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Hi! I’m Andrew, Trinity's Sales Manager. In this post, I'll share a bit of my experience moving down to Canterbury from Wellington, and attempt to make a comparison on the cost of living in big cities of the North Island like Wellington and Auckland, and towns nearing Christchurch, like Rolleston - the town I've recently moved to.
I started working for Trinity in June after deciding to quit my job in Wellington and move to a new adventure in the South Island. I’ve lived here before, so I knew the lay of the land. However, what really struck me, and which I hadn’t really expected from the move, was the significant reduction in living costs I experienced as a result of moving.
After moving down south, my partner and I found a house in Rolleston - our preferred location due to proximity to my work. We secured a newly built show home, 234-meter square on 785 meters square of land, 4 bedrooms, underfloor heating, double glazing, and all the gadgets you would expect from a modern home. It was almost a mansion! But the price was the same as the shoebox 3-bedroom apartment in central Auckland which my partner had moved from. My personal weekly rent dropped by $100, and we are both living in a much warmer, healthier home.
Besides housing, food is the next largest living cost for most people. In Wellington and Auckland, you can buy a meal in a restaurant for $30 and it will be of a medium to small size. Here in Canterbury, the meal is the same price but twice the size. I budget $1000 per month on food (yes I know, I am a hungus). In Wellington, I blew that budget by at least $200 each month but here in Rolleston I have consistently spent less than my budget even considering I eat out at restaurants and café’s more often now. Both eating-out and eating-in are considerably cheaper here than in the North Island cities.
In my experience, everything in Rolleston is cheaper - rent and house prices, food, fuel - and as a bonus I have the entire South Island on my doorstep: its open spaces, its amazing scenery and its plentiful outdoor activities. Also, traffic here is minimal, found only in Christchurch’s city centre. Everywhere else, you can get to anywhere within 15 minutes or less driving.
My partner and I are currently saving more than we ever have been able to and we aim to buy a house within the next 2 years. The drop in prices that I experienced from moving down here have completely counteracted the inflation most people are experiencing. While most people's inflation has gone up by 7% this year, my personal inflation is probably sitting more around -2%.
What all this means is that reaching financial goals and having more disposable income are not a dream but a reality for me here. So if you are living in a North Island city and tired of the daily grind, tired of living week to week, know that you don’t have to. You can start making plans to move down to Canterbury and our team at Trinity may be able to help you secure a job in the area! We have roles throughout Canterbury in many industries from construction to farming, factory work to vehicle mechanics. We even have clients who are willing to cover relocation costs for the right candidate to help them move down for their skilled roles. So if you are interested in checking out our job opportunities and how we could help you, get in touch with us today!
- Andrew Lamond, Trinity's Sales Manager
