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The cost-of-living discussions here generally focus on the high cost of housing in New Zealand. However, if the house was paid for, could a person live modestly in NZ on income of $500 per week?
By modestly, I mean for someone who understands the difference between "needs" and "wants".
I need a well heated home, food in the fridge, medical and dental care, a house/appliance maintenance budget, and an internet connection. And I'll still have to pay the rates bill of course.
I do not not need (or want) restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs, cinema, travel, gadgets, or children.
A car would be a nice luxury, to get to the grocery store or doctors, but that's all I'd use it for.
So if I already had the house, would such a simple lifestyle be sustainable on $500/week?
What part of New Zealand are you talking about? There can be significant differences regionally in the cost of food, heating, rates, and medical care.
In general, heating and power costs are high (and houses are often poorly insulated), as are the costs of telecommunications (mobile prices in particular are just ridiculous). As an example, my mother living on her own in a two bedroom unit/apartment in the lower Nth Island had power bills in winter that were often $2-300 for the month. As a family of two adults and two kids in Auckland we once had a $500 bill for a month, and bills in the $400 range were not uncommon in winter. That kind of money on heating really makes a dent in your disposable income.
Property rates in many urban areas seem to be in the $1000-1500 per annum range. Medical costs can be fairly variable. A national health system means you can get acute care generally free of charge, but for many more chronic conditions, especially those that require elective surgery, you can face long waits for treatment and lots of people have private health insurance to reduce that wait. Depending on your health and age, you might be looking at $50-100 a month for coverage that includes elective surgery. Can be more if you want coverage for specialists. Many people get subsidised cover through their employer. Visits to General Practitioners can be pricey, but can also be free for certain ages, again depending on area. My experience was that the quality of care was pretty good - not so many frills around the edges, but still received sound professional care from doctors and nurses, and that's what really matters in the end.
Food can be very expensive in NZ too, and I'm talking regular grocery shopping, not eating out. Which can also be very expensive - but the upside is that much of it is great tasting, imaginative, freshly made from high quality product. But shopping for the household is not a cheap exercise, even when you keep it to the basics. Bread, dairy products, meat, fish all carry a high price, and that can be the case with fruit and vegetables too. My rough guess for groceries for a single person would be $100-150 a week (not including eating out), although could easily be more depending on your tastes.
If you are in the urban areas around Auckland and Wellington, everything tends to be more expensive. But if you are in some of the provincial or rural areas, housing is usually cheaper and there are other ways to keep your cost of living lower, eg alternative heat sources such as wood for wood burners are more readily available, cheaper produce grown locally or grown yourself, possibly less time and money spent commuting, etc.
I would say if housing is not an issue you probably can do it on $500 per week, regardless of where you end up living, but don't be surprised to find that there might not be a whole lot left over.
Wanganui looks like it has cheap houses and temperate weather.
I'm a vegetarian, and that keeps food costs very low here in the USA. Hoped it would do the same in NZ.
People always quote high winter bills, but doesn't the need for little heat and no air-conditioning the rest of the year offset that? What should somebody in an average house expect to pay averaged out annually?
I have done a bit of research already, and it looks like $500/week should be enough, but then I see others advising that $70K a year income isn't enough, and I wonder if they just have a different perspective on what's necessary, or if I'm missing something in my math.
Wanganui looks like it has cheap houses and temperate weather.
I'm a vegetarian, and that keeps food costs very low here in the USA. Hoped it would do the same in NZ.
People always quote high winter bills, but doesn't the need for little heat and no air-conditioning the rest of the year offset that? What should somebody in an average house expect to pay averaged out annually?
I have done a bit of research already, and it looks like $500/week should be enough, but then I see others advising that $70K a year income isn't enough, and I wonder if they just have a different perspective on what's necessary, or if I'm missing something in my math.
Last I looked NZ's electricity rates were slightly more than double the USA. The houses I find are nowhere near the level of technology in construction as here in the USA and are very cold in the winter and often in summer, very warm and humid with mold being a problem.
NZ has a wide variety of climate zones and microclimates, all depends what works for you and your comfort level.
If you are a veggie and don't eat a lot of packaged foods or specialty items, the cost of local fruits and veg isn't bad, but if you get anything imported it can be eye popping in terms of costs. In fact anything you buy that is imported, in general the cost is going to be much higher than the USA and selection less. All of my kiwi friends load up on electronics, phones, etc. anytime they come to the USA. NZ is one of the most isolated countries in the world, so there isn't much in the way of economies of scale there.
When I see these threads in any forum about whether this much or that much is enough to live on in whatever area, a lot of it can never be exact because it always depends on what the posters comfort level really is. NZ is a place where to have a comfortable American like existence it is very expensive.
Why on earth would anyone move to Whanganui? It's a pit.
NZ is not a utopia sorry. It's expensive, it's a long way away from friends and family and in general you will have a lower standard of living than the US.
In saying that, if you don't take into consideration rent or a mortgage, you can have a basic lifestyle on $500 a week unless you live in Auckland. And a car is a necessity in NZ unless you live in Wellington or the inner city of Auckland.
I could live well on $500, if I was single. I reckon I could save $150 a week of it. That's coming from the "a penny saved is a penny earned" perspective.
Different with a family of school aged kids though. We need about $800 a week, just to cover the basics.
Why on earth would anyone move to Whanganui? It's a pit.
NZ is not a utopia sorry. It's expensive, it's a long way away from friends and family and in general you will have a lower standard of living than the US.
In saying that, if you don't take into consideration rent or a mortgage, you can have a basic lifestyle on $500 a week unless you live in Auckland. And a car is a necessity in NZ unless you live in Wellington or the inner city of Auckland.
Fhanganui has a whole lot of nothing going on. Just some local agriculture and it's in one of the least scenic areas of New Zealand. It seems to have a crime problem.
Kinda of reminds me of the much talked about by future immigrants, city of Tauranga. Lauded for nice weather and nice weather, it's a hole populated by potheads, methheads, bogans and maori gangs.
A lot of NZ is not the idyllic land potential immigrants and visitors build it up in their head to be.
Good that not too many people truly desire to come to NZ - that way those of us who inhabit various "nice parts" [talking in a very specific way when when it comes to cities] can enjoy them without being overrun.
Message received. I have been discouraged from Wanganui. But also encouraged everyone seems to agree that my budget is possible. What other towns would you recommend for someone trying to keep living expenses to a minimum?
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