# Queenstown salary



## Zeezee8284 (Jul 27, 2018)

My husband has been offered 135k . Obviously I know specifics of individuals everyday costs but would this salary be enough for family of 5? He thinks it will be and I asked him to do a listing of estimated expenses and he seemed to think we can afford . I looked at rental prices which are high as we would need 4 bed and only 4 bed were way outside price range. He reckons we could buy a house for about 600k but again I'm not seeing anything of this amount. I'm not entirely gemmed up on all the expenses but I would like it if someone could think this is possible or not? He said Queenstown is making more affordable housing and to ignore the news as it's hyped up as all I could find expensive housing headlines etc. I think 135 k is fantastic salary however i don't think a family of 5 in Queenstown could live off just that. Any advice?
Thanks


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

135k is a great salary for NZ but difficult to say whether it'd stretch to be comfortable for a family of 5. As you say, affordability is very subjective. Queenstown is an expensive place to live in a country with a nationwide high cost of living.

As a comparison my package is the same. We are a family of 4 living in Tauranga which is another expensive place to live in NZ. We would struggle on my salary alone but we have a huge mortgage 650k to pay for ($1800 per fortnight) on a new rural property we built and high commuting costs as I work in Hamilton so pay around $6k per year just commuting. We dont live frugally, we eat out occasionally, we go away for trips in NZ, we manage to save but I reckon only because the Mrs works part time and earns around $30k per year.
We aren't rolling in cash. We wanted to be able to go back to the UK regularly - maybe every 2 or 3 years but we just can't afford it. We place a lot more care on our income and outgoings here as the cash so easily slips away if you aren't careful. 
You can make an affordable life here but it takes some time to adapt but it can be done. I think youd manage it but its your call. What may be key is having a pot of cash to set yourself up when you arrive. Money that you have brought over so you aren't using new job salary. We brought approx $80k equivalent. 
Personally I do way way way more here than I ever did in the UK. We had heaps of money in the UK and always got someone else to do anything we needed - eg work on the house or garden etc. Here, it is so expensive for virtually everything I've turned my hand to doing it myself a lot. I've built retaining walls, I've landscaped, I've built outdoor furniture, a huge outdoor kids playground etc. Couldn't have afforded to pay anyone else so I did it myself. We've just re-done our laundry room, took out the laundry tub, stacked the washer/dryer, new storage system and all that.....did it all myself to save money 
You just have to decide if the take home pay per fortnight (which is the usual payment term in NZ) is enough to cover everything? 
Make a list of all expected expenses and see if it works.
If you need ideas of specifics I can give you an idea of what we pay out.


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## gopgirish (Nov 24, 2019)

Can I know what kind of work do you do and how long did it take you to find a job? Thanks.


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