[renew]

Hi folks,
anyone used the ENZ cost of living calculator (http://www.emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML) Is it a good guide or way off?

cheers

Ian

[ENZ]

Funnily enough, we're going to be updating the calculator soon.

[ENZ]

Food Cost Estimates

Before we update, it might be a good idea to put some numbers to the forum. We're working on the basis of two adults and two children for the numbers. Purely for food (not eating out not alcohol) we've had round number weekly costs as:

Frugal (Basic Living) $150
Modest (Lives reasonably well but no extravagance) $200
Good Living (probably within the top 10 percent of lifestyles for New Zealand) $300

I think we're going to have to increase these numbers now. It probably wouldn't be too hard for a family of four coming in from the USA or UK, used to eating well and buying lots of ready made meals, convenience foods, good quality branded foods etc, to spend $400 per week on food.

If anyone wants to give estimates - either here or by Private Message - based on their own experiences they'd be gratefully received. :)

[Lupin]

Frugal (when we first got here)- about $180
Modest- $250
Good living $400+

I'm careful but even I find if I don't watch it my pakn'save bill easily slips past $250.

for family of four

[Tia Maria]

Lupin77 wrote:

Frugal (when we first got here)- about $180
Modest- $250
Good living $400+

I'm careful but even I find if I don't watch it my pakn'save bill easily slips past $250.

for family of four

Pretty much agree with this. Although our $250 can go up to $300 if OH buys his lunch!

The only thing I find difficult about the question is if I was to maintain my UK 'Lives reasonably well but no extravagance' lifestyle I'd probably need nearer $350 (so frugal $200, modest $350 and Good Living $450). So if people don't want the shock of budgeting once here then maybe that is a better figure - however, they would be living a lot better than the locals and this would be difficult on NZ wages.

Hope that makes sense - I'm not explaining myself very well in this heat! :D

Cheers

Tia

[Familyofmonkeys]

Pretty much agree with this. Although our $250 can go up to $300 if OH buys his lunch!

The only thing I find difficult about the question is if I was to maintain my UK 'Lives reasonably well but no extravagance' lifestyle I'd probably need nearer $350 (so frugal $200, modest $350 and Good Living $450). So if people don't want the shock of budgeting once here then maybe that is a better figure - however, they would be living a lot better than the locals and this would be difficult on NZ wages.

Hope that makes sense - I'm not explaining myself very well in this heat! :D

Cheers

Tia

Its all about buying seasonally again!!

For our family of 5 (including 2 in nappies):

Frugal week $180 (i.e. fruit & veg/staples/nappies & wipes/toiletries/cleaning products/toilet roll etc)
Modest week $230 (i.e. with some nice cheeses/fresh dips & chips/fresh pasta/ice cream/freezer stuff etc)
Extravegant week $300 ( i.e. pre-christmas shop with plenty of stuff from deli counter)

[Tia Maria]

Its all about buying seasonally again!!

For our family of 5 (including 2 in nappies):

Frugal week $180 (i.e. fruit & veg/staples/nappies & wipes/toiletries/cleaning products/toilet roll etc)
Modest week $230 (i.e. with some nice cheeses/fresh dips & chips/fresh pasta/ice cream/freezer stuff etc)
Extravegant week $300 ( i.e. pre-christmas shop with plenty of stuff from deli counter)

I agree that you can 'budget' or 'cleverly shop' but I think they are trying to establish figures for those that do buy branded goods and convenience meals etc and want to continue this way of shopping in NZ. I think this is a very common way to shop in the UK or USA and not considered to be extravagant.

But I think that this kind of 'shopping without thinking' would be difficult on $200 to $250 in NZ, as I know that I achieve this budget by buying lots of specials, cheaper nappies, own brand etc.

For many the shock of going from being able to buy what they like, to having to budget can be very difficult to accept and can spoil their NZ experience.

Cheers

Tia

[Familyofmonkeys]

I agree that you can 'budget' or 'cleverly shop' but I think they are trying to establish figures for those that do buy branded goods and convenience meals etc and want to continue this way of shopping in NZ. I think this is a very common way to shop in the UK or USA and not considered to be extravagant.

But I think that this kind of 'shopping without thinking' would be difficult on $200 to $250 in NZ, as I know that I achieve this budget by buying lots of specials, cheaper nappies, own brand etc.

For many the shock of going from being able to buy what they like, to having to budget can be very difficult to accept and can spoil their NZ experience.

Cheers

Tia


Good point Tia!

Although we don't really buy own brand (well, apart from signature range tinned goods) we get Vogels Cereals, huggies nappies, johnsons wipes etc etc.... but I have been thinking about this and there are things that other might buy as part of weekly shop that could increase your shopping bill:
Newpapers
Magazines (seem to be from around $7 up to about $14)
Crisps/bisuits (and similar lunchbox type snacks)
Sweets
Pet food (not sure how expensive this is)

If you buy any of these every week, they can be quite expensive compared to UK and really put your food bill up. If you are used to buying a couple of magazines every week in UK, they 'could' well be much more expensive here up to extra $28 per week.

Still....the idea of spending $400 on a weekly shop is quite scary :exit ....maybe I have adapted :D

[ENZ]

Thanks for these estimates Lupin, Tia and FOM. It's really only food costs for two adults and two children that we're looking at just now. There shouldn't be any wine, beer, nappies, magazines, newspapers, pet food, etc. These will be included in other categories. Will this make you want to lower your estimates by much?

The final figure we use for "good living" is a bit tricky - as are all the numbers really. I'm sure I could easily feed four people quite well on less than the "frugal" number, and I'm sure some families have to do this out of necessity, but we've got to keep things "reasonable" for people coming here with normal expectations. As I say this is tricky. For example, I would bet quite strongly from experience that fewer than 10% of four person families in New Zealand spend $400 per week on food. But I also know from experience that it's easily done by people arriving with plenty of money. In the end, they usually change their habits and shop with a better eye for bargains and start buying more fresh food and fewer packaged meals. But not always.

We end up by trying to find a middle ground for the calculator that, for most people, doesn't seem too far off the mark.

[jubjub]

We are currently have a battle of wills with our grocery bill.... its WAYYYYY out of hand, but our best month has been about $1300... but that does include wine and beer, prob about $200 of that. But that doesnt include nappies as I buy them wholesale.

I shop erratically which doesnt help, if I run out of stuff, I pop into the shop fo rit, and we all know where that ends up... a muffin for DS, a marmite scroll for me.... you get the picture!

If you are frugal I would say you could just about do it on $150 a week, that would involve shopping around using butchers/fruit shops etc. If you get everything from supermarket, that would be about $200, but if you basically grab what you fancy as you go round then its easy 300....

[Familyofmonkeys]

We used to shop erratically...these days I send OH off with a list in the evening when kids are in bed. Most of the time he selectively leaves stuff off the list if he 'thinks' we don't need it. But, I now go through the list and go to different supermarket every couple of weeks for the bits he has missed off....he's getting better at finding everything these days :D

[Lupin]

Thanks for these estimates Lupin, Tia and FOM. It's really only food costs for two adults and two children that we're looking at just now. There shouldn't be any wine, beer, nappies, magazines, newspapers, pet food, etc. These will be included in other categories. Will this make you want to lower your estimates by much?

The final figure we use for "good living" is a bit tricky - as are all the numbers really. I'm sure I could easily feed four people quite well on less than the "frugal" number, and I'm sure some families have to do this out of necessity, but we've got to keep things "reasonable" for people coming here with normal expectations. As I say this is tricky. For example, I would bet quite strongly from experience that fewer than 10% of four person families in New Zealand spend $400 per week on food. But I also know from experience that it's easily done by people arriving with plenty of money. In the end, they usually change their habits and shop with a better eye for bargains and start buying more fresh food and fewer packaged meals. But not always.

We end up by trying to find a middle ground for the calculator that, for most people, doesn't seem too far off the mark.

Yep, I got that you weren't including nappies and cleaning products (and I guessed not eating out either) and I also made a considered answer weighing up the initial weeks where we probably spent hundreds :o and the following months where we tightened our belts to a probably unacceptable degree for most migrants. I stand by my original estimates- but reading familyofmonkeys I'm inclined to wonder whether the rural/metropolitan divide might be a considerable factor as vogel bread is a serious luxury for us, sadly, and that kind of shopping would tip us over the $250-300 mark :(

[Familyofmonkeys]

Yep, I got that you weren't including nappies and cleaning products (and I guessed not eating out either) and I also made a considered answer weighing up the initial weeks where we probably spent hundreds :o and the following months where we tightened our belts to a probably unacceptable degree for most migrants. I stand by my original estimates- but reading familyofmonkeys I'm inclined to wonder whether the rural/metropolitan divide might be a considerable factor as vogel bread is a serious luxury for us, sadly, and that kind of shopping would tip us over the $250-300 mark :(

We buy Vogel breakfast cereal...2 boxes a week...total cost about $12 average. We bake all our own bread...bread is more expensive in NZ as no equivalent of cheap tesco 20p loaf.

Wonder if there is much difference in rural and urban shopping and prices of goods? I generally assume that things cost more in cities, but I guess if there is less demand for some goods they may actually be priced higher in rural area?

[Lupin]

I always thought that groceries would be cheaper in the bog cities .... I'm keen to know now!

[renew]

Thanks everybody for there inputs to this thread. As I am about to launch myself into the NZ move I was worrying how out of line the calculators where with current pricing. Slighlty less worried as we have no rugrats. Well only nieces and nephews who all seem to want us to buy a house with a pool for when they come over. Hmmm might just point them at the sea..

Cheers

ian

[ourquest]

Wonder if there is much difference in rural and urban shopping and prices of goods? I generally assume that things cost more in cities, but I guess if there is less demand for some goods they may actually be priced higher in rural area?

I would normally expect prices in rural areas to be higher as a result of higher distribution costs which need to be absorbed by each business. There is also less competition to help drive prices down.

[tomo1340]

I have worked out our average weekly food bill and run it through the currency converter. It's not a fair comparison but I was surprised to see that (if I didn't make a mistake with the converter as I am on my phone and it's fiddly) we spend a little over the equivalent of 125 NZD on our food shopping for two adults and two to three children. I would be interested to look at some kiwi supermarkets online and do a bit of price comparison. I was thinking we would be pushing 250 dollars easy.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I have worked out our average weekly food bill and run it through the currency converter. It's not a fair comparison but I was surprised to see that (if I didn't make a mistake with the converter as I am on my phone and it's fiddly) we spend a little over the equivalent of 125 NZD on our food shopping for two adults and two to three children. I would be interested to look at some kiwi supermarkets online and do a bit of price comparison. I was thinking we would be pushing 250 dollars easy.

You might want to check that....$125 is less than £50 per week!

[Tia Maria]

Thanks for these estimates Lupin, Tia and FOM. It's really only food costs for two adults and two children that we're looking at just now. There shouldn't be any wine, beer, nappies, magazines, newspapers, pet food, etc. These will be included in other categories. Will this make you want to lower your estimates by much?

The final figure we use for "good living" is a bit tricky - as are all the numbers really. I'm sure I could easily feed four people quite well on less than the "frugal" number, and I'm sure some families have to do this out of necessity, but we've got to keep things "reasonable" for people coming here with normal expectations. As I say this is tricky. For example, I would bet quite strongly from experience that fewer than 10% of four person families in New Zealand spend $400 per week on food. But I also know from experience that it's easily done by people arriving with plenty of money. In the end, they usually change their habits and shop with a better eye for bargains and start buying more fresh food and fewer packaged meals. But not always.

We end up by trying to find a middle ground for the calculator that, for most people, doesn't seem too far off the mark.

OK I'm going to cheat a little bit, my reason being is I think very few people will ever choose the 'good living' option, so will automatically budget for the moderate living option, this is probably, like you say, what they will end up spending but not what they would spend to keep up with their original 'moderate living' ideas.

The only way I could do the figures which I think will give people an accurate idea of what they are letting themselves in for is to add an extra option!

Frugal: $180

Moderate: $200 (budgets, makes packed lunch, buys own brand, cooks more from scartch)

Moderate/Convenient: $275 (Doesn't budget, buys ready made sandwiches, buys favourite brands and ready meals)

Good Living: $350 (whatever you like, plus expensive tastes)

I think this makes it clearer how people live on a Kiwi wage but obviously doesn't fit into your calculator definitions.

Cheers

Tia

[Tia Maria]

I have worked out our average weekly food bill and run it through the currency converter. It's not a fair comparison but I was surprised to see that (if I didn't make a mistake with the converter as I am on my phone and it's fiddly) we spend a little over the equivalent of 125 NZD on our food shopping for two adults and two to three children. I would be interested to look at some kiwi supermarkets online and do a bit of price comparison. I was thinking we would be pushing 250 dollars easy.

Do your shop here (you don't have to register):

www.foodtown.co.nz

It will give you a much more accurate picture and give you an idea of what products NZ has to offer. Don't forget to add a bit extra if you are anything like me, and have to buy extra bread, fruit, gingerbread men at times other than you main shop.

Cheers

Tia