Junnifer USA
19th March 2005, 07:41 PM
Its been just one month since we arrived from the US. I was addicted to the forum...but we have been so busy since arriving that i have hardlybeen on.
Our arrival started with some difficulty. I caught a cold...and then my son did too. So all the things my husband and I would have done together we slow to get started. Bill did get our car. A 96 Avalon...same as a Lexus. Excellent condition...fully loaded...leather and a great sound system...drives great on those hair-pin turns...paid $9k for it including a 3 year warrenty. Had the radio adjusted and the window repaired on the warrenty. Great service from the car dealer. pm if you are looking for a reputable dealer...
We are staying in a small cottage in a camp area for $180 a week. 2 bedrooms. The kid room can sleep up to 4 --but if you have luggage you need that room for your gear. Kitchentte and shower. $180 per week. That has saved a ton of money. better than a motel and a lot cheaper! Tons of kids to play with formy son and 15 minutes to downtown CHch! Has a laundry facility on the premise. 2 malls near by with great grocery stores.
On week 2 a job was given to me! Wow...before I even started looking. Part time...30 hours a week. Just what I wanted. My husband came over with no job leads... and in 1 week has 3 good interviews lined up. Networking seems relatively easy here. We aren't looking for the $100k job...but decent wages seem available.
The house: Well, for tiny lots and shabby old construction, Chch seems over priced. However, the newer insulated construction is very available. We found it plentiful. It is not cheap...justmoderatly priced. After all, we are living within the city limits. It is true prices have shot way up. But if you are comingfrom a US city of 330K people, houses in town are not cheap either. We found that we spent the same amount here as in23% less, got 300 sq ft more house. It is on a much smaller lot. However, we were not living in such a large city before. We made an offer and negotiated the price down about 10% We close in 6 weeks.
Food is not cheap, consumer products, frige, washer, tv, dryer...cost more here than in the US. We stop at the fantastic vegi stands 1-2 times a week. It saves us about 50% on the vegi costs. I think meat costs about the same as home. Processed foods are more expensive... But I hated shopping at Wal-Mart where it was cheap...besides most of it is not good for you anyhow!
Some things are a lot cheaper than home. W House insurance is very cheap too. Telephone land lines are expensive...and cell service is a monopoly here...!
(NZ expenses are in NZD. US expenses are mentioned in USD prices. I didnt do any converting.)
Get this -- We only paid $NZD 220 for auto insurance for the YEAR!!! We were paying $USD 330 per month in the US! Kids school fees were $180. Uniform was $18 per shirt. $10 for sweat pants. $30 for the fleecy jacket . Not bad. Kid went on a 3 day school coastal camp trip and loved it!
The little township, Kaiapoi, that we bought the house in has fantastic rec facilities: indoor aquatic center, beach, river, water ski course, kid BMX bike trail and club, swim team, cricket, rugby, yatch club, great golf, tennis, cute library, went to the flower show... We love it!
If your from the US you will really apreciate all the kid and public sport and rec facilities. So many parks, picnics, hiking trails!
We love it here! How fortunate we are. How grateful that the NZ government has offered us this opportunity!
If you are working on your application...don't give up... it is worth all the effort!
Do ship over all your personal goods... consumer items are a big expense here. It prevents you from being swamped with a million new expenses too! We cant wait for our container to arrive. The more I shop around, the more pleased I am that we brought a lot of our personal stuff.
If you are modest in your expectations as a consumer... if you dont need fancy stuff, and dont tend towards consumer debt, you can manage fine here. Its not cheap... but it is reasonable. Taxes are high...but we feel like we actually get somehting back. Great roads, nice clean towns with tons of recreation, many public facilities... It is worth it to us. Life is less stressful. People are friendly. It is slower than the US...thank God!
pm if you want anymore info on anything I have mentioned.
Cheers!
Jen and Bill
Our arrival started with some difficulty. I caught a cold...and then my son did too. So all the things my husband and I would have done together we slow to get started. Bill did get our car. A 96 Avalon...same as a Lexus. Excellent condition...fully loaded...leather and a great sound system...drives great on those hair-pin turns...paid $9k for it including a 3 year warrenty. Had the radio adjusted and the window repaired on the warrenty. Great service from the car dealer. pm if you are looking for a reputable dealer...
We are staying in a small cottage in a camp area for $180 a week. 2 bedrooms. The kid room can sleep up to 4 --but if you have luggage you need that room for your gear. Kitchentte and shower. $180 per week. That has saved a ton of money. better than a motel and a lot cheaper! Tons of kids to play with formy son and 15 minutes to downtown CHch! Has a laundry facility on the premise. 2 malls near by with great grocery stores.
On week 2 a job was given to me! Wow...before I even started looking. Part time...30 hours a week. Just what I wanted. My husband came over with no job leads... and in 1 week has 3 good interviews lined up. Networking seems relatively easy here. We aren't looking for the $100k job...but decent wages seem available.
The house: Well, for tiny lots and shabby old construction, Chch seems over priced. However, the newer insulated construction is very available. We found it plentiful. It is not cheap...justmoderatly priced. After all, we are living within the city limits. It is true prices have shot way up. But if you are comingfrom a US city of 330K people, houses in town are not cheap either. We found that we spent the same amount here as in23% less, got 300 sq ft more house. It is on a much smaller lot. However, we were not living in such a large city before. We made an offer and negotiated the price down about 10% We close in 6 weeks.
Food is not cheap, consumer products, frige, washer, tv, dryer...cost more here than in the US. We stop at the fantastic vegi stands 1-2 times a week. It saves us about 50% on the vegi costs. I think meat costs about the same as home. Processed foods are more expensive... But I hated shopping at Wal-Mart where it was cheap...besides most of it is not good for you anyhow!
Some things are a lot cheaper than home. W House insurance is very cheap too. Telephone land lines are expensive...and cell service is a monopoly here...!
(NZ expenses are in NZD. US expenses are mentioned in USD prices. I didnt do any converting.)
Get this -- We only paid $NZD 220 for auto insurance for the YEAR!!! We were paying $USD 330 per month in the US! Kids school fees were $180. Uniform was $18 per shirt. $10 for sweat pants. $30 for the fleecy jacket . Not bad. Kid went on a 3 day school coastal camp trip and loved it!
The little township, Kaiapoi, that we bought the house in has fantastic rec facilities: indoor aquatic center, beach, river, water ski course, kid BMX bike trail and club, swim team, cricket, rugby, yatch club, great golf, tennis, cute library, went to the flower show... We love it!
If your from the US you will really apreciate all the kid and public sport and rec facilities. So many parks, picnics, hiking trails!
We love it here! How fortunate we are. How grateful that the NZ government has offered us this opportunity!
If you are working on your application...don't give up... it is worth all the effort!
Do ship over all your personal goods... consumer items are a big expense here. It prevents you from being swamped with a million new expenses too! We cant wait for our container to arrive. The more I shop around, the more pleased I am that we brought a lot of our personal stuff.
If you are modest in your expectations as a consumer... if you dont need fancy stuff, and dont tend towards consumer debt, you can manage fine here. Its not cheap... but it is reasonable. Taxes are high...but we feel like we actually get somehting back. Great roads, nice clean towns with tons of recreation, many public facilities... It is worth it to us. Life is less stressful. People are friendly. It is slower than the US...thank God!
pm if you want anymore info on anything I have mentioned.
Cheers!
Jen and Bill