New Zealand - Is everything more expensive?

blearyjane

16th January 2008, 03:08 AM

brightonbean

16th January 2008, 03:31 AM

we visited in november on a second reccy and compared prices when doing grocery shopping etc.

We found that groceries are far cheaper than the UK if you're buying in-season produce, while imported stuff is more expensive, understandably.

Clothing prices vary there as much as in the UK, although I doubt you'll get Primark prices anywhere, but do you want them???

Good NZ wine doesn't seem as cheap as you'd think it would be, but god it's good. Big-brand wine can be purchased cheaply though. Not sure about spirits or beer.

From what we've heard about utility charges, they're not that different, and depending on where you are there aren't water rates. Council tax type things are comparable, again depending on area. Eating out seems good value to us. Although you can easily pay over £10 a main in an average restaurant, there's not that much difference in a REALLY good restaurant - we ate at probably one of the best in Christchurch and had an amazing meal for less than £20 a head.

I guess it depends what you'll be spending your money on.

Bean

migratory birds

16th January 2008, 05:40 AM

When we visited in Nov 07, I priced (compared to USD):

Clothing (1/2 again as much, up to 2X more) and forget about shoes (maybe THAT'S why everyone goes barefoot in NZ! They were 3-4X more than US)

Books/board games (2-2.5Xmore)

Mortgage/home prices (comparable or more - depending on where you live now or where you want to live in NZ)

Food/drink in cafes/restaurants (1/2 again as more, up to 2X more).

Hardware selections - comparable (hoses, hammers, gum boots, garden supplies)

Didn't price out cars, utilities, mobile phones...

Personally, I came across nothing as a "bargain" in NZ...unfortunately. Maybe fish/seafood at the fresh market??

irishliz

16th January 2008, 06:39 AM

We have been in Wellington for three months and we find that milk and bread and anything imported is more expensive. We get all our fruit and veg at the market which is considerably cheaper than the supermarket, and some meats and fish are a lot cheaper but salmon is hugely expensive - as expensive as fillet steak! So is wine we find. Obviously you pay here as well for doctors, etc.

But on the balance side, we now have a car we could never have driven in the UK, car and house insurance is very cheap, in season stuff is great and tastes better, I took 5 of us to the pool yesterday for $9 and there are lots of free activities as well which is great. I also find we don't buy bottled drinks anymore as there always seems to be plenty of drinking fountains and most cafes etc supply tap water as standard. A small thing but is makes a difference. We shop completely differently and without that mindset we would spend so much more money - for example I get up early on a Sunday to go to the market for our weekly supplies - I would never have done this in the UK. But it means we have most of our fruit and veg for the week for about $100 and I have a massive buggy full for that. I also use the bread machine every day to make rolls for sandwiches which again makes a big difference to us.

So I think for us it balances out - we have used a $2 = £1 since we arrived to reflect our reduced wages and it has stood us in good stead (although with currency situation at the moment this is more true).

But one area we are struggling with is while we are in NZ we are ok, but we have been looking at the cost of return holidays for us and I cannot believe the difference in flight prices and we would be financing them out of NZ wages - maybe something to consider. I had always thought we could have travelled back every two years but there is no chance of that!

Good luck with your decision - we haven't regretted it so far.

IanW99

16th January 2008, 06:44 AM

Hi everyone -

I am having an 'are you sure we are doing the right thing' day and hope you can help!

I know that lots of stuff is more expensive in NZ but was wondering if everything is - ie groceries, clothes, alcohol, utilities , eating out etc etc etc.

We are quite comfortable (money wise) in the UK and although we would probably be mortgage free if we make the move, I am concerned about the potential cost of everything. I know money is not everything, but we are used to a few luxuries! Perhaps I have things out of perspective.....???

Any comments gratefully received!

A little difficult to give a good comparison really.

If you compare what you get relative to the same amount in GBP then you are likely to find many things much cheaper, if you then throw in the adjusted wage that you are likely to get in NZ then that brings the prices back much more in line with the UK.

If you shop around and wait for the sales (which seem to be on weekly) then you can definitely get good deals, seen many sales here where they are upto 75% off.

So I would say, if you are a careful shopper then you won't have any problems. I find the lack of choice to be more of a problem, but I suppose it reduces the decision making process.

Ian

Familyofmonkeys

16th January 2008, 07:37 PM

The biggest factor to whetehr you find grocery shopping here will depend on whether you are one of those people who pretty much by the same things every week, or if you buy seasonally. If you are the former....you will likely find food etc quite expensive. But if you shop seasonally you will find it very cheap to eat.
A lot of staples are very cheap here in NZ, but freezer products/processed foods are very expensive. Bread and milk are more than we are used to paying in UK (i.e. tescos own brand prices) but it will all balance out if you buy seasonal produce.

As with UK, clothes and shoes can be very cheap (k-mart/warehouse etc) right through to very expensive. However, I noticed today while browsing local centre that t-shirts etc in places like Billabong/Ripcurl/Quicksilver are about 1/2 UK prices and underwear in places like Bendon are definitely cheaper than M&S.

Eating out in NZ is very very cheap compared to UK. Most menu items on my favourite restaurant Wagamamas are about 1/2 UK price, same goes for Starbucks and other big names. Take away pizzas cost less in $ than the do in £ so that works out considerably cheaper!! There are still plenty of expensive restaurants about, ans obviously if you are earning NZ $ things might feel more expensive still. You need to be on about 2/3 UK salary in real terms to have same disposable income.

Cars are cheaper than UK, but if you are earning less in NZ $ they will not seem any cheaper in real terms.

Overseas flights are shockingly expensive however....good job there is so much to see and do in NZ, so we can avoid lots of overseas trips.

Houses seem cheaper, but as morgage interest rates are so muh higher, unless you are bringing some decent capital with you...it could still seem quite expensive, especially in major cities.

alan999

16th January 2008, 08:49 PM

The best way I have to compare is to work out how many hours I need to work in NZ to buy something, then work out how many hours I needed to work in the UK to buy the same item. For example, 50l petrol. In the UK it costs £1.05, £52.50 for the tank which equated to 7 hours 40mins of work. Here in NZ the same 50l costs $87.50 which equates to 4 hours 45mins.

Use take home pay and the system takes into account exchange rate, income taxation, NI, VAT, different pay for the same jobs etc. Not perfect, but my favorite way to compare.

Familyofmonkeys

16th January 2008, 09:17 PM

Super_BQ

17th January 2008, 07:15 PM

I think the real killer is the inflation rate that each country experiences.

The size and scope of the country also matters. It doesn't take much for the NZ real estate market to boil if wealthy immigrants start coming by the plane loads.

UK by all means is not a cheap place to live. Especially with that 17.5% VAT.

My cousin use to do logistics at the Warehouse at head office. I often complainted to her their products costs so much more than the same item bought in the US at Walmart?

For eg. Assuming the product is made in China. I asked why should something like replaceable razor blades (used in handy utility knives) cost 2 or 3 times more in NZ than in the US (even factoring exchange rates) when it could be bought at the same factory in China? Of course one must expect the item to cost more because of The Warehouse's really small buying power compared to a giant like Walmart. However, just because the quantity shipped in the container may be 1/50th the size it does not mean the factory's price is 2 or 3 folds because you don't buy a big enough order.

I think countries like NZ and Australia can get away with this price 'gouging?' for the simple reason that consumers don't often relation how inexpensive China products should be. Especially in the past 3 or 4 years where their currency has appreciated nearly 30% to the USD (where in China it pegs their RMB to USD). At levels where mortgage rates are 9 or 10% in NZ, one can't say NZ's inflation is comparable to other developed nations.

For many months, people in Canada have been jumping up and down why the same China made products are 20 or 30% more in Canada than in the US despite that the Canadian $ is stronger than the USD. The relation is all so obvious because prices are easily compared when 2 countries are side by side.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/price-drops.html

BQ

incredible hulse

17th January 2008, 07:30 PM

Cars are cheaper than UK, but if you are earning less in NZ $ they will not seem any cheaper in real terms.

I think cars in real terms are more expensive than the UK. There are plenty of old, high km jap imports that can be bought reasonably but there are plenty of old knackers in the UK that are cheap. I've found that most new and nearly new cars are around 2.5-3 times the UK equivalent and as usual wages are not.
I find eating out more reasonable (agree about t/away pizzas!), groceries are more expensive (2litre milk is 3.50 dollars). Clothes (and shoes especially) are more expensive, petrol slightly cheaper in real terms. Furniture, carpets, curtains more expensive (How they justify the price of wool carpet here with the amount of sheep I'll never know). Housing in real terms in more expensive (in most parts of the country that I have looked at), council taxes/rates similar (maybe slightly cheaper but additional costs to pay on top)

All in I believe NZ to be a more expensive place to live than the UK when on local earnings. Maybe 10-15%. I've personally not met anyone yet (kiwis included) who doesn't say the same thing

Lupin

17th January 2008, 07:34 PM

I agree with IncredibleHulse; it seems to be common knowledge that the cost of living in NZ is higher than the UK or Oz and this is born out by my experience too.

Although, it's a funny one because we're building a beautiful house in paradise when we couldn't even afford a 2up2down in the UK!

incredible hulse

17th January 2008, 07:51 PM

Although, it's a funny one because we're building a beautiful house in paradise when we couldn't even afford a 2up2down in the UK!
Same here (not building but living in) ! Most of it paid for with the sterling though :exit

missy+mrmagoo

27th January 2008, 03:57 PM

have to disagree on 2 points:

Our last council tax bill in England was about £1300 and our rates at our new house here are going to be less than $600. (we lived in North London and now we are in rural Dargaville so that's probably alot to do with the huge difference).

And we bought a new Mondeo here for at least £4000 less here than we would have got it in England.

It is a bit annoying though that cars seem to hold their value more here. It means we can't get a cheap runaround as easily as we could in England. On the upside though we'll be glad of that when we want to sell a car.

dharder

27th January 2008, 04:09 PM

Car insurance is cheaper. I even dared to ask for the whole spiel, fully comprehensive, which I've never done in the UK. I think I paid about £55 a month in London, and about $38 here, but the first was third party, fire and theft, and the one here is comprehensive.

Glad I found something that is cheaper, though. Had to look for it...

On a day out yesterday, I found myself not happy about having to pay entrance fees at the museum for me and kids, and pay bus fares for kids. I had kind of gotten used to the trip to the Science Museum or the Natural History museum to be a 'cheap day out' in London, as I had a travel card anyway, no entry fees at the museums, and kids don't pay on bus and tube.

Ah well.

Daniela

jubjub

27th January 2008, 04:09 PM

This might be an interesting thing for you to read too.. from todays paper.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/12/story.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=10489033

Moorf

27th January 2008, 08:03 PM

This might be an interesting thing for you to read too.. from todays paper.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/12/story.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=10489033

Yep, read that too Sal - we're actually considering renting and putting our money away.... if the U.S. blows not even NZ will escape the fallout.

CJ22

1st February 2008, 11:56 PM

Hmm, I was expecting to go on to a reduced salary, but as it turned out, my NZ offer is 10% more than I'm earning in the UK. So I'm guessing that I can expect to feel quite well off.

IanW99

2nd February 2008, 06:30 AM

Hmm, I was expecting to go on to a reduced salary, but as it turned out, my NZ offer is 10% more than I'm earning in the UK. So I'm guessing that I can expect to feel quite well off.

Just interested, how exactly are you working out that your wages in NZ are 10% higher than in the UK?

Ian

CJ22

3rd February 2008, 01:21 AM

Actually it's 20%. I forgot about the bonuses. I'm basing it on the current exchange rate. I know that's a fairly meaningless comparison, but at least it's a measure. The relative salary is probably more important to me because I don't have a house to sell in the UK and won't be bringing lots of capital.

Jon&Candy

3rd February 2008, 02:59 AM

Cars are cheaper than UK, but if you are earning less in NZ $ they will not seem any cheaper in real terms.

I keep reading on the forums that cars are cheaper in NZ than in the UK, but whenever I look at used car prices this just isn't true.

In the UK, I drive a 1997 Nissan Primera 2.0 GT. When I come to sell it, I'll be lucky to get £500 for it (even though it's in great condition and has plenty more miles in it). A similar car in NZ would probably cost $6000-8000.

The price differential with newer cars isn't nearly so great, but it's still cheaper in the UK.

Having said that, insurance and running costs should be lower.

CJ22

3rd February 2008, 04:43 AM

From what I've seen, the best car bargains are 'nearly new'. Newish second-hand cars are much cheaper. However, they seem to hold their value, so older cars tend to keep their price where in the UK they'd drop down to virtually nothing. That's just the conclussion I've come to from my browsing.

jo b

3rd February 2008, 08:32 AM

So I suppose if you are forking out say $8000 for your first NZ car then when you come resell it won't loose as much value.

So although the initial outlay may be more but when you renew your car you won't be forking out as much to 'upgrade'. So in terms of cars depending on what you buy, it could be overall cheaper in NZ in the longer term. Obviously that would most likely be based on the Jap imports, and not expensive European cars.

Jo