Money and more money (or should it be “less” money)

Don and I have started over in New Zealand in all aspects, including money-wise. We have savings and retirement (and a house, arggghh), still in US dollars, but we decided to come to New Zealand basically with starter money from the sale of our furniture and cars and we planned to leave everything else alone and become self-sufficient with our NZ-based income and a monthly budget. This isn’t an easy thing to do in a country where everything seems very expensive and people’s incomes average NZ$40k per year or so. Doing the math: $40k is the equivalent of about $26k in US dollars per year. And then one stem of broccoli is NZ $3.50, one power gel goopy costs between NZ $4 and $5 and 8 small rolls of toilet paper costs NZ$6—for examples. Some items are definitely equivalent or cheaper, like apples which grown in this country as if they were ants. Needless to say, we eat a lot of apples.

Before we applied for residency we did a lot of research on the cost of living. Could we survive here with no/low incomes? We determined that if we both made minimum wage working any job--as long as we both were working--we should be able to pay for everything. That was our basis for deciding to make the leap, and a year later we jumped with our new mindset ready to put into action.

Don’s colleague (officially no longer his boss) Sarah is also American, she is from Superior if you remember. She is here with her husband and two kids. A couple months ago Sarah’s husband’s sister came here too, part of the family immigration package. She brought a husband and two kids as well. All 8 human beings share one house, Sarah’s house right now. Sarah is the only one in the house who is working, and she is really struggling financially. They rent their house, like we do. They had some savings from the sale of their Colorado home, but it seems as if it is pretty much depleted. Sarah’s sister-in-law also sold a house in Leadville, brought some money, and has nearly used it up. Sarah was venting to Don the other day about how to afford things, everything is expensive, kids’ things cost so much, no one is working, how to make ends meet, etc.

Don told her our minimum wage theory and how we based our financial decision on that. She was floored, “what a good idea, I didn’t think of that.” They just came over and that was it. No planning, little packing, just an idea to get away. A cool idea, but doesn’t work so well when implemented, I guess. Now they are really in trouble and may have to go for government aid, which is highly discouraged for new immigrants in their first 2 years. And that is just Sarah’s family; her sister-in-law and her own family are considering going back to the US, only after a few months.

Without kids, of course, everything is working okay for us right now. We had expenses with Olivia recently and we had to plan those out over a couple months because the vet isn’t much cheaper than the U.S. It’s really weird to go to the grocery store and put stuff back on the shelf because it’s not a high priority and that $5 could be better spent on a dinner. I don’t know if everything feels more expensive in New Zealand or if it really isn’t as expensive, but it is a bigger expense within a much, much smaller budget. I’m leaning toward the latter, but it has been a great experiment mid-life to pare down, buy only what is necessary, no luxuries, and really see what you can life off of.

If any of you watched the few episodes earlier this year of the FX show by Morgan Spurlock called “30 Days” I feel very much like the opening episode where Morgan and his fiancée lived for a whole month making minimum wage. They both worked, but their choices in every facet of life were severely limited due to their income levels and how much money they had. Now Don and I aren’t suffering that badly and we have money to fall back on if something should happen, but it has been a great case study for us to do this, to pretend we have no savings, to live off of our part-time salaries and make choices about what we need. Yes, it was also nice to not have to do that in Colorado and to have a lot more money and buy whatever we needed or wanted. However, that got old; it is, in fact, one of the reasons we came here. I mean, how much stuff could two people accumulate?? And we weren’t big spenders, we didn't spend a ton of money.

Anyway, I feel almost like I’m in my early 20s again and planning out every purchase and pinching pennies and feeling like a meal out with wine or beer is a great extravagance, and that kind of makes it seem all that more special. I know if something should happen, I don’t have to worry because we do have a fall-back position, but it’s been part of the great adventure to remember we’re starting life over.