dude, where are you now?

now in brisbane. flying to Auckland day after tomorrow.

i know.. just the keyboard at the cyber cafe sucks big time.. sorry,...

ehmm TT takes 3 days rite to get here...
the hsbc thing i mention.. just for precaution.. maybe i'm in rush need the money to transfer rite away.. that's what i;m thinking..

hohoh got the traveler's cheuques edy..

once arrive there,, sure can open bank and cash all the cheques.

how to spell cheque??

traveller's cheques is a very expensive (and obsolete nowadays) way of transferring money across borders......you will easily loose 2-3% in exchange loss and transaction fees........

tt (telegraphic transfer) is a quick way of transferring money, usually in 1-2 days, but also incur a very high charge, from both the sending, and receiving ends..........only use this in an emergency.....

the most cost-effective non-urgent way to transfer big sums is by bank drafts (or demand drafts)...... incurs minimal charges buying, and zero charge receiving, when deposited into an account.....that's how we transfer our funds...........

for small amounts, especially during travels/visits, use your msian bankcard with either plus or cirrus facility to withdraw money at foreign atm.......instant cash, small charge only.......but of course limited by the limits of atm withdrawals allowed..........

using foreign debit card in NZ will incur a charge of NZ 5. ATM allow you to draw out NZ 1000 per transaction. if you wanna draw out large sum of money, the easy way would be TT or bank draft.

'Cheque' is fine. Unless you want to go American, then it's 'check'. Since you're coming to NZ, better use 'cheque'.

HSBC might be convenient (provided you can do a direct transfer across borders) but if there isn't a branch in Christchurch, it won't help much in an emergency. A better precaution would be to just watch your spending so your account balance never drops too low.

I like ASB's interest rates but from the point of view of a student (with few savings), it gets a little inconvenient. I don't know about in Canterbury, but there's no ASB ATM/branch near the Auckland Uni campus. If you need $$$ or to do banking, you'll have to walk a distance. It's not THAT far, but it sure isn't convenient. It was the same in Otago - had to take a ten min walk to town to get anything done. And then there's the difficulty of finding ATMs when you're travelling, especially in smaller towns. There's always EFTPOS but sometimes you will need cash.

Let's not even get started on HSBC... National and BNZ are by far the most convenient. Plus National Bank offers 7.75% for their Online Account.

Btw, if you really want to take advantage of high interest rates, open a foreign currency account in Malaysia. Our banks are offering interest rates as high as 8+% for fixed deposits in NZD. The advantage is interest isn't taxed in Malaysia. If only I had enough cash to make that worthwhile...

there is a cash out facility when you pay by eftpos payment, so you can always top up your cash reserve during a purchase.

note that when you convert rm to nz$, you incur exchange losses........and subject to exchange fluctuations........if you are sending over to spend, that is okay, but if you keep in msia, for the high interest, and eventually intend to covert back to rm.......beware.......you may actually loose money if the nz$ drops........

I am in the process of ITA lodged to NZIS. I heard saving acct interest earn kena tax as well. Student need to pay tax?

True about cash out. But say you need to pay cash for something (eg student group organised trip). It can be annoying to go to a shop to buy something you don't need, just to get cash out. Besides, not all small shops give cash out and you won't want to walk all the way to a supermarket for that purpose. Or maybe it's just me.

Bout the exchange rate - you're right. But it's still something to consider for those who have the means. Fixed deposits don't have to be THAT long and from the looks of things, it's unlikely the NZD will fluctuate much within the next 6 months or so. I wish it would though...
Anyway, there's a risk factor in every investment. It's up to the individual to do the calculations and weigh the gains against the risk.

Btw, are you studying/did you study in NZ? I always had the impression you in the US...

Yep, every dollar earned in NZ is taxed from wages to interest. Students are not exempt. And if you don't have an IRD number, you get taxed more.

Welcome to New Zealand.

This post has been edited by wornbook: Jan 22 2008, 02:44 PM

ehmm plan to self cater there.. so..
anyone can suggest what dish economic to cook there?? especially malays food.. hehee

i'm afraid learn something that i cant cook there.. hahhaa

i will be doing that too, but will dine out for the first few weeks just to familiarise myself with the city

My method is to 'cheat'. I just buy those instant sauces/seasonings from Msia (so much cheaper than here). Cut up meat and vege, add sauce as per instructions, stir, cook and viola - rendang, herbal chicken soup, satay, assam fish, prawn mee... You name it, I've got it.

That's how I cook anything that isn't a combination of salt, pepper, oyster sauce, and soya sauce.

So if I have/get a IRD number (link here BTW), what do I do with it? And how much less is taxed on your bank interest? The iRD is currently taking close to 30% of my bank interest! *(^&$%#%^^*(&)(*_)&*%&^$&

Limeuu is omnipresent.

This post has been edited by haya: Jan 23 2008, 09:06 AM

yoyoyo Kia Ora. i am now in Grafton Hall, eating Grafton's bandwidth. this is a freakin small room. who wanna hang out in Auckland?

huhuhu later if go oklen.. contact u k..
kia ora

ok but i stay in auckland not oklen k

Fried Rice...
the easiest food that i cooked before

Inform the bank and give them your number. Then inform IRD - you might be able to claim back some of the extra interest paid.

Kia Ora and welcome.

So you're in one of the rooms in the main building? Ya freaking small alright. Some of the rooms in the villa/house building next to the main one are bigger. Did they put all the Malaysians/IMU students on the same floor again?

can we bring the seasoning from malaysia???

like perencah nasik goreng adabi???

50/50 chance. Sometimes customs lets it through, sometimes they'll ask you to chuck it.

You can buy them at Medowlands these days if you're in Auckland.