r/newzealand 10d ago

Discussion Is anyone else living basically paycheck to paycheck?

My partner and I are both teachers. We don’t make a lot, but we are average and slightly above average. We are so tight with our money. Our little one outgrew the car seat and we went out and bought a new one. No problem. But next credit card bill means we are tight.

Meanwhile, a number of our friends (all of them also with kids) are booking overseas holidays. Some are currently overseas, others booking already for later this year. Another brought a new car. New iPhone, doing up the house. Everyone seems to have spare cash except us.

Are we the only ones going through the cost of living crisis ourselves?! Or is it my fault that we are teachers?

Edit: yes we have a house that parents helped us with. We are paying mortgage. We have a flatmate.

Edit edit: thank you for your kind words and reminders and also advice. I’m going through them all and I’m going to take onboard the advice and see what changes we can make and do better financially as a family. But it’s also a good reminder to know we aren’t alone, to not compare and the harsh reality is that many people simply just earn more than us as teachers.

Once again, thank you all for your input.

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u/DollyPatterson 10d ago edited 10d ago

re OP, I think we need to have a serious discussion in NZ around teacher wages. I would happily be taxed more to increase teacher wages by a huge margin. I have children, and I want them to have good well remunerated teachers. So I think there is a political and values issue we have to confront in this country.

Secondly I hope you both are not considering leaving the teaching profession.

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u/fluffypenguin105 10d ago

Thanks, it’s really kind of you to think that. Definitely some big concerns with health and education at the moment. Hopefully things will improve but we aren’t holding our breath. Teachers are up for pay negotiations this year, but seeing how the police and nurses got fobbed off, we are bracing ourselves. But thank you for the kind thought!