This is an inblogtweeny . A bit of information on how emigrating to New Zealand has saved me approximately $500  per year on one lifestyle change.

Shoes.

Incase you didn’t know, proper shoe wearing amongst New Zealand school children, is neither compulsory nor fashionable. There are, it seems, three options when deciding which way to adorn your wee piglet’s trotters.

A: Bare (a number 1 choice for a large percentage of the kiwi kids).

B: Flip- Flops  ( when winter hits, they seem to make an appearance).

Or C: One up from flip-flops (but with a strap around the ankle .Not the model shown, but similar, worn by ‘them there high schoolers.’)

 

Whichever your choice, the maximum you will pay is approximately $30 per pair. Already a bargain. I know. But wait…

There is another option. It’s the one that we chose. But remember people, we are homeschoolers, ( and therefore …weird) and this choice isn’t really, well …cool.

Crocs. 

I know. Gorgeous aren’t they?

Comfy as anything, easy to kick off, stylish in a ‘German backpacker ‘sort of way,  never wear out. Crocs.

And I’m not talking the real ones, with the picture of the little crocodile on the strap here. No. (Poor Kids. )

We went, and continue to go for, the replicas that are about a third of the price,  and at the most, need replacing only three times a year. (And that’s being generous.)

My kids have played at piano recitals and have hiked mountains in these beauties, they really are the bomb.

So…Living in New Zealand.

Cost of shoes per year = $90.

Times two kids = $180. 

That’s about 45 pounds. Per Year.

Compared to the Clarkes shoes, which I was buying when we lived in England, which set me back approx 45 pounds per term. New shoes were always needed per term, (I’m sure Clarkes brush some leather shrinker onto their shoes .)

Living in England.

Cost on shoes per year = $360

Times that   by 2 kids = $720 .

A whopping difference of $540 per year saving!

We have lived in New Zealand for nearly 8 years now, so I’m guessing, there should be about four thousand dollars around here somewhere…

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