As soon as you’re set up with a bank account, you can download the app for your bank and have a real-time view of money coming in and money going out. We are with the ANZ bank, and their app lets you set notifications for when a certain amount of money or more is deposited into your account. Handy for when you like to know when your salary gets in. It also has the option to get a notification when your balance goes below a certain threshold. This one is particularly handy as many banks charge a fee when you go below 0 on your balance.

When you just arrive and are looking for a house to rent you will find this app very useful. It lets you search available properties on your smartphone much easier than the website version on your phone. It has the same features as the website but is quite a bit faster and has a few extra benefits. In the app, you can set up a saved search which will send you regular updates with new listings that match your search criteria. It also sometimes allows you to schedule viewings straight from the app or contact the property manager from there. When you are looking for a new place and have a couple of different viewings on a day, it is nice to use the app to look at the property again and think of any questions that are not answered in the ad.

You can find the property app here.

Just like the TradeMe property app, there is also a more general TradeMe app. This one is specifically for buying and selling second-hand or pre-owned items. As a move abroad can be quite expensive, why not try to find a new coffee table here instead of a new one at the store? Don’t forget to filter by region, unless you want to pick something up on the other island.

Find the app here.

The app to download for information on recent earthquakes is GeoNet. New Zealand has a lot of earthquakes every day but most go by unnoticed. When you do notice one, and when it is over, you can report it in the app or find more information about it such as the strength of it, how deep it was and where it started. You can set notifications for earthquakes of a certain magnitude as well to stay informed of what is going on in different parts of the country or just near your location.

The app can be downloaded here.

Most telecom providers have an app, I’ve used the one from Spark first and later switched to Skinny as my provider. Both apps are nice to stay informed of your data and minute usage. It allows you to top up if you have a prepaid account or link to your bank account for automatic top-ups. It also has the option to auto-renew a plan and buy extra data or minutes when you’ve run out. So, prevent any annoying (billing) surprises, by staying on top of your usage. The telecom companies here have a tendency to keep serving you even if you go past your limits, and then also serve you a nice bill for it with extra fees. That’s a mistake you don’t want to make too often. So get the app of your chosen telecom company and check it now and then.

Time to start networking for a job or meet new people who enjoy the same things you do! With the Meetup app you can find groups of people with similar interests to yours, both professionally and for fun. There are Meetup groups on tons of subjects and I’ve joined and met up with groups to get to know the developer network here for example. This will help you to meet new people in an informal atmosphere and get started on rebuilding your social life and/or get to know the professionals in your field here.

Get the Meetup app here.

This one is Christchurch specific, but perhaps other cities have a similar initiative, it’s worth a little search if it’s as handy as this one. This is the app for your bin collection. Sounds pretty boring right? I thought so too, but it sends me a reminder the night before bins will be collected and also lets me know which ones to put outside. The bin collection is organized that every week our biological waste material is picked up, food scraps, weeds from the garden, eggshells, etc. Then every other week they alternate between the trash and the recycling bin. I’m a big fan of recycling and I think it’s great they have special bins for it here, paper, cardboard, glass, certain types of plastic, they all go in here. Now my favourite part of the app is that it helps you to figure out where your trash item goes. Got a plastic bottle and don’t know if it is for recycling or trash? The app has a really long list of items and in which bin they are supposed to go. The plastic bottle is recycling but the bottle cap is trash. Lastly, it reminds me to get the empty bins back into our garden in the evening after bin collection has been done. So easy, just set and forget and it will do all the reminding for you.

Get the app here.

With these 7 apps you are well on your way to becoming a local. If you know any other good apps specifically for New Zealand, I’d love to know! Get in touch through social media and let me know what your favorite app is.