[Rich]

We would really like some help to work out if we can afford to live comfortably. I have been offered a job on $120K, and that will be the only income for the forseeable time. We are looking at moving to the Howick/Mellons Bay/Eastern Beach area. For the first couple of years we thought we would rent a four bedroom house - looking on the web prices seem to be about $580 per week

As well as rent we are going to have to buy a family sized car and a run around etc which will all need to come out of the salary as we will not be bringing any capital with us as we will be renting out our house in the UK (the rental income will not add anything significant to our overall income but will cover our mortgage OK)

We have three children and obviously don't want to make the huge move for them if it means we are really struggling.

One other things we can't get our heads around are school years - could you help us and tell us what school years they fall into! Our oldest is 11 (Aug 95), the next is 8 (Jan 99) and the little one is 4 (Feb 03)

Thanks!!

[Trigirl]

live comfortably means different things to different people - but here's some figures to help you decide.

$120k will give you roughly $1550 a week. i assume by pay for cars out of salary you mean take out a personal loan. a $30k personal loan paid back over 3 years will cost you $265 a week. food is very dependent on whether you are "fresh food, cook from scratch every night" type of people or not. if you are its not too expensive - but bet on at least $350 a week for 5 of you. if you eat a lot of processed food it could be a lot more.

you need to think about car insurance, contents insurance, tv, phone, internet, medical bills, clothes, school fees, petrol, car maintenance, electricity and gas etc etc. if you are intending to come long term you need to think about holidays and savings. there is lots of info available on here - take a look at avalon's money thread as a good start.

[Lisa&Andy]

We would really like some help to work out if we can afford to live comfortably. I have been offered a job on $120K, and that will be the only income for the forseeable time. We are looking at moving to the Howick/Mellons Bay/Eastern Beach area. For the first couple of years we thought we would rent a four bedroom house - looking on the web prices seem to be about $580 per week

As well as rent we are going to have to buy a family sized car and a run around etc which will all need to come out of the salary as we will not be bringing any capital with us as we will be renting out our house in the UK (the rental income will not add anything significant to our overall income but will cover our mortgage OK)

We have three children and obviously don't want to make the huge move for them if it means we are really struggling.



One other things we can't get our heads around are school years - could you help us and tell us what school years they fall into! Our oldest is 11 (Aug 95), the next is 8 (Jan 99) and the little one is 4 (Feb 03)

Thanks!!

Hi

I can't help with the money question! If you want to learn more about the NZ education system try this site: www.minedu.govt.nz/ You might have to navigate your way around to find what you are looking for ;)

Hope this helps

Lisa x

[gil]

We would really like some help to work out if we can afford to live comfortably. I have been offered a job on $120K, and that will be the only income for the forseeable time. We are looking at moving to the Howick/Mellons Bay/Eastern Beach area. For the first couple of years we thought we would rent a four bedroom house - looking on the web prices seem to be about $580 per week

Rich, we are here renting in Eastern Beach and have just bought around the corner, technically Bucklands Beach. Rentals for 4 beds are a bit higher than that, depending on condition and exact location. Ours was out up to $650 per week recently.

As well as rent we are going to have to buy a family sized car and a run around etc which will all need to come out of the salary as we will not be bringing any capital with us as we will be renting out our house in the UK (the rental income will not add anything significant to our overall income but will cover our mortgage OK)
It's all so dependent on what works for you! We have got a 7 seater and a run-around too. A Hyundai Terracan (bought new) and a VW Polo, second hand. You can get decent used family cars for around the $7-10K mark and smaller ones for less, esp if you use Turners auctions. We chose new (against our original plans) cos we were buying in sterling and it was £10K cheaper than buying same car in UK, and the Polo was $7,500 with a 3 year warranty from the same dealer.

We have three children and obviously don't want to make the huge move for them if it means we are really struggling.

One other things we can't get our heads around are school years - could you help us and tell us what school years they fall into! Our oldest is 11 (Aug 95), the next is 8 (Jan 99) and the little one is 4 (Feb 03)
Oldest = Year 7, Intermediate (our son goes to Bucklands Becah Indtermediate), * likely to be Year 4or 5 now (think a year above where they are currently in UK) and littlies start school on their 5th birthday

Thanks!!

Feel free to PM for specifics or anything we can help with,
Gil

[gil]

Just for clarity, the * in my last post was menat to be 8, sorry, have lost the edit fundtion with the time that has elapsed since posting,
Gil

[katandbob]

We would really like some help to work out if we can afford to live comfortably. I have been offered a job on $120K, and that will be the only income for the forseeable time. We are looking at moving to the Howick/Mellons Bay/Eastern Beach area. For the first couple of years we thought we would rent a four bedroom house - looking on the web prices seem to be about $580 per week

As well as rent we are going to have to buy a family sized car and a run around etc which will all need to come out of the salary as we will not be bringing any capital with us as we will be renting out our house in the UK (the rental income will not add anything significant to our overall income but will cover our mortgage OK)

We have three children and obviously don't want to make the huge move for them if it means we are really struggling.

One other things we can't get our heads around are school years - could you help us and tell us what school years they fall into! Our oldest is 11 (Aug 95), the next is 8 (Jan 99) and the little one is 4 (Feb 03)

Thanks!!

I won't comment on the cost of living as I don't live in Auckland, but I just wanted to add my views on getting cars - Don't think that you have to buy new, far from it - the minute you drive it off the forcourt its only worth 3/4 what you paid for it - maybe less.
You can get decent cars here for under $3,000, my little Nissan ZX is a great runabout, cheap to run, and cost me $2400. its nearly 9mths on now and all its cost me is WOF and MVL.
We also have a 4x4 that we paid 12,000 for, but we could have got one a lot cheaper if we had looked around - but we bought it ASAP when we arrived with our UK cash and it seemed a bargain. But its in good nick too for a 96. (we did the new car every 2 yrs lark in the UK - But I won't do it again!)

If you are going to be taking the Renting route and not selling up - there is little point taking out loans to buy a car that will lose value daily - your better to buy 2 $4 - 3,000 as when/if you do move back/onwards, you will loose less when you sell them.

With no salt used on the roads the condition of the cars are better, and most of the time you can't tell how old a car is because the plates are not the same as the UK.

Any way best of luck

Kat - ps we take less that that on our 2 wages - and were fine - but we live in Southland! :laugh

[Cat Woman]

We live in Auckland and earn less than that with 2 salaries and have a much better quality of life here. It really just depends what you mean by comfortable. We used to have 2 holidays abroad each year when we lived in UK. We have been here 15 months now and haven't had a holiday abroad because each weekend is like a mini holiday. We love it!

[Rabbit]

Take Katandbob's advice, be prepaired to make a mental shift from what is necessary versus what is available. In many way's it may involve shifting towards a 'scottish' view e.g. in terms of buying stuff - focus on value rather than pure pleasure from spending. Value has different meanings e.g. a flash new car, versus feeling chilled out, sitting on a beach, in-touch with nature etc.

Incomes and the challenges of cost of living are similar, if you can make the mental shift from what is expected or wanted, versus what is really necessary, avoiding materialism and advertising, you will be OK.

When we first arrived, we were used to a brand-new car, we settled for one with 2000kms on the clock from the dealer - still way expensive and a waste of money.

A year on, and now knowing what I know about NZ, perhaps I should have bought something 5 years old, less flashy, put new tires and brakes on it together with a service.

I think one can achieve a great life style in NZ, but it does require a mental shift, from all the marketing and keeping up with the Jones that we have gotten used too.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10435508

The secret is to avoid getting into debt, and that is true here or there.

In summary, the cashflow (income) is probably less in NZ, and one needs to make that adjustment. So cutting the cloth for the benefits of less people and more space.

NZ, like the UK or anywhere else is no Nirvana, so it is a question of trade-offs. NZ has some very positive ones, it just requires a degree of adjustment and alignment. So you would need to wean yourself off materialism, should you have that affliction.

Just wanted to add, if you read the article associated with the above link, you will find a number of errors, so do not believe everything you read in the papers.

Rabbit.

[Tia Maria]

Will you be taking much of a paycut?

Most people take between 10-40% paycut? So say if yours was 25%, could you spend 25% less on food? Could you spend 25% less on clothes? etc etc

Other extras you may wish to consider -

1) Do you intend to fly back in the first 2 years?

2) Do you want to holiday out of NZ (Oz & Fiji for instance)?

3) I expect you will get a furnished rental, but you might want to buy sheets, white ware ....Xbox :D

4) If health isn't included in your salary package you may want to budget for visits to the doctor/dentist/optician.

5) There will be school fees/uniforms/stationary/extra curricular activities to pay, they won't be as much as paying for a private school but still enough to be taken into account.

Your wage is a very good wage by NZ standards but if there is any way you can bring some money over to ease the transition I would as there can be a lot of expenses when settling into a new country.

Cheers

Tia

[Lupin]

As for whether you'll "struggle", no. The average Kiwi wage is in the high $30k (I think), so I can't see how you'll actually "struggle". If you're current UK income is over 60K GBP you might need to make some adjustments.

[Rich]

Thanks for the information everyone...still looking into our costs!
regards
Richard