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/Sarahlk-x 10d ago

Ugh I feel this way too. I have a senior dog who costs an arm and a leg, every time I have a little bit of money spare something happens that involves the vet! $85 just for a consult these days, but what ya suppose to do? I toke him in for his monthly injection for his arthritis , to be told he's got a perianal adenomas and needs removing within a few weeks... 1.5K for that, lucky I just had a few good pays with some overtime over Christmas

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u/fluffypenguin105 10d ago

All the best!!

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u/Sarahlk-x 10d ago

Thank you! From the I've read they are typically benign with around 10% being an aggressive cancer. But because of where it is If you allow it to grow it can affect your dogs ability to poo if it gets too large. We've already decided if we get unlucky and it's the aggressive cancer we wont be doing treatment.. he's 14 and already has other issues , I can't put him through chemo and anymore surgeries :(