{"id":544716,"date":"2026-07-26T11:43:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T11:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/544716\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T11:43:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T11:43:01","slug":"the-cost-of-being-a-broke-hungry-stressed-single-mum-working-full-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/544716\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of being: A \u2018broke, hungry, stressed\u2019 single mum working full time"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0part of our series<\/a> exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a registered nurse outlines her financial situation.<\/p>\n

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

Gender: Female<\/p>\n

Age: 41<\/p>\n

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

Role: Full time RN, full time single mother to two boys ages 8 and 12<\/p>\n

Salary\/income\/assets: $109,000. Homeowner with $450,000 in debt.<\/p>\n

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

Rent\/mortgage per week: $600<\/p>\n

Student loan or other debt payments per week: $200<\/p>\n

Typical weekly food costs<\/p>\n

Groceries: $250 per week for one adult and two kids<\/p>\n

Eating out: Never<\/p>\n

Takeaways: Twice per year<\/p>\n

Workday lunches: None<\/p>\n

Cafe coffees\/snacks: None<\/p>\n

Savings: I have $4,500 in savings \u2013 this is from IRD working for families at the end of the year. I am not able to save on my own.<\/p>\n

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

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

My biggest edible indulgence would be: Protein powder.<\/p>\n

In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: Zero.<\/p>\n

In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: Bus, $15. Petrol, $50. Parking, $12.50.<\/p>\n

I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: Zero.<\/p>\n

My most expensive clothing in the past year was: I haven\u2019t been able to buy myself clothes in the past year.<\/p>\n

My last pair of shoes cost: $350 for nice Asics that I only use for work. I work on my feet all day and have terrible plantar fascitis and Asics are the only ones that help with the pain. I actually got money from my parents for these as I couldn\u2019t afford them on my own.<\/p>\n

My grooming\/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $85 per year for a haircut for myself.<\/p>\n

My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $1,404. OK, this is a lot. But I am trying to get stronger for my kids.<\/p>\n

My last Friday night cost: Nothing, we stayed home.<\/p>\n

Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: Nothing.<\/p>\n

Most indulgent purchase (that I don\u2019t regret) in the last 12 months was: New heater for the house. Had to take out a loan from the bank but being warm inside is essential. My kids\u2019 health is the most important thing.<\/p>\n

One area where I\u2019m a bit of a tightwad is: Everywhere! We never eat out, go on trips or buy unnecessary things. Clothes are always secondhand, food is meticulously planned, and any activities have to be planned out way in advance.<\/p>\n

Five words to describe my financial personality would be\u2026 Very conservative but absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a house where money was: Very tight.<\/p>\n

The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Yesterday.<\/p>\n

In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: In the same place. I am going back to school in February for postgrad studies to further my career and become a CNS, but will have to take out student loans which will add to my debt. Maybe after five years I will be able to take home more money.<\/p>\n

I would love to have more money for: My kids\u2019 activities, travel, some new clothes and to pay off debt faster.<\/p>\n

Describe your financial low: Last week I went without dinner because I had no money. That doesn\u2019t feel good at all. I had to buy food for the kids but couldn\u2019t afford any for me.<\/p>\n

I give money away to\u2026 No one unfortunately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As\u00a0part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a registered nurse outlines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[300,111,43,139,69,2935,13087],"class_list":["post-544716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","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\/544716","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=544716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}