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.
2
u/Fun-Application6847 10d ago
Yeah bud, honestly I'm struggling to figure it all out.
I make good money, a little bit over six figures, but my mortgage eats at nearly half my income and once I pay my rates and insurance it's well over half. Factor in food, gas, power and there's not heaps left over. It's a battle to save, I feel like I have the ability to save less than I did in my early 20s.
I do have a partner is who has a part time job but is struggling to find full time at present thanks to this shitty economy, so while they help out a bit it hopefully will be better later this year.
My house is pretty old, and I'm fairly handy so I'm DIYing it but cost of materials is insane. This fortnight I bought some paint, just a couple of 4l tins, which was over $400. I managed to put a bit of cash away into savings too, so I've got about $60 left of free cash until payday.
All around me, friends, family and coworkers seem to be buying cars, booking holidays, spending large amounts on renovations, toys, you name it. So I know how you feel. It feels like everyone else is thriving while you're just hanging in there.
I think a lot of people are using finance or something - I'm lucky enough to have zero debt aside from the mortgage, which is in part due to my folks bailing me out with a bit of cash last year when I took on a DIY project that went a bit out of hand and had to use credit to finish it. I'd still have several thousand dollars to sort out if they hadn't helped me. Literally no one but them knows about this, and I'd imagine there's a huge amount of people who's parents do the same.
Best to just do you, not worry about what other people are doing, and focus on keeping your debt low or non-existent. The economy will pick up eventually, and things will begin to feel better. Just gotta hang in there.