As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a migrant expecting her first child and saving for maternity leave shares how she and her partner get by.
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Gender: Female
Age: 38
Ethnicity: Chinese
Role: Social worker
Salary/income/assets: Family income $274k (before tax). Investment + cash + Kiwisavers – mortgage = negative $400k.
My living location is: Urban
Rent/mortgage per week: $1,200. Two of us, soon to be three. Merged finances.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: $0
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: My husband and I spend about $80 at Avondale market for fruit and veges every week, and about $120-$150 at supermarkets(PakNSav and Chinese) for meats and groceries.
Eating out: Close to $0. Special occasions only.
Takeaways: About $150 a month to have takeaways with my in-laws.
Workday lunches: I take leftovers, snacks and fruit with me everyday. My husband spends about $25 fortnightly when he goes to the office.
Cafe coffees/snacks: $0
Other food costs: About $20 every now and then for seeds and seedlings.
Savings: We save/invest $3,300 every fortnightly. We are currently saving up $30k for an emergency, so I can feel secure about taking a year of maternity leave for our first child.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Concise, anxious, planned.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: Seasonal fruits. We buy about 10kg of fruit every week.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $0. Neither of us drink alcohol.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: About $50 for petrol. My husband works from home mostly.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $1,000. I bought my maternity clothes mainly from secondhand shops, Kmart, and a Chinese website.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: $110, a puffer jacket from Uniqlo China.
My last pair of shoes cost: $100. A pair of running shoes when we were in China.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $300. My skin products are mostly included in our grocery bills. I go to my husband’s barber for haircuts for $45, which is incredibly cheap, and David does nice jobs and chats.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: I signed up for a year of gym membership, and then paid a penalty of $200 to quit it, having been to gym twice in three months…
My last Friday night cost: $0. My husband and I are both introverts, not going out is the norm.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: Gym membership! Don’t get me wrong, I used to squat 60kg at the gym in 2019. Something has gone, since the pandemic.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: The trip with my husband to China, or the wedding we spent $12k on.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: I can hear someone saying “you are a tightwad with everything” by reading the above answers… I may giggle and agree with it.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Rehabilitated spender became a tightass.
I grew up in a house where money was: Boomed and busted. My parents had regular poor periods by having more children (you pay the government for the “societal cost” when the law asked you to only have one child). And then they worked their hardest to have millions in the bank, pay for our education… In a way, the meaning of money was a bit twisted for me. I often feel poor and rich at the same time.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: In 2016, when I did not have enough money to pay at my GP’s office, after a minor surgery.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Buying a house in the double grammar zone, or an investment property.
I would love to have more money for: A sense of security to enable me and my family to do or not do anything.
Describe your financial low: The incident at the GP office let me realise that the most powerful, if not the only, resource of a migrant – while you barely have any social connection in a new country – is, money, or the ability to earn money.
I give money away to: I budgeted $4K to give this year. Mainly in the form of cash (in the red envelope) or gift to family and friends. I do a bit of charitable giving via my pocket money, which is close to none. I like Simplicity’s donations survey each year, given most of our Kiwisavers and investment funds are with them, so I feel that I have given heaps to charities.