Salary vs living expenses

The one question that keeps popping up over and over is "what is a good salary to earn?".  Actually it is not as simple and clear cut as "$100k is a good salary to earn or whatever".  The right question should be "what is the salary range for my position?" and then working out based on your own situation whether that will be enough or not.  For one person $55k will be sufficient and another this will be well below what they will need to survive financially.  you have to do a mock-up budget based on your own situation.


It doesn't matter what is regarded as good salaries or not, the main thing is every single job has a particular salary range and this will also depend on where the organisation is and the size of it.  For instance in a small organisation it is not unheard of to have an EA position paying somewhere between $35k and maybe $50k, but in a larger organisation maybe you might earn up to $80k.  The general range however is probably somewhere between $45k and $55k.  So to then say well I've been told I would need at least $80k to survive and I won't accept a job for any less than that, is not going to help you as employers won't pay significantly over the maximum point for the salary range.  As a guide if they say the salary range is $45k - $55k you can most likely expect to be offered on the lower to mid end of the range. So understanding the likely range for your type of position is your first step.  So ask employment agents or do a Google search and find some salary ranges.  Also www.Seek.co.nz will be able to tell you some of this information.  This is your first starting point.


Second you will want to put together a mock up budget for yourself.  You will have to look at your own lifestyle to work out what is working for you because every person is different.  One person likes using their clothes dryer all of the time and another has their heating on all day every day.  So their electricity bill won't be a true reflection necessarily.  Where will you live?  Some places are cheaper than others.  What child care options do you have / need?  Again, this will likely be quite different.  So in summary think of the following when you do your mock-up budget.  I have always found it useful to do a running budget so that I can effectively see which fortnight is the most expensive.  Most salaries are paid fortnightly and you will have a range of weekly, fortnightly, monthly and annual expenses.


As time goes on I will gather information from a range of different people to try and give a wider view.


As a starting point:


Work out your fortnightly salary and then check www.ird.govt.nz to work out what the salary after tax would be (http://www.ird.govt.nz/calculators/tool-name/tools-p/calculator-paye.html?id=homepage).  You will likely be an M tax code.  Include 3 - 4% for Kiwisaver.  Kiwisaver is the cheapest way to save for your retirement.  It is a government scheme and one that your employer will contribute to.


Have a look on TradeMe (www.trademe.co.nz) to see what the average rent in the area you are likely to stay will be. 


As a guide for expenses (an example of a mum and dad plus a primary school child and college age child living on the Kapiti Coast in Wellington).  This example shows that the couple takes the train to the city where they work (about an hour each way).  They purchase a monthly ticket each which works out cheaper than i.e. a 10 trip ticket or a daily return ticket.  They do not have parking costs where they leave their car (park and ride) and work close enough to the train station that they do not require any additional bus travel in the city.  They do not smoke.  They drink limited alcohol and only when a social occasion asks for it.  They have 2 cats, but with minimal vet fees associated with them.  Their Honda Fit roughly works out about 11c per km for fuel.


Please note this is purely an example of one particular situation and another person's situation might look quite different.  This family does not receive any working for family supplements as their salaries are above the threshold and they deliberately decided that they will not make use of things like that.

• Rent:  $400 per week (Rent is usually advertised per week and might look quite different depending on where you live)
• Fuel:  $80 per fortnight (estimated) (amount will depend on your car, how much you drive, etc)
• Groceries: $250 - $300 per week (estimated) (this amount would assume toiletries and cleaning supplies) (Visit www.countdown.co.nz and do a virtual online shopping exercise as that will give you a good idea what things might cost.  Main shops are Pak 'n Save (generally seen as a cheaper option), Countdown and NewWorld.
• House and car insurance: $112 per month (actual amount will depend on your own situation)
• Electricity: $150 - $250 per month (they use a clothes dryer from time to time, but do not use central heating and do not use a dishwasher) (In the winter an additional cost for firewood for the wood burner would need to be factored in)
• Other than the initial set-up cost for Freeview, they do not have TV costs as they do not have Sky TV.
• Monthly train ticket:$271.80 per person per month (this will depend on how far you need to travel - check the relevant public transport websites based on where you might live)
• Internet and landline: $100 per month (estimated) (amount will depend on the package you choose)
• Mobile Phone: $20 per month per person (top up value package through 2 Degrees) (Amount will depend on package, provider and your own usage).
• Before / after school care for the primary school child: $190 per week (this will depend on the child care options available to you)
• Life Insurance:  $48 per month (this will depend on your own situation)
• Water rates contribution: $35 per quarter (this will depend on your usage and what the arrangement is with your landlord)

Other costs to keep in mind:

• Do you smoke and consume regular alcohol?  The above does not make provision for that.
• If you have dogs you will also have an annual registration fee.
• Do you buy your work lunches every day?  If so add an extra $10 - $20 per day (approximately).
• Do you buy your coffee each day at work?  If so add an extra $5 (approximately) per coffee
• Do you drive to work and need to pay for parking?  If so add an extra $20 per day (approximately)
• Annual car costs:
• WOF (Warrant of Fitness):  Approximately $50 (depending on the age of your car could be twice a year, but otherwise once a year).
• Car registration:  Approximately $200 per year (it all depends on your type of car).
• Replace tyres:  Approximately $600 (this will depend on your car and the brand you choose)
• Car service:  Approximately $350 per year (this will depend on the type of service that is needed and where you take it).
• Primary School costs (Year 5) (Please note this may very well vary from school to school)
• School donation (stipulated as voluntary): $70 per year
• School stationery: $60 per year (approximately)
• School activity fees: $200 per year (estimated and depends on what the school opts to incorporate)
• After school activity: $100 per term per activity (approximately and depending on what the child may choose to do)
• In the above example, this child does not need school uniform or special school shoes other than usual running type of shoes.
• School bag:  $35 - $50 approximately
• Lunch box and waterbottle
• College age child (Year 9) (This will vary from school to school) (this list may not be complete as this is a new situation for the family above):
• School donation: $100 per year
• School stationery: $163 (includes a specific type of calculator for math)
• Chrome book: $500 (this is a bring your own device school)
• School uniform plus shoes: $630 (second hand options are sometimes available)
• School bag: $35 - $50 (approximately)
• Sport shoes for PE: $120
• School activity / subject fees: $146
• Other sport costs (not sure as yet as the child has not yet decided what she would like to do).
• Bus ticket: $151 per term
• Holiday care for the primary school child:  $41 per day plus any additional activities that may incur a cost.
• Do you have children needing pre-school care?  Full time daycare could cost between $250 and $300 per week but actual cost will depend on your choice of childcare and whether they are at the age where they will qualify for the 20 hour free scheme (conditions may apply with this). 
• Do you want somebody coming to clean your house?  It may be approximately $50 for 2 hours and the cleaner will only do based on what is agreed and can be managed within that time.
• The above example does not make provision for:
• Medical costs (they do not have a medical insurance policy).  Please note that you will need to register with a GP and allow time for them to have you registered.  GP costs vary from practice to practice, but it is usually cheaper once you are registered and I think for children up to 13 is free for a GP consultation.
• Dental costs (children under 18 has free regular dental costs)
• Clothing
• Hair cuts:  This could be as little as $10 - $30 at some of the cheaper places to well over $100 at the more specialised places and will also depend on the type of hair treatment you are booking
• Saving for holidays, Christmasses and birthdays
• Entertainment
• Vet fees if you have animals
• Credit card or other debt repayments
• Bank fees when applicable

In addition to the above keep the following in mind:

• Moving in costs (for rental properties):
• Bond up to 4 weeks' rent (this will be refunded when you move out providing there are no outstanding rent amounts and no damages to be covered)
• Letting fee 1 week rent plus GST (this is usual for agents to include this)
• Cost of setting up (visit websites of Briscoes, Farmers, Big Save Furniture and Warehouse to get an idea of what the likely costs for household setting up costs might be, there is also Trade Me where you might get an idea on second-hand options).
• Furniture
• Crockery and cutlery
• Linen (bedding and towels)
• Electronics and appliances
• Car

The best I can advise is set up a budget and stick to it.  Especially in those early days where you are still getting used to the cost of things vs the value of the NZ dollar.  Don't convert back to your home currency.  Until you are used to what you earn and what each fortnight might look like.  You could have one fortnight that looks great and the next fortnight suddenly all your monthly expenses go off at once (that's when you might end up overspending). 


I would also suggest you request a number of savings accounts linked to your current account and then re-name them to what you might be saving up for.  For instance I would work out what annual school costs or annual car expense costs might work out per fortnight and put that amount away each fortnight in a savings account named "school costs" or "car expense" costs.  This way it is much easier to meet those bigger expenses and you will easily see how you are tracking and even earn a little bit of interest on top of that.  Doing this each fortnight means you will not end up spending it.

Those early days

Right, now that I have the initial introduction out of the way, let me tell you a little bit more about me and our situation.  I hope that you will email your story as well to Geckosnest@gmail.com as I would be keen to share others' experiences (and you can opt to use your own names or an alternative to protect your privacy).


So our story:


We made the big move in September 2004.  2 Years leading up to that I spent a lot of time doing research.  I had this thick lever arch file with all sorts of information including valuable contacts I made over time.  Some of those contacts were employment agents willing to provide some information on how to structure our CVs and how the job market would work and this was incredibly valuable.  Another contact was a gentleman by the name of John Pringle.  It was his goal to support people like us and in the end he offered to meet us at the airport and for us to stay with them for the first little bit.  Him and his wife were such lovely people and it quickly felt like they were family.  Unfortunately due to circumstances over time we lost contact, but that's life.


I have to be honest that I became rather paranoid about the crime-situation in South Africa and with a young baby daughter I struggled to cope each time her dad went out and this became the main reason for our decision to move.  But enough about that.


I briefly visited New Zealand on my own early in 2004 just to see what it looked like.  Our daughter was too young then and her dad was a contractor so no work = no pay for him.  So I went on my own for a week.


I somehow lined up an interview for an admin position and so coincided the visit with that interview.  A job I didn't get in the end as they would not have been able to offer the position to me anyway.  It would have been too hard for them to prove they could not find anybody else.  But nevertheless, it was a useful experience in the end. 


I remember arriving around 10pm at Auckland airport.  I had a list of directions to get to my hotel and made my way to the rental car company.  Sorted that out, got a map and armed with this map and my directions I confidently got into the car.  Of course (whilst I am able to drive a manual it had been a while as we had an automatic at home) and so naturally stalled a few times before I made my way into the big city of Auckland. 
To be honest, in hindsight, I should have just organised the airport bus because I quickly realised that trying to look around, read my directions, trying to read unfamiliar names and remembering to change gears became pretty challenging. 
I do remember how clean and well maintained everything looked.  I remember how little traffic there was that time of the night. I also remember that very quickly the names on the street signs did not match what were on my directions and because there were no signs saying "City Centre this way" I had no idea where I was and where I was heading to. 
So I stopped at a Shell Garage, got out, showed my map and said "I have no idea where I am, but I have to be here...".  I remember him giving me some directions and mentioning spaghetti junction and I was on my way. 
And I got to spaghetti junction.  No problem.  Before I knew it I came to a T-Junction and it was the street where I was meant to be to go to my hotel.  My hotel was in Hobson Street.  Trouble was Hobson Street was a one way and I had to go to number one.  So I figured if I turned right into the one way and then go around and come back up this road then I would be able to turn into Hobson and be by number one.  That was a great plan.  Except, before I knew it I was back on the motorway.  Heading to goodness knows where.  I made my way into some or the other residential area and of course being well on the way to midnight, there were no people around I could ask. And so I drove and drove.  Up this way and down that way.  Hmmm. 
Somehow, don't ask me how, I made it back into the city.  In Victoria Street.  And I was absolutely determined that no matter what I would not go back on the motorway.  I drove up one street and down another. 
And because I didn't know where I was I didn't know if I was going up in a road or down in a road.  Finally I decided to just stop and try and see a street name so that I could find it on the map.  And there right next to me was my hotel.  Oh the relief.  I had visions of having to sleep in my car somewhere on the streets. 
I checked in, asked them to park the car and paid for parking on my FNB credit card.  I had some cash but because I didn't know how much things would cost, I used my credit card for this.  I finally got to my room.  So relieved and so exhausted.  It was 2 hours since my arrival at the airport.  Something told me to look into my wallet.  And I thought I would have a heart attack.  My credit card was gone.  Don't know what possessed me, but I unpacked all my luggage, emptied my handbag, looked into my wallet again.  And then rang reception asking if left my card there.  "No" they said. 
And I had visions of them stealing my card and using it and what the hell do I do now in a strange country with no credit card and how do I stop my card? 
And as I sat there with my heart jumping in my throat I opened my wallet again and then noticed that a little piece of paper shifted up and covered my credit card.  Oh my goodness!


The next morning was my interview.  I woke up early as I had to go and find an internet café to print a copy of my CV.  Then I tried to find a place I could make copies of my CV and some key documents.  I ended up walking up and down Queen Street looking for a place and finally found Warehouse Stationery at the bottom end (or is that the top end? Not quite sure).  Because of the day before, I refused to get back into the rental car and so I arranged for a taxi to take me to Mt Wellington.  Can't remember how much that cost, but it must have been a lot.  Got there and they had forgotten about my interview.  So frustrating.  We rescheduled. 
Later that day I visited the zoo which was a lot of fun.


I remember the next day the jet lag kicked in big time.  I literally could not get myself out of bed and although I had my alarm set, all I could manage was to lift my arm and keep pressing the snooze button. 


I spent so much time just walking around the city.  I remember how clean things looked.  How safe I felt.  I remember how different some things looked and that the milk tasted different to what I was used to.  I remember finding it amusing that what we knew as a lunch bar chocolate in South Africa was known as a picnic chocolate bar.  And for the first time I saw a king size crunchie chocolate bar.


When it was time to head back after that week, I struggled to sleep.  I finally got up at 11pm, packed the last few things and decided I would check out at 1am.  If it took me 2 hours to get from the airport to the city, then I would leave 3 hours to get back just so I would not miss my flight.  So by 1am I checked out, got in the car armed with another set of directions and set off.  20 Minutes later I arrived at a nearly empty airport where I had to try and stay awake until my check in at 4am. Because of course every 20 meters (about) there was a sign to say "airport this way".  Good memories :-).  Now I would either book the airport bus or make sure I rent a GPS with the car :-).  So much simpler.


So back to the big move.  We had a big farewell function to say goodbye.  We had these two little miniature pinchers and thankfully friends asked to adopt them.  I could not put them through loads of tests and then quarantine.  They hardly coped if we went away for the weekend or the one or two times they had to stay at the vet.  In the end they were so happy and well settled.  On the day we were horribly over-packed and it cost an absolute fortune.  How we made the airport on time I don't know as that morning we were still running around like mad people clearing out last things from the house.  It was crazy.  Saying goodbye at the airport was one of the hardest things I ever did. 


We arrived around 10pm with a very wide-awake 14 month old, 6 suitcases, a pram, a camera bag, a car seat and my handbag.  We stayed with John and Bernie on the North Shore for the first week.  It was a bit cramped because it was the 3 of us and all our luggage in the one room.  But it was lovely to be with somebody who could guide us.  The jet lag was a nightmare and it took a good week or two for my daughter to get back into a proper routine.  The morning after we arrived Bernie took us to ASB and we opened up our bank account.  I could not believe how simple things were and how short the queues were.  And I have to say that because we had no clue what the value of the money really was in comparison to what things cost we overspent more than we wanted to.  If I could re-do things I would probably spend more time setting up a budget that I could tweak and stick to it.  Within a week we decided to get our own rental and found a periodic tenancy in a small little 2 bedroom townhouse in Milford, not far from where Bernie and John lived.  We had to stock up on furniture again as we sold everything ahead of time.  Initially we had a rental car until we were finally ready to buy our own - a Honda Jazz.  A black one that later on my daughter named Banana (why Banana? Because when bananas grow old, they go black you see...).  Discovering the beaches was another lovely surprise to have them so close and so empty in comparison to what we had in South Africa, that was lovely.  It was much colder than in South Africa though and in hindsight we should have stocked up on some winter woollies before coming as it takes longer to get warmer than in South Africa.  And it rained a lot.  But we got used to that.  It took hubby about 3 weeks to secure a job offer and we applied for our visas and not long after started working.  Little one was in daycare.  And then not too long after that we did our permanent residency.  We did use an agent at the time which for us was really useful and their service was really good.


And that in a nutshell is our story.  There are a lot more I can say but I will save that for other blog entries.  In the past 11 years we have been in rental homes in Auckland (Milford and Albany / Northcross) and in Wellington (Khandallah, Tawa, Aotea and on the Kapiti Coast) so I can share some insight into these places.  We also have experience of the daycare centres and schools that our daughters went to.  I will be back soon :-).


Now over to you - email me your story if you are here already and I will publish it here on this blog to share with others.  Remember every person's story is there own and we will respect that!

Well hello there!

Welcome to this blog.  Don't ask me why I chose the name "The Gecko's Nest".  I wanted something different and quirky and fun (and of course something that was actually available).  Welcome, come in, make yourself at home.  Nice to meet you!


I've decided to take this blog off the shelf, dust it off and resurrect it.  A while ago I started and didn't get very far, so cleared it all and started again. 


Why? you may ask.  Well, I belong to some Facebook groups and some of those are specifically for a group of people interested in moving to New Zealand.  I see a lot of questions coming up and thought I might offer a value-added service by sharing some settlement information and there were some who showed a genuine interest so I will proceed with this.  But before I go on, I want to clarify a few things:

• This is not an immigration advice blog.  I am not licensed to provide this advice and won't encourage questions about this.  The only thing I can say is read the Immigration website.  Use that as your starting point.  It is really useful and tells you everything you would like to know.  The only people who are able to provide advice are licensed advisors and Immigration.  That's it.  You can opt to do your process yourself, but if you choose to use an immigration adviser, make sure they are licensed. 
• This blog is purely about settlement.  So will mostly deal with the logistical side of things.  There was a request also for the emotional well-being side and I can see how I can look to incorporate this, but initially this will be about what you need to know about moving here.  Things like how rental homes work and what are the typical expenses and so on. 
• This blog is not about who is right and who is wrong.  Which place in New Zealand is good and which place is bad.  It will share experiences (my own and then I will have some guest blog entries too).  Please keep in mind that each person's experiences are their own.  We will not criticise each other when their experiences might not be the same as others.
• I will not allow any political, hate or racist comments.  This is not a forum to share how bad things may be in South Africa or to criticise those who made the decision to move to another country.  This blog does not support any particular political party.  Again, we all have different reasons for making the decision and one person's reason might very well be quite different to yours.  For this reason I will moderate comments in the hope to keep this a positive place.
• Keep an open mind.  Take to heart what is relevant or important to you and ignore the rest.  Honestly, the information in this blog may not be what you are looking for and that is fine.  You are not forced to apply this to your own life or your own situation.

And that's it.  I will also create a website that will be linked to this blog.  I hope that through that website it will become a hub - a one stop place for people to easily find what they are looking for.  A place where I might be able to add the emotional support side of things - where people need a friendly face to meet them at the airport or to offer a room for a night or two or some regular catch-ups.  That sort of thing.  Let's see how it develops.


I will have an email address available and I hope that you will email through your stories and relevant information to help make this site an amazing place for others.  I can only share my own experiences, but with your help we could make the view a little bit broader and that might suit a wider audience.


I hope to hear from you soon! :-)  Leave me a comment and introduce yourself :-)