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The Spinoff
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
The cost of being: An administrator who is ‘uncontrollable around a bougie food truck'
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an administrator who who has spent most of their life on welfare explains what they spend their money on. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Lady-coded. Age: 33. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Administration. Salary/income/assets: $62,196 pa. My living location is: Rural. Rent/mortgage per week: $480 rent, split between myself and my partner. Student loan or other debt payments per week: $87.42 student loan, recently completely paid off a personal loan. Typical weekly food costs Groceries: Around $150 per week for two people according to my spreadsheets! I have a very well stocked pantry of staples. Eating out: $25 per person, weekly buffet dinner at a local cafe, then maybe $30 per person beer and kai on a Saturday or Sunday. Takeaways: Probably also around $25 per person, we do it a lot less since we moved way out of town! Workday lunches: $6 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the $4 lunch at Otago Uni (the extra $2 is for a samosa for afternoon tea). Cafe coffees/snacks: $20 max – only go to cafes fairly rarely and when I do, I'm getting a lil treat. Savings: Try for between $200-300 a fortnight, but life finds a way. I worry about money: Sometimes. Three words to describe my financial situation: Safe – for now. My biggest edible indulgence would be: I am uncontrollable around a bougie food truck. In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $20 (ya girl drinkin' top shelf). In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: My partner recently got a work vehicle so we're saving heeeaps. I put $10 on my Bee Card once a month. I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: Conservative estimate around $2000. Since getting a Real Job, I have decided to buy ethically made and well built clothing that will last a lifetime, either new or secondhand. Shit's expensive. My most expensive clothing in the past year was: Bought an incredibly sick matching jacket and jeans (black, contrast stitching) for around $550 all up. But buying a co-ord is actually like buying three new outfits so…. My last pair of shoes cost: $200 Allbirds, all black. Needed some nondescript shoes that can handle wet weather. My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: I bought a $15 eyebrow gel and powder set five years ago that I am still using. I probably spend $50 total on Cetaphil face wash and moisturiser, then my shampoo and conditioner are $30 each, but only once a year-ish. I am very lucky that I never got into wearing makeup and have decent skin. My exercise expenditure in a year is about: $780 for gym membership, and I bought $60 Vans for lifting (flat shoes better) 2.5 years ago. My last Friday night cost: $30, a mere two pints and a soda. Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A pair of shorts that are borderline transparent. Most indulgent purchase (that I don't regret) in the last 12 months was: Aforementioned jacket/pant co-ord. One area where I'm a bit of a tightwad is: I'm not really in any area, sure I buy on sale/in bulk or whatever but I think quality is quality and generosity is its own reward. Five words to describe my financial personality would be: Should think more long term. I grew up in a house where money was: Scarce, mostly. I have spent most of my life on welfare, including the vast majority of my childhood. My mother never shielded us from the reality of the situation, only in the sense that I learned a lot of pragmatism and resilience from her. She told me often when I was young that you always pay your rent first – you can go to a food bank, and you can sit in darkness but you need to have a roof above all else. I grew up in a very supportive community, we were all mostly in the same situation, everyone watched each other's kids, you ate at whichever house you happened to be in at that time. Money was loaned without an expectation of exact repayment or on any time scale. When I went to uni and met rich people I was really shocked at how miserly they are! The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Six months ago, at the dentist. It was the day before payday so my account was dry. In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: I am going back to school next year to train as a teacher, so I see myself as being stable and secure, probably not wealthy. My partner has a good job getting better, but hopefully in five years that'll all be going right down the drain to kids and a mortgage :) I would love to have more money for: The kind of clothing that they sell in shops where they kick you out if you ask what the price is. Describe your financial low: At one point I was supporting myself, my mother and my brother on just one person's sickness benefit due to immigration stuff.
The Spinoff
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
Ghost bus: why is Motu Move taking so long to arrive in Canterbury?
The new public transport payments were supposed to be operating in Canterbury already. What's happened? Last year, people in Canterbury were expecting a subtle, but useful, change to how they use public transport: the advent of the Motu Move system, which would allow Cantabrians to tag on to the bus with their debit card. Going region by region, the plan was for Motu Move to replace existing ticketing and public transport cards, concluding in Otago at the end of 2026. With one system in the whole country, the same card could be used for taking the train in Auckland, the ferry in Wellington and the bus in Christchurch. Though only one card would be required (and contactless debit cards could be used to tag on too) the pricing of public transport would still go to each individual council. But although Motu Move was supposed to be operating in Canterbury by mid-2025, with an earlier rollout in Timaru and Temuka, Cantabrians are still scanning their Metro cards. The only sign of it, so far, is Christchurch's route 29 bus – supposed to be an initial pilot before the broader system was implemented. Running since December, a NZTA spokesperson said that 27,000 trips on the 29 route have been paid for with debit and credit cards – 35% of adult fares on that route. 'The pilot has proven that the base contactless payments components of the system work and that more customers than expected have been keen to adopt the new payment options,' NZTA said. However, the broader system is well behind schedule. A re-confirmed plan for delivery in Canterbury, then the rest of the regions, is expected in August, NZTA said. The National Ticketing System governance board is also conducting a review to identify problems with implementation; a report will be delivered at the end of July. Deon Swiggs, the Environment Canterbury deputy chair and holder of the transport portfolio, says that the delay has been 'frustrating'. 'NZTA have to communicate with us,' he said, noting the communication has improved in recent weeks. 'We need to know what's happening so we can communicate it to our residents.' The initial plan was to roll out Motu Move in Timaru and Temuka early this year. Timaru has on-demand shuttle buses, and there's a bus route from the South Canterbury centre to Temuka. Both towns have on-demand transport services. 'It's a smaller and more confined system [than Greater Christchurch] – a good test to iron out the kinks,' Swiggs said. One reason that Canterbury had been selected as the first area to deploy the Motu Move upgrade was that its current ticketing system with a Metro transport card is up for renewal. 'We were operating on the assumption that Motu Move would take over Metro in Christchurch,' Swiggs said. Until the council receives an updated timeline, it's not clear how much it should invest to keep Metro running in the meantime. The benefits of the Motu Move system are clear. Elliot Weir, an Otago Regional councillor, uses their Bee Card frequently. Outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the Bee cards are operated by all other regional councils with public transport services, meaning Weir was able to tag onto the bus as normal when they visited Hamilton recently. This could make it even easier for visitors to a region to use public transport, rather than needing to borrow a car or use rideshare services. 'Queenstown has a bus that goes to the airport – it's always packed,' Weir pointed out. The Motu Move system will also mean users can tag on with digital credit cards, and top their card up on their phone. 'I've been known to forget my wallet – it's super handy if you can still tag on with your phone or watch,' Weir said. Swiggs has appreciated using his Google Wallet to take the 29 bus. As Motu Move rolls out, most councils will stop accepting cash fares. 'It's more efficient to tag on than for drivers to manually count cash,' Swiggs said. 'If it costs an extra five or 10 seconds at every stop, and there are 50 stops on a route, that adds up to nearly 10 minutes – we know that reliability is the first thing users want from a public transport system.' Environment Canterbury plans to work with the City Mission and Housing First Christchurch to get their clients up to speed on the digital system; low income people are often those who depend on cash. When implemented, the ticketing system will also gather better data about which routes are being used – ideally helping transport planners to ensure their services respond to where people want to go. Motu Move does represent a major technical challenge. But other countries have conquered the 'pay with your debit card' challenge years ago: Singapore, Sydney and the Netherlands all have this option available. 'It's really simple to just have one card,' Swiggs says. 'It's been en route for a long time.' Debit card tag-on is already available in Auckland (which will eventually also be integrated into Motu Move), and on Wellington's airport bus. But Cantabrians will have to wait months even just to find out when Motu Move might arrive for them.
