[immortal167]

hello :) Well, while my partner is English and we are currently living in NZ, we are moving back to the UK. I know it's a little cheeky, but could someone give me a rough idea of electricity, gas, council taxes per month (trying to do a budget of expenses). Thanks in advance, and if you want any info about similar costs in NZ please ask!!

[Charlesw25]

Roughly speaking you're talking about £30 a month each for gas and electricity and £150-£200 for council tax. Plus don't forget water which is pricey in the UK and also costs about £30 a month. Plus don't forget TV licences which costs £10 a month. Plus don't forget etc etc.
Basically the UK is a rip off PLC so be prepared for the high cost of living.

[james the mechanic]

Basically the UK is a rip off PLC so be prepared for the high cost of living.
Love it Charles!:laugh

[Debbie P.]

But there's also competition, particularly for telephone call charges, Internet access etc, so it's worth shopping around, and certainly worth changing your gas/electricity supplier if you think the costs are getting too high - the competition keeps suppliers on their toes too! Can't do much about rising council tax though :mad:

Charles' estimates look about right, but don't forget to include telephone charges, and in our area, water and sewerage are provided by separate companies, so be aware of charges for each.

[bumpffslam]

Why do people think they are being ripped off? What does this mean? Is it being suggested that the commercial companies are charging more than they need to? Or charging more than people want or expect to pay?

The big problem that utilities have is how to fund the replacement of old wornout pipes/wires/plant and also how to fund the infrastructure required to support new house holds or increasing consumption. These are problems in NZ as much as UK.

Now here's a question - Limited competition for retailing electricity exists in NZ. In my area there are 5 electric retailers to choose between, yet 97% of consumers are with one retailer who is not the cheapest! Why don't people shop around?

[Debbie P.]

Now here's a question - Limited competition for retailing electricity exists in NZ. In my area there are 5 electric retailers to choose between, yet 97% of consumers are with one retailer who is not the cheapest! Why don't people shop around?

Probably because of the hassle involved in making the move! e.g. my mum is very finance-savvy (on a pension she has to be), but she's always getting hassle with bills for companies that she's cancelled contracts with etc. It's not like she's not compos-mentis or anything - she makes it perfectly clear what she's going to do, but they still don't get it right!

But yes, I agree that shopping around is important.

[Tia Maria]

We lived in London - obviously costs can vary - these are from Sept 2005:

Costs per month:

TV license: £10.49
C Tax: £178
Gas/Elec (3 bed house): £60
Water: £28
House & Contents Insurance: £20
Phone & Broadband: £52

So very similar to Charlesw25

Cheers

Tia

[IanW99]

Might be worth mentioning car related charges for the UK as this can be a major expense also e.g. road tax, MOT (WOF), compulsary car insurance, petrol etc. Can anyone from the UK give current costs or at least ballpark figures?

Ian

[nippa&pippa]

House, building, car etc Insurances will go up after what happen with floods in UK at the moments.

[Debbie P.]

Ok, they're saying that it's only a matter of time before we pay £1 per litre of fuel:

for my little Ford KA:

Tax = £110 per annum

Petrol = c£35 for a full tank, and we get through roughly 1.5 tanks a week due to 60 mile round trip commute 5 days a week, which gives you some idea of costs.

Insurance = eeek, not sure as OH pays that

Then there's AA membership as well, again don't have the figures to hand.

We're about to trade it in for a Citroen Xsara Picasso, and I understand the tax will be £165 for its bracket.

I'm sure someone else will come along with more sensible figures! But this gives you some idea of petrol costs for a very small car. Not pretty.

[Rabbit]

- Real wholemeal stoneground flour bread freshly baked for under a quid.
- car parts at a significant discount
- cheap computers
- insulated homes that conserve energy
- cheap flights
- cheap clothes and shoes
- cheaper and better NZ wine than you can buy in NZ
- proper TV
- holidays
- pensions
- free medical treatment
- disposable income
- and more variety than you can cope with

Goodbye Wharehouse, hello Tesco all is forgiven :laugh

[colindp]

Right on Rabbit, absolutely spot on!!!! :raebanana :raebanana

[stu70]

- cheaper and better NZ wine than you can buy in NZ


That is most amusing :laugh

[Debbie P.]

Ok, they're saying that it's only a matter of time before we pay £1 per litre of fuel:

for my little Ford KA:

Tax = £110 per annum

Petrol = c£35 for a full tank, and we get through roughly 1.5 tanks a week due to 60 mile round trip commute 5 days a week, which gives you some idea of costs.

Insurance = eeek, not sure as OH pays that

Then there's AA membership as well, again don't have the figures to hand.

We're about to trade it in for a Citroen Xsara Picasso, and I understand the tax will be £165 for its bracket.

I'm sure someone else will come along with more sensible figures! But this gives you some idea of petrol costs for a very small car. Not pretty.


OK, sorted out my figures for the cost of keeping a small car:

Tax = £110 per annum
Petrol = c£35 per tank
MOT inspection (compulsory) = c£40-£50 (at a cheap garage)
Full service inspection (recommended once a year) = £190
Insurance = £30 per month (there are variations in the type you get)
AA membership = OH not sure but thinks it works out about £120 per annum.
And don't forget this doesn't include maintenance, e.g. new tyres, lights, other technical problems that will need fixing.

Costs will vary widely - a bigger car makes a huge difference, and we go to a small friendly garage who often do things for free because they know us so well.

[Andy-Dee]

Aaah good old free medical treatment comes around again.

I use the good old NHS and pay over £200 per month, OH pays roughly the same - we have one child.

I also have to pay £6.85 every 3 months for a repeat perscription and additional £6.85 for other medicines I may need from time to time. I sometimes buy alternatives from the supermarket because they are cheaper.

My eyecare and dental are extra.

The last two occasions I have taken my child to A & E - where I am assured they are given priority - I have waited up to 6 hours to see a Doctor.

[Lupin]

- Real wholemeal stoneground flour bread freshly baked for under a quid.
- car parts at a significant discount
- cheap computers
- insulated homes that conserve energy
- cheap flights
- cheap clothes and shoes
- cheaper and better NZ wine than you can buy in NZ
- proper TV
- holidays
- pensions
- free medical treatment
- disposable income
- and more variety than you can cope with

Goodbye Wharehouse, hello Tesco all is forgiven :laugh

Love it Rabbit :laugh

In terms of cost of living I really think it's swings and roundabouts. Council tax and car associated costs are dearer in the UK but then heating and utilities are cheaper. You get a personal tax allowance and a more generous tax credit system, free healthcare cheap flights round Europe and the BBC :)

[willsken]

Aaah good old free medical treatment comes around again.

I use the good old NHS and pay over £200 per month, OH pays roughly the same - we have one child.

I also have to pay £6.85 every 3 months for a repeat perscription and additional £6.85 for other medicines I may need from time to time. I sometimes buy alternatives from the supermarket because they are cheaper.

My eyecare and dental are extra.

The last two occasions I have taken my child to A & E - where I am assured they are given priority - I have waited up to 6 hours to see a Doctor.


I never understand why people think they get free medical treatment in the UK. What I pay in medical insurance in NZ doesn't even come close to what OH and I paid between us in National Insurance every month.

[Lupin]

I still think the principle of the NHS- "free at the point of delivery" is superior to any other system. The problem has been a combination of mass underfunding for years, unbelievable beaurocracy and the attempt to mesh onto it a target driven competitive model of helath care. I think :uhoh It's such a tricky issue, far too compex for me to understand really.

[incredible hulse]

I never understand why people think they get free medical treatment in the UK. What I pay in medical insurance in NZ doesn't even come close to what OH and I paid between us in National Insurance every month.

I don't understand why people think National Insurance is for the NHS. It's just another tax and includes pension contributions as well as sick leave pay (not sure whether anyone factors in NZ sickness insurance for non-acc absence >5 years ?)
Worth pointing out that salaries in the UK are considerably higher so the talk of rip off UK is all relative. I personally would be amazed if cost of living is more in the UK than NZ in real terms

[immortal167]

advice! My next question (and I realise it might fall into the same category as 'how long is a piece of string?') is... could a couple manage on a combined salary of $60-70k with a mortgage requiring payments of say up to 1,500 pounds a month?

[incredible hulse]

Love it Rabbit :laugh

In terms of cost of living I really think it's swings and roundabouts. Council tax and car associated costs are dearer in the UK but then heating and utilities are cheaper. You get a personal tax allowance and a more generous tax credit system, free healthcare cheap flights round Europe and the BBC :) Not so sure about the rates and cars. My rates here are about 1600 dollars a year - I then have to pay for bin collection (200 year) and also pay every time we go to the rubbish tip. It was about 2k in the UK. Cars - I pay 260 odd here for rego (diesel) as opposed to 180 quid and wof was about 40 bucks (has to be paid twice a year for cars >5 years) - not sure what mot is these days

[immortal167]

oh, and by 'manage' I mean have a decent lifestyle where we can afford to travel a bit and not worry about how to pay for the supermarket shopping!

[incredible hulse]

Love it Rabbit :laugh

In terms of cost of living I really think it's swings and roundabouts. Council tax and car associated costs are dearer in the UK but then heating and utilities are cheaper. You get a personal tax allowance and a more generous tax credit system, free healthcare cheap flights round Europe and the BBC :) Not so sure about the rates and cars. My rates here are about 1600 dollars a year - I then have to pay for bin collection (200 year) and also pay every time we go to the rubbish tip. It was about 2k in the UK. Cars - I pay 260 odd here for rego (diesel) as opposed to 180 quid and wof was about 40 bucks (has to be paid twice a year for cars >5 years) - not sure what mot is these days

[willsken]

My rates here are $100 per month and that's all we pay, so compared to the UK, cheaper. I paid over 70 pounds per month and using the doubled the salary rule the equivilent rates would be $140. (Also if I had lived in the kind of house in the UK like the one we have here, they would have been much, much higher)

Also we don't pay for water here, we did in th UK.

[incredible hulse]

advice! My next question (and I realise it might fall into the same category as 'how long is a piece of string?') is... could a couple manage on a combined salary of $60-70k with a mortgage requiring payments of say up to 1,500 pounds a month?

Is that 60-70k pounds sterling or dollars ? If dollars that would be a very low salary for 2 people. If sterling one/both of you would be on the lower tax bracket and I would have thought you would have lived extremely comfortably on that salary

[willsken]

That would be a good salary in the UK. Don't think you would be in the lower tax bracket if it was a single income though. I was paying some at the higher rate and I didn't earn anywhere like that amount.

Taxable Bands Allowances

2006-07 (£) 2007-08 (£)

Starting rate 10%

0 - 2,150

0 - 2,230


Basic rate 22%

2,151 - 33,300

2,231 - 34,600

Higher rate 40%

over 33,300

over 34,600

[bob_the_engineer]

I hardly ever read the “going to UK thread”, basically because I love living in NZ and wouldn’t ever willingly go back to the UK.

Reading your question I thought well here’s one I can answer, easy peasy, but when I gave it some thought, its not so straight forward!

Reading through some of the responses brought back a few memories; from my point of view here’s how it is. The UK system is nowhere near as honest and transparent as the NZ one. I can offer only my own experience and circumstances, if they relate to yours then they may be of some help.

Both myself and my wife are university educated professionals, we both earn a good living and we are what would be described in the UK as dink’ies (dual income no kids). We both operate in the technical / scientific realms, at a level you have to have at least a degree to work at.

In the UK we were really badly off (financially) yes we did earn a lot, but the taxation was horrendous. Everywhere we turned the high charges were not balanced by any sort of tax credits that almost everyone else seemed to be entitled to.

Without exaggerating my take-home pay was less than 45% of my earnings (that’s more than 55% in taxes of one kind or another, and I’m being conservative). Do remember if you spend it there is another 17.5% tax, beer and wine tax, tax if you smoke, tax on fuel; if you’re a pensioner you get taxed on your tax LOL…….. about the only group that were worse off than me (the poor beggars).

To my mind the UK will always be a place that grinds hardworking honest people into the ground to support the layabout litigious scrote. I watched what was happening to the pensioners with dismay, and though “I give much more than I get, and this is my bright future!” Then I left……… Oh and just to add, I won’t go back

NZ is much fairer, it rewards the industrious, it looks after those in genuine need and I really don’t understand all this nonsense about the NHS, I’ve been in an NHS hospital and an NZ hospital, my god if I’m ever sick I pray its not in the UK!

Socially there is a big difference between the UK NOW and NZ (this wasn’t true about the UK a few years ago).

NZ has a sense of fairness in its social structure, a kiwi will act with empathy towards someone who has been wronged or ripped off. Oh and one of the things I love about this place is your reputation WILL follow you, if your decent that’s a great thing.

The UK has a “got to look after your own, and stuff anyone else” attitude. That’s not true on a personal level, but it is a fair social generalisation, and it’s a reflection of what’s happening in the UK, rather than the people (I think they often feel ripped off, and react defensively.

I’ve noticed it said that some of us view NZ through rose tinted spectacles, you haven’t seen anything until you truly understand what life is like in the UK. Do remember that almost everyone who misses the UK (on this forum) has family ties to the place, and I think that family is the driving force for missing the UK.

Sure there are some nice places in the UK (I’ve lived at the top, middle and bottom) LOL, the bottom of the UK, we all know where that is! No seriously there are some lovely little communities, but they are fast being replaced by modern UK, so enjoy it while you can.

Just to add one view that’s not often stated on the forum: Money

Money, I have a lot more of it (or at least I keep a lot more of it) in NZ than I ever had in the UK. NZ gave me more money, more free time a better place to live and a great deal more respect than I ever found in the UK.


Bob

[Woolfie]

This is the cost of living for us, when i've worked it all out, living in cheshire.
mortgage = £500,mortgage ins £15, c/tax £150,car ins (f/comp for a 1.8 picasso)£43,car running costs-£35(tax, mot service.. etc), AA-£12, water=£25, gas/elec= £65, bt(phone, not broadband)=£50, dvd club=£11, tv licence= £13, life insurance £11, petrol=£220(300 mile per week commute), food=£320, holidays=£170, xmas=£35, family spending money=£120( cinema, clothes, visiting rellies, etc..) this doesnt allow for saving for new car, home decorating etc... These figures are for a monthly payments, we have one main holiday a year where we go camping to france for 2 weeks( ferry, petrol, tolls, campsites etc...) and christmas is alway a cost i forget about. we have 2 boys aged 5 and 11. We dont have sky, etc.. total = £1785.

hope this helps, as we dont have loans or credit cards, and live ok.
kind regards woolfie

[Debbie P.]

I watched what was happening to the pensioners with dismay, and though “I give much more than I get, and this is my bright future!”

I'm really dismayed at the way the UK government seems to be emphasizing young people at the expense of older people. Don't get me wrong - I know there needs to be investment in schools and services for children, but no one seems to care about pensioners at all. Either you sell everything you own in order to be able to live in a halfway decent nursing home (and have nothing left for your family to inherit) or you end up in a grotty state sector home, but of course you won't be allowed to do that until you've spent almost all your money. :mad:

My mother needs a kidney transplant desperately, but at her age, it's unlikely that she'll ever get anywhere near the top of the list, even though she potentially has another 20 years of life in her. Obviously, her role as a grandmother to 5 children with one more on the way is not viewed as particularly important, even though she paid tax throughout her working life. She'd be the first to say that someone in their 20s should get priority, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to know that society considers her worth less because of her age.

And this is how we treat the people who got through the Second World War and in many cases served their country. :no

[red]

I'm really dismayed at the way the UK government seems to be emphasizing young people at the expense of older people. Don't get me wrong - I know there needs to be investment in schools and services for children, but no one seems to care about pensioners at all. Either you sell everything you own in order to be able to live in a halfway decent nursing home (and have nothing left for your family to inherit) or you end up in a grotty state sector home, but of course you won't be allowed to do that until you've spent almost all your money. :mad:

My mother needs a kidney transplant desperately, but at her age, it's unlikely that she'll ever get anywhere near the top of the list, even though she potentially has another 20 years of life in her. Obviously, her role as a grandmother to 5 children with one more on the way is not viewed as particularly important, even though she paid tax throughout her working life. She'd be the first to say that someone in their 20s should get priority, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to know that society considers her worth less because of her age.

And this is how we treat the people who got through the Second World War and in many cases served their country. :no

Couldn't agree more Debbie:yes
I hate the way the elderly are treated in the UK. My parents paid in to a private pension their whole lives, they didn't have a lot of cash but felt it was important to make provision for their old age. They ended up paying tax on it which pretty much left them with nothing more than their basic pensions. Other people who had not bothered with a private pension got income support and ended up getting more than my parents!
Then when Mum needed a nursing home because she was so frail they took everything else. One of many reasons I'm planning of leaving the UK. Don't get me wrong there are things I love about UK but they are getting less and less.

[incredible hulse]

Without exaggerating my take-home pay was less than 45% of my earnings (that’s more than 55% in taxes of one kind or another, and I’m being conservative). Do remember if you spend it there is another 17.5% tax, beer and wine tax, tax if you smoke, tax on fuel; if you’re a pensioner you get taxed on your tax LOL…….. about the only group that were worse off than me (the poor beggars).


Bob Sorry, shouldn't bite but I will. So many inaccuracies but will pick up on this one - why were you paying 55% stoppages ?

[JoanneG]

Our bills are for a Large 4-bedroom family house with solar hot water heating.

Council Tax £194 (goes up £10 per month every year)
Lecy £51
Water £16 (we have our own Klargester sewage treatment tank so no sewage charges)
Telephone & Broadband circa £35 per month
Oil for cooking and heating circa £1000-£1500 per year.

Wanna buy a house?

[Jo Jo]

These were my outgoings when I left London (for a one bedroom flat in the middle of London)

Contents insurance (£50,000 cover) - £40
Electricity - £25 (didn't have gas)
Council tax - £115
TV license - £10 something
Travel (tube and buses) - £70
Telephone and broadband - £40
Mobile phone - £35

Actually, I must sort out my finances as I think I might still be paying for some of these!

[willsken]

Was the electric and council tax monthly? :)

[Familyofmonkeys]

Was the electric and council tax monthly? :)

Sounds about right to me. We paid about £125 per month coucil tax for house in midlands...worth similar amount to one bed flat in some areas of london......what a scary thought though.

[Jo Jo]

Was the electric and council tax monthly? :)

Yes, they were.

[mossum]

Just have to say

I'm finding the gas & electricity £££ amazing !

I realy dont know just how people are doing it = we used to pay £35 for gas & £90 for electricty a month !! who knows what we were doing wrong ??!!?? :confused:

Surely I was not the only one ??????

vic

[Jo Jo]

For the first 4 years that I lived in my flat I was being charged £80 a month for electricity, which I knew was far too much from speaking to my neighbours. The electricity board came to check my meter and it turned out that it had been wired incorrectly so my off peak usage was being measured as peak usage and vice versa. I got a rebate of several hundred pounds.

[Anna'n'John]

Living in Essex family of 4 living in detached house.
Price average
Essex and suffolk £22.88 per month (ones sewage ones water)
Anglia water £27.60 per month
British Gas £72.00 per month
British Gas/electric £27.00
Virgin Phone, internet, freeview cable Tv average £41.00 per month.
Council tax £121.00 per month
TV licence £11.61 per month
Then variety of insurances ie life, home, content etc. £207 per month
Food bill average £320.00 per month
Petrol £ 45.approx per 3 weeks. (depending on where we go, on normal basis use car very little)
This doesn't include car tax, insurance etc. Or pension contributions or generally spending money on fun things.
Basically in comes in the form of a monthly paycheque and goes out as lots of direct debits, with a bit to spare if I'm lucky.

[snowy747]

Hiya, we have a 1930s 4 bed detached house in Somerset. It has double glazing and central heating and cavity wall insulation. Our bills are as follows -

Council tax - £1650 per annum
Water rates - £729 per annum
Gas - £700 pa
Electric £700 pa
Home Insurance - £570 pa
Telephone - £240 pa
Sky - £240 pa
Car Insce - £300 pa
Fuel - £45 per tank - Nissan Primera
Food - £500 per month (4 adults, 3 dogs)
Broadband - £300 pa
Mobile phone - £50 pm for 2 handsets each with 500 mins and 100 texts
TV License - £10 pm (free as we have an over 75 in the house)
Car road fund licence - £205 pa
Car MOT and Service - £300 pa
Life insurance, critical illness and income protection for mtge - £55 pm

Hope that helps.

Ali

[ruthyroo]

advice! My next question (and I realise it might fall into the same category as 'how long is a piece of string?') is... could a couple manage on a combined salary of $60-70k with a mortgage requiring payments of say up to 1,500 pounds a month?

Remember that your salary will reduce by up to 33% (?) due to tax. Your weekly mortgage payments will be around $375 / week.

As a pair of DINKY's (though not for much longer) we earn around $100K per year before tax. Our weekly rental is $255. We generally manage to scrape by spending one salary, saving OR spending the other. So out of my salary of $50K before tax we can cover: rental, insurance on contents and car, petrol, utilities, groceries (though we do eat well on that), basic toiletries. And that is it.

We can't cover: pocket money, eating out, holidays, household purchases (furniture etc), saving for future, clothes, any 'luxury' toiletries i.e. other than supermarket basics, CDs / DVDs/ / Books, entertainment e.g. cinema, going out for a drink, car services / repairs and other emergencies' etc etc. All these come out of the OH salary, and we try to keep it to a minimum so that we can save.

Can't really compare with the UK - our outlook on spending and budgeting has undergone a seismic shift since coming to NZ. It's a country of thrifty people, andt hat has rubbed off on us big time. Back in the UK we jsut spent what we wanted and didn't save much. Here - I find the cost of living higher. We earn relatively good salaries compared to local averages - but we certainly don't feel rich.

[michaeloliver]

One thing your forgetting on your Income figures is the 11% National Insurance Contributions on top of the Basic Tax you pay therefore add that to your 30% 40% etc.

[Jo Jo]

You only pay 11% NI contributions on the first £34,840 that you earn, above that it's 1%.

If you are trying to work out what your take-home pay will be, 33% of deductions is a good rule of thumb.

If I earned the same in NZ as I did in the UK I would pay more tax in NZ than I paid tax and NI in the UK.

[willsken]

Just have to say

I'm finding the gas & electricity £££ amazing !

I realy dont know just how people are doing it = we used to pay £35 for gas & £90 for electricty a month !! who knows what we were doing wrong ??!!?? :confused:

Surely I was not the only one ??????

vic

Nope, me to. I find I was spending on bills far more than some sensible people. Doubt that will change over here though!:uhoh

[willsken]

I have to say I still don't find NZ has as many hidden costs as the UK. Everything seems quite transparent over here. I also don't seem to be paying out as much here as I did in the UK. This is just an observation and I do need to look at this a little more closely. We take the rule of thumb 2 x salary = UK salary and we are slightly better off here, in that we seem to have more spare cash than we did in the UK. (Probably because the supermarkets don't have enough to tempt me with all the time! :p ) I also don't sit in traffic for an hour a day so my petrol bill is a lot less here, as is OH's.

[incredible hulse]

I think the x2 salary formula would lead to a similar standard of living to the UK also - unfortunately I haven't found anywhere that wants to pay me twice my UK salary !
The power of sterling is also a helping hand to most UK imports (I know it was for us) and this helps in buying the nicer house with a smaller mortgage and not having to do the commute, etc. I still personally think our money goes a lot further in the UK

[Mels]

can I ask a really dumb question?
When you say x2 salary formula do you mean £40,000 is equivalent'ish to $80,000 buying power/lifstyle? :confused:

[spudulike]

Hi, I haven't joined this thread before now but have watched with interest. We left NZ after 16 months as we couldn't manage there financially as a family of 4 on one income (our children are very young so I was at home). Since returning to the UK we find we are so much better off financially it is unbelievable. We don't lie awake most nights wondering how we are going to pay the bills, we can afford to shop at the supermarket and I don't have to budget to buy the most basic items of clothing for my children - in NZ I had to budget to buy underwear or a potty for my children.

Overall we are healthier and happier because we are less stressed. We are also managing to save money too as living in NZ certainly taught us the value of money. I don't doubt some people are better off financially in NZ, it's just we werent.

L :cheers

[incredible hulse]

can I ask a really dumb question?
When you say x2 salary formula do you mean £40,000 is equivalent'ish to $80,000 buying power/lifstyle? :confused:

Yes - I personally think that's a good guide but will skew either way depending on how much cash you bring over, how/where you live, etc. I also include my UK package (pension, health, bonuses, etc) in the calculations as these aren't as common in NZ and often overlooked. I'm currently on about 1.5x and and worse off financially

[Familyofmonkeys]

I find this 2x rule quite interesting. Do many other people find this works for them?

We would be financially crippled over here if OH only earned 2x his UK salary. He is on more like 3x salary, and we brought over a fairly reasonable lump sum with us, and certainly don't fritter our money away. I can see why some people may struggle financially and end of leaving NZ disillusioned.

I've just done a basic calculation to see where 2x figure comes from:

Take 'average' semi-professional UK salary of say £30,000
Cost of living here is 'supposed' to be 2/3, so make equivalent salary £20,000
Convert to NZ $ with 'average' exchange rate of 2.75 make it $55,000

Well, $55,000 is certainly less that 2x NZ salary.....but can you really survive on it, or is the cost of living really higher here than people are led to believe?

[Moorf]

I've come to the conclusion that there is no correct answer to this.

If we had wanted to earn our "UK Salary" here we'd have to pull in nearly $300k NZ - that's NEVER going to happen.. so to say a general "2 x salary in uk" is enough or not enough is just too generalistic - especially when you consider I know people in the UK who earned lots less than us yet managed their money a lot better, and vice versa....

IMHO, if you really, really, really want something to work, you'll find a way, and that goes for earning money, too. I'd rather downsize and take a part time job (which I have done at times) than go back to the U.K., but that's not everyone's idea of a better life.

[incredible hulse]

I don't think it is a question of enough but I think it is a good average to compare amount of disposable income IF living in a similar way.As mentioned other factors will skew and also not relevant if changing lifestyle

[Moorf]

IF living in a similar way.

Yes, that's key, plus other factors that will affect the 2x ratio are:

- how much capital you're coming with - no mortgage is a nice luxury
- trips home - if you are going to travel back to the UK frequently you can easily knock off $10k/yr from your annual income for a family of 4 if you go back once a year
- where you live in NZ will dictate how much you're paid and how much your home/rates will cost
- lifestyle expectations
- ability to convert to local products/brands

I'm not sure I'd say a 2x UK salary would be any good for Auckland if you were earning a salary of c. £25k in UK, but would be doable here in Chch and further south.

As Depeche Mode said - get the balance right :D

[Lupin]

I would put the cost of living at approx 2.5 X, but the saying 'there are some things money can't buy' is so true. I've just been out to say goodnight to my lambs and watched the sky flame pink and orange as the sun slipped down behind the mountains. We live the dream (for us) and plenty of people round here are farm labourers living in rented accommodation, happy as happy gets.

The things that make me happy here everyday I could have on half our income, honestly! I'd need several, several times our NZ income in the UK to get these things there, so it's not a simple calculation.

I think a big factor in the 'cost of living' equation is whether you are coming here to live a Kiwi lifestyle. My Kiwi friends spend their social time at the beach, at each other's homes or in their gardens. they enjoy sport together (our wee community has weekly tennis and cricket, which are both really well attended, with beer drinking under the stars to finish off). Shopping is what you have to do fortnightly when you 'go to town' to get the groceries. Books come from the library. My 9 yr old has commented how few toys her (some quite affluent) friends have compared with her and she was in the 'fewer toys' category in the UK; the kids play out more. And so on and so on. It's a different culture and while of course not all Kiwis live frugal lives, a frugal culture persists .... although perhaps this only applies to where I have been!

[Tia Maria]

Moorf wrote:

As Depeche Mode said - get the balance right :D

Sorry haven't read much of this thread but as I use to be a big Depeche Mode fan had to give this comment a big :nice1 :D

Cheers

Tia

[albion54]

and the further argument at the moment and will get worse is that the U in UK is getting a bit frayed at the edges

scotland: free care for the elderly, free dentist, no prescription charges, no tuition fees (even for students from EU countries - only people who pay tuition fees are ENGLISH), no postcode lottery for healthcare - an approved drug is available to all

England: read above

[Mels]

Yes - I personally think that's a good guide

You didn't have to agree quite so readily that I'm dumb :D :D

I find this an impossible subject to get my head round. Some people seem to cope well on $55,000 and some seem to struggle on $100,000 and have gone back home.
I just get progressively more confused, but hope $100,000 is plenty to feed two growing boys, oh and the OH - occassionaly at least :laugh

[incredible hulse]

You didn't have to agree quite so readily that I'm dumb :D :D

I find this an impossible subject to get my head round. Some people seem to cope well on $55,000 and some seem to struggle on $100,000 and have gone back home.
I just get progressively more confused, but hope $100,000 is plenty to feed two growing boys, oh and the OH - occassionaly at least :laugh
Sorry Mels, didn't mean that in the slightest :o It's a tough one to call and one size doesn't fit all. There was a thread recently with NZ outgoings hich maybe worth a read. We personally go through approx 3-3.5k per month (excluding mortgage) for a family of 4 with not an excessive lifestyle

[Mels]

don't worry incredible hulse, I only jest, I was going to say keeps me sane, but its too late for that to !!. :)

3.5K/month so 42000/year, thats useful way of looking at it, thanks So on 100,000/yr minus 50% thru tax essential stuff like insurances, WOF etc. - is OK, at least on the right side.
I appreciate we all spend differently, but thats cool :cool:

[incredible hulse]

don't worry incredible hulse, I only jest, I was going to say keeps me sane, but its too late for that to !!. :)

3.5K/month so 42000/year, thats useful way of looking at it, thanks So on 100,000/yr minus 50% thru tax essential stuff like insurances, WOF etc. - is OK, at least on the right side.
I appreciate we all spend differently, but thats cool :cool: Works for us although we've had months of spending 4K plus when we have to pay for things like insurance, etc. but we manage OK on similar figures to yours with a high mortgage on top of that expenditure