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Thread: Cost of living calculators

  1. #1
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    Default Cost of living calculators

    Hi folks,
    anyone used the ENZ cost of living calculator (http://www.enz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML) Is it a good guide or way off?

    cheers

    Ian

  2. #2
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    Aug 2004
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    Funnily enough, we're going to be updating the calculator soon.

  3. #3
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    Food Cost Estimates

    Before we update, it might be a good idea to put some numbers to the forum. We're working on the basis of two adults and two children for the numbers. Purely for food (not eating out not alcohol) we've had round number weekly costs as:

    Frugal (Basic Living) $150
    Modest (Lives reasonably well but no extravagance) $200
    Good Living (probably within the top 10 percent of lifestyles for New Zealand) $300

    I think we're going to have to increase these numbers now. It probably wouldn't be too hard for a family of four coming in from the USA or UK, used to eating well and buying lots of ready made meals, convenience foods, good quality branded foods etc, to spend $400 per week on food.

    If anyone wants to give estimates - either here or by Private Message - based on their own experiences they'd be gratefully received.

  4. #4
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    Frugal (when we first got here)- about $180
    Modest- $250
    Good living $400+

    I'm careful but even I find if I don't watch it my pakn'save bill easily slips past $250.

    for family of four

  5. #5
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    Lupin77 wrote:

    Frugal (when we first got here)- about $180
    Modest- $250
    Good living $400+

    I'm careful but even I find if I don't watch it my pakn'save bill easily slips past $250.

    for family of four
    Pretty much agree with this. Although our $250 can go up to $300 if OH buys his lunch!

    The only thing I find difficult about the question is if I was to maintain my UK 'Lives reasonably well but no extravagance' lifestyle I'd probably need nearer $350 (so frugal $200, modest $350 and Good Living $450). So if people don't want the shock of budgeting once here then maybe that is a better figure - however, they would be living a lot better than the locals and this would be difficult on NZ wages.

    Hope that makes sense - I'm not explaining myself very well in this heat!

    Cheers

    Tia

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tia Maria View Post
    Pretty much agree with this. Although our $250 can go up to $300 if OH buys his lunch!

    The only thing I find difficult about the question is if I was to maintain my UK 'Lives reasonably well but no extravagance' lifestyle I'd probably need nearer $350 (so frugal $200, modest $350 and Good Living $450). So if people don't want the shock of budgeting once here then maybe that is a better figure - however, they would be living a lot better than the locals and this would be difficult on NZ wages.

    Hope that makes sense - I'm not explaining myself very well in this heat!

    Cheers

    Tia
    Its all about buying seasonally again!!

    For our family of 5 (including 2 in nappies):

    Frugal week $180 (i.e. fruit & veg/staples/nappies & wipes/toiletries/cleaning products/toilet roll etc)
    Modest week $230 (i.e. with some nice cheeses/fresh dips & chips/fresh pasta/ice cream/freezer stuff etc)
    Extravegant week $300 ( i.e. pre-christmas shop with plenty of stuff from deli counter)

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Familyofmonkeys View Post
    Its all about buying seasonally again!!

    For our family of 5 (including 2 in nappies):

    Frugal week $180 (i.e. fruit & veg/staples/nappies & wipes/toiletries/cleaning products/toilet roll etc)
    Modest week $230 (i.e. with some nice cheeses/fresh dips & chips/fresh pasta/ice cream/freezer stuff etc)
    Extravegant week $300 ( i.e. pre-christmas shop with plenty of stuff from deli counter)
    I agree that you can 'budget' or 'cleverly shop' but I think they are trying to establish figures for those that do buy branded goods and convenience meals etc and want to continue this way of shopping in NZ. I think this is a very common way to shop in the UK or USA and not considered to be extravagant.

    But I think that this kind of 'shopping without thinking' would be difficult on $200 to $250 in NZ, as I know that I achieve this budget by buying lots of specials, cheaper nappies, own brand etc.

    For many the shock of going from being able to buy what they like, to having to budget can be very difficult to accept and can spoil their NZ experience.

    Cheers

    Tia

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tia Maria View Post
    I agree that you can 'budget' or 'cleverly shop' but I think they are trying to establish figures for those that do buy branded goods and convenience meals etc and want to continue this way of shopping in NZ. I think this is a very common way to shop in the UK or USA and not considered to be extravagant.

    But I think that this kind of 'shopping without thinking' would be difficult on $200 to $250 in NZ, as I know that I achieve this budget by buying lots of specials, cheaper nappies, own brand etc.

    For many the shock of going from being able to buy what they like, to having to budget can be very difficult to accept and can spoil their NZ experience.

    Cheers

    Tia

    Good point Tia!

    Although we don't really buy own brand (well, apart from signature range tinned goods) we get Vogels Cereals, huggies nappies, johnsons wipes etc etc.... but I have been thinking about this and there are things that other might buy as part of weekly shop that could increase your shopping bill:
    Newpapers
    Magazines (seem to be from around $7 up to about $14)
    Crisps/bisuits (and similar lunchbox type snacks)
    Sweets
    Pet food (not sure how expensive this is)

    If you buy any of these every week, they can be quite expensive compared to UK and really put your food bill up. If you are used to buying a couple of magazines every week in UK, they 'could' well be much more expensive here up to extra $28 per week.

    Still....the idea of spending $400 on a weekly shop is quite scary ....maybe I have adapted

  9. #9
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    Thanks for these estimates Lupin, Tia and FOM. It's really only food costs for two adults and two children that we're looking at just now. There shouldn't be any wine, beer, nappies, magazines, newspapers, pet food, etc. These will be included in other categories. Will this make you want to lower your estimates by much?

    The final figure we use for "good living" is a bit tricky - as are all the numbers really. I'm sure I could easily feed four people quite well on less than the "frugal" number, and I'm sure some families have to do this out of necessity, but we've got to keep things "reasonable" for people coming here with normal expectations. As I say this is tricky. For example, I would bet quite strongly from experience that fewer than 10% of four person families in New Zealand spend $400 per week on food. But I also know from experience that it's easily done by people arriving with plenty of money. In the end, they usually change their habits and shop with a better eye for bargains and start buying more fresh food and fewer packaged meals. But not always.

    We end up by trying to find a middle ground for the calculator that, for most people, doesn't seem too far off the mark.

  10. #10
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    We are currently have a battle of wills with our grocery bill.... its WAYYYYY out of hand, but our best month has been about $1300... but that does include wine and beer, prob about $200 of that. But that doesnt include nappies as I buy them wholesale.

    I shop erratically which doesnt help, if I run out of stuff, I pop into the shop fo rit, and we all know where that ends up... a muffin for DS, a marmite scroll for me.... you get the picture!

    If you are frugal I would say you could just about do it on $150 a week, that would involve shopping around using butchers/fruit shops etc. If you get everything from supermarket, that would be about $200, but if you basically grab what you fancy as you go round then its easy 300....

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