{"id":446356,"date":"2026-05-26T17:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/446356\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T17:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:29:18","slug":"the-cost-of-being-an-advertising-creative-committed-to-retail-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/446356\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of being: An advertising creative committed to retail therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0part of our series<\/a> exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an advertising creative shares their financial comings and going.<\/p>\n

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

Gender: Female.<\/p>\n

Age: 26.<\/p>\n

Ethnicity: NZ European and a sprinkling of M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n

Role: Creative in advertising.<\/p>\n

Salary\/income\/assets: $80,000.<\/p>\n

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

Rent\/mortgage per week: $255 a week including bills. Living with my boyfriend and four other flatmates (rough).<\/p>\n

Student loan or other debt payments per week: Have recently paid of my student loan.<\/p>\n

Typical weekly food costs<\/p>\n

Groceries: Approximately $60 a week for myself. Boyfriend and I buy seperate groceries because he eats like there\u2019s no tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Eating out: Rarely go out for dinner to save money. But if we do I\u2019d say $45.<\/p>\n

Takeaways: I am a sucker for a midweek Uber Eats. $20.<\/p>\n

Workday lunches: I try to bring my lunch most days but you know how sometimes you make something and then immediately can\u2019t stand the thought of eating it again? That happens on occasion, so I\u2019d say $15.<\/p>\n

Cafe coffees\/snacks: $0. I don\u2019t drink coffee.<\/p>\n

Other food costs: $200. Tried to start up a veggie garden once. Spent more money trying to keep it alive than I got vegetables in return. Clearly not my forte.<\/p>\n

Savings: I\u2019m in a position where I don\u2019t have many regular expenses, so I\u2019m usually able to save around $2,000 a month. Occasionally I\u2019ll dip into that when my other account runs low. I currently have about $8,000 saved, after recently buying a new car. I\u2019m not saving for anything specific at the moment. Buying a home isn\u2019t on the cards ANY time soon, so I see it more as a flexible fund \u2014 something I can use for a holiday, or keep set aside for unexpected expenses.<\/p>\n

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

Three words to describe my financial situation: Comfortable, sometimes anxious, cruising.<\/p>\n

My biggest edible indulgence would be: A good $14 kumara sourdough from Daily Bread once a month. They\u2019re so good but I can\u2019t justify buying them unless it\u2019s payday.<\/p>\n

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: I don\u2019t drink much, unless I\u2019m going out to a friends house or to a gig. But when I do I\u2019d say $29 for a box. <\/p>\n

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: The petrol crisis is definitely hitting me (and everyone else) at the moment \u2013 it costs over $200 to fill up my car every one-and-a-half to two weeks. On top of that, I\u2019m paying around $40 a week for parking in the city. It\u2019s one of those situations where public transport isn\u2019t really a viable option either, as it would mean catching three buses each way to get to and from work. So unfortunately, there\u2019s not much room for me to cut costs or save more in that area.<\/p>\n

I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: I have a very committed relationship with retail therapy. I love shopping and don\u2019t see that changing anytime soon. I\u2019d say I spent over $3,000 on clothes last year without too much trouble. I did go to Japan last year and managed to do some very successful shopping there, which kept me satisfied for a little while\u2026<\/p>\n

My most expensive clothing in the past year was: If shoes count, I bought a pair of Salomons in Shibuya for about $300NZD. But I ADORE them and I\u2019ve definitely gotten my money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n

My last pair of shoes cost: I bought a pair of New Balance 1000s from someone on Depop for about $50. They retail around $280 so I was pretty pleased with that one.<\/p>\n

My grooming\/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I don\u2019t use a lot of makeup \u2013 mainly just mascara and a bit of highlighter. I do, however, love Japanese and Korean skincare, and probably spend around $200-300 a year on that for the luminous glow. I also get a keratin treatment once or twice a year to tame the beast that is my hair, along with a few haircuts, so I\u2019d estimate I spend about $600 annually at the hairdresser.<\/p>\n

My exercise expenditure in a year is about: I always say there\u2019s nothing more important than spending money on your health, so I\u2019m pretty happy to invest in that where I can. I go to the gym regularly, which is only $7 a week for my City Fitness membership, a bit of a steal. I also do two Pilates classes each week at $20 each, and play indoor social netball every so often at around $8 a week when I\u2019m in a team. All up, I\u2019d estimate I spend somewhere between $1,500-$2,000 a year to stay active and feel good.<\/p>\n

My last Friday night cost: $29. Went over to my parents\u2019 house for a wood-fire pizza dinner and a few drinks (which I bought).<\/p>\n

Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A pair of silver Nike Total shoes. I loved the look of them but they are just SO silver. I have probably worn them twice and don\u2019t know if I ever will again.<\/p>\n

Most indulgent purchase (that I don\u2019t regret) in the last 12 months was: My trip to Japan was definitely my most memorable expense. It was my first proper long-haul trip out of New Zealand, I\u2019d only been to Australia and Fiji before, and it ended up being the best trip I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n

One area where I\u2019m a bit of a tightwad is: Supermarket purchases are where I\u2019m quite conscious of spending. I almost always go for the home brand options \u2013 realistically, they taste the same, it\u2019s just the label that changes the price. If I can save a bit of money by choosing supermarket brands over well-known names, I\u2019ll do it every time.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a house where money was: Money was somewhat tight growing up, but we never went without, there was always food on the table, everything we needed for school, and the occasional treat and sometimes a holiday away. I was taught from a young age to value money and be grateful for it. I\u2019ve always carried that mindset with me and feel really thankful for what I had growing up and especially grateful to my parents for giving me such a great childhood.<\/p>\n

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Probably 2019 during Uni. Probably while out in town for drinks.<\/p>\n

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: I would love to go up the ranks in my job, hopefully have a kid OR a dog with my partner and be on the road to buying my first home.<\/p>\n

I would love to have more money for: Travelling. This is where I really really try to save for. I haven\u2019t been to a lot of places and I would love to be able to travel the world.<\/p>\n

Describe your financial low: Having three bank accounts open and all of them having $0. Having to borrow money from my parents for rent and living off Marmite and toast for breakfast lunch and dinner. Again, I am extremely grateful to have parents that can help me out in tougher situations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As\u00a0part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an advertising creative shares…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[492,300,111,43,139,69,2935,13087],"class_list":["post-446356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-comments-enabled","tag-money","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-society","tag-the-cost-of-being"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446356","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=446356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}