Originally Posted by jjennings

I earn less than half of what I did in the UK (different job) and so does my missus but we are not going to starve. The difference is that we are now happy and can enjoy our spare time in this beautiful country :)

Originally Posted by Debs70

You see, it's different for everyone. We earn 3 times what we earnt in NZ and fully appreciate that money. we have pensions and a holiday for 2 weeks booked for Sat, on our NZ salary we could barely eat!! I am not joking!! I lived off cream crackers to fill my stomach cos we were so poor. We had never been through this in the UK but once earning a measly $36K we were in dire waters salary wise with 2 kids.

Very glad to hear you earn 50% less and have a better quality of life, that's what all the brits go there for.. .unfortunately, some of them (like us.. with kids) end up coming home very disilusioned and feeling conned. :(

Originally Posted by jjennings

We don't have kids (the missus says that one kid, me, is more than enough :D ) but even so would struggle to manage on $36k so understand why it didn't work out for you. I work for an Oz company so they also pay 9% into a pension fund (VERY rare in NZ). But don't get me started on holidays...... when I started work at the age of 16 in 1978 as a trainee university technician my holiday entitlement was 26 days - here I get 15!!

Cheers,
John

Originally Posted by sky

Yes check your contracts are water tight!
You don't seem to have the same rights here at all.

Originally Posted by Rascal

No even when they illegally cut your salary from what is on the contract!

It IS illegal, but try to take it further and you will see what I mean if it happens to you..........you will NEVER get work again if you dare take a NZ company to court.......they stick together! You wont get a good reference and quite often, lies will be told about you to prevent you from working for anyone........
And yes, we have been a victim to this and No it isn't an isolated case.......

Nothing is water tight here eh Sky?

Originally Posted by NZ Climber

Grrrrrrrrr, I hate it when people say that. You're wrong. It isn't cheaper. It's cheaper if you are spending pounds but not if you are earning dollars. let me lay it out for you. Taking your examples above, earning dollars and paying dollars is the rough EQUIVALENT of you earning pounds in the UK and paying the following:

Petrol: GBP1.40 per litre
Cigarettes: GBP10.00 or so per pack (not sure exactly as I don't smoke but I think that's roughly the price)
Wine: GBP6.00 a bottle (that's basically the cheapest bottle you can buy here)
Car insurance: GBP110 for third party only. No fire, no theft. Fancy paying that for third party only in the UK? No?

And some others:

CD: GBP30.00
DVD: GBP30.00
Books: GBP25.00 for a paperback, GBP40.00 or more for a hardback.
Line rental alone for a telephone: GBP42 a month
Internet: DIAL-UP = GBP10 per month, Broadband: GBP30.00 for 128k (which is not broadband but they call it broadband). Actual broadband (1MBit/s): GBP70 per month or more (and it's capped).

Basically, due to the nanny state:

Anything considered good for you (like fruit and veg) or a staple food (like pie): dirt cheap.
Anything considered a luxury: Fekking expensive.

Oh, and as you can see from the broadband example, be prepared to go back to the frigging stone age...

Actually, i've just reread this and realised i've made a bit of a booboo, divide all the above by 2 to get the real equivalent (considering that i earned GBP35k in the UK and earn $70k here). Still, the fact remains that not everything is cheaper here.

BUT, like many others have said, having the pros pretty much outweigh the cons.

Originally Posted by Rascal

Yeh have to add for what its worth......

When I started my first job after leaving school, bought my first house and money was tight then, but I managed.
Years later I worked my way up to a huge house, good lifestyle, holidays, new cars and basically had whatever money could buy within reason!

Since coming here however, I have to say, that my financial status is now back to where it was when I bought my first house. That was in the mid 70's.

Its just like being back to those old times agian except this time I have a family to support, so its actually harder.

I wouldn't make the move here again if I knew it was going to be this tough.
Then I was younger and had more energy to get by and work hard.......not as easy as you get older.

But..............too late for me.

Originally Posted by jjennings

I earn less than half of what I did in the UK (different job) and so does my missus but we are not going to starve. The difference is that we are now happy and can enjoy our spare time in this beautiful country :)

Cheers,
John