Nervous Adventurer

“So, how much money will I need for my working holiday in New Zealand?”

Ask any traveller, and I assure you the answer will be something along the lines of, “Well it really depends on HOW you travel…”.

Yes. That’s a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, it’s also very true.

For the record, I spent an average of NZD1000 a month (amounting to a grand total of $5000). In actuality, we spent more than that, because we did earn money from our jobs. In total, we probably spent about NZD6500.

I brought NZD2000 in cash with me when I left Singapore. Then, once I got my bank account set up, my parents remitted the remaining NZD3000 to my account. You can actually bring all your money in cash with you if you want to. But of course, I had all sorts of fears of being robbed or losing all that money, so I basically didn’t have the guts to bring around all that cash with me!

Approximately NZD1400 was immediately ‘locked in’ when we bought the car, and we didn’t get that money back till we sold the car 5 months later. The rest of the money was basically kept in the bank till we needed it. We paid for our insurance, ferry tickets and skydiving with credit cards. Everything else was paid in cash.

Some hostels either do not accept credit cards, or they might impose a fee on credit card transactions. Usually, hostels in the bigger cities accept credit cards without much of a problem. Still, we found it was a lot easier to simply pay for these necessities with cash.

Some travellers we met used EFTPOS, which is our equivalent of NETS here in Singapore. Using EFTPOS means you don’t have to carry too much cash when you run errands. Most supermarkets and petrol stations accept EFTPOS.

I’d say just reserve about NZD800-1000 for every month that you’re there. I think you can easily live quite comfortably on much less. Once again, this is just my own opinion. The amount you need might be different depending on your travelling style and spending habits. Also, if you decide to take on a paying job in NZ, you will have some extra money to spend. If you’re WWOOFing for the most part, your expenditure will be lower because you will save money on food and accommodation. And of course, if you decide to drive, your travelling expenses will undoubtedly be higher than someone who travels by bus.

I’ll outline our expenditure in my next post. Hopefully it’ll help you figure out how much you will probably spend in NZ!

T