Planning a trip to New Zealand or even looking to live and work here?
Then working out the cost of life in New Zealand is essential for planning your budget and
making your dream a reality.
So how expensive is New Zealand in 2018?
We’ll take a look at that and more coming up in this video...
Hi guys, we’re Robin and Laura, the team behind BackpackerGuide.NZ, helping you plan
an epic trip to New Zealand!
In today’s video, we’re going to looking at how expensive is New Zealand in 2018.
To answer that question, we have put together this video of typical costs you’re likely
to encounter in New Zealand.
That way, you can compare the cost of life in New Zealand to that in your home country.
(And don’t worry, we have added some quick exchange rates in this video too).
Plus, at the end of this video, we’ll give you 5 ways to save money in NZ and stretch
those dollars further.
And if you’re new here, take the time to hit that subscribe button right now.
We release videos about New Zealand every single day and subscribing is a great way
to say thank you for all our hard work.
And with that, let’s get on with the video!
First up, what are the New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rates in 2018?
Whether New Zealand is expensive or not really depends on what country you are from.
With that in mind, we’ve put together this quick list of exchange rates so that you can
compare the typical New Zealand prices with your home currency.
That way, you’ll be able to better judge whether New Zealand is expensive.
We know it’s pretty easy to just search exchange rates between the New Zealand dollar
and your home currency.
However, just to give a typical overview of the New Zealand Dollar exchange rates in 2018,
we’ve put together this quick list.
Exchange rates typically fluctuate throughout the year, but as of 2018, the New Zealand
Dollar exchange rates for 1 NZ Dollar are as follows:
For the US, 74 cents gets you 1NZD.
In Europe, 60 cents is 1NZD.
For the UK, it’s 52 pence.
India is 48 rupees.
Australia is 95 cents.
Canada is 93 cents.
In Japan it’s 79.10 yen.
And it will take 14.87 Argentinian pesos to get 1NZD.
For up-to-date currency conversions for your chosen currency, check out the HiFX website
which we have linked up in the description below.
By the way they do super cheap international transfers so it’s worth checking out.
Now for most important thing you’ll need to purchase in order to survive in New Zealand…
Food!
Here are the typical prices of popular food items and meals in New Zealand in 2018.
Note: these are the typical prices for budget/value versions of these products in New Zealand
supermarkets.
Expect to pay more for big brands or organic foods.
For your typical shopping list essentials, expect to pay...
1.20 for 1 litre of milk. 3.50 for a dozen eggs.
2.40 for 1kg of rice.
90 cents for 500g of pasta.
1 dollar for a loaf of sliced bread.
9 bucks for 1kg of cheese.
and 7 dollars for 100g of dry freeze coffee.
For Fruit & Vegetables, prices differ across the country and between seasons.
However, common costs for fruit and veg include... 3.99 for 1kg of apples.
2.99 for 1kg of bananas.
3.49 for 1kg of tomatoes.
3.50 for 1kg of onions.
4 bucks for 1kg of potatoes.
And New Zealand meat prices in 2018 are around... 8 NZ dollars for 1kg of chicken.
10 dollars for 1kg of beef mince. 9 dollar for 1kg of pork.
And around 20 dollars for 1kg of lamb.
And finally for food, NZ Restaurant Prices are around...
30 bucks for a main meal.
8 dollars for a pint of beer.
4.50 for a small coffee.
5 dollars for a fast food pizza.
And 4.22 for a Big Mac.
For more food shopping tips for New Zealand, see the link in the description below!
Next, how expensive is Transport in NZ?
NZ has so much to discover so you’re definitely going to want to get around!
Here are the common transportation costs in NZ.
First, what are the costs of running a car or campervan in NZ?
A secondhand budget car costs $1,000-$5,000.
A self-contained secondhand budget 2-berth campervan costs between $7,000 and $15,000.
Budget car rental per day costs $19-$100 depending on the season.
Check out our video on renting a car in NZ for more information on that.
Budget campervan rental per day costs between $50 to $200, again depending on the season.
Petrol per litre costs $2.15.
Diesel per litre costs $1.41.
But the Road User Charge, which is the diesel tax, per 1,000km costs $62.
And how Expensive is National Public Transport?
4-hour journey on a national bus is around $25.
A domestic flight between Auckland and Christchurch is about $70.
A domestic flight between Auckland and Queenstown is $100.
But if you book really early you could pay about half of those airfares.
A train from Auckland to Wellington is around $140.
And how Expensive is Public Transport in Cities?
Bus travel per zone is usually around $3.50.
Train travel per zone is the same price at $3.50.
A taxi fare start tariff is $3 with another $3 per km fee.
Check out the article, What is the Best Way to Get Around New Zealand, in the description
below.
How expensive is accommodation in New Zealand?
Another fundamental part of living or travelling in New Zealand is having somewhere to sleep.
Here are the typical costs of accommodation in New Zealand in 2018.
How expensive is holiday accommodation?
Hostel dorm bed per night is $27.
A double room in a hostel, motel or holiday park per night is around $80.
A Campervan powered site for two people is $40.
A Department of Conservation campsite per person per night is $15.
A Motel self-contained unit for two per night is around $140.
And a Hotel double room per night is around $160.
How expensive is long-term accommodation in 2018?
Room to rent in a shared house per week is between $125-$250 mostly depending on location.
And there are work for accommodation options in exchange for 4 hours of work per day.
Learn more about New Zealand accommodation via the links to BackpackerGuide.NZ in the
description below.
Now, how Expensive are the phone networks and WiFi in New Zealand?
Finally, an essential for pretty much anyone is staying connected.
Here are the typical phone network costs in 2018, as well as typical WiFi costs.
For New Zealand phone networks, expect to pay...
About $19 for a plan of 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 1.25gb per month.
But there are about 15 plans per network operator so pick what suits you best by checking out
our phone network comparison linked up in the description below.
For standard pay-as-you-go rates, it’s around 40c for a Voice call per minute between New
Zealand numbers.
90c for a Voice call per minute to overseas.
20c per Text message between New Zealand numbers.
20c for a Text message to overseas.
And 50c for Data usage per megabyte.
And for New Zealand WiFi costs, accommodation WiFi per hour is either free or around $3.50
per hour.
Cafe WiFi is either free with a purchase or $3.50 per hour
Library WiFi is free And if you want to set up your own home unlimited
broadband, that’s around $75 per month.
For more advice on finding WiFi in New Zealand, see How to get Internet and WiFi in New Zealand
in the description below and we’ll also link up our comparison of the New Zealand
phone networks.
So there you have the cost of life in New Zealand in a nutshell.
However, if you want to know more about the cost of some of New Zealand’s epic tourist
activities, then head over to our Cost of Backpacking in New Zealand video where we
list some prices.
But, before we end this video, here’s 5 quick tips for saving money in New Zealand
and stretching those dollars further!
Number 1. Make your own meals.
Most budget accommodations have cooking facilities so you can make a huge saving on food by cooking
your own meals.
Number 2.
Add plenty of hikes to your travel itinerary.
Some of NZ’s best scenery can be seen by doing one of the hundreds of free hiking trails
throughout the country.
3.
Find a travel buddy.
Split the cost of fuel, food and even accommodation by finding an awesome travel buddy.
If you’re coming to NZ on a solo trip, reach out to fellow travellers on the backpacking
Facebook groups.
We’ll link up to a few in the description.
4.
Do some work for accommodation.
If you have a work visa, you can get free accommodation and meals in exchange for around
4 hours work, five days a week.
We’ll link up to some more info about that as well.
And Number 5.
Get a supermarket club card.
Make sure you get the cheapest prices available by having a Countdown or New World club card
– these are the two most common supermarkets that offer them.
Ask for a tourist card in New World if you are only in NZ a short while.
So that’s it for our tips on saving money and going through the costs of living in NZ.
We hope it’s answered the question for you on how expensive is NZ, but if you do have
any more questions, just stick them in the comments below and we’ll be sure to answer
them.
Plus, if you found this video useful, give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more New
Zealand content just like this one.
Until next time, keep exploring!