Aucklanders - cost of living estimates

[Highlander]

DH's job unexpectedly will only be P/T so we're trying to work out costings. I'm PT too.
Would anyone have the time to verify if this is right?

I've worked out our take home pay using the govt tax site and including a deduction of 8% for Kiwisaver. That leaves us with a monthly income of $7877 per month.

rent. 3000
Sending money back to UK. 800
Food. 1200
Petrol. 200 (DH has a daily round trip of 20km)
elec/gas. 400

I have no idea of the following.....
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Car Insurance
Broadband/home phone
Mobiles (I am a v cheap PAYG, DH has an iPhone)
TV to get the BBC?

I don't clothes shop unless I have to, we don't really go out.

Sorry, to be clearer, my understanding is that in the case of AGS the 'grammar' is merely historical (as it is for TGS on the North Shore). The kids don't sit the 11+ or 13+ equivalent to go to these schools anymore.

You're right kakApo, but it still has a reputation as the academic secondary. Saying that Mt Albert has a v good reputation too.

NZ isn't so desperate for doctors in the way it used to be. The relocation is now usually your flight, $2000 contribution to relocation and 3 weeks accommodation.

As I'll only be p/t at the Uni, I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get a taxi fare from the airport

I have to disagree with the poster who said nearly all Ak schools are good, plenty of them are crap. Cornwall Park is, however, one of the good ones!

goat - spill, which decile 8,9 and 10 primary schools are crap? Just so I can sift out.

I'm thinking MT Eden, Kohia Terrace, Epsom Normal, Balmoral, Gladstone, Bayfield, Richmond Road, Ponsonby?

Highlander - I work for the uni - you'll be lucky if they reimburse your expenses let alone pay for anything . Friend's children go to Bayfield and she is very happy. Sorry don't know anything about the others, we live in the sticks by central Aucklanders standards.

My friend used to teach at Balmoral, she says it was very good.

Mt Eden also highly thought of and I know several people who sent their dcs to Richmond Road, again very good.

Don't know much about the others but given their location I can't imagine them being bad.

Do you have an arrival date Highlander?

I think with Drs a lot depends on the speciality. A lot of consultants here do two part time jobs- one private, one state. Some work 4 days a week which can be a big relief after so much training and exams. That relocation sounds okay to me- the accommodation part of it is probably worth a couple of thousand. We only got 5K so you've done better than us!

I can't remember if I mentioned this already, but make sure your OH is signed up to the MECA/MECCA? agreement. OH wasn't when we arrived and it made a big difference to his pay scale.

Oh man, it's all going tits up. Although DH is on 0.5, we were banking on him honestly moving up to 0.6 or 0.7, but it's only going to be a 0.5 job.

I'm getting cold feet. Can we live on 138k, when we're used to living on the 210k?

Should jwe gamble on DH picking up extra work? (does seem to happen, but obviously no guarantee)

Littlest kiwi - is that the consultants' union?

OH says MECA is Multi Employer Collective Agreement.

He says it is organised via the ASMS.

Most people in Auckland do live off less than $138K. IME it is easier to change your whole lifestyle when you move to NZ cos things are different here.

But I highly suspect that your OH would get more work if he wanted it once he is on the ground in NZ. Some Dr's even fly over to oz and do locums for fabulous sums of money.

Ah, I do know of ASMS, they are v helpful.

Apparently DH will get his phone via work.

Just been on the phone to friends in Auckland and they say they spend v little other than food. They save all their cash for travelling.

Sounds do-able!

Hi
here's my 1p worth! although I agree with Sybil it's hard to generalise people vary so much in what they do and don't want etc
(we have a bigger family)

rent probably an underestimate-check trademe and plan on renting something in the top 25-30% for the area (excluding the hugely expensive obviously) bear in mind the good stuff will go in a few days and often what is left is the stuff people don't really want for whatever reason

money back to the UK umm don't send it! if you have to eg mortgage consider kiwi dollar may well go down (although I'm not sure the pound will be going up any time soon)

food about right for basic stuff shopping in pacandsave etc but this will really climb with boys-food much better outside the big cities imho but then you have transport costs to go and get it you wont be eating out much on that

petrol I think this is way too low I'm really surprised everyone thinks this is OK I wonder if our car has a leak or something we are $200 at best and $400 at worst, that is just for driving around locally (trip to work about 2kish I guess) if you go on holiday or start having to drive kids places then it will be higher

gas/elec prob OK we are around $300 but we have absolutely no heating and for some of that time had no fridge and possibly no washing machine

do you need health insurance?
do most on here have it?
not much use currently on the others I can ask dh if I remember

don't forget that you need to allow for your school contributions, including buying books swimming and uniform, paying to take your dcs to the Doctor and then all the other kid type activities cubs swimming music football rugby whatever lessons, holiday clubs for your dcs (tax deductible) gifts, going out and getting around, you will need clothes and shoes and might want an emergency 'get back home' fund, less relevant with only 2 kids but going out is more expensive (family tickets here seem to be for 3 or 4 in total whereas they seemed more for 5 or 6 back in the UK

it's worth trying to find out whether private practice is all sewn up locally it usually is! but the good news is that the hospital will pay your dh registration insurance etc, the bad is that he needs to check out travel/study expenses (his working arrangements may mean he gets none) and I wouldn't bank on doing locums in OZ we looked into it and I expect they are either highly desirable or few and far between

HTH

sorry forgot to say try and bring all your white goods they are expensive and look into bringing your car over we know someone who did and it was mega cheap apparently

BTW when you say used to 210k is that £105 in the UK because IMHO it all depends on housing costs in a lot of the UK 105 puts you in the top 1% and you can buy a house outright in London that's pissing in the wind!

JUst out of interest- is that the kind of rent you are looking at for a 3 bed house- 3K NZ dollars?

I thought NZ rents were significantly lower than UK but that is as high as London?
NZ is an option for us possibly if we have to leave the States which we love but is so hard to get permanent residency here- we pay 2500nz dollars equivalent for our 3 bed home here which we love but we assumed NZ would be at least a third less than that-is it hard to rent a 3 bed in NZ under say 2000nz dollars.

It depends where you are in NZ, cherry. Auckland is probably the most expensive place to rent. The central areas are the most desirable and rents there can be about 600-850 a week (just going on thelittlestkiwi's figures as I haven't rented in the centre for 5 years). Where I live (13km from city centre) rents for a 3 bed are between about 400-500 a week; it's a perfectly nice area but is obviously much further from the city centre (more time and money on commuting), it's also not as good an area for high schools.

Highlander as littlestkiwi says, most people in Auckland have less than 138k but obviously if it's a big drop in income for your family you may notice.

Having thought about it, I think 138K would be okay to start off with but long term may be a bit tough, depending on the lifestyle you want. I assume your OH probably wouldn't want to work half time forever if he has spent so long qualifying. You'd be okay, but probably wouldn't manage luxuries like trips to Oz or back home on that salary. We hope to go next year and know it will be 10k minimum for 3 people.

Rents in Auckland are huge. And as someone said, the best places go fast. If anything is still on trademe after 2 weeks there is probably a reason. I set up the email alerts and saw stuff the day it came on. Quality of some place is shocking but we found places were priced on number of bedrooms, not how nice they were so there was a lot of variation.

House prices in parts of Auckland are on a London scale. Our old rental just sold for 900,000- we paid 750/850 a week for it. The difference is, for that money we were by the beach, 15 mins drive from the CBD. In London, you would be much further out for that money.

Wow I had no idea NZ had got so expensive.It makes it less appealing somehow.
I'm guessing a 3 bed house in auckland is going to be at least 450K then?
It seems California is cheaper which really surprises me.

It depends where in Auckland. The inner suburbs are expensive- I'd say 700-1M for a three bed place. But there are places like Titirangi or Howick where you get a lot more for your money. Most places are on trademe.co.nz

Thanks I will check that out- we love where we live but just think we want somewhere similar if we have to leave the States but it seems NZ is now as expensive as UK.

No, I wouldn't say as expensive. But it does have a buoyant housing market still, whereas London is still depressed.

I've just moved back to NZ after 12 years in London. We're living in Mt Albert renting a 3 bed villa, beautifully decorated, in the Gladstone (highly desirable) primary zone and in zone for Mt Albert Grammar. It's $600 per week. We are a family of three, with a 3.5 DS

Our other costs:

Food - I would say closer to $1000 per month, including lunches at cafes, coffees, etc.

Petrol - 200 - I don't know, I don't drive a huge amount, probably spend less than this but I mostly do short jaunts once a day.
elec/gas. 400 - only in winter, when you will be paying most for your heating. We have an arrangement where we pay $50 a week, which doesn't cover the bill in the winter but will no doubt pay it off over the summer.

I have no idea of the following.....
Health Insurance - we don't have this yet. But a drs appt for under 6 should be free. A drs appt for adult can range between $15-45 depending on practice and your funding.

Life Insurance - haven't got it yet. Next on the list.
Car Insurance - mm, can't find it. Sorry, but we combine car and contents and it's not very expensive.
Broadband/home phone - I have a high broadband account because I work from home and need to download heavy files. So we pay rental of $100 per month, this includes unlimited national toll calls and we use skype for international.
Mobiles - I have an iPhone my plan is $35 per month and I haven't run out of texts, data or calls yet.
TV to get the BBC? - you'll probably want to buy a freeview box at least but it's a one-off purchase (unless you decide to subscribe to Sky).

Public transport I think it quite reasonable - look at the [[http://www.maxx.co.nz/ maxx website to see whether it would be helpful in the areas you are thinking about. My DH doesn't drive, we live 3 mins walk from a train station that takes him to his job in the CBD.

DS is in childcare 2 days a week, with the fee (using the 20 hours ECE allowance) at $22 a day.

If your DH is going to be driving to Hamilton regularly it might be worth looking at areas with quick access to SH20. We do this drive often as my parents are in Hamilton and it reduces the time and traffic a lot. I like Mt Albert A LOT - come and live here and I'll meet you for coffee

And just as we were expecting DH's contract to arrive, his prospective boss txts last night to say he's had a heart attack.....

You couldn't make it up.

Lady maybe - coffee would be fab! We're hoping to land end of December, initially staying with yfrineds in Mt Eden.