Finance and budget questions

[Mulder]

Hi all,

This is my first post on this blog and it is a very boring one indeed! My husband and I are moving to NZ in Feb 2014 and we are trying to work out our finances and would really appreciate any feedback you have on the amounts we have budgeted. We want to ensure we give ourselves the best possible chance of making it in NZ and have allowed only 3 months finances to back us in case we do not get jobs in this time. Also, we will more thank likely move to Wellington or Auckland to give ourselves a greater chance of getting jobs.

So far we have the following:

Cats £2,600
Flights £2,300
Container/Shipping £2,500
Visas £2,500
Bond £2,250 (6 weeks)
Bills £1,500 (Gas, Elec, Council Tax)
Car £1,000
Living Money £3,000 3 months at 1000/month
Rent £4,500 3 months at 1500/month($600/week)

Total: £28,028

If any of you have any feedback on these amounts we would so appreciate if you could let us know.

Thank you for reading.

Candice and Lowell

[RedVee]

Hi Mulder, welcome to the forum and good luck with your plans. Getting here, and my first three months living costs have been roughly £29k. I've posted my figures below. Obviously things will vary much depend on how many of you there are, where you live, what your lifestyle is like, etc. For example, my rent is now $575 a week which includes "town" water. Landlords here are responsible for paying the equivalent of council tax (rates). I live in a lovely modern 4 bedroom house about 25 kilometres out of Wellington and commute in 3 to 4 days a week by car which is why my car parking is high.

There are only two of us in the household - my early twenty something daughter and me. We have a good lifestyle, probably spending more on dining out, leisure and entertainment and groceries than is strictly necessary. Groceries below is all our spend at the supermarket, so toiletries, cleaning stuff, laundry, wine, pet food etc, etc.

Our first month was spent in a fully inclusive, serviced 2 bed townhouse and I hired a decent car for 5 weeks while waiting for mine. Again, you can do that more cheaply.

Housing in Auckland will be your biggest cost if you decide to go there, prices are frankly silly. It's like London is to England.

IN the figures, the ITA cost included all the associated costs like getting copies of certificates, getting certified copies of things and so on. The shipping was for a 40 foot container including my car, and includes maritime insurance from Letton Percival ($70k of contents and $21k car) and all of the costs at the New Zealand end too. The pet shipping was just for 1 cat and included 10 days quarantine fees over here. My flights were fees and taxes only on two, first class tickets from Manchester to Wellington via Dubai and Melbourne with the tickets "paid for " with frequent flyer miles. That meant we could bring 3 suitcases and 2 cabin bags each

In addition to these costs I've also had to buy a few things. A good dehumidifier, a microwave and fridge that would fit in the spaces in my rental and my first ever tumble drier - I went for a condensing one which is more expensive but doesn't pump moisture into the air and doesn't need a vent. That has been about another £1500 on appliances. I also don't stint on the gas and electricity - I haven't come all this way to be miserably cold or to get ill - however, now the house is "dried out" it doesn't take as much to get it warm on the grey days.

The first three months living costs weren't really typical, and of course at some point you get your bond back. My ongoing budget is now around $1400 a week

Here are my other costs - sorry for the formatting but I can't paste it in as a table. Hope this is useful.

New Zealand Emigration - Getting Here
Flights £2,839.25
ITA fee £1,654.47
Legal Fees (power of attorney) £72.00
Medicals £600.00
Migrant Levy £310.00
NZQF fees £587.69
Police Checks £90.00
Packing and shipping (inc MPI inspection) £6,916.35
Pet shipping including quarantine ( 1 cat) £2,532.60
UK Vet bills (rabies jab etc) £104.00
Post Office Post redirection £178.00

Total New Zealand Emmigration £15,958.36


NZ Living costs
1st Month accom (all inclusive) £2,761.10
Bond for rental £1,265.00
Rental House costs
Rent £3,162.00 (2 months)
Gas and Electric £256.00 (2 months)
Contents Insurance £72.41 (2 months)
internet £60.56 (2 months)
SKY TV £78.67 (2 months)
Car entry certification £265.73
Car First reg and licence £242.00
Car Fuel £400.65
Car Hire 5 weeks £1,175.83
Car Insurance £43.95 (2 months)
Car Parking £423.84
Supermarket shop (total inc groceries) £1,923.24
Mobile £96.53
Private Box post service £79.18

Dining Out £670.22
Leisure and Entertainment £481.55

Total Living costs £13,458.46

[Hagabel]

Welcome. You may find that your electric and gas will not come to 1000 pounds in 3 months, that is about 2000 dollars. Ours is the most it has ever been in this house(our own) as it is cold and mid winter and it is $425 NZ, that is Gas and Elecy for 3 bed 1 bath house with 2 adults and 2 kids. Lowest we have house at is 17-18 at night and 22 in day when we are home.
Car 1000 pounds? are you talking running costs etc after buying a car outright? Cars are expensive to buy here new, lot cheaper second hand. Petrol is $2.26 per liter right now, rego is $275 ish per year and WOF (like MOT) $35-40 ish per yr for new car, every 6 months for older car. Hope this helps.

[wellywearer]

Hi and welcome,
Not a boring first post at all! In fact something we've paid little attention to in the finer details for the moment. From research we know my partner's salary should give us a good level of income, then once I've a post we should be able to look at the luxuries in life! but I've come to the conclusion also that having a better idea of costs wouldn't be a bad idea We have a spreadsheet for costs here so why not a projection for NZ ..it's good planning!
RedVee and Hagabel many thanks for sharing your figures.

[Mulder]

Wow, thank you so much RedVee, this is hugely helpful and much appreciated.

Did you go over to NZ without a job and find one while you were there? Were are trying to decide if we should wait to move until we have a job or just take the plunge and go over! Also, do you think 3 months back up money is sufficient - EEK as you can see I am stressing a bit!

Also, who did you use for your cat shipping? We have been quoted £2600 for 2 cats with Flypets which seems a lot lower than what you paid for your 1 cat so hoping it is not a dodgy company.

HAgabel, thank you for your post. It is a relief to know we have over estimated that and will use this towards living fees.

have a lovely day.

Candice
x

[RedVee]

Hi Candice.

I had the job offer before I left. I have experience in quite a niche area and had an offer from an accredited employer, so it was relatively straightforward for me. If I hadn't had the offer, I wouldn't have shipped everything on the off chance.

I used Flypets too! Liz was great and sent me regular pictures of my cat ( she stayed with them 4 weeks before she could be shipped due to only having her rabies jab 5 months before we left). So that price includes about £240 extra kennelling. Dont forget her quote only covers the quarantine deposit, not the full bill. There will also be 2 lots of vet inspection fees to pay at the NZ end - once for arrival at the airport and a few days later at the quarantine facility.