TommyLuck

A man after my own heart.

TommyLuck

Of course. Then you need to do this across the board, salary, car, bills, rates, etc, etc.


It turns out that our household income is in NZ is roughly the same in dollars as it was in GBP in the UK.

In the 5 and a bit months since I started work we've saved nearly $2 to every 1 GBP we saved in the UK and that included paying for an Xmas trip to Australia for Xmas in NZD's.

I'm not sure what I'm doing right (or wrong) but we're roughly putting away just as much on a 2:1 exchange rate here in Auckland as we did in the UK. And we own in Auckland instead of renting and own no properties in the UK.

To top of the comparison, my wife was working for DIA in London, now works for Immigration in Auckland. I work for the same company that I worked for in London in an extremely similar role - so we've both got comparable jobs.


The notable thing that's cheaper for us is childcare; we paid 50 GBP a day in London, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year (inc tax credits).

Here we pay roughly $40 a day, 5 days a week (inc. 20 hours free) But we don't pay at close down periods Xmas and public holidays.

Over a year we paid 10K GBP in London, here we will pay $13.5k a year.

The difference in weekly costs on childcare more than offsets the weekly food shop which is a tad more expensive in comparison to the UK.

I can't recall balking at the price of any given household or every day item that I HAD TO BUY as yet.

There is the odd seasonal food on sale that makes your eyes water. Cheese is also not only expensive, but of inferior quality. The simple solution to this is don't buy what you think is overpriced. Unless you have a cheese and or capsicum addiction, at which point I suggest a meeting with a counsellor and/or your bank manager.

Also, if you drink at home relatively often the price of alcohol is generally dearer per unit.

That said, drinking less booze and eating less cheese to penny pinch isn't the worst option health wise.

The only other cost for me that is notably more expensive in Auckland is my gym membership - $140 a month v. 52 GBP a month. But then I really like my gym here (have shared the gym floor with both SBW and Richie McCaw in recent weeks) and the extra more than makes up in value compared to my crappy full of posers gym in London.

jmh

I think when it comes to non-essentials (e.g. not food) you have to be more savvy about searching out sales and discounts. I think markups are bigger here but the sales are better. If you can hang on for that new washing machine or fridge you can pick up bargains.

I noticed someone else here saying that they had to learn to shop differently - I think there is some truth in that.

trafford

I have only been back in NZ for just over two weeks (after 16 years away), so the following are only early impressions.

I spend more at the supermarket. This is probably because I have had to do a lot of "big" shops because we needed everything. It is also due to teenagers wanting to try all the new junk foods, and me wanting to "buy them off" while they settle in.

I was surprised that furniture wasn't as expensive as expected. I bought two lovely sofa's (3 and 2 seater) from Freedom for $999. That is as cheap as ikea.

We need to do some remedial and renovation work on the house. Roller blinds were cheap - and surprisingly nice. We have priced up a replacement ensuite bathroom. The shower enclosure, shower mixer, shower heads and taps etc, large wall hung vanity with ceramic sink, floor and wall tiles, and mirror cabinet - all in will cost $2500.00 I spent three times that on one bloody bath in the UK (moment of madness which new owners will be enjoying very soon).

Tradesmen have been so friendly and helpful, and have given good work and reasonable costs.

Eating out is varied and delicious but costs more. Not horrendously however.

Fuel, electricity etc seems cheaper. I haven't had the first electric bill but I have done an estimate based on the previous occupant and comparisons with friends.

Insurances are cheaper but not as cheap as I expected them to be.

I was expecting to be more bothered by both the lack of choice and the cost of clothes here. I am a bit of a clothes addict and have spent many hours every week shopping in the UK - at Whistles, Reiss, Selfridges etc - not the cheapest of stores by any stretch of the imagination (though I love Zara which is good value). I say this with some embarrassment. Knowing that I needed to change my shopping habits even if I had stayed in the UK, I was worried that I wouldn't adapt. But here in NZ I have much less interest in what I am wearing. I don't know if that is just an initial reaction, and I may eventually be bothered by the restricted range, but for now there just seems to be less need for me to care too much about whether my clothes are up-to-date and at the leading edge of style

I think my early good impressions regarding cost of living etc is also down to my previous low expectations - that is before I arrived I expected everything to be much worse than it has been. I also did not factor in the life style adjustment that has occurred so quickly with me - with other returning kiwis this has not been the case. Perhaps it is too early to tell, but I remain cautiously optimistic.