Family life in New Zealand

CamolinChris

Hi, I'm hoping to move my family and I out to Christchurch soon. I'd love to hear from other families who have made the move and could offer advice.

pclancy

Stock up on lots of cheap clothes and undies in Pennys before you leave

Its a lovely place for children to grow up with lots to see and do.

MrCreosote

+1 on the clothes. Watch out for the sun-it's awfully strong. All in all, it's a great spot for kids.

How many/how old?

CamolinChris

We have 3 kids aged 7, 3 , and 2. I'm a little worried about the cost of living over there. We are a family that can get by on very little if needs be but I'd also like to be able to save for a rainy day . The job I've been offered pays $25 an hour. My wife also hopes to work part time if we can get or afford Childcare

Rosy Posy

New Zealand is a great place to raise a family! We have a kids similar ages to yours and moved out here when I was pregnant with the first. I find that you need a lot less to have a good quality of life here with family- there are so many great opportunities for day trips and camping and the weather is really a bonus (we're in Hawkes Bay though which is warmer and drier than Christchurch). Pot luck dinners and shared meals/bbq's are the most popular form of socialising in my experience- its great because it takes the financial pressure off entertaining.

Your 3year old will qualify for 20 hours free early childhood education and daycare is significantly cheaper than in Ireland. My 2year old has just started a daycare centre and they charge $200 for a full week (7.45-5.15) which includes all meals, mostly organic food (he only does two half days which is $65!). Its one of the top of the range places.

You can feed your family well and cheaply if you're a bit savvy- anything out of season or imported is going to cost you. Don't buy veges in the supermarket! You can get a lot of stuff direct from the growers and the farm- we buy our meat milk and veges direct from the source, its all organic its all lovely. It does mean being a bit creative in the winter months (1001 ways with pumpkin). Supermarket food prices have gone up a lot in the seven years we have been here but if you plan ahead and bulk buy when stuff is on special offer (the kiwis love their specials) its fine. They always do good specials on big items too and don't be afraid to ask for a discount on appliances etc. There is a pretty good trade and culture of second hand goods which can be cost effective when setting up your home if you aren't too fussy.

One thing I have heard is that Christchurch's infrastructure has really suffered and it can be a bit bleak with a lot of people having left but there's also a really great kiwi can do atmosphere and a lot of creativity going on too. Also you will get school places no hassle.

The one thing that effects us massively financially is the cost and time it takes to come home, especially with a growing family. The flights alone are a huge spend and with little kids who don't understand the mechanics of jet lag we need to factor in about a week of recovery time. This means that we tend to go for longer trips (less than three weeks at home is imo not worth it with the kids, which practically means nearly a four week break from work). For us since my OH is self employed and we have a hefty mortgage that means as well as having to save for the flights, spending money, presents, we have to save to pay the mortgage and any bills that might come up while he's not earning. We're lucky that our parents are able to come out to visit reasonably often at the moment but we know that's going to change as they get older.

Hope this helps, OP. Best of luck with the move!

CamolinChris

Thanks for the reply rosy post , would you think my income will be enuf to get by on for a family? my wife hopes to work too as soon as she can get something

FearDark

Your husband is on 25 an hour. I'm assuming he is a tradesman... He could push for 30+ is that's the case. 25 is now the entry level for tradesmen. Rent will be a huge expence especially in Christchurch. Expect to pay around the 500 dollar a week mark for a house...plus utilities. You'll also need a sizeable chunk around 2500 for a bond. It will be tight for you...very tight.

Rosy Posy

It depends on whether you have savings set aside for start up costs, like a deposit, car, furniture - most rentals here come unfurnished. We moved over and set up on my ssia cash but if we hadn't had that it would have been a struggle. I agree with the poster that said for a trade you could probably ask for more. We have a mate who's just been offered roofing work down there for $35/hr. He's got about 8 years experience but no qualification. What kind of work would your wife be after?

Rosy Posy

FearDark wrote: »

Rent will be a huge expence especially in Christchurch. Expect to pay around the 500 dollar a week mark for a house...plus utilities. You'll also need a sizeable chunk around 2500 for a bond.

Seriously? Wow that is a massive difference compared to here in Hawkes Bay. You can rent a decent family home for $250-$300 depending on the area and how flash it is.

CamolinChris

Rosy Posy wrote: »

It depends on whether you have savings set aside for start up costs, like a deposit, car, furniture - most rentals here come unfurnished. We moved over and set up on my ssia cash but if we hadn't had that it would have been a struggle. I agree with the poster that said for a trade you could probably ask for more. We have a mate who's just been offered roofing work down there for $35/hr. He's got about 8 years experience but no qualification. What kind of work would your wife be after?

My wife works in Childcare . I'm a carpenter who specialises in roofing with 16 years experience. The money aspect is really worrying me as we'd need to be able to save

BlackEdelweiss

We moved here in January and it has been tough both financially and personally/emotionally. I was in Australia when I was 22 and thought it would be grand moving away again, I wouldent miss anybody or anything. I am 39 now and I have been so homesick and missed my parents (who I dident see that much when I was at home) so much. I am only starting to get over it now, it is strange how it hits you. I thought it was going to be my wife that was homesick but there is not a bother on her.
Financially we could not have survived if my wife hd not got a decent job, I was on 60k a year and we found it very tough. We have 4 kids and the cost of everything here is crazy, especially when you are just starting up. If you can afford it I would ship all my belongings (minus the crap) down here, it will be cheaper in the long run. You can buy cheap stuff here but it is pure ****e and will break in a week, if not less. It takes a while and some local knowledge to break into the second hand market down here, you can buy everything from old work boots to couches with no cushions and holes in the back and every bit of crap in between, even old underwear.
We are coming up to a year soon and are only starting to like it now, we have hated it at times, it is not just a move to a different country, it is a move to a totally different culture and that is not to be underestimated. Some parts are good and some parts are bad. It is a very racist country against the maori only though, and pacific islanders a bit less. This is hard to understand at first and they you see a large section of the maori population do nothing but reinforce this racisim, I am really disapointed with them as a race but that is another topic but something to be aware of when you come here as you will experience open racisim on a daily basis and this is a strange thing, it was for me anyway and hard to listen to as I would consider my self very non racist.
I know Rosy Posy painted a fairly rosey picture of NZ but I would like to give you the other side, not saying her picture is not accurate but if dosent address the negatives you will be up against here.
Stuff is ridiciolusy expensive, it is hard to plan your shopping as nothing is the same price two weeks in a row, houses are crap and in Christchurch you will live in a ****hole and pay $500 - $600 bucks a week for the privilidge. My fathers cats live in a better house than some of the houses here, and they live in a shed with a few heat lamps hanging from the roof. Kiwis are a nice enough bunch of people but they are very boring, they go to bed at 9pm and think having 1 glass of wine is having a drink, tv is **** and sky is expensive and not as good as at home, the scenery is ok but I havent seen anything as nice as Donegal yet. Saying all that we are starting to like it here now, it has been a strugle but we are getting there, mainly because we cant afford to leave but we are seeing a positive side to things now. Anyway, you have an idea of the good and the bad now, make your decision wisely and dont expect to land in paradise, especially if you are moving to christchurch. Good luck with it all.

perkins 540

Kind of regretting moving to christchurch

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

CamolinChris

perkins 540 wrote: »

Kind of regretting moving to christchurch

Why so?

Rosy Posy

In fairness we really fell on our feet with the place we moved to. There's a great community and its relatively cheap both for accommodation and food because so much stuff is grown here. A big part of it for me as well would be going from the prospect of raising a family in Dublin versus the country/beachside here. I don't have a huge amount of experience with the rest of the country. With my friend who's OH was offered the job down there, my instinct was to say 'don't go' tbh, but you hear conflicting reports.

I don't think that childcare pays as well here as in Ireland, its certainly a hell of a lot cheaper. There are a few agencies that do in home childcare but I know one of the biggest ones anyway (Porse) is super strict about the kind of things you have to have in your house so you can end up paying out a bit to get your house the way they want it. Depending on when you're coming over pm me and I could get you the details of the place that was offering the other guy $35/hr for roofing.

CamolinChris

Its beginning to look like New Zealand is just too dear for a Family, In Ireland I have a good house and can just about get by. I don't want to move my family to the other side of the world to have a bad house and get by. For me I thought it was a chance of a better life for us all and a chance for me to have a career in what I am trained to do. I would need to be able to save money for the odd trip home and put by money to get a mortgage on a house. This looks like its not possible

justshane

Im in Christchurch and love it, only thing that i find a bit annoying is road works everywhere.just an hour out the road and you have the likes of Akaora. Also for the poster that said you haven't seen anywhere that comes close to Donegal, you obviously haven't left the city, Kaikoura is the most surreal scenery i have ever seen!

BlackEdelweiss

I don't live in a city, I live in the Waikato but I have traveled a bit for work. I didn't say it wasn't a beautiful country but it hasn't beat Ireland for me yet. Another point for the op is that to get a mortgage here you need a 20% deposit which means we will never own a house here, it is hard enough to save a few hundred bucks not to mention $80,000.
Or plan is to stay here for a few years and see what happens, if we like it and want to stay we will, if not we will go somewhere else. I am mainly here as I had to get a start on my career after going back to college, once u have a few years experienced it will have served us purpose.
Op im not saying don't come here but get all the facts first and make a decision based on your needs and desires and not on other people's experiences. One thing about here though, you don't end up talking about the recession and how poor you are with every person you met in the street. It is refreshing not to talk about that **** every day, 10 times a day. If you are willing to tough it out for a year it could be worth it. Even when I really hated it here I knew I didn't want to go back to Ireland.

tree_tall

CamolinChris wrote: »

Its beginning to look like New Zealand is just too dear for a Family, In Ireland I have a good house and can just about get by. I don't want to move my family to the other side of the world to have a bad house and get by. For me I thought it was a chance of a better life for us all and a chance for me to have a career in what I am trained to do. I would need to be able to save money for the odd trip home and put by money to get a mortgage on a house. This looks like its not possible

Ireland is a richer country than new Zealand , wages are higher in Ireland , cost of living is lower in 2013

new Zealand is beautiful and teriffic for a holiday but its not for nothing that a tonne of young kiwis flood across the tasman to seek better wages and lifestyle in Australia each year

Mrs OBumble

CamolinChris wrote: »

My wife works in Childcare . I'm a carpenter who specialises in roofing with 16 years experience. The money aspect is really worrying me as we'd need to be able to save

Check very carefully to see if her qualifications are recognised, and how much longer that will last for. Montessori may be the bees-knees in Ireland, but not all countries see it in a good light.

CamolinChris

Just had an email to say I have a job offer in New Zealand and have to decide in the next 5 days I really cant decide

Rosy Posy

Do you have a bit of cash saved to set yourselves up? If not I would be careful.

CamolinChris

I would have a certain amount . My plan so far is to go out for 6 months and then bring my family. I should have a fair idea of where I'd like to live by then and also of good schools. I probably won't be any better off in New Zealand but at least I will be working at what I'm trained to do which might lead to bigger things.

pclancy

I would have thought with 16 years carpentry experience you'd be offered a decent wage? And not ALL the houses are bad or ALL the jobs badly paid or EVERYTHING is expensive, you've got to check it out for yourself...its not fair to taint everywhere in NZ with the experiences of one or two people...

Go for it and see how you find the place, if after six months nothing comes of it well at least you made the effort and had a look for yourself. If you don't like Christchurch there are lots of other places to live here and there's always Australia if things really didnt work out...

I know when first I got here I was earning savage good money and had a ball partying it up and touring the whole country, then got stuck in a bit of a rut of a job for a few years that didnt pay well at all and ended up almost leaving. Stuck it out, got my residency and that opened up doors to a career that would not have been possible in Ireland, pays well and gives us the quality of life we want while still letting my partner stop work to make babies...life can lead you in very interesting directions but you'll always think "What if" unless you actually bite the bullet!

CamolinChris

pclancy wrote: »

I would have thought with 16 years carpentry experience you'd be offered a decent wage? And not ALL the houses are bad or ALL the jobs badly paid or EVERYTHING is expensive, you've got to check it out for yourself...its not fair to taint everywhere in NZ with the experiences of one or two people...

Go for it and see how you find the place, if after six months nothing comes of it well at least you made the effort and had a look for yourself. If you don't like Christchurch there are lots of other places to live here and there's always Australia if things really didnt work out...

I know when first I got here I was earning savage good money and had a ball partying it up and touring the whole country, then got stuck in a bit of a rut of a job for a few years that didnt pay well at all and ended up almost leaving. Stuck it out, got my residency and that opened up doors to a career that would not have been possible in Ireland, pays well and gives us the quality of life we want while still letting my partner stop work to make babies...life can lead you in very interesting directions but you'll always think "What if" unless you actually bite the bullet!

Hi, pclancy, I'm being sponsored by a company called canstaff hence the low wage ($25ph). After 6 months I can leave them if I want and would expect to get around $35ph. I guess I'm going with canstaff because of the security they offer, plus I've heard a lot of good reports. I think I have pretty much decided to go now and give it 6 months at least. I agree with you that I would have too many "what ifs" if I didn't go.
A career in carpentry/project management just isn't possible in Ireland now.

CamolinChris

Ok thought I had everything sorted but now I have come across sites saying that I will have to pay for my kids schools because we will be non residents. This could be 10k a year!. has anyone any info on this ??

Rosy Posy

I haven't heard that there is a different fee if you don't have residency. If you want to send them to the fanciest private school maybe. Our kids go to an alternative school with a lot of overseas students and they never asked for our residency information when we were enrolling. I know a few families that don't have residency send their kids there and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to shell out 10k for fees. There are no fees as such but an 'expected donation' which works out at around $1000 a year more or less for two kids but you can spread over the four terms (or weekly/monthly if you prefer) and is negotiable depending on your income. Our school also has a system of 'sundries' payment where you pay the school and they provide all the books and copies and pens and pencils and art/woodwork materials etc for the year. We don't have uniform and my kids aren't at the age where they're in sports teams but afaik the parents/teams fundraise for uniforms.

CamolinChris

Rosy Posy wrote: »

I haven't heard that there is a different fee if you don't have residency. If you want to send them to the fanciest private school maybe. Our kids go to an alternative school with a lot of overseas students and they never asked for our residency information when we were enrolling. I know a few families that don't have residency send their kids there and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to shell out 10k for fees. There are no fees as such but an 'expected donation' which works out at around $1000 a year more or less for two kids but you can spread over the four terms (or weekly/monthly if you prefer) and is negotiable depending on your income. Our school also has a system of 'sundries' payment where you pay the school and they provide all the books and copies and pens and pencils and art/woodwork materials etc for the year. We don't have uniform and my kids aren't at the age where they're in sports teams but afaik the parents/teams fundraise for uniforms.

that's a great relief to hear Rosy. Thank you so much for all your replies

Rosy Posy

It's one of big pros for us here financially. If we wanted the same education for our kids at home the fees would be astronomical and the facilities are not as good. We are thinking about saving for uni fees though- 5-10k a year depending on the course. Most kids get student loans which up until a few years ago at least were interest free til you finished your course but I'd love to be able to put our kids through college. They'll still be eligible for 'free' college in Ireland if they want to go back but I get the feeling that by the time they get to that stage the system will have changed. Sure our eldest is seven now, by the time he's ready for college we should have a decent bit of the mortgage paid off and I'll be earning too.

CamolinChris

our son is 7 too. He cant wait to go.

Mrs OBumble

Provided you have a valid work visa, and your kids get a valid Student Visa; and you provide "evidence of the family relationship", then they can enrol in NZ state or state-integrated schools as "Domestic (timebound)" students, and don't have to pay international fees.

Refs:
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/Schools/PublicationsAndResources/Circulars/Circulars2012/Circular201201/TheCircular.aspx
and
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/Schools/PublicationsAndResources/Circulars/Circulars2012/Circular201201/AppendixC.aspx


Canstaff should be able to help with info re how you get the right visas for your kid(s). They can also advise on what health insurance you will need - 'cos i think that the health system may not be so generous to you.

BlackEdelweiss

I am on a 2 year work visa and the wife and kids on work and student visas. We are entitled to free schooling although our school has fees as it is a Catholic School. My kids get all their vaccinations free, I think the under 6's get free medical, my son got diabetes 7 months ago and his hospital stay was covered as is his insulin and doctors visits. You pay for the first 20 prescription items and after that the test is free for the whole family. We did have to pay for my other sons eye test and I think the dentist had to be paid for although they do get checked in school by the mobile dentist.
Definitely come out here man, see what it is like for yourself. The only reason I mentioned negative stuff is so people don't come here expecting some tropical paradise because that it is not. It's basically like Ireland with better weather. If you offered me a one way ticket to Ireland now I wouldn't take it, had you offered it to me 3 months ago I would have bit the hand off you for it, who knows what your experience here will be!

DoozerT6

OP, as mentioned in the first page of this thread, a thing I found surprising in NZ was the poor quality of housing (for the average joe soap). Generally in Ireland, most houses built since (at least) the 1970's have central heating. Newer houses will also have double glazing and insulation as standard. In houses I saw and lived in in NZ, none had central heating installed, no double glazing or insulation. New Zealand, esp. the South Island can get pretty bloody cold in the winter. Kiwi's just plug in a heater (think of the bills!) or leave their jacket on inside. I used to wear thermals to bed under my jammies. It can be a bit of a culture shock. I'm guessing you would be looking for an average house in an average area. Prepare to be taken aback. It can feel a bit like you've travelled back to the 1950's. Lots of rental properties (the majority of them unfurnished, without white goods either) can also suffer from Poorly Decorated Syndrome Lots of loud, swirly patterned carpeted places on Trademe (trademe.co.nz, check it out to scope out rentals in your chosen area).

I mention the above not to run down NZ, I loved my time there, but moving your family to a new country can be stressful enough. Just don't be surprised if you end up living in a house that you may not have chosen to live in at home.

And of course not ALL houses are that bad!