New arrivals in NZ have been warned that the cost of living there might not be as cheap as first expected and they should do as much research into the day-to-day expenses, such as shopping, as they do into larger things, such as salaries and house prices.
“Food prices really are astronomical here,” said Pattie Pegler, an expat living in Christchurch who writes for the NewZealandBuyingGuide.com. “Part of this is perhaps that we are a long way from anywhere, so if something isn’t produced here it’s done a lot of travelling.”
But that’s not the whole story. NZ is one of the biggest dairying nations in the world, so you’d think the country enjoyed reasonably priced fresh milk and butter. In reality though shoppers pay well over the odds for dairy products – a story that’s in and out of the NZ news.
Highlighting the issue, Ms Pegler adds: “This week a litre of milk on-line at a major supermarket in NZ cost me $2.66 (£1.38), meanwhile it was 89p on Sainsbury’s UK website. A 375g tub of butter here cost me $6.29 (£3.26), whilst a 500g tub of in the UK was £2.90. A standard wholemeal loaf came in at $4.39 (£2.27), in the UK it was 66p. Lamb is another big local produce; in the UK this week Sainsbury’s have a boneless lamb shoulder for £10 per kg, while it would cost me $37 (£19) per kg from the supermarket here in NZ!”
Of course, it is possible to shop around in New Zealand. Prices vary and many people stock up on particular items when they are ‘on special’. Nonetheless, be prepared for your weekly shop to take a larger chunk of your salary than you first thought!
Preparation for anyone considering a move to New Zealand should include planning for the transfer of your pounds into New Zealand dollars. For information on how to do this safely and save money when doing so – giving you more to spend on shopping – speak to currency exchange specialist Smart Currency Exchange.
To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in New Zealand, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘New Zealand Property Buying Guide’