Expenses for a family of 5 (3 kids and 2 adults)

[W&G]

Hello!
Would anyone be able to give me an idea of how much I can expect my weekly or monthly expenses to be for the size of our family? We have 3 kids, who would (hopefully) be around 6,5, and 4 when we get there.
Anybody with the same family-size?
As per a more detailed question.. (for those kind enough to share info... hehehe )...How much are the expenses for the following and how often do we pay them (like weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly?):
-Electricity
-Water
-Phone (local calls only)
-Good Quality Internet
-Grocery (the usual toiletries, food items and snacks)
-Movies
-Dining Out
-Day Care

Thanks so much in advance!
Any information you guys would be willing to share would definitely be helpful to us in preparing for our Migration to New Zealand (that is, if we do make it) hehehe

[Toronto_Kiwi]

As it happens, I just put a spreadsheet together for our estimated weekly expenses if my husband and I lived in Auckland. (We don't have children but are considering having a baby in NZ). I wouldn't mind some feedback on it and it might be helpful for other people.
Assumptions: 2 / 3 bedroom apartment, one car, no kids, one international holiday per year
Estimated weekly cost of living:
Numbers picked from: http://www.enz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML
Expense: NZ $
Rent: 450 (Auckland centre)
Food: 192
Other supermarket Purchases: 23
House Maintenance: 15
Clothing: 18
Fuel: 22
Car Maintenance: 12
Public Transport: 15
House Insurance: 7
House Contents Insurance: 6
Car Insurance: 5
Internet: 12
Telephone Local and National: 12
Telephone International: 10
Mobile: 10
Council Rates: 33
Electricity/Heating: 35
Small Medical: 12
Misc./Entertainment: 53
Tobacco:
Medical Insurance: 20
Holidays: 150
Christmas: 10
Childcare: Note: childcare in a good preschool costs $160 - $200 per week
Your total weekly spend is: $1,122 NZD

Income Tax Rates ------------After-tax (limit)
$0 - $38,000: 19.5%------------$30,590
$38,001 - $60,000: 33% --------$45,330 ($30,590 + $14,740)
$60,001 upwards: 39%

Salary------------ After-tax------------After-tax per week
$80,000------------$57,530------------$1,106
$90,000------------$63,630------------$1,224
$100,000-----------$69,730------------$1,341
$110,000-----------$75,830------------$1,458

Some notes about salaries in NZ:
The result is that two people who each have salaries of $38,000 p.a. take home a total of $61,180 (that's $1,177 per week). A sole-earner with a salary of $76,000 p.a. takes home $55,090 ($1,059 per week). So the couple take home $118 per week more than the sole earner.

In 2003, the average gross family income (including social benefits) in NZ was $73,929 for couples with children. The figure for couples with no children was $62,390.

[Milliemoo]

As it happens, I just put a spreadsheet together for our estimated weekly expenses if my husband and I lived in Auckland. (We don't have children but are considering having a baby in NZ). I wouldn't mind some feedback on it and it might be helpful for other people.
Assumptions: 2 / 3 bedroom apartment, one car, no kids, one international holiday per year
Estimated weekly cost of living:
Numbers picked from: http://www.enz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML
Expense: NZ $
Rent: 450 (Auckland centre)
Food: 192
Other supermarket Purchases: 23
House Maintenance: 15
Clothing: 18
Fuel: 22
Car Maintenance: 12
Public Transport: 15
House Insurance: 7
House Contents Insurance: 6
Car Insurance: 5
Internet: 12
Telephone Local and National: 12
Telephone International: 10
Mobile: 10
Council Rates: 33
Electricity/Heating: 35
Small Medical: 12
Misc./Entertainment: 53
Tobacco:
Medical Insurance: 20
Holidays: 150
Christmas: 10
Childcare: Note: childcare in a good preschool costs $160 - $200 per week
Your total weekly spend is: $1,122 NZD

Income Tax Rates ------------After-tax (limit)
$0 - $38,000: 19.5%------------$30,590
$38,001 - $60,000: 33% --------$45,330 ($30,590 + $14,740)
$60,001 upwards: 39%

Salary------------ After-tax------------After-tax per week
$80,000------------$57,530------------$1,106
$90,000------------$63,630------------$1,224
$100,000-----------$69,730------------$1,341
$110,000-----------$75,830------------$1,458

Some notes about salaries in NZ:
The result is that two people who each have salaries of $38,000 p.a. take home a total of $61,180 (that's $1,177 per week). A sole-earner with a salary of $76,000 p.a. takes home $55,090 ($1,059 per week). So the couple take home $118 per week more than the sole earner.

In 2003, the average gross family income (including social benefits) in NZ was $73,929 for couples with children. The figure for couples with no children was $62,390.

Hi there,

We're not in NZ yet, but have also set up a spread sheet for predicted expenses. I've picked up a lot of info over the last few months and I think it should be pretty close to what we spend.... but just never know till you get there.

I'm probally not qualified to give feedback, but here it goes....

Does your food bill include booze? $190 sounds OK so long as your mostly preparing your own food and taking advantage of special offers.

$50 on misc/entertainment ....does that include nights out, day trips, the odd lunch or take away? That doesn't sound very much, but I guess if you only go out a couple of times a month and don't have takekaways or anything? We have a 'pocket money' fund of $1k per month, but that does include treats, clothes, going out etc. Everyone's different though.

$18 on clothes.... I guess if you don't buy that many clothes and only buy things when you need them....mind you, it still doesn't sound much for 2 adults. I'm planning on buying a sewing machine and making a lot of my own clothes.

Do you have any plans for savings/pensions ?

We're budgeting $200 per month for the electricity, because apparently prices are going up & up. I'd rather play it safe until we know for sure.

Do you plan to have SKY TV? If you do, that's a min of $60 per month.

We've got a small budget for water, because I couldn't work out whether the North Shore Council include it in the rates or not. Thinking about it, would you need to budget for rates, buildings insurance if your renting ??

Do you have any pets? If yes, you'll need to include their annual upkeep.

Looks pretty good though.... when are you heading out?

Milliemoo

[Toronto_Kiwi]

Just to clarify - the expenses that I posted are weekly. Do you think that $192 on food per week isn't enough? I cook a lot. We spend about $120 CDN ($170 NZD?) on groceries per week.
I should probably raise the $50 per week misc / entertainment allocation to at least $100 per week, to allow for outside lunches.
We've escaped from TV. Haven't owned one in almost 10 years. We set up a small Mac with a large flat screen monitor as a home theatre system and watch DVDs. Assuming we'll do the same in NZ.

[Milliemoo]

Just to clarify - the expenses that I posted are weekly. Do you think that $192 on food per week isn't enough? I cook a lot. We spend about $120 CDN ($170 NZD?) on groceries per week.
I should probably raise the $50 per week misc / entertainment allocation to at least $100 per week, to allow for outside lunches.
We've escaped from TV. Haven't owned one in almost 10 years. We set up a small Mac with a large flat screen monitor as a home theatre system and watch DVDs. Assuming we'll do the same in NZ.

Hi,

We've budgeted for $200 per week on food, but I make all our meals from scratch. I think it's people who rely on convienance foods that find NZ expensive and spends lots on their weekly shop, so you should be OK if you cook a lot. We also only buy wine that's on special offer

Cool about the TV... I wish I could do that, but the OH (who insists he doesn't watch much TV) would never have it.

Milliemoo

[Toronto_Kiwi]

Meant to add that if we decide to go we'll move before the end of the year. We're waiting on the salary offer from OH's potential employer before we make a final decision. I'm trying to check the budget math to make sure that we'll be comfortable.
My OH can't drink wine... he gets hives. Poor thing.
We've had several weak moments wrt getting cable or satellite, especially around the Tour de France in July. It's easier than ever to get by without though now that most content is posted on the internet.

[Milliemoo]

Apologies, I can't count.... we've budgete $160 per week on food.

Milliemoo

[firstkings]

I found some "official" data somewhere...perhaps on a link from a rival forum

It was a table. I have copied and pasted it into an excel document downloadable from

http://dking.me.uk/home/nz/sample_living_expenses.xls


I think some of the data will be too old (electricity prices etc, but it does act as a guide!).

Cheers

David

[Milliemoo]

I think the most useful information that people in NZ can give is that of electricity costs, insurance, healthcare, rates etc. Once you have the basics you can then add on the personal stuff that only you can budget for, because only you know how much you spend (and what your lifestyle is like) on food, clothes, going out etc.

I found council websites a good source of info, also looking at individual company websites like Sky etc

Milliemoo

[W&G]

thanks! your short and concise table was helpful.. i'll just make the appropriate adjustments for price increases by the way, I saw your signature... you have kids? how old are they? (if you don't mind)

I found some "official" data somewhere...perhaps on a link from a rival forum

It was a table. I have copied and pasted it into an excel document downloadable from

http://dking.me.uk/home/nz/sample_living_expenses.xls


I think some of the data will be too old (electricity prices etc, but it does act as a guide!).

Cheers

David