How We Afforded To Live and Travel in New Zealand for 2 Years

In August 2019, Nick and I left for our Working Holiday Visas in New Zealand. We read and read and read, but it was hard to know what to expect. Here are some insights into how we afforded to live and travel in New Zealand for 2 years.

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• Save Before You Travel
• Have Enough Saved to Spend At Least 2-3 Months Not Working
• Travel with a Partner or Friend
• Working Holiday Visa vs Visitor Visa
• Extension of WHV or Sponsorship
• Online Income and Passive Income
• Be Resourceful, Not Cheap
• Treating Yourself!

Save Before You Travel

The more money you have saved, the easier it will be to adjust to living abroad. If you have some sort of savings or security blanket, you will feel much more comfortable. We didn’t know how much money to have or save before heading out on our Working Holiday Visas (WHV) to New Zealand, but the Immigration website requires proof of at least $4,200 NZD ($3,000 USD, £2,100 GBP) for the year. Luckily, we had more than that saved so we didn’t have to worry.

There have been many unexpected moments where we’ve changed our minds about where we wanted to live or our plans. For instance, we tried to secure “work for accommodation” gigs to save money and one went so strangely that we left within 24 hours… Sometimes, we simply wanted more flexibility. The most unexpected cost we did not account for was the cost of relocations and the lack of available jobs…

I feel incredibly lucky to have saved money before moving out here because it granted me a good degree of freedom. Some of my friends without savings definitely had less freedom. Don’t get me wrong, you could definitely come out to NZ nearly broke with a WHV. Many people do it and succeed, but it depends on your personal preference, comfort and what types of jobs you would be willing to do. Here, I’ll give you some examples of how some of my friends saved and spent on their WHV.

Annie

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I left home with £6,000. I spent £1,000 a month in Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, and more) and dined like a king and did every activity and trip imaginable. Got to Sydney with £200. Got kicked out of Australia and moved to NZ with £1,500 in debt to my best friend’s dad because I had to borrow the money from him. Now, my goal is to always travel with enough money that I don’t have to worry about money whilst I travel.

Sara

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Left the UK with around about £5,000 and credit card debt. Spent about £4,500 in Asia and got to Australia with about £500 and almost imminently started farm work to get some money. Left Australia with about $7,500 AUD after working on a mining camp. Should have paid my credit card off with it, but I spent so much money traveling and paying for flights to Asia instead. Then, I arrived to New Zealand and paid bond on a house and settled in. I am still paying off my credit card. The morals of my story are: 1. Don’t get a credit card 2. Make your boyfriend pay for his own flights.

Have Enough Saved to Spend At Least 2-3 Months Not Working

I had read on another travel blog that it could be difficult to arrive and find a job in the off-season. This advice didn’t dissuade me enough to change my plans of arriving in late winter. We took the risk and arrived at the end of winter anyway. Summer and winter are the main seasons for tourism jobs and generally New Zealand is quieter in the off seasons: spring and autumn.

We secured some connections from Backpacker Board before arriving because having no plan left me with too much uncertainty and panic.

If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be to lean into that uncertainty because that’s where the best and most unexpected things happen.

The jobs we found from Backpacker Board paid the bills. We were just scraping by. But, I can’t help but wonder what we would have found if we just showed up and looked in person.

It was pretty difficult to support ourselves financially over the first 6 months. We were constantly losing money every paycheck. We also were relocating and traveling quite a bit. After much trial and error, the best money-saving tactics we have come up are:

• Move into a shared house not a hostel
• Find a job you like and stay in it longer rather than jumping job to job
• Travel after you’ve worked for a bit
• Save a little bit of every paycheck
• Ask locals what they love rather than just following the generic tourist loops. Not only may these things be cooler, but they might be cheaper.

Travel with a Partner or Friend

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I was surprised to find how many pairs we encountered. Couples, friend groups, or the classic best friend pair from an organized tour bus like Kiwi Experience. Many young people do come out to NZ alone. Sometimes they sign up for a group tour of the country to begin their year in NZ. On these tours they meet other solo travelers, see a bit of NZ, and get secure transportation and accommodation around the country.

There are definitely some crazy tales from KiwiEx, but a huge percentage of solo travelers use this option to meet a group of friends. It’s like a traveling hostel! A few of my friends in Queenstown moved here in a best friend pair after they finished their tour with KiwiEx. Many are still best friends ’til this day. They met on the bus, became inseparable, bought a car together or rented a room together, and became travel partners.

Not only is it fun to travel with someone else, it’s cheaper! Nick and I split the cost of a car, gas, accommodation, vacation, food and sports equipment. Having a travel partner is definitely a win-win!

Working Holiday Visa vs Visitor Visa

For Nick and me, Working Holiday was the obvious option because he is English and I am American. The visa gave us an opportunity in be in one place for one year and have an extended travel experience together. As for the visitor visa, it ranges anywhere from 3-9 months as long as you can prove to support yourself with at least $1,000 NZD per month. Here is an example from one of my friends who came here on a visitor visa while she worked remotely. She and her husband loved it so much that she decided to stay for almost a year on a WHV, still working remotely. Oh, and there was a global pandemic, so that was another pretty good reason to stay here.

Tali

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Since my husband and I already were earning money through our online work situation, we just used our credit cards in New Zealand to pay for everything we were earning through our US account. It was the perfect set up! We were able to work on our own terms, explore/hike/dance/hang out in New Zealand for the whole year. When it was time to leave, we pretty much had to be dragged to the airport.

Extension of WHV or Sponsorship

There is the possibility for some foreign nationals to extend their WHV in New Zealand for up to 2 years. Nick went with this option. This is only open to certain nationalities.

One year tends to fly by and ends up feeling really short. Many travelers get sponsored by a company to fill a job that they can’t find a Kiwi to do. Otherwise, many stay on a visitor visa. I tried both of these options. I went with the sponsorship route for part of my time here and was able to support myself that way. But I also stayed on a visitor visa. When I was on a visitor visa, I taught english online and did freelance marketing remotely.

Sponsorship is a great option for those who want to continue their travel experience, but it goes without saying that there are a variety of factors to consider. Sponsored positions have strict rules such as: only work in one role for one employer for 30 hours a week or more. Depending on where you are in the country and your skillset, you may have to compromise on your dream job. You probably WILL have to compromise. Usually, many jobs with sponsorship are in tourism and hospitality, so companies rely on sponsored employees instead of a seasonal workforce. Many of my friends have gotten sponsored because it allowed them to stay and play and work in one of the most beautiful places in the world, surrounded by friends.

Online Income and Passive Income

Online income and passive income are great additions or alternatives to securing work abroad. During lockdown, I got certified to teach english online, TEFL-certified through MyTefl. Throughout the year, I had also been reaching out to freelance digital marketing clients. Nick, for instance, has money invested in stocks in the UK through AJ Bell. I think it’s a wise idea to have multiple sources of income to rely on when traveling. These side gigs aren’t dramatic amounts of money but when you’re in a tight spot, they are super useful to tap into.

Be Resourceful, Not Cheap

Getting a room in the cheapest house may be attractive, but how much will you be paying in additional costs like heating, repairs, or unexpected issues? Like many, we’ve been fooled here before. Similarly, buying a cheap car sounds ideal, but how much will mechanical fees add up to? Even with our clothes, we’ve made the mistake of buying the cheapest shirt in order to save money, but after a few wears, the stitching comes apart, there are holes. You get what you pay for. So spend your money wisely. After our experiences we would advise to buy nicer things less often rather than constantly investing in cheaper things that fall apart quickly.

Best NZ Websites to Snag a Sweet Deal

Great news, traveler! The best part of living somewhere is not getting charged tourist prices in your new backyard. Kiwis smartly have created a huge variety of resources for locals and travelers to get the best deals throughout the country. No matter where you decide to roam, use your network to look for all the best resources available.

First Table: 50% off the first table at breakfast, lunch or dinner at partner restaurants, available throughout NZ
BookMe: discounted activities, food, accommodation throughout NZ
GrabOne: experiences, services, products and travel deals all over the country
GoLocal: a resource for local businesses in NZ
Local Facebook groups: Local Facebook groups are gold. They’re such an invaluable resource when living abroad.

Treating Yourself!

Why did you move abroad in the first place? Maybe to experience something exciting, different, delicious, adventurous… you name it! While there are many ways to save money, don’t let it make you so rigid that you’ll never spend a cent.

Travelers are sometimes very cautious financially. Sometimes almost too cautious at a fault of not enjoying themselves because they’re so obsessed with finding the most discounted meal or best happy hour. Life is a balancing act. At times, you simply have to splash out and treat yourself.

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