'We had the most incredible year that I will never regret – but it was financially very stressful.'

'Three words to describe my financial situation: Challenging but improving.'

'I'm not living the high life right now, and I earn less than I did in my 20s, but I'm very happy with my lot in life.'

'I would love to have more money for: Buying back my own time.'

'It doesn't benefit anyone to be whakamā about how we earn, spend and save our pūtea.'

'We both put 8% into KiwiSaver for retirement, because we believe superannuation will be long gone by the time we hit 65.'

'I’ve been in London for seven years ... generally all my savings have been spent on my rights to stay in the UK.'

'Finally paying off my student loan has freed up a chunk of cash each week – which instantly got absorbed into our living costs.'

'Three words to describe my financial situation: Secure for now. However, retirement could be another question.'

'Surgery is looking like it will be around $40,000, so that's where most of it is going for the next few years.'

'Work can be incredibly unstable so I make sure I'm always prepared in case I have to go weeks (or even months) without any income.'

'Sometimes you just have to set goals based on reality. Time is valuable too.'

'No point collecting endless dosh if you've destroyed your world doing it, is there?'

'I’ve been incredibly fortunate in the last decade but I’ll never lose the awareness of what not having money is like.'

'Beneficiary disabled life will never be easy, but at the moment there is a governmental attitude to deny everything, always, and see how hard you fight.'