[Billy]

Just to add a few more things to the debate raging in other threads, I am finding things cheap, as follows:

Cricket: me and the boy went to NZ vs Sri Lanka ODI at the Westpac in Welly (great place to watch cricket) - $27 plus booking fee.

Triple room, Welly city centre, including breakfast - $80

Speedway in Palmerston North: 3.5 hours of spectacular entertainment, terrifying crashes etc - family ticket $50 (anyone in the area who hasn't been, I highly recommend it)

Football: me and the boy went to see our national league team Young Heart Manawatu - $30

Horse racing: Family ticket for boxing day races at Awapuni, Palmerston North - around $50

Takeaway food: I'll not go into detail, but Dominos etc are really cheap, Indian and Chinese equally so. Fabulous Indiain last night from the one here in Levin.

Cricket summer school: the boy gets 3 half days schooling from pro-cricketers - $50

Housing: we are renting at the moment, but we could have a 4 bed detached, swimming pool, 1/2 acre, for under $300k, here in Levin.

There's many other things, but this is just a taster for folks who might not be aware of the things possibly not covered much here before.

Cheers
Billy

p.s. broadband is expensive and slow, Sky+ (MySky) is just coming at $600 (similar to its intro in the UK though). Swings and roundabouts pricewise, but throw in the lifestyle, weather, laid-back attitudes (rented a van today - the chap didn't want paid until I returned the van!!!), and NZ is a winner IMHO.

[Cardiff Irons]

Nice one Billy, very helpful.

$600 for Sky+ though, think I'll just bring my own UK box with me. ;)

[Billy]

If only that was possible; unfortunately a compatability issue; UK boxes wont work here, cant remember the technical specifics. Someone here will know.

[Smiler]

No go Steve. We have 2 still in the boxes. :wah:wah

Technical reasons are much to long and complicated for me to list here.





























OK I tell a lie, I fell asleep while I was being educated on this.;)

[Richard_from_Long Beach]

I used xtra's broadband service in Christchurch and found the speed and price (for their top of the line service) as good as anywhere here in the U.S.

That's just one man's experience, however.

[foolsgold99]

p.s. broadband is expensive and slow

We've got a 2mb line for which we pay $59.00 a month, which is great.

I agree the default package is poor, 256kb line for $39.00, spend the xtra (sorry) $20 a month it's well worth it. Still good value compared to other locations

[G&K]

With you on that one Billy !

Oh yeah - and petrol/diesel don't forget that, about the same price as the UK only in cents, whicj makes it 2.5 x cheaper... This has a massive impact on our family expenditure.
And no council tax...

[StevieD]

Keep it coming guys I like it!!! :laugh

[GeorgeM]

With you on that one Billy !

Oh yeah - and petrol/diesel don't forget that, about the same price as the UK only in cents, whicj makes it 2.5 x cheaper... This has a massive impact on our family expenditure.
And no council tax...Let's not get carried away here!

Petrol is currently (in Chch) $1.419, which equtes to just under 55p - much cheaper than the UK, but not 2.5 times.

Diesel may be much nearer to 2.5 times cheaper at the pump, but then you have to pay for the permit to use a diesel vehicle (which you pay for by the mileage you drive).

Whilst there isn't council tax there are still rates, based on the council's valuation of your house. If you're living in rental accommodation you probably haven't come across this yet since in NZ this is generally included in the rent and the landlord receives and pays the bill. That said, though, this bill is also substantially less than it would be in the UK.

[Billy]

In the UK, I was paying $38 (todays rate) for a 2GB unlimited download connection, compared with Xtra at $60 for 10GB download limit. Telecom have got the market stitched up here, and just managed to weasel their way out of a government edict to reduce prices by doing a deal with that Aussie company whos' name I've forgotten.

It's a pity, because NZ used to be near the forefront of all these technological advances, now it is a the bottom of the OECD pile.

Cheers
Billy

[Avalon]

With you on that one Billy !

Oh yeah - and petrol/diesel don't forget that, about the same price as the UK only in cents, whicj makes it 2.5 x cheaper... This has a massive impact on our family expenditure.
And no council tax...
I think its only fair to point out that for an awful lot of kiwis - thats VERY expensive.

Many things seem cheap here when you look at the cost of things in the UK - but many people here just cant afford these items.

Really came home to me when talking to some new friends about my flight issues. I asked how the average kiwi copes. I was told - "we just dont go anywhere - its too expensive". This is a lady in her 50s, and the furthest she has been able to go is Queenstown - once on honeymoon.

Put things in perspective for me - I can tell you.

[GeorgeM]

As noted by Billy, entrance to sports events is v cheap. Our season ticket to the Jade Stadium for the Crusaders/Canterbury (Rugby) costs $330 for very good seats (between 10m and 22m lines, 4 rows from front but elevated). For this we get 7 Super 14 games, 7 NPC games PLUS the All Blacks v Australia test match. Not bad for less than 130 quid each. And a plus is that you can normally get tickets for events quite easily - even ABs tests.

Although it won't be of concern to some people, another thing that is much cheaper in NZ is private school fees. Our girls go to Rangi Ruru, one of the top girls' schools in NZ, and the fees are $12,000 pa (less than 5000 pounds). In the UK they used to go to a good run of the mill prep school where the fees are currently about the same in pounds as we pay for Rangi in dollars, giving an annual cost of approx 30,000 per child.

[GeorgeM]

I think its only fair to point out that for an awful lot of kiwis - thats VERY expensive.

Many things seem cheap here when you look at the cost of things in the UK - but many people here just cant afford these items.But the same can also be said of some people in the UK.

There are people who are hard up in every society, even in well off ones.

You see some dreadful houses in NZ and wonder who lives there and what their lifestyles are like. But then when I was back in the UK I drove through several really depressing council estates and wondered the same thing. (And this wasn't just me having a problem with council houses - I was born and brought up on a 1950s council estate. The ones I'm talking about were really really bleak and depressing).

[foolsgold99]

I think its only fair to point out that for an awful lot of kiwis - thats VERY expensive.

Many things seem cheap here when you look at the cost of things in the UK - but many people here just cant afford these items.

Really came home to me when talking to some new friends about my flight issues. I asked how the average kiwi copes. I was told - "we just dont go anywhere - its too expensive". This is a lady in her 50s, and the furthest she has been able to go is Queenstown - once on honeymoon.

Put things in perspective for me - I can tell you.

See, I knew deep down you really cared about the poor. :>

Travel is expensive, and it's out of reach to, or requires a major savings effort for a lot of people. I think a lot of young people save hard, and then travel for a couple of years in their 20's.

I think that travel is the greatest educator in the world. Lack of it can lead to an insular mindset. not much that can be done about NZ being 18,000 kms from europe though. No more Ryanair for a cheap weekend in france or italy

[Avalon]

But the same can also be said of some people in the UK.



Of course it can!

But we are actually talking about how wonderfully cheap it is to live in New Zealand. And it isnt. Not by a long shot. Even some migrants - for all the money we can bring over from selling our overinflated houses struggle with the cost of living (I mean putting food on the table and a roof over thier heads - not going to watch cricket!) And then what does that mean for born and bred Kiwis - who dont have a UK home to cash in - and many of whom live on the breadline.

Like everything else - its swings and roundabouts. Some will find it laughably cheap to live here and be able to live a wonderful life. Others will struggle and be very unhappy.

There is no right or wrong on this - because its so much down to what the individual situation is regarding money.

[Avalon]

See, I knew deep down you really cared about the poor. :>


really - I do :)

[foolsgold99]

But the same can also be said of some people in the UK.

To a degree, but it's not the same. Just about anyone in the Uk, can stratch to a 30GBP Ryanair to Paris or Rome. If they want it, it's only 10 beers not to have, or 5 packs of cigs. It's reachable if you want it.

Over here, the cost of something like that would be a months wages for someone on a average salary. If there is a couple of you, withy costs at the other end, easily hit 3 - 4 months income. Many people don't save, even saving 10% of income (a good ratio), it'd still take 3.5 years to pay for something like that. Takes a lot of disiplnce to do.

I worked with a guy recently, mid 30's good job as a software developer, he'd spent 10 years in a bank before hand. He traveled to RarRo for a week recently, first time he'd been anywhere apart from a weekend in Sydney when he was 20.

[GeorgeM]

We're off to Melbourne in April - $39 each each way.

You have to remember that nowhere is near to NZ. Even the short journies, like Oz, are like going to Greece or Russia.

[David with a dream]

Just to add..........I know of two kiwis who lived and worked in the UK for two years to save enough money for a deposit to put down on a house. They told me they could never have saved enough money in NZ to do this (although they both have good jobs). Mind you I would hate to be a first time buyer in the UK......... :wah
David

[MB]

I worked with a guy recently, mid 30's good job as a software developer, he'd spent 10 years in a bank before hand. He traveled to RarRo for a week recently, first time he'd been anywhere apart from a weekend in Sydney when he was 20.

When you wrote this about the guy, was it a comment mainly on the cost of travel? If so, what's your take on his situation? That he's as common-or-garden frugal as many people but just couldn't stretch to travel costs 'cos of wages... or that Kiwis just don't travel much... or that he could quite easily have afforded it earlier if he didn't spend on DVDs, or ciggies, or PC stuff, or whatever?
Or maybe you didn't get to know his spending habits! :laugh Don't see why you should have.
Cheers.

[G&K]

Oh and Vegtables - cheaper here than anything in the U.K - especially at the Chinese Markets Gardener's market in Wellington on Sunday mornings outside Te Papa...

Fush and Chups are REALLY cheap too in most chippys i've been to !

[foolsgold99]

When you wrote this about the guy, was it a comment mainly on the cost of travel? If so, what's your take on his situation? That he's as common-or-garden frugal as many people but just couldn't stretch to travel costs 'cos of wages... or that Kiwis just don't travel much... or that he could quite easily have afforded it earlier if he didn't spend on DVDs, or ciggies, or PC stuff, or whatever?
Or maybe you didn't get to know his spending habits! Don't see why you should have.


It was a comment on the cost of travel. We're looking at 2 adults and 1 child return flights to UK in July, we're looking at best part of 4.5k to do that, a large'ish amount of money. A trip to the US would be 40% cheaper.

For an average Kiwi making 45k, that's a lot of DVD's and beers to cut out, my point was it seems out of reach for a lot of people, the numbers (the kms & the cost of ticket) are so high that people don't feel it's acheveable. The ratio of flight cost to salary is much higher here. If I was on the so called average wage of 45k, i'd leave the country, I think you need double that to have a decent lifestyle for a family (esp in Auckland), over 100k would be better.

It's a volume factor as well, when we lived in the UK, we could easy purchase a pair of return flights to the US for less than a weeks wages, a lot of this was due to the high number of carriers on the routes. There is much less volume and compition on the routes into nz.

For the guy in question, he's recovering from a long standing gambling addication after losing $100k (and his house) at blackjack, and wasn't the best person to use as an example in retrospect

[GeorgeM]

It was a comment on the cost of travel. We're looking at 2 adults and 1 child return flights to UK in July, we're looking at best part of 4.5k to do that, a large'ish amount of money.Most members of my family who live and work in the UK would love to be able to come out to see us. But despite the high level of wages in the UK and the low level of costs they can't afford to do so. I can't see the difference here...

[veronica]

Its all about priorities, ours have always been to travel but we didn't have any TV for years and our furniture was mainly 2nd hand. We don't particlarly drink or smoke. We chose to do it that way because it was more important to go places than have things. Other people rate their possessions and social life. I also realise that some people can't afford to do the things that we have done. but some of it does come back to choice, I have had people telling me they can't afford certain things but they smoke 20 a day!!!

off me soapbox....

insurance is cheaper and 6 months at the local gym here is $130, that includes all the classes and using the machines etc as many times as you like.

[Debbie P.]

Most members of my family who live and work in the UK would love to be able to come out to see us. But despite the high level of wages in the UK and the low level of costs they can't afford to do so. I can't see the difference here...

I agree with George regarding travel from the UK. Sure, you can get cheap Ryanair flights to Paris, Rome or whatever ... if you're not a teacher. Even parents habitually take their children out of school for a day or two to get a cheaper deal, but teachers can't. We struggled to get a decent deal for our holiday to NZ, even though it was the middle of winter over there... despite our supposedly decent UK salaries. It's been the same story wherever we've travelled over the years - on average, I have had to spend 2-3 times more than my sister, who takes her children out of school to get better deals.

I'm not saying it's not difficult in NZ, only that it's not easy in the UK either!

Aren't there cheap-ish deals to Australia, Fiji etc?

Debbie

[Avalon]

I'm not saying it's not difficult in NZ, only that it's not easy in the UK either!


I think thats the whole point in one sentence. :cheers

Its not easy for many people in the UK. Its not easy for many people in NZ.

In each country - there are people who do not have to worry about the cost of things, and there are people who do. We all have our different priorities, adn we all have different views on how to determine the value and worth of things.

What is a rip off for one person may be great value for another and vice versa. Doesnt make either one wrong - just different ;)