Switching Energy Providers

Last night, hubby and I did a review on our power bills and searched online to see if we can actually get some savings by switching providers. We've only been with two energy providers, Genesis Energy and Mercury Energy. It turns out that they've got the most expensive rates based on pricing trends gathered by Powerswitch. There are a number of energy (electricity and gas) providers and they are equivalent to the retail side of Meralco. Back home, Meralco covers both distribution as well as retail and they're the only provider in the metro so you can't really do anything with their prices.

We still can't figure out what daily fixed charge and variable rate means. But what I did learn was that we fall under the Low User category. And we also noticed that we've been paying more since we switched to mercury.

Powerswitch gave us a lot of information and upon filling in their form, we decided to give Energy Online a try as they are in the lower level in terms of pricing and overall review seems to be ok, like clarity of bill, service, etc. I've heard about them from a tv commercial which was under the theme "EnergyWise". This series of commercials gives all sorts of tips to save on energy like getting Energy Star rated whiteware, insulation tips for the home, even info about energy-efficient tires.

SwitchMe provides a similar service to Powerswitch. They will present a list of available price packages across various vendors showing you how much you can save by switching over.

And running into this website http://www.canstarblue.co.nz/utilities/electricity-providers/ was just a bonus as they provided consumer ratings across vendors from 2014.

I'm familiar with Consumer.Org as I frequent their site often and even availed of membership previously while I was just starting out. When you're not at all familiar with the brands and vendors, this website provide sufficient information to show test results, findings, etc on consumer products, including energy providers. This is an overview that I found while looking for reviews on Energy Online: https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/energy-providers

We switched to Mercury late last year because a door salesman told us that we can save more and that he will give us a fixed rate for the next six months. The six months is over and then they offered me a fixed price plan for two years. This is what prompted us to do our research to see if we are really saving. We weren't comfortable with the rates so we've decided to switch.

It can be confusing to compare price packages and the above online services helped simplify things. End of the day it's how much saving you're going to have. So we'll see how things will be like with Energy Online.

Checklist for a New Home Buyer

AKLNZPINOY put together a seminar for new home buyers last Friday night. It was sponsored by ANZ and the event was free so I went.

1. Learn how to use a mortgage calculator. This was a tip from Ka Uro himself. Yes, finally met him in person. These free apps should give you an idea on how much you’re actually shelling out in a periodic basis. This is a good indicator if you are actually financially ready for this.
2. Talk to your bank (or whoever will be providing the loan as I believe NZ Home Loans is another competitor in this trade).
3. By the end of the conversation, you should be able to
• Determine how much money the bank is willing to loan you
•  Determine the payment options (fixed term, flexi, or a combination)
• Understand what equity means
4. Talk to real estate agents
   Now that you have your virtual money ready, then it’s time to look at houses. From what I gather, it’s always better to deal with real estate agents than with direct sellers. This is because agents by law are obliged to declare information on the property. And no, you’re not paying these agents. They get paid for by the seller, based on a % value of the property.
5. Get a LIM report and a Builder Report
   If you already have a property in mind, before making an offer, get a LIM report and a Builder report.
   A LIM report gives you a summary of the compliance report on the property by the local council. Once you’ve bought the property and there is work that the council requires, which may have been neglected by the previous owner, then you’ll be responsible for it.
   The Builder Report would cost around $500 and this provides you with data on the actual state of the house (structure, moisture level, etc.). The report is able to capture things that are not visible to the naked eye and may impact the value of the property. Both the agent and the solicitor have advised us how important this is, coz $500 is worth the amount for a $500K that you’ll be spending for the property. Sometimes, it may result to letting the vendor know and the vendor may do the repair/ fixes themselves or it can be something that you can use to negotiate with especially if it impacts the value of the property.
6. Talk to your solicitor (lawyer)
   Let’s say you already want to make an offer, it is best to talk to your solicitor first and make sure that he signs off on the contract before you submit it to the agent. Once you’ve made an offer, that is already considered binding. We’ve been warned to sign only 1 contract. Signing two contracts at the same time means you are tied to two properties, and no, you cannot back off from it unless conditions have been breached, thus impacting the value of the property. Atty Garcia said that here in NZ, hindi trabaho ng lawyer ang makipag-areglo. Taga-advise at guide lang sila. And he cautions us to have the contract be under your terms, not the vendor’s because this is all about you making the purchase. Hence, you need to be comfortable with the terms and conditions in the contract.

Getting Ready for the Cold

Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu hard last week and fortunately, it weakened as it reached the North Island last Sunday. It still brought some showers to Auckland and with it was a noticeable drop in temperature. It is Autumn and when my daughter said that she's not feeling well, I got a bit concerned. Rose kept saying that she's tired so we had dinner early, gave her paracetamol, a lukewarm bath and soonafter, she was fast asleep. Her temperature went up to 37 and it came back to normal later that night. She probably caught the chill since yesterday was a bit cold and somehow, she managed to take off her jumper coz i would imagine that it can feel hot when you're  just running around the centre all day.

I remember last year, she had frequent colds and by late July and then August, she was often home for a few days to fight off the flu. Flu shots are supposed to be available in April. They're free for children and it's given to all employees at work too. The kids didn't get it last year coz they were already sick. I'm hoping we can give them the shot this year to at least minimize the risk of having a flu. It can be tough to have the entire household sick especially coz we don't have immediate family to come over and look after them.

I'm really hoping that we are better prepared this time for the cold months. That means an extra dose of Vitamin C, a glass of honey lemon drink once a day and just frequent washing of hands.

What you need on the first week in New Zealand

Last week, a friend of mine shared their good news. They got their residence visa na raw and are planning to come here January next year, after niya manganak. She has a sister who’s been working here for about a year now and I’m sure excited na rin yun for their move. My friend and her husband are former colleagues. They have a 1 year old daughter and are having another one soon!

So looking back, what do we need to prepare.

Ideally for them, assuming they have family support at home for the kids, dapat mauna na muna yung husband at susunod na lang silang mag-iina kapag may work na si hubby. Why? It’s to keep their expenses to a minimum. When they arrive kasi,  their expenses would have to be shouldered by how much money that they bring. Siempre, mas mataas ang standard of living dito kumpara sa Pinas so food, transport and shelter expenses would have to be paid from your hard earned Pinas money. It’s only until you start earning NZ dollars can you actually start budgeting properly. So hangga’t hindi ka pa kumikita ng NZ dollars, you still can’t help but convert everything to Philippine peso.  Yung bago kong officemate, nagmadali sila assuming na it’s all the same. Which is not! It’s cheaper to do flatting when you’re by yourself. You’re basically just paying for the room and don’t even have to pay for electricity, water and internet.  You can’t do this with the family coz you need to get your own place, and with it goes all the utilities. Rent is the biggest portion of your expense so think about this seriously.

What you need on the first week in New Zealand:

1.       A place to stay

a.       Rent is paid weekly. If you’re moving to a unit, you’ll have to pay the following (or at least something similar to this list) at the start:

·   Bond of 3 weeks rent

·   One week rent in advance

·   Letting fee of 1 week plus GST

b.      When you rent a place, it only comes with a stove with oven. There is cold and hot water. Everything else (fridge, watching machine), you’ll need to bring yourself. I paid a fair price for my fridge and washing machine from the Appliance Shed. I noticed that Harvey Norman and Noel Leeming were a bit too expensive for me back in November 2012.

c.       It will save you lots if you can bring your bedsheets and pillow cases, assuming you will be using the same size of bed (Queen). But apart from those, you’ll need to buy duvet and duvet covers here. You’ll need thess for the cooler weather. For me, Briscoes is the place to buy all things for the home, including heaters as they are reasonably priced and the quality is really good compared with Farmers, Noel Leeming, The Warehouse and Kmart. Just wait for at least 60% discounts as this will save you lots. Don’t buy anything from Briscoes at the normal price as I noticed that they just put a high mark up so they can always have a “Sale”. Same thing for The Warehouse.

d.      If you’re moving to your own place, it’s worth bringing your plates, cutlery, basic kitchen utensils, pots and pans with you. Otherwise, you’d buy a whole new set of kitchen and dining things that you probably already have so consider saving your money from these unnecessary purchase.

e.      You can delay buying a washing machine and use the classic hand washing, like I did or, you can just go to laundry shops. A colleague before insisted that I get a dryer especially for the winter months. But we managed to survive up to now, without using a dryer. A dryer also sucks up a lot of electricity. We used a dehumidifier to help us dry clothes indoors during winter. It’s certainly a cheaper alternative. And if the sun’s up, we use the clothesline to dry our clothes.

2.       Know how to get around Auckland

a.       Maxx.co.nz provides you the bus, train and ferry time tables and routes. I used this as well while looking for a place to rent. Kasi requirement ko yung maraming bus options and shorter travel time so it’s easier for me to get to and from work. If you live in sub-urbs outside Central Auckland, frequency ng bus is every 30mins to an hour so if you miss the bus, sira na schedule mo!

b.      Get an ATHop card. It’s cheaper to use ATHop card (you just tag on/off in the bus, ferry or train) than if you pay in cash.

                                                               i.      Kids 5 and below are free

                                                             ii.      Know that there are differences in fares for child, student and adult.

c.       Get all the maps in Britomart

                                                               i.      Libre yun and it helped me understand the geography better. Yes, there’s google maps but, I still found these maps very useful as it helped me find the bus stops, understand the bus and train routes, and know how easy or complicated it can be for me to get from point A to B.

d.      Get a car if you have the money for it

                                                               i.      Auckland is such a wide city and having a car certainly cuts down the commute time. I used to walk 20mins to get to the train station, spend 30 mins in the train (assuming it’s on time) and then walk 12 mins to get to the office.

                                                             ii.      Get a second hand car, just something that runs and can get you around. Then later on you can always sell it or swap it for a better car.

e.      Use your feet.

                                                               i.      Wear comfortable shoes and know that roads can be hilly. Don’t be surprised to see locals, especially children walking barefoot. That’s normal.

                                                             ii.      Walk around your neighbourhood. Walk to discover new routes, shortcuts and to see the locals.

3.       Get a Bank Account

a.       The bank will only require a passport. You do no need to deposit any amount upon opening an account.

b.      They will give you an EFTPOS card which you will need this for most of your purchasing transactions. Here in Auckland, most of the shops use EFTPOS. Bihira yung cash only na stores. In fact, you can survive a year without using cash.

c.       All bill payments and even your rent ideally should be processed via internet banking. Note that you can get charged if you ask for paper statement of accounts. You can schedule payments (like your weekly rent), and make one-off payments. Bank to bank transactions are normal.

4.       Internet connection – for job applications and to find every other info like bus time tables, etc.

a.       If you’re just flatting, usually, kasama na ang internet access sa weekly rent mo. But if you’re moving to your own unit/ house, you need to get an internet plan (packages can be a combination of mobile plan and internet, pure internet, internet and landline)

b.      The big internet providers are Spark, Vodafone, 2degree. Just walk in their shops (just google their website for package details and shop locations) and make the arrangement there.

c.       Most of the big retailers here have a website thus shopping online is pretty common and can actually be convenient.  You can even have your grocery delivered to your door (Countdown has this service)

d.      If you’re in IT, having an updated LinkedIn account helps

5.       A NZ mobile number –so employers can contact you

a.       If you have your data phone, tsagain mo na yan. Be sure to bring a converter with you, for all of your gadgets kasi mas mahal kung dito ka pa bibili.

6.       Apply for IRD number

a.       This is like your TIN. Employers will be asking for this. The sooner you get this done, the better.

b.      You’ll need at least your passport and/ or a driver’s license

c.       This can be done at any KiwiPost shop (if you have a driver’s license) otherwise, you’ll need to go to the IRD office in Takapuna or Manukau.  Just check out their website: http://www.ird.govt.nz/

d.      Upon application, it will probably take 10 working days for you to receive your IRD via mail

7.       Know where to get food

a.       Cooking your own meals is always cheaper than buying them

b.      Know where to get the fairest price on food/ grocery items:

                                                               i.      PakNSave has the cheapest retail prices on grocery items, and New World is the most expensive. I used to go to Coundown and it was only half a year later when I realized that I can save a lot (at least $50) if I go to PakNSave instead. And this is where we buy our rice too kasi hubby still can’t do without rice.

                                                             ii.      Average cost of meals is $5 to $8.50 – I would compare this to the budget lunches that we have sa Manila, yung P50, P75, P80 meals. No drinks so it can save you lots if you just bring a water bottle. P2.50 rin ang cheapest na bottled water that you can get from a dairy.

                                                            iii.      There are Asian stores that carries Pinoy products so yes, steady ang supply namin ng toyo, patis, suka, knorr cubes, at sinigang mix. Nasa pantry namin yan parati.

8.       Enrol yourself, and the family to a nearby GP clinic

a.       This is very important especially to those who have children as the government provides a good portion of health subsidy

b.      GP services and most medicine for children 5 and below are free

9.       Pre-school

a.       Kindergarten:

                                                               i.      If your child is 3 years old or is approaching 3, he/ she is eligible for enrolment at a local kindergarten. Hindi nila yan tatanggihan and free naman (donation lang ang hingi nila).  Note that you might be put on a waitlist depending on the current roster and capacity of the kindergarten.

                                                             ii.      You can look up Auckland Kindergartens or just survey your local. It’s ideal to have the kids attend these sessions so they can grow their social wings

b.      Think about other options like daycare, play centers, etc.

                                                               i.      Think about lang muna at this stage kasi these are mostly paid services Hindi naman ito mandatory. But once you start working, siempre iisipin mo rin kung saan mo iiwan ang mga chikiting

10.   School – primary school pa lang ang panganay ko so that’s all that I can share muna

a.       If your child is at least 5 years old, you can enrol him already sa Primary School, 9am to 3pm usually ang oras ng pasok; You’ll only pay for a donation, and school supplies.  Ideal rin to enlist your children to the local primary school even if they’re still toddlers so the school can better prepare themselves by knowing the upcoming number of new entrants.  Hindi kayo tatanggihan ng school. They will only ask for some proof to show that you’re actually living within their zone like Tenancy Agreement and Utility bills.

b.      The school uniforms can be expensive so just start with the basics kasi hindi naman sila usually very strict. Also, kung di ka ma-selan, ask the school where you can get second hand uniforms. I got a pair of shorts for my son kasi walang available sa store before, and he’s been using it for 2 terms now. Ok pa rin naman, pwede pa siguro yun for 2 more terms.

c.       Ask about Before School Care and After School Care

                                                               i.      This is for working parents who need to drop their kids earlier or pick them up much later than the school hours.

d.      If you want to enrol your kids to a Catholic School (kami sa Marist), kahit na baby pa yan, magpa-enlist na kayo agad even if you’re not sure that you’re actually enrolling the child to that school kasi mahaba ang waiting list, at least that was my experience here at Marist Primary Mount Albert.  I enlisted both my kids to the school when they arrived back in early 2013 when they were still 3years old and 1year old. Pasok na sa roster yung 1 year old ko for 2016 but my son was on waitlist. When he turned 5 mid last year, nasa waitlist pa rin kami so I enrolled him to another school. He finally got in at the start of this school year, February.

11.   Clothes

a.       If you arrive during the cooler months, March onwards, it is worthwhile to invest on some basic warm clothing and I highly recommend going to DressSmart for these (it’s a mall for outlet stores in Onehunga).  So by basic I mean:

                                                               i.      An outer jacket ideally with hood (coz it rains/ drizzles most of the time here in Auckland and an umbrella is not always helpful especially if there is strong wind)  - puff jackets from Kathmandu are popular, I don’t have that but I managed to survive using a hand-me-down soft fleece that I layer with another hand me down outer jacket na water proof. I also have a hand-me-down coat that I rarely use, only when it’s really cold (below 8). It doesn’t snow in Auckland so pwede na ang layering.

                                                             ii.      Thermal shirt – This helps especially if you are like me who can survive with just layering clothes. I bought 3 for $50 at Macpac back in 2012.

                                                            iii.      Closed shoes for walking – This is for those who doesn’t have strict dress codes and had to do a lot of commuting. I wore rubber shoes for about a year, and jeans most of the time. Di kaya ng powers ko ang mag dress/ skirt during cold months. I need to try it next time with fleece leggings. Hindi pa rin ako nakakabili ng boots. Hindi naman yun required, but I must say, maganda siya tingnan at siguradong hindi giginawin ang paa mo.

                                                           iv.      Dito ko lang pala na-gets kung bakit sa mga American movies, yung pambahay nila ay jeans, tipong pang-alis natin. Kasi pala dahil sa lamig, magsusuot ka talaga nun atsaka ng mga long sleeved clothes or jumpers, dahil sa lamig! At hindi dahil sa porma.

                                                             v.      Depending on the nature of your work, napansin ko na hindi naman particular sa pananamit ang mga locals dito. Timplahin mo rin ang work culture at huwag ka na lang magtaka if you’re better dressed than the rest kasi yun na ang nakaugalian sa atin sa Maynila.

12.   Apply for a Library Card

a.       Libre ito, and you can use their facilities so you can use the internet and print your documents for a small fee.

b.      You can also borrow books, CDs, DVDs and even toys!

13.   Enrol for the next Kiwi Career Success Program that is sponsored by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.  Website: http://www.newkiwis.co.nz/global/job_seeker/kiwi_career_success.aspx

This is free and is ideal for skilled migrants who have been in the country for up to two years who are either on work or residency visa.  I learned a lot from them in terms of job search and helped me establish a small network of friends too.