As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a New Zealander in Germany explains the pros and cons of living and spending in Europe.
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Gender: Female
Age: early 20s
Ethnicity: Pākehā
Role: Unemployed — just started an OE in Europe but struggling to find work.
Salary/income/assets: Currently zilch. I get $350 a month from family. Right now I’m living off savings.
My living location is: Urban
Rent/mortgage per week: My partner and I share one bedroom in a flat with two others, so my rent works out to be roughly $200 NZD per week. Sharing a room is definitely the only way we can afford to live in our chosen city.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: I have a student loan sitting in the background but since I’m not working right now I’m not paying anything towards it. I try not to think about the accumulating interest.
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: Hard to say as we’ve just moved into a new flat where we’re sharing some essentials with the other tenants, but my partner and I probably spend about $60 per person on groceries. Groceries are much cheaper in Germany and insanely better quality.
Eating out: $0. While we’re still jobless we can’t afford to eat out.
Takeaways: $0, one because we can’t afford that kind of luxury and two because we’re in the middle of a huge city, everything you could ever want is always right there.
Workday lunches: We always eat lunch at home.
Cafe coffees/snacks: Maybe $20 max, mostly on snacks while out and about. Coffee is fucking terrible here so I don’t even bother.
Savings: Currently living off savings as we just left NZ about a month ago. I’d managed to save about $10,000 before we left, about half of which I’ve converted to Euros and the other half I’m keeping in NZD in case we have to bail out suddenly.
I worry about money: Always.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Precarious, dwindling, conservative.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: I do love a giant pretzel or basically anything from a German bakery.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: Maybe $10 a week. Booze is so cheap here – you can get a bottle of wine for €2 and it’s still better than a cleanskin in NZ.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: We pay €63 a month ($126ish NZD) for the Deutschland Ticket, which gives you unlimited access to trams, buses, the underground, overground and even the regional trains throughout the whole of Germany. It’s a pretty pricey upfront cost but I’d say we definitely get our money’s worth.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: Maybe $150? I buy most of my clothes secondhand and try to repair old clothes where I can.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: I bought a secondhand shirt from the designer rack which was $30, but it’s high quality, looks great, and is a super comfy material for summer.
My last pair of shoes cost: $40 for some Birkie knockoffs from Number One Shoes.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I went to the hairdressers for a cut and colour at the start of the year and that set me back nearly $300, so I’ve been living with my badger stripe and split ends since then. My mum stockpiles skincare and lends me products from her fountain of youth, so I’m currently still coasting on that nepotism. Makeup costs me about $100 a year for my three essentials: Benefit eyebrow gel, Too Faced eyeliner, and Maybelline mascara.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: My gym membership in NZ was $400ish a year. I haven’t found a gym/can’t afford a gym yet in Germany, so running is my main form of exercise at the moment.
My last Friday night cost: About $8 for some frozen pizza and wine.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: I had quite a big opshop haul about a year ago and a lot of it is stuff I don’t actually wear. I’m usually quite good with keeping a small wardrobe so idk what was going on for me that day.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: Flights to Europe.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Groceries. I’ll always buy the budget brand, I don’t care if it’s “worse”.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be… Disorganised, frugal, short-sighted, easily overwhelmed.
I grew up in a house where money was: Abundant. It wasn’t splashed around, but it was always there.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Probably a couple years ago, when I was still studying and living off the weekly living costs loan.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Hopefully still living overseas, but with more stability and freedom.
I would love to have more money for: Travelling around Europe.
Describe your financial low: When I was still at uni and paying a ludicrous amount of rent for a box room with no window, and I was in between jobs so my only income was student loan, and since most of that was going on rent I’d have maybe $60 leftover for food and activities.
I give money away to: The Green Party.
