# Wages



## xpto2000

Hi all

As I'm planning to move son, if you have already experience in New Zealand it would be very good to tell us more or less how much we can target to earn.

The idea is to tell us, that considering your experience, how much you think a couple with a child can expect to spend averagely every month. How much would cost us renting a three rooms apartment in Auckland, paying all expenses, using a gymnasium, having dinner out one time a week, having a small used car, travelling on vacations at least one time a year outside New Zealand., something like an approximated total budget for a normal live, how much you think this can cost.

If you are open to, contributions with your own experience will be even more useful.

Thank you


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## topcat83

xpto2000 said:


> Hi all
> 
> As I'm planning to move son, if you have already experience in New Zealand it would be very good to tell us more or less how much we can target to earn.
> 
> The idea is to tell us, that considering your experience, how much you think a couple with a child can expect to spend averagely every month. How much would cost us renting a three rooms apartment in Auckland, paying all expenses, using a gymnasium, having dinner out one time a week, having a small used car, travelling on vacations at least one time a year outside New Zealand., something like an approximated total budget for a normal live, how much you think this can cost.
> 
> If you are open to, contributions with your own experience will be even more useful.
> 
> Thank you


Hi there

You should find most of the information you need in previous posts. 

On the apartment front - do you meen three rooms or bedrooms? (it will make a difference!) Also with a child I'd suggest looking for a house with a garden - although you will find suitable apartments in central Auckland. Look at Real Estate, Houses for Sale, Rentals, Commercial and Businesses for sale at Realestate.co.nz - Realestate.co.nz. Some of the central Auckland apartments will come with a gym included.

Eating out - how long is a piece of string? There are places where you'd be able to eat out every night. There's a fantastic Food Alley in Albert Street, where you'll get an excellent Asian meal (take your pick for which one) for between 10 & 15 dollars. Or you could head for Kermedec on the Viaduct and pay a fortune! I'd say that a 'typical' bar would serve a meal for abn average of $25. 

For cars (and many other things), look at Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me.
Holidays - well, we love visiting the South Pacific Islands - and they're reasonable prices.


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## daisypop

We're renting in Wellington at the moment and went for a cheap place as it's only temporary. We pay $300 pw for a 3 bed house with 1/4 acre of garden. Broadband $55 pm, electricity $100pm, second hand family car $11,000, shopping for 2 people and 2 dogs $250pw. Other than that we only really have insurance bills to pay.

As for wages, although they are usually lower here, my husband is an engineer and is earning roughly the same as he did in the UK, which is a pretty good wage.


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## xpto2000

topcat83 said:


> Hi there
> 
> You should find most of the information you need in previous posts.
> 
> On the apartment front - do you meen three rooms or bedrooms? (it will make a difference!) Also with a child I'd suggest looking for a house with a garden - although you will find suitable apartments in central Auckland. Look at .... Some of the central Auckland apartments will come with a gym included.
> 
> Eating out - how long is a piece of string? There are places where you'd be able to eat out every night. There's a fantastic Food Alley in Albert Street, where you'll get an excellent Asian meal (take your pick for which one) for between 10 & 15 dollars. Or you could head for Kermedec on the Viaduct and pay a fortune! I'd say that a 'typical' bar would serve a meal for abn average of $25.
> 
> For cars (and many other things), look ...- well, we love visiting the South Pacific Islands - and they're reasonable prices.


Hi Topcat

Thank you for the information.

I was looking in other posts and couldn't find any with information regarding this issue, I will look with more attention.

Thank you for the links and tips.

Regards


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## xpto2000

daisypop said:


> We're renting in Wellington at the moment and went for a cheap place as it's only temporary. We pay $300 pw for a 3 bed house with 1/4 acre of garden. Broadband $55 pm, electricity $100pm, second hand family car $11,000, shopping for 2 people and 2 dogs $250pw. Other than that we only really have insurance bills to pay.
> 
> As for wages, although they are usually lower here, my husband is an engineer and is earning roughly the same as he did in the UK, which is a pretty good wage.



Hi daisypop
Thank you for your personal perspective is very useful and made me feel more comfortable for our plans.
I'm also an engineer, and IT related engineer with more than 10 years experience, by what I saw in New Zealand work opportunities, comparing with the jobs opportunities from UK, in New Zealand the salaries are also very comparable. Our main reason for moving, and thinking in New Zealand as an option is looking for an environment where we can live without the stress and pressure of commuting in a big city, we prefer living near the nature and also that working we can earn a decent salary, enough for living a normal live.
Thank you again it was important your contribution.
Regards


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## wazza2222

I don't think you will like living in a house in Auckland then! Geographically, it's huge and its transport system is total ar*e!
Go with the apartment in central and you will have far less commuting stress. Lookout though, even rubbish ones are 400 dollars or more a week (and for three bedrooms? ouch!)
I was on 70k NZ a year and living in Auckland, I was poor. No holidays overseas, no savings, no eating out. Tax Tax Tax


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## xpto2000

wazza2222 said:


> I don't think you will like living in a house in Auckland then! Geographically, it's huge and its transport system is total ar*e!
> Go with the apartment in central and you will have far less commuting stress. Lookout though, even rubbish ones are 400 dollars or more a week (and for three bedrooms? ouch!)
> I was on 70k NZ a year and living in Auckland, I was poor. No holidays overseas, no savings, no eating out. Tax Tax Tax


Hi Wazza

Thank you for sharing, it makes me feel a bit worried.

Looking on the internet i found out some interesting sites that I'm sharing:

One that show average sallaries for IT : trademe.co.nz/jobs/salary-guide/it.htm

One page from government, that shows the taxes on income: ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrates-codes/itaxsalaryandwage-incometaxrates.html

And also one form government that shows how much is average common expenses: emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML

All are very useful and with them it was looking like that with a kob in my area and my wife also working wouldnt be difficult to have a normal live.


Can anyone living in New Zealand confirm the data on those websites?

Thank you


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## topcat83

wazza2222 said:


> I don't think you will like living in a house in Auckland then! Geographically, it's huge and its transport system is total ar*e!
> Go with the apartment in central and you will have far less commuting stress. Lookout though, even rubbish ones are 400 dollars or more a week (and for three bedrooms? ouch!)
> I was on 70k NZ a year and living in Auckland, I was poor. No holidays overseas, no savings, no eating out. Tax Tax Tax


$400 seems a bit excessive - you can get pretty decent ones for less, from what I've seen. 

On the tax front - we've found the tax we pay for working to be in the same ballpark as the UK - but other taxes are less. No capital gains and inheritance tax for a start!


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## topcat83

xpto2000 said:


> Hi Wazza
> 
> Thank you for sharing, it makes me feel a bit worried.
> 
> Looking on the internet i found out some interesting sites that I'm sharing:
> 
> One that show average sallaries for IT : trademe.co.nz/jobs/salary-guide/it.htm
> 
> One page from government, that shows the taxes on income: ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrates-codes/itaxsalaryandwage-incometaxrates.html
> 
> And also one form government that shows how much is average common expenses: emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML
> 
> All are very useful and with them it was looking like that with a kob in my area and my wife also working wouldnt be difficult to have a normal live.
> 
> 
> Can anyone living in New Zealand confirm the data on those websites?
> 
> Thank you


Well the ones on trademe and the government websites should be pretty good guides. 

And I plugged the 'moderate' figures into the calculator and it came out with around $1150. We used to reckon on budgeting on $1000 per week when we first came over. Allow for a couple of years inflation - that sounds about right.


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## wazza2222

*No doubt*

No doubt there are good ones out there but my lady and I went through the mill trying to find a place in Central Aux late last year and the 'good ones' were literally gone before you could phone the agent and quite often gone for more than the asking price! People were outbidding each other to get them.
We ended up in a ticky tacky shack development in Parnell backing on the rail tracks (noise, dust, vibration all night) by the container wharf (beep beep beep all night) and the fire station (sirens all night) and the rescue helicopter base (wokka wokka wokka) It was a great location but quite insufferable and cost $550 a week.

As for tax, I am only passingly familiar with the British system but I believe the two are similar. I think the real hurt is that kiwi wages are so low, then we are highly taxed for PAYE and then the compounding taxes eat your discretionary wage very quickly... Look at $1 worth of petrol, to get it, I have paid 30% income tax, and an ACC levy. Then from my nett money received, I pay over half in tax for the petrol and then I pay 15% GST (VAT) on the purchased amount (yes, thats 15% tax on the goverments tax thats already on the fuel! you read it correctly) Then you pay the regional transport tax. That's four taxes before I have even put it into my car. Then you pay the tax on your car registration (including ACC AGAIN!) before you can use it. A large portion of that tax is supposedly for transport and road funding (yes, its on top of the regional transport tax) It's disheartening to say the least. 

Capital Gains tax is coming, look for it within two years and inheritance tax has been hidden under 'gift tax' you can only 'gift' someone 36000 a year without tax even when you die (and I imagine that makes gifting for two years in a row quite tricky lol)



topcat83 said:


> $400 seems a bit excessive - you can get pretty decent ones for less, from what I've seen.
> 
> On the tax front - we've found the tax we pay for working to be in the same ballpark as the UK - but other taxes are less. No capital gains and inheritance tax for a start!


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## wazza2222

*It is what it is...*

You can live a good/great life in Aux on this money.
The great pity is that you could live a wonderful life if you could get the same wage and live elsewhere... I assume your job is Auckland based and can't be 'flexible'? I moved from Auck to Rotorua and the living was easy, I often wondered why I waited so long to do it lol!



xpto2000 said:


> Hi Wazza
> 
> Thank you for sharing, it makes me feel a bit worried.
> 
> Looking on the internet i found out some interesting sites that I'm sharing:
> 
> One that show average sallaries for IT : trademe.co.nz/jobs/salary-guide/it.htm
> 
> One page from government, that shows the taxes on income: ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrates-codes/itaxsalaryandwage-incometaxrates.html
> 
> And also one form government that shows how much is average common expenses: emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML
> 
> All are very useful and with them it was looking like that with a kob in my area and my wife also working wouldnt be difficult to have a normal live.
> 
> 
> Can anyone living in New Zealand confirm the data on those websites?
> 
> Thank you


----------



## topcat83

wazza2222 said:


> No doubt there are good ones out there but my lady and I went through the mill trying to find a place in Central Aux late last year and the 'good ones' were literally gone before you could phone the agent and quite often gone for more than the asking price! People were outbidding each other to get them.
> We ended up in a ticky tacky shack development in Parnell backing on the rail tracks (noise, dust, vibration all night) by the container wharf (beep beep beep all night) and the fire station (sirens all night) and the rescue helicopter base (wokka wokka wokka) It was a great location but quite insufferable and cost $550 a week.
> 
> As for tax, I am only passingly familiar with the British system but I believe the two are similar. I think the real hurt is that kiwi wages are so low, then we are highly taxed for PAYE and then the compounding taxes eat your discretionary wage very quickly... Look at $1 worth of petrol, to get it, I have paid 30% income tax, and an ACC levy. Then from my nett money received, I pay over half in tax for the petrol and then I pay 15% GST (VAT) on the purchased amount (yes, thats 15% tax on the goverments tax thats already on the fuel! you read it correctly) Then you pay the regional transport tax. That's four taxes before I have even put it into my car. Then you pay the tax on your car registration (including ACC AGAIN!) before you can use it. A large portion of that tax is supposedly for transport and road funding (yes, its on top of the regional transport tax) It's disheartening to say the least.
> 
> Capital Gains tax is coming, look for it within two years and inheritance tax has been hidden under 'gift tax' you can only 'gift' someone 36000 a year without tax even when you die (and I imagine that makes gifting for two years in a row quite tricky lol)


You're right - there was a very silly period last year when rentals in Central Auckland were going like hot cakes. But if you went only slightly out of the 'popular' suburbs, there was not such a great problem. For example - we have a rental property in Howick. Great for the ferry, and a lovely family area. We did rent it out eventually, but there certainly wasn't a queue of people at the open home...

On the tax front - LOL! Don't go to the UK - you'll have apoplexy! 

I suggest the problem you have with fuel is because there is an abundance of it in the UAE, but unfortunately NZ doesn't have such an abundance of cheap sources.

And Capital Gains is only a threat from the Labour Party.

Gift Tax - from http://www.ird.govt.nz/duties-levies/gift-duty/ - 'Gifts made on or after 1 October 2011 are not liable for gift duty. '

And compare the GST rate to the UK VAT (20%) and the Sales & GST in Canada and the US. 

Then note that you are not obliged to tip in NZ.

I'll keep the NZ system, thank you!


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## Song_Si

some IT salary info



> *Temporary dip in ICT salaries*
> By CIO New Zealand | Wednesday, September 21 2011
> 
> *The median base salaries for IT staff in New Zealand has dropped in the past nine months but this is only temporary, reports absoluteIT.
> *
> The latest absolute IT Salary Survey, conducted every six months, says the dip is due to the short-term hiatus in spending in the sector as new initiatives are rolled out slowly amidst reduced funding, pressure on headcounts and election year uncertainty.
> 
> The report, covering the period November 2010 to August 2011, shows the base median salary has decreased marginally by two percent in the past nine months, down from $76,500 to $75,000. The total value of overall employment packages has decreased by 3.1 percent, from $80,000 to $77,500.
> 
> The data is taken from more than 20,500 anonymous responses to www.itsalaries.co.nz
> 
> read more
> 
> Link to PDF report here


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## xpto2000

Hi everyone 

Thank you for sending information and talking about different perspectives.

In Portugal salaries decrease a lot, as a public worker my for instance decrease 15% in the last two years. 

Regarding taxes I can send you my experience at Portugal for comparing and confirming if it is like what I describe for New Zealand.

Portugal :
- Minimum gross monthly wage is around $850 NZD (is very hard to live earning this)
- Average gross monthly wages are around $1500 (It's very difficult for a couple to rent a house and live if both receive just this)

My gross wage is three times the average, regardless that my wife is without work we pay to the Government a total of 36% directly from salary, afterwards all taxes are very high for instance GST is 23%. 
Unnecessary is to tell that we have to 
An unemployment rate increasing, that isn’t creating new jobs for young persons, where official unemployment rate is 12,1% and for sure for young person’s is more than double that allows that workers even propose that people work for free....

New Zealand (by what I read):
With the data provided by Government institutions in New Zealand, I create in Excel a simple simulator with taxes and earners levy.
Putting the same information, just one person earning as much as 3 times average wage (considered to be $120.000 gross, that for some ) we would pay 27.5% total taxes from salary, GST of 15%. Comparing countries both taxes added are 17% less in New Zealand, also unemployment rate is 6,5%.

I notice that getting a job it’s much easier in New Zealand as long you really want to work and live from you work (as we want), in Portugal my wife is looking everywhere for a job for more than 9 months and there are almost any, some as I said don’t even want to pay and hundreds of people for the same, also in areas with specialization requirements you usually can get good salaries. 

More important by what I read, if a couple earns around $110000 gross / year it's possible to rent an apartment and have a simple live without so much money preoccupations in Portugal with the comparable salary isn't.

Thank you, please comment and continue contributing with your experience.

Regards


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