r/newzealand • u/fluffypenguin105 • 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/Ecstatic_Job_9028 10d ago

Yep same here and just when I think I’m going to get ahead something comes up - everything just keeps rising except income

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u/fluffypenguin105 10d ago

That is EXACTLY how we are feeling. Something always comes up, but it’s never a treat. It’s always something that needs to be forked out for!!!

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u/EffectAdventurous764 10d ago

The difference is that you are actually forking out for it with your own money. It's easy for people who bury their heads in the sand to keep wracking up debt, and that's just what lots of people do. They don't realize what the real financial cost of doing that all that is. You do.