Pom_Chch

OK, my partner and I have a similar combined income and pay the same amount of rent as you. We have managed to save $40,000 in the past year. This is as well as paying for one off payments such as perm residency visa, new bikes, surround sound, bed, a couple of weekends away etc, which probably equates to a few thousand dollars.

I have a genuine question - do you feel your daughter costs you $40k per year? If you don't feel your child costs you this much then I can't understand how you have no disposable income unless kids are an awful lot more expensive than I realize!

vetnurse1

Well good for you.

Do you think it would be a good move for Chippy? 45k in Chch with two young children and a wife who possibly only wants to work part time? I wasn't asking for a personal financial analysis, just trying to be realistic about costs here. There has to be a benefit to moving the other side of the world apart from fresh air and scenery and I don't think I would risk it, knowing what I know now, for the salary on offer.

BEVS

Vetnurse does not pay rent. She has a mortgage .
Someone who owns a house has rates to pay for starters + house insurance + repairs and renewals + possibly insurance. Owning a house can be a sinkhole for money . Kids do cost a lot of money , even before pre-school and school.


Free heating.

Bo-Jangles

More to the point, if the boot were on the other foot and you were only earning half of what you do, could you afford to keep two seven year olds, buy new bikes and beds and have weekends away?

Chippy Giles

LOL done the living in a tent for a year to save money in the past, don't want to do it again with my kids, there were plenty of people who were at the time though!
Bevs it was $30 p/h which i thought was pretty good based one what some of the other trades on here had been offered.

Yes needs to be ChCh for the shortages list + thats where the job offers were.

I just can't get my head around how other families are managing to get along and pay a mortgage or rent, am assuming not everybody secretly works in mega well paid jobs

Purrball

The current annual median household income in New Zealand is NZ$70,180. Average (mean) income is higher, but that's skewed by a small proportion of high earners. So most people's households are bringing in around 65-75k.

Ancedotally, thinking of a range of maybe a couple of dozen households, all friends and family in New Zealand, all couples from about ages 30-55, not one family I know is making ends meet on a single income. All the mothers work, even it's just part-time or from home in a range of occupations ranging from senior positions in business right across to those who are teachers, work in childcare, admin, clothes-making, shop work and in a couple of cases, graphic design and other crafts, and in one instance, running an occasional B&B. Financially, those I know who are doing the best are those who have built up their own businesses over many years, or have relatively senior positions within the creative industries, IT within the banking sector, media or government agencies... and have no children.

However, those at the bottom end of the scale I know are not sleeping in tents... but in some cases, they've inherited property and are mortgage-free or they're in small state houses. They also employ a range of shopping and make and mend strategies to keep their heads above water: buying second-hand, ferreting around charity shops, repairing or making their own clothes, growing veggies, homebaking and preserve making, buying from roadside stands, flipping things on TradeMe etc. They cut a lot of corners too, using electric blankets to sit on instead of heating the house or thinking twice about going to doctors and dentists. In some cases, the kids work too, doing paper-rounds or in supermarkets to bring in a few more dollars for the family. Knowing where, how and when to shop is one of those things that local knowledge seems crucial for, as well as possessing skills that can save you money somewhere in the household budget.

Chippy Giles, as an immigrant family with kids on a single wage of about $60k, without the savvy of local knowledge and family and friend networks, the learning curve and adjustments may be a little steep, probably outweighing the good things that New Zealand has to offer.

M_and_M

I know it's not quite the same because I live in Invercargill which isn't as expensive but I have done a price comparison of living costs as I get asked that a lot.

http://ryding2nz.com/useful-links/co...ng-comparison/

bearskin

Hi there.

The mains gas that doesn't exist in NZ? We're on that - also use it for water heating via a glorified combo boiler.

Mark Smith

We are also DINKS like Pom_Chch and the answer to that from us is a big NO.

The Weezer

I've observed the same. I noticed that New Zealanders that get by on small or single incomes have financial support of family in some way. Also, the families I'm thinking of usually limit family entertainment to free things, like the beach. Problem is the sun is so strong you really don't want to be out for really long periods of time. You can go for walks, but most children don't want to walk all day on the weekends, and if it rains, you're stuck. You can always go to the museum, but again, children won't want to do that all the time. My New Zealand family, at least the younger ones with children, don't do much exploring, because petrol is expensive (also not everyone is keen to explore, which I find hard to understand). They tend to stay fairly close to home. Do their children get bored? Absolutely. But that's where the Kiwi "harden up" attitude comes in. This attitude does wonders for when children complain of the cold, or demur at the monotonous diet, or want to take a warm shower that lasts longer than 1 minute in the winter in their largely unheated home. By the time these children become teens they've probably grown quite used to it. Some of them might even hold it as a proud badge of their Kiwi-ness.

If you're not used to it, finding ways of making due must be a such a burden, and tiring. I think it is even if you are used to it. I don't get the impression my New Zealand family find their relative poverty in any way ultimately satisfying. I don't think they delight in the fact that they don't have the money to indulge but rarely in simple pleasures, like eating a meal in a restaurant or going to the cinema. The children, too, I think suffer a bit, in their uncomfortable lives. But being children, it's harder to tell with them since they're often laughing and playing. But scratch the surface a bit and you get a different picture.

Also, I think young New Zealand families are willing to accept a considerable amount of personal debt to get by. In a way they must, as the price of housing and goods has risen enormously compared to salaries and compared to how it was for the older generations.

Tom1983

We bring in less than $100k a year combined salary and we struggle...

Nursery a lone costs us $12,000 a year approximately for our wee boy.
Then there's clothes (if there was a growth stopper, i'd get one), nappies, food, milk etc, they are expensive to look after

I would easily say for just one kid, he costs us at least $16-$20,000 over the whole year.

All the mums and dads we know both work. The lucky thing for one family friends is that dad works from home. However, that's changed so their little one has started nursery

Infact I don't know of anyone with kids that one parent is a stay at homer.

BEVS

You've reminded me of doing very similar hard yards to save. Mr BEVS once spent two weeks living in his van whilst on 24 hr call in order to save the rest of a deposit for his flat. Those were the days. Fond memories funnily enough.

It is a good trade rate IMHO. Is it full-time long term ?

Yes. ChCh is your place to start as the certain job offer is there and you could go straight for residency. After that you would be able to look elsewhere in the country , although you know as well as I do that the shortage for tradesmen is not at all what it was.

I think, but do not know, that the rent may be the killer. The trade rate is a good one but on that alone and with the kids , you will likely find yourselves at a subsistance level . Could you endure that with the hope that you could perhaps move on from that with time.

I'd love to see you come to NZ ChippyGiles. I know how much you have wanted this.

More cheeky questions as I can't remember.

Have you dosh to bring over?
Would your wife think to work?

Tom1983 is better placed to say if nursery costs balance out net income from a p/t job.

pippalonghorn

Were on a combined income of just over $50,000. We live in Auckland. We may look like a very happy family on the outside but it can be bloody miserable on the inside at times. Its not good and not worth travelling around the world for.

Think really hard before you make the move. Some families are happy living like we do but it doesnt work for everyone, not us either.

gina and danny

Hahaha, pom_chc, you obviously haven't been around many teens!!
I would say that if I was to go through our accounts for the year and single out everything that has gone on our 14 year old alone( boy, huge growth spurts, very sporty, good school etc) then yes easily it would come up to a lot of $$$$$,
We also have a three year old that isn't as expensive( yet) !!
Oh and I forgot $8000 for braces this year to come, ouch.
I don't know how parents cope that have kids that are like two years apart.
Honestly speaking it isn't fair to encourage people that are gonna struggle ( this isn't at pom by the way) when they get here

Tom1983

Word of advice, given the ludicrous rip off rental market here... you may be back living in a tent agian. Unless your happy to live in a tiny one bedroom apartment/studio.

I don't know about others but for my response - it's done through work and buga all social life. Wife and I work very long hours just so that we can afford bills and put food and clothing in front of our boy. I'm hoping things will get easier once we're in a new house in a town where the activities we love doing are within walking distance and not relying on the car so much. Also, in a double glazed proper insulated building - resulting in less usage of electricity. When i do my update, you'll see we've had nothing but bad luck since arrival but still believe we have a bright future ahead *hopefully*