who left the UK recently can report significant prices rises in the shops and in utilities. Giants like Tesco's can drive prices down to a degree but other retailers are suffering. In March this year I noticed that in shops like M&S the quality of the clothing had dropped and some of it looked more like the junk you buy at Primark, but not at Primark prices. In other words, it was more like here. Is this a trend?
Having said this, expats are hitting a double-whammy right now. High prices, low wages and a dreadful exchange rate - whoops that's a tripple whammy!
Don't forget that prices are going up the world over, so I don't think NZ is alone in this. I don't understand the economic arguments but I think the current financial structures are to blame. Those of us who left the UK recently can report significant prices rises in the shops and in utilities. Giants like Tesco's can drive prices down to a degree but other retailers are suffering. In March this year I noticed that in shops like M&S the quality of the clothing had dropped and some of it looked more like the junk you buy at Primark, but not at Primark prices. In other words, it was more like here. Is this a trend?
Having said this, expats are hitting a double-whammy right now. High prices, low wages and a dreadful exchange rate - whoops that's a tripple whammy!
