$60,000 family 4 kids

[JagerLeaves]

I am a recent mature graduate and have been offered 2 jobs in New Zealand, both paying $60,000 a year. One is in Christchurch and the other is in Te Awamutu near Hamilton. We have 4 young kids between 12 and 2. Preferably my wife would not have to work for the first few months until the kids got settled. We have virtually no savings to bring with us as I have been in college for the past few years.
Is there any chance we could survive on this money, neither of us is working now so we are not living a life of luxury. We see this as our only chance of me getting a start for my career and that hopefully we will be able to afford a better standard of living in the future, saying that we don't want to live in a ******** or a bad part of town either.
Would we be entitled to any benefits when we were there, I would be coming in on a talent visa so I am not sure what class of residency this would entitle me to.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

Here's a page about the NZ welfare system. It mentions the very basic allowances for shelter and per child that migrants are allowed during the first 24 months, but it doesn't mention what class of visa. http://www.immigration.co.nz/life-ne...ement-welfare/

http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/ind...-families.html This government site shows you some detail - you could contact them to ask specific questions if you can't find what you need on their various pages.

[Delta_Cephei]

Hi JagerLeaves,

You sound in a similar position to us: initially my OH will look after our 3 children (4, 9 and 12) (helping them settle in to NZ routine) whilst I work: my salary is as yet unknown- but I think it will be $64000 minimum, $79000 max).

I would look at the housing cost in Christchurch and near Hamilton, because if you can rent somewhere nice for less then you will make some savings.

There is also this site that can help estimate credits etc.

IRD tax site

I am anticipating living frugally initially- and being careful shopping: no splurging. Our children have been warned about this too. The key thing is- being able to live in NZ and for once enjoy what we have than dreaming of buying what we don't. The one thing we definitely don't want to get is any credit...

Ta,

Eliot

[JagerLeaves]

The cost of rent in ChCh is a big factor as it is almost twice that of Te Awamutu, both jobs sound good so it is really hard to decide which to go for. The ChCh company are offering to pay all expenses re visas, flights, relocation etc plus give us the first month rent free, the smaller company cannot match that offer but they have been very generous aswell. There is also the big question of whether to bring your kids to Christchurch or not, so many posters say it is fine but you just cant ignore all the ones that say dont do it. it is basically a question of do we go with the offer that is cheap to get there but more expensive to live when we are there (ChCh) or the option that is more expensive to get there but cheaper when we do (T A).

[Delta_Cephei]

I'd say that paying for visas, flights and relocation is a huge saving. So even though the rents are higher- I don't think it would match the cost of the move. So- for me it would be Christchurch. Getting here is costing us £3500 flights, £4000 shipping, visa- medical £1500, cost of ITA (and EOI etc) must be in region of £2500 overall. I know your visa is probably costing less but, as you can see, having someone offer to pay everything is a great opportunity.

In terms of moving to ChCh wrt earthquakes: NZ is active anyhow. I wouldn't be overly worried myself. I'm sure others could comment on their thoughts about this...

Ta,

Eliot

[JagerLeaves]

The whole Christchurch or not debate is raging all over the internet, that is what makes it so hard. Which opinion do you decide to go with??? The smaller company said they would pay for visas and look into some kind of contribution or loan for flights and they said they would help with accommodation aswell. They couldent afford a shipping container as well though. They also said they could lend us a car for a few months until we got settled, this would be a help but I wouldent like to do it for any longer than the minimum time necessary, I would feel bad borrowing something from someone. Is the cost of living any different in a small town compared to a city?

[newarrival]

My suggestion: try to contact some of the forumites on here who live in Christchurch- Sophie (I think username is SophieD?), or Mamee&Co (hope that is right...) and ask them about how they feel living in Christchurch. They both experienced all of the earthquakes, both have children and both are still there, Mamee just in the process of buying a house.
It seems to have to do a lot with your personality, if you can stand the wobbles or not....

I know (also only through a forum) someone who lives in Te Awamutu, they seem to be happy there...

Regarding the cost- it might be easier to find choices in a bigger city, having more shops etc. around, Christchurch probably is a special situation at the moment, I suppose you get fresh products in season off roadside stalls in the North Island maybe more often than down here (at least in Blenheim there is not a lot of that available, which has to do with the vineyards, too, they take up lots of space and there are not that many orchards etc. any more, but still markets where they sell fruit and vegetables.
Renting might just be harder in Christchurch because not that many options available due to the many houses affected by the quakes.

Good luck with your decision!

[bunot]

your situation is almost similar to mine: I've got 2 job offers (chch and auckland), the one in chch, a university, shouldered all our relocation expenses of about NZ$10,000 for flights, shipping and 2 weeks accommodation (we're only a family of 3) and it was a big help to us. like you, we didn't have that much savings. so the money we brought with us (around NZ$7,000) we used to buy a car, whiteware and furniture and pay for the rental bond.

regarding the quakes, we didn't find it too scary, there's one every now and then. but maybe its because we have lived in Taiwan for the last 3 years, where quakes are part of people's every day lives. you'll get used to it. as Eliot said, the whole NZ is active.

good luck with your plans!

[Mamee & Co]

Hi Jagerleaves

Children in Christchurch is a hard one......but we have stayed here so far because everywhere in NZ is at risk of quakes. We came to the conclusion that we could move to another seismically active zone...or wait it out here.

I don't know the other area at all. However there are loads of families still in Christchurch and also those who have left. I cannot tell you how you will feels as for each of is it is a different experience....but the statistics say you have more chance being killed in a car than in an earthquake.....so do you avoid cars? Having said that I hate watching snakes on tv and some people feel the same way about the EQ sensation. It is a primal fear.

There are difficulties in the Christchurch rental market at the moment, and finding a reasonable cheap property will be a matter of luck and good judgement here. You really have to be fast to offer...and in good areas rents are rising rapidly and properties are over subscribed. But the jobs market is taking off with the most ads placed. There are good shopping centers and cheap fruit and veg places...plus with a small garden you can possibly even grow some veggies yourselves.

Check out the tax credit situation on the IR website as I would imagine that you may be due some depending upon your visa restrictions, but you must declare your foreign sourced income to claim these. If your wife is working you may also be eligible for childcare subsidies so my colleagues tell me.

If asked would we leave Christchurch we have always thought that we would not.....but we are currently trying to purchase a house and hoping that we can surmount the obstacles and get through it with the reports and insurance transfers required. If we cannot my OH seriously wants to look at relocating...not because we lessen the EQ risk....but because at least we can have our own place again. But I have anothe thread with those trials and tribulations!

Feel free to pm me. sophiedb also has another experience of being in Christchurch.......if you search back through our posts you will get an indication of how we have felt at different points in time...

Mamee

[Familyofmonkeys]

I don't think I need comment on your location options, as that has already been covered. Yes, I believe it would be possible to survive on a $60k salary if you are used to living frugally. However, with 4 children and a lot of initial expenses that you will be required to fork out for while getting yourself set up, I would be more than a little worried if I didn't have a reasonable savings buffer....enough to pay for flights back and shopping your stuff back to Ireland if it didn't work out here, and a bit extra to cover unexpected expenses that might crop up. I assume you have researched and are aware of things like school fees, expensive school uniforms, donations, the requirement to pay for school stationary and activities etc? Even when being very frugal, many people feel like they are haemoraging cash during their first few weeks......it takes time to find the cheapest places to shop for groceries etc, you'll need a vehicle (or 2 maybe?), replacements for house hold goods you haven't shipped, or hired furniture while you are waiting for your own container to arrive, insurance, connecting household utilities and mobile phones & broadband.