[jmol]

Hello

I am very pleased to say that I have been offered a job in New Zealand. Slight concern is salary: this is still to be negotiatied but is likely to be in the region of $65, 000. I get the impression that this is fine (I'm single with no kids) but others views would be welcome.

On another subject, I have found this site to be very helpful and will be looking at it loads more in the future!

[Douglas]

Hi jmol, and welcome to the forums.

Unless you're coming in search of the high-life, you should be able to get along very well on that salary here. :nice1

Still, if you're going to be negotiating, there's no harm in seeing if you can get a touch more - do you know whether $65,000 is appropriate to your qualifications/experience?

[jmol]

Thanks for that.

I think it is an appropriate salary: it's a university type job and the $65K figure seems in the right range according to the wages info elsewhere on this site. I can now negotiate with confidence and start worrying/being excited about the move itself.

[Diny]

Jmol

For a single person with no kids I reckon you'll be just fine with a 65k salary.

I've heard of families of 4 getting by on a good deal less than that.

All the best. Diny

[Iain & Liz]

Now I am worried :?

I have a job offer with a wage of 17 Dollars an hour or about 35 - 38000 Dollars a year, I do have a wife and 2 young children. We are not going to NZ to live the high life ot have the best this or that, but is this enough to live on, with out my wife working as well?????????????

Dave
:nice1

[Diny]

Once again Dave, it all depends on where you live, how much dosh you take with you and how grandly you plan to exist once there.

The salary you mention equates to approx 14,000 pounds, but if you were mortgage free or at least had a very small mortgage it would be possible.

As long as the bills are paid and there's food on the table I'm sure we'll all adjust to cope with whatever money is left.

Good luck

Diny

[Moorf]

I agree with Diny - you would need no mortgage or a v small one to be comfortable on 35-38NZ$ from what I have heard/seen of the cost of living...

[Iain & Liz]

We intend to rent for a year or two. We will have some money from the sale of our house, which after buying everything Beds, KETTLE, t.v, everything really, should leave us with a reasonable deposit for a mortgage when we decide to buy.

We are not accustomed to a lavish lifestyle now, my salary barely touches 20k and my wife doesn't work. We don't struggle, I earn enough to pay the bills feed and cloth us all, can't ask for much more really!!!

Just hope my NZ salary can support us without dipping into the savings to much.

Dave
:nice1

[Moorf]

I'm sure you'll be just fine, and the scenery is FREE :yes

Keep us posted...

[Diny]

You sound like you have the right attitude anyway. I know it's probably something you don't really want to have to consider, but if things got too difficult, maybe your wife could go out and work for a while - just to see you through the hard times.

Also .... have you not considered taking all your 'stuff' with you. We've looked into this subject quite alot and it does actually work out to be the sensible option. A sole use 20ft container will cost in the region of 3k to send out to NZ - would you be able to replace everything for that price? Just a thought - I'm sure you'll mull everything over a million times and it will all come good in the end.

Diny

[Iain & Liz]

Thanks,
Just silly jitters!

We don't really have much in the way of 'stuff' worth taking , most of our furniture is old and needs replacing any way, the kitchen is fitted. We intend taking things of a personal value gifts photos etc but we may just filter these over on return trips to England or ask relatives to bring a few bits when they come to stay.

Liz intends to work once the kids are both at school or pre school.

After my last post I checked out a mortgage for when we do buy and things don't look to sad at all, we would probably only need to borrow 50 100k which works out quite reasonable.

Iain & Liz
:nice1

[Diny]

Don't worry - we've all been there - not silly jitters at all. It just shows that you are doing your homework and looking at things from a 'what if' point of view.

Having the occasional attack of the jitters is good. Remember - the best things in life are free ............... apart from gin, chocolate and a nice ripe camembert.

Diny

[Moorf]

I think gin, choc and camembert would probably solve my manhole pinhole situation :oops:

[SteveR]

I also have a job offer of around $38000 and was wondering if we could survive on it, There is only the 2 of us and hopefully only have need to get a small mortgage if any (depends on how much we buy a house for). at least this job gets us into the country and not spending all our savings, I can always look around for better paid work if required once we are there.

[Moorf]

Where will you be living - I am led to believe that this will make a huge difference to your costs...

[SteveR]

Rotorua hopefully, the company I will be working for are all over NZ and tried for CHCH but they had no vacancies there, they offered Rotorua or Queenstown, Queenstown seemed a bit isolated so we decided on Rotorua but when they sent the contracts through the put down Auckland! which was a mistake I hope!

[Caven]

Hello Ian,

Exactly the same boat mate. Looking to borrow around 100k NZ$ and I'll be on exactly 37,800 in Palmerston North. At a recent interview, I was told this about that income figure " if your wife goes out to work too (which she does) you'll be quite comfortable. On 37,800 alone, you won't be poor but you may have to discipline your spending" He mentioned that my wife would have to bring in about 22k NZ$ to be "quite comfortable".

Suits me, with diesel so cheap I can park up and tramp away to my heart's content :nice1

Best wishes Ian

[ruthyroo]

Just to let you know that the sun is shining in Rotovegas today - though it was -1 this morning...

House prices are considerably cheaper here than many other parts of NZ so that will help.

[SteveR]

Just to let you know that the sun is shining in Rotovegas today - though it was -1 this morning...



I hope it warms up a bit more in the next 6 weeks, although summer is on its way I guess, be nice to get 2 summers this year :D

[Michelle and Richard]

I agree with Moorf. I am going to be on 47500 in Auckland and its isn't going to go far. Yes you can rent cheaply but oh dear they are grim. We are in a very small 1 bed unit and its 265 a week, there are only 2 of us but after 5 weeks which is how long we have here we will be ready to escape, we are falling over each other. Its in a great area though.

NZ is not as cheap as it once was our inital impressions are that many things are similar or slightly less than the UK but taking into account the wages it could be more expensive. As we encounter costs I will post them on here.

Michelle