Money & parenthood: what should I save money on?

This week, my husband and I celebrated a major milestone - our baby’s first birthday!

It’s hard to believe that a year has already flown by since our lives changed forever, but also encouraging to know that we’ve survived our first year of parenthood, including all its ups and downs and unexpected twists & turns. I’ve previously shared with you my pregnancy & postpartum finances and today, I’m back with more money-saving tips. Of course, the things I would’ve saved money on or done differently are subjective, but I hope some of these suggestions are useful if you’re a new parent.

Playmats - If I could do it again, I wouldn’t buy a playmat that’s designed only for babies to play on. Why? I bought a baby playmat that had colourful illustrations and textures, but couldn’t be washed because it had a little mirror sewn in. It’s also very unversatile as it is only for indoor use and is soft and flimsy.

What I would’ve bought instead is a picnic mat - one that’s still colourful and fun, but is also versatile enough for indoor & outdoor use and for adults to use! After buying a picnic mat for us to use for picnics by the beach or at the park (I got mine from Kollab), I couldn’t believe I ever bought a baby playmat and not simply a picnic mat. Not only is the picnic mat I bought colourful and versatile, it is also bigger, waterproof, washable, and thicker - making it even safer for babies and their fragile heads.

Toys - We’ve spent a considerable amount of money on toys, and a lot of it wasn’t worth it. Our baby doesn’t care much for his ‘Twirly Whirly Rainbow Ramp’ (a rainbow-coloured ramp with balls that roll down), his musical baby Rubik’s Cube, his toy game controller, or his colourful shape puzzle.

What he loves is shaking our supplement bottles; playing with his silicone food bowls, plates and spoons; playing with our remotes and toilet paper rolls; ripping apart old magazines; pulling nappies out of his nappy caddy; trying to eat his formula dispenser; and playing with kitchen utensils like silicone tongs and spatulas. We even made a toy for him by putting pasta into a box.

My point is, don’t worry if the baby is due to arrive and you haven’t got any toys - your household items will do!

Baby clothes - When baby clothes shopping, prioritise pieces with built-in mittens or socks. This will not only save you money, but time and storage space. You won’t have missing mittens or socks all over the house, and you’ll have an easier time getting them on the baby when they’re already attached to your baby’s onesie, shirt or pants.

Shusher - We bought a baby shusher, or white noise machine, which plays more than just white noise - it comes with all kinds of nature sounds and instrumental lullabies. When our baby got sick, a doctor recommended using a vaporizer to add moisture to the air, along with eucalyptus and peppermint, to soothe our baby’s nose and throat.

Later on, we discovered that you can buy machines that are a shusher and vaporizer in one! If you can find one of these instead of buying two machines, it could save you both money and space.

A new house - Now, this is a very personal one, but I wanted to end this post by sharing my thoughts on us choosing to buy a new 3-bedroom home for our growing family. When I was pregnant, it seemed like we were in a massive rush to buy a new house, but after the baby arrived, I realised there hadn’t been a need to rush it at all! It’s recommended that babies sleep in the same room as their parents for at least the first six months; even better is if they sleep in the same room as their parents for first twelve months, which reduces the chances of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Even after that, you could opt to have your baby with you for longer.

For us, we have much preferred for our baby to be in the same room as us - first in a bassinet next to our bed, then in a cot in the same room as us but on the opposite side of the room. It’s worked perfectly for us and continues to do so now that our baby is one year old, and chances are, he’ll sleep in the same room as us until he is at least two.

Our third bedroom, the nursery, has been completely unused.

So if you’re trying for a baby, or expecting, and you think you absolutely need to get a bigger house immediately, I’d like to give my 2 cents: relax! You have plenty of time - and with that, time to wait for an optimal opportunity to buy, such as when there are lower house prices and interest rates.

If you’re a new parent, I’d love to know: what would you have saved money on?

Sophia

How the cost of living crisis has affected us and our money

A few weekends ago, my husband and I sat across from each other at a café, sharing conversation while enjoying our weekly brunch. The one thing that was different? We’d spent half our usual amount by buying cabinet food instead of ordering from the menu. Instead of waiting 15 minutes and paying $50 for two dishes, we got our food in 5 minutes and paid $25.

Since we’ve started doing this, one of the best things (apart from saving money) is: we are just as happy, and don’t feel like we’re giving anything up!

We realised that our weekly brunch ritual wasn’t about the food. With both of us working full-time and caring for a baby, our weeks are full of meetings & phone calls, daycare pick-ups & drop-offs, cooking, cleaning, chores, and other commitments. Brunch is something that helps us to be present and savour each other’s company - a way of investing in our marriage. Now, we have a way to do it more affordably.

This week, we cut out another expense, after realising it was costing us $350 per year, compared to $200 for similar services... Any guesses?

If you guessed Netflix, you’re right!

We shared our Netflix with a friend, who in turn shared their Disney+ with us. With our monthly subscription, one that paid for an extra member, it cost us $28.98 monthly or $347.76 yearly, compared to NEON’s $199.99 and Disney’s $189.99.

What do we use for entertainment now? We have NEON - which is paid up for the year, as it costs less annually - and contribute to our friend’s Disney+. This week, we’ve been loving TVNZ+ - a streaming platform that has a lot of TV shows & movies in common with Netflix, but for free!

My friend, a senior government adviser from Wellington, says:

‘I cancelled Netflix a year ago. Last week I saw a show that caught my attention, so I signed up, then cancelled immediately so I only signed up for a month. I’ve wasted so much money having Netflix and not using it! I don’t miss it at all - I watch DVDs, use TVNZ, YouTube (sometimes with one-off movie purchases, still cheaper), or play games instead.’

For recreation, we discovered a love for hiking during Covid and continue to spend our time discovering new places and enjoying beautiful scenery. We use our local council website to choose a new hike or nature walk every weekend, and love bringing our baby to enjoy the fresh air, boardwalks, lush forests and stunning mountains our country has to offer! (Mercer Bay in Piha and Hooker Valley in Aoraki are my favourites.)

We have also:

• Earned supermarket gift cards from participating in clinical studies

• Reduced our insurance premiums - we were lucky to have both started receiving free life insurance through our work, so adjusted our paid life insurance sum assured accordingly

• Borrowed books from the library - both popular new fiction books and board books for our baby

Before having a baby, I increased my income by having several income streams: my full-time job, freelance photography, an Etsy store for my candles, market research & clinical studies, and part-time jobs in hospo & retail.

Now I realise that having time, flexibility, and spontaneity is a huge privilege: at this stage, it would be very difficult for me to say yes to a last-minute request to photograph a birthday party, or - if I had a part-time job - to count on the fact that I will have had a good sleep or that my baby will be healthy (thanks to pesky daycare bugs!). That’s why our focus, for now, is reducing expenses. I hope this has given you some inspiration if you’re also looking for ways to cut down on your expenses!

Sophia

I’m a mum! | My pregnancy & postpartum finances

I have some big news for you all… After 9 long months, Mrs Mindful with Money is a mum!

Today I’m sharing with you all about my pregnancy and postpartum finances - what we bought, how we saved money on baby expenses, and my sources of income during maternity leave.

I found out I was pregnant in October 2022. My husband and I had been trying since the beginning of the year, and we anticipated it to be a difficult journey. My periods were irregular (#TMI), ovulation kits didn’t help, and everything felt uncertain and unpredictable. So when we found out, we were over the moon! The day after, my GP referred me for my first ultrasound - a dating scan - which informed me that I was eight weeks pregnant.

Within a month, we’d made plans to sell my house and buy a new, larger house for our growing family. In a way, you could count a new house as a baby expense if you live in a smaller house and are planning to buy a new one, like we did pre-baby, but what kind of house you want might be vastly different to what we wanted. If you’re keen to know more about our house selling/buying experience, you can read all about it here.

Early on, our expenses were mainly new maternity clothing for me, and remedies to ease my morning sickness. The nausea I had in my first trimester was terrible, so I spent money on ginger tea, ginger drops, and morning sickness bands (the only thing that slightly helped). As such, expenses were minimal. It wasn’t until my third trimester that we started spending money on baby essentials. Here is everything we purchased:

What we bought as one-off baby expenses

Maternity clothing - I had an ENORMOUS baby bump and quickly outgrew my regular clothes, so maternity clothes made a big difference to my comfort throughout my pregnancy. (According to my midwife, my bump was always the size of a bump 4 weeks further along.) My go-to online store was 3 Bears Maternity, where I spent $839.45 on five dresses, two skirts, one t-shirt, and five pairs of briefs. This is an expense that will be different for everyone - I’ve heard that some people don’t even buy maternity clothing! - but for me, these were a fantastic investment, and hopefully I will be able to use them again.

Edwards & Co Olive Essentials Bundle - This bundle is $2429 online, but we bought it for $1899 from the Baby Expo! So far, we’ve found the capsule and the carry cot to be super useful - especially the carry cot, which we can easily carry upstairs and downstairs at home. Our newborn baby fits in it perfectly and naps in it throughout the day.

SnuzPod 4 - Likewise, we bought this from the Baby Expo for $499 including the bassinet & mattress, mattress protector, and 2 fitted sheets - $549, $42, and $59 respectively, worth $650 altogether. It looks great, works well, and I love the zip-down wall that allows us to keep a close eye on baby while sleeping.

Philips Avent - We bought the Double Electric Breast Pump, Newborn Starter Set (4 bottles, cleaning brush + pacifier) and breast pads for $286.89 from The Autumn Baby Show. These are $599, $69.99 and $14.99 respectively, worth $683.98 altogether, so we saved $397.09 off the regular retail prices. We also bought the Philips Avent Electric Steriliser, $219.99 retail price which we bought with a gift card, and anti-colic bottles from both Philips Avent ($16.50 each) and Dr Browns ($36 for 2). For us, anti-colic bottles are a must-have - they have worked much better than regular bottles for our little one.

Ubbi nappy pail - Normally $149, we bought this for 10% off at $134.10. It works well, fits enough so that it only needs emptying once a week, and comes in different colours. We chose the marble design, which looks beautiful in our home. What’s great is that once we’re done with nappies (years from now), it’ll simply become our bathroom sanitary bin!

Viva La Vulva - I bought ‘Breasties’ - hot and cold therapy packs - and the Perineal Power postpartum ice pack from Babycity when they were each $33.95 - 15% off their usual price of $39.95. I only used the Breasties once, warming them gently and tucking them into my bra when my breasts were painfully engorged; they were very soothing. I never used the Perineal Power pack as I simply put my maternity pads in the fridge/freezer - the cold really helped!

Yona Bed (King Single) and Ecosa Mattress (King Single) - We bought these so I could occasionally sleep in a separate room when my husband goes back to work, just in case baby and I wake him up throughout the night. The Yona Bed was $189, and the Ecosa Mattress was $750 (25% off from its usual retail price of $1000).

Weleda Baby Care - We got the Calendula Nappy Change Cream, Calendula Body Lotion and Calendula Shampoo and Body Wash in this nifty little set for $49.90 from Health 2000, a great deal as these items are $19.90, $29.90 and $20.90 respectively - $70.70 if you were to buy them separately (same sizes!). We were prescribed a moisturiser and nappy change cream by our midwife, so these weren’t all necessarily needed, but work well and smell lovely.

LUXE Baby Nappy Bag & Caddy Pack - This pack includes a nappy backpack, a travel change mat, and a nappy caddy which have all been extremely useful - a worthwhile purchase! We bought this online for $179.99 (buying each separately would add up to $195).

Love to Dream swaddles - We bought two swaddles from The Sleep Store for $134.90 using a gift card. These swaddles have been amazing and so easy to use.

YogaSleep Light to Rise Sleep Trainer, Sound Machine & Night Light - Also from The Sleep Store, we’ve been using this as a clock, night light, and white noise machine. My husband loves it; I prefer to use our brightness-adjustable lamp and Spotify for white noise. It might become more useful when we start using it as a sleep trainer. It’s $99.95 which we also paid using a gift card.

Evie Fabric Rocking Chair - This rocking chair is normally $1099, but we bought it for $824.25 (+ $99 delivery) while it was on sale. It’s huge - bigger than we expected - and very comfortable! It has been the perfect chair for feeding, as well as reading and relaxing.

What we buy regularly as ongoing baby expenses

Formula - We go through around one can of formula per week, with our personal choice being LittleOak Natural Goat Milk Infant Formula. It costs more than your average formula at $48.95 per can, but so far we have bought the 6 can multi-pack for $10 off and used a 10% discount code on top, making each can $42.55 - effectively 13% off. Other formulas currently range from $19.50 (SMA Little Steps) to $48.50 (Karicare, specifically their Goat Milk range) at Countdown.

We didn’t pay for formula for the first 2 weeks as we spent this time in hospital. I had a traumatic birth, and it may have been because of this that my milk never really came in (it’s said that the stress hormones can lead to low prolactin and oxytocin). Our baby was fed formula from day one because I was transferred to the hospital’s High Dependency Unit for the first two days of his life. When I was transferred to the maternity ward, I pumped with my electric breast pump due to his tongue tie, producing breast milk (colostrum) for a few days before the milk dwindled as it transitioned into mature breast milk. This is why, after a brief period of combination feeding (breast milk + formula), we now exclusively formula feed.

Nappies - Depending on the day, we use 4-6 nappies per day, so 28-42 nappies per week. As we’re buying size 2 Huggies nappies that are 2 for $28, with 24 nappies in each pack, this works out to be $16.32 to $24.49 per week.

Poop bags - Optional, but we put every poop diaper into a small waste bag to reduce the smell. This costs us $31.44 for 270 - $0.12 each - and we use 1-2 per day, which is $0.84 to $1.68 per week. The ones we use are actually dog poop bags, which we buy with our 6-weekly Pet Direct order. (There are mint scented ones, too.)

Baby wipes - We’ve used one and a half boxes of Huggies Coconut Oil Baby Wipes Mega Pack (400 wipes) in 6 weeks, with each box costing $20, which works out to be around $3.33 per week.

These work out to be up to $72.05 per week, often less. To state the obvious, these are expenses based on our personal situation (e.g. formula feeding) and at this point in time with a newborn baby - they’ll likely change as he gets older.

What’s amazing is that these ongoing baby expenses are essentially free - covered by the government - as everyone is entitled to the Best Start Tax Credit of $69 per week, regardless of income. More on government-funded financial support below!

Healthcare expenses

Ultrasounds - I had five ultrasounds: dating, nuchal translucency, anatomy, and two growth scans. Each cost between $60 to $110, which were all done with Horizon Radiology except our last one at Mercy Radiology. The service was much better at Horizon Radiology: the sonographer at Horizon would always describe what we were seeing during each part of our scan, and give us photos after, while the sonographer at Mercy stayed quiet during the scan, only confirming everything was okay when we asked, and directed us to see photos via an online portal, which were all blurry.

Prescriptions - I personally had to take three medications upon my discharge from hospital: quinapril and nifedipine for high blood pressure caused by pre-eclampsia, and paracetamol for ongoing pain. My midwife also prescribed me tramadol and celecoxib for severe afterpains. Altogether, these would’ve cost $25 ($5 each) if not subsidised for me, but going forward, prescriptions are now free, as the $5 co-payment for prescription medicines has been scrapped by the government.

Future baby expenses

Wills - My husband and I are planning to write our wills soon, which will be up to $415 per person at Public Trust. However, it’ll be free for us as we have an Assurance Extra life insurance policy with Chubb Life (previously Cigna), and one of the client benefits is up to $1000 for a will.

Baby-proofing the house - We’ve already bought electrical outlet caps but will also need baby gates for the stairs, protection for corners, etc.

Baby monitors - We might get baby monitors eventually, but currently our baby is always with one of us and doesn’t yet sleep in his own room. I love having him in the same room as us and would love to keep it that way for as long as possible! If you’re in the market for baby monitors, my best friend’s tip is to buy security cameras instead.

Ways to save money

Go to baby expos (they are free!) - My husband and I have gone to three baby expos so far, and gained valuable insight from each. The first time we went, we didn’t buy anything at all - we used the opportunity to learn and research baby items and costs. The second time, we bought a few things; the third time, we attended all the seminars and learned about car safety, cloth nappies, bottle feeding, and more.

Even if you don’t spend a cent at the expos, you’ll receive tons of discount codes and exclusive deals via email in the week following, given your ticket is registered!

Sign up for free antenatal classes - We attended both the Pregnancy & Parenting Course and Breastfeeding Course by Te Whatu Ora. These are free, provided by the government. You’ll go over the birthing process, birthing options (e.g. hospital, home or birthing centre), pain relief methods, breastfeeding, and more.

Stock up on essentials early - In the months leading up to your baby’s due date, look out for sales and stock up. We shopped the sales on nappies and baby wipes, as well as maternity pads. I didn’t know about postpartum bleeding and that it lasts for 6 weeks after birth - if I had, I would’ve bought a lot more! I used up to 12 per day in the first two weeks, and less and less as the bleeding reduced. Personally, if I were pregnant again, I would buy as many maternity pads as I can. Even if you stock up on too many maternity pads, they can be used for periods after, so there’s no waste.

Shop after your baby shower - If you’re having a baby shower, it’s wise to shop after the event, as your guests may gift you with baby necessities like baby clothes, baby blankets, etc, so you avoid doubling up. You may also receive gift cards for baby stores. I hosted mine at 35 weeks, and we were fortunate to receive baby blankets, muslin cloths, and bibs, as well as a few gift cards for Babycity, The Sleep Store, The Warehouse, Westfield, and Farmers. The week after the baby shower, we used these to buy our steriliser, swaddles, nappies, and baby wipes.

Say yes to offers of secondhand baby essentials - We said yes to every offer from friends who wanted to give us their secondhand baby clothes and furniture, donating the things we ended up not needing. Thankfully, we now have a cot, an extra bassinet, and lots of baby clothes - you may have noticed baby clothing has not been an expense for us so far! The best thing we were given was the Ingenuity ConvertMe Swing-2-Seat, which our little one seems to enjoy, and which allows us some hands-free time when we are busy.

And of course… Make sure you apply for Paid Parental Leave and Working for Families if you’re eligible!

My 3 sources of income during maternity leave

I applied for Paid Parental Leave and Working for Families (Best Start) early, and was lucky to have both of them approved overnight by IRD - a quick and easy process. The Paid Parental Leave confirmation letter was needed to show to my employer, as they pay me a fortnightly salary top-up to my usual full-time income. For PPL and WFF explained simply, you can check out my recent posts here.

The government has recently increased Paid Parental Leave to $712.17 per week, and I am eligible for the maximum entitlement, so I currently receive fortnightly payments of $997.14 (after tax) from IRD, plus my employer salary top-up. After my 26 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, I will receive the government’s Best Start payment of $69 per week (part of Working for Families Tax Credits) in fortnightly payments of $139 up until my baby is one.

My husband was able to take 8 weeks of parental leave; 5 weeks paid his usual full-time salary, 3 weeks unpaid.

Lastly…

In New Zealand, having a midwife as your Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) is free. This is a midwife who is in charge of caring for you during your pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. I didn’t pay for the service I received from my midwife, but I would’ve been happy to.

I’ve often heard that finding a midwife in NZ is a difficult process, but I was fortunate that it was a very easy process for me - I went to Find Your Midwife, emailed a midwife from my area, got a reply the next day, and started going to regular appointments soon after. She sent blood test requests for me; prescribed me iron for iron deficiency; and advised me on what to do at 2am the day I woke up with a severe headache and pain at the top of my baby bump; and much more. Of course, she was then at the hospital to help deliver my baby, and continued to come in and check up on me almost daily when I was in hospital for two weeks. Without us needing to ask, she prescribed our baby a free moisturiser (cetomacrogol & glycerol cream) and nappy cream (zinc & castor oil barrier ointment).

The original plan was for me to give birth at the hospital, then transfer to a birthing centre after 6 hours (following a vaginal delivery; longer for an emergency C-section). From 39 weeks + 5 days, I developed pre-eclampsia which led to a life-threatening seizure and severe haemorrhaging requiring three blood transfusions, so I was a patient with higher needs than most, but my midwife stayed patient, helpful, and compassionate throughout it all. So, as a thank you, my husband and I bought her a $100 Prezzy card to show our appreciation.

We’re also very appreciative of all the help we received while we were in hospital for those two weeks - I’d heard that the state of healthcare in NZ was abysmal, but clearly this was not the case.

Firstly, the doctors and nurses at the hospital saved my life - I was told I would’ve died if they hadn’t rushed into the birthing suite when they did! Secondly, the team of midwives helped us tremendously. While in hospital, we had a new midwife assigned to us every 8 hours, and they helped us with preparing formula, sterilising, replenishing nappies & maternity pads, and caring for our newborn baby. When I was finally discharged, two of the midwives helped check that our baby was correctly secured in his capsule. Over the course of two weeks, we met maybe a dozen different midwives! While I didn’t know anything about midwives before, after our experience, I have so much respect and appreciation for the invaluable work they do.

This was my very long way of saying: if you can, budget in a thank you gift for your LMC midwife - the person who will be there for you all 9 months of pregnancy, plus 6 weeks after (until your care is placed under a Well Child Provider; ours is Plunket).

At 7 weeks postpartum…

We are slowly adjusting to the biggest change in our lives. From not knowing if I could even get pregnant, to my traumatic birth, I look at our baby and see a miracle. If I had developed pre-eclampsia any earlier, he would’ve been premature instead of being born on his due date. If I had had my seizure even a few minutes earlier, while our baby was still in me, I was told he might not have survived. So even though we encountered adversity in our journey to starting a family of three, I’m incredibly grateful that we’re all here today, alive and well. It’s incredibly cheesy to say, but my heart has expanded to accommodate the infinite love I have for our gorgeous baby boy.

To those with a baby on the way, I wish you all the best, and hope that this has helped you on your journey to parenthood!

Love,

Sophia | @mindfulwithmoneynz

How I sold my house - and bought my second home with my husband

Exciting news: I sold my house, and have bought a new house with my husband!

It comes as a huge relief as the housing market in New Zealand is currently tough - even more so for sellers. It is currently a buyers’ market, with new builds rapidly entering the market, creating plenty of supply; at the same time, home loan interest rates are high, with BNZ’s and ANZ lowest rate at 6.45% and Kiwibank’s lowest at 6.49% as of today (5th February 2023). With house prices consistently falling over the past few months, people are constantly worrying about whether or not it’s a good time to buy or to wait until house prices fall even further to avoid negative equity.

Even though it wasn’t the ideal time for us to sell and buy, it was time for us to move to a bigger home for the arrival of our new family member. It was a nerve-wracking experience at times, but we did it! Today I’ll be sharing my personal experience of buying and selling a home at the same time, for those who might be about to go through the process.

Making an offer on our new house

In December 2022, my husband and I went house-hunting for a new home for when our baby arrives in May 2023. We fell in love with a gorgeous 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse that was freehold, freestanding, and only 6 months old. It was also on Auckland’s North Shore, only 10 minutes drive from our current home - score!

We contacted the agent to make an offer, and together we signed the sale & purchase agreement. After negotiating with the vendor back and forth (via our agent) and coming to an agreement on the price, we decided on our conditions.

Our conditions, to be fulfilled within 10 working days, were:

• A building inspection

• The property’s LIM report

• Securing finance

And to be fulfilled within 8 weeks:

• Sale of the purchaser’s property (i.e. going unconditional upon selling my house!)

We also discussed how the deposit would be paid. Normally, buyers pay 10% on the day their purchase goes unconditional, and 10% was what I paid for the deposit on my first home. However, we were able to pay $30,000 on the unconditional date, the rest of the 10% of the purchase price 10 working days after, and the remainder upon settlement. If you need a little flexibility, this is a good option to ask about when signing your purchase & agreement!

Choosing our agent

At one of the open homes we attended, we met a real estate agent who we liked and thought would do a great job of selling my house. She was friendly, enthusiastic, professional, and persuasive in emphasizing the positives of a property while downplaying the negatives.

What do I mean by this? We met her at a house that looked completely different from the photos - everything was darker, older, and smaller; not what we had envisioned from looking at the Trade Me ad. She pointed out that it would be as easy as getting some paint to brighten up the place, as the walls were dark blue. The house also had a separate, downstairs studio with a kitchenette and bathroom, and there were no internal stairs to this studio - you had to leave your main upstairs dwelling, walk down the driveway a bit, then enter the studio. Although this would strike a lot of people as inconvenient, she quickly told us that it looks favourable to the bank as the self-contained studio can be used as a form of rental income.

My house had many positives, such as its amazing location, 2 double bedrooms, open floor plan, and bright, airy kitchen & bathroom - but it had a few negatives, like old carpet, old doors, and one unpainted, cream-coloured bedroom (we’d decided to stop painting when I got pregnant). It’s a 1960’s home which we’ve modernised in the last 6 years with fresh white paint on the interior, timeless grey paint on the exterior, new white blinds, modern grey blackout curtains, and new white kitchen cabinetry with sleek silver handles. However, parts of it still look old-fashioned, so we thought it would be helpful to have an agent who can remind people that these parts are only minor cosmetic issues. After all, the house is perfect structurally. In fact, we were lucky not to have suffered any damage at all from the 1-in-200-year flooding in Auckland that happened just over a week ago!

Selling my house

Our agent first came over for an appraisal, before we met up again to discuss the auction process and sign the agency agreement. Our agency agreement basically stated that the agency would represent me for 90 days, that I would have to pay for the marketing, and what the commission would be if the house sells. I chose a marketing package that included:

• Online listings on Trade Me, Real Estate, and OneRoof

• Obtaining legal documents such as title & lease documents, LIM report, and council files

• A 1600 x 900cm signboard and 50 A4 brochures

• Hiring a professional photographer for a day shoot and dusk shoot, plus aerial shots, a floorplan, and a video

• Copywriting

• Auction costs, such as the auctioneer and live stream

A few weeks later, the photographer came and we spent 1-2 hours moving things around and ensuring the photos and video were perfect. Yep, when you’re at the stage of taking photos, you can still have messy cupboards & drawers and move items around so that the area being photographed is neat and tidy. Not when it comes to open homes though!

The next weekend, our 3 weeks of open homes started. After each weekend, we would receive a campaign report with the number of viewers who came and their feedback, such as comments about the property, their level of interest and likelihood of bidding at the auction, and how they would price the property if they had to guess.

The feedback was quite discouraging as my house’s CV is $920,000, and given the current housing market with most houses selling below CV, I still expected my house to be worth at least $800,000 in people’s eyes. This was based on looking at both asking prices and recently sold prices of similar 2 bedroom properties in my suburb, which were all approximately $800,000.

Some of the feedback was downright ridiculous, with one buyer saying they’ll look for a 3 bedroom house for $700,000 instead. If you’re not familiar with the current housing market in Auckland, $700,000 is what you can expect to pay for either a small property such as a unit or apartment in the same location (North Shore, generally viewed as a great area to live and is close to CBD) or a small to medium property in a much further away area (such as Manurewa or Te Atatu South). To give you an idea, 2 bedroom apartments in Northcote, the suburb right next to us, are currently asking for $775,000.

Over the next 3 weeks, the feedback was up and down; there were a few potential interested buyers who moved on for various reasons. One of them liked my house and had the right budget, but the bank was willing to lend them more if they chose a new build. They’d gone on to look at new build terraced townhouses (my house is freestanding), even if it meant sharing walls with neighbours.

Luckily, we had one buyer who liked the house from the get go, but who never gave us any indication of their intentions or budget. According to my agents, she was a real estate agent herself buying on behalf of a couple. The three of them had come to see my house twice, speaking Chinese the entire time, and kept to themselves. Fair enough, I thought. Having viewed properties with my Chinese mother before, she also prefers to be very secretive. To her, the worst thing you can do is tell the agent everything - what you’re looking for, what your budget is, etc - or to get excited about a property while viewing it, as you might get taken advantage of!

So, on auction day, I only had this one buyer. I had hoped for more, obviously; even two would’ve created some competition. Knowing absolutely nothing about their budget also made me nervous and uncertain. But as it turned out, this one buyer was enough. After negotiating from a very low starting bid, we landed at just $5k below my reserve price, which I accepted because I’d already set my reserve price at $10k above the minimum I was willing to accept…

…And so my house was SOLD! *happy dance*

The house is sold… What happens next?

Because my house was now unconditional, the house my husband and I were buying was now unconditional, too!

The next day, my buyer paid their deposit to me, and we paid our deposit to our vendor. We also got our solicitor to confirm with our vendor’s solicitor that 1) we had fulfilled our last condition and were now unconditional 2) the deposit had been paid.

I emailed our mortgage broker, who confirmed the amount we will be able to borrow for the new house and asked for the relevant documents to be sent and completed, including proof of deposit (e.g. confirmation of my husband’s KiwiSaver withdrawal or a settlement statement from our solicitor) and a form from the bank to confirm that we will be owner-occupiers of the new property.

Over the next few weeks, we will:

• Pay the commission to the agency that sold my house, which consists of a $500 administration fee + 4% of purchase price up to $300,000 + 2.5% of purchase price above $300,000. Based on my sale price, the commission I’ll pay works out to be effectively 3.12%. Commission fees are different for all agencies, so be sure to shop around.

• Agree on settlement dates. Yes, these are already written in our sale & purchase agreements, but our new house has just been vacated. The tenants moved out early, meaning that we can re-negotiate and move in extra early, possibly from April to February - hooray!

• Complete pre-settlement inspections for both properties - my buyers will inspect my house 3 days before settlement, and likewise we will inspect our new house 3 days before settlement there as well.

• Pack, hire movers or a moving truck, and say hello to our beautiful new home!

The facts & numbers

• Price I bought my house for: $678,500

• My reserve price at auction: $800,000

• Price I sold my house for: $795,000

• Price we bought our new house for: $1,110,000

• Our deposit: $30,000 upon unconditional date, $81,000 10 working days after

• Amount spent on marketing my house: $4985

• Commission paid on the sale of my house: $28,606.25 ($24,875 + GST)

• Amount we spent on decorating for open homes instead of paying thousands for staging (new artwork, cushions, artificial plants, etc): $135

• How we are funding it all: using the proceeds from the sale of my house, my husband’s KiwiSaver first home withdrawal, cash from our savings, and a new home loan (we scored an incredible 4.99% special interest rate through Tella!)

I hope this has been helpful if you are thinking of buying a house, selling a house, or like us, doing both some time soon!

During the process, I found the following resources to be very helpful: Settled, OneRoof, and REA (Real Estate Authority) guides.

Best of luck!

Sophia

Reflecting on my money in 2022

Happy 2023! Today I thought I would reflect on my money in 2022 - more specifically, mine and my husband’s money, as we share joint finances. If you’re interested in my reflections for 2021, check out my blog post here.

Here are some notable things that happened for us financially last year…

Three pay rises, two bonuses, and one net pay increase

In 2022, we were lucky to receive:

• A pay rise of 5% on my gross salary in April;

• A bonus based on my bonus target (up to 8% of my gross salary)

• A net pay increase of 13.2% on my husband’s net income (gross salary minus income tax & ACC) after he paid off his student loan in June;

• A pay rise of 4.8% on my husband’s gross salary in September;

• A bonus based on my husband’s bonus target (up to 10% of his gross salary);

• A pay rise of 14.9% on my gross salary in November when I started a new role

These definitely helped us stay ahead of inflation, although we still felt the effects of the increased cost of living like most people. So what else helped?

We cut food costs

We’d been loyal customers of Hello Fresh for five years, since we started living together in 2017. With rising food costs last year, we found that our usually generous meal portions were getting smaller and smaller, so we increased our subscription from 3 meals per week to 4 meals per week. However, we noticed that the meal portions were still fairly small - suddenly there were no longer leftovers after every meal like before - and more and more ‘mistakes’ happened, like missing food items and fresh produce in terrible condition.

In November, we finally stopped our subscription, saving us $114 per week. Even though we’re spending slightly more on groceries, with more experience cooking and more go-to recipes up our sleeve, our increased grocery spend is definitely much less than $114 per week! Some days we are simply happy with cacio e pepe (simple and delicious, and cheap if you use grated parmesan over fancy pecorino) or some roasted seasonal veggies.

While we mostly buy fresh fruit and veggies, we also save money by sometimes mixing in canned or frozen substitutes. One of my favourite recipes is one I learnt from Hello Fresh - creamy mushroom and caramelised cherry tomato spaghetti - and I found that I could get away with using one punnet of fresh tomatoes, and two cans of canned cherry tomatoes, as they all look and taste the same once covered in balsamic vinegar and olive oil and cooked in the oven.

Occasionally, instead of takeaways, we will also eat frozen meals, like the plant-based brand Plantry. They may cost more than other frozen meal brands due to being healthier, but they save a lot of money compared to buying takeaways on a lazy Friday night!

Maternity clothes, pregnancy treatments, doctor’s appointments, and more

I found out I was pregnant in October, and being pregnant comes with a lot of new costs! We’ve spent more money on doctor’s appointments ($51 per appointment via Tend), ultrasounds ($60-$80 each), and pregnancy treatments, including pregnancy acupuncture for morning sickness and pregnancy massage for easing stress, discomfort and insomnia. And even though I put it off for as long as I could, eventually we had to buy new maternity clothing to accommodate my growing baby bump! So far we’ve bought five pairs of maternity underwear, five maternity dresses, one maternity top and two maternity skirts, adding to a total of about $800 (I shopped at 3 Bears). Thankfully, the maternity dresses are also designed for breastfeeding, making them economical and versatile in the long term - plus I can keep them for my next pregnancy.

We also bought BUMP&baby’s Mama-To-Be Bundle, which for us was worth it - the magazines, online antenatal course, and box of baby goodies have all been very helpful.

With many more baby expenses to come, I’m super grateful for the benefits we do get here in New Zealand - like free maternity care and generous Paid Parental Leave (increased from 18 to 22 to 26 weeks in recent years), plus that my employer offers a salary top-up, meaning I will receive my usual fortnightly salary during Paid Parental Leave as they will make up the difference. They’ll also add two weeks of paid ‘family leave’ for all employees. How amazing is that?

In 2022, we also:

• Spent $3000 on new kitchen doors - a great investment, as our kitchen now looks super bright and new!

• Spent $6000 on our Christmas babymoon around the South Island, where we visited Queenstown, Wanaka, Christchurch, Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo, Fairlie, and Nelson. We stayed mostly in Airbnbs with the exception of The Hermitage Hotel in Mount Cook.

• Started the process of selling my first home, because we…

• …Started looking for a new home! That’s right, because our little one is on the way, we are looking for a 3 bedroom house (our bedroom, baby’s bedroom, home office as we both WFH). We’re looking in the same area where we currently live - Auckland’s North Shore - with a maximum budget of $1.2m.

What was your 2022 like? Did you reach your financial goals? Did you change career paths, or move cities? Perhaps you got married or welcomed a new child into the world? However your year was, I hope your 2023 is full of many more lovely and exciting things in store!

Love,

Sophia

What’s in the Millennial ETF?

Did you know there was an ETF based on the consumer behaviour of millennials?

The Global X Millennial Consumer ETF (MILN) seeks to invest in companies that are highly likely to benefit from the rising spending power and unique purchasing preferences of US millennials. While millennials are generally known to be born around 1981 to 1996 (26 to 41 this year), this ETF includes those born around 1980 to 2000 (22 to 42 years old in 2022).

The industries covered are diverse, including social media, TV streaming services, video games, food & beverage, clothing & apparel, health & fitness, travel, education, employment, housing, home goods, and financial services. Notable companies currently in this ETF include Starbucks, Activision Blizzard, Uber, Lyft, Apple, Costco, Disney, Nike, Amazon, Google, Meta, Airbnb, Lululemon, Netflix, Twitter, Tinder, Etsy, Spotify, and more!

Here are the current top 20 holdings in this ETF:

1 - SBUX | Starbucks Corp

2 - FISV | Fiserv Inc

3 - LOW | Lowe's Cos Inc

4 - ATVI | Activision Blizzard

5 - UBER | Uber Technologies Inc

6 - HD | Home Depot Inc

7 - AAPL | Apple Inc

8 - NTU | Intuit Inc

9 - COST | Costco Wholesale Corp

10 - BKNG | Booking Holdings Inc

11 - PYPL | PayPal Holdings Inc

12 - DIS | The Walt Disney Co

13 - NKE | Nike Inc

14 - AMZN | Amazon.com Inc

15 - CMG | Chipotle Mexican

16 - GOOGL | Alphabet Inc

17 - ABNB | Airbnb

18 - LULU | Lululemon Athletica Inc

19 - META | Meta Platforms

20 - NFLX | Netflix Inc

This is one I’ve definitely found interesting and added to my watchlist. Would you invest in this ETF? Why/why not?

For more information, find out more here.

Sophia

Life insurance, and why your family can’t ‘just sell the house’

Have you ever heard a friend or family member say this?

'I don't need life insurance. If I die, my family can just sell the house!'

Here's why it's not that simple.

Did you know it takes an average of 44 days to sell a house? That's according to The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's June 2022 data.

Meanwhile, a funeral is typically held within 7 days of a person passing away, which costs an average of $10,000 according to Consumer. However, New Zealand funeral insurers Cigna, AA Life, Momentum Life, and New Zealand Seniors cover up to $30,000, suggesting the cost could be more.

Work and Income offer a funeral grant of up to $2280.72, which is subject to income limits, with the maximum income cap set at $47,310.12.

Selling a house could include signing with an agency, holding weeks of viewings & open homes, negotiating offers, negotiating conditions of the sale & purchase agreement, discussing & signing the agreement with your solicitor, and making sure conditions are met to go unconditional. According to Settled, the money for the deposit is typically paid to a trust account, then to the lawyer or conveyancer after 10 working days, then to the agent to take their commission before the remainder finally goes to your family.

Have you thought about how much money your family would have left over after paying for the real estate agent's commission? With real estate commissions commonly at 4% for the first $400,000, then 2% for the remainder, your family may pay $28,000 for a house that's worth $1,000,000!

That's on top of the money your family may need to spend to repair the house before listing it for sale, administration fees, and solicitor fees.

The process of selling a house seems difficult enough as it is even when you're not grieving the loss of a loved one. Are you sure you want your family to have to do this while they are grieving? Why not make sure that your family is taken care of financially in a much easier way?

Your life insurance should help cover your funeral expenses, your mortgage if you have one, any other debt you might have, and your lost income. Consider your family's lost income, too, as they may need to take time off work to grieve and sort out your estate.

If you are considering cancelling your life insurance policy and taking out a funeral insurance policy, consider that many new funeral insurance policies come with a typical one to two year standdown period in which you are covered only for accidental death. You will have to wait until after this period to be covered if you pass away from natural causes.

Different funeral insurers will have a refund policy around this - some will refund you your premiums if you pass away from natural causes within the standdown period, and some will not. It's important to ask about this when signing up to a new funeral insurance policy, or if you've already got one.

Instead of cancelling your life insurance policy and starting a funeral insurance policy, you may wish to keep your life insurance policy, but reduce this down to the amount of money you would want your family to have to cover the funeral. This way, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing your loved ones will be financially safe and taken care of, even when you're no longer around. After all, it’s your final way of telling your family, ‘I got you’.

Sophia

Term deposit interest rates are going up - but are they a good investment?

Are you:

• Saving for a goal - perhaps a new car, a wedding, or a holiday - that you'll need the money for somewhere between a few months to 5 years?

• Looking for an investment where you get back at least as much money as you put in, and is safe and low risk?

• Wanting to earn more interest than normal savings accounts, while not yet ready to invest in higher risk investments like property and shares?

If your answer is yes, term deposits may be right for you.

Term deposits are low risk investments that offer higher interest rates than savings accounts at the bank.

For example, the highest current interest rates for savings accounts are 1.30% (Kiwibank), 1% (BNZ), 1.05% (ASB), 1.70% (The Co-operative Bank).

However, if you had $5000 to invest for 1 year, the current term deposit interest rates are 3.65% (Kiwibank, BNZ, and ASB) and 3.15% (The Co-operative Bank). Kiwibank has also just announced a special 4.00% rate if you have at least $10,000 to invest for 1 year!

While term deposit interest rates won’t outpace the current inflation rate of 6.9%, they are a safe, low risk fixed term investment where you are very likely to get back at least as much money as you put in. As an investment, term deposits are much less risky than property and shares, provide a reliable source of income (but not significant growth), and you don’t need a lot to start investing. (In fact, minimum deposits can be as low as $1000!)

If term deposits are the right investment for you based on your financial situation and goals right now, but you don't want to lock your money away for a certain amount of time, you can use the investing strategy of laddering.

How does it work?

Say you have $20,000, want to earn some interest on this, but might also need some of the money shortly.

Splitting this into 4 x $5000, you invest $5000 for 6 months, $5000 for 12 months, $5000 for 18 months, and $5000 for 24 months.

This may help to give you peace of mind as it gives your money accessibility and liquidity at regular intervals. You can then choose to re-invest the money, or have it paid out to you!

I hope this was a helpful beginner’s guide to term deposits! For more on term deposits, check out Sorted’s guide here.

Sophia

How we are ‘beating’ inflation

Inflation has a hit a 30 year high. New Zealand is not alone; here’s how our just-announced 6.9% inflation rate compares with the rest of the world as of March 2022:

• China - 1.5%

• Singapore - 4.3%

• Australia - 3.5% as of Dec 2021

• Canada - 6.7%

• United Kingdom - 7%

• United States - 8.5%

• The Netherlands - 9.7%

• Spain - 9.8%

• Russia - 16.7%

• Argentina - 55.1%

• Turkey - 61.1%

Holy shit, Turkey!

So how are we ‘beating’ - inflation? For my husband and I, it’s a combination of lifestyle choices, earning more, and cutting costs.

I received a pay rise.

In April 2022, I received a 5% pay rise along with my bonus, where I had achieved 95% of the bonus target. If you work in a corporate job, you’re likely to have a yearly performance review and receive a pay rise, too.

I’m not an expert on how to be an exceptional employee or how to always exceed expectations and targets, but there are a few things I am particularly mindful about. When I first started the job, I found out what the KPIs were, noted them down, and made an effort to focus on them, being aware of how my performance was being measured. Whenever I didn’t know something and asked for help, I would make sure I learned how to do it for myself next time. Even now, if I ask for help and someone simply gives me the answer, I ask what process or resources they used to find it, so I can become more self-sufficient. In my everyday work, I take note of what works and what doesn’t, write a lot of note reminders, and practise, practise, practise!

If you are planning on asking for a pay rise, keep a record of every compliment and piece of positive feedback you receive from clients, customers, managers, and fellow staff. Have stats ready for how much you have improved efficiency or quality in your workplace, in solid numbers (‘I increased conversion by x%.’) Be sure to focus on how your experience, knowledge and performance contributes to and benefits your workplace, rather than simply listing out your achievements; translate it into what it means for the company.

If you aren’t successful in negotiating a pay rise, look at negotiating other benefits or work perks. Could you work from home more often, saving you time and money? Could you be covered for study to upgrade your skills and knowledge, which will help you land a higher paying role in the company? Could you condense your work week? (Don’t forget, in New Zealand you can apply for flexible working arrangements.)

If you are currently being underpaid, another option is to look elsewhere. Maybe it’s time to try something new, or find a better employer. Last year, I landed a new job that paid $14,000 more, after two months of applications, psychometric tests, phone interviews, interviews, and second interviews. Exhausting? Yes. Worth it? Also yes. Check out Trade Me Jobs for great career advice, including their helpful salary guide.

My husband finished paying off his student loan.

After 12 years, my husband has finally finished paying off his student loan! This has increased his fortnightly take-home pay by 13.2%. With so many deductions between our gross and net income - ACC, income tax, KiwiSaver contributions - it’s a relief to have one less thing to pay.

He did this through normal student loan repayments, plus a few extra manual repayments here and there - nothing crazy. If you are close to paying off your student loan and want to get there faster, like I did three years ago, you can make extra repayments via MyIR, or by doing it from your bank. It’s easy! Your app will have a ‘Pay tax’ or ‘Pay IRD’ option; simply put in your 8 or 9 digit IRD number (a 0 at the front if yours is 8 digits), the tax year (e.g. 31/03/2022), and the code SLS.

To find out how much more you’ll have in your take-home pay after paying off your student loan, you can go to a PAYE calculator like this one and alternate between having ‘Student Loan’ ticked and unticked. You’ll see the difference in real dollar figures!

Saving money with work perks.

I have had a number of work perks since last year, but have only recently started using them. One of them is a health & wellness benefit, which is a contribution of $500 towards any gym or fitness provider. It’s a perk I used to have working for another insurance company as well, and which seems to be becoming more common in corporate workplaces (hooray!). I used my health & wellness benefit towards a local yoga studio that I’d already been going to weekly, saving me $25 per class. Yin yoga classes have done wonders for my mental health and stress levels, so I am incredibly grateful to have been able to use this benefit.

My employer also offers free health insurance, with a low additional premium to add another person. Because of this, we were able to take out a new joint policy, cancel my husband’s health insurance, and switch him over - saving 9% on health insurance premiums.

Earning extra income.

We recently earned $200 by being guinea pigs in clinical research - a study done by the University of Auckland’s psychology department; a study about romantic relationships and work/life balance. They wanted couples to complete a few tests, followed by an onboarding survey, a daily survey for 3 weeks (i.e. 21 daily surveys), and a follow-up survey. Given the choice of reward, I chose $100 in Countdown gift cards, and he chose $100 in Westfield gift cards.

In March, I participated in another clinical study done by Massey University; a study on brain damage. They wanted people who weren’t brain damaged to complete a few tests, which I can only say was something like the psychometric tests you get when you’re applying for a job, only weirder. Identify the next one in a pattern. Select the correct colour of a word that pops up, even if the word itself spells out the name of another colour (e.g. the word ‘blue’ written in yellow). It was 1.5 hours of mental exercises, and worth the $20 Countdown gift card I earned from it.

If you also want to earn money from clinical studies, follow local universities on social media - that’s how I found out about the studies I signed up for!

Reducing weekly expenses.

Last month, we saved money on our week’s meals by skipping our Hello Fresh for that week, and taking advantage of a first-time offer to try Woop at 40% off.

Our usual weekly Hello Fresh meal kit costs $93.93 - no extras - while a Woop ‘Foodie’ meal kit cost $129 at the time. Instead of $93.93, we paid $77.40 for that week, saving 17.6% while still getting the same number of meals (3 meals for 2 people). We actually found Woop to be much higher quality than Hello Fresh, with ingredients that were fresher and more pre-prepped.

This month, we are saving money by using My Food Bag’s first-time offer - $100 off, discounted as $50 off your first two boxes. For the same number of meals, it is normally $112.99, so with $50 off, making the box $62.99, we are saving 32.9% on our usual price of $93.93.

We plan to continue doing the same thing with other meal kit subscriptions whenever we can - skipping Hello Fresh and using first-time discounts for that week. Not only do we save money, we get more variety, too. We’ve also saved $50 off our Hello Fresh a few times, after someone has signed up for Hello Fresh via my referral - i.e. after they’ve tried out a free box and enjoyed it! I have several free boxes to give away, so if you’re interested in week’s worth of meals, please let me know - or get $100 off here.

Of course, looking at the bigger picture…

We are investing so that our money beats inflation - in the long term.

I currently invest in shares through Sharesies, Hatch and Stake. So far, Sharesies has been the best to use for me as I find it the most user-friendly, and it provides access to many New Zealand companies I personally care about and which align with my values. Meanwhile, my husband invests in shares through his company’s discounted share plan, where part of his annual salary is used to purchase shares in the company. This renews for him every year. We also have a small amount invested in managed funds.

Our investing timeframe is long term (over 20 years), so at the moment, we’re simply making sure we remain consistent - and patient! - to reap the rewards in our 50’s to 60’s.

I hope you’ve found a few ideas for what you could do to cope with the increased cost of living right now. If you need help with your finances, here are some resources to check out:

WINZ

MoneyTalks

Sorted

Citizens Advice Bureau

Good Shepherd

IRD financial relief

Taking a savings break from KiwiSaver

Christians Against Poverty money course

All the best,

Sophia

Follow me on Instagram for more money tips & insights!

What are managed funds? Investing in managed funds explained

Think you're new to investing? Chances are, you're already an investor!

If you're one of 3 million New Zealanders in KiwiSaver, you already invest in what's called a managed fund. So what is it? Today I’ll be explaining managed funds, and how to invest in one.

If I were describing what managed funds are to a friend, I'd say, 'A managed fund is like KiwiSaver, except you can access your money whenever.'

Of course, there's more to it. KiwiSaver is a type of managed fund, it's just got different rules and benefits.

So how do they work?

A managed fund (also called an 'investment fund') is a fund where your money is pooled with other investors and managed by a fund manager to invest in assets such as shares, bonds, and property. Just like with KiwiSaver, you can adjust it to match your personal risk tolerance.

What are the benefits?

• You don't need to be an investment expert to invest in a managed fund. It's taken care of by a professional investment expert, your fund manager, including admin like taxes!

• You don't need to have a lot of money to start investing, as you can sign up with as little as $100 to $1000.

• You get diversification across different industries + access to investments and markets that would normally cost you a lot of money to buy into directly.

• You can access your money earlier. Apart from Kiwisaver, where you typically have to wait until you're 65, you can make a withdrawal whenever you want.

• If you invest in a PIE managed fund, the maximum tax rate on your investment income will be 28%. This is beneficial if you are a high income earner and would otherwise pay 33% on income over $70,000, or 39% on income over $180,000.

While these benefits are great, you've also got to be aware that:

• you won't get to directly pick and choose your investments

• fees differ between providers, so make sure to compare to make the most of your earnings!

'I'm ready! Where do I sign up?'

Here are some banks & companies you can check out:

• Pathfinder

• Kiwi Wealth

• BNZ YouWealth

• Milford Asset Management

• Fisher Funds

• Simplicity

I hope this has been helpful!

For more personal finance know-how, grab your copy of Mindful with Money and follow me on Instagram @mindfulwithmoneynz.

Sophia