WINZ

[paekakboyz]

I don't think anyone is trying to be mean about your situation or possible solutions - responses were made about the initial info provided. Your partner getting fired was obviously unplanned as are a lot of the family things you are dealing with.

Advice here seems to be about going line by line (to borrow from the National Govt!) through your spending and being really tough about what you can and can't cut. As Caryl noted there are a number of things people (not lumping you in here by the way) consider essential that actually aren't.

Student loan living costs aren't overly generous. $160 a week, it's barely changed from $150 a week when I finished uni in 1999!

[Barrie]

I dont belive we are being "harsh or judgemental"

My position changes all the time and I have to find a way to improve things or I close my factory and loose my home, end of story

My problems are not those of winz or any other persons, they are mine and I have to find a way out of them when they arise.

If you ask for advice and recieve it and dont like it, thats fine but to me I would give up all my hobbies and interests in order achieve what I needed to stay financial and have had to do that in the past. Now days because of those decisions I had to make in the past, I am more secure as you no doupt will be in the future.

There seems to have been a lot of reasons why you cant do this and that.

I honestly hope things work out for you.

If thats "harsh and judgemental" then Im sorry

[phoenix44]

from a banking perspective, you are a third + year student so should be able to get an interest free OD capped at $2000, typically a bank will charge $2 per month for the management fee, and that's ok. same for your partner if he is full time or is enrolled full time at the time of the OverDraft processing.

next month you should be able to claim course related costs of $1000 per full time student, and a student loan of $150-160 pw.

keep up with the job search, get rid of any extras you have lying around, and don't pop out babies to claim the benefit :lol: although you're smart and wont do that any ways.

[Rugz]

Get a visa, we lived on one for almost 4 months while wife was on leave(baby) and I worked for Trade Staff for $12 an hour, some weeks only a few days a week, then had 3 weeks off when bub was born.

When things went back to normal we just put it on the morg(you could get a loan) as banks will talk to you again.

[smidey]

No need to bait me Smidey. :roll: A joke is a joke.

Time for a sense of humour check. :lol:

i wasn't intending to bait you mystic, not what i intended to create. it is a simple straight forward question.

[reef]

I feel like we've exhausted all options, and I'm looking for another take on it.

Only thing i can think of is to stop studying and get a full time job.

I'm really loving the Wii Fit Plus because I have goals I can work towards

things can't be all that bad if you can afford a Wii

[suphew]

When I was a student I lived with 4 other guys in an old warehouse, most often with girlfriends bludging to, we had 1 TV and computer to share, from memory 2 of us had cars but we were lucky if we could afford to use them once a week. We ate a lot of sausages, bread, and 2 minute noodles. I'm not complaining, we had a ton of fun, but I think you need to accept that the pool, Wii, driving round instead of biking or public transport, eating out, hockey fee's, hobbies, etc etc are a thing of the past until you sort out your financial situation.

I don't want to sound harsh but I'm not hearing reasons why you can't live more cheaply, I'm hearing reasons why you think you should be able to maintain the life style of the employed but also have the (future) benefits of being students.

Why don't you move into a cheap 1 bedroom up lots of stairs, it will be cheap and and you can get rid of your wii and pool cause you'll get fit going up the stairs and riding the bike you'll buy to get to uni and your parents from the money you get when you sell your cars. Or move into the halls or residents. Or your parents... you have lots of options.

[Scottie841]

When I was a student I lived with 4 other guys in an old warehouse, most often with girlfriends bludging to, we had 1 TV and computer to share, from memory 2 of us had cars but we were lucky if we could afford to use them once a week. We ate a lot of sausages, bread, and 2 minute noodles. I'm not complaining, we had a ton of fun, but I think you need to accept that the pool, Wii, driving round instead of biking or public transport, eating out, hockey fee's, hobbies, etc etc are a thing of the past until you sort out your financial situation.

I don't want to sound harsh but I'm not hearing reasons why you can't live more cheaply, I'm hearing reasons why you think you should be able to maintain the life style of the employed but also have the (future) benefits of being students.

Why don't you move into a cheap 1 bedroom up lots of stairs, it will be cheap and and you can get rid of your wii and pool cause you'll get fit going up the stairs and riding the bike you'll buy to get to uni and your parents from the money you get when you sell your cars. Or move into the halls or residents. Or your parents... you have lots of options.

Well said. I think there were a few of us thinking that but not wanting to be the first to say it

[lmsmith]

Only thing i can think of is to stop studying and get a full time job.

things can't be all that bad if you can afford a Wii

I'm borrowing the Wii Fit from a friend for a couple of weeks to see if it works. We bought the Wii second hand months ago, and wont be selling it because we'd get about $100 from it, and would replace it when we had the money too. All of the financial help that we've got so far has told us that we should be very careful about the things we sell and only sell what we will get near market price for or will not be replacing unless we have to. This makes sense, if we sell things we don't have to that we're going to purchase again, then we're wasting a whole lot of money. If it comes down to it, of course we will sell these things, if that what it takes to live.

However, if there's a benefit out there that we're able to get, I'd much rather do that than destroy my entire life. I think a lot of you are being very practical and forgetting about the realities of this. As far as I can see, my entire life, everything that I've worked for for the last 10 years has been destroyed. I'm not looking for sympathy, but I am asking for a little bit of empathy. How would you feel if you asked if anyone had any information about what other benefits might be available and they told you to suck it up and sell everything you own?

Don't you think I've thought of all of this already?

Caryl, in relation to your eating out point, I was referring to the amount we used to eat out before we moved here compared to how much we did when we moved into a house with the pool. Of course we don't eat out anymore, that was the first thing to go. Also, we already have a vege garden (I started it a few months ago, and am finally getting food I can eat, which is really exciting) and eat at my parents about 5 nights a week.

P44, we've used our overdraft already to get out of as many plans/contracts etc that we can to reduce our costs. Hopefully we'll get the $1000 course related costs in the next week or so, just waiting for the university to confirm that he's studying. I won't be able to get mine until uni starts because I was an eager beaver last year and bought my books a couple of weeks before uni.

Rugz - No bank would give us a credit card because we have no income, even if that was a good idea.

Reef - if he could get a job at all, we wouldn't be in this mess. This issue is he can't GET a job - because of the reference his previous employer is giving him, he's unemployable. Unfortunately, we only found out on Friday that the employer was giving a crap reference. He has been taken off as a reference for all applications done since then, so we're hoping that that will help.

suphew - we've already accepted that moving is not financially viable, selling things that we will buy again is a last resort, we only drive to where we have to (like if 1 person goes to uni, we will catch the train, but if the two of us go, we drive because even considering petrol and parking, it's cheaper than 2 train tickets - this is part of the reason why moving doesn't make sense, I live walking distance from work and from my parents), we don't eat out, we pay nothing to play underwater hockey because we are the organisers, my hobbies have completely stopped (except the one tank that I pay power for). Don't think that we haven't thought of all of these things, we have. As I've said already, neither of our parents are in a situation to take us in.

[smidey]

well with all sensible ideas failing maybe calving is the best option.

I had an interesting discussion a few weeks ago with a guy nearing retirement. He told me when he bought a house around 45 years ago the only proper furniture they had was a bed. they sat on banana boxes in their lounge & ate baked beans, spam & the like. personally i doubt that i would do that, i don't have a big tv, i don't have a cell phone, playstation or wii & don't need the latest gadget or anything like that but still doubt i could be like our parents or grand parents were when they were young. expectations have been rising through the generations & the wants of the last generation have been sold to this generation as needs.

[alanmin4304]

If I think I need to get my my feet on the ground again I remind myself how excited my parents were when they got their first piece of carpet in the house ever. It was in the front hall which was a little bigger than the toilet compartment and I was 12 years old. I lived with a long drop toilet until 10 yeers old. The only thing you can do is try to make the most of the situation you find yourself in and as circumstances change your life has to change to suit. I did half of a three year course in business administration at night school but gave it up to work 12 hour rotational shifts 6 & 7 days a week to make enough money to buy a house.

My choice, no regrets and it put me eventually on a different career path which I enjoyed. Life is about choices rather than having everything you want and if you had that life would be pretty boring.

[stillnzcookie]

According to your budget, how much extra money do you need each week to see you through the next 6 months (if I read correctly, you should be out of financial difficulties by then)? And what do you need it for? Is it just food, or are you unable to pay any of your bills at the moment?

Is there a student budgeting advisor at uni? Sometimes they can be more helpful than WINZ in letting you know all your entitlements.

You say there's no point selling stuff if you are only going to replace it again in the future, but I don't think that's entirely true. Perhaps you are better to sell stuff to tide you over now, and delay replacing it until you are really financially secure again - even if that means you go without for a few years. I know it seems unfair, when you have worked hard and been careful with your money, but you can honestly live without a TV, stereo, Wii, mobile, internet, car etc if you have to, and even if you don't get a huge amount for each item, it will all add up. Even clothing, DVDs/CDs, books etc may be worth selling.

It seems to me that, if you can't get financial assistance to tide you over, your options are to sell stuff you can live without (if you only need a bit of extra cash to get by), shift somewhere cheaper (if you need more money), or get more work/put university on hold for a while.

I do feel for you, as it sounds like you haven't been reckless with money and unfortunate circumstances have led to your current position, but sadly, that happens to a lot of people. Keep your chin up, make the tough decisions, work through it and imagine how good it will feel to come out the other end knowing you have done it by yourself!

[xxdarnixx]

i havent read this whole thing so sorry if im doubling up on anyone elses ideas,have you though of getting a night job? you could work a coupke of hours a night and they pay GOOD money,i do a seasonal nightshift and while it can suck with the hours it helps the bank account,also a work from home bussiness is an option,just go for a well known company.

also on the saving money front,eating out sucks up money,even getting a pie or sammy here and there if you go back through a week and see what you have spent its amazing!!!! try taking pack lunches with you or having snacks in the car.

is there any orchards around where you are? they have weekend work available usually and it works on how much you work i what you earn.

[stillnzcookie]

Have just reread some of this, and answered a couple of my own questions! If you have always paid your bills on time (ie you have a good relationship with power, phone companies etc), contact them NOW, before you miss paying a bill, explain your circumstances and find out your options. It sounds like you are looking at one month of real hardship, then five months of being able to survive (if your partner gets a bit of work), then your life gets back to normal when your partner starts full-time work. You may be able to defer this month's bills, then pay them off gradually over the next 6-12 months. Whatever you do, don't just not pay a bill - sort something out before it arrives and keep a good relationship with your power and phone companies. If you are both tied into mobile contracts that you would have to pay to get out of, do you need a home phone line as well (If you're both going to be at uni, you certainly don't need home internet)? Even if you have to pay to get out of a contract, it may work out cheaper in the long run (and I know you have no money right now to break a contract, but you need to consider how you will save money for at least the next 6 months as well. Perhaps both sets of parents could afford to lend you a small amount for the short term - a phone contract is typically about $100 to break, so they may each be able to lend $50, for example)

[lmsmith]

Thanks Cookie, we've switched his phone over to prepay because he doesn't use it so much. I spoke to the phone company this morning, and they're happy with us paying what we can when we can as long as we're all up to date by the end of Aug, so that was a big relief. I feel this is a better option than cancelling it because we really do need internet at home right now because my partner is looking for jobs, lots of the jobs now have online tests and things to do, he can't really do that at WINZ or wherever. Also a lot of my uni stuff I do at home at nights, so internet is important there. I'm going to talk to the power company today, we're up to date on our bill at the moment and have another month before the next one, but I'll tell them our situation and see if it'll be okay to pay the next one a week or two late depending on our situation then. I'm keeping my phone contract because I have to pay $360 to cancel it.

[Caryl]

The idea to contact those companies is a good one. I forgot you could do that (like deferring mortgage payments) and you will find them very helpful if you keep them informed.

My daughter has been going through her (extensive) CD collection and selling off on Trademe the ones she no longer listens to. She has been amazed at how much she has been making and many of them don't have covers any more (she keeps them in a CD wallet and I suspect many of the covers are in a box in our garage somewhere)!

[Jennifer]

If I think I need to get my my feet on the ground again I remind myself how excited my parents were when they got their first piece of carpet in the house ever. It was in the front hall which was a little bigger than the toilet compartment and I was 12 years old. I lived with a long drop toilet until 10 yeers old. The only thing you can do is try to make the most of the situation you find yourself in and as circumstances change your life has to change to suit. I did half of a three year course in business administration at night school but gave it up to work 12 hour rotational shifts 6 & 7 days a week to make enough money to buy a house.

My choice, no regrets and it put me eventually on a different career path which I enjoyed. Life is about choices rather than having everything you want and if you had that life would be pretty boring.

[David R]

suphew - we've already accepted that moving is not financially viable

I'm not sure how you figured that out when even at Auckland prices you could probably save $200 a week on rent plus shared expenses by moving into a room in an existing flat with other people (no idea what it would cost in wellington, but $150/wk is reasonable for a room the average parts of Auckland).

[Scottie841]

I'm not sure how you figured that out when even at Auckland prices you could probably save $200 a week on rent plus shared expenses by moving into a room in an existing flat with other people (no idea what it would cost in wellington, but $150/wk is reasonable for a room the average parts of Auckland).

In a student flat down here you should not be paying any more that $150 including expences.

We have a 3 bedroom place in Newlands that costs $400pw and we charge our flatmate $150 including 50G cable internet, sky tv, phone & power. We dont conserve power and the dryer is the only way clothes are dried (too lazy to hang it out)

[lmsmith]

I'm not sure how you figured that out when even at Auckland prices you could probably save $200 a week on rent plus shared expenses by moving into a room in an existing flat with other people (no idea what it would cost in wellington, but $150/wk is reasonable for a room the average parts of Auckland).

Because of where we live. It's not viable to leave because we have a fixed term contract so would have to pay to get out of it as well as pay moving costs/cleaning costs and deal with the bond etc. We would also be living out of the area so would need to drive more (to get to my parents/work). Yes, our place is expensive, but 175/week each isn't that expensive in Wellington, which is the most expensive centre to live in.

[Scottie841]

Yes, our place is expensive, but 175/week each isn't that expensive in Wellington, which is the most expensive centre to live in.

$175 each is a lot when you could be paying $75 each ($150 for a couple in a flat). By my calculation that is $100 less a week and $5200 less a year that would cover the extra gas used to get to your work.

As for moving costs you would be getting a chunk of the bond back that will cover the move and cleaning with enough left over to cover the bond on the new place

[suphew]

Because of where we live. It's not viable to leave because we have a fixed term contract so would have to pay to get out of it as well as pay moving costs/cleaning costs and deal with the bond etc. We would also be living out of the area so would need to drive more (to get to my parents/work). Yes, our place is expensive, but 175/week each isn't that expensive in Wellington, which is the most expensive centre to live in.

If you did have to borrow money to move it would be a very short term loan, with the money you would save you would soon pay it back. There are plenty of companies round that will give you short term loan's, instant finance, cash converters, or if that scares you too much just get a visa card. So long as you pay it off as soon as possible it wont cost you anything like what you will save. I find it hard to believe that you couldn't find a cheaper shared flat in the same area, but even if you have to move a suburb away the public transport in Wellington is cheap, and as I suggested before, you could always sell your car and buy a couple of mountain bikes to get round.

[stillnzcookie]

You said early on that you have previously been able to save money (were saving for a house), and that you had enough saved to live on for the previous two months. You then said that you had used your overdraft to get out of contracts etc. If you had $2000 overdraft (or $4000 if you both have one), how can that not have been enough just to tide you over for the month before your partner started uni? Surely you didn't spend the whole lot getting out of contracts? If you have enough income to just cover the rent each month, with a bit left over, you should be able to live for several months on $2000 quite comfortably.

I'm not having a go at you, but I just can't see how this all adds up...

On a different note, I hope you've had as much luck with the power co as the phone co in deferring payments. If you have a good record, they should usually be accommodating, as they want to hold onto good customers.

[yeh_buddy]

OOOOOOO sorry real excited, I found something that could possibly work for you but it rides on some things, the main one being this. Are you in Kiwisaver? If you are there is a way you can access your savings early. There are four conditions of acccesing your money early and one of these are if you are facing finacial hardship Heres the link for where I found it as Im looking at buying my first home with my husband http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz/already/get-money/early/

Hope it helps

[Scottie841]

One big thing in that is "Significant financial hardship includes if you're: unable to meet minimum living expenses " you also need to: "show that reasonable alternative sources of funding have been explored & complete a statutory declaration about your assets and liabilities & provide other documents or information to support your application.

Reasonable alternative includes selling your Wii & your tanks.

Having a house with a pool is not covered under minimum living expences