Cost of Living Calculator
For each item you’ll be spending money on click the button for “frugal” or “modest” or “good living” or enter your personal estimate into the calculator.
After you’ve entered all the costs, click the “Add” button, to find your total estimated weekly spending.
If it’s your first time here, you might find it helpful to read the notes at the bottom of the page. These will help you find housing cost estimates and explain the calculator more fully
The Calculator
| Items to Pay For | Choose Your Weekly Spending Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frugal | Modest | Good Living | Personal Estimate | |
| Weekly rent or mortgage | $0 | |||
| Food | $190 | $300 | $410 | |
| Other Supermarket Purchases | $15 | $25 | $40 | |
| House Maintenance | $15 | $20 | $30 | |
| Clothing | $25 | $45 | $90 | |
| Car WOF / Maintenance / Fuel | $30 | $65 | $115 | |
| Public Transport | $0 | $20 | $0 | |
| House Insurance | $5 | $6 | $7 | |
| House Contents Insurance | $2 | $4 | $6 | |
| Car Insurance | $3 | $5 | $14 | |
| Internet | $2 | $10 | $15 | |
| Telephone Local and National | $10 | $12 | $15 | |
| Telephone International | $1 | $7 | $14 | |
| Mobile Phone | $0 | |||
| Council Rates | $30 | $40 | $60 | |
| Electricity / Heating | $30 | $40 | $55 | |
| Small Medical Costs / Pharmacist / Dentist for Family In Good Health | $10 | $13 | $20 | |
| Misc / Entertainment / Children’s Treats | $25 | $55 | $130 | |
| Money put aside to Replace Major Items Such as Cars / Furnishings / White Goods | $40 | $75 | $250 | |
| Tobacco (About $10 per pack of 20) | $0 | |||
| Holidays | $0 | |||
| Christmas | $0 | |||
| Childcare – full-time in a good pre-school costs around $180-$220 per week. | $0 | |||
| Saving / Investing / Pension Provision | $0 | |||
| Medical Insurance. Accident and emergency care are free for everyone. 70% of Kiwis have no medical insurance. | $0 | |||
|
Total Estimated Weekly Spending |
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You’ve now got an estimate of your weekly cash needs in New Zealand. You’ll need to earn more than this, because the government taxes you.
Enter your total weekly costs in the box below and press The Gross Annual Income I Need Is…. (You might want to allow for any weekly costs you have that we haven’t included above.)
The calculator will apply current income-tax rates to your weekly living costs and tell you the gross annual wage you need.
The ENZ Cost of Living Calculator tries to show you approximately the annual salary you need for the lifestyle you want.
Your House
Find typical weekly rents in different suburbs and towns here
Find average house prices here
Use the mortgage calculator (opens in pop-up window) to figure out your mortgage costs.
Living Costs
The calculator is based on the living costs of a family of two adults and two school-aged children. You’ll need to adjust these costs depending on your personal circumstances.
Frugal Lifestyle:
Basic living with few treats or entertainment. Quite happy to buy cheap and second-hand goods; runs a cheap car that travels around 5000 miles (8,000 km) each year.
Modest Lifestyle:
Lives reasonably well but no great extravagance: some wine each week – some takeaway food – nice house in good area – a good quality Japanese family car, bought second-hand that travels around 10,000 miles (16,000 km) each year.
Good Living:
Very nice house in above average area, two good quality cars bought new and replaced every 3 years, nice food, a glass or two of wine with most evening meals. Not a millionaire lifestyle, but probably within the top 10 percent of lifestyles for New Zealand.
Mix and Match:
Some people are quite happy to be frugal motorist while spending more than our “good living” allowance on food, wine and entertaining. Other people do the opposite. You will know better than anyone else the sort of spender you are in each category. Some items near the bottom of the table we’ve left for you to estimate based on your personal lifestyle.