As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a first-year English teacher explains where their money goes.
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Gender: Female.
Age: 22.
Ethnicity: Pākehā.
Role: First-year English teacher.
Salary/income/assets: $64,083.
My living location is: Suburban.
Rent/mortgage per week: $0 – I live with my mother, but contribute to the bills. About $150 a week.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: $30k student loan.
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: My family handles all grocery shopping – I contribute $30 to a meal subscription service, which gives us three dinners a week.
Eating out: Close to $100 – my friends and I are all foodies, and love to go out, usually about twice per week.
Takeaways: Rolled in with eating out above.
Workday lunches: I often partake in the weekly $2 school sausage sizzle.
Cafe coffees/snacks: I might be the only teacher in Auckland who doesn’t drink coffee – it saves me a lot of money.
Other food costs: I splurge on little luxuries from the supermarket – nice cheese or pate.
Savings: I am obsessed with saving, and have been my whole life. Apart from my restaurant habit, I control my own spending very tightly. I have $40k in savings, in the same bank account I made when I was 12.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Tightfisted, privileged, union-dependant.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: Kikorangi blue cheese.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $0.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: $50 on petrol.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: Well under $200 – I shop exclusively at op shops/thrift stores, and beg, borrow or make the rest.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: A pair of nice work pants, $25 at Savemart.
My last pair of shoes cost: $150 hiking boots from Macpac, two years ago and still going strong.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $0 – I don’t wear makeup, and I cut my own hair (badly).
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $5 a week for my local pickleball league.
My last Friday night cost: $25 for a plate of fish, plus $6 for parking – $31 all together.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A $42 plate of pasta at a posh Ponsonby restaurant… could have gotten better at any pub.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: A massive, $150 cake for my birthday. It was delicious, and lasted us a full week.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Clothing. I’m regularly wearing stuff that should be thrown out, but I believe in mending everything until it can’t be worn without a public nudity charge.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Scrooge-ish, food-motivated, saver, thrifty, dedicated.
I grew up in a house where money was: Tight. We’ve always been a single parent household, and were on and off the benefit throughout my teenage years. Me starting work has really helped.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Sometime in high school… 2018?
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Putting more into my KiwiSaver, moving up the teacher’s pay scale, and perhaps being a bit more confident spending my money.
I would love to have more money for: Travel!
Describe your financial low: As a child, being very conscious of where money came from and what it meant to not have enough. It wasn’t fun, but it made me appreciate the value of saving.
I give money away to: Student campaigns – Pink Shirt Day, 40 Hour Challenge etc.
