As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher aide living in a small town explains where their money goes. This instalment of The Cost of Being is brought to you by Westpac.
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Gender: Female.
Age: 40.
Ethnicity: NZ European.
Role: Teacher aide, mother to a 12 and 14-year-old.
Salary/income/assets: $1,200 per fortnight. My husband brings in $3,000 a fortnight. We own our own home with a mortgage of less than $200,000.
My living location is: Small town.
Rent/mortgage per week: Mortgage is $630 per fortnight.
Student loan or other debt payments per week: $100 per week of loan payments (from getting double glazing).
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: $300 per week for a family of four.
Eating out: Rarely – only on special occasions.
Takeaways: $50 per week ish. It’s mostly pizza and it’s not every week.
Workday lunches: None for me. $30-$40 per week for my husband.
Savings: Saving $400-$500 per week minimum for various house costs (like getting a new heat pump etc). Our bathroom really needs doing so we will put money aside to do that without adding to our mortgage.
I worry about money: Sometimes.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Thankful, cautious, comfortable.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: Fancy bread or donuts from the Pak’nSave bakery.
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $20ish – a bottle of wine lasts a weekend for me.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: Husband and I share a car, and I often walk home after work, so petrol is about $30 per week. He gets public transport or rides his bike when he doesn’t have the car so thats about $5 a day for the public transport.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $200.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: The jumper I knit cost around $200 in yarn! Other than that, a Dangerfield skirt which was on sale for $60.
My last pair of shoes cost: $40 online Skechers clearance.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $50ish? I cut my own hair and use box dye. I use minimal makeup.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $0. My job involves a lot of walking.
My last Friday night cost: $0.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A board game that I hated and no one wants to play.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don’t regret) in the last 12 months was: Flights to see family. $1,000-ish – flying isn’t cheap any more!
One area where I’m a bit of a tightwad is: Power. I have the inherited attitude of “just put on another jumper”.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Impulsive towards novelty but sensible with big purchases.
I grew up in a house where money was: Donated to a lot of causes but also frugal. My mother was frugal, my father was impulsive and would talk openly about finances to random people.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Probably 10 years ago during my husband’s study. Things were tight-tight then.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Giving more away, saving for bigger things.
I would love to have more money for: Travel. I’ve done a couple of overseas trips and a fair bit of Aotearoa when I was young.
Describe your financial low: Having $2 in our account to last until next pay day during my husband’s study.
I give money away to: We support a number of folk on Patreon/Substack as well as regular giving to Forest & Bird and Just Speak. Donating is so important to how I live and view the world.
