What’s it like where you live?
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=34565
Printed Date: 22 August 2025 at 10:53am
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Topic: What’s it like where you live?
Posted By: anon
Subject: What’s it like where you live?
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:38pm
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We have had a pretty bad day financially: suddenly they have started taking Student Loan out of DH's wages, put him on a Secondary High tax (50%) - MUST be a major mistake but don't know if they'll pay us back straight away! and in the first place we weren't really getting by on DH's wage.
Things are just getting more and more expensive in Auckland. I just wondered if those of you who live out of Auckland could let me know what the rent is like where you are and what universities there are (as DH is thinking about going back to study rather than looking for another job in his field because it might be difficult to find one). And just generally what the living is like. We are considering anywhere at the moment! We have a 3bdm house in Auckland for $320/wk and it's a small house with small bedrooms. Our latest power bill was $270 for two adults and one baby. Not to mention our grocery bill etc. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: lisa85
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:42pm
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I'm in CHCH :) Iive in an awesome we house on the beach for $300 per week 3 bedrooms. We have never paid more than $300 p/w for a 3 bedroom and we have always gotten really nice houses with heatpumps.
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TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS MC April 2010 |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:46pm
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We own our house, and pay $204 a week for the mortgage. Rentals are about $200 - $350 for a 3 bedroom here in Palmy. Our power bill is very cheap. For gas nad power last month was $90. If he is looking at studying them Palmy has Massey and UCOL here. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:52pm
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Remember however salaries are also lower in cheaper parts of the country. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:56pm
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We are in Palmy too. Our house can apparently go for approx $300 a week in rent (we are selling and this was something we asked agents as a selling point) and our house has a big yard, big living area and 3 decent bedrooms. On the flipside we pay approx 600 a fortnight on our mortgage so no different between rent and mortgage but we are paying more than the minimum.
Power is cheap, we are paying this winter $150-160 a month thats with the heatpump on every day. You don't pay that much for fuel either cause its not that far to get anywhere, we live on the edge of town and I travel to the other side of town for daycare and don't spend much. Massey is awesome. Can do either internal or extramural and have the benefit of being able to pop into massey for the library and tutors etc. |
Posted By: Richie
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 2:25pm
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We live in a 110sqm 3brdrm house on 670sqm section with sleepout for $275 in CHCH. That has brand new heatpump. Our power bills are normally about $100 in warmer months - have just gone up to between $250-300 cause we have heatpump on 24/7 as well as Econoheat in baby's room. Lots of stufy options (uni/polytech) in CHCH and most things are within 20min radius. . -------------  
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Posted By: E&L+1
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 3:27pm
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When we were in Hamilton we were paying $350 for a 3 bed house with double attached gge and 2 bathrooms. They also maintained the lawns etc
It was in a good area and a relatively new place and I would say that would be towards the upper end of the scale. Sorry I can't remember what our powerbill was. We are now living in Waihi and pay $260 for a 3 bed, 1 bath with single detached gge. We do our own lawns and our powerbill is about $250 over winter with the heatpump going 24/7 and an oil heater in baby's room. Groceries are cheaper here than in Hamilton. But we are looking at moving back over there next year (depending on if DP gets his scholarship) ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 3:43pm
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we are in wellington region and live about 30mins drive from the middle of the city. we own a 4 bedroom house with no section at all and our motgage is $700 a week. its a decentish area. a mix a nice places and old places, flats, state housing etc... so its nothing special. we have to do our groceries for under $100 a week which includes nappies for crecehe and formula for both kids. out power bill is about $200 a month for 4 adults and 2 babies but we are pretty good about how much power we use. we are currently 5 weeks behind on our mortgage and if DH loses his overtime we would probably lose the house.
DH makes good money but i am at uni so we have to pay for both kids to be in creche despite me not making money so its pretty tight all round really ------------- 
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Posted By: WRXnKids
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 4:55pm
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SIT in invercargill has free course's and its pretty cheap down here our mortgage is $340 a fortnight (3bdrm 90sqm house on 640sqm) our powerbill is in the $300s during winter but we have the dryer going alot 2 oilfin/waterfin heaters and a nightstore. Wages are lower than most other areas depending on the field you work in. Rent depending on area and quality of house is from about $150 i think (been awhile since ive looked at them) but for 3bdrm id prolly only consider those over $200 a week -------------   
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Posted By: mamanee
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 5:13pm
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We live in Hamilton and pay $360 a week for our four bedroom + converted man cave garage/movie room.
We pay $38 a week evenpay power with Genesis. We don't live in the best area but the house makes up for it somewhat. Most decent 3+ bedroom houses in Hamilton are between $300 and $350 a week. Most places I've looked at are quite big, have a garage and are fenced. And we have Waikato University which I assume is ok. I didn't go there, but I haven't heard anything bad about it. Hamilton has a bigger city feel, but it's small enough to get from once place to another quite quickly. My DP grew up and lived in Auckland all his life until he met me and moved down here. He said he would never go back to Auckland. He loves the lifestyle of Hamilton and the ease of getting places. |
Posted By: blossombaby
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 8:02pm
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we are in wellington pay $380 per week - 3 bedrooms, double garage (attached), reasonable sized yard. to be honest if we were to buy we were possible paying the same and so are looking at buying in the next year or two.
2 adults and baby on the way our shopping bill is around $200 + $60ish per week on takeaway or goign out for dinner. power bill was $260 last time thats with heat pump on 24/7 just turned down at night and during day when at work. dp has a student loan but i don't!!! |
Posted By: .Mel
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 8:16pm
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I live at the beach.
We spend $40 a week on petrol and that lasts a week, and can also include trips down to Auckland. We live in a fairly newish house in a nice quiet cul de sac with lots of other families around us.. during the summer we never see the kids, they are usually found playing at the neighbours or in the middle of the court... we have to drag them inside for dinner and then they are back outside again... then have to drag them back again for bed. Since moving here I have reduced our grocery bill by $100 - $180 a week (including F&V and meat). The schools are all fantastic and have good ERO reports and are all Decile 9 or 10. We are 20mins from Albany (where Massy Uni is situated) and about 40mins from the city. We have an awesome bus service too. I love the community feel up here, and it helps that the beach is beautiful and so are the people.. I honestly don't think we'll ever move back to Auckland. ------------- Mr Mellow (16) Miss Attitude (8) Destructa Kid (3) 
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Posted By: Babe
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 8:35pm
We're in Shannon not far from the massey side of Palmy - you can rent our 3 bedroom place with a good sized yard plus vege garden, insulated with a metro firebox and newly renovated for less than $200 if you like  -------------   
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Posted By: RedHeadDuck
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 8:42pm
Our mortgage is $350ish a week for a 4bedroom house, about 4 blocks from town. Sure we're on a busy road, but still have off street parking for 3 cars, a double garage. Houses are pretty cheap down here, although wages are generally on the lower side (it all works out cheaper living though apparently with rate of living compared to wages) SIT is good value, heaps of courses! And they are pretty well respected too. Grocerys are the same as anywhere else (well, much of a muchness really!)... |
WRXnKids wrote:Posted By: MyLilSquishy
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 10:19pm
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live in Dunedin - the mortgage payments on our house (3bdrm - 1 is aboslutely huge! its an old lounge room... 2 fireplaces, deck, harbour views, big backyard and a "man cave" room under the house, quiet cul-de-sac street, driveway carport, room for 5 cars sun in the lounge room from sunrise until sunset, open plan, HUGE lounge room, laundry inside) is about $280/wk. have Otago Uni. Power is (for 2 adults and a baby) about $80 in warm months... cold months gets to about $150-$180 (leave our room heated at all times as DS bed in there as is change table. fireplace has a heat transfer fan so as long as we have wood its warm.
groceries - average between $100 and $130 for 2 adults p/week with take-aways one night a week. (and thats including formula and nappies) i always shop with a list and have an idea of what we are doing for dinner for the week (chicken night, salad night, lamb night etc...) |
Posted By: julz85
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 12:00am
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Im in christchurch , i pay $290 a week for a 3 bedroom small but comfortable unit with no backyard in a small quiet culdisak in a very family friendly area, my last power bill was $250 for two adults ( altho sometimes one adult as my partner does not live with me , hes not my child father) and one child. i work 20hrs a week and my wage alone covers my rent and my rent only , we have a polytech , a university , and a college of education here . Lifestyles quite good . ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: SpecialK
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 8:15am
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It's hard isn't it! We live in Auckland and spend and obscene amount on our mortgage etc. My DH is from a smaller town and every time we go visit his family there we think about moving... it's just so so much cheaper! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 9:35am
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Auckland is carazy - we own our 3 bedroom small house in Massey and pay $510 a week mortgage but would be less if were on a longer term but it's a 15 year mortgage. Our place would rent for about $350. Teeny back yard but OSP for about 5 cars. Power is $150-$250 we are on even pay of $86 a week. We are about 20 mins form the city (when there's no traffic) and I spend $100 a week on gas, $250 a week on shopping (incl formula & nappies)
Keen to hear from more people living in Dunedin - my Mum is moving down there this year and is bent on us moving down eventually but I'm not so sure! |
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 9:36am
| Also what are your annual rates like in Dunedin? |
Posted By: BriAndOlisMum
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 9:43am
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we live on the awhitu peninsula (south auckland) we pay $350 a week rent, we have 2 padocks tho and a big garage. DP spends another $100 on gas to get to work each week in Otahuhu -------------  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 10:11am
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Getting and staying in the Akl housing market does seem crazy. I have friend who between them earn over 150k per year and have a million dollar mortgage over 2 properties - they're mortgage is $1400 a ft night. Its insane amount of money. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: Kellyfer
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 11:46am
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I'm from Dunedin too, we have a kinda crappy but very livable 2br house in a reasonable area, and our mortgage payments are $215 a week. In saying that we did have a bit of family help getting into the place in the first place, so our deposit was a bit bigger than it would have been had we done it on our own. The highest power bill we have ever had is $200 i think, but over summer it averages around $90 a month and winter is about $140. Groceries, around the $100 mark.
Dunedin is great, altho it is cold and would be an adjustment moving from Auckland (probably a slight improvement on Wellington weather tho!!!. Also its quite a bit quieter than the bigger cities - shopping isn't fantastic and the bar scene is monopolised by students for most of the year. On the plus side, there are plenty of study opportunities (university, polytech, teacher training etc...) and you can get pretty much anywhere you want to in 5-10 mins. The job market is a bit skint at the moment, and as someone said don't expect the same level of pay as you would get in Auckland, Wellington or Chch. A job would definitely be something to sort out before you made the move. But yeah, a good wee place to live! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: WestiesGirl
Date Posted: 08 July 2010 at 11:45pm
I  NZ. Its sooo much cheaper than Aus, well Brisbane anyways...
We pay $360pw for a 3 bedroom townhouse (no back yard, just a small court yard). Power is billed 3 monthly and its usually around the $200 - 300 mark. Dh has a company car which is great so for petrol we only spend about $40 per fortnight for me to drive to work and DC for Jackson. Groceries are $100 per week and car rego is $700 for a year. I am hanging out for the day we move home  ------------- Our Angel July 08  Gone but not forgotten
And to complete our family, our princess has arrived 
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Posted By: NovemberMum
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 12:46am
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we moved to Hamilton from Auckland around 5 years ago...we both wanted children and to own our own home and we knew this would not be possible in Auckland not uhless my husband has a 100k a year job. or else we would both have to work and it would mean either having children a lot later (probably over 35) or putting them in daycare at 3 months.
we managed to buy a house 3.5 years ago for just under 250k and while it isnt flash it is ours and (although money is tight at times) I am able to say at home with our children. The one thing I like about Hamilton is it doesnt matter too much where you live in relation to where you work as it wont take you 1.5 hours to get to work each day. You can drive for 10 minutes and be out of Hamilton..in Auckland you would still be in the same suburb :) ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: kazzam34
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 10:00am
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We moved to NZ from the UK two years ago and came straight to Auckland. We were told that the cost of living in NZ was really cheap. I was really hopeful that I could be a stay at home mum in this utopia of NZ...
truth is that we have worked harder and longer since we came to NZ and my husband says we cannot survive without a second full-time salary. I would love to get out of Auckland, but my husbands job depends on him being near to major cities (he works in the IT industry). We live in the Eastern Suburbs and our rent is over $500 a week. Our house has 4 bedrooms, but even if we go down to 3 beds in this area we are still looking at over $400 a week. Our weekly shopping bill is around $300 and we don't buy expensive stuff like alcohol. We have two second hand cars, mine only bought because I was left some money by a relative. We buy our clothes at the Warehouse, or in the sales. I would definitely like to leave Auckland but am conscious of uprooting our son yet again. Kazzam |
Posted By: Chops1975
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 11:17am
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I came to NZ 2 years go and as my DH is a kiwi, he prepared me very well for the lifestyle here. A lot of people from Europe do not realise how easy it is to make money over there. The wages compared to every day living cost are so much lower here.
We started in One Tree Hill in a 3 bedroom house with a big garden for $330 a week. It was damp, neighbors 3m away, very noisy and cold. We were very restricted and even though we were in the middle of town, getting everywhere takes ages... you seem to always be stuck in traffic. We decided this was not why we moved here so found a house in Helensville. It's a 3 bedroom house but all the rooms are so much bigger than in the other house. This house is dry and so much warmer; as soon as the sun is shining, it warms up. We are up on a hill so we have the best views and better weather than most other people do jn the area. We've got 3 acres of land and a landlord that is fantastic. We pay $380 a week and in winter about $130 a month for electricity and $50 a month for gas. We cook and have our warm water on gas and it seems to save a lot of money. We are also on tank water which saves on those costs. I've seen plenty of houses with 3 bedrooms for lots cheaper in this area, but we wanted to be rural and needed space to have our business.. I go to the Pak 'n Save on Lincoln rd to do my weekly shopping, we've got a big freezer and they do mean deals on meat and fish! Adding it all up, going there is cheaper than going to the Countdown in h'ville. We expected travel cost to be a bit higher but we bought a diesel car and that seems to help heaps (only worth it if your driving long distances I think). Auckland CBD is only 30 mins away, 40mins if the traffic is bad... I think massey university would be closest, I guess? that is about 15-20mins away... Can you tell I LOVE it here?  ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
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Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 12:47pm
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i love it here in dunedin. were in andersons bay so have sea views, are a 20min walk to the beach, or a 10 min walk to otago harbour.
we get alot of sun at our house, and very little frost (it has to be real bad one for us to get it) and we like the weather, cos were coastal and not on the hill we often skip the snow and hail and sleet. our powerbill averages 90 a month in summer, and 140 in winter. (were with meridian). we have a wetback fire and dont use electric blankets or heaters. most of our bill comes from the dishwasher and occasional use of the dryer to dry sheets or towels. we love it here. so much better than invercargill where im from, and balfour where DP is from. southland weather is just that little bit more unpredicatble but give us a farm and we will move anyday 
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