Save money, or spend to feed the soul?
by Grace Honney
As a student, I am all too familiar with the sinking feeling in my stomach when I see exactly how much money I have in my bank account.
Each month after my statement arrives I vow not to go and buy that coffee or those muffins, and each month I find myself making the same vows all over again.
Yes, I understand that after university I should be able to get a reasonably well-paid job and that I only need to sacrifice for one more semester, but is that really true and can I wait that long? I am part of Generation Y, after all.
Once I leave, I officially have to pay full-price for everything, so no more student prices on buses or at the movies.
Then, am I officially an adult? Will I have to start looking at getting a mortgage for a house?
This is why, like many others, I have been watching the interest rate rises with some trepidation. I have recently come to the realisation that I may never actually own my own home.
Reserve Bank Governor, Alan Bollard, has raised interest rates to curb inflation, which happens when demand for goods and services cannot be met by supply.
So, he is doing it for our own good, but obviously there are many New Zealanders in debt who are going to come out worse off if the rates keep skyrocketing.
He is trying to do all that he can to ensure that we don’t become debt-ridden, but we just can’t stop spending - even though we can’t afford it.
Right now, I am unaffected. I have no loans or anything on hire purchase. In fact, I am benefiting from the rises as I have a savings account, so as the interest rates go up, the amount of interest I earn goes up too.
For those of you who are starting to think about what you can do to try to stay out of debt, see if the Sorted website can help you out.
After all, no one wants to have to wait until five years after university to be breaking even, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to stop buying those muffins anytime soon…