Edward’s story...
As a family, we are in a fortunate position of both getting paid 100% of our salary and being able to work from home. So far, we are actually spending less than we normally would as we aren't using the car more than once a week. In fact, 2 weeks ago I filled up from empty at Z for just $58 for a full tank - using their stacking system I scored a whopping 72 cents off per litre!!
Sports are also cancelled as we spend a fair bit on our son's various football (not soccer!) training, so that is helping us cut down.
We aren't a family that goes out and spends a fortune anyway. Previously, we have been saddled with debt through living a lifestyle of going on holiday and putting it straight on a 0% credit card but then guess what!? We didn't pay it off in time as other unforeseen things happened and then the holiday, which we thought was a bargain, turned out to cost a fortune which took years to pay off. Lesson learnt...don't spend money you don't already have,
I check my KiwiSaver daily (my wife checks once a month) and that has been a shock! The money that has gone in over the past few weeks won't at this moment cover the amount it has gone down by. We are both confident though that as we are in it for the long haul and we are in our early 40s, that it will recover over the long term and still be a good investment.
Throughout the lockdown we have lived a simple life which has morphed between working at home, going for a daily walk, watching TV and films and sometimes baking.
We are currently recovering from those mistakes and for the past 18 months I've been absorbing all the financial information I can, be it from books, podcasts, websites, blogs, etc. I've learnt so much and whilst we are still very much on a journey - we are making strides going forward.
I really feel for those more deeply affected by the outbreak and hope that people can recover quickly.
Edward