55KNZ$ in Auckland . Will it sufficient?

[jadugar]

I have a Job offer from Auckland based company. They offered 55KNZ$. I have 2 kids 3,1.5 years old and a wife. And have good points in EOI. Will this cover the cost of living easily?
Any comments and suggestions.

[PeKaJoSa]

That is a question with no easy answer! It really depends on two major factors:

1) How much capital (savings) you are bringing with you

and

2) What you consider to be a reasonable living standard!

It's a subject which has been discussed many times on the forum, and here is one such recent thread:

http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=21786

As you can see, mortgage / rent costs are normally by far the biggest costs. If you have enough capital to buy a suitable property without needing a mortgage, that will make a huge difference as to whether or not a $55k salary might be enough for you.

However I'm sure plenty of other people will be along here soon who will be happy to give their opinion to you!

Cheers,
Pete

[kerrijeansmith]

For us, that would be a really nice lifestyle. We eat simply, never buy new clothes, etc. For most people I know though, it seems that would be a tough one to make work. It just depends on you guys. We're going to be moving with only about $10K in the bank, plus a monthly income of $3K. And we'll do it. We're survivors!

Kerri

[Tia Maria]

Get your calculator out!

http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16780

Cheers

Tia

[AndyR]

well im single and I struggle on that amount. Mainly because I spend my money on stupid things. If you budget well You can survive on that but Id send old wifey out to get a job also.

[np2nz]

For us, that would be a really nice lifestyle. We eat simply, never buy new clothes, etc. For most people I know though, it seems that would be a tough one to make work. It just depends on you guys. We're going to be moving with only about $10K in the bank, plus a monthly income of $3K. And we'll do it. We're survivors!

Kerri

When you say We, how many people are we talking about?

My EOI submission is on hold after reading so many depressing posts about how expensive everything is and how low the salary is. I do not have a job offer, but hopping to be able to find a job that pays somewhere NZ$50K to 60K. We are 4 in the family (me, wife and 2 young kids). I am going to be the only one working as the wife needs to take care of the kids. I will have about US$50K to bring with us. I appreciate your advice. Thanks.

[kerrijeansmith]

We have four kids. 9, 8, 7, and 4. They eat alot. I can't really work at the moment because the costs of childcare exceed what I make in a day.

In Canada we live well on that amount because most food is cheaper here than in NZ and we make everything from scratch, buy no convenience foods, etc. Basically, we just know how to live for cheap here, have figured out our shopping system, know lots of people we trade with, etc.

In NZ, though, I'll be a student and will qualify for a student allowance (NZ citizen) and we will be getting student loans and my husband may work part-time once we see how busy life is. At this point, he's going to be the stay-at-home Dad for at least the first while.

NZ also has a longer growing season and we should be able to supplement our food by gardening after a few months too. We will set up our rental home from garage sales and hand-me-downs. We're just going to do it and figure it out when we get there, I guess. By going to school, I'll eventually have a higher-paying career.

Kerri

[np2nz]

Thanks Kerri. Don't we get a student allowance too, if we have a PR status and one of us goes to college? Or do you have to be a NZ Citizen to be qualified for a student allowance?

Let's say, we got our PR, moved to NZ and I did not find a high paying job and I had a hard time supporting my family with my income, are there any supports that we can expect from the NZ government? If there are, what do we get from them? I hope that we do not have to depend on the government, but just wanted to know in case need some help. Thanks.

[incredible hulse]

Not sure if you would have mortgage/rent costs but being honest I know we couldn't live in a lifestyle we'd want to on that unless mortgage free

[dharder]

We eat simply, never buy new clothes, etc. For most people I know though, it seems that would be a tough one to make work. It just depends on you guys.

There is obviously a limit on how much it depends on the individual, but we've had lots of threads/discussions on that one, won't start another one

In Auckland, I wouldn’t worry as much about the food and clothes prices, I’m sure you can budget there and try to make it work, or grow your own stuff.

The biggest struggle for me would be finding a place to live and schools for the children that I was somewhat comfortable with and the rental prices in those areas.

We have four children, don’t live extravagantly at all, don’t pay a lot of rent, but would really, really struggle on 55k. A glance at Quicken also doesn’t make it obvious where we are spending too much, as our biggest outgoings are rent and food, and we are at the lower end for both of those already.

I’m sure this might be different in the countryside, but here in Auckland, I couldn’t do it (not with rent/mortgage payments).

Daniela