As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a uni student describes the ‘sobering’ financial realities of living away from home.
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Gender: Female.
Age: 20.
Ethnicity: Pākehā.
Role: Student with part-time job, very occasional volunteer with Wellington City Mission.
Salary/income/assets: Around $80 a week through part-time job (hopefully getting more hours), $323 a week through my student loan (the only way I’ve been able to survive without more work), around $1,500 in savings that is really a backup for when my Studylink payments stop, and around $2,000 in KiwiSaver that is getting very minimal contributions.
My living location is: Suburban.
Rent/mortgage per week: $1,250, split between five with a staggered rent – I pay $230.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: N/a
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: Around $20 a week at the market for fruit and veg, and anywhere between $40 and $100 at the supermarket depending on who is cooking, what is needed, and if we are stocking up on basics. Typically would say $50 is normal, though every week is different right now (before classes start up again).
Eating out: Rarely if ever, simply no space in the budget though would like to try and make it out once a month with my flatmates to sample our local restaurants.
Takeaways: Once every month or so (if that), around $20 per person.
Workday lunches: Leftovers but occasionally get the cheapest option ($6) from uni if lunch is forgotten.
Cafe coffees/snacks: Very rarely go to cafes given I am much more of a tea drinker, but will get the occasional long black or iced Americano – $4.50 to $5 depending on where I go.
Savings: Money only goes into my savings account if I get income outside of my Studylink payments and work, which rarely happens – birthday money from family members is the only recent time my savings increased. I have a stockpile of around $1,500 from when I was working more but it is reserved solely for bills and I have not touched it for anything else. I am abstractly saving for an exchange year a few years down the line, and would also love to get my motorbike license (and an accompanying motorbike) in a few years, but right now I’m stuck on getting by week to week.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Lucky, anxious, balancing-on-a-tightrope.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: Whittaker’s chocolate. It’s the only chocolate I will buy and I use it often in baking. This is my only indulgence with food, I will happily buy the cheapest version of everything else.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $20 – a cheap pint at the pub on occasion, more often a bottle of wine or two split with my flatmates and the occasional homemade Aperol spritz (weather permitting).
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: $30 – purely on the bus. I live a technically but not practically walkable distance from town so my Snapper card is well used and regularly topped up. I try to walk to the supermarket but walking back is the real killer sometimes.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $1,000. I went thrifting very very regularly when I first moved out of home and into uni halls, as I had significant savings to burn, but since going flatting this has plummeted.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: A light brown jacket with big domed buttons that I bought when my younger sister came to visit me. $120, on sale. I wear it pretty frequently but wish it was a different colour – I’m tossing up dyeing it but don’t want to ruin it forever.
My last pair of shoes cost: $25, thrifted. Red patent leather slippers that have straps that tie up my legs like pointe shoes. Hurt my feet and impractical but very cute.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $150 max – I very rarely wear makeup and get cheap options of everything else because I find spending money on beauty products when I could get literally anything else extremely painful, and I am happy to trim my hair myself if it needs it.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: My parents pay for my pool membership which is $55/month, so around $660 a year. I am very privileged in this sense because if it was on my dime I would not pay for it myself and so forego my occasional swims. Otherwise I walk a lot which is my main form of exercise.
My last Friday night cost: $10 for the Didi into town, went to watch the tennis at a pub with a good friend who bought me a drink for coming out! Usually it’s not much more than that as I am not a big drinker, especially not in town given it’s three times as much as at home, and I never eat out.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A $100 thrifted leather blazer that I’ve probably worn three times. I loved it when I tried it on (as is always the way) but it’s just too formal and a touch too big for me to wear as a normal jacket.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: A thrifted fur coat, $50. I’ve only worn it out of the house once because it’s so dramatic but I truly love it with my whole being. It’s the type of purchase I think older me will gladly thank me for.
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Shopping for anything that’s not food. I very rarely buy new “stuff”, except for CDs, and I thrift pretty much everything else.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Blindly fumbling in the dark.
I grew up in a house where money was: Not really talked about, and never a problem. I was privileged enough to go to a private high school, though I know now that it was and still is a huge financial burden on my parents getting me and all of my siblings through that. My parents didn’t spend huge amounts on us and we never had name-brand clothes or anything like that, but at the same time money never constrained us.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Maybe a year ago? I always check my spending account balance on my phone before I buy something that costs more than $10 because I never quite know how much is in there, though I occasionally forget and am subsequently embarrassed.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Still scraping by, hopefully graduated with a reasonable paying job but I will be saddled with approximately $100,000 of student loan debt. Hopefully more in my savings having picked up more part-time work, but also hopefully will have achieved both of my savings goals so might be cleared out! I would also just like my rent (if I’m still flatting, which I would assume so) to take up less than half of my weekly income. Small steps!
I would love to have more money for: Everything. Buying better food, going out for dinner more, getting my friends and family proper presents for their birthdays/Christmas. I would also very much like to achieve my savings goals and be able to leave my savings accounts alone, instead of dipping into them on the weekly. I would like to feel that buying something small every week (seeds for the vege garden, tester paint pots to decorate my shelves with, food from a cafe) wouldn’t be financially crippling or guilt-inducing.
Describe your financial low: Probably right now. I have been flatting since November and it’s the first time in my life (apart from six weeks of solo travel I did during a gap year in 2024) that I have had to fend entirely for myself. It’s sobering, the financial realities of living away from home. I am living paycheck to paycheck, and digging myself a giant hole of student loan debt. Despite this, I love the freedom that moving out has given me and I have a joyous life as a student. I am lucky to be employed by a living wage organisation and I am living well despite my lack of money.
I give money away to: The very occasional fundraiser, usually ones that I have connections to through friends or people I know. I wish I had the capability to give more but unfortunately I don’t.
