As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a willing victim of the brain drain is earning enough to travel, help his family and save for his future.

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Ethnicity: Mixed Pākehā/South East Asian

Job: I moved to Melbourne nine months ago, bought my flights without a job lined up but managed to suss one before I landed. I’m an engineer on an infrastructure project making $117,000 AUD (~$125K NZD), inclusive of the 11% super contributions. This is my third job out of uni. I effectively got a 60% salary increase by moving across the ditch. The brain drain is real.

My living location is: Inner-suburban Melbourne.

Rent/mortgage per week: My partner recently bought the apartment I live in, I’ve just started paying them $2,000 a month with the aim to pay off the loan as quickly as possible.

Student loan or other debt payments per week: I have NZ$29,000 in student debt, I pay $500 a month to minimise the overseas interest rate. 

Any major upcoming costs: Lots of upcoming travel.

Typical weekly food costs

Groceries: Around $100 a week.

Eating out: Trying to cut down on eating out so maybe $50 a week.

Takeaways: $20.

Workday lunches/cafe coffees/snacks: $20. I take lunch to work but might have to buy something once a week. I make my own coffee every morning and take it to work, which equates to a $20 bag of coffee a fortnight.

Savings: AU$35,000 that I’ve managed to save in the eight months I’ve been working in Australia, somewhere around $20K in Sharesies, and $6,000 left in my NZ bank account.

I worry about money: Rarely, but the cost of living in New Zealand makes me worried for my parents.

Three words to describe my financial situation would be: Lucky, rapidly growing.

My biggest edible indulgence would be: $6 Melbourne coffees at some trendy alleyway cafe.

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: I don’t really drink but might buy an $8 G&T at monthly after-work drinks.

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: My work covers my daily public transport commute, but I pay $50 a month in fuel.

Lifestyle costs

I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: Maybe $500? I don’t buy clothes often.

My last pair of shoes cost: A $40 pair of questionably legitimate Ultraboosts from Vietnam.

My annual grooming/beauty expenditure includes: $50 on two haircuts.

My exercise expenditure in a year is: Close to $1,000 on climbing gym memberships, not yet including the $300 I’ll need to spend on a new pair of climbing shoes since my current ones have a hole in the toe.

My last Friday night cost: $8 on a G&T.

My most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: The $100 flight change fee when I got my flight times wrong.

My most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: I paid for my mum and two brothers’ upcoming Christmas flights to Melbourne for ~$2,500.

One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad: Books and ebooks. I pirate a lot of ebooks and have joined multiple libraries.

Five words to describe my financial personality: Higher quality is worth it.

I grew up in a house where money was: Tight. Parents pretty much earned just above minimum wage. We always had food in the fridge and wood for the fireplace though.

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Some time last year, when I just hadn’t transferred enough into my spending account.

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Prospering. I think my salary will be increasing further with some pay rises and a job change or two in the next couple of years. My loan will finally be paid off and I’ll probably have enough to buy myself a house.

I’d love to have more money for: Paying off my parents’ mortgage.

My biggest financial low was: It would have been in early 2019 when I couldn’t get a job after university and was burning through my savings after travelling.

I give money away to: Buying flights for my family and shouting dinner for my friends who visit.

Want to contribute? Send us an email briefly describing your situation at costofbeing@thespinoff.co.nz

Read the previous Cost of Beings here.

Linda the Laser Kiwi was wild, but absolutely nothing could prepare New Zealand for one woman’s pair of bare arms.

Election night was full of surprises, from a computer generated Kiwi giving birth to MPs live on Three, to John Campbell announcing live on TVNZ that Brooke Van Velden was “doing” Simon O’Connor in Tāmaki. But among the many shocking moments that captured the attention of the nation, there was one pair of bare arms that firmly flexed on the rest. 

When she emerged from the Luxon residence, biceps bulging under the weight of everyman savouries and Hell’s pizza for a ravenous media scrum, Amanda Luxon was met with a barrage of questions. Had she rolled the pastry herself? Was the tomato sauce Watties? What flavour was the pizza? But all the while, the internet had other, more (bench) pressing questions. 

“Forget National’s fiscal plan, we want Amanda Luxon’s exercise regime” wrote the Herald, quickly reporting on an online frenzy. “Amanda Luxon has got BICEPS!!!” wrote one X user. “The only true winner of this year’s election was Amanda Luxon’s biceps,” said another. Then there was the reaction to the reaction from across the political spectrum, summed up by HDizzy:

“I know we are meant to be outraged and I get it but Amanda Luxon does have great arms and I would be interested in knowing what I should be doing to get great arms.” 

Perhaps this is no surprise. Arms, especially women’s arms, remain a rarity on our screens. Historians can trace this back to a TVNZ document unearthed from 2016 AD, requesting a “more utilitarian style of dress” from female presenters and that “anything that distracts the viewer from what you are saying is a no-no”. The biggest no-no of all? “No bare arms.”

Since that groundbreaking papyrus was penned, arms have continued to get people up in arms. Famously, Michelle Obama’s toned triceps were analysed, criticised and tutorialised, right up until the poor woman had to publicly uncouple from them last year. Closer to home, TVNZ’s Hilary Barry has always attracted attention with even the smallest hint of daring deltoid. 

“It is time Hilary acted and dressed to her age,” outraged viewer Jocelyn barked on Seven Sharp’s social media following the release of this unprecedented off-the-shoulder number in January 2020. “Off the shoulder clothing is for YOUNG WOMEN not old women, it makes her look like a street worker.” Hear ye: if ye ladies enforce your right to bare arms, Jocelyn WILL smite ye. 

As for Amanda, the social media attention was so powerful that her arms were high on the agenda in this morning’s AM interview with our newly elected prime minister. After discussing the state of coalition negotiations and treaty principles, it was onto gun control: “Lot of talk on the weekend about Amanda,” Ryan Bridge began coyly. “What did you make of the reaction?” 

“It was quite hilarious,” Luxon replied. “She said ‘I think I’ve had my biceps for quite a few years and this is the first time people have noticed them’.” Not that The Spinoff was taking notes or anything, but he also revealed that Amanda’s secret is that she is “really fit” and lives a much more active life than shovelling tonnes of mini pies into the open mouths of political journalists. 

“She gets up, does a big run in the morning and then she is sorted for the day – she’s a pretty busy person,” he revealed. The Spinoff also understands that Amanda values “diet and exercise”, was a ballet dancer “for years”, and her first date with our new prime minister was to go to an “aerobics” class together. Not that we were taking notes or anything.