How much did you have to budget for studying abroad at Wellington?

I budgeted $8K(US) total for the Trimester ($4000 for tuition/books, $2000 for housing, and $2000 for food/incidentals). The exchange rate is $1(US) = $1.5(NZ) so my budget was more than enough. I am a Veteran so I am also receiving GI Bill benefits to offset costs.

When I got accepted into Vic I immediately started doing research on all the places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do. Traveling was a big part of the experience for me. So I have two answers to your question. If you're just trying to budget for school, my expenses were $350USD per month for groceries (I eat a lot though) along with having enough money to go into the city on the weekends (I would recommend an additional $100-$150. However, if traveling is a big part of your plans then the budget needs to be much greater. I'll break it down the best I can:

-To rent a car between 5 people will cost an average of $60NZD (car, insurance, gas) for a 3 day weekend.

- You'll need to budget to sleep in hostels (average $25NZD) or if you're traveling independently I would recommend looking into Couch Surfer when you get out here

- Food of course. When you're out traveling you'll want to go to restaurants and have fun so keep that in mind. A meal will cost you around $20NZD

You also have to keep in mind the big ticket items. I did some very expensive experiences that I had not planned to when I came out; for example:

-Skydiving in Taupo: $500NZD

-Bungee Jumping in Queenstown: $160NZD

Hiking the Franz Josef Ice Glacier: $325NZD

You're to have a mid trimester break as well. We had two weeks and flew down to the South Island to take a road trip. We rented an RV to be able to camp and all in all I'd say I spent about $1500-$2000NZD (On the car, plane tickets, food, and experiences) in these two weeks.

Wrap up: I did a lot of traveling (Like every weekend, renting a car and seeing amazing things- I even ended up buying a car out here) But don't get me wrong, as long as you can get a mode of transportation there's infinite things you can do for free. New Zealand is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I ended up borrowing a big chunk of money from my parents because I was not prepared with my budget. I know everyone's budget's ranged a wide variety and I would definitely recommend other perspectives but I would ultimately say if I were to do this again I would shoot to come to the country with around $3500USD. That will be very close to my total when I leave New Zealand. I came over with $1500 on my own, and borrowed another $2000 from my parents.

I want to include one more thing though. While Im already in this part of the world, Im extending my traveling before I return to the US. Once classes end I'll be traveling for 8 more weeks across a little more of New Zealand, Australia, and SE Asia. Consider this in your budget. I'm planning on spending another $1500USD during these two months, bringing my grand total to $5000USD.

I know this is a ton of information but I hope I can at least help you out a little bit and feel free to reach out with more specific questions if you'd like!

The hall is around 4.000 NZ $ and you have to pay it all together at once before coming and obviously the flight is also a bit expensive but once here you won't spend much. Traveling is cheap, food is at european price more or less... But there is always a cheap option. It depends on you. I live in a catered hall so food is included so i don't spend more than 50$ per month.