Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:37 pm-
First of all bank cards work if they are with the fourplus or cirrus networks.(look on the back of your card and see what symbols it has) I am a member of Coast Capital savings which is a credit union in BC and my card works fine here.
Food is expensive. everything is more expensive here, however if you are working with Canadian dollars, it evens out. I married a kiwi so am not renting but rent is expensive too.House purchase prices are very high in auckland. My husband's kids pay $350 a week for a 2 bedroom apartment. I dont know about rent in Alberta but that would be expensive for BC comparison.
Unless your cell is a GSM phone (triband or quad band) it will not work here, so check first. Mine was a triband and it still did not work properly here so I had to buy one for here.
I woudl recommend you check out
http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/ which has heaps of people asking and answering these types of questions for people considering moving to NZ.
Good luck