# weekly Expenditures.



## Bobogib (Mar 2, 2018)

Hi all. 

I've posted a little background information in the introductions page but started this to try and expand my knowledge so I can sit and do some maths. 

I'm looking to try and find the normal weekly outgoings (not too interested in prices for now)

So far I'm thinking

Rent,
Food,
Electric,
TV,
Internet,
Phone,
Saving for incidentals (Rego, Doctors, etc),
Petrol, 

I am married with 4 kids, 2 of which are school age, so I know I'll have to factor in uniforms and 'voluntary' fees. If the conversation I've had with the employer turn into a job offer, my take home will be $1100. This will be backed up with savings and the option of overtime (and the hope of eventual promotion). Main question is, am I missing anything obvious of the list?


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Rent - $500 - $750 a week depending where and how big. A good rule of thumb for likely weekly rent is $90 per $100k of worth so a $750k home will be looking for $675 weekly approx. Have a look on www.trademe.co.nz 

Food approx. $300 - $400 for your family size.

Electric maybe $50 summer and $80 winter approx.

Tv ? Do you mean Sky ? Minimum $12 per week for the basic package. If your talking Netflix / Neon etc then whatever they charge per week which isn't much bug all adds up.

Internet approx $23 per week.

Mobile phone maybe $8 per week.

Savings is whatever you have left after paying all your bills and other spends, take outs, eating outs, other paid activities.

Fuel depending how many km's you doing. $2 per litre for 91 unleaded. Your car may average 8ltrs per 100 km so easy to work it out.

Don't forget insurance for cars and house. Also refuse collection isn't free. You may have to pay for water via a meter. Your house may use gas as well as electric. You'll need to pay out money for a bond on any rental plus a couple weeks advance rent so your looking at 6 x weekly rent up front then paying rent again on the day you move in. Budget fees for property maintenance when renting. Cleaning carpets/gardening/windows/oven/showers/bath etc. Doctor and dentist.


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## Bobogib (Mar 2, 2018)

Thanks for the reply. 

Hadn't considered refuse collection and water. Will add it to my spreadsheet. 

Yeah I meant Sky when I said TV. Not a necessity, but if I can get a combined Internet/Phone/TV package cheap enough then I'll put it in, if not freeview and Netflix it is. 

I know money will be tight for the first year, so your input is appreciated.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Bobogib said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> Hadn't considered refuse collection and water. Will add it to my spreadsheet.
> 
> ...


Standard household waste wheelie bin emptied weekly and a similar size recycle bin emptied fortnightly will cost around $400 for the year.
Depending where you will be renting, a water charge may be paid by the owner/landlord in the council rates for the property. A charge for usage can only be passed to you if there is a meter and it'll be $60 a quarter maybe ?

Vodafone do an internet/landline/Sky TV package deal where it all appears on one bill. We were on it for around 5 years in Wellington and Tauranga but after moving into our own home (without a copper wire connection) we've had to go for 4G rural broadband and although we're still with Vodafone they won't add the Sky Tv to the same bill for some insane reason so we just pay Sky directly nowadays for their service. We pay around $85-$90 a month for the basic Sky with MySky box where we can pause/rewind live TV and record and we also have another box in another room so have a multiroom subscription. Do also have Freeview but doesn't have the kids channels we need so doesn't get used. We've also cancelled all the Netflix, Neon etc as our internet connection just not good enough for that jazz. We have a Kodi box but streaming often freezes and buffers so we use it to download things to watch later....stuff that we can't get on Sky.
You'll get the best connection possible for the broadband assuming the property has a copper wire so this'll likely be VDSL. If fibre is available in the area they'll give it to you for the same price, or maybe slightly cheaper nowadays but you'll have to ask the owner/landlord if you can install it as they'll have to dig up from the point at which the fibre is at the property boundary to get it into the house unless it has already been installed by the owner/landlord or previous tenant. 
Vodafone will also knock $10 a month off your mobile phone subscription if you also have internet/landline etc.


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## Bobogib (Mar 2, 2018)

Again many thanks. I'm spending hours at the computer working stuff out. 

Most stuff is an average as until talks about the job progresses as I could end up pretty much anywhere. Hoping for in or around Chch though (which is where I'm working out costings for rent ECT.)

What is the freeview like? Or is sky a must? 

Going to do without luxuries such as mobile phones until we know how our budget works out. 

Got to say, the internet is a godsend. Done 'weekly shop's many times in Countdown to see what it would cost.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Bobogib said:


> Again many thanks. I'm spending hours at the computer working stuff out.
> 
> Most stuff is an average as until talks about the job progresses as I could end up pretty much anywhere. Hoping for in or around Chch though (which is where I'm working out costings for rent ECT.)
> 
> ...


No worries it's what I'm here for 

The cost of living across the whole of NZ is pretty much the same so the likes of groceries and utilities, sky tv etc. It's the big cities where you will find inflated prices for property rent, council rates etc.
If you want to be mindful of your pennies here you have to adapt and shop differently. Yes you can get an idea of how much groceries will cost by doing an online Countdown shop but in reality you may not pay some of those prices as they are too high. For example, many fresh fruit and veggie items are seasonal here so instead of paying high off season prices in the supermarket you may go to a farmers market or other rural shop/side of the road stall etc to purchase instead. You may also elect to go to the butcher and the baker instead of buying in the supermarket so your costs could come down. There are usually always other options to reduce your outgoings.

Have a look here for what's on NZ Freeview Freeview NZ - Your Favorite TV Programmes in Digital Quality - Freeview and look here for what's on NZ Sky https://www.sky.co.nz/tvguide
Personally Freeview doesn't work for us which is why we have Sky TV. A few of my colleagues have ditched Sky due to high monthly costs and rely on a mixture of Freeview, Kodi box and internet TV (Netflix/Neon/Yes Movies etc) although you need a good internet connection and unlimited data. We can't go that way as we are 4G rural broadband which isn't fast enough for streaming.

In the grand scheme of things a mobile phone isn't gonna ruin your finances. If you bring along an unlocked to all networks smart phone all you need is a pay and go sim card for free or a few $'s and it may cost you $10 for the month if you steer clear of using network data and phoning overseas. The networks here are Vodafone, Spark, 2Degrees and Skinny.


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## Bobogib (Mar 2, 2018)

escapedtonz said:


> No worries it's what I'm here for
> 
> If you want to be mindful of your pennies here you have to adapt and shop differently. Yes you can get an idea of how much groceries will cost by doing an online Countdown shop but in reality you may not pay some of those prices as they are too high. For example, many fresh fruit and veggie items are seasonal here so instead of paying high off season prices in the supermarket you may go to a farmers market or other rural shop/side of the road stall etc to purchase instead. You may also elect to go to the butcher and the baker instead of buying in the supermarket so your costs could come down.


That's going to become my wife's full time job, a veggie patch (if the landlord allows), going through the weekly mailers and hitting the markets. 

Using all the info you've given me my spreadsheet isn't looking too bad. Including putting $100 a week away for things like uniforms, school fees, doctors etc. We would be left with around $70 disposable. Doesn't sound like a lot, but I've been told I'll be able to get overtime fairly easily which will help increase that amount. 

So as always EscapedtoNZ, many thanks fort he input.


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