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Jessica, her partner, their daughter, and their pets live in rural Northland. They moved there seven years ago from Auckland in search of a better quality of life. Jessica is disabled and has been using aids to walk for 12 years. She’s in and out of a wheelchair and is recovering from surgery to remove one-third of her liver. She and her partner (who is her carer) both work part-time to supplement what they receive as supported living beneficiaries. This is a snapshot of where they’re currently at.
Name: Jessica
In my household there are: two adults, one child, three large dogs, and five cats.
Location: Northland
Income: I am a supported living beneficiary. My partner is too because he is my carer. We both work part-time, me with my business and my partner gardening, with varying incomes from this. I started my business due to my illness - so that I could work on my phone from home. We only “rely” on our set weekly amounts due to how our part-time work fluctuates.
Expenses: Our mortgage is $248 per fortnight. We have standard bills like power, internet, and our mobile phones. These are all at the cheapest rates. We also have some old debts that we’re paying off weekly. We pay less for power in winter, as we have a wet back, and we don’t pay for water because we’re on a tank. We set money aside into sinking fund categories like birthdays, Christmas, daughter, car, medical, pets, and savings. I’m sure there are more! There’s a quote that really resonates with me and that describes our relationship with our expenses at this stage. It goes something along the lines of, “if you don’t have enough to cover all the loose ends, then work on having fewer loose ends instead.”
Debt: We have $16,000 in debt. Some of this is old, defaulted debts that my partner racked up when he was younger. He also has student loans. We’ve just finished paying off our car, and our mortgage is currently at $67,000.
Savings: We have approximately $5,000 in savings. About $3000 of this is set aside for house maintenance, $1000 in general savings, and the rest is spread across our sinking funds.
Investments: I withdrew all of my KiwiSaver to purchase our property - there’s nothing left in there. My partner has around $2000 in his. We would both like to contribute to our KiwiSavers more, but neither of us has had stable work since we purchased our property seven years ago.
What would you do if you needed money in an emergency? We’d use our savings. But to be honest, depending on the emergency, we’d often try to solve it ourselves first. If we can cover it by cutting back for a few weeks, fixing it ourselves, or living without it, then we will. Although we’re beneficiaries, we can’t get advances from WINZ because our cash assets are too high, so we don’t use this option.
How would you describe your financial situation? Getting by . . . just. We have enough savings to stop us from falling flat, but no ability to increase our income in any significant way.
Do you feel in control of your finances? We control our finances to the cent. But I feel like the real control lies out of our power. We are at the mercy of life, as messy and unplanned as it is.
Any money regrets? Yeah, getting in debt while we were younger. My partner defaulted on a lot of payments and I racked up consumer debt. We paid off my debt to purchase our property, but are still working on his. I also wish I’d bought my home sooner. We chose to move from Auckland to rural Northland, and our quality of life has improved significantly, plus we’re working on an asset of our own. Our home cost $120,000, but if we’d done it sooner, our property would have been cheaper.
What was money like growing up? We both came from single-parent households with low incomes and large amounts of consumer debt. I personally took responsibility for the family finances at a young age as my mother died when I was 16. I was on my own with no backup. You learn quickly when there’s no backup.
Toughest financial situation: When we were living in Auckland before we decided to move. We were stuck in a one-bed studio flat under someone’s home with a small baby. It got no sun at all and cost heaps. We were both miserable and felt like we were drowning.
Proudest financial moment: Holding the keys to our home for the first time!
Best financial advice: Just keep picking yourself up, even if you get it wrong. Even when you’ve “failed” and when there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Budgeting isn’t about money, it’s about resilience.
How do you think other Kiwis are doing financially? I think a lot of people are struggling. I also think a lot of people are putting on a face.
Where do you want to be financially? I want to pay off my home, sell it, and move into a bus with land to park it on. We’d like to be as off-grid as possible.