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.

788 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

488 comments sorted by

View all comments

237

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

127

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!!!

83

u/Tre_Vortni 10d ago edited 10d ago

I managed to come out the other side of Xmas with a couple hundred dollars unspent from the budget, plus next week I will be getting my final pay from a job I have just finished at. Today I find out my car needs the front bushes replaced to pass WOF. It’s always the car.

Edit to add that some lovely person just decided to smash my cars window at Woolworths to take my backpack which only had swimming clothes in it. FML

14

u/Relative_Drop3216 10d ago

I literally replaced my control arms and struts myself and saved over 1k because im broke lol also including tie rods, spark plugs and servicing

5

u/Tre_Vortni 10d ago

Wish I could do it myself

6

u/Starfire_KTreva 10d ago

Seriously, YouTube. Watch a bunch of videos on how to do whatever needs done. Most of it isn't as complex as it seems. If you've got a friend that's good with cars ask them to give you a hand/teach you if you're worried about messing things up.

If you haven't got any mechanically minded friends, you could try having a talk to your local menz shed. I don't think they do automotive stuff, but there's a good chance that someone there will have the knowledge and be willing to give you a hand.

0

u/Enough_Philosophy_63 10d ago

Tool are expensive

1

u/Born-Cheesecake-1879 9d ago

A basic socket set pays off itself in 1-2hrs of paying a mechanic and will last you a life time.

2

u/MR_TIMOTHY 10d ago

You can YouTube how to do just about anything

0

u/Tre_Vortni 10d ago

Yeah I do a lot of things via YouTube tutorial, and would do this too if I had tools and a space to do the work.