The real cost of living for New Zealanders

25 May 2011 03:22p.m.

leigh wrote:

I think NZers are taking the piss. WFF has created an expectation & sense of entitlement that we cannot afford and is unfair. We now have a class divide where the voting majority are expecting the minority ((10-12% of high income NZers pay most of the income tax - almost equal to the entire farming industry!). Very easy to make demands when it is not YOU that is paying for them. Bottom line people are not taking enough personal responsibility for their own actions. So NO, in sharp contrast to some of your assumption that the "average new zealander really is trying to make ends meet and thru no fault of their on" it is actually most often peoples OWN fault that they are in a position of facing bills they can't afford. If you are on $40k you cannot afford to have 3 kids. It is that simple. Why should 10% of NZers always be left with the tab? It is not their responsibility to pay for your bad choices. We need more of a balance. GO NATIONAL.

16 May 2011 09:50a.m.

rea wrote:

Duncan as a parent there is no way I would invite a stranger into my house to board, can't be to careful these days and I would rather personally not put my kids in that postion of having someone I know nothing about in a room next door to them.

13 May 2011 08:34p.m.

Anya wrote:

We are getting more and more worried about how we can manage with the rising cost of living. My husband works full time for $48k per annum and I work part time. My wages cover our childcare with about $30 to spare. We have no debt but barely break even. It would only take a car repair bill or dentist work to really cause problems. We were used to saving but are lucky if we can save enough now to cover any emergencies. In addition to the rising petrol costs both of our places of work are condemned following the EQ. We are lucky to still have work but my work will move over to the north of the city when we live in the south, so we'll have more outgoings in petrol and increased childcare costs to cover travel to and from work. It would be lovely to shop for groceries without constantly going for the budget options and totting things up as we go, let alone go out for a meal or heaven forbid plan a holiday. John Key and his cohorts make my blood boil. He has no concept of what it is like.

13 May 2011 04:01p.m.

Duncan wrote:

Almost every single one of these comments below shocked me - most of these people are 'struggling to make ends meet' when there are obvious things to be doing to get out of them. I've never starved because I've always ensured I plan ahead, work hard, and such. I've built myself up from nothing to having a small thriving business still paying not much more than some of you are earning, but I'm happy with what I have.

To use examples - K(the first post below me) - You really need hire purchase? Life insurance? Daycare? Home ownership is expensive. As a rule of thumb you must keep 6 months of wages in savings. If you had done this, you would be better off. When you were working full time you should've been building up this cushion. In fact pretty much everyone should be building up this cushion but instead choose to live from paycheck to paycheck - and it is a choice - and therefore expose themselves to the risk that this would happen.

But enough about your situation - there's things that can be done to lift yourself out of the situation you find yourself in. I'm going to make some assumptions here(as I have been doing throughout this whole post so can easily be wrong.) - Does your house have more than 2 bedrooms? It's a common misconception that a child needs a room all to themselves. Time to bunk up to free up an additional room, then find a boarder. This is immediate tax free income. What did you previously do? Perhaps you can do a bit of contracting to companies who don't need a full employee, but can use your services. Pick up the phone, make the call. If you have Internet as well as a Telecom Landline, combine the two using VOIP to save up to $40-$50 a month. Switch to Powershop, they're great. Most importantly, never give up and when times are better, learn from what happened and build up that emergency cushion.

Never blame the government for your choices - the thing that separates someone earning six figures from someone who isn't is usually passion.

12 May 2011 05:51p.m.

K wrote:

i was shocked to see john key make the comment "lifestyle choice" for those on benefits. I was made redundant in october and have been looking for work in my area everyday. i am on the dpb as i have 3 children and i left their father last year. once i pay my mortgage, phone, power, rates, house car contents & life insurance, daycare and hp i have $70 to pay for food and petrol. i need to drive my kids to school as we live on sh1 and no bus stops near and too dangerous to walk. getting enough groceries for 1 adult and 3 children for a week cannot be done on $50 (i used to do $250-$300 a fortnight when i was working fulltime) i cannot afford to pay my doctors bill as this would affect my petrol or food. i bake what i can but doing so uses milk, butter, cheese or eggs all of which cost alot. i feel bad about being on a benefit as i have worked most of my life before and since i had kids but it sucks when there are just no jobs in the area and the ones that are are either LOW pay, i'm not qualified for or the hours are too late/early for childcare etc!

11 May 2011 07:01p.m.

Mike wrote:

We dont have any starving in NZ. The problem is expectations are such that people think they are starving if not have sky tv, can't eat out several times a week, can't have alcohol/smokes/pot/p etc ...

We have a lot of complainers wanting a bigger share in the public trough.

The probelm in NZ is we have too few contributors to put into the public trough, and too many eating out of it.

How much does it cost to live? Well if you buy a loaf of bread you have some variety in what you can pay, and you could buy the flour etc and make your own even cheaper! While bread prices are quite high, flour is still quite cheap. We have people chose convinience over cost, luxeries over essentials, then claim they cant afford.

11 May 2011 04:58p.m.

WorkgMumof3 wrote:

The next TUI billboard....Aotearoa, Land of the long white cloud....YEAH RIGHT!! I think this sounds more accurate.....Aotearoa, Land of the longest dole queue!!! Government is all about power and control, if any kiwis think otherwise, if you think government gives a shit about your 2min noodle dinner when there dining at some of the top restaurants in the country...you are a damn fool! You can not find me a politician who knows what it is like to have to add items in a supermarket trolley before purchasing them, Im so over hearing how John Key lived in state housing and how Paula Bennett educated herself using government assistance....SO WHAT??? Now that you recieve that 6 figure income you forget fast about the people at the bottom....I cant wait to be educated in this country (1 year to go!!) and head across the ditch where they will pay me for what Im worth, I have no longer have loyalties to NZ...think about this John Key and all your OOMPA LOOMPAS when you rest your heads on feather filled pillows....Aotearoa, Land of the doom and gloom...THIS IS ON YOUR SHOULDERS!!

10 May 2011 07:28p.m.

Pookie wrote:

I am definitely worse off. The times I have been in work I've either been made redundant, the company has gone under or I have been too sick to continue working and have therefore been on and off benefits for the better part of my life. I am studying currently to increase my chances of finding long term work, and am struggling on my student allowance (same as a benefit minus accommodation supplements - the max on a S/All is $40 towards accommodation). I am soooo thankful I am in a Housing New Zealand house, as I pay only $50 a week for my rent. I live alone (by necessity, not by choice) after my husband left. I have looked into going flatting to see if it would decrease my costs, but it would actually increase them by over $50 weekly, so I stay put. I don't have a car, I catch the bus to uni 4 days per week and don't go anywhere on the weekends. I don't drink, smoke or go to movies - and after paying my basic bills and then having only $40 a week for food/toiletries/cleaning products etc, I'm lucky if I have $2 a week left over. I'm screwed if I need to visit a doctor, or if my clothes deteriorate as I can't afford to replace any of my almost non-existent wardrobe. It's never been so hard to make ends meet... I'm lucky I don't have kids!

10 May 2011 01:57p.m.

Chris wrote:

The soaring cost of living is bad enough, but far worse is the way our government stands by impotently and allows it to happen. We get rorted by the banks, screwed by the supermarkets, and shafted by the telco's - and the government does NOTHING! NZ is becoming a nation of serfs, which suits the govt just fine.....just as long as we keep paying those taxes.

10 May 2011 01:04p.m.

Richard wrote:

Gosh, someone got made redundant so their living standards have dropped, and it's the PM's fault. And you call this journalism ?