Our Monthly Expenses in Auckland, New Zealand 2023 | South Africans in New Zealand. 

Thank you so much! Hope you guys are settling well.

Thanks for watching!

You are so welcome!

We are so happy you find the videos helpful. Thank you for watching

This is really great information, thank you so much. Thank you for your comment and for watching!

@@Dunnstakenz The landlord is responsible for the fixed costs. Any water usage is the tenants responsibility.

@@DunnstakenzOther parts of NZ have no separate water costs. I pay none here in the South Island.

Thanks for your support, Karyn! That sounds like a great deal and price.

She’s a stunner right? Very thankful for her. Thanks for watching.

Thank you for your support. We appreciate it greatly 😆

@@Dunnstakenz would love to see a "day in the life" video, the morning routine, breakfast, lunch, things you guys do during the day, would be fun to see😁

Thank you so much for watching!

Thank you so much for watching. Schools are all over the place here, of course the curriculum is different and we personally feel the system is abit too relaxed with not sufficient focus on math and science with more focus on the child. Public school is free and they only ask for a small donation. If academic excellence is the focus you may need to look at private schools.

Thank you so much for watching!

Amazing! Could you share the latest study with us? Thank you so much for watching and sharing

Thank you so very much, Mark!😆 We appreciate it greatly.

It’s really tight and really gets us the basics. Hopefully prices stabilise in the near future. Thanks for watching!

Excuse me did you say fortnite

@@NoHesiEngaged yes that’s correct 🙂

Food is really high here it’s ridiculous especially if you love vegetables and it’s not the best,Newzealand has gone nuts on prices.

Hi Hayley. Thank you for your support 🙂 I hope you found the video helpful. I will be starting work when Zara starts daycare in mid-July.

Thnx for all the videos. Very helpful. Pity the video audibility not good. Had my volume at its highest. A bit low? Thnx. All the best

@@haha-go7sw i've noticed that too yes, would recommend getting a external microphone for your camera , definitely an investment for the youtube channel

@@Dunnstakenz congratulations on finding a job. I am sure the extra paycheck will elleviate so much pressure! 😊 If I may ask, have you been looking for a job since you got there and only managed to find something now or did you plan not to work until you guys are settled in? My worst fear is having to go over with only 1 paycheck and then the other spouse struggling to find something as we won't be able to make that work 🙈

@@hayleyhinds8691 Thank you, Haley. All the expenses that we mentioned in the video, we made sure we could comfortably cover on one salary before making the decision to emigrate. We agreed that I’ll take the year off and ease into finding a job while looking after our daughter. I managed to find something that suits me; 3 days a week work (focusing on CPD; adult stimulation etc) 2 days off (spending time with my toddler). This is the ideal working situation for me right now while earning a great salary and having time off to be with my daughter. I also think it depends on the industry how fast you can secure a job. So I cannot with certainty say that you will find it easy or difficult to find a job. In all honesty, things are really expensive here and if you’re not sure you can cover all your expenses with one salary I would suggest re looking at the budget to suit your income while giving you time to find a job you love. I found this advice helped us to find our feet at a relaxed pace and ensured money did not become an issue.

Planned for this year thank you

Hi Ken! Thanks for the comments. New Zealand definitely grows on a person. Besides the cost of living we love it as well.

Thank you very much for watching, it can be a daunting process and money is always at the core of many decisions so we are happy you found this useful. All the best with your journey, we hope it all works out well.

Don't bother ...as a primary teacher you can forgot renting anywhere decent ...shockingly low salary and currently 3rd highest global cost of living.plus the new national govt has allowed houee sales back to china which will push them up again ...average salary here ? 70k avergae house price ..900k.....

I am a teacher, and you will be fine if you avoid Auckland! I live in Christchurch and I own a house and can pay all expenses, go on holiday, and have discretionary income. Also, remember rural jobs provide a school house to live in, for a very cheap rental. This is a great way to get started. Plus rural NZ is very cheap to live, very friendly, and never far from a city.

😂😂we feel your pain! Honestly it’s really about trying to be as disciplined as possible. Don’t be too hard on yourself, we also go over budged more often than not! Thanks for watching. Will definitely do more budgeting videos in the future

it's easy to exceed the grocery budget with prices rising so quickly. try to go to the supermarket shortly after they mark down yesterdays bakery (eg bread, buns, cakes etc) the time will vary with each supermarket, some will do it mid morning while others late in the day, maybe 5-6pm. not so late that they wont sell by the time the main shoppers have been after work, but not so early that they can still have them paying full price. Keep an eye out for specials (meat. bread, frozen foods) that you can put in the freezer. The "specials cycle" for most things is at least a month. visit several supermarkets and get an idea of what they are cheaper for and what they are not. I find PaknSave tends to be cheaper than Countdown for most things, especially meat. New World tends to be more expensive than those two, but sometimes things on special will be cheaper than normal price at PnS / Countdown. ie keep an eye on the junk mail brochures for each local supermarket, and be prepared to get some things from one place and other things from somewhere else. Depending on the location, you will also find the bigger ones might have a range of import items that suits the local population (eg British expats, Indian, Chinese). Fruit & veg are often cheaper from fruit shop rather than supermarket. I find cleaning products to be very expensive, dont be afraid to use generic / shop brands rather than "Brand Names"

Thank you for the great advice! We appreciate it

go to Crazy Daves on Blenheim rd Sunday Woolston market drive out Kaiapoi way to the market growers stalls we also moan (with good reason ) about the price of meat etc because it's an exporters con job

Hi Adam. On a like for like basis the cost of living is definitely higher, the increase in wages compensated for the higher costs but it is definitely something to get used to. Since we have been here we have seen 2 interest rate hikes in an attempt to remedy inflation. They have stabilised now and in the last review they remained unchanged.

@@Dunnstakenz Thanks for the reply. Definitely helpful!

Thank you so much for sharing, we love it here and look forward to the future. Cheers

It's not "upper or middle class " it's gentrified simple as .

Hi Marlon. Haha yes same here! We never thought we would spend so much money on groceries or rent. It’s another world haha. I guess it’s all relative hey, nonetheless it’s still expensive. Thank you for your support.

You can't compare SA spending to NZ.

@@gissyb1 well being new to NZ we did ,like everyone else will do moving to a new country. We here 7months now so we accept what we spend.

I love your content guys.It didn't make sense when l was in SA ,but now l really understand, thank you so much.

How much income should one have when arriving in New Zealand, for rent, car etc?

Yes that is correct 🙂 It’s expensive but that’s a global issue. All the best with your arrival. Are you also from SA?

@Dunnstakenz yebo. Straight from the eastern cape. Can't wait to get over to NZ. Your video has helped tremendously with trying to figure out some direction with a budget

@@Dunnstakenz what was the amount added for schooling on top of that 6k

We’re happy that you’re finding these videos helpful 🙂

Public school is free, often an annual donation of your choice is appreciated but you should be prepared to pay for school uniforms, stationery supplies and extra activities.

Thank you so much Tamara, thank you for watching our videos and for sharing some advice. We appreciate it

I found Costco more expsive then pak n save Costco is good if you doing bigger purchases I found Gilmore really good on meat prices and some bulk stuf only thing is you need to get to everything you purchase Pak n save is the cheapest

@@keegsjones9029 😂 said no one ever. That explains why costco is always packed 🤔 , i don't buy bigger purchases, Gilmores is nothing on costco , but u keep getting ripped a new one by pns, 1 less shopper in my way at Costco 😂 🛒

Thanks Hamish! We are quite happy here, we will see what the future holds.

Aussie is definitely cheaper and better paid than NZ, but it is rapidly catching up. Besides, its full of Australians !! eg Milk here in NZ currently $3.8 for 2 litres. A year ago in Aus, milk raised from A$1 per litre to A$1.20 to support the farmers during the drought. a year later (as of Jun 23) 2 litres had jumped from A$2.40 to A$3.20. By the time you take into account exchange rate its getting close to NZ price.

It was better but now most jobs have almost got parity for salaries. And Aussie has hidden costs (extra expenses when buying cars, and taxes when buying houses). Food is cheaper over there (at the moment!). But NZ has no poisonous snakes or spiders! Lots of water. No real risk of fires or major floods. And I think safer. But I love having holidays over there!

South Island is on the list, we are in Auckland for work because your country needed our expertise here. We can’t wait to see the South Island. Thanks for watching

Hi Natalie, thank you for your support. Some houses are furnished and some not. We chose a rental that came furnished 🙂

We do a “big”/+- $250 shop every fortnight, but the week thereafter we top up our groceries and that usually amounts to $100. So roughly the same amount 🙂 This shop was from earlier in the year and we were still learning how/when to shop specials and deals. We’ve got some experience now but still struggle to keep our groceries to $250 most fortnights.

Perfect! Thanks for watching Caren!

Yes that’s true Angela.

Go to farmers markets for fresh fruit and veggies 😊

Thank you so much Karen. Really appreciate the feedback. Salaries are taxed fortnightly yes. The rate varies based on your income similar to the sliding scale in SA but overall we are taxed less. There are various opportunities in your field and salaries are competitive. Do your research thoroughly and feel free to ask any specific questions.

Education is free yes but a donation is encouraged to cover the year. Of course your private schools would not be free.

That’s so exciting! All the best with your journey. We wish you happiness and success. Reach out when you are hear we are happy to help!

@@Dunnstakenz thank you I will reach out when I arrive in Auckland.

Hi Ed, we are actually shopping around as we speak. Any advice for new arrivals? And service providers to consider?

@@Dunnstakenz we are with asteron…they have been pretty good..

Thanks Ed!

@@Dunnstakenzyou may find you can get life insurance linked to your health insurance. I have done that. If and when you buy a house, your bank can also advise on it, but I found it was cheaper through my health insurance provider.

It’s a sad situation, don’t even get us started on buying a home when we get permanent residences, hope the property market will be more accessible by then