{"id":108236,"date":"2025-10-30T04:48:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/108236\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:48:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:48:28","slug":"the-cost-of-being-a-full-time-office-worker-with-an-array-of-side-hustles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/108236\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of being: A full-time office worker with an array of side hustles"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0part of our series<\/a> exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an office worker explains their approach to spending \u2013 and saving.<\/p>\n

Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gender: Female.<\/p>\n

Age: 35.<\/p>\n

Ethnicity:\u00a0P\u0101keh\u0101.<\/p>\n

Role: Full-time office worker.<\/p>\n

Salary\/income\/assets: Salary $103,000. Rental income $1,200 a week. Assets around $800,000.<\/p>\n

My living location is: Suburban.<\/p>\n

Rent\/mortgage per week: Rent is $495 weekly split between my partner and I. Mortgage on investment properties is around $1500 a week.<\/p>\n

Student loan or other debt payments per week: $150 a week for loan from family. No other debt other than mortgages.<\/p>\n

Typical weekly food costs<\/p>\n

Groceries: My partner and I both put in $75 a week and that covers the groceries, including cleaning supplies etc. I check out the reduced-to-clear and $1 bin at the supermarket and vege shop almost daily.<\/p>\n

Eating out: A scone or a meal out probably every two weeks so maybe $70 a month.<\/p>\n

Takeaways: Rarely. Fish and chips a few times a year.<\/p>\n

Workday lunches: Once or twice a year.<\/p>\n

Cafe coffees\/snacks: I prepay for coffees from the local, which brings it down to $4.10 (four days a week) plus a few weekends ones. So around $25 a week.<\/p>\n

Other food costs: I have an allotment patch and also a garden at home. I\u2019m trying to grow more from seed this year. Probably $300-400 on compost, seeds and seedlings a year. We go to the bulk bins shop every few months and reduced to clear but that\u2019s covered in our usual grocery budget.<\/p>\n

Savings: Through side hustles (cleaning once a week, extras work, work during the election, online surveys) I save around $6000 a year which I keep in an account for travelling only.<\/p>\n

I worry about money: Sometimes.<\/p>\n

Three words to describe my financial situation: Focused, fortunate, concerned.<\/p>\n

My biggest edible indulgence would be: We\u2019ve cut back on purchases of some food like fruit, cheese, fish\u2026 but will always buy good coffee beans.<\/p>\n

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: In an average month it would be a few glasses of wine out and one bottle of under $10 wine at home. We have quite a few bottles of gin and whisky at home bought cheaply overseas.<\/p>\n

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: I walk the hour to and from work each day so no commuting costs. Maybe $10 on petrol (we only recently got a car) and $10 on my Snapper card.<\/p>\n

I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: 95% is secondhand \u2013 for both environmental and fiscal reasons. Around $500.<\/p>\n

My most expensive clothing in the past year was: A secondhand designer dress for $50.<\/p>\n

My last pair of shoes cost: Secondhand salt water sandals for $6.<\/p>\n

My grooming\/beauty expenditure in a year is about: Threading for $30 every 6-8 weeks. A $55 haircut twice a year. No other beauty treatments. I bulk bought all my skincare and sunblock in Japan recently for $200 but that should last two years. Around $200 a year on makeup (expensive concealer and bargain bin everything else).<\/p>\n

My exercise expenditure in a year is about: My only exercise is walking to and from work. $100 running shoes every couple of years.<\/p>\n

My last Friday night cost: Nothing \u2013 it was our staff Xmas party and then I walked home and had leftovers.<\/p>\n

Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A Temu \u201csmart ring\u201d for $35 (it constantly disconnects).<\/p>\n

Most indulgent purchase (that I don\u2019t regret) in the last 12 months was: I\u2019ve been on two three week overseas trips. The first one to Europe was still under $4,000 and I couldn\u2019t miss the chance to go with family. The second to Japan was fully paid for with side hustles.<\/p>\n

One area where I\u2019m a bit of a tightwad is: Almost everything but particularly food. I can\u2019t get my head around spending $20 on a workday lunch that you have no time to enjoy or $50 on cold Uber Eats.<\/p>\n

Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Bargain-hunting; canny; minimalist; future focused.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a house where money was: Not spoken about often but I was aware that it was a concern. We never went without what we needed but I knew that was because my parents were good with their money.<\/p>\n

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Last month \u2013 despite checking my account multiple times a day.<\/p>\n

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: I bought my first home at 22 and an investment property at 30 because I\u2019m so focused on having an easier life by the time I retire. I know how incredibly lucky I was to be able to do this but it\u2019s not without sacrifice. I lived in a mouldy sleepout while I had flatmates for the first few years and have rented the house out since because it doesn\u2019t make financial sense to live there right now. In five years I hope to no longer be renting and being able to live mortgage-free in my home and without the pressure of the huge mortgages I have now.<\/p>\n

I would love to have more money for: Always travel. But eventually to semi-retire early.<\/p>\n

Describe your financial low: Probably now. I earn a great income and on paper I\u2019m in a great position. But with mortgage rates and the cost of living, what I actually have in my pocket isn\u2019t much. But I know this is short-term.<\/p>\n

I give money away to: I always have at least one volunteering position on \u2013 at the moment it\u2019s being on my allotment committee and cooking for Bellyful. This makes me feel better about not donating a lot. But I pay a Patreon fee of $6 a month to a writer and donate to street appeals for the Women\u2019s Refuge and Daffodil Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As\u00a0part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an office worker explains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,492,246,300,111,139,69,244,245,2935,13087],"class_list":["post-108236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-comments-enabled","tag-finance","tag-money","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-society","tag-the-cost-of-being"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}