As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a ‘cautiously optimistic’ marketing professional explains where their money goes.
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Gender: Male.
Age: 5o.
Ethnicity: Asian.
Role: Head of marketing (transport industry), occasional volunteer. No dependants.
Salary/income/assets: $175,000 base salary (excluding bonuses). Own a three-bed house in Auckland (~$700,000 left on the mortgage), $100,000+ in KiwiSaver, tw0 cars (~$40,000 total value), no other savings or assets.
My living location is: Suburban.
Rent/mortgage per week: My mortgage is $925 per week, and I live alone (by choice) so it’s all on my shoulders.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: I don’t have any personal credit cards these days, and no loans aside from my mortgage – but I’ve been using BNPL providers regularly over the last couple of years as they’ve been an easy-to-manage alternative to a credit card for me.
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: I love cooking for myself and entertaining for friends. I spend around $100 a week on groceries for myself (excluding wine/beer), but can easily add another $200 or more if I’ve got friends coming over. I’m very good with repurposing leftovers though, so my food waste is limited.
Eating out: I really enjoy eating out, but as a solo homeowner with a moderately terrifying mortgage, I don’t eat out with friends as much as I used to. I’m lucky enough to have dinner out every month or two through work though, so I’ve ticked off some great restaurants in Auckland – and I’ve recently started dating a wonderful person who also loves good food, so a couple of nice meals out with them every month works out to around $100 a week.
Takeaways: I don’t buy takeaways these days unless I’m feeling really lazy – maybe once every couple of months – so my takeaway spend averages out to around $5 per week. I bought myself a pizza oven a couple of years ago – a totally self-indulgent purchase that cost over $1000 – but it’s more than paid for itself since then.
Workday lunches: I’ve got some great local bakeries, so I’ll usually grab something on my way into the office. Otherwise I’ll take leftovers from home. Average spend is about $45 per week (three days in the office, about $15 a day).
Cafe coffees/snacks: I’m not a coffee connoisseur and have a pod machine at home, and there’s a decent machine at work (and lots of biscuits!), so I don’t usually spend anything during a normal week (outside of the pods, which are covered in the grocery costs).
Other food costs: I’d love a veggie/herb garden but I’m not green-fingered at all – my garden’s a jungle right now. Maybe next year?
Savings: The last few years have been a financial struggle as a single, middle-aged adult with a big mortgage, and I’d suspended my KiwiSaver payments for a couple of years – but a job change (with a decent pay rise) means that I’m back in KiwiSaver and slowly increasing my contributions. I don’t have any other savings right now, but I’ll tackle that aggressively in 2026. My current lack of a financial cushion is a concern, but I hope to put aside $1000+ a month (over and above my KiwiSaver contributions) this year.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Challenging but improving.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: I love cooking, so I like to buy good ingredients – the most indulgent recently was a jar of pistachio cream for $55.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: At home it’s around $75 per week – a couple of bottles of wine ($25-$30 each) and a six-pack of beer. When I go out I might have a couple of drinks, but I usually drive everywhere so I’m very careful about that – maybe $60 per week in pubs/bars.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: I don’t use public transport often (once or twice a year) and don’t use Uber much ($25 per week, max) as I prefer to drive myself around. I spend about $50 per week in petrol, mostly just going to work and back.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: About $1000, I reckon – although that’s more than I’d usually spend as I take care of my stuff, so my clothing tends to last for a while, but it also means my wardrobe is probably in need of a major overhaul/update.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: A pair of boots that I bought overseas and had shipped directly back here: $200 including shipping, vs $400 locally.
My last pair of shoes cost: $49 for a pair of boots. They were already reduced from $249 to $149, and I unexpectedly got an extra $100 off that price just (I think) because I was nice to the store staff!
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I don’t go to the barber anymore (a pair of clippers saves me $25 a fortnight there) and my skincare routine is pretty basic aside from a specific face cream that I love ($150) that lasts about six months. Including fragrances, I probably spend no more than $500 a year.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: Zero right now – but I really need to get back in the gym!
My last Friday night cost: Nothing (outside of my usual grocery spend). I cooked for my girlfriend and we had a nice bottle of wine that I’d bought.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: I spent $600 on a line trimmer to finally tackle my overgrown garden and have only used it once… My garden remains overgrown.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: A trip to Europe to see friends and family. My folks are getting old and I wanted to spend some quality time with them while they’re still around.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Clothing – but if I find something I like, I’ll buy multiples. I think I’ve got 10 pairs of the same jeans in different shades, 20+ of the same T-shirt in different colours, etc.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Mostly sensible, sometimes impulsively spendy.
I grew up in a house where money was: Tight but never discussed. My financial education was extremely limited, and I made some poor decisions in my 20s – but I’ve got my own home and a great job now and I’m (cautiously) optimistic about the future.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: I can’t remember the last time it happened, but definitely once or twice in the last few years. My previous salary hadn’t kept up with inflation so I had a few instances where I’ve been counting the pennies before payday, but things have been much better over the last couple of years and are continuing to improve.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: With a good financial cushion, and hopefully a smaller mortgage!
I would love to have more money for: Travel. I’d love to go to Japan, as well as visit the whānau in Europe more regularly, but my longer-term plan is to renovate my home so I need to start saving or look at other ways to finance the work, e.g. green loans. I definitely don’t need more “stuff” in my house.
Describe your financial low: After a long-term relationship ended post-Covid, the costs associated with the separation and the subsequent ongoing expense of being a solo homeowner and living alone (by choice, admittedly) was anxiety-inducing at times – but my situation’s improved significantly after getting a new job that came with a 25% pay increase.
I give money away to: I make ad-hoc donations to friends (Dry July, Movember etc) but I prefer to volunteer when I can. Giving my time to organisations like Everybody Eats means that I can do something with direct impact that’s aligned with my values and my interests.
