How much money to bring?

[getthisdone]

I know this is subjective, but I was wondering for those of you had a job secured, how much money did you bring to NZ?
What did you spend majority of it on?

Couple other questions-

Renting a house seems the most expensive...does this sound right-

Agent fee- 1 week's rent
Bond- 4 weeks rent
Advance rent - 2 weeks rent

Is there a minimum deposit ( %age) to buy a car? Are the car's available, as they are in the US, to be financed?

Thanks!

[r1c1]

This is subjective. We moved to NZ (Wellington) in late July this year and here is a break down of our initial expenses.

• Car: $8900 (Toyota Wish, 2005 model, from Toyota dealership)
• Rental: Bond - $1950, Advance - $950, Agent fees - $520
• Beds: $2000 (new from furniture shop, we bought mattresses with base, no headboards etc.) for a double bed and two singles for kids.
• Couch: $2000 (new from Harvey Norman, we bought this after a few months. We used a second hand couch for first two months and switched to this after it gave a lot of backpain)
• TV: $750 (for TV, dvd player, blue ray player, speakers and stand set from Trademe)
• Dining table: $50 from Trademe
• Appliances & Furniture:
  
  • Vacuum Cleaner: $200, new from Briscoes
  • Microwave: $60 from Trademe
  • Toaster: $5 from Trademe
  • Kettle: $10 from Warehouse
  • Electric cookers: $40 (one new from Countdown for $15 and one used from Trademe for $25)
  • Side tables: $60 from an opshop
  • Lamps: $30 from trademe
  • LED lights in the house: $80 from Bunnings
  • Office desk: $1 from Trademe
  • Small table: $2 from Trademe
  • Oil fin heaters: $60 for two from Warehouse
  • Book shelf: $10 from Trademe
  
  
• Cooking utensils & Crockery: We spent $250 on this, bought a few new items from Warehouse & Briscoes and several used ones from Opshops
• Bedding: Duvets, bedsheets, pillows, throws - roughly $200, all new from Warehouse or Briscoes
• Lawn mower: Our rental has a biggish lawn. So we bought a hand-push lawn mower for $100 from Mitre10. It cuts beautifully and without pollution.
• Cycles: We like cycling. Bought two new cycles for DW & myself from Evocycles.co.nz for $1100 total. We bought used cycles for twins (they are 7 years old) from Trademe for about $60 total.
• Our rental came with washing machine, dish washer, fridge and a heat pump.

So roughly it totals to $18k excluding cycles. If you remove car, then it would be $9k. Remove TV and Couch, you get the total down to $6k. You can buy used couches / chairs from Trademe or opshops (although most of what we saw are in very poor quality)

I may have missed a few items. But all the big ticket ones are covered. All the best.

[getthisdone]

Thank you!
Does this mean you did not ship anything?

Also, is there a minimum down payment you need to make for buying a car? thx

[r1c1]

You are welcome.

Yes, we just bought our suitcases with clothes, shoes and personal stuff. I am sure car can be purchased on loan. We bought ours with full payment from our initial funds. As you have a job, I think finding credit should be no problem.

[breeze]

It depends on where your job is. Auckland and the cities are more expensive.

We cut it pretty close. Came with only $3500:
- $2000 car (This was what we could afford and didn't want a loan. It took us everywhere but needed to spend on maintenance over time. Eventually got rid of it.)
- $580 rent (1 week + 1 week deposit. Landlady didn't take bond and later regretted it when we spilled food on the carpet but we did pay her money for it.)
- $450 first week accommodation
- Remaining on food until payday.

However much money you decide to bring, do a budget and stick to it.