# Cost of Living



## samkor11

Dear friends,

I am looking for Cost of living figure in NZ.
I know it varies from region by region but I need just rough idea for housing, food, transportation.

Thanks,
Samkor


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## cheeser

Hey, try www.trademe.co.nz for information on house prices and rental costs, in the various regions, you can check out car prices there too.

do a test shop at www.countdown.co.nz to check out grocery prices.

Power costs for me used to run from $100 - $200 per month depending on the season, but I used to run dehumidifiers and a bunch of servers and computers 24/7.

Internet and mobile plans and pricing can be gotten from www.telecom.co.nz or www.vodafone.co.nz


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## samkor11

cheeser said:


> Hey, try Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me for information on house prices and rental costs, in the various regions, you can check out car prices there too.
> 
> do a test shop at Countdown to check out grocery prices.
> 
> Power costs for me used to run from $100 - $200 per month depending on the season, but I used to run dehumidifiers and a bunch of servers and computers 24/7.
> 
> Internet and mobile plans and pricing can be gotten from Telecom New Zealand or For Broadband, mobile phones, data plans, and home phone. Vodafone NZ


Thanks for your reply.
Could you please tell me about job scenario for Mechanical engineer?

Thanks,
Samkor


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## cheeser

I have no first hand knowledge of that, but the trademe website or www.seek.co.nz should give you some information on that scene.


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## sa2nz

Hi Samkor11,

Have a look at my site (website address deleted - competes with the forum and has advertisements and requests for funds which are against forum rules) - there is cost of living section. I also list all the main service providers, so you can look at prices for ISPs etc.

Good luck!


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## Song_Si

this article was aimed at sports fans looking at joining tours to NZ/Australia this year, but does highlight the cost of some daily items

Australia and New Zealand top expensive destinations league for UK tourists in 2013
18 January 2013 

*England cricket fans due to follow the national side in upcoming tours of New Zealand and Australia could find they run out of money only too soon, as both come out at the bottom of a new 'holiday costs barometer' by the Post Office. *

The two antipodean destinations are among the most expensive in the world for tourists, according to this survey - measured by comparing the costs of eight typical items, including drinks and meals. 

The eight costs compared were: a coffee, a beer, a packet of cigarettes, can of Coke, glass of wine, suncream, bottle of water, and a meal for two.

New Zealand and Australia come 40th and 41st respectively, with the bills at £127.67 and £145.28. Only South Korea was more expensive, at £146.93. Spain and Sri Lanka were joint cheapest, where you would have to shell out £36.14 on this rather epicurean spree.










more

**********
New Zealand's rankings (out of 42 countries)

Coffee: 6th most expensive
Beer: 6th
Coca-Cola: 1st
Wine: 3rd
Water: 24th
Suncream: 12th
Cigarettes: 2nd
Three-course meal: 3rd


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## kiwiBec

Song_Si said:


> this article was aimed at sports fans looking at joining tours to NZ/Australia this year, but does highlight the cost of some daily items


Wow thanks for that!! This is really interesting stuff!! I think i'll be doing what a lot of my mates back home in NZ are doing and grown my own veggie patch.


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## krizzz

Just an FYI...there is a fantastic site out there called "Nation Master". It has ridiculous amounts of info on everything from crime to education to cost of living across all countries.


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## Song_Si

kiwiBec said:


> Wow thanks for that!! This is really interesting stuff!! I think i'll be doing what a lot of my mates back home in NZ are doing and grown my own veggie patch.


hmm, you'll need to include tobacco, barley, grapes and coffee in your garden!

Cigarettes and alcohol are very highly taxed in NZ so not so surprised to see them so high up the list, no idea why Coca-Cola is, apparently, the most expensive in the world. 

I first saw mention of this article on a rugby forum - discussing the costs for people wanting to go to Australia with the British & Irish Lions tour in June; I'd already canned my plans for that tour due to overall costs. Plenty of cheap airfares on offer but once there, costs were beyond my budget at this time.


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## Song_Si

*Electricity*

often read here about how high electricity costs are in NZ
in NZ Herald today:

*The 30-year power price hike*

Sunday Feb 3, 2013 

*Kiwi power prices have increased at twice the rate of most other countries over the past three decades.*

A book next month from Victoria University researcher Geoff Bertram, Evolution of Global Electricity Markets, claims New Zealand's power prices are now more than twice what they were 30 years ago, in real terms.

In the United States, Britain, Japan, France and South Korea, inflation-adjusted power prices are below what they were in the mid-1980s.

In South Korea's case, they are almost 50 per cent lower.

Australia, Germany and Canada's prices are slightly up and the European OECD countries are paying virtually the same as they were in 1985.

Bertram said New Zealand customers were being ripped off because, unlike most countries, there was no regulator keeping tabs on power prices.

"These guys have the market power and they are using it."

New Zealanders pay substantially more for power than consumers across the Tasman.

In 2010, Australians were paying 14.83c per kwh, while in New Zealand power was retailing for between 22.7c and 24.97c per kwh.

more


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## kiwigser

*NZ Dollar*

And its not going to get better for tourists. The NZ$ is up to 84.5 US and 53.8 pence GB (Feb 3 2013). The rest of the world is printing money. Being selfish, its great if you brought you money over pre 2007, its now worth a lot more. BUT, like all things, the cycle will reverse sometime in the future and equilibrium will be restored.


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## jrp928

You need to be very careful with these sorts of comparisons. I saw one recently of OZ vs UK, and Oz came off worse in most areas, until you got to disposable income, where it was 40% higher than UK. The only valid comparison IMHO is the number of working hours at average wage rate that it takes to buy things in the different countries. And you need to compare enough different things to cover different people's tastes etc.
jp Melbourne.


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## kiwigser

jrp928 said:


> You need to be very careful with these sorts of comparisons. I saw one recently of OZ vs UK, and Oz came off worse in most areas, until you got to disposable income, where it was 40% higher than UK. The only valid comparison IMHO is the number of working hours at average wage rate that it takes to buy things in the different countries. And you need to compare enough different things to cover different people's tastes etc.
> jp Melbourne.



You are correct. When you live in a country, prices and wages hopefully go up at the same rate, these comparisons are more for tourists. Yes it will be a big shock when you move here, as your £ or $ does not get you so much, but after the adjustment period you really do not think about it. Mind you it makes our holidays abroad much more affordable.


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## Song_Si

*Living Wage in NZ*

Often see posts - people asking - _is $xx enough to live on?_
Some info here about the realities of wages/salaries in NZ, part of a series the *NZ Herald* is running this week. Full article at link

*Battle for a living wage: The pay you need to survive*
Monday Feb 11, 2013

*Almost 750,000 Kiwis look set to be classed as the new working poor this week when the union movement fixes the value of a "living wage" needed to have a decent life here.*

The rate, expected to be $18-$20 an hour, has been calculated by researchers at the Anglican Church's Family Centre in Lower Hutt to be "the income necessary to provide workers and their families with the basic necessities of life".

About 40 per cent of the country's 1.85 million employees, or around 740,000 people, earn below that rate - including beginning teachers, chefs, truck drivers, mechanics and carpenters, as well as traditionally low-paid groups such as cleaners, caregivers and checkout operators.

The figure is based on Otago University's calculation of the costs of a "basic" healthy diet for a family of two parents and two children, assuming all food is cooked at home with no takeaways or meals out. The university's latest estimate for a couple with children aged 10 and 4 in Auckland is $217 a week.

Most other costs are based on the household economic survey, which showed that couples with two children spent an average of $158 a week on petrol and other transport costs, and $669 a week on other costs excluding food and housing, in 2010. Mr Waldegrave's team has made judgments about which items are "essential" and which are "luxuries".

more


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## Song_Si

*Battle for a living wage 2*

Again, edits here - click for full article

Monday Feb 11, 2013

*Unions will unveil a calculation this week that Kiwis need a "living wage" of around $18 to $20 an hour. *

Temporary labour has spread across a wide swathe of industries. Allied Workforce chief executive Mike Huddleston said his firm started in 1988 mainly to supply labourers for building sites.

"Over the last 25 years temporary labour has moved much more to providing flexible labour to all and sundry - all the big manufacturers, all the big food processors," he says.

He estimates that 30,000 people now work for labour hire companies - about 1.6 per cent of the country's 1.85 million employees.

"It's not cheaper than employing your own. It's about a flexible option," he says. It lets employers take on workers in seasonal peaks and lay them off again in down times.

He says about 40 per cent of Allied's 3500 workers earn the minimum wage of $13.50 an hour. Others with trades tickets earn up to $30. All earn holiday pay entitlements from day one and rights to paid sick leave after six months, but 95 per cent are casual workers with no guarantee of work the next day.

*****

How much?

The 2008 Statistics NZ survey found that temporary workers earned a median $15 an hour, 22 per cent below permanent employees who then averaged $19.20.

To calculate a "living wage", the Anglican Family Centre research unit in Lower Hutt looked at the costs of a basic food diet, a lower-quartile three-bedroom rental and selected items from other spending by couples with two children in Statistics NZ's household economic survey.

It arrived at a family budget that may be a bit under $1100 a week, or about $56,000 a year, or near 80 per cent of the $70,300 median after-tax income of all couples with two children in 2011.

The biggest items in the weekly budget may be around $280 for rent, $217 for food and $176 for petrol and other transport costs if the analysts used the 2010 average figure updated for inflation.

Researchers then factored in tax and ACC levies, family tax credits and accommodation supplement, and worked out the gross hourly rate both parents would need to earn to achieve the $56,000 net income target if one parent worked 40 hours a week and the other worked 20 hours.

The net result is believed to be a gross hourly rate of around $19, plus or minus $1

*The new poor*

Big chunks of the workforce have median incomes below $19 an hour: 209,000 labourers, 192,000 people in community and personal services, 178,000 sales people and 113,000 machinery operators and drivers.

All minority ethnic groups except Maori men (and of course Europeans) earn medians of $19 or less.

Waikato University labour economist Bill Cochrane estimates that about 40 per cent of all employees earn below $18-$20 an hour, turning two out of every five workers into "the new working poor".


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## mikesurf

Song_Si said:


> Again, edits here - click for full article
> 
> Monday Feb 11, 2013
> 
> *Unions will unveil a calculation this week that Kiwis need a "living wage" of around $18 to $20 an hour. *
> 
> Temporary labour has spread across a wide swathe of industries. Allied Workforce chief executive Mike Huddleston said his firm started in 1988 mainly to supply labourers for building sites.
> 
> "Over the last 25 years temporary labour has moved much more to providing flexible labour to all and sundry - all the big manufacturers, all the big food processors," he says.
> 
> He estimates that 30,000 people now work for labour hire companies - about 1.6 per cent of the country's 1.85 million employees.
> 
> "It's not cheaper than employing your own. It's about a flexible option," he says. It lets employers take on workers in seasonal peaks and lay them off again in down times.
> 
> He says about 40 per cent of Allied's 3500 workers earn the minimum wage of $13.50 an hour. Others with trades tickets earn up to $30. All earn holiday pay entitlements from day one and rights to paid sick leave after six months, but 95 per cent are casual workers with no guarantee of work the next day.
> 
> *****
> 
> How much?
> 
> The 2008 Statistics NZ survey found that temporary workers earned a median $15 an hour, 22 per cent below permanent employees who then averaged $19.20.
> 
> To calculate a "living wage", the Anglican Family Centre research unit in Lower Hutt looked at the costs of a basic food diet, a lower-quartile three-bedroom rental and selected items from other spending by couples with two children in Statistics NZ's household economic survey.
> 
> It arrived at a family budget that may be a bit under $1100 a week, or about $56,000 a year, or near 80 per cent of the $70,300 median after-tax income of all couples with two children in 2011.
> 
> The biggest items in the weekly budget may be around $280 for rent, $217 for food and $176 for petrol and other transport costs if the analysts used the 2010 average figure updated for inflation.
> 
> Researchers then factored in tax and ACC levies, family tax credits and accommodation supplement, and worked out the gross hourly rate both parents would need to earn to achieve the $56,000 net income target if one parent worked 40 hours a week and the other worked 20 hours.
> 
> The net result is believed to be a gross hourly rate of around $19, plus or minus $1
> 
> *The new poor*
> 
> Big chunks of the workforce have median incomes below $19 an hour: 209,000 labourers, 192,000 people in community and personal services, 178,000 sales people and 113,000 machinery operators and drivers.
> 
> All minority ethnic groups except Maori men (and of course Europeans) earn medians of $19 or less.
> 
> Waikato University labour economist Bill Cochrane estimates that about 40 per cent of all employees earn below $18-$20 an hour, turning two out of every five workers into "the new working poor".



Those are scary statistics, I'm always amazed when people say they are better off in NZ. I can understand people wanting to move to a country with nice scenery and lower population than UK for example but there are plenty more tempting countries out there to move to.


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## kiwigser

*statistics*



mikesurf said:


> Those are scary statistics, I'm always amazed when people say they are better off in NZ. I can understand people wanting to move to a country with nice scenery and lower population than UK for example but there are plenty more tempting countries out there to move to.


We are suffering from union statistics that want to prove a point. Take any statistic and prove a point. For example this map rates the top ten countries according to the quality of life

World Map - Top Ten Countries with Highest Quality of Life

NZ is No. 5 and were is France, not on the list. People who live in countries can rate their standard of living. I am fed up being told how poor we are, who the hell owns all those boats moored in Auckland, who owns all the second homes in the Coromandel.

Yes Mikesurf you failed in NZ and it shows. Well the vast majority succeed here, they are not on the forum but enjoying their lives here.

Bye the way pull up the countries most in dept!

Also why is your tag listing NZ instead of France?


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## mikesurf

kiwigser said:


> We are suffering from union statistics that want to prove a point. Take any statistic and prove a point. For example this map rates the top ten countries according to the quality of life
> 
> World Map - Top Ten Countries with Highest Quality of Life
> 
> NZ is No. 5 and were is France, not on the list. People who live in countries can rate their standard of living. I am fed up being told how poor we are, who the hell owns all those boats moored in Auckland, who owns all the second homes in the Coromandel.
> 
> Yes Mikesurf you failed in NZ and it shows. Well the vast majority succeed here, they are not on the forum but enjoying their lives here.
> 
> Bye the way pull up the countries most in dept!
> 
> Also why is your tag listing NZ instead of France?



Not honestly sure why my tag is listed as NZ instead of France. I guess I entered something incorrectly.

I can't really say that I failed in NZ more that it failed my expectations. I'm not even sorry that I went as I would have always wondered. I also left for NZ when the dollar was 3 to the pound and houses were affordable. To be honest I actually turned over a nice profit on a couple of properties while I was there

I am very much enjoying my life in France thanks and I don't spend hours on forums unlike some people. I was interested to see if anyone had similar experiences to myself or whether it was just me, thats why I joined the forum.

We all have different needs in life and I am sure NZ suits many people. For the first couple of years I was in NZ I heard many work colleagues and friends saying how they wanted out of NZ and I always thought, why are you here if you don't like it?. I became one of those people and finally joined them on a flight out a few years later.

One of the funny things I find on this forum is the fact that people get so defensive when someone makes a negative comment about NZ. I certainly would not do the same about France as I don't really care what people think. You are happy and I am happy, end of story. Just lighten up a little everyone, if NZ is so great you do not have to keep defending it and trying to sell it.


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## topcat83

mikesurf said:


> Not honestly sure why my tag is listed as NZ instead of France. I guess I entered something incorrectly.
> 
> I can't really say that I failed in NZ more that it failed my expectations. I'm not even sorry that I went as I would have always wondered. I also left for NZ when the dollar was 3 to the pound and houses were affordable. To be honest I actually turned over a nice profit on a couple of properties while I was there
> 
> I am very much enjoying my life in France thanks and I don't spend hours on forums unlike some people. I was interested to see if anyone had similar experiences to myself or whether it was just me, thats why I joined the forum.
> 
> We all have different needs in life and I am sure NZ suits many people. For the first couple of years I was in NZ I heard many work colleagues and friends saying how they wanted out of NZ and I always thought, why are you here if you don't like it?. I became one of those people and finally joined them on a flight out a few years later.
> 
> One of the funny things I find on this forum is the fact that people get so defensive when someone makes a negative comment about NZ. I certainly would not do the same about France as I don't really care what people think. You are happy and I am happy, end of story. Just lighten up a little everyone, if NZ is so great you do not have to keep defending it and trying to sell it.


Interesting comments, Mikesurf. 

But I am wondering - if NZ is now part of your past, why do you keep on returning to the NZ Forum?
I think you must miss it here 

And why no posts on the French Forum? I'm sure they'd like to hear how you're finding living in France.


Oh - and how to change your country - 

Click on your name next to 'Welcome' (top right of screen)
Click on the tab 'About me'
Click on the little pencil nect to 'Expat To' country
Select 'France' from the pull-down list.


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## Andrew East

kiwigser said:


> We are suffering from union statistics that want to prove a point. Take any statistic and prove a point. For example this map rates the top ten countries according to the quality of life
> 
> World Map - Top Ten Countries with Highest Quality of Life
> 
> NZ is No. 5 and were is France, not on the list. People who live in countries can rate their standard of living. I am fed up being told how poor we are, who the hell owns all those boats moored in Auckland, who owns all the second homes in the Coromandel.
> 
> Yes Mikesurf you failed in NZ and it shows. Well the vast majority succeed here, they are not on the forum but enjoying their lives here.
> 
> Bye the way pull up the countries most in dept!
> 
> Also why is your tag listing NZ instead of France?


I think you have to be careful when using maps like that without knowing some of the background to them.

The data from which that map was compiled is the UNDP's Human Development Index. Up until 2008 New Zealand was languishing at 20th on the list. Then NZ ex-prime minister Helen Clark took up the post as the Administrator of the UNDP.

Everyone, not least David Skilling who was with the New Zealand Institute think tank, was expecting New Zealand's position to worsen in 2009 but instead it miraculously jumped into the top. He predicted that by 2030 New Zealand would be poorer than North Korea and the income gap with Australia would rise to 60%.

All that happened when Clark took over is that the top five data sets on which the index were based were changed and others were left off. As a result New Zealand came out better, make of that what you will. if you go onto the UNDP site and compile your own index using ALL the data sets you'll get a very different result.

As for the yachts in the harbour I guess that's all the cashed up Kiwis returning home, foreign investors and migrant money.


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## topcat83

Andrew East said:


> ....As for the yachts in the harbour I guess that's all the cashed up Kiwis returning home, foreign investors and migrant money.


Lol! Most of the ones I know with boats in our local marinas & harbours are very much locals - my cousins for one. They have lived in NZ since they were young children, have never lived abroad (other than 'The Big OE' - essential for all Kiwi teenagers) and certainly don't have foreign investors & migrants money.

The sea is a way of life over here. And don't think huge multi-millions of dollars when you think yachts. They range from tiny single person training to large ocean-going and everything in between.


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## Andrew East

It's a bit of a way of life here too. What sort of boat do your cousins have? I've a Whittley CR2600 and manage to take it out most evenings and weekends, l'd probably live in it if it were larger but I don't think I'd be very popular.


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## topcat83

Andrew East said:


> It's a bit of a way of life here too. What sort of boat do your cousins have? I've a Whittley CR2600 and manage to take it out most evenings and weekends, l'd probably live in it if it were larger but I don't think I'd be very popular.


Now you're asking! It has a hull and a couple of sails on it, and is big enough for a family of 4 to sleep on. That about covers my level of expertise on sailing boats. 

Sailing is how my cousin and his wife met though. On his OE, he managed to get 2 years work skippering a flotilla of yachts on sailing holidays round the Greek Islands. She was one of the tourists, who never quite got round to going home. Quite Shirley Valentine!


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