{"id":259550,"date":"2026-01-30T16:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/259550\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T16:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:06:19","slug":"the-cost-of-being-a-formerly-reckless-currently-penny-pinching-music-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/259550\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of being: A \u2018formerly reckless, currently penny-pinching\u2019 music writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0part of our series<\/a> exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a writer with \u2018no assets aside from a decent sense of humour and a positive attitude\u2019 explains their financial outlook.<\/p>\n

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

Gender: Male.<\/p>\n

Age: 54.<\/p>\n

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

Role: Music journalist, currently writing a book. One son, who\u2019s out flatting and is about to finish uni. I live with my partner, who is the primary wage earner in our household. <\/p>\n

Salary\/income\/assets: I personally earn around $5200 a year plus whatever I can sell on Trade Me. I have no assets aside from a decent sense of humour and a positive attitude, which I definitely need nowadays. My partner earns a lot more than I do, but we are not living la vida loca. <\/p>\n

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

Rent\/mortgage per week: $620 weekly for a South Wellington two-bedroom flat. Our landlord is very kind and cares about us as tenants, so our place is cosy and well-maintained. I realise how lucky we are in this regard. <\/p>\n

Student loan or other debt payments per week: I have paid off my student loan, and I have no other debts. I also don\u2019t have a credit card, which is a sensible decision for someone like me. I also know I am very lucky to be debt-free. <\/p>\n

Typical weekly food costs<\/p>\n

Groceries: Around $250-ish a week. We do pay to get our groceries delivered. We don\u2019t own a car, and I have osteoarthritis, so delivery helps with both. I do most of the cooking in our house, so I pay fairly close attention to what we buy. <\/p>\n

Eating out: I can\u2019t even remember the last time I ate out. We eat out maybe twice a year? <\/p>\n

Takeaways: Oh, yeah \u2013 Basin Noodle House is King! Roughly twice a month, we\u2019ll get Uber Eats.<\/p>\n

Workday lunches: Leftovers and scraps at home. Always delicious, though. <\/p>\n

Cafe coffees\/snacks: Almost never. I don\u2019t drink coffee, so I don\u2019t visit cafes very often. I do love a cheap and nasty custard square, though. <\/p>\n

Other food costs: We spend a ridiculous amount on soy milk, which is expensive but necessary. On the plus side, we have a bunch of trees in our backyard that provide apples, lemons, peaches, and figs. <\/p>\n

Savings: I have an addiction \u2013 records \u2013 so I do save for those. I pretty much sell records on Trade Me to buy records elsewhere. It\u2019s a closed system that doesn\u2019t impact our household budget. Sometimes I can\u2019t buy anything for months, but I always appreciate how lucky I am to have any discretionary spending at all. I also have a minuscule amount in my KiwiSaver that\u2019d last me about five minutes if I needed it. I worry constantly about my future.<\/p>\n

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

Three words to describe my financial situation: Broke, anxious, lucky.<\/p>\n

My biggest edible indulgence would be: I have a fairly unhealthy relationship with Whittaker\u2019s Fruit & Nut. <\/p>\n

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $0.00. I am a former addict \u2013 25 years clean and sober, cuz \u2013 so booze or any other recreational goodies don\u2019t feature in my world. That said, don\u2019t ever step in between me and a lemon-flavoured Lo Bros Not Soda. <\/p>\n

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: I LOVE walking, so my transport fees are very low. I\u2019ve never owned a car, so I\u2019ve used public transport most of my life when needed. If my partner and I desperately need a car, we have hired a Mevo in the past. It\u2019s never really been a problem not owning a car. I probably spend $20 a month 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: I generally buy all the new clothes I need at once, every few years, from the same store. I am not a dedicated follower of fashion. I pretty much base my entire wardrobe off one guy, Ian MacKaye, who will no doubt be familiar to about three readers. Punk rock\u2019s values have ruined my sartorial elegance. <\/p>\n

My most expensive clothing in the past year was: Nothing to report, really. Although I did buy two pairs of brightly coloured socks from AS Colour recently, which I love.<\/p>\n

My last pair of shoes cost: Listen, we all reach an age where a pair of New Balance 860s enters the frame. I think I got my last pair on special, so maybe $180. Expensive, for sure, but with arthritic knees and ankles, I don\u2019t have much of a choice when it comes to footwear. It has to be sensible rather than stylish nowadays.<\/p>\n

My grooming\/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $0.00. I trim my own Santa-like beard. Luckily, all my hair fell out years ago, so a quick home trim sorts out the few remaining stragglers. I do buy a fancier-than-average moisturiser because I am covered head to toe in eczema. #sexy <\/p>\n

My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $0.00. I walk everywhere and do weights and stretches at home. I have diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, so exercise is super important for all those conditions. I\u2019m motivated enough to get out the door and exercise daily. This does mean having to buy new trainers more regularly than I\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

My last Friday night cost: $0.00 home-cooked meal, watched Taskmaster on the laptop, did the usual New York Times puzzles, and then my dearest and I cuddled on the couch while we read our respective books. Low-cost and pretty much perfect. <\/p>\n

Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: Underwear. New underwear is the bane of my existence. Trying to find a pair of undies to fit a 54-year-old man who\u2019s fat but fit is a nightmare. They\u2019re either too tight, too chaffing, too loose, or they only last a month or two with all the walking I do. I regret every single pair of boxers I buy. Please send help. <\/p>\n

Most indulgent purchase (that I don\u2019t regret) in the last 12 months was: This is a big one! My partner and I had been saving for 18 years to buy a house, but we gave up on that dream last year after realising it just wasn\u2019t going to happen for us. So we went to Japan for three months instead! We spent a ton of our savings, and it was totally worth it. We\u2019d never travelled farther than Auckland before, and I never thought we\u2019d travel overseas at all, so it was a very big deal for us to spend so much money. Back home now, and broke again, but it was such a privilege to travel so far and experience a different culture for so long.<\/p>\n

One area where I\u2019m a bit of a tightwad is: I mean, everywhere. Our budget is quite tight, but from my lounge window, I can see people sleeping in cars. I have experienced homelessness in the past, and I know I am fortunate to have a roof over my head. I\u2019m not going to complain about not being able to afford an avocado. <\/p>\n

Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Formerly reckless, currently penny-pinching. <\/p>\n

I grew up in a house where money was: I was raised by my dad, mostly, and we had a lower-middle-class, suburban lifestyle until my early teens, when my dad lost everything in a bitter divorce. He never discussed it with me, which wasn\u2019t good for my long-term financial literacy, but it was obviously a stressful time for Dad, and it affected my life in myriad ways. My dad was able to crawl out of the poverty pit, but he died far too young, financial stress having played a major role. <\/p>\n

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Last week. I didn\u2019t check how much we\u2019d spent on the big shop, and our grocery account was empty when I went to buy some eggs. Not a disaster at all, but it was a reminder of how expensive groceries have become and how it\u2019s probably time to go over the budget again.<\/p>\n

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: In the exact same position. I\u2019ve found it impossible to find work, and I don\u2019t want to go on a benefit again, because I\u2019ve had such appalling experiences with Work and Income in the past. My partner and I live a very low-key life, so while it\u2019s not ideal, it\u2019s fine to live on one wage. I would love to contribute more to our household so we could live much fuller and less stressful lives. As a survivor of abuse and addiction, I\u2019ve tried really hard to find work in the mental health sector. But with the funding drying up \u2013 or being paid out to basically a single provider nowadays \u2013 it\u2019s proven pointless trying to find a peer support role. I don\u2019t see my financial situation improving at all. I\u2019ll still be renting, which is worrying, given retirement age isn\u2019t too far away. <\/p>\n

I would love to have more money for: Everything! I\u2019d love to help my son out more, travel more, and buy every single one of the rare Japanese punk releases I covet. Mainly, though, I\u2019d just like to feel more secure about my future. We don\u2019t currently panic about bills, which is great, but having a little more money to plan further ahead would be lovely, too. <\/p>\n

Describe your financial low: I\u2019ve been homeless, unemployed, and desperately poor before, so those times were technically the worst. That said, I\u2019ve also found the week-to-week grind of juggling bills to be extremely stressful and often crushingly depressing. I\u2019m not living the high life right now, and I earn less than I did in my 20s, but I\u2019m very happy with my lot in life. <\/p>\n

I give money away to: I donate to the Wellington City Mission and Women\u2019s Refuge. I also donate to people on the street. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As\u00a0part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a writer with \u2018no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[492,42,300,43,2935,13087,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-259550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-comments-enabled","tag-headlines","tag-money","tag-news","tag-society","tag-the-cost-of-being","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259550","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=259550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}