New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services

Dedicated to the development of family budgeting skills

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Case studies

“Now I’m up to date on my mortgage repayments I feel a great deal more secure”
Nadia’s mortgage wasn’t always under control! Find out how she turned the corner...

“I’d heard about mortgagee sales becoming more common but I didn’t really know what that meant,” says Nadia. “I got a helluva fright when I opened the mail and got a letter from the bank that said they might have to sell my house to get some money. I knew I’d missed a few payments but didn’t realise it was that bad!”

Nadia’s heart rate continued to rise when her business began to struggle and money began to dry up. “It got to the point where I was stressing out so much I wasn’t paying attention at work, and making stupid errors which ended up costing me more money. I went to the budget adviser because I knew I had to do something.”

Nadia’s budget adviser sat down with her to get the full picture. “My adviser was great because he was so calm and obviously knew what he was talking about. I stopped freaking out and listened to what he said.”

“I found out that he couldn’t help me with my business accounts, but could help me with my personal budget. We talked about the letter from the bank and went through it; turns out it was more of a warning than anything. But in the end I had to make a couple of hard choices. I had to sell my good car and buy a cheap runabout. But now I’m up to date on my mortgage repayments so I feel a great deal more secure.”

“Being more relaxed has also come through in my work and business is starting to pick up again. Things are looking much better than this time two months ago!”

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

"I’d never had a bill that high before..."
Find out how father of five Rawiri brought his budget back from the brink. "It wasn’t brain surgery but it’s already made a difference..."

"I’d never had a power bill that high before," says father of five Rawiri. “I told my kids they had to shower under the hose but they laughed. They didn’t realise how desperate things were getting."

Unsure where to turn, Rawiri talked to his aunty. "She worked at a budget service so I went there. Aunty wasn’t working that day, but I talked to one of the other budget advisers. We sat down and went through everything, like everything that we pay, how much it costs, and whether it’s important or not."

"I’d never done a cashflow before, but they showed me how everything adds up and what’s left in the bank account,” Rawiri says. “But they also tried to get my bills lowered. They rang the power company and said ‘can we make this payment lower’, and they said yes! I couldn’t believe it! There must be some muscle in being a budget adviser!"

The budget adviser then sat down with Rawiri and tried to work out where all the electricity was going. "They said: ‘let’s not get another bill this high’ and I agreed cos yeah, it’s saving me money! So we worked out that the little kids are still having baths but they could have showers and save on heating hot water, and that we use our oil heaters all the time, even in the hallways, and maybe we just needed to close some doors. It wasn’t brain surgery but it’s already made a difference to our power bill!"

"I’ve stopped telling the kids to shower under the hose," Rawiri jokes, "but I do have an egg timer in the bathroom to keep their showers short!"

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

"It was NOT a good time to lose my job!"

“When I was made redundant I had a mortgage, credit card debt, store card debt, and a TV on hire purchase,” says Tamati, “It was not a good time to lose my job!”

“I started getting these angry letters saying I had to pay or they’d send me to court, which was not good eh? But when I went to WINZ they had a poster for an 0508 number which I rang and found out what budgeting advice was about. WINZ had a stand down period but I still had these letters coming in, so I went to the budget advice office.”

“The people there were awesome,” Tamati says. “I didn’t know you could apply for a holiday from your debt, so they walked me through that. I got a two month holiday from my mortgage, and three months from my credit card and store card repayments.”

“Because I didn’t have to worry about the repayments I had the time look for a decent job. I found something within two months and now that I’m getting paid again I can make my repayments. If it hadn’t been for my budget adviser I would’ve had to take a worse job and struggle on without enough money.”

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

“Our first baby is due in January next year... We even have a savings account going for when bubs arrives!”

"Our first baby is due at the end of January next year,” says expectant mum Jayda. “I knew we should go to get some budgeting advice because they really helped my cousin when he had huge power bills, and we’re not great with our money!”

Jayda took fiancee Adam with her to the local budget advice service. “Adam wasn’t keen, I don’t know why. But I said we had to go and he knew better than to argue!”

“I am still working part time and I thought that because I wasn’t full time I wouldn’t get parental leave. But the budget adviser told me that I will be entitled to some, which is great, and he explained how we would be able to receive Working For Families tax credits when the baby is born. It’ll make a big difference to us, and will mean I will have a few months with the baby before I have to go back to work.”

“So we’re all sorted in that regard and we learnt about where to tighten our belts a bit... we need to prepare for when we drop to one salary while I’m still earning. So we’re putting extra aside into a savings account to tide us over until I go back to work. Adam is really into budgeting now because he can see the immediate benefits.”

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

“In a couple of months I will have saved enough to pay cash for another car!”

“When I wrote my car off,” says Northland teenager Aiden, “I lost everything. I had put so much money into that car and had nothing to show for it.”

“My parents had told me heaps to get it insured but cos I’m under 25 and the car was modified it was too expensive,” Aiden says. “I owed about fifteen thousand on the car to a finance company, and when I wrote it off I was working at The Warehouse on the weekends... I kept going to my parents for money but when I crashed the car they said ‘no more’.”

Aiden turned up at the local budget advice service not quite knowing what to expect. “My mum said I had to go. But when I went they did some things that were pretty awesome. The guy rang the finance company that I owed money to and got them to reduce the payments so I had some extra time. Then we worked out that if I worked a couple of nights as well I would be able to pay off the car heaps faster, so I did that.”

“The car is going to be paid off in about 18 months. Plus in a few months I will have saved enough to pay cash for another car. My budget adviser made sure I could afford insurance for it too! So yeah, it was really good.”

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

"I was able to pay cash for a six month Warrant of Fitness for the very first time!"

Ngawai is a single parent with three teenage children. Life for Ngawai has not been without its struggles as she tries to support her family. “But at least I have a full time job that I love,” Ngawai says.

Like most people, Ngawai has felt the impact of the recession, and trying to juggle her income to pay for the most basic of household bills has been hard on her.

“I thought I had a fairly good budget in place and was trying really hard to stay on top of my accounts,” she says. But it was growing increasingly stressful and her family was not so happy at her grumpy moods. When the creditors’ letters really started to pile up, however, the stress became overwhelming and Ngawai realised that she needed some help.

A conversation with her sister led her to her local budget service, where they designed a budget plan suitable to her. Ngawai says she enjoyed their system of working with her. “I was fully informed and very clear of their entire process”.

“I was a bit hesitant when I first approached the service but I felt that they genuinely listened to how I was feeling, treated me with respect, didn’t make judgments and I really felt that they actually cared.”
“My life is back on track and the ongoing assistance provided by the budget service works smoothly. I am very pleased that I have started a savings plan as well,” Ngawai said. “I was able to pay cash for a six month Warrant of Fitness for my car for the very first time!”

Names and personal details have been changed to respect privacy. NZFFBS operates in strict confidentiality.

Radio

ANZ radio ads

The ANZ and NZFFBS have teamed up together to do some promotion of budgeting. Click the play button below to hear our radio ads!

Videos

Sunday Programme - Hard Times for the First Time

They want it now, they want it on tick, and now they're in trouble. They're Gen-X and Gen-Y - the spenders and borrowers. They make up 60% of the workforce and now, according to the Sunday Programme, for the first time they are experiencing the bitter taste of recession, redundancies, liquidations, mortgagee sales and a credit crunch. But are they to blame for the perilous financial position that they find themselves in? And is there worse to come? Click on the image below to launch the video.

Fair Go - Money Special (2006)

If there's one item that underpins all consumer issues - it's money. The Fair Go Money Special looks at people in serious financial strife who want to get out, and they've got experts on hand who can help them. We also feature some smart operators who seem to be doing it right - Fair Go hopes we can learn something from them!