a day ago
The cost of being: A retail assistant who's ‘broke with expensive taste'
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a retail assistant in their early-20s explains why they're all about spending over saving at the moment.
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Gender: Woman.
Age: 23.
Ethnicity: NZ European.
Role: Retail assistant.
Salary/income/assets: $28 an hour on a part-time schedule.
My living location is: Urban.
Rent/mortgage per week: $0 (I live at home).
Student loan or other debt payments per week: Not paying my student loan back yet, eek. $17 p/w for Afterpay.
Typical weekly food costs
Groceries: $30 per week.
Eating out: $25 per week.
Takeaways: UberEats once every couple of weeks, usually $30 worth of kai.
Workday lunches: $20 per week on the odd sushi or wrap.
Cafe coffees/snacks: $15, I don't drink coffee but will splurge on a matcha here or there.
Savings: I'm not saving for anything. The world is so fucking bleak, I really don't think it's worth suffering in the meantime for an uncertain future. Given that the planet seems like it's a couple years away from plunging into a full grim dystopia, I'll be using every dollar I have to assert my vivacity and joie de vivre while I still can. Legendary diva Karl Marx said it best: 'The less you eat, drink, buy books, go to the theatre or to balls, or to the pub, and the less you think, love, theorise, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you will be able to save and the greater will become your treasure which neither moth nor rust will corrupt – your capital. The less you are, the less you express your life, the more you have, the greater is your alienated life and the greater is the saving of your alienated being.'
I worry about money: Never.
Three words to describe my financial situation: Impulsive, irresponsible, generous.
My biggest edible indulgence would be: I absolutely froth oysters – recently spent $80 on 12 at Gochu in Commercial Bay. They were totally gorgeous, so no regrets there!
In a typical week my alcohol expenditure would be: $30, I usually pick up a bottle of wine for pre-drinks. Lots of my drinks are comped or bought by friends and beguiled strangers while out, which I really appreciate.
In a typical week my transport expenditure would be: $15, I'm a full time bus diva. Will occasionally swing for an Uber home, but I live centrally so I usually walk.
I estimate in the past year the ballpark amount I spent on my personal clothing (including sleepwear and underwear) was: $800. I'm a Depop fieeeeend. I'm happy to spend a little extra for beautiful pieces that are either handmade or pre-loved. I have some friends that spend triple that amount of new designer pieces, so I'm very proud of having a wardrobe full of locally sourced and incredible clothing.
My most expensive clothing in the past year was: I bought an insane pair of vintage Dsquared² pumps for $400. I'm on such a shoe kick at the moment, and Dsquared² make the nasssstiest heels. I even managed to haggle the vendor down from $600, so I'm very proud of my acquisition (said like Kath Day-Knight).
My last pair of shoes cost: A pair of super sweet spat boots for $30 from Trade Me.
My grooming/beauty expenditure in a year is about: $400. I do my own hair and grooming, and don't bother with things like tanning, injectables or shaving. My skincare is decently expensive though, and I buy a pair of falsies pretty regularly since I'm always crying mine off.
My exercise expenditure in a year is about: I don't exercise outside of trotting about all day.
My last Friday night cost: $150. I bought a bottle of wine, went to a drag show and tipped, and paid some friends for a bump. I'm usually much more conservative with my spending, but a friend was visiting from Australia so splurged a little.
Most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months was: A pair of jeans that didn't fit. I resold them, but losing that $20 for a couple weeks really stung.
Most indulgent purchase (that I don't regret) in the last 12 months was: I bought my younger sibling their first ever handbag. We researched for months before they settled on a classic Moschino heart tote, and I was happy to cover the $800 cost. It's a piece they'll have in their collection forever, and it felt really important and meaningful to get them something so personal. I'm really excited to borrow it from them, ha!
One area where I'm a bit of a tightwad is: Door charge. If I deign to spend anything, it's got to be below $10. Seriously? Door charge? In Auckland? Have we lost our fucking minds? I've told my friends that if I'm happy to pay $15 to stand in a sticky club and watch an unemployed white guy spin crap DnB they have to shoot me in the head immediately because that's an imposter.
Five words to describe my financial personality would be: She's broke with expensive taste.
I grew up in a house where money was: Of intense importance. I come from a single mother who lived in deep poverty up North, and we managed to make it to the middle class after a lot of struggle and strife. Mum tried to impart her skills at budgeting and saving on me, but I obviously find it a bit difficult. Still, I'd rather be surrounded by life and laughter and have nothing than grind for years for fleeting stability.
The last time my Eftpos card was declined was: Yesterday. Two words: cigarettes, mama. Transferring yourself the $3 you're short as quickly as you can because there's a line behind you is a sacred ritual.
In five years, in financial terms, I see myself: Really having to knuckle down and change my spending habits. I know being a ridiculously fabulous aesthete isn't going to last forever, so I'm making the most of it while I can. The job I work at has a really good pathway towards a more serious role (the mythical 'big girl job') so that's something I'm working towards.
I would love to have more money for: Art and artists. I'd love to be able to decorate my space full of beautiful handmade pieces. There are so many incredible visual artists in Tamaki, if I had a million dollars I think I could drop it all on paintings and sculptures.
Describe your financial low: Two years ago I was in Dunedin, on the brink of homelessness and too proud to let anyone know. I lived with an abusive partner who constantly controlled my finances, and regularly starved and struggled to make rent payments. The money I made from my shitty casual job was going directly to my partner's drug fund, and I had to resort to selling my Kmart furniture on Facebook for income. Luckily my friends swooped in and saved me from what was the darkest chapter in my life – it could've gone so horribly for me, and I'm deeply angry and embarrassed that money was such a large contributing factory.
I give money away to: Lots of mutual aid requests. Recently, I've given to a handful of friends' transition and moving costs, as well as a pretty large donation towards World Central Kitchen. There's an old joke about queer people passing back and forth the same $20, and that's absolutely true – when I was at my worst, my community swooped in to hold me up. I don't really think of it as expenditure when it's going towards my people. Also, tip the dolls!
