Cost of Living in Auckland

What is the cost of living in New Zealand? How much salary do you need? These are the popular questions that I get from rtk readers. Thanks guys. Well, I think this is a good chance for me to explain my actual spending. I would say I’m not a heavy spender and discipline myself on putting some money aside for saving. Anyways, these are my list:

1)      Rental

My family pay $365 per week for a flat with 2 Bedrooms 1 Bathroom separate kitchen and living hall. It’s consider very cheap as it is located in Auckland City. Generally, for 2B1B unit / flat will cost you around $400-$500 a week. Super expensive I would say compare to property in Malaysia. Check out Trademe Property for your options.

2)      Bills

How much are my bills? Me and husband pay $60 for ADSL with Unlimited Internet and recently upgraded to Fiber where it cost us $70 monthly.

We also pay average $ 70 monthly for energy with Energy Online. A lot of people are surprise with our energy usage. Even my husband colleagues tried to analyst our energy usage. Hehehe. We do have Fridge, Hot Water, Washing Machine, Portable heater, fan and 4 laptops (we don’t have TV). Probably because nobody at home during day as everybody either at work or school, so we manage to control our energy usage. Yay!

Water – Average $ 40 - $60. We bath a lot during summer.

Mobile Phone- Both of us are on Corporate Planning so its free. Normally postpaid with 4GB data will cost you $40.

Insurance = Life Insurance cost around $35 per month, Medical Insurance = $10 per month. (Both cover by company so its free too)

3)      Car / Transportation

I commute by bus to work. I top up $70 fortnightly. At first, we bought cheap car (Nissan Blue Bird SSS) cost us $1500. It took us all around Auckland city. After it was missing and refound, we sold the car for $300. My husband then bought another 2^nd hand car cost around $10k with 3 years finance option.

Fuel is expensive in Auckland! The 91 fuel cost around $2.20 per litre.ARRRR

4)      School Donation

There’s no school fee in NZ but there school donation. Whatever they want to name it….

The school donation is depend on the school decile from 1-10, the higher decile is, the higher cost of school donation. We pay around $30 per term. There are 4 terms in a year.

5)      Food price in Auckland

I would say food price is cheaper in NZ compare to Malaysia.

Fresh Milk = $2.99 per litre

Banana = $2.99 per kg

Apples = $0.99 per kilo (depends on season)

Breadloaf = $1 (the cheapest I think)

Plain rice = $7 per 5kg

Basmathi rice = $ 10 per 5kg

Jasmine rice = $13 per 5kg bag

Pasta (spaghetti, macaroni etc)= $0.99 per packet

Free range chicken = $ 9 (whole chicken)

Beef = $15 per kilo (depend on parts)

Milo = $9.99 per 1kg tin

Canola Oil (Made in Malaysia) = $4.99 per 2L bottle

You may get a cheaper price on Fruits and Vege at Asian Shop, The rest I just shop at Pak’nSave.

6)      House Furniture

House furniture is something that we need to explore further. We are lucky for having free furniture from our acquaintance and neighbor. You may check at Marketplace , Auckland Deals or Auckland free stuff in Facebook or Trademe.

In you would like to buy brand new furniture but cheap, try check it out at iFurniture or www.sofasandmore.co.nz

7)      Eating out – I don’t cook everyday

As a career mother (excuse from not cooking) cooking everyday 3 meals a day is not something I’m good at. Based on my experience, it will cost about $15-$30 per person for a meal if you eating outside. Not too bad.

8)      Clothing price

I don’t spend much in clothing coz I find the fashion is not as variety as in Malaysia. I still do online shopping from Malaysia website sometimes. Generally, for a decent working blouse it will cost around $50. Sorry, very limited knowledge on this.

HOW MUCH SALARY DO YOU NEED?

So now the big question is…. How much Salary do you need to live in Auckland? In my opinion…. $800 per week per person (adult) will make you have a good living in Auckland. Times 20% for each kids you have. This is very subjective to a person, so if you need more for spending, saving, travelling, of course you need more salary.

I’m not rich here neither when I was in Malaysia but I definitely able to discipline my save to put aside more money for saving. Else, why would I be here?

Are you moving to Auckland?

Read my other topic : 9 BARANG YANG DIBAWA APABILA MIGRATE KE LUAR NEGARA

Tell me about your story. 

Thank you for reading.

Nga Mihi

Mira