After posts from Well Heeled on drugstore foundation and Carrie on the cost of living, I was seriously jealous! $6 for a foundation? $5 for a weekday movie ticket? Kiwis, we’re being ripped off!
I mean, Loreal and Almay foundations cost at least double in New Zealand, from what I can see. Movie tickets are $15.50 (except for Tuesdays), a round of bowling costs about the same. A beer at a bar is around $8. I’ve already covered food prices in a previous post. A fixed home phone costs at least $40 a month and in terms of broadband, I think the most you can get for another $40 is 5GB.
I haven’t taken the exchange rate into account, but as far as I know, wages and salaries aren’t hugely different here. In fact, people often say the rates companies pay here is on the low side.
I guess being a small country that’s REALLY far away from everywhere else, good are bound to cost more – to ship, etc. And at least we don’t have to tip when we go out!
Oof. Tell me about it. I’ve been complaining about this since I arrived! Wages here are MUCH MUCH lower, in my experience–I took a 50% paycut when I came here (including the exchange rate). The exchange rate doesn’t even things out for most products. RIP OFF.
I brings most of my toiletries, clothes, and items over from the States when I visit; even buying them and having my parents ship them over is much cheaper than buying them in NZ. Grah.
Having lived in both countries, yes products like toiletries and clothes are WAY cheaper. The difference I think it makes up in is in the healthcare costs. If it cost you $200 every time you went to the doctors in NZ… ouch. NZ is very expensive because it all has to be shipped over and there are less economies of scale. And less competition as well.