The cost of being: A thrifty apprentice who’s saving up to travel

As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 21-year-old explains why she’s always on the hunt for a bargain.

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Gender: Female.

Age: 21.

Ethnicity: NZ European.

Role: Second-year apprentice.

Salary/income/assets: $26 per hour, $28 per hour for overtime (over 80 hours per fortnight).

My living location is: Suburban.

Rent/mortgage per week: I pay $230 per week in a four-person flat, total rent is $860 per week.

Student loan or other debt payments per week: Debt free!

Typical weekly food costs

Groceries: $40 approx per week for myself (I get most of my food free from work).

Eating out: $0, I don’t eat out unless it’s a family dinner, in which case my parents would pay for me.

Takeaways: Maybe $20 per week?

Workday lunches: $0, my lunch is free from work!

Cafe coffees/snacks: $0, I don’t drink coffee and any cafe snacks I can get from work for free.

Savings: I save $750 per fortnight, this is about half of my paycheck. Having savings is super important to me. I am saving to go travelling overseas once I finish my apprenticeship.

I worry about money: Sometimes.

Three words to describe my financial situation: Focused, comfortable, cheap.

My biggest edible indulgence would be: Sushi, I can easily spend $30 on sushi for one meal, I try to only get sushi once per fortnight so I don’t spend too much on it.

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: I don’t drink often so this would be $0.

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: About $40 per week on petrol, when I bought a car I made sure to choose one that has a reasonable petrol milage as I have to drive to get to work, there are no public transport options available for the hours I work.

I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $300? I very rarely buy clothes nowadays. Me and my friends tend to lend or swap items around if we need anything different.

My most expensive clothing in the past year was: I bought two pairs of new jeans as my old ones were worn through, there was a special of two for $120 so I bought two pairs.

My last pair of shoes cost: I got gifted a pair of Crocs for Christmas which cost $90 retail, so I splurged and bought charms to go on them myself which were about $50.

My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I don’t wear makeup and I get my flatmate to cut my hair so $0!

My exercise expenditure in a year is about: I play football so fees for the year are around $160 and I bought my boots off Trade Me for $8, uniforms were provided!

My last Friday night cost: $0, I had a friend round to my flat and we watched TV and ate food I got from work.

Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: I bought four new books to read when I went camping over the summer, this probably cost $150 including shipping.

One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Nearly everything, I will always choose to wear a hoodie and beanie inside my flat through winter instead of using the heat pump, I use Gaspy to get the cheapest petrol prices. If there’s a way I can get a bargain, I’ll choose that option nearly every time.

Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Saving focused, educated, thrifty, confident.

I grew up in a house where money was: Talked about, my mum was an accountant and really emphasised the importance of savings and controlling how much you spend, she is also a bargain hunter and has taught me how to get the best price, checking Trade Me or Facebook Marketplace, wearing hand-me-downs, and selling items you don’t use to make extra money.

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: A week ago? Every paycheck I transfer a small amount of money to the account my card is linked to so that I can’t overspend. This does mean that I run out of money on my card, but I can never accidentally overspend.

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Secure, hopefully.

Describe your financial low: I don’t think I have had a financial low? I started working my first job at 15 and luckily never needed to help support my family or anything, and so have saved money since I started earning, and because of this have always had a backup fund for myself.

I would love to have more money for: The dentist. Every time I go it adds up to a lot of money, but I know if I don’t go now it will only cost me more in the future.

I give money away to: Every Christmas I will donate a little to Hospice as both my grandads were in hospice care before they passed away.