[Helen62]

I know this has more than likely been raised before but struggling and need some help from you guys. My OH and I have no kids and in UK have a joint income of approx £70K so lifestyle is pretty good. We want to move to New Zealand and realise this will mean a drop in salary but want to maintain a good standard of living. Our destination will hopefully be Wellington what salary do you think would be required to ensure we still maintain a decent standard of living.

Thanks

[melly]

I'm not from the UK so I can't help you out with figures. But I do know in previous discussions about this topic, the comment frequently made is it depends what your definition of a 'decent standard of living' is. So it might be helpful to list some of the requirements for you, eg. size of house, how often you go out for a meal, type of holiday you usually go on and frequency etc. Then others might be able to give you a better idea about actual numbers.

[Helen62]

I'm not from the UK so I can't help you out with figures. But I do know in previous discussions about this topic, the comment frequently made is it depends what your definition of a 'decent standard of living' is. So it might be helpful to list some of the requirements for you, eg. size of house, how often you go out for a meal, type of holiday you usually go on and frequency etc. Then others might be able to give you a better idea about actual numbers.

thanks and good point. we have 2 new cars incl merc CLK and a van , 1 or 2 holidays a year (season tickets at Leeds Utd!!! but can be excused for that) We currently live in a 3 bed semi with a small mortgage and would not want to take on a massive mortgage but would compromise in other areas. Luckily we bought our home before house prices got high so the recent fall hasn't been such an issue. We are not regulars for eating and drinking out but have now got used to having quite a good amount of disposal income and would not want to move to a point where money became tight.

thanks

[CJ22]

I know this has more than likely been raised before but struggling and need some help from you guys. My OH and I have no kids and in UK have a joint income of approx £70K so lifestyle is pretty good. We want to move to New Zealand and realise this will mean a drop in salary but want to maintain a good standard of living. Our destination will hopefully be Wellington what salary do you think would be required to ensure we still maintain a decent standard of living.

Thanks

I've said this before: it only means a drop in salary if you accept it does. If you're a nurse or a teacher then you're pretty much stuck as the rates reflect national rates, but in any other job, if they need skilled workers then they must pay the going rate.

Don't be flim-flammed about salary cuts, or promises of 'other benefits'. The cost of living is about the same in NZ as it is in the UK, albeit in slightly different ways. If you take a pay-cut, you will lower your material state. If that's fine by you, then great stuff - many people come here for a simpler life and love it.

But if you want to maintain your existing standard of living, then you have to maintain your existing income, simple as that.

[AndyR]

everyone is different. Its hard for me to give advise as I seem to spend whatever I earn. Its only now im learning to start to save.

[Jim&Karen]

I have never felt as poor as i do in NZ everything here is so expensive, compared to when we lived in West Yorkshire. The problem is that food costs about the same as the UK but wages on average 20% less. If a outdoor lifestyle is what you want then you will have no problem.

Karen

[LesleyS]

I have never felt as poor as i do in NZ everything here is so expensive, compared to when we lived in West Yorkshire. The problem is that food costs about the same as the UK but wages on average 20% less.
Karen

I feel the same too Karen!

[CJ22]

Some food is definitely cheaper, but some is certainly more expensive, so it probably does come out about even. But you might make a case that food costs as a percentage of income in NZ is about at the historical mean. Food costs as a percentage of income have drastically reduced in recent years with the onset of the supermarket hegemony in retail, and in some ways food is too cheap in the UK (current price rises excepted).

[Jim&Karen]

Food is more expensive in Christchurch believe me i have tried various options farmers markets etc better quality there.

I have stopped eating Chicken here due to the pesticides used and it didnt taste much better than UK mass produced.

I have been here 11 months now and hve exhausted the range here oh when are they going to bring in new lines I am sooooooooo bored :uhoh with the range of foods.

Anyway on a positive note lovely wines here :cheers

Karen

[Helen62]

thanks everyone some good points - especially about wine being cheaper maybe this will even out some of the other expenses!!! Cheers

[incredible hulse]

Helen - can I have your season tickets ;)

Not sure on the food costs being the same. Been a while since we did a monthly shop in the UK but it used to be around 250-350 pounds for us; over here it's regularly 1-1.25k a month.
Personally we require around 3-3.5k per month excluding mortgage to live what we consider a decent standard of living. We've had to forsake the holidays and nice cars we had in the UK and saving has gone out of the window but things are pretty good. Some people do it on a lot less but that's our personal viewpoint

[TheBigSaxon]

I've said this before: it only means a drop in salary if you accept it does. If you're a nurse or a teacher then you're pretty much stuck as the rates reflect national rates, but in any other job, if they need skilled workers then they must pay the going rate.

Don't be flim-flammed about salary cuts, or promises of 'other benefits'. The cost of living is about the same in NZ as it is in the UK, albeit in slightly different ways. If you take a pay-cut, you will lower your material state. If that's fine by you, then great stuff - many people come here for a simpler life and love it.

But if you want to maintain your existing standard of living, then you have to maintain your existing income, simple as that.


I agree with that statement 100%. When I was asked about my salary demands I converted it to what I was making in the US, added 15% for negotiation and pushed it. I gave back the 15% and everybody was happy.

[Helen62]

Helen - can I have your season tickets ;)

Not sure on the food costs being the same. Been a while since we did a monthly shop in the UK but it used to be around 250-350 pounds for us; over here it's regularly 1-1.25k a month.
Personally we require around 3-3.5k per month excluding mortgage to live what we consider a decent standard of living. We've had to forsake the holidays and nice cars we had in the UK and saving has gone out of the window but things are pretty good. Some people do it on a lot less but that's our personal viewpoint

Incredible Hulse - unfortunatly those season tickets are priceless however the rest of your sums add up to roughly what I was thinking. thanks

[incredible hulse]

Incredible Hulse - unfortunatly those season tickets are priceless however the rest of your sums add up to roughly what I was thinking. thanks Ken Bates eh ;) 80 quid a season when I started on the Kop

[bjtb]

Hi
The wages here are basically 1/3 of that in the UK. However if you both commanded a salary of $70.000 each you would live comfortably.

[Helen62]

Incredible Hulse - prepared to be shocked £650 for west stand this season. Got older so now a west stander but previously in the kop. Thin this is now around £450 . Ken Bates says Leeds are making money - someone is!!!

[IanW99]

Hi
The wages here are basically 1/3 of that in the UK. However if you both commanded a salary of $70.000 each you would live comfortably.

Sorry, have to disagree with the first part of this statement.

How are you calculating that the wages are a third? What jobs? What area of the country are you using for the comparisons?

Ian

[Helen62]

Sorry, have to disagree with the first part of this statement.

How are you calculating that the wages are a third? What jobs? What area of the country are you using for the comparisons?

Ian

Ian this is why I am confused - I had expected to take a small drop in salary but other advice has been to negotiate hard and if you do this you can maintain salary. We are hoping to have a joint income in the region of £250K which means we could maintain a relatively small mortgate even with higher interest rates . Lets be honest a big move involves a big amount of stress therefore compromises have to be made but I don't want to compromise to the extent that money wise things become a struggle. People may think this is shallow but it's reality for most of us. Thanks again some great advice from people on this forum.

[IanW99]

Ian this is why I am confused - I had expected to take a small drop in salary but other advice has been to negotiate hard and if you do this you can maintain salary. We are hoping to have a joint income in the region of £250K which means we could maintain a relatively small mortgate even with higher interest rates . Lets be honest a big move involves a big amount of stress therefore compromises have to be made but I don't want to compromise to the extent that money wise things become a struggle. People may think this is shallow but it's reality for most of us. Thanks again some great advice from people on this forum.

You are adding to my confusion :)

You originally said that you are currently on a joint income in the UK of £70K, but when you come to NZ it will be £250K? Did you mean NZ$?

I'll assume that you did, in which case NZ$250K is a very good salary indeed in NZ.

As an approximate rule of thumb, you should double your UK salary number to get a similar lifestyle in NZ, so for example if you have a joint income of £70K in the UK then a salary of NZ$140K would give you a similar lifestyle, so on an income of NZ$250K you should have no problems.

Ian

[Gran]

Unfortunately NZ does not have the cheap and easy availability of all seasonal foods all year round so we have to try to use what is in season, there is a great deal of help with this in the "Healthy Food Guide" magazine that comes out every month. Also it is an expensive business to try to use the exact ingredients which you are used to and those ready made meals can be expensive, it does take some readjustment.
http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/

[TheBigSaxon]

You are adding to my confusion :)

You originally said that you are currently on a joint income in the UK of £70K, but when you come to NZ it will be £250K? Did you mean NZ$?

I'll assume that you did, in which case NZ$250K is a very good salary indeed in NZ.

As an approximate rule of thumb, you should double your UK salary number to get a similar lifestyle in NZ, so for example if you have a joint income of £70K in the UK then a salary of NZ$140K would give you a similar lifestyle, so on an income of NZ$250K you should have no problems.

Ian


I cant attest to that, concerning the 250k NZD mark. I was chatting with a couple we met here just last night and I told them that I was in the $200K NZD salary range and they nearly fell over.

[Paul & Rach]

Before coming to to NZ we had a UK income of £70K pa (or more some years). I took a "well paid job" here for NZ$100k (£38K) and my other half eventually had to settle for a part time job in a library (for basically little more than a paper boy gets in the UK)

If you can get jobs which will pay over $200k then you should be OK.... but if you cant you should be prepared for a substantial drop in your disposable income.

Over the past two and a half years, I've worked harder than I have ever worked in my life. More stress than I thought possible. I've tried so hard to make up for the massive cost we incurred in coming here. I still live in a rented house, our savings have dwindled. We used to have 2 holidays a year (sometimes in NZ)... now I can't afford a holiday in NZ and we live here !!! And to top it all I was sacked with 2 weeks notice and no redunancy 2 months ago for no fault of my own.... and can I get another job ???? Not by the looks of it.

From the looks of it Helen you have it well sorted in the UK. Don't expect the same here. If I were in your shoes now , knowing what I know now. I'd stay where you are.

[JandM]

Paul, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

[brisbane08]

The salary issue is really freaking me out. We don't live extravagantly here in Australia but we live well, like to eat out and travel. I will be making less than half of what I do (so around $NZ35k), while OH will make about $NZ75k. Rents seem to be as high as where we currently are so no saving there.

[tyhapus]

Hi all

For what it's worth I think you can do it on $75K and live well.

In my head I think we have to alter the way we do things - and be creative.

e.g. buy food that is in season direct from the suppliers/growers. I read that you can buy a whole lamb for example from teh Te Papa market on a Sunday morning for $150 and that's about 20 meals on it's own.

I want to grow food, catch fish and just make more stuff. I want the time to do this and be outside more (part of the reason for the move).

I don't want to re-create my UK lifestyle in NZ.

Dunno if this helps .

[moonglum]

Me any my Partner are on £60K atm, but the main reason for going to NZ is to downsize. We should (I hope) be able to buy a modest house for cast (we should make £150K on the sale of our house in the UK.
We aren't great travellers, so to see the world we want to actually live there rather than take expensive holidays. We love to garden, walk, etc and want more time to do these things rather than work our guts out to make lots of money that we only spend on things to try and unwind!
I get the feeling that this might be a common aim for people wanting to emmigrate......
OR is it?
Poor little rich kid syndrome perhaps (me, not anyone else here... :))

[Jacqi B]

I don't want to re-create my UK lifestyle in NZ.

I think this is an important thing to remember. I, and I suspect most people choosing to emigrate, are looking for a different lifestyle. How different will vary from person to person, of course.

There are things I've been doing int he UK over the past several years that I really enjoyed but wont be doing (or not as much) when I'm in NZ: regular trips to the theatre and opera, art galleries, museums. Frequent sight-seeing trips to Europe. But I will have other things to look forward to.

[gil]

If anyone is interested, I have a "cost of living in Wellington" document current for 2008. It came to me from someone at my work's Welly office and is used for the purposes of relocating staff to Welly from UK (mainly). I can't put it on here as the pdf exceeds the forum size limit. Please PM me your email adress if you would like it!

Gil