Trish M

Hi everyone,

I'm only a newbie here but I've been through all the stuff on the forum. There's so much stuff about the cost of living being higher than the uk, when you equate it to the lower wage in NZ.

I qualify as a nurse in August and hope to move over when I have at least a years work experience.
I'm a single mum, so there will only be one wage coming in. I'm worried that I won't have enough money to live on. I will have to sell my house, a huge obstacle in the present housing market but when/if it does eventually sell there will be enough for a decent deposit that I want to keep in the uk until exchange rates improve.

Can people give an indication of how much my bills will be if I rent a 2 bedroom place? How much is fuel, water, insurance, telephone and broadband? Are there other costs different to the UK?

I will be staying with my brother & his family at first (Zara's Dad) but obviously I can't stay there forever.

I know it might seem a bit early to be planning but I need to be prepared!

drrobert

You'd be able to live on a single salary, it's a question of how well you could live. You might be eligible for Working For Families, which would reduce your tax burden - this could make a big difference to your income, so it's worth checking whether you'd be eligible as a new immigrant from the UK.

Rent varies tremendously - Auckland and Wellington are the most expensive. Check out www.trademe.co.nz for examples of rent costs in the places you might want to live. I knew a single mother nurse in central Wellington who managed fine (with the help of Working for Families), but she didn't have much spare income left over for travel etc.

As for other costs:

Fuel: $60-$80 per tank of petrol for a smallish car
Electricity & gas: $150/month in summer, $250/month in winter
Telephone: $50/month for a landline
Internet: $50/month (limited to a couple of Gb/month)
Water: free if you're renting (it's included in the rates, which the landlord pays)
Insurance: $500/year for fully-comp car insurance (NB: car insurance is not obligatory); $400/year for contents

Genesis

Those of us with GBPs have to be realistic about the future..I think talk of 'when the pound gets better' maybe madly optimistic. We have quite a bit of money in the UK now so we are in the same boat. I really do believe the good old days of $2.50 have gone.

We are in the dawn of a new era money wise..or so it seems from all the talk and hype about the euro melt down. I doubt the pound will never be strong again, well not for many, many years if ever. There does not appear to be one iota of hope for the latter in the near future. I think we will all have to significantly down value our expectations in relation to what we think we will be able to convert our pounds into kiwi $ wise. 2nd point. You will find a nurses wage hard to live on if you are a single parent. I could be done but it will be hard. You will be able to apply for Family Tax credits when you have PR and have been in the country a certain amount of months. This will really help your budget.

crap coffee

(If you are really desperate then) you can use a dial up connection, $10/month as long as you don't watch video/downloads stuff for fun. the speed is actually pretty good.

zaras dad

Fuel - A 50 litre tank works out about $92. This usually lasts us about 2 weeks
Electricity (no gas) - our bill last month was $81 and in winter went up to about $170 max. I was careful
Internet - Telecom plans go 3GB,10GB and unlimited and cost from $39.95 per month upto $69.95. Dial up is also an option making it much cheaper
Insurance - as above says its not compulsary. We paid about $250 for 3rd party,fire and theft. Contents were about $300

2 bedroom places start at around $270 pw on North Shore and obviously go up depending on the area.

The other avenue you could go down (once you've had enough of us) is house sharing. Either buying your own place and get a lodger or 2, or rent a place with someone and split it, making it far more affordable. Thats what we did when we lived on sylvan ave initially.

I don't think you'll have too much to worry about Trish - you're cut from the same cloth ;-)

Trish M

Thanks everyone. I've completed one of those budget planners and I think I'll be ok but I'll definitely have to stick to a tight budget. No frivolous spending for me!

As my brother said, we're cut from the same cloth ie with regards to finances anyway!

Browner_

If I were you, Id think about why you want to come over and join NZ's poor, there are plenty of them already. Is it a place you really want to be if you are penny pinching, how you ever gonna escape for a holiday or return to the UK?

welshstevey

Dont forget the high cost of food shopping in NZ V UK....

concretepump

we cant escape the uk for a hoilday so whats the diffrence, its not about money its about the life style,

lapsed kiwi

Personally, I'd rather be poor in NZ than UK. There is a lot more stuff to do for free - or very nearly so - here than there. eg fishing, walking on the beautiul beaches, surfing, playing sport in decent weather. Even holidays can be very cheap here - all you need is petrol and a few bucks a night to camp in DOC sites

sirplug

You can't claim any benefits for the first 12 months..............

pestman

Dont take much notice of the above downer sorry browner post.

As a single mum you will be just fine as a nurse. The job is a good one and the wage will increase each year as you move up the wage scale.

You have the suppourt of the family here which makes a huge difference.

As a mum you will be doing the right thing for your child giving him/her the dual citizenship that will open up the world to them when they grow up and face their choices.

Starting off here as you will be the cost of living and such will be all relevant to what you get used to and again the wage will be a good one.

I would ask more about how/who will look after your child? as with the nursing job i guess hours will vary.

go for it as heck as a nurse once here you could do the agency thing and earn in aussie or even go back to the UK knowing a job will be there to.

good luck and well done having the guts to give it a try.

Trish M

I've read all the negative stuff and it still hasn't put me off! I know that I'll be ok. I'm very good with money because even though I'm still a student nurse, I'm still managing to save a bit every month. I've some savings plus I will sell my house.

As for childcare, my sister-in-law works 9 to 5 and my brother is currently house husband and looking for a job or may be returning to study himself. They'll look after my daughter when I work unsocial hours and I'll help them out when they need it too.

I just need to get a job here first, that's the difficult bit!

pricklykina

You'll be on the shore so rent will be less than auckland central. You need to make sure that you get a job at north shore hospital to cut down on your travellling time too.

Schools on the shore are higher decile than some other parts of auckland so "donations" will be higher.
But you can get second hand uniforms and remember that donations are just that, no matter what people tell you otherwise.
We have single mums here and they are doing OK!
Nurses earn a reasonable amount. I think that they start at around 45k.
And you'll be able to save while your staying with your brother. Maybe bring some of your capital over so that you can afford to set up a house. There's no point waiting for the exchange rate to go up while you're eating of orange boxes and plastic plates.

No one really has a clue what will happen with the pound/dollar so you could be waiting a long time for change.

tonydu

Hi, Just thought I would tell you a few things on how we are getting on. My husband works 12 hours a day 60+ hours a week and the wages are very low. I have been out of work since December I just can't get a job. We are really finding it hard to just live on his wages and we dont go out drinking or for meals, but I do believe we live such a better life even though we have left our son and the rest of our family back in the UK. My husband would tell you different, me thinks!!
We live in Wakefield which is in Nelson on the south Island, well anyway we rent a two bedroom very small house but big enough for us three. Our bills are as follows
RENT: $270
HOUSE PHONE: $27
MOBY: $10
GAS BOTTLE: $20
ELECT:$25
PETROL FOR A SWIFT SMALL CAR: $50
SHOPPING $200-280 if you have people come round.
HOUSE INC: $4.67
CAR INC: $5.21
CAR SERVICE: $10
husband fags: $80
Daughters pocket money: $20 she pays for her moby out of this as well
some of these bills you can't pay each week but I have broken it down so you can see if you will be able to get by your wages. You will also have things like cleaning your rented carpets, tyres on car etc. Husband also has a motor bike so he has to pay the cost towards that as well. Also the clothes are really expencive so that has to come out of the budget. hope this helps good luck.