Although I don't make a lot of money (my 2023 gross salary for US taxes is less than $15K USD - with my take home less than $13K USD!), I still feel extremely lucky in a LOT of ways, and feel like I have a lot of what I could ever want. For example:
- a large comfy room in a lovely furnished complex in the middle of Auckland CBD - easy to find flatmates and garage renters to reduce my rent, and a fantastic landlord who allows me to "hack my rent"
- weekly 30 min massages at my favorite place
- pedicures (still looking for a fave place)
- eye brow and lash tints (I think I've found my fave place now!)
- nice haircuts by my fave stylist, the best and cheapest I've found by far
- I get to avoid public transport - I usually book 2+ hours of car share access every week (mostly to do my errands, like pick up / drop off library books, grocery shop, go to the mall to my fave massage place)
- I also book 6+ hours of car share access every other week to visit my best NZ friend, who lives about 30 mins away. She cooks me dinner and we catch up.
- Eating out when I have a craving or want to try something new or just don't want to cook. Uber Eats!
- Ingredients for whatever I want to make for dinner next week. I don't do a lot of limiting my grocery bill. As long as it's healthy, I have no grocery budget. I only try to limit how much junk food I buy, because if it is in the house...I'm eating it.
- enough money to be able to save to travel and dream
- I buy whatever material things I want (after I've saved up for it)
- I'm able to save every month for short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals
- I'm able to give to charity and buy nice gifts for loved ones
- I can afford good quality electronics
- I am able to go to the doctor/dentist/etc without worry, and pay for my prescriptions
- I have peace of mind via my renter's insurance
But the thing is, with a low salary, you are at the whims of companies and other circumstances, and therefore very small changes (to other people, and to the company) can expose you to severe consequences and downgrades in your lifestyle. That is the case now for me. Recent changes are threatening my routines and budget. I'm gonna need to drastically rearrange how I live, cutting waaayyy back.
1. Firstly, grocery prices are absolutely wild. Inflation and the price gouging is crazy. Ordering take out is extremely expensive. I'm spending probably an extra $100 per month, at the bare minimum, just on groceries and not counting take out.
2. My renter's insurance cost increased by nearly 20% over last year's premium. It's now over $400 per year, an additional $65 per year.
3. The Beam micromobility company for Auckland Central does not offer e-bike rentals anymore. This is super upsetting because this was how I've gotten some great exercise and transported myself to the beach quickly (20 mins?) in summers prior. I now have no easy, fast way to get to the closest beach that provides exercise! It takes 1.5 - 2 hours to walk there from where I live, one way. An e-scooter gives me basically no exercise, takes much longer, and is so bumpy I get vibration itches and fatigue just on the way there alone - I hate the experience. The bus takes 30+ mins and again gives me no exercise (plus exposure to COVID and people germs, no thank you). My car share is too expensive (see #4). I could take an Uber, but that also doesn't give me any exercise and exposes me to germs and would feel weird, honestly.
I am super annoyed about this change.
I can't just rent an ebike from a store in the city, because I have to go to the beach at odd hours (after 4 pm at the earliest) due to sunburn risk. In NZ summers, I burn within minutes of sun exposure between 9 am and 4 pm, so I only go in evenings, returning around sunset at 9 pm. But that's also when the shops that rent e-bikes are closed, and I'd have to worry about someone stealing the bike while I was swimming and laying in the sand.
I could save up for my own e-bike, but I really only use the Beam ebikes a few times a year to get to the beach. I doubt I would use it for anything else. Plus, there is the problem of people stealing bikes in the city now, and all the maintenance associated. Yeah, nah, that isn't it for me.
I don't have a good substitution for this yet. I may just have to forego going to the beach until my salary increases, but I really don't want to do that. I LOVE going to the beach!
4. The great deal I get on my car share (60% off Sunday - Thursday after 5 pm and before 9 am the next day), after YEARS, was removed by the company after they started using a new booking app.
This throws a huge wrench in my weekly routines and how 'free' I feel. So far this year, I have not booked a car at all due to the increased cost. While it is still summer and work is relatively quiet, I just walk to all of my appointments, grocery store, etc., but I'm sure in a month or two and as the weather cools down, I will not be very happy to continue to walk everywhere to get my errands done.
My weekly errands trip (where I go to McDonalds, drop off/pick up library books if needed, go to the mall to get a massage, shop, and pick up my groceries using click and collect) costs about $12 for 2.5 hours (the minimum time you can book with the 60% promo code), with 0.45 c per km, for an average of about $20 per week. Now it would cost $40 per week just for the car share.
I'm not sure what to do about visiting my friend every few weeks - I literally cannot afford to do so anymore. It used to be about $30 altogether with mileage, but now is $63 plus 0.45 cents per km, and with the mileage, it would cost another $20, so about $83 every two weeks!
If I went about my usual routines, this change would cost me an additional ~$200 per month. I've complained to the company, and they say they'll introduce the promos back to the app soon, but they haven't yet. Til then, I have a $50 Mevo credit I can use for emergencies (Mevo is another car sharing app). That'll get me about 2 hours of free car time til (hopefully) Cityhop re-introduces a promo similar to the 60% off one.
5. Auckland Uni is rebuilding their gym, starting a few years ago. Their old one used to be directly on my way to and from home from work, meaning it was super easy for me to go to. I had zero excuses! They've since moved their gym off campus to a place that, frankly, I'm too lazy to go to, because it is about 20 minutes each way out of my way to and from home. My several times a week work out habit died once they did that. Then the pandemic happened and there was NO WAY I was going to expose myself AND add a commute for the privilege. Once you've found something easy and build it into your routines and habits, adding difficulty and friction means that habit dies a lot of times. At least, that is how it works for me! I am hoping that once the gym is built and opens later this year, I will feel more comfortable going to work out classes (?) and may start adding in workouts again. We'll see.
READJUSTING
Overall, costs are just way up, while my income is decreasing. By far, the most disruptive to my normal life is the removal of the after hours promo by my car share company. I will have to adjust so that my budget doesn't get blown out. I'm just not willing to pay that much more per month and sacrifice something else. Some ideas to adjust while trying to not lose the freedom and luck I feel with my lifestyle:
- For one, I'll look for a local massage place that is in walking distance to where I live. There are about 18 that pop up within a 20 min walk from me. I get to try out different places, my favorite thing!
- I'll walk or e-scooter to and from the library, grocery store, and shops nearby to do my weekly errands.
- I refuse to limit my grocery spending on healthy foods right now, but I can start paying more attention to sales and try to stock up on non-perishables when they hit (my freezer and fridge space is severely restricted).
- I've checked my insurance policy - I'm at the maximum deductible they will allow ($1000) and there's no way to decrease my costs there while still keeping comprehensive contents coverage. I will have to shop around before renewing next year (I just plain do not have the time this year).
- Speaking of the future - I just did some research and realized that I could get Pilates classes for much cheaper than I thought. I was planning on going to a place that offers Pilates classes as cheap as $29/class, but at the Uni gym I could get an unlimited number of classes per year (plus access to the gym and other group fitness classes) for $740. That's about the same cost as going to the other place for one $29 class every ~2 weeks, and I plan on going more frequently than that.
As of 29 Feb, premium membership for a student (until 11 Nov) is $649 and individual classes are $25 a pop.
I just have to remember to sign up for an annual membership before my PhD ends so I can get the student rate ($740 annually for premium) for a year, rather than the staff rate, which I cannot see at the moment. For the record, the community rate drop in: $1540/year for premium and $770/year for a regular membership. I cannot see the staff costs, but I've started asking around.
- I'll cut out my weekly McDonalds run as it's just not fun to eat while walking. My fave thing to do in the car is to get fast food and eat it with the windows down and radio blasting. Bonus if doing it with friends or loved ones. I think it's the efficiency of it - like I'm getting to a place I need to go to AND I'm eating, so I'm saving time? Without the car, it's just not fun. I don't really crave McDonalds or fast food that often, so it's not like I'll be missing the food part of it. Plus, we had SO MUCH fast food while I was living at home for 2 months that I'm craving fresh, home cooked meals with lots of veggies. I haven't ordered my usual weekly takeout since I've been back in NZ.
- I will invite my friend over to my place every 2 weeks instead of going to hers. I just can't afford to use the car share to do that anymore. I haven't told her yet - she is in the US - but I'm sure we can figure something out when she gets back.
- I've downgraded my membership to Hop Starter from Hop Regular. Hop Regular offers hourly rates that are $2 less than Hop Starter, but it comes with a $10/month membership fee. Unless I'm using the car for more than 5 hours a month, it is not worth it to be a Hop Regular member.
The car share will therefore be reserved a total of ≤ 5 hours per month. I'll try to save it for when I absolutely have an errand or medical appointment I cannot do in the city. I would like to go to Kmart and to the mall once in a while for fun, though.
That's not as bad as I thought, actually. I can still do my usual errand run with a car to the mall, McDonalds, etc., twice a month instead of weekly! It's probably better for my health to walk to the grocery store more and cut out McDonalds and shopping so much anyway. I *was* getting lazy...
Also, without the promo code restrictions, I can grab the car on my schedule, not just after 5 pm Sunday - Thursday. That's pretty cool.
If they re-introduce a substantial promo, I'll do the math and reconsider all of this.
It's time for *true* city living! Let's see what Auckland Central has to offer.
