# UK to NZ - so many questions



## bazcat (Aug 19, 2016)

Hi, my husband has been offered a job in Auckland which would mean our family moving over in approx Jan/Feb 2017. We have three children aged 12, 10, and 8. We would also be importing our dog. I'd be really grateful for some help and advice.

A. Is a pre-tax salary of $135000 likely to cover our expenses (rent, utilities, groceries, etc). It sounds like a lot to me but I really have no idea and having looked at rentals, it looks likely that $3000/month minimum will be gone on rent before we start with anything else.

B. If we were to rent a 4-bed house, is it possible to give me an idea of what our outgoings might be for utilities per month? Trying to get an idea of disposable income.

C. Husband's job is currently in CBD but likely to move to North Shore. We had started looking at suburbs like Browns Bay, Murrays Bay - are these good places for a family, good schools? 

D. How far along the coast is it possible to live using public transport to commute to North Shore? 

E. I am concerned about how difficult it might be to find a rental that will accept our dog. Am I right to be concerned? 

F. Schooling - I've tried really hard to work it out and I just can't! If we move once my children are half way through UK Years 7, 5 and 3, what year would they go into in NZ? Would they go into 8, 6 and 4 do you think? They are all autumn born so old for the year in the UK and are bright. Is there a hard and fast rule or can the schools place them where they see fit?


Huge thanks to anyone who can help with some of these! Look forward to chatting with everyone on here and sharing our experiences!


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Hi and welcome to the forum, 

(A) You should be able to manage on that salary but as you say it'll come down to how much you'll be paying in rent which will be your highest expense. I'd expect $700 per week for a family of five plus all your other bills and utilities on top.
It's easy to see how much you'll take home (nett pay) after income tax, ACC and Kiwisaver has been deducted. You pay income tax on every cent earned here and I think Kiwisaver may now be mandatory at minimum 3 % or earnings?
Use this calculator and generally you'd be electing to have 4% deducted for Kiwisaver.
http://www.paye.net.nz/calculator.html

(B) Electricity maybe $300-$350 a month winter dropping to $200-$250 a month summer as the heat pump will be on air con instead of heat during the summer. Could be higher or lower depending on how your rental is heated.
You may have piped gas so this will reduce some of the electrical usage but gas is more expensive than electric I think (not had gas for a while) so could be a bit more overall.
The type of house you rent etc will have a bearing on power costs so hard to estimate.
Water may be free if you aren't on a meter. If no meter the rates will cover water and wastewater. We have a meter in Tauranga but it's only around $60 per quarter. 

You'll have to pay for bins. $400/$500 a year to rent wheelie bins or you can buy the council bags locally and leave them out to be collected. 
Basic sky TV is $49 a month. Sports is $28 extra. Movies are around $36 extra.
Broadband and a fixed phone around $80-$120 per month depending on type and package.
You'll need contents insurance maybe $30 a month.
If you get a car just halve whatever you are paying now as an approx figure....we pay around $1100 per year fully comp for 2 x cars worth $40k.
Have a look at www.countdown.Co.nz to do a grocery shop.

(C) Yes but equally expensive. If you work North Shore you'd wanna be living that way on.

(D) Sorry can't help with public transport in Auckland. It ain't the best as far as I know.

(E) Yes. Defo limits your options.

(F) Just look on Wikipedia for schooling in new Zealand. The page has a good description and a table at the bottom to work out types of establishments and years your child will go in to.

Other costs......
Mobile phone will be at least $20 a month. We pay $39 a month each to get more data in our package which includes 1GB data, unlimited texts and 400 minutes for calls to NZ numbers. If you are calling the UK often you need to look at the best package for you as international calls can be very expensive.

The only free healthcare in NZ is emergency care. Anything else has to be paid for unless you have been referred as an outpatient by your GP. A GP consult is anything from $40 to $80 depending on the practice and the city it is in and your visa status. A repeat script maybe $20. Each item on the script is $5 at the pharmacy. Kids from I think 4 to under 13 are generally free although you have to make sure with some GP's as some opted out of giving kids free care. 4 and under is free as far as I know although the only thing you do have to pay for is a repeat script for kids 13 and under is $10.

Any storage for furniture coming from overseas ? We pay $100 a month for approx 10m3 secure storage.

Sports clubs/gym/golf?
Lottery?

Good luck.


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## bazcat (Aug 19, 2016)

Thanks escapedtonz, really appreciate your reply. 

Didn't know about the rubbish collection cost, good to know.

The wiki link was excellent, many thanks. Looks like because the kids are all born before the 31 March cut-off date, they'd probably move into the year above.


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