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>> Will you be able to make ends meet in New Zealand?
>> The ENZ Cost of Living Calculator © (below) will show you approximately the annual salary you require for the lifestyle you want.
Your House
First you need an idea of the weekly rent (or mortgage) you'll be paying in New Zealand. Perhaps you are one of the fortunate few who will pay zero because you are bringing enough money to buy a house in NZ outright. Rents/Mortgages can vary enormously depending on where you live and the type of house you live in.
>> Find typical weekly rents in different suburbs and towns here
>> Find average house prices here
>> Use the mortgage calculator (opens in pop-up window)
to figure out your mortgage costs.
Done that? Good. Now we can move on to look at the costs of running your household.
Living Costs
We're going to consider the living costs for an 'average' family consisting of two adults and two school-aged children. You'll need to adjust these costs depending on your personal circumstances.
Frugal Lifestyle: Basic living with few treats or entertainment. Quite happy to buy cheap and second-hand goods; runs a cheap car that travels around 5000 miles (8,000 km) each year.
Modest Lifestyle: Lives reasonably well but no extravagance - some wine each week - some takeaway food - above average house in good area - a good quality, Japanese family car, bought second-hand that travels around 10,000 miles (16,000 km) each year
Good Living: Very nice house in above average area, two good quality cars bought new and replaced every 3 years, nice food, a glass or two of wine with most evening meals. Not a millionaire lifestyle, but probably within the top 10 percent of lifestyles for New Zealand.
Personal Estimate - Enter your weekly living costs in the table below. You can use a "frugal", "modest" or "good living" value OR enter a value of your own.
Mix and match where appropriate. Some people are
quite happy to be frugal as regards motoring while spending more than our "good living" allowance on food, wine and entertaining. Other people do the
opposite. You will know better than anyone else the sort of purchases you are reluctant to
spend much money on and the sort that you just love to splash out on. Some items near the bottom
of the table we've left for your own estimate based on your personal lifestyle.
The Calculator
| Outgoings | Weekly Costs For Lifestyle | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frugal | Modest | Good Living | Personal Estimate | |
| Weekly rent or mortgage | $0 | |||
| Food | $175 | $275 | $375 | |
| Other Supermarket Purchases | $15 | $25 | $40 | |
| House Maintenance | $15 | $20 | $30 | |
| Clothing | $25 | $45 | $90 | |
| Car WOF / Maintenance / Fuel | $30 | $65 | $115 | |
| Public Transport | $0 | $20 | $0 | |
| House Insurance | $5 | $6 | $7 | |
| House Contents Insurance | $2 | $4 | $6 | |
| Car Insurance | $3 | $5 | $14 | |
| Internet | $2 | $10 | $15 | |
| Telephone Local and National | $10 | $12 | $15 | |
| Telephone International | $1 | $7 | $14 | |
| Mobile Phone | $0 | |||
| Council Rates | $30 | $40 | $60 | |
| Electricity / Heating | $30 | $40 | $55 | |
| Small Medical Costs / Pharmacist / Dentist for Family In Good Health | $10 | $13 | $20 | |
| Misc / Entertainment / Children's Treats | $25 | $55 | $130 | |
| Money put aside to Replace Major Items Such as Cars / Furnishings / White Goods | $40 | $75 | $250 | |
| Tobacco (About $10 per pack of 20) | $0 | |||
| Holidays | $0 | |||
| Christmas | $0 | |||
| Childcare - full-time in a good pre-school costs around $180-$220 per week. | $0 | |||
| Saving / Investing / Pension Provision | $0 | |||
| Medical Insurance. Accident and emergency care are free for everyone. 70% of Kiwis have no medical insurance. | $0 | |||
|
Total Calculated Weekly Costs |
||||
So, you've now got an estimate of your weekly cash needs in New Zealand.
You'll need to earn more than this, because the government will tax you.
Input your total weekly costs in the box below and press The Gross Annual Income I Need Is.... (You might want to adjust your weekly costs above for any personal circumstances we haven't covered.)
The calculator will apply current income-tax rates to your weekly living costs and tell you the gross annual wage you need.