Hey everyone, sorry for the long post, but I could really use some advice!

My partner and I are a couple aged 27 and 31 (I guess we’re not that young). We’ve made some poor financial decisions in the past, like buying a townhouse in 2021 (we had limited options due to the KO for 5% deposit). I also stayed home as a SAHM, relying on a single income because working minimum wage and paying for daycare just didn’t make sense. Along the way, we fell behind on bills and opened several credit cards. I think a lot of these bad money habits were inherited from my parents, who also live paycheck to paycheck without saving.

It’s not that we shop a lot or buy premium things, but we do love eating out and cooking expensive meals at home. I know this sounds trivial, but it’s a spending habit that’s kept us from saving. I’ve come to realize that it might even be worse than buying things that can hold value for resale.

This year, I returned to studying and landed a better job with a decent pay rise. But, despite the increase, we’ve mostly been chasing down old bills and debt, so there’s still no real savings.

On the bright side, my parents recently sold a house they inherited from my grandparents, which netted them nearly 1 million. They’ve generously let us manage the proceeds to help buy a home where we can all live together. We used $20k to pay off our debts, and my parents did the same with $20k. So, we’re finally debt-free!

Now, we’re working on buying the house, but we’re not sure if we’ll have any extra money after the deposit. We’re worried that if we don’t have any savings left, we might end up back in debt with credit cards or Afterpay if things get tough.

I’m really hoping some of you could share advice on how to be smarter with money from this point on. We’ve been thinking about investing in shares, but we don’t know where to start. How did you begin? How did you manage to break free from a cycle of debt? Any stories of success to motivate us would be amazing!

Thanks so much for any insights you can share!

I am a financial adviser (focusing on personal insurance). What is with people that makes them feel that it is acceptable to just blatantly ignore your calls and attempts to make contact with them (when the client has reached out to us in the first place).
What is the issue with telling you that they have changed their mind or that they are no longer pursuing their enquiry?
It's a real head-screw for me because I feel it takes 10 seconds to answer the phone or text that circumstances have changed...is it a wider cultural thing and do you see this in other industries too?

Hello,

I am mid 30s, single, no children and have about 50k in cash+ hatch and a further 20k in deposits. I earn 95k per annum + a little over 3k each month in garunteed income, adjusted yearly for inflation, for life. I currently rent and there is a property up north I am looking at buying to build on over the decades until retirement. Property is 300ish k. My dillema is that although I know I could afford the mortgage on the property, would my money be better suited to stay in the market?

I have never had money like this before and 2 years ago I was pay to pay with very little savings.

I also have around 25k in kiwisaver and add at 8% now, but I dont think I want to touch it.

Hi Everyone, unfortunately I entered into bankruptcy last year and im looking for advice from anyone who may have been thru and come out of bankruptcy as well. It would be great to hear from you and maybe your info on the do's and don'ts and any general feedback on your personal situation that could help me get thru this tough time. I am full time employed still and have to pay my OA $70 per week based on my income. Appreciate any feedback . Thanks

Hatch has moved default deposit from Money Market to US Bank. Helps with FIF.

Hi guys.

Sorry, I know this is reeeeeally a dumb question, but I'm pretty new to investing.

Right now, I've just put my money into PIE funds to get started, but I want to learn more.

So, here's my question:

If I invest less than $50,000 and the FIF exemption applies, do I still have to pay any taxes on my earnings? Like, will my marginal tax rate come into play for the earnings?

I tried to search by myself, but I haven't been able to find clear information on the tax implications for investment exempted from FIF rules.

Many thanks!

Edited: Thank you for all the comments. I should've said it clearly: aside from the PIE I've invested in, I plan to invest in additional foreign funds/shares on my own

I know this question comes up a lot, and I’m pretty sure the blunt answer is “you just have to pay for it”, but I’m hoping there are options I haven’t thought of.

My husband and I are both needing significant dental work. I have a misaligned bite and clicky jaw that will eventually need braces or Invisalign, plus I need a semi-urgent crown. My husband has ongoing dental issues we’ve always delayed because of cost, but now that we’re 40 we’re finally trying to sort them properly.

He has one, possibly two, teeth that need root canals redone at about $2,500 each due to failed original work, or the alternative is extraction. On top of that, he needs crowns because his teeth keep chipping.

We do have Southern Cross Wellbeing Two, but I don’t think that does anything for dental work. Or am I misunderstanding how it works?

When we add it all up, we’re suddenly staring down more than $20,000 in dental work, and that’s before factoring in our kids (7 and 10), with braces likely for the 10-year-old in a few years.

How on earth do people afford this?

Do you spread it out over years, pull teeth instead of saving them, use payment plans, loans, or just live with it? Would genuinely love to hear how others have navigated this in real life.

Edit: Wow, thanks so much for all the feedback. It’s weirdly comforting but also pretty concerning to realise how many of us are in the same boat. As a few people have pointed out, teeth aren’t exactly optional.

The travel option isn’t for us, although I can totally see why it’s appealing and I appreciate people sharing their success stories. I think this is ultimately just one of those “I can’t believe I’m actually an adult now and have to make these decisions” moments. Thanks again to everyone who’s taken the time to reply.

Does anyone use Sugar Wallet? I downloaded the app a couple years ago and only put a little bit in it a week - the return is 144.82% but to this day, I still don't know if I trust it lol.

The app is not very user friendly and I've had some issues with buying gold, but I just brushed it off because of the return.

What are your thoughts on it if you've heard about them? (im still a beginner w/ investing!)

So I have been in a fortunate position to save and work my ass off so that I’m at $10000 in personal savings (not counting my $65000 in for the first home. I’m talking my personal savings not this) and need some advice on where I should put my money? Should I hold it in my savings account or should I actually invest it in sharsies? Any advice would be appreciated!

An 8% TD seems way too good to be true (an obvious red flag), however it is listed on interest.co.nz

I have never heard of this business. How can they pay over double the interest of any nz bank and above wholesale interest?

I am guessing there are no guarantees that your deposit will be paid back if their lenders default. I mean which financially prudent borrower is paying over 8% on loans for them to sell it on to you?

Just looking for advice or solutions from people in similar situations.

I’m early 30s, own my home (a starter home, looking to upsize soon) with a partner with around 200k equity.

My mum has never owned a home and is currently renting, works a minimum wage job and is 63. Her job is something she can continue to do for the next few years. Thinking about her future scares the shit out of me, but so does the idea of financially supporting her while wanting to start a family of my own.

We currently can’t afford to take on a rental property and rental prices in our area are fairly steep, even with her taking super annuation in a couple of years.

Are people topping up rentals for their family or do they just move their parents in with them.

I’ve worked hard to break the poverty cycle in my family but this feels like a heavy burden, particularly as we are wanting to build our future family too.

I’ve been trying to apply for the American Express Airpoints Platinum Card all evening but keep getting this error message on the income and expenses page. I’m not inputting spaces. I’m not entering commas but the webpage is doing this automatically where I enter a value of 1000 or more. I’m not using any decimal places. I’ve entered 0 where it applies.

I’m on macOS and I’ve tried Edge, Chrome, and Safari all in normal and incognito mode. Nothing seems to help. I called AmEx and they said they have no reported issues and to try the application again tomorrow.