Only In New Zealand: The Weta Cave.
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand, Things to do
It was a miserable day in Wellington today so we decided to visit the Weta Cave, an emporium of all things weird and wonderful that come out of the just as weird minds of the folks at Weta Digital.
Boy – could I have spent some serious money today.
It’s a little hard to find if you don’t know your way around Wellington, so basically head out of town to Miramar, and as you come into the shopping area, turn up Park Road. Head to the end of the street, past the new and very swanky Park Road Studios, head round the corner, and it’s on the left. In a very ordinary looking house just past the warehouses.
You have no idea looking at the building what lurks inside.
Swords, armour, monsters; its all there. Basically it’s a little museum and shop for all the collectables that Weta makes when it’s not helping make wonderful films. We also sat down to watch a 20-minute film looking at the work the studio does. You probably know most of it already – does anyone actually exist that doesn’t know Lord Of The Rings was made here??? Weta is the Special Effects arm of Peter Jackson’s film empire. The ones that make all the cool monsters, and make things look real when they don’t really exist. Like Lucasfilm’s ILM – only possibly better.
Kiwi Humour 
Kiwi Humour
I had a thought while I was there (other than whether it was acceptable to drool all over the place). Why is it that New Zealand carries this attitude that it cant be expected to do things as well as other countries because it only has a population of just over 4 million?
Peter Jackson, and Richard Taylor who runs Weta have beaten Hollywood at making movies; and if the last 3 Star Wars movies are anything to go by have seriously surpassed anything that Lucasfilm and ILM can now make. And they did it not just from the tiny New Zealand, but they didn’t even do it in our biggest city. They did it in a suburb of Wellington! They are grabbing business from Hollywood studios, and bringing it here. They are the ones creating new technologies in film and TV – and I don’t think anyone can fairly say they aren’t the best at it. Or that they get extra credit for coming from New Zealand – but really they are not that good.
Check out the Cave – it’s fantastic. Small – but perfectly formed – just like New Zealand.
Should Wellington be Pedestrianised?
There is an interesting article in the Dom Post today – about whether or not the city of Wellington should be made more Pedestrian Friendly. The call comes from Sir Robert Jones – not a man known to pull his punches when it comes to voicing his opinion. Good man!
He apparently even said that Wellington’s Café culture was “crap” compared to Europe’s! I actually disagree with that on the basis that our coffee is way better! However the point he is making here is that we just don’t have the ability to sit outside and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee in the sun without choking on car or bus fumes. And we certainly can’t have a lingering chat over the coffee with a friend because of the noise.
Lambton Quay Shopping
The Mayor of Wellington, while agreeing with Sir Robert, claims that Wellington is too “young” to make it pedestrian-friendly. Hmm – what on earth does that mean???
It has to turn the equivalent of 18 before we hand it the keys???
I would love to see Lambton Quay become pedestrianised. It’s the main shopping street in the city – and it would be lovely to meander more easily. It would also be lovely to sit and drink coffee outside. What I don’t understand is that Christchurch has a lovely pedestrian only shopping area in the city – which makes wandering round much more relaxed and pleasant – and Auckland has the Vulcan Lane area to wander round.
So I’m firmly with Sir Robert Jones on this! Get traffic out of the shopping and café areas – and really give Wellington a bit of polish!
What do you do just in case things do go to hell in a hand basket?
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Jobs & Work, Life in New Zealand, Mortgages in New Zealand, interest rates
Irrespective of what I personally believe about what is happening in New Zealand financially or with jobs; there is no denying that people are scared. I may have a gut feeling that people do not need to be – but let’s be honest – it is hard to ignore all the headlines telling us “The Sky Is Falling”. It does sound as though you will be out of a job and on the street tomorrow.
So what can you do if you want to be prepared just in case the papers get it right – whether or not they base their assumption on something as silly as what happens in the US?
Well, in a meeting with my Bank Manager just before Christmas, I was told that the bank was figuring on another 2 years of pain before things start getting better. The length of time this “recession” will last depends entirely on who you ask – so I wouldn’t place any bets just yet. But as we talked over a few things: I figured: why not plan for the worst and hope for the best.
So – in addition to making sure I put as much money as I could into our emergency fund (IBM still haven’t sorted out Hubby’s Job Contract – despite the 15 mangers signing off on it), we are doing the following:
Paying as much as we can off our Personal Mortgage as fast as we can.
Not using credit cards if we can’t pay off the balance in full each month.
Watching our spending so that we spend significantly less than we earn.
Basically – exactly the same things that we do anyway.
If you don’t do these things already – now is the time to start. If you have credit card debt – make it a priority to pay it off as soon as possible. Throw any spare money at it you can. And cut up the card so you don’t add to the problem. Remember that credit cards in New Zealand charge a stunning 20% interest. And if you don’t already keep a close eye on your spending – then start.
Apparently the “economy” needs us to spend up large to keep it afloat. Well, the “economy” can cope without my money. It hasn’t had much of it for the past few years – so it won’t miss it now. If it wants it – it can reduce my fixed rate mortgage interest – and then i’ll think about it.
Are we going to have 11% unemployment in New Zealand?
Filed under: Future Finances, Jobs & Work, Life in New Zealand
Apparently the New Zealand Institute has prepared documents telling our Prime Minister that unemployment could rise to 11%. So – the question you need to ask is: what have they based this on??? “New research published in the United States last month on recessions originating in financial crises.”
So – not based on anything concrete about New Zealand then??? But I guess its comforting to know that the very brainy people in this “Think Tank” have arbitrarily decided that we have no choice but to follow the US on it’s downward spiral. Apparently they did “extrapolate” the figures to New Zealand. Well, that’s OK then!
I wonder if the very brainy people in the “Think Tank” understand the differences between a country with 4million people in it, and a country with 250 million in it?
Now – I’m not saying that New Zealand won’t have 11% unemployment. But for crying out loud – if we are going to have Think Tanks getting everyone in a panic – could it please be over something a bit more accurate than “Because the US has it”!
So – what is the story with Unemployment in New Zealand right now?
Well, according to Stats NZ – which is a really interesting place to get the real numbers from: Unemployment is up. It hit 4.6% by the end of 2008. This was an increase from a low of 3.7% in 2006 and 2007.
Now – the really interesting thing is that until 2004 – the unemployment rate didn’t drop to less that 4.5% anyway. So although it is not great sailing at the moment – it is not quite time to be throwing ourselves over the edge just yet. According to the yearly figures at Stats NZ – in 1995 – unemployment was 10.6% – so it is possible to reach those levels. But the figures also show that the past four years have been unusual in the low rate of unemployment, with figures steadily coming down over 15 years, and now its just going back up.
If you compare the current 4.6% with 3.7% – it looks a bit bad. But did you know what if you average out the unemployment percentages over the past 15 years – its 6.8%??? So maybe 4.6% isn’t actually that bad.
In fact – we discussed this earlier – as Hubby found a graph that makes the situation look dire:
And I said – that couldn’t be right – because it didn’t match the figures on Stats NZ. Here is a graph we made using the figures going back before the record low unemployment rates:
Doesn’t look half as bad now- does it?
It’s bad for the extra people that lose their jobs of course – but I really think its worth taking a moment to understand that a lot more people were unemployed in the 13 years up to 2005 than are unemployed now.
Don’t Panic.
Just because the papers tell you it’s all going to hell in a hand basket – it doesn’t actually mean that it is.
Only In New Zealand: Cow Subways!
Having lived for the vast majority of my life in the countryside – I could not believe what I was seeing when we moved here and came across our first “Cow Subway”. And I don’t mean a foot long baguette stuffed with prime steak and salad.
Like many parts of New Zealand, we have a huge number of dairy herds in the area, and the cows have to traipse backwards and forwards for milking, and frequently move from field to field.
Under the road.
Through a subway.
You probably have to see it to believe it – so here goes!
Avalon’s Guide The eBook is almost ready.
After some longer than anticipated delays – we finally have Avalon’s Guide in e-Book format. It should have been available for our January 4th Launch, so apologies for the fact it was not there.
Why Buy the E-Book?
- You don’t need to line your hallways with bookcases.
- You don’t need to wait for the book to be posted to you.
- You don’t contribute to trees being chopped down.
- You can read the book on your laptop (while still playing on Facebook).
- You can even read it on your iPhone (yes – we really do have one. In our defence – it was free).
And most importantly – given that I like moneysaving and budgeting:
It only costs $24.00
because I don’t have to cover printing costs, and you don’t have to pay for postage.
Of course – that is all in addition to the reasons why you should buy Avalon’s Guide in the first place:
- It’s written in plain (and occasionally funny) English.
- It’s packed full of financial information you really need to know, especially now.
- You will be reading about my own personal experience of dealing with financial problems and having to sort them out the hard way.
- You will learn simple and effective ways to handle your money – so that you have enough to last the month.
- You will learn ways to deal with debts and pay them off quickly.
- You will learn that investing for a future is not as hard as you might think.
- You will learn all about the house buying process, and mortgages.
- You will even find out some things about Kiwisaver that you probably were not aware of.
And for people wanting to move to New Zealand
1.You will get answers to the important questions that you have about moving to New Zealand. This is the stuff you don’t get answers to at the Emigration Expos.
2. I debunk the “no one comes to New Zealand to be Rich” myth, along with the “no one in New Zealand drives brand new BMW’s” and a host of other rubbish that is often said about life in New Zealand.
3. You will get a bit of perspective on the reality of life in New Zealand, rather than the hyped up marketing campaign that you usually see. It is neither “100% pure”, nor do we all live on the square root of diddlysquat.
4. The aim is to ensure that more migrants to NZ from the UK do not have to go home because they expected it to be dead cheap to live here and that they can cope on low wages because “they are non-consumers”.
5. I believe that there is “no one-true-path” to emigrating and personal finance – what works for one migrant won’t always work for you.
How Tax Cuts Work
Filed under: Cost of living, Jobs & Work, Property Investing
This blog is a bit different from usual – as I didnt actually write what comes below. It was sent to me through the Wairarapa Property Investors Association, of which I am a member. It was sent to them via a local Lawyer, Simon Ogilvie.
Anything that helps people to get their head round Taxes is good as far as I’m concerned; no matter how much time I spend learning about Personal Finance – it is always the Taxes that make my brain try and run for the hills. 
This explains why, when it is time for Tax Cuts, it will give the Wealthiest people a bigger $ amount than the less wealthy. And why this is not as unfair as it often seems.
“Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing
The fifth would pay $1
The sixth would pay $3
The seventh would pay $7
The eighth would pay $12
The ninth would pay $18
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.
So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings)
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings)
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings)
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings)
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20, ‘declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’ ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all.
The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that is how our tax system works! The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much and attack them for being wealthy and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier”.
Attributed to David R. Kamerschen,
Ph.D. Professor of Economics at
University of Georgia but denied by him.
Statistics not adjusted for New Zealand but you get the picture!
Wow II Bosses taking pay freezes.
Filed under: Cost of living, Jobs & Work, Life in New Zealand
Following on from yesterday’s blog about Fisher and Paykel, I have another beef about the number of bosses coming out and saying that they are making the ultimate sacrifice and not taking a pay rise this year. All to help New Zealand through the tough economic times.
Why am I peeved?
Because in the IT industry – I don’t actually know of anyone who has had a pay rise for years without having t
o change companies to do so. We know of several people who are earning the same this year as they did 5 years ago. Because they have stayed with the same company. Only those staff who, like my hubby, have been prepared to up sticks and get a different job, have managed to earn more each year.
So why the hells were the bosses and managers getting rises when the company can’t afford to pay the staff a raise??? Many of these companies don’t even pay out the bonuses.
What makes this so unsavoury is that if you do not get a yearly pay rise – you are effectively taking a pay cut – because the cost of living increases year after year. You earn the same – yet petrol costs more; food costs more; your rates go up.
Too right management level staff shouldn’t get a pay rise if the company can’t afford to increase the pay of the staff. Ok – it’s understandable if you are not pulling your weight. If you do a bad job. If you don’t turn up for work on time. But the people we see going through this are pulling long hours and busting their guts to do a bloody good job. And if you finally turn round and say, “I want a pay raise” – you had better be prepared to spend about a year of your life justifying it.
Let’s be clear about this: until last year – New Zealand was in the midst of an economic boom, and yet pay rises were not being given to even exceptionally good, and highly skilled workers. All the while – senior managers and executives WERE getting increases.
Wow – big cheeses are taking pay cuts!
I have to be honest – I do not have a problem with people earning whopping great salaries. My opinion is that if you are good enough to run a successful company – then you deserve the salary to match.
“Successful” being an operative word.
According to the Dom Post today, the CEO of Fisher & Paykel (A New Zealand manufacturer of washing machines and fridges), is going to take a 7.5% pay cut in the fallout from the Financial Crises and the fact that F&P shares have now dropped to 65c.
Sounds good, right? At last – a boss who is personally going to take a pay cut to help the company and hopefully avoid redundancies. Not so fast: He currently earns $1.1million. A 7.5% pay cut means his salary is now going to be a mere $1,017,500. Of course – it is also reported that the Execs at F&P will be taking a pay cut – of 5% -to help keep the company afloat in hard times.
If you keep reading – you then find out that Front Line staff are going to be rostered an extra day off a month to reduce costs. With usually 20 working days a month – this means – you guessed it – they also end up with about a 5% pay cut (it just doesn’t say that!).
Now – being fair – it is probably hard for anyone to take a pay cut. The boss may be earning over a million – but if he’s anything like the vast majority of people – he may well have mortgages and costs that take all of that money – so it may not be an easy call for him and his family to be without that $82,500 income.
But the worst thing about this – is that the Government is keeping an eye on the company in case they need to step in and bail it out! I expect the CEO to take a bit more than a 7.5% pay cut before my tax dollars get used to shore up the company thank you very much.
The cherry on top is that F&P hasn’t actually said they have made a loss yet. All this is due to a “Slump in Profits”. The company is still making a profit – just not as big a profit as last year – yet front line staff, who are highly unlikely to be able to carry a 5% pay cut – have to do so.
Hmmm.
Wairarapa in the Snow.
Last winter – it snowed in the Wairarapa.
This is not usual – we have quite a mediterranean climate here, and while we often find during winter that we can see snow on the peaks of the Tararua range – it does not generally snow on the flat. Last year it did.
And one of my crazy Kiwi friends and mentor, Trev, took the opportunity to tramp up into the hills and spend the night huddled in a sleeping bag. Nutter!
Here are the photos he took in the morning.
