As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a nurse on paid parental leave explains her family’s finances.
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Gender: Woman.
Age: 32.
Ethnicity: Māori.
Role: I’m a community palliative care nurse, but am currently on parental leave. I have a seven-year-old and a new baby.
Salary/income/assets: My husband is self-employed. When I’m working, we both work four days a week, but right now my husband is working full time. I have about six weeks left of paid parental leave. We saved $15,000 throughout my pregnancy to get us through the six months after PPL stops so I can stay home until our baby is one. Our combined income is usually about $140,000 per year.
My living location is: Suburban.
Rent/mortgage per week: We have a family of four – two adults, one big kid, one baby. We own our house with a mortgage just shy of $300,000. My husband and I pay $700 a fortnight for our mortgage. We chuck $500 a fortnight into an account for rates, insurance and mileage which usually sees us through OK.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: We both have student loans which currently total about $80,000 combined. We own a small light-hybrid car which we paid off just before our baby arrived. This loan was an interest-free family loan.
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: We budget $200 a week for the shop, but dip into other money stashes every week, so the true budget is probably closer to $300 a week. Our son is a coeliac so we run a gluten-free household, and that shit is expensive let me tell you. We mostly eat a vegetarian diet – cheaper, healthier.
Eating out: We never eat out all together as a family. There is the gluten-free factor and also the kid wrangling factor. My husband and I go for brunch every so often, maybe once every few months.
Takeaways: We plan to get takeaways once a month but in reality it’s once a week. Usually pizza which is about $60 for a reliable gluten free option.
Workday lunches: Husband buys lunch at least once a week – practical and morale boosting on the days he starts early.
Cafe coffees/snacks: I’m a sucker for BK fries and will partake about once a week. I buy a coffee from a local coffee cart about once a week too.
Other food costs: We have a veggie garden that limps along in the cooler months but is much more productive in the spring and summer. We buy a big load of pea straw and compost once a year – probably $300 worth – and spend about $100 on seeds/seedlings per year.
Savings: We put $100 per fortnight in an untouchable amount. We cleaned this account out before our baby was born to clear our car loan debt.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Lucky, surviving comfortably.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: Ben and Jerry’s.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $0 – husband’s a teetotaller and I’m breastfeeding so completely dry. Usually I would go through 6-10 beers a week.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: $50 petrol for the car – we live in a small city and my husband bikes or walks to work.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $2000 – blew a bunch of cash on pregnancy and postpartum wear.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: A Stillman rain cape that fits over the baby carrier – $250.
My last pair of shoes cost: Blundstone boots – $280.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I have short hair so go to the hairdresser every 6-8 weeks – $70 per visit. I buy fancy moisturiser and cleanser every four months or so for about $180. Heck, that’s about $1000 a year.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $0, I’m a couch potato! Got to work on that!
My last Friday night cost: Had a big blowout for my last birthday, spent $500-odd to host a little party.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: Numerous baby and breastfeeding items I thought I would need but didn’t.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: A whole bunch of fancy fabric to make a quilt with, one day.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Trips away – Im a homebody and find traveling anywhere both stressful and annoyingly expensive.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Spend it while you can.
I grew up in a house where money was: Our folks thought it was rude to talk about money so I never had any real idea of our family’s financial situation. There were five kids in my family and only one earning parent. As a child my sense was that things were tight – I was often hungry and felt like a limp biscuit in the clothes we could afford. We always drove a banger that needed something done when the next WoF was due. As a teenager things were obviously very tight, for example the winter power bill caused palpable stress for mum. We were encouraged to start earning money for ourselves from a young age – I got my first job at 12.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: This week during a midweek mini shop. I’m forever logging into my banking app and robbing Peter to pay Paul.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: 1. Still feeling bloody lucky to be breast stroking in the slow lane, rather than treading water.
2. Still dreaming about winning Lotto, even though I’m never in it to win it.
3. High-fiving my husband because we will have just graduated from having to pay childcare fees.
I would love to have more money for: House renos, a trip to Aussie to visit family, a towbar and a caravan.
Describe your financial low: Briefly “luxuriating” on the jobseekers benefit after uni finished and I was at a loose end – this was extremely financially and socially stressful.
I give money away to: The occasional Givealittle, NZ child poverty charities, Wikipedia.
