Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven area
Aug 1st 2013, 9:20 am
#31
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Morning All - I have done a little spreadsheet comparing Tesco with Countdown on some of the foods we buy here, its not the most detailed but i have done what i can whilst the boss is out :-)
How can I upload my sheet for you??
Does anyone know for instance if you buy apples/ eggs etc from the farmers etc does it work out better value
How can I upload my sheet for you??
Does anyone know for instance if you buy apples/ eggs etc from the farmers etc does it work out better value
Aug 1st 2013, 9:22 am
#32
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Here is my Spreadsheet - enjoy
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe
and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe
and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903
Aug 1st 2013, 12:15 pm
#33
Nz
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Joined: Mar 2012
Location: Canterbury
Posts: 368
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Here is my Spreadsheet - enjoy
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903
Attachment 113354
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe
and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903Attachment 113354
i think its easy to think pounds when you look at dollars but my husband will be on 3 x as much in dollars than he is in lbs over here. which beats the exchange rate.
Aug 1st 2013, 12:21 pm
#34
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Thanks that doesnt seem too bad, as i said my husbands in agriculture and he knows a heap of farmers so veg and milk would be free
i think its easy to think pounds when you look at dollars but my husband will be on 3 x as much in dollars than he is in lbs over here. which beats the exchange rate.
i think its easy to think pounds when you look at dollars but my husband will be on 3 x as much in dollars than he is in lbs over here. which beats the exchange rate.
Aug 1st 2013, 12:25 pm
#35
Nz
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Joined: Mar 2012
Location: Canterbury
Posts: 368
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island
Hi
As another poster said what I write is not negative but my own account of how it has been/is for us...it's not quite as it was painted at the expo's we went to and after having done our 3 years research, which included my OH coming for a visit....at which time he did say living expenses seemed high!!
NZ has lots of hidden costs....that we didn't expect or get told or manage to find out about......paying to transfer ownership of cars, GST (like uk VAT) is added to household bills, food, veg, milk etc....you pay tax on every dollar you earn....these things don't seem like much until you start adding them up...
We are pretty average joe's, live quite a humble existence, we don't drink or smoke or have expensive taste & I cook from scratch....I have always juggled bills in both the UK & here. Saying that I feel ripped off having to pay 4 to 5 bucks for 2 litres of milk...$10 min for a block of cheese...$16 for a fresh chicken -when I first came here I could not get over that I would have to work nearly 1 hour to pay for a chicken
I frequent op shops/sales & TradeMe to buy clothes for us all...except for school uniforms....I have a school savings account for uniform & school fees- oh yes another hidden cost.
Rakaia & Methven will offer you the about the same as what I said about Geraldine.....Methven is a tourist town & priced accordingly...at least you may not have to pay rent so that will definitely be a bonus.
The Positives for me are: Cold Frosty Canterbury mornings that turn into the most fantastic sunny days...Milo....Working 5 mins from home......apprenticeships for kids in trades...10mins morning & afternoon tea breaks....driving up the road and seeing Mount Hutt in the distance.
We have lived in the same part of NZ for 8 years...We live in Ashburton, the diary farmers keep the towns businesses afloat...any issues with dairy farming & the town knows about it...
Will we stay??...If it wasn't for the ages & stages in life that are kids are at...then probably not.....NZ doesn't feel like home...it feels like the place where I live...its quite transient....people come and go in & out of your life, friends seem to move on....both Kiwi & one or two Brits we have met..but most of all I miss a sense of belonging...historical places...& having choices....
I would advise anyone contemplating on moving from the UK to consider other parts of the UK before leaving...We are from the SE of England, I would not go back there but up North, if/when I return.....
We have friends who have just gone back to the UK and they can't get over how cheap food is...compared to their income...its interesting hearing different peoples view points....
Basic living has gone up since we moved here as you would expect...but not everything has moved in the same way...the biggest shock for me recently was; I am looking to go back to work full time & I was offered a skilled accounting job but the wages were the same as what I earned in my first job here 8 years ago, I withdrew my application at that point.....I am hoping that was a one off....but I have heard similar stories....
Most people I know work a standard 40-50hours per week, but those in the farming industry work longer during busy times.
Don't know if you have looked into working in NZ Real Estate, but so you know agents need to be NZ Licenced with the REAA..you may find this link helpful....
http://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs/prop...-enter-the-job
Remember this is only my view point...I wish I had found this site before moving here, it would have been good to have got some real life experiences from real lifers before embarking on such a journey!
As another poster said what I write is not negative but my own account of how it has been/is for us...it's not quite as it was painted at the expo's we went to and after having done our 3 years research, which included my OH coming for a visit....at which time he did say living expenses seemed high!!
NZ has lots of hidden costs....that we didn't expect or get told or manage to find out about......paying to transfer ownership of cars, GST (like uk VAT) is added to household bills, food, veg, milk etc....you pay tax on every dollar you earn....these things don't seem like much until you start adding them up...
We are pretty average joe's, live quite a humble existence, we don't drink or smoke or have expensive taste & I cook from scratch....I have always juggled bills in both the UK & here. Saying that I feel ripped off having to pay 4 to 5 bucks for 2 litres of milk...$10 min for a block of cheese...$16 for a fresh chicken -when I first came here I could not get over that I would have to work nearly 1 hour to pay for a chicken
I frequent op shops/sales & TradeMe to buy clothes for us all...except for school uniforms....I have a school savings account for uniform & school fees- oh yes another hidden cost.
Rakaia & Methven will offer you the about the same as what I said about Geraldine.....Methven is a tourist town & priced accordingly...at least you may not have to pay rent so that will definitely be a bonus.
The Positives for me are: Cold Frosty Canterbury mornings that turn into the most fantastic sunny days...Milo....Working 5 mins from home......apprenticeships for kids in trades...10mins morning & afternoon tea breaks....driving up the road and seeing Mount Hutt in the distance.
We have lived in the same part of NZ for 8 years...We live in Ashburton, the diary farmers keep the towns businesses afloat...any issues with dairy farming & the town knows about it...
Will we stay??...If it wasn't for the ages & stages in life that are kids are at...then probably not.....NZ doesn't feel like home...it feels like the place where I live...its quite transient....people come and go in & out of your life, friends seem to move on....both Kiwi & one or two Brits we have met..but most of all I miss a sense of belonging...historical places...& having choices....
I would advise anyone contemplating on moving from the UK to consider other parts of the UK before leaving...We are from the SE of England, I would not go back there but up North, if/when I return.....
We have friends who have just gone back to the UK and they can't get over how cheap food is...compared to their income...its interesting hearing different peoples view points....
Basic living has gone up since we moved here as you would expect...but not everything has moved in the same way...the biggest shock for me recently was; I am looking to go back to work full time & I was offered a skilled accounting job but the wages were the same as what I earned in my first job here 8 years ago, I withdrew my application at that point.....I am hoping that was a one off....but I have heard similar stories....
Most people I know work a standard 40-50hours per week, but those in the farming industry work longer during busy times.
Don't know if you have looked into working in NZ Real Estate, but so you know agents need to be NZ Licenced with the REAA..you may find this link helpful....
http://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs/prop...-enter-the-job
Remember this is only my view point...I wish I had found this site before moving here, it would have been good to have got some real life experiences from real lifers before embarking on such a journey!
Thanks for your reply. I do find your posts v helpful. Its just 90% of people on here seem to find alot of faults with the place and hardly any reason to stay in NZ.
we have lived everywhere in UK. Ireland and Scotland. We have tried to settle for 6 years. Even had children and can't shake this feeling we are meant to move to NZ.
Don't get me wrong, if we cant survive on the wages when its added up , we won't be going cos at the end of the day you need heating, a roof over your head and food in your belly!
Last edited by BEVS; Aug 2nd 2013 at 1:54 am. Reason: Tidy up text speak.
Aug 1st 2013, 1:20 pm
#36
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2013
Location: Wellington, NZ
Posts: 62
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Here is my Spreadsheet - enjoy
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903
Attachment 113354
oh and FYI in tesco i used good brands not blue stripe
and i was using a very Optomistic exchange of 1.903Attachment 113354
Im just not sure if Pippa's assessment is really a NZ problem or a funds problem which would be similar anywhere in the "Western World".
Last edited by kodachrome; Aug 1st 2013 at 1:46 pm.
Aug 1st 2013, 1:41 pm
#37
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Aug 1st 2013, 3:50 pm
#38
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Location: Wellington, NZ
Posts: 62
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Here you are Attachment 113356
Attachment 113356http://freepdfhosting.com/3469f3261d.pdf
Results for this shopping basket, using Tesco vs your NZ prices:
Tesco UK: £95.08
Tesco Ireland: £108.82
NZ Price: £93.01
How correct are your NZ prices? The above would indicate that despite the complaints about the prices on groceries, the overall figure (there are swings both ways) is similar to the UK and about 10% cheaper than Ireland, which is a similarly populated island, but one that should be cheaper due to geo-proximity but isnt due to massive taxation (for one VAT/GST in Ireland is 23%), high alcohol duty and mineral oil duties, motor/road tax thats 10x (yes up to ten times) the price as in the UK etc.
PS: I am aware of the misleading nature however of comparing goods in different currencies and employment markets, to be more correct, local purchasing power would need to be factored.
Last edited by kodachrome; Aug 1st 2013 at 4:29 pm.
All that lovely formatting !
Aug 1st 2013, 5:24 pm
#40
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Thanks and updated, added Conditional formatting (3 colour, per line), added Tesco IE prices and converted back to GBP baseline. Made best guess per your notes on the product type (ie not Tesco Value unless no other option):
http://freepdfhosting.com/3469f3261d.pdf
Results for this shopping basket, using Tesco vs your NZ prices:
Tesco UK: £95.08
Tesco Ireland: £108.82
NZ Price: £93.01
How correct are your NZ prices? The above would indicate that despite the complaints about the prices on groceries, the overall figure (there are swings both ways) is similar to the UK and about 10% cheaper than Ireland, which is a similarly populated island, but one that should be cheaper due to geo-proximity but isnt due to massive taxation (for one VAT/GST in Ireland is 23%), high alcohol duty and mineral oil duties, motor/road tax thats 10x (yes up to ten times) the price as in the UK etc.
PS: I am aware of the misleading nature however of comparing goods in different currencies and employment markets, to be more correct, local purchasing power would need to be factored.
http://freepdfhosting.com/3469f3261d.pdf
Results for this shopping basket, using Tesco vs your NZ prices:
Tesco UK: £95.08
Tesco Ireland: £108.82
NZ Price: £93.01
How correct are your NZ prices? The above would indicate that despite the complaints about the prices on groceries, the overall figure (there are swings both ways) is similar to the UK and about 10% cheaper than Ireland, which is a similarly populated island, but one that should be cheaper due to geo-proximity but isnt due to massive taxation (for one VAT/GST in Ireland is 23%), high alcohol duty and mineral oil duties, motor/road tax thats 10x (yes up to ten times) the price as in the UK etc.
PS: I am aware of the misleading nature however of comparing goods in different currencies and employment markets, to be more correct, local purchasing power would need to be factored.
Aug 1st 2013, 9:01 pm
#41
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Joined: Nov 2010
Location: Was Auckland-NZ, Now Wales
Posts: 685
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
I have consistently said on this forum that food prices are almost identical, if not you get more for your money here in terms of fresh meat and fresh stuff. The UK has way too much frozen pre-packaged crap.
Excellent analysis on prices.
To give you an idea, our fortnightly shop in Morrisons (2011) was always around 120-130 quid. Here our fornightly food shop is around $230-250.
We only shop at Countdown (their own brand stuff seems quite good compared to PnS).
Excellent analysis on prices.
To give you an idea, our fortnightly shop in Morrisons (2011) was always around 120-130 quid. Here our fornightly food shop is around $230-250.
We only shop at Countdown (their own brand stuff seems quite good compared to PnS).
Last edited by davros1984; Aug 1st 2013 at 9:12 pm.
Aug 1st 2013, 9:12 pm
#42
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Joined: Jul 2013
Location: durham, durham, England
Posts: 730
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
Good idea (and surprising result), but probably easier to view if you equalise the currency used in both columns (ie all item prices converted to either GBP or NZD), its hard to do direct comparisons per item (just the total list) the way it is. If you share the file, Ill add in Irish Tesco prices just for curiosities sake.
Yeah but NZD $48k is not even £25k, which is £6k below the average UK salary... how "enjoyable" is trying to get by (while supporting 2 others, without family aid and support) in the UK on such an income? Not very I would suspect, but I can confirm supporting 3 or 2 people (even 1 tbh) in Ireland on (a converted) EUR28k would be impossible as its cost to live is higher than the UKs, unless you were on a social housing and heating scheme (which may not be that easy with a "steady job"). Even then, a miserable existence here.
Im just not sure if Pippa's assessment is really a NZ problem or a funds problem which would be similar anywhere in the "Western World".
Yeah but NZD $48k is not even £25k, which is £6k below the average UK salary... how "enjoyable" is trying to get by (while supporting 2 others, without family aid and support) in the UK on such an income? Not very I would suspect, but I can confirm supporting 3 or 2 people (even 1 tbh) in Ireland on (a converted) EUR28k would be impossible as its cost to live is higher than the UKs, unless you were on a social housing and heating scheme (which may not be that easy with a "steady job"). Even then, a miserable existence here.
Im just not sure if Pippa's assessment is really a NZ problem or a funds problem which would be similar anywhere in the "Western World".
My husband earned £24'000 at home in the uk. We had our own house ( which we still have thank god). I worked part-time as I have started to now. We managed really well and saved each month. I never worried about buying my daughter a uniform for nursery. I went to asda for mine. Here you can only visit the uniform shop. I didn't walk around the supermarket buying things because they were cheap. We ate good healthy foods with lots of treats too.
I do see your point about my problems being financial. When you want to emigrate you tend to look at the good things the country has to offer. This country has lots to offer. You only really see the bad side when you get here. Wish I'd seen this forum before I came.
It is not my intention to speak negatively about NZ all of the time. I just worry about people coming here who thought like I did! (There may be none)
Aug 1st 2013, 9:26 pm
#43
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Joined: Jul 2013
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 102
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island - Methven ar
I agree Pippalonghorn - it is not being negative - it is just trying to give a true picture. Our first few months were really quite miserable due to hold-ups with pay and consequent grinding poverty! And it isn't any fun at all. I also think that, had we been that poor in the UK, it wouldn't have been a problem as we had neighbours, family, friends who would lend us stuff and help us out, as we had done for them. It is perhaps poverty and isolation and not having a support network that combines to make it so hard. And add to that all the costs of getting here, which deplete your savings too... yes, better to be warned about this than to do what we did and arrive and suffer!
Aug 1st 2013, 9:30 pm
#44
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Joined: Nov 2010
Location: Was Auckland-NZ, Now Wales
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Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island
I do love NZ, I could quite happily spend many years here. However, with my desire to buy a house and start a family, I no longer feel that this place is viable (even on a really good salary). I love my job and I really enjoy going to work. I'm also hugely into rugby, so its definitely a great place to be. The climate up here in Auckland is a bonus as well, 16-17 degrees in the winter is just lovely.
What you've said about the UK is bang on. London is an overpopulated hole, along with a vast majority of the South East. I would also strongly advise people thinking of coming to NZ to look elsewhere in the UK first (or even parts of Europe). NZ is just too expensive now to buy a house and start a family (certainly in Auckland, CHCH and possibly WLG). Sure you can live elsewhere in NZ - but thats where the vast majority of jobs are.
For those who don't believe me... this is an email I've had from a real estate agent this morning. Look at the section on recent sales. The 2-bedder in Forest Hill at $510K is a JOKE, also so is the 51A Aeroview Drive Property (which I went and looked at) that sold for $610,000. Its CV was $390K!
http://emailcb.com/rv/ff003f55f142ba...48bfd81dc7f439
Aug 1st 2013, 9:54 pm
#45
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Joined: Mar 2013
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 215
Re: Realistically what wages can you survive on in Nz(rural)south island
I love your posts and those of pippalonghorn. I finally feel that there are others on here who see how ridiculous the situation here really is.
I do love NZ, I could quite happily spend many years here. However, with my desire to buy a house and start a family, I no longer feel that this place is viable (even on a really good salary). I love my job and I really enjoy going to work. I'm also hugely into rugby, so its definitely a great place to be. The climate up here in Auckland is a bonus as well, 16-17 degrees in the winter is just lovely.
What you've said about the UK is bang on. London is an overpopulated hole, along with a vast majority of the South East. I would also strongly advise people thinking of coming to NZ to look elsewhere in the UK first (or even parts of Europe). NZ is just too expensive now to buy a house and start a family (certainly in Auckland, CHCH and possibly WLG). Sure you can live elsewhere in NZ - but thats where the vast majority of jobs are.
For those who don't believe me... this is an email I've had from a real estate agent this morning. Look at the section on recent sales. The 2-bedder in Forest Hill at $510K is a JOKE, also so is the 51A Aeroview Drive Property (which I went and looked at) that sold for $610,000. Its CV was $390K!
http://emailcb.com/rv/ff003f55f142ba...48bfd81dc7f439
I do love NZ, I could quite happily spend many years here. However, with my desire to buy a house and start a family, I no longer feel that this place is viable (even on a really good salary). I love my job and I really enjoy going to work. I'm also hugely into rugby, so its definitely a great place to be. The climate up here in Auckland is a bonus as well, 16-17 degrees in the winter is just lovely.
What you've said about the UK is bang on. London is an overpopulated hole, along with a vast majority of the South East. I would also strongly advise people thinking of coming to NZ to look elsewhere in the UK first (or even parts of Europe). NZ is just too expensive now to buy a house and start a family (certainly in Auckland, CHCH and possibly WLG). Sure you can live elsewhere in NZ - but thats where the vast majority of jobs are.
For those who don't believe me... this is an email I've had from a real estate agent this morning. Look at the section on recent sales. The 2-bedder in Forest Hill at $510K is a JOKE, also so is the 51A Aeroview Drive Property (which I went and looked at) that sold for $610,000. Its CV was $390K!
http://emailcb.com/rv/ff003f55f142ba...48bfd81dc7f439
