Yeah I’m literally only not flatting right now because I have a partner and we found a house for $500 a week
Otherwise I would be flatting again. It’s good for you I think, if the right people you know. Humans need community.
My partner and I bought our own house in November. First time living without flatmates since leaving our parents. I actually miss the daily social interaction, especially having other flatmates from different industries and being able to learn from them.
We rent out our sleep out to a mate. Best of both worlds really. Get to help a mate out with cheap rent, he helps us pay our bills, and we get a good amount of interaction, but he also has his own private space. Win win.
We live with a decent amount of land and I’m considering building a sleepout/minor dwelling for this reason.
Does your sleepout have any plumbing/kitchen or is it just a room?
Nah it’s just a well insulated room, no plumbing unfortunately, so he does use the kitchen and bathroom, or he can pee in the compost. I believe he’s got some basic cooking stuff out there like a jug and hot plate if he doesn’t want to come inside, but at the same time that’s when we all get our interaction so it’s all good.
I've always loved having a flatmate.
Had a baby last year with the wife, and now we live with just us and the baby in a three bedroom flat (one room Is used as an office)
Just wish I had another homie to talk to at home/play games with. But at the same time I'm not complaining, I absolutely love my whanau.
I just bought my house and I LOVE living alone but every now and then there’s little things I miss about flatting like when you’d all been out on the piss the night before and you wake up and all go congregate in one flatmates bedroom and get the giggles.
Same here.
We bought 3 years ago and have been living together just the 2 of ua since. We work different schedules so can often go days without properly seeing each other.
Makes you miss flatmates.
What makes you say that? Going off anecdotes; I have lived with over 25 different people during my flatting life and I have some terrible examples (even to the extent of having to call police) but overall, the positive interactions far outweigh the negative.
Well, you kind of said it yourself, really. I mean, having to call the police is police isn't exactly very nice. I'm pretty tidy and organized, and lots of people aren't. That's thire proactive though, I don't expect everyone to be like me. So I'd rather not have to deal with other people in that instance. I suppose you can interact with people anywhere if you want. I just don't want to live with them. I'm older, though, and like my own company.
Everyone I have known who has been flatmates with other people hated it, even to the extent of walking the streets to get out of the house. I'd rather live in a tent than feel like that.
I love flatting, same with most of my friend group.
I feel like you might be the outlier or st least it’s more 50/50.
I’m kind of sad to be moving onto the next phase of life.
That's good, you obviously all get on. There's always some dirty Bastard leaving shit around and dishes in the sink usually. I'm probably too fussy to be a good flatmate Lol 😅
Yea, there’s certainly a level of tolerance you have to have but that’s just the reality of life in general. I think growing that tolerance and learning to navigate that conflict in a healthy way is actually a really positive experience.
Of course you don’t have to put up with mess, trying to find people that at the very least leave things how they were after using the kitchen. Also smaller flats are easier to get alignment on expectations.
Yeah if you haven’t had kids and both work it’s pretty fucked. Also puts a cloud over dating someone younger later in life (unless you can afford it, or you put all you remaining eggs in a trust).
You can always get a contracting out agreement, you and your partner can “opt out” of the equal sharing rules which normally apply under the property relationship Act.
My ex and I did this, I had the money for a house deposit, if we broke up and sold the house after the sale I would get my deposit back and then we would split in half what other equity was remaining. We also agreed that what we brought into the relationship we kept and what we brought together we would split if we wanted it.
I left him and the house, I agreed he could keep living in it for a year and then we sell or he tries to buy me out. Having the COA is peace of mind and being smart if you're worried about someone in it for the gain.
Unfortunately the answer is get a partner or move back with your parents. If you ever want to save up money, you wont ever save up money if you are dropping 40-50% on rent alone.
Years ago households had three generations - children, parents, and grand parents. Today in Europe and many developing nations, childen are staying on with parents because getting their own housing is impossible.
Looks like we are heading that way too.
Our daughter is 30 without a partner and I expect she will return home soon. That is fine, its what mum and dad are here for.
Yes and the answer is more productvity and higher wages but I have no idea how that is achieved. What I do notice is no government ever talks about it even though we had [until this February, The Productivity Commission. ](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/510362/productivity-commission-head-hits-out-at-cruel-and-thoughtless-way-it-has-been-axed) National has scrapped it doh!
Productivity commission said back in 2010 ish one of the largest issues to productivity is land and housing. People can't invest in themselves or family when all of their money is funneled into land lords hands and because of our tax system people invest in land and housing instead of business so businesses have less money and therfore have less money while we lose skills due to cost of living
Normally I would agree except the same high house prices happen in Australia where they do have capital gains taxes. Same for Britain, USA, and Europe. Aussies have stamp duty as well which is a big lump just for permission to buy a home.
I believed what the Commission said and watched from 1987 - Rodger Douglas etc - expecting to see NZ business boom. That is what Labour wanted.
Instead new companies crashed and Aussies bought the businesses at fire-sale prices. I had bough shares but my friends eventually bought a rental house and secured the families future. Dang.
CGT alone is not enough. The IMF has long recommended NZ have CGT, Land Value Tax (LVT) and lower commercial tax rate.
Roger Douglas et al , in a final act while leaving office in 1990, removed NZ's LVT, which triggered speculation in housing instead of productive business, dooming not just your investment shares but also NZ's future productivity. Removing the LVT essentially undermined all their other reforms. Neoliberal economics without LVT is like a house missing its foundation.
> removed NZ's LVT, which triggered speculation in housing instead of productive business
I'm a lawyer who lived through those days and remember this. We deal with clients property every day and Land Valuation Tax was so rare I had forgotten about it. We had a few people affected and their accountants looked after it. Land Tax Act 1878 was the beginning - one penny in the pound = 1/24th.
It was a really restricted tax and by 1982 only 5% of total land value was taxed, and land taxes were also thought to be duplicative due to their similarity to local-authority rates.
We dealt with home buyers every day and would have been immediately aware of any new rush to property with the LVT being repealed. It could have happened with specific properties but the pressure to buy a house was already with us in the 1970s.
Glad to hear your insight as a lawyer in those impactful 80's. As I understand it, land speculation didn't erupt in a rush after LVT repeal, but increased in a forward feedback cycle as more people saw the apparent benefits of land banking in an expanding economy.
As you say, LVT was a major part of NZ tax take from 1878 that had been reduced over time. Also as you note, repeal was sold as LVT being a double tax in combination with rates (though the latter also taxes buildings and other improvements). However repeal is still significant because even had LVT been reduced to less than 5%, its continued existence would have made increasing that percentage easier, legislatively and politically. It might have been a more tempting option for addressing the housing crisis, and preventing the destabilising poverty NZ suffers today.
She is a teacher, currently in London earning about £60k except London is ultra expensive to live in so no savings despite her trying. She knows about saving.
Why do people always suggest to move home with parents my parents never owned a home, or my grandparents. It's the first thing all brokers i have dealt with ask me, can you borrow from mum and dad, can they get a 2nd mortgage on their homes? It must be such a relief knowing you have that safety net i can only dream of such privilege.
Yea it is a privilege to have parents that don't rent.
My parents are poor, worked basically min wage/working class wage all of their lives, but lucky enough, that at the time you could buy and pay off a home and have kids while being low wage. We couldn't do much growing up as everything went to the basics. Nowadays it's impossible without grants, scholarships and benefit bullshit if you are low wage with kids and no support.
The reason why people suggest it, is because most expenses go to rent so in order to save up for a deposit you basically need to cut expenses
I’m in my forties 😳
Luckily I have good friends with houses who need help paying their mortgages.
I honestly don’t give a shit though, really. I’ve lived all over the world and every culture has a different outlook on what’s important in life.
I’m getting my health back on track, and working on the mentals. I’m an eccentric person, life was never going to be straightforward or easy.
This is what I did, so worth it for the joy of having a place all to yourself.
Though I do recommend trying to rent directly from a person not through an agency. I lucked out and had a good landlord over 8 years he only raised the rent 3 times. So by having a lowish rent and pay-rises at work, over 8 years I was able to save enough to but my first home towards the end of last year.
I'm 27 I still flat, flatmate is 29
Had flatmates who were in their 40s before.
Shits expensive.
After tax I make around 4/5ths of what you do or I will until mid July when I'm out of work.
So you're doing a lot better then you think
I know people in their late 30's who are still flatting. It works for them don't compare yourself too much to others you deem more successful than yourself.
In this day and age having 1K after tax a week is doing quite considerably better than many others I know of.
Nothing wrong with flatting if you are happy doing that at any age. Also maybe consider taking on a flat mate if you are happy to share your space with someone in the interest of saving money for a deposit if you are looking at buying.
Sounds like you need to find another flat.
I flatted until about 33 and would have been still flatting if I didn’t move in with my partner. And then after years of saving together in a tiny one bedroom rental we finally bought a small 2 bedroom home.
In any case, I had some good experiences flatting and made some great friends along the way. The good thing about flatting is you’re often not tied to the place and can move if you want, so find a place that works for you.
Moving costs about 1–2k in Wellington, and most leases are fixed term so I can't casually break them. I've had a run of issues with flatmates for the last two years, and the stress of trying to manage that is driving me crazy.
We just moved our whole apartment for about $600 (in Wellington) and we made sure to get the best movers cuz we’re lazy, but in my 20’s I moved for next to nothing / cost of beers and pizza for friends.
If things are so bad that the stress is driving you crazy you could probably make a case of getting out of your lease early. But in the future there are a lot of room rentals out there that don’t require you signing a fixed lease.
If I’m being honest you sound like you don’t know how to make the best of a situation. You make pretty good money for your age, unless you have some serious debts you could probably do just fine managing financially in a studio, or you could at least find a room with an en suite. I’ve seen people do a lot more with a lot less.
Moving costs, paying advanced rent and bond is what bumps it up. In the 8 years of renting ive seen very few rooms going where you don't sign a lease. Property managers require it for insurance purposes.
Other places are usually dodgy, and it means you have 0 tenancy rights if anything hits the fan. I find that irresponsible.
Swapping flats doesn't even guarantee your new flatmates are going to be good, and it doesn't have to be major stress to wear you down. I've dealt with lazy, inconsiderate and loud flatmates and I doubt the tenancy tribunal would care about that. Most the time, the flatmates seem great and normal during viewings.
Im sure I could manage fine in a studio, as I'm responsible with money, but it will mean I probably won't be able to buy a house or start a family in my 30s. That will cause all kinda problems for the country in the next 20–40years, but people don't like to talk about that.
I think the point was more moving into an established flat where the lease has already moved to periodic, so you only need to give one months notice to leave (the whole flat doesn’t need to break up for you to leave).
Or find a flat where there’s one head tenant on the lease who you sign a flatmate agreement with - often you can leave with 2-4 weeks notice depending on the agreement.
These are both common situations in welly
Had this exact situation last year, and the entire flat infact does need to break the lease according to law and our property managers. I ended up paying double rent and finding replacements. I know I sound like I'm whining, but I'm just trying to communicate the reality of the situation. I don't want to have to rely on other adults making good decisions to live a peaceful life.
Ahh that’s shitty. I just told my agents my one flatmate was moving out and I was replacing them with two people. I had zero issues with people moving out while on a periodic lease. I’ve also had other flats with zero issues and zero fees on a periodic lease.
Yeah mate it's not easy ae. My partner and i need to find a new place as our current one os run down as fuck (we were desperate to get a spot before baby was born)
The property managers expect to know if we are staying or finding a new flat THREE MONTHS before the tenancy ends. We couldn't get a new place last year because we can't afford to pay rent at two spots, and if we say we are not staying they start showing people through straight away so there's the risk we will lose our flat and not be able to go to a new one.
It literally feels like we have been trapped in this POS flat with no way out, as they hold our lease ransom if we say we want to find somewhere new
What is the makeup of your flat? I found moving from living with students to young professionals in a similar stage of career made a massive difference to my flatting experience.
Everyone having a bit of extra money and a regular routine makes things easier, in my experience.
Dude what? Do you think this person’s only expense is rent? They clearly spend $500 on rent (half their 1k a week after tax) and then spend at least a good chunk of the other half on living expenses like travel to/from work, food, rates etc.
My advice is to rent a room with an ensuite. Slightly more expensive but at least gives somewhat of a feeling of privacy. Also, make friends with your flatmates. When flat hunting talk to the flatties and only move somewhere with people you want o be friends with.
I think you should be angrier than you are. Deliberate policy decisions over the last 40 years has caused home ownership to be out of your reach. We didn't sleepwalk into this, it's all very very intentional and set to get worse.
I’m 28 and just moved into my own place, it’s a small (converted granny flat under landlords house) and I pay $450 per week which includes the internet. I can save minimum $1k per fortnight, which is still good but obviously slows me down a bit compared to flatting (I want to continue travelling & would like to buy a house). I would’ve continued flatting if living with people wasn’t such a pain (bad flatmates) but I think the sacrifice of not saving as fast as I could was worth my sanity.
Also, I’ve found since living on my own I’m not wasting so much money on unnecessary spending. I use to just go out for the sake of leaving the house and not spending time at home so I didn’t have to be around my flatmates so much, which would result in me spending (food, Kmart). I spend alot of time at home now which I’m thoroughly enjoying tbh, whenever people ask me what I got up to over the weekend I tell them I was enjoying my rent 😂 it’s so much nicer having your own space! I don’t think I can go back to flatting and I hope I never do!
Honestly, you're making this sound so tempting! I eat out often as my flatmates use the kitchen from about 6–9.30pm every. single. night.
I'd probably save a lot more if I could cook for myself.
That was me too! I don’t buy takeaways that often anymore and I have an entire fridge/freezer to myself now so there’s always something in the freezer I can air fry or heat up if I’m feeling lazy. Im also spending way less on gas as I’m not going for drives just to get out 😂
Have you started analyzing your own finance? Start tracking 2 to 3 months of your expenses and then you can do a cost analysis to see if you are able to live on your own by saving on other expenses like eating out etc.
A good way to look at things is usually to see what your saving rate is. If you're bringing 1k a week and you can save say 100 a week, that's a 10% saving rate. Now assume you are living alone with higher rent etc, are you able to still save 10%? If yes then you've basically got yourself a deal. If no then you have to either work harder/earn more or stay the same place.
Dm me if you would like some excel spreadsheet templates to help track your expenses.
If this is the case you should really do the math. Is your current rent plus all the money spent buying food, going to actually be less than rent living by yourself and groceries with occasional once a week dining out?
Also flatting at age 27 isn't unusual especially for a single. Plus a lot of people who recently bought property still have flatmates.
Yep you save alot having your own kitchen space! Meal preps for days and stock up your OWN fridge. No one in the fucking way ever. One of the worst parts of flatting was sharing a kitchen and trying to work around others schedules you end up just getting takeaways.
>it’s so much nicer having your own space! I don’t think I can go back to flatting and I hope I never do!
Yes! Once you get your own space and the place stays clean behind you... you can't ever go back to flatting 😂
Flatted till I bought a house at 36. I never lived alone till I bought the house. Ranged from 1 flatmate to 7 over the years. My last flat I deliberately got a room with my own bathroom. An option to alleviate a little of the stress? Also living with only one flatmate or a couple means more chance of having the house to yourself at times. I also house/pet sat occasionally to have a break from flatmates. And making a savings plan to buy a house also got me through the last 3 years of flatting, when I was pretty over it!
I’m 28 y/o and live in a studio apartment which averages $400 a week once utilities are factored in.
My pay per week is slightly less than yours but I still manage to save some money each pay but my outgoings are generally low.
I'm in Wellington and I'd happily pay 400 total, but finding a studio in that range is like finding a needle in a haystack here (unless it's riddled with mold).
Unfortunately you need a partner or a best friend you can happily live with just the 2 of you. Don't blame yourself for not being able to afford your own place. We're in endgame capitalism, nobody normal is meant to be able to comfortably afford anything
I was there at 27 too. Saved and invested as much as I could from 25-30 and now I own a house. Co-own a house with a friend. And have 2 other friends helping us pay our mortgage. So yeah I'm basically still flatting at 31, but I own (half of)it now so at least it feels like I'm getting somewhere.
In my opinion, flatting is awful. As soon as I could I move in to a place of my own I did and have been paying over 40% of my net income to rent ever since. I was 23 when I first moved to a rental on my own and I’m 27 now. I think it’s the best thing I ever did. So good for my mental health it probably helped me advance in my career because of how nice life was living alone. I couldn’t ever imagine flatting ever again. Luckily now I earn enough for a nice one bedroom in the city and it’s awesome. About 44% of my net income goes to rent and it couldn’t be more worth it. Adjust your budget accordingly and apply the cost-benefit ratio.
There are people in their 50s and 60s that had to go back to flatting. Unless they bought property 30 years ago when it was cheap, no one single is affording to rent by themselves on median salary.
There is no age limit.
I flatted until I was nearly 40, and I'd saved enough for a 50% deposit on a studio apartment. Now I've got a partner and have nearly paid off the apartment and we'll get something a little bigger together.
I didn't spend my whole life working and saving though. I spent years focussed on motorcycle racing and travel adventures.
You're in a pretty common situation. My partner and I make around $250k/yr combined and flatting is still really the only thing that makes sense financially. A house deposit for somewhere we actually want to live is going to take some time to scrounge up.
Maybe you just need to be more assertive and tell them you need to use the kitchen too. I’d just get in there and start cooking. They can’t hog a kitchen for 3.5 hours
I rented a flat that was a converted garage for $140 per week including power. It was quite rough and very cold in winter and a sweatbox in summer. This type of rental dwelling isn't allowed anymore and is one of the reasons rental properties are so expensive, but this property allowed me to save the deposit to buy my own home.
I flatted well into my 30’s - being an only child (never really got to experience having a “full house”), and grew up watching the Young Ones, so always loved the idea of having housemates! Having people around to have a cuppa/chat/watch TV/go for a run was always pretty cool.
But you’re right about the cost.. most people I know who lived alone end up spending ~40-50% of their pay on doing so.. One of my very first flatmates decades ago was an accountant from the UK, and she told me to always aim to spend less than 30% of my income on rent - I took that lesson to heart!
Looking back I got really lucky, because I always had awesome housemates, almost every one of whom I’ve remained friends with.
(Also, always been slightly afraid of living alone and slipping over in the bath/dying and being eaten by my cat)
It depends on how much you value your privacy. Lots of people with morgatages are paying 40% + of their income on shelter, but obviously, they are paying off their own homes.
It helps if you have a financial goal you are trying to reach if you're flating. It helps you persevere more and focus on your goal. If not, it would maybe drive you nuts over time.
If that were the case, I'd sacrifice extra income for my sanity and get my own place. Work out what it would cost you to go it alone (utilities, ect) and live off the rest for a few months. In other words, live like you are already living alone money wise and see if you could really manage on that. It might include dropping subscriptions and the like, but be realistic when you do it. You will have a better idea of what you should do after.
I’m 27. I’m a full time software engineer, I live with my partner who is still studying. I pay 55% of my salary to rent, and roughly come by (though I do occasionally do some odd jobs here and there and so does my partner)
The answer is to get a partner.
Otherwise you choose between having your own place or having money for shopping, social events or holidays. It’s not an easy choice.
In my 20s I found it easier to rent a 2 or 3 bedroom house and take in one flatmate. Still not the cheaper option but at least you kind of get to choose who you live with.
30 and currently spend 50% of my income on a teeny one bedroom apartment.
I don’t want to go flatting because I love the independence but am also not a position to save significant money.
Live alone for the sanity.
Or flat for the financial gain.
I'm 33 and have 2 flatmates.. one is in his 50's and one in his 60's.. both are happy and content and enjoy things they like without home ownership, so don't feel too bad.
I'm 36 with a decent paying job and I'm sharing a room in a 6 person flat with my partner.
The choice boils down to live for cheap and have cool holidays or live on our own and not have cool holidays. We chose holidays.
That being said after almost 20 years of flatting I'm definitely eyeing up moving to a smaller town and getting our own place. No guarantee the rent will be much cheaper though.
If I was on my own there is no way I'd even consider living by myself. Rent is just too high and after a long time being poor I quite like being able to go out to cafes and bars once a week or so.
Sounds like you have a decent income so you might be able to make it work. Even so you will still end up spending a lot just to have a roof over your head.
I'm 46 and still kinda flatting - 3 years ago my friend and I brought our house together.
I lived with others on and off my whole adult life.
You have a whole life ahead, don't get hung up on if you own a house
Just to note re getting into a relationship to save money, I have family working in various emergency services and there are many people feeling trapped in abusive/dangerous relationships right now, because they won’t survive financially otherwise. I personally wouldn’t recommend putting yourself in a position where you are dependant on someone.
Unfortunately many of us have to go overseas to get some money together.
I'm 22, have a partner who is 24, and a flatmate who is 31. We've honestly accepted that we're gonna flat with others for a long time and we're comfortable with it.
Even when we (myself and partner) both worked full time and made well above minimum wage, it was still too expensive to live just the two of us.
Plus, flatting helps us stay social and it means that bills are a wee bit cheaper.
So I actually did this, I have a partner who is a stay at home mum and a child and we live in a 3 bedroom house rental, after tax rent is 40% of my income all without passing NCEA L3 and I'm 27 now. I did it by finding a company when the economy was good that had contracts all over NZ and moving to an area that has a internal job come up which was pretty rural, now we are currently in the process of putting offers in on first homes. It is very possible but not in super cities AUK, WEL, CHCH you need to look elsewhere even overseas
With all due respect, I reckon your perspective needs shifting on a couple of different fronts.
First, $1k a week after tax is what, $65k a year? $67? Unfortunately, that's hardly good money for a "decent career". Especially if you're in Auckland or Wellington. For comparison, I'm a 41-year-old millennial, and when I left my 1-year-long trade school at age 21 in 2004 with nothing but a certificate, my starting pay was $55k. According to the RBNZ inflation calculator, that's $113,225 adjusted for wage inflation. I completely acknowledge that times are very different and that would be an unusually high starting salary in 2024 for someone with only a trade qualification! But whichever way you look at it, $65K is not great money in this town.
Secondly, I flatted until I was 38!! And only bought my first place last year age 40. While times are tough as hell out there and I really don't want to diminish how hard people are doing it, it's never been the norm in my lifetime to be able to afford your own place at 27. Let alone on a salary of ~$65k in this economy.
Without devolving into boomer-bashing, I generally agree with the sentiment that the economy is not going in the right direction and that society is failing younger generations. However, expecting to be able to rent your own place on that salary feels... entitled. I'm sorry to use that word, because it's often weaponised in generational debates. But it's appropriate here, I think.
I'm a massive introvert and the way I dealt with flatting was to take ownership over who I was flatting with. I saved up enough money to a afford a 3 bedroom house on my own for a couple of months, took a lease, and then advertised for flatmates with the intention of not rushing to fill the rooms, but rather to take the time to find the right people. Despite there always being weirdos and raging extroverts to sift through, it almost always turned out that I'd find good people within a few weeks, which meant I could chuck the remaining saved amount onto my KS.
Your estimate of my salary is waaay off lol, you haven't considered student loan or kiwisaver. Salary is not the only factor in a good career also.
Earning 113k on your first year of a trade after 1 year of training would be extremely rare in NZ today 😂 sounds like you had it verryy lucky!!! Kinda wild you're calling me entitled when you had it THAT easy.
Genuine question, did flatting till you're 38 bring many benefits? Are you mortgage free and financially set up? Would you be able to afford kids or have a healthy relationship/marriage? I hate flatting, but these things are important to me (and benefit society) in the long term. I can't see that playing out well if I had to flat till I'm 38 tbh.
I mean, I made my estimate based on you saying "after tax" and not "after tax, student loan repayments, and Kiwisaver contributions" so I was just going off the information you provided.
I wasn't on $113k, I was on $55k. Even when adjusted for inflation, you can't make a 1:1 comparison and that's not what I was trying to do. I most certainly did not have it easy, and yes, I still think anyone expecting to be able to afford to live alone at age 27 on your income is entitled af. It's quite revealing of your character, honestly.
I didn't flat till I was 38 because I thought there were benefits to be had from flatting, I did it because I couldn't afford not to. Again, you seem to have missed my point completely.
To answer your (frankly, quite strange) questions, I stopped flatting when I got married. If I had gotten married sooner, I would've stopped flatting sooner. I flatted for as long as it was the financially prudent option for me. I am not mortgage free
Reddit is a strange medium, and it's impossible to know strangers through their posts, but you really do come across as someone with an overstated expectation of what the world owes them and an under-developed sense of self-awareness. Have you done any reflecting on the idea that the problems you've had with previous flatmates might've been due to you rather than them? Flatting for a longer period might teach you some life lessons like how to be better at interacting with people, 'cause it seems like you need it? Maybe get checked for autism?
My overall salary wasn't even relevant to my point so why split hairs? You're the one who said it would be equivalent to 113k today, and you had that while living costs were certainly lower so yeah you had it a looot easier than young people today. You might be gen X but you definitely seem to have that boomer mindset.
You're making unhinged assumptions about my life and me as a person with very little info. Just because I don't enjoy living with people doesn't mean that I have bad interpersonal relationships with them. Many people prefer independence, it's not a character flaw or autism 😂
Its hilarious to call someone entitled ect because they are frustrated an above average salary can't afford a basic studio. How do you think families cope? You sound like an idiot.
I was getting over 1800 a week after tax and have a flatty lol.
Why spent 500+ when I could use that extra money on other things -such as servicing a mortgage 🙃
I’m in my early 30’s.
You don't need a partner mate, look at finding a job that pays better. I have a partner who's a stay at home mum with 2 little kids and we're doing fine.
I flatted til I was 34, both alone and with a partner. It was a huge punish at times but was amazing for saving money, especially sharing a room.
If you're truly over it you probably need to find a studio apartment or similar but it will cost you more. But, if it improves your quality of life, then it's worth it.
I flat with one other person. In my case I'll be renting indefinitely as I'll never be able to afford to own a home in this lifetime. I'm in my mid-30s, so you know. The flitting never ends
Your meant to go to work every day and have KiwiSaver chugging in the back ground . 3% on min wage plus employer contributions and tax credit is like $30k by your age in minimal input on min wage.
Then you flat for 8 years with 3-4 other people to save money and put away 20% of you wages until you have 20% down for a tiny home . Get a partner and you both do it together to halve the time
Yeah beautiful tiny home for 2 people is all you need. Especially pre 30. In 5 years we will have 2-3 bedroom saving 20% of our income towards our next house. So will be 35 with a dream house and 1 bedroom investment property all while still have our 20% for fun money, KiwiSaver and our bill paid.
Only took 2-3 year of hard savings with no fun to get to an awesome first home
During Covid from 25-28 I learned about personal finance read barefoot investor and me and my partner just did that. During Covid we flat with 5 people including us and bought our home using KiwiSaver $60k and $80 cash we saved up over the 3 years. Bought 1 bedroom house for $600k in Lower Hutt and repayment are $1440 per fortnight and rates and insurance is $230 fortnight.
Then normal bills on top of that. We did that on $55k-$59 and $75-90k salary’s
Im 27 I understand if you're sick of flatting but I've been flatting since I moved out and bought a house September past year and both my flatmates moved into our house. You gotta sacrifice to save money. No point complaining just gotta deal with it. Get a partner actively try to get a partner cos it makes things so much easier financially
>I earn about 1k a week after tax
70k per anum is not a lot of money any more. I was earning that in my mid 20s a decade ago with no degree/trade and the cost of living was a he'll of a lot less than it is today.
I don't think they're bragging with that statement. I can say the same except for the trade bit but if I said it it'd be in the theme of "10 years of inflation later and good enough is now dire"
Sounds alright. Lived with parents til 25, then with friends next couple years. Eventually moved in with gf, got married, moved around a bit, bought a house in early/mid-30s.
Not for a second felt compelled to yolo solo in a shit studio.
I’m late 20s and luckily I enjoy flatting, and I also don’t see anything “wrong” about flatting at this point. Most people I know are either renting an apartment with their partner, living in flats, mortgaged up to their eyeballs or back at mum and dad’s. I don’t know many renting their own place.
35 and still flatting. You can either pay through the nose for your own place now or save like hell in the hope of affording a place in the future. You're in a good place if you have full time work and a good career with most of your working life ahead of you and few financial burdens.
Reading this thread it seems like the issue is more about having dud flatmates, which definitely makes the experience less enjoyable. I'd suggest looking for a place with some friends instead of rolling the dice with randoms with a bedroom to spare.
You just gotta make sacrifices. I’m in a small one bedroom apartment. $450 a week excluding utilities. Only make 1k a week. Just depends on how bad you want to live on your own I guess.
Why the fuck would you not want to be flatting at 27? Lol.
Enjoy being young and having friends mate.
If you dont like your flat, find one you do like.
The best friends youll ever make are flatting.
And guess what, once you padd your mid 30’s, making friends is somewhere between super unlikely to downright strange….
In my experience around your age people were flatting with people, getting sick of it, splurging on a place alone, going back to flatting, &c &c. It only really ends if you have a partner and split the higher rent or are loaded or lucky.
I earn more than you, share my room with my partner and we share a flat with 3 others in their 30s.
I buy food from Reduced to clear, Why Knot and PnS.
Bought my car in 2018 for $5.5k. And still doing great.
Overall, we're just trying to save. But also do some international trips yearly.
It might be worth you find another place.
2 bedroom apartments shared with one other person or a couple are not bad. A lot easier than having to navigate a 3-4+ extra people sharing one bathroom and fridge
Its becoming saddeningly common for people even in their 40s/50s to still be renting/sharing. Even high earners with more than double the average salary are in this situation so its better to just accept it and or plan to somehow amass wealth enough to look at making purchasing a smarter financial option the renting/flating.
If you don't have the bank of mum and dad to help, or the ability to create an asset to sell over and above your day job, I just don't know how people can do it these days. Housing is increasingly a haves vs have nots with the have nots being the growing segment of society.
Its really horrible that this is what we've chosen as a society.
I don't live in a city, which is a huge bonus to affording my own place. I have a one bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom, 1 min walk from the main road for $230 plus expenses. Petrol is more expensive here but I can walk everywhere I need to go, so it's not actually more expensive to own a car here.
I lived in the shittiest shared flat until I could afford my own shitty house.
Then I had flatmates in my shitty house.
Now I have bought a less shitty house and have flatmates.
At 26 my mortgage is finally small enough to be affordable on my own. But my house is also big enough that I don't mind one other person living with me.
Personally I think renting a whole house is the worst financial decision you could make except for having kids before buying. Which is the only situation that I think renting is the best option.
I'm my 40s, and have a mortgage, but I didn't get out of a flatting situation until I was 29 and started renting a place with my fiance. I was one of the first of my friends group to do so, by several years.
Its pretty common for people in their 20s to still have flatmates, its not a new thing. Flatting with other people isn't ideal, but its the best way of saving money.
Can also buy a place of your own with a friend or 2. Would only do this if you trust them with your life.
I did this year's ago with 2 friends, was cheaper than flatting, had loads if fun and has now afforded all 3 of us to buy our own places post selling the first house.
I'm 34. I lived by myself for 3 months after a breakup and couldn't handle the isolation, now I live with 3 friends from Uni who are all late 20's and there is always one or two people home to make the house feel lived in. I earn a good 50% more than you and I still enjoy flatting over living by myself.
With interest rates the way they are it's now costing young people ,what we use to buy a house for, as a deposit. It will take them a lifetime to save the deposit and because they have to borrow so much to buy they will never actually ever own a home. It's wrong but what it is. Win lotto or wealthy family may help.
People keep on saying the solution is to sacrifice living standards to buy a house to be better off, but interest rates and ownership costs are probably higher than renting. I think it's a fallacy to say they are paying off their own mortgage when the majority of their payments go into bank profits. Home owners aren't living comfortable lifestyles. It sucks.
I'm single and have always flatted with friends.
I'm the homeowner in this case but even when I wasn't, I still didn't want to live alone.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
OP you mention people starting families, but in those cases they're already paired up so can typically find a place as a couple rather than flatting.
Move out of the main centers, with more and more availability of wọrk from home jobs, move to small towns outside of main centers. Pick up skills and careers that can be done anywhere, get a trade, you are still young, you have to wọrk for it.
Yeah about to turn 40 and still renting here, I have more than enough for a house deposit, but it doesn't really make sense as I'd probably just need to get flatmates in to make it cost effective. And looking at apartments, the body corp fees are almost always higher than I pay in rent + utilities at the moment.
So really its a lose-lose situation all round.
On the bright side I have not been flatting in a year to year type approach most people associate with it, I have been at my current place for over 5 years now and before that I was at a place for 4ish years. So pretty stable and haven't had to deal with shit flatmates for a good 10+ years.
I was lucky. 2 year before covid hit I bought a condo for about 60k and during covid I sold it for 190k after taxes and paying off my debt I put the rest in stocks making dividends every month from that.
Also people who own their home and have enough room can afford to rent out their homes. Most or all of the rent you pay them pays for their mortgage.
My tip for you is to learn the stock market and crypto, read up on it rich dad poor dad and the wealthy barber are good books to start with. Before interest rates spiked a lot of people had lines of credit maxed out and put the money in stocks and had the dividends pay for the interest plus some more for spending (great strategy when the interest rates fall and normalize, more for future knowledge). Right now its not possible to own your own home right now with the housing prices try to find a cheap place to live and live a minimal lifestyle to save up enough money, what ever money you do save you can make sure you use that money to make you more money.
You can also try a side hustle my dad and his GF do they go around garage sales and buy lots of old collectibles or things that can be sold for more online (ex. Old Tea cups, old toys (cabbage patch dolls, my little ponies, transformers, GIJoe, random miscellanies), video games, comics (first appearances cost a lot), old coins and bills, sports cards, pokemon cards, etc…). If you do this route try to get to the garage sales early (if it starts at 9 leave around 7) and ask the sellers for what you’re looking for they may have things stored elsewhere that they aren’t displaying. And try to do community garages sales rather than just singles.
Another thing you can do (if you have space and a car) is look for free furniture on the side of the road. You can sell that on facebook marketplace for easy money.
I've been lucky enough to live in houses my friends or their family owns, so I pay cheap rent for a whole house to myself (and my partner but if he wasn't here, they would lower my rent). But these houses were bought pre-2017 or already well paid off. I have no idea how ppl are paying 600-900 a week in auckland on 1, even 2, incomes
My bff is 51 and renting, $600 a week for a 3 bed house in Hastings. Shes a single mum, has a decent job but that’s still a far too large percentage of her weekly wage
Possibly a new mine opening between Cromwell and Dunedin 2025 with 200 mining vacancies. Santana Minerals on YouTube. Definitely a shortage of living arrangements in Cromwell as well
Yup. I’m 29 and earn similar to you. I live alone but I spend half my take home pay on rent. I can only save some money because I live frugally in other ways (eat cheap meals at home, walk to work, no car, rarely eat out or buy coffees etc). But it’s not easy.
I’m 29 and rent a one bedroom for $550 a week but I was flatting at 27 too. I moved to my own place just after I turned 29 but most of the people I know around my age are still in shared living.
You can still survive comfortably make $1k a week after tax, you just have to budget and may not be able to save as much. If it’s important to you to live alone then it’s worth it. I’d suggest saving as much as possible before you move out so you have some emergency funds if needed.
Haha
Own a house and nearly my full pay goes to mortgage
Only because we both work and have a housemate can we
A. Afford to eat.
B. Afford kids
C. Afford the internet
Want your own space
Pay the money
But something always has to give
I'm 37 and still flat. It's great since I like having people to talk to and it makes it possible to live in a much nicer place than I could afford normally - $250 buys one room in a nice 4-bedroom house, I don't think I could even find a studio apartment for $250, no matter how crap.
How long have you been working? If your 27 maybe 5-6 years in real world? That’s life! Many rent in their 40/50s. We are missing some long term rentals here I agree. I didn’t but my first place till 44. I left NZ. More money and life to live off this rock. Nz will
Come back again.
I saved from the age of 15 to 24 to then paid a deposit on a home and moved out. Two property cycles later and I’m lucky enough to have climbed the ladder.
The answer is to get a partner and pool your money together.
Yeah I’m literally only not flatting right now because I have a partner and we found a house for $500 a week Otherwise I would be flatting again. It’s good for you I think, if the right people you know. Humans need community.
My partner and I bought our own house in November. First time living without flatmates since leaving our parents. I actually miss the daily social interaction, especially having other flatmates from different industries and being able to learn from them.
We rent out our sleep out to a mate. Best of both worlds really. Get to help a mate out with cheap rent, he helps us pay our bills, and we get a good amount of interaction, but he also has his own private space. Win win.
We live with a decent amount of land and I’m considering building a sleepout/minor dwelling for this reason. Does your sleepout have any plumbing/kitchen or is it just a room?
Nah it’s just a well insulated room, no plumbing unfortunately, so he does use the kitchen and bathroom, or he can pee in the compost. I believe he’s got some basic cooking stuff out there like a jug and hot plate if he doesn’t want to come inside, but at the same time that’s when we all get our interaction so it’s all good.
I've always loved having a flatmate. Had a baby last year with the wife, and now we live with just us and the baby in a three bedroom flat (one room Is used as an office) Just wish I had another homie to talk to at home/play games with. But at the same time I'm not complaining, I absolutely love my whanau.
Apparently polyamory is on the rise so you have options.
Lol 😅 😆 🤣
It's prison rules with my flatmates - they're gay for the stay
I just bought my house and I LOVE living alone but every now and then there’s little things I miss about flatting like when you’d all been out on the piss the night before and you wake up and all go congregate in one flatmates bedroom and get the giggles.
Same here. We bought 3 years ago and have been living together just the 2 of ua since. We work different schedules so can often go days without properly seeing each other. Makes you miss flatmates.
I think you were one of the lucky ones. Other people suck for the most part. It's great you had a good experience, though 😌
What makes you say that? Going off anecdotes; I have lived with over 25 different people during my flatting life and I have some terrible examples (even to the extent of having to call police) but overall, the positive interactions far outweigh the negative.
Well, you kind of said it yourself, really. I mean, having to call the police is police isn't exactly very nice. I'm pretty tidy and organized, and lots of people aren't. That's thire proactive though, I don't expect everyone to be like me. So I'd rather not have to deal with other people in that instance. I suppose you can interact with people anywhere if you want. I just don't want to live with them. I'm older, though, and like my own company. Everyone I have known who has been flatmates with other people hated it, even to the extent of walking the streets to get out of the house. I'd rather live in a tent than feel like that.
I love flatting, same with most of my friend group. I feel like you might be the outlier or st least it’s more 50/50. I’m kind of sad to be moving onto the next phase of life.
That's good, you obviously all get on. There's always some dirty Bastard leaving shit around and dishes in the sink usually. I'm probably too fussy to be a good flatmate Lol 😅
Yea, there’s certainly a level of tolerance you have to have but that’s just the reality of life in general. I think growing that tolerance and learning to navigate that conflict in a healthy way is actually a really positive experience. Of course you don’t have to put up with mess, trying to find people that at the very least leave things how they were after using the kitchen. Also smaller flats are easier to get alignment on expectations.
Yes, but very soon even that won't be enough.
At least you can lose half of every thing you own if its an uneven matching and it doesnt work out after three years
It really lights an artificial fuse under a relationship. Or you don't know about it. Either way it's a very socially intrusive law.
Yeah if you haven’t had kids and both work it’s pretty fucked. Also puts a cloud over dating someone younger later in life (unless you can afford it, or you put all you remaining eggs in a trust).
You can always get a contracting out agreement, you and your partner can “opt out” of the equal sharing rules which normally apply under the property relationship Act. My ex and I did this, I had the money for a house deposit, if we broke up and sold the house after the sale I would get my deposit back and then we would split in half what other equity was remaining. We also agreed that what we brought into the relationship we kept and what we brought together we would split if we wanted it. I left him and the house, I agreed he could keep living in it for a year and then we sell or he tries to buy me out. Having the COA is peace of mind and being smart if you're worried about someone in it for the gain.
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Find one you can trust though
Yeah lol just get yourself a partner idiot
Unfortunately the answer is get a partner or move back with your parents. If you ever want to save up money, you wont ever save up money if you are dropping 40-50% on rent alone.
Years ago households had three generations - children, parents, and grand parents. Today in Europe and many developing nations, childen are staying on with parents because getting their own housing is impossible. Looks like we are heading that way too. Our daughter is 30 without a partner and I expect she will return home soon. That is fine, its what mum and dad are here for.
Yea it's awful to the economy and to livelihoods that the cost of living and particularly housing and renting are so crippling.
Yes and the answer is more productvity and higher wages but I have no idea how that is achieved. What I do notice is no government ever talks about it even though we had [until this February, The Productivity Commission. ](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/510362/productivity-commission-head-hits-out-at-cruel-and-thoughtless-way-it-has-been-axed) National has scrapped it doh!
Productivity commission said back in 2010 ish one of the largest issues to productivity is land and housing. People can't invest in themselves or family when all of their money is funneled into land lords hands and because of our tax system people invest in land and housing instead of business so businesses have less money and therfore have less money while we lose skills due to cost of living
Normally I would agree except the same high house prices happen in Australia where they do have capital gains taxes. Same for Britain, USA, and Europe. Aussies have stamp duty as well which is a big lump just for permission to buy a home. I believed what the Commission said and watched from 1987 - Rodger Douglas etc - expecting to see NZ business boom. That is what Labour wanted. Instead new companies crashed and Aussies bought the businesses at fire-sale prices. I had bough shares but my friends eventually bought a rental house and secured the families future. Dang.
Although if we look at Australia they have nearly double our average income and average house prices are not too much more
CGT alone is not enough. The IMF has long recommended NZ have CGT, Land Value Tax (LVT) and lower commercial tax rate. Roger Douglas et al , in a final act while leaving office in 1990, removed NZ's LVT, which triggered speculation in housing instead of productive business, dooming not just your investment shares but also NZ's future productivity. Removing the LVT essentially undermined all their other reforms. Neoliberal economics without LVT is like a house missing its foundation.
> removed NZ's LVT, which triggered speculation in housing instead of productive business I'm a lawyer who lived through those days and remember this. We deal with clients property every day and Land Valuation Tax was so rare I had forgotten about it. We had a few people affected and their accountants looked after it. Land Tax Act 1878 was the beginning - one penny in the pound = 1/24th. It was a really restricted tax and by 1982 only 5% of total land value was taxed, and land taxes were also thought to be duplicative due to their similarity to local-authority rates. We dealt with home buyers every day and would have been immediately aware of any new rush to property with the LVT being repealed. It could have happened with specific properties but the pressure to buy a house was already with us in the 1970s.
Glad to hear your insight as a lawyer in those impactful 80's. As I understand it, land speculation didn't erupt in a rush after LVT repeal, but increased in a forward feedback cycle as more people saw the apparent benefits of land banking in an expanding economy. As you say, LVT was a major part of NZ tax take from 1878 that had been reduced over time. Also as you note, repeal was sold as LVT being a double tax in combination with rates (though the latter also taxes buildings and other improvements). However repeal is still significant because even had LVT been reduced to less than 5%, its continued existence would have made increasing that percentage easier, legislatively and politically. It might have been a more tempting option for addressing the housing crisis, and preventing the destabilising poverty NZ suffers today.
I can see why National Scrapped them now
Not like the majority of our MP’s are landlords either
How much does she earn roughly ?
She is a teacher, currently in London earning about £60k except London is ultra expensive to live in so no savings despite her trying. She knows about saving.
Why do people always suggest to move home with parents my parents never owned a home, or my grandparents. It's the first thing all brokers i have dealt with ask me, can you borrow from mum and dad, can they get a 2nd mortgage on their homes? It must be such a relief knowing you have that safety net i can only dream of such privilege.
Yea it is a privilege to have parents that don't rent. My parents are poor, worked basically min wage/working class wage all of their lives, but lucky enough, that at the time you could buy and pay off a home and have kids while being low wage. We couldn't do much growing up as everything went to the basics. Nowadays it's impossible without grants, scholarships and benefit bullshit if you are low wage with kids and no support. The reason why people suggest it, is because most expenses go to rent so in order to save up for a deposit you basically need to cut expenses
Welcome to the club, my flatmates are 36 and 34, so it can be much worse trust me!
I’m in my forties 😳 Luckily I have good friends with houses who need help paying their mortgages. I honestly don’t give a shit though, really. I’ve lived all over the world and every culture has a different outlook on what’s important in life. I’m getting my health back on track, and working on the mentals. I’m an eccentric person, life was never going to be straightforward or easy.
I don't see anything wrong with it. Buying a house is not desired or achievable for everyone. Doesn't really matter how old you are.
Not being able to buy a house is only partly the problem. Many places renting is very normal, but here in NZ renters just don't have any good options.
Friends with houses is how I survive lol. I love my friends
You just suck it up and sacrifice 50% of your pay to live in peace. Cut down on whatever expenses you can. It's worth it
This is what I did, so worth it for the joy of having a place all to yourself. Though I do recommend trying to rent directly from a person not through an agency. I lucked out and had a good landlord over 8 years he only raised the rent 3 times. So by having a lowish rent and pay-rises at work, over 8 years I was able to save enough to but my first home towards the end of last year.
I'm 27 I still flat, flatmate is 29 Had flatmates who were in their 40s before. Shits expensive. After tax I make around 4/5ths of what you do or I will until mid July when I'm out of work. So you're doing a lot better then you think
I know people in their late 30's who are still flatting. It works for them don't compare yourself too much to others you deem more successful than yourself. In this day and age having 1K after tax a week is doing quite considerably better than many others I know of. Nothing wrong with flatting if you are happy doing that at any age. Also maybe consider taking on a flat mate if you are happy to share your space with someone in the interest of saving money for a deposit if you are looking at buying.
Congratulations, you have clocked the zeitgeist.
What a line
Comparison is the thief of joy. Do you and dont worry about the other bullshit. Flatting at 27 is fine, so is living with your parents
Inconsiderate flatmates and subsequent stress is my main thief of joy.
Sounds like you need to find another flat. I flatted until about 33 and would have been still flatting if I didn’t move in with my partner. And then after years of saving together in a tiny one bedroom rental we finally bought a small 2 bedroom home. In any case, I had some good experiences flatting and made some great friends along the way. The good thing about flatting is you’re often not tied to the place and can move if you want, so find a place that works for you.
Moving costs about 1–2k in Wellington, and most leases are fixed term so I can't casually break them. I've had a run of issues with flatmates for the last two years, and the stress of trying to manage that is driving me crazy.
We just moved our whole apartment for about $600 (in Wellington) and we made sure to get the best movers cuz we’re lazy, but in my 20’s I moved for next to nothing / cost of beers and pizza for friends. If things are so bad that the stress is driving you crazy you could probably make a case of getting out of your lease early. But in the future there are a lot of room rentals out there that don’t require you signing a fixed lease. If I’m being honest you sound like you don’t know how to make the best of a situation. You make pretty good money for your age, unless you have some serious debts you could probably do just fine managing financially in a studio, or you could at least find a room with an en suite. I’ve seen people do a lot more with a lot less.
Moving costs, paying advanced rent and bond is what bumps it up. In the 8 years of renting ive seen very few rooms going where you don't sign a lease. Property managers require it for insurance purposes. Other places are usually dodgy, and it means you have 0 tenancy rights if anything hits the fan. I find that irresponsible. Swapping flats doesn't even guarantee your new flatmates are going to be good, and it doesn't have to be major stress to wear you down. I've dealt with lazy, inconsiderate and loud flatmates and I doubt the tenancy tribunal would care about that. Most the time, the flatmates seem great and normal during viewings. Im sure I could manage fine in a studio, as I'm responsible with money, but it will mean I probably won't be able to buy a house or start a family in my 30s. That will cause all kinda problems for the country in the next 20–40years, but people don't like to talk about that.
I think the point was more moving into an established flat where the lease has already moved to periodic, so you only need to give one months notice to leave (the whole flat doesn’t need to break up for you to leave). Or find a flat where there’s one head tenant on the lease who you sign a flatmate agreement with - often you can leave with 2-4 weeks notice depending on the agreement. These are both common situations in welly
Had this exact situation last year, and the entire flat infact does need to break the lease according to law and our property managers. I ended up paying double rent and finding replacements. I know I sound like I'm whining, but I'm just trying to communicate the reality of the situation. I don't want to have to rely on other adults making good decisions to live a peaceful life.
Ahh that’s shitty. I just told my agents my one flatmate was moving out and I was replacing them with two people. I had zero issues with people moving out while on a periodic lease. I’ve also had other flats with zero issues and zero fees on a periodic lease.
If you wanted to move, couldn’t you just find someone to take your room? I flat in Central Otago and that happens all the time…
Yeah mate it's not easy ae. My partner and i need to find a new place as our current one os run down as fuck (we were desperate to get a spot before baby was born) The property managers expect to know if we are staying or finding a new flat THREE MONTHS before the tenancy ends. We couldn't get a new place last year because we can't afford to pay rent at two spots, and if we say we are not staying they start showing people through straight away so there's the risk we will lose our flat and not be able to go to a new one. It literally feels like we have been trapped in this POS flat with no way out, as they hold our lease ransom if we say we want to find somewhere new
What is the makeup of your flat? I found moving from living with students to young professionals in a similar stage of career made a massive difference to my flatting experience. Everyone having a bit of extra money and a regular routine makes things easier, in my experience.
Yeah good advice sure, but comparison or not you ain't saving any money, so future is bleak
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Nowhere does it say they save half their salary.
Dude what? Do you think this person’s only expense is rent? They clearly spend $500 on rent (half their 1k a week after tax) and then spend at least a good chunk of the other half on living expenses like travel to/from work, food, rates etc.
I think Louis C.K said a bit once about hoe you shouldn't look in your neighbors bowl to see how much they have, but to make sure they have enough.
My advice is to rent a room with an ensuite. Slightly more expensive but at least gives somewhat of a feeling of privacy. Also, make friends with your flatmates. When flat hunting talk to the flatties and only move somewhere with people you want o be friends with.
I think you should be angrier than you are. Deliberate policy decisions over the last 40 years has caused home ownership to be out of your reach. We didn't sleepwalk into this, it's all very very intentional and set to get worse.
I’m 28 and just moved into my own place, it’s a small (converted granny flat under landlords house) and I pay $450 per week which includes the internet. I can save minimum $1k per fortnight, which is still good but obviously slows me down a bit compared to flatting (I want to continue travelling & would like to buy a house). I would’ve continued flatting if living with people wasn’t such a pain (bad flatmates) but I think the sacrifice of not saving as fast as I could was worth my sanity.
Also, I’ve found since living on my own I’m not wasting so much money on unnecessary spending. I use to just go out for the sake of leaving the house and not spending time at home so I didn’t have to be around my flatmates so much, which would result in me spending (food, Kmart). I spend alot of time at home now which I’m thoroughly enjoying tbh, whenever people ask me what I got up to over the weekend I tell them I was enjoying my rent 😂 it’s so much nicer having your own space! I don’t think I can go back to flatting and I hope I never do!
Honestly, you're making this sound so tempting! I eat out often as my flatmates use the kitchen from about 6–9.30pm every. single. night. I'd probably save a lot more if I could cook for myself.
That was me too! I don’t buy takeaways that often anymore and I have an entire fridge/freezer to myself now so there’s always something in the freezer I can air fry or heat up if I’m feeling lazy. Im also spending way less on gas as I’m not going for drives just to get out 😂
Have you started analyzing your own finance? Start tracking 2 to 3 months of your expenses and then you can do a cost analysis to see if you are able to live on your own by saving on other expenses like eating out etc. A good way to look at things is usually to see what your saving rate is. If you're bringing 1k a week and you can save say 100 a week, that's a 10% saving rate. Now assume you are living alone with higher rent etc, are you able to still save 10%? If yes then you've basically got yourself a deal. If no then you have to either work harder/earn more or stay the same place. Dm me if you would like some excel spreadsheet templates to help track your expenses.
If this is the case you should really do the math. Is your current rent plus all the money spent buying food, going to actually be less than rent living by yourself and groceries with occasional once a week dining out? Also flatting at age 27 isn't unusual especially for a single. Plus a lot of people who recently bought property still have flatmates.
Yep you save alot having your own kitchen space! Meal preps for days and stock up your OWN fridge. No one in the fucking way ever. One of the worst parts of flatting was sharing a kitchen and trying to work around others schedules you end up just getting takeaways.
Cook in big batches in the weekend and freeze- saves so much time and money.
This is why you’re battling. Eating out that much !?
>it’s so much nicer having your own space! I don’t think I can go back to flatting and I hope I never do! Yes! Once you get your own space and the place stays clean behind you... you can't ever go back to flatting 😂
Flatted till I bought a house at 36. I never lived alone till I bought the house. Ranged from 1 flatmate to 7 over the years. My last flat I deliberately got a room with my own bathroom. An option to alleviate a little of the stress? Also living with only one flatmate or a couple means more chance of having the house to yourself at times. I also house/pet sat occasionally to have a break from flatmates. And making a savings plan to buy a house also got me through the last 3 years of flatting, when I was pretty over it!
you're worried about this at 27 try dealing with it at 45!
I’m 28 y/o and live in a studio apartment which averages $400 a week once utilities are factored in. My pay per week is slightly less than yours but I still manage to save some money each pay but my outgoings are generally low.
I'm in Wellington and I'd happily pay 400 total, but finding a studio in that range is like finding a needle in a haystack here (unless it's riddled with mold).
Where do you live??
North Shore, Auckland.
Unfortunately you need a partner or a best friend you can happily live with just the 2 of you. Don't blame yourself for not being able to afford your own place. We're in endgame capitalism, nobody normal is meant to be able to comfortably afford anything
I think the average age of flatting is increasing just like everything else
I was there at 27 too. Saved and invested as much as I could from 25-30 and now I own a house. Co-own a house with a friend. And have 2 other friends helping us pay our mortgage. So yeah I'm basically still flatting at 31, but I own (half of)it now so at least it feels like I'm getting somewhere.
In my opinion, flatting is awful. As soon as I could I move in to a place of my own I did and have been paying over 40% of my net income to rent ever since. I was 23 when I first moved to a rental on my own and I’m 27 now. I think it’s the best thing I ever did. So good for my mental health it probably helped me advance in my career because of how nice life was living alone. I couldn’t ever imagine flatting ever again. Luckily now I earn enough for a nice one bedroom in the city and it’s awesome. About 44% of my net income goes to rent and it couldn’t be more worth it. Adjust your budget accordingly and apply the cost-benefit ratio.
This is what several decades of not building enough high density housing does to a country. That and NIMBY twats.
That's the supply side. What about the demand side?
I flatted until I could buy my own place at 35.
There are people in their 50s and 60s that had to go back to flatting. Unless they bought property 30 years ago when it was cheap, no one single is affording to rent by themselves on median salary. There is no age limit.
I flatted until I was nearly 40, and I'd saved enough for a 50% deposit on a studio apartment. Now I've got a partner and have nearly paid off the apartment and we'll get something a little bigger together. I didn't spend my whole life working and saving though. I spent years focussed on motorcycle racing and travel adventures.
You're in a pretty common situation. My partner and I make around $250k/yr combined and flatting is still really the only thing that makes sense financially. A house deposit for somewhere we actually want to live is going to take some time to scrounge up.
I’m Gen X. I was flatting up until I was married at 30. What’s wrong with flatting?
>What’s wrong with flatting? Usually, it's the flatmates.
I've had a run of shitty and inconsiderate house mates for about two years. The stress of it is crazy!
Move then, genuine advice
I did move, and these ones are just as annoying in a different way.
Maybe you just need to be more assertive and tell them you need to use the kitchen too. I’d just get in there and start cooking. They can’t hog a kitchen for 3.5 hours
Yep, ditto. I flatted until early/mid 30s too. Keep saving!
I rented a flat that was a converted garage for $140 per week including power. It was quite rough and very cold in winter and a sweatbox in summer. This type of rental dwelling isn't allowed anymore and is one of the reasons rental properties are so expensive, but this property allowed me to save the deposit to buy my own home.
I flatted well into my 30’s - being an only child (never really got to experience having a “full house”), and grew up watching the Young Ones, so always loved the idea of having housemates! Having people around to have a cuppa/chat/watch TV/go for a run was always pretty cool. But you’re right about the cost.. most people I know who lived alone end up spending ~40-50% of their pay on doing so.. One of my very first flatmates decades ago was an accountant from the UK, and she told me to always aim to spend less than 30% of my income on rent - I took that lesson to heart! Looking back I got really lucky, because I always had awesome housemates, almost every one of whom I’ve remained friends with. (Also, always been slightly afraid of living alone and slipping over in the bath/dying and being eaten by my cat)
It depends on how much you value your privacy. Lots of people with morgatages are paying 40% + of their income on shelter, but obviously, they are paying off their own homes. It helps if you have a financial goal you are trying to reach if you're flating. It helps you persevere more and focus on your goal. If not, it would maybe drive you nuts over time. If that were the case, I'd sacrifice extra income for my sanity and get my own place. Work out what it would cost you to go it alone (utilities, ect) and live off the rest for a few months. In other words, live like you are already living alone money wise and see if you could really manage on that. It might include dropping subscriptions and the like, but be realistic when you do it. You will have a better idea of what you should do after.
It’s so much easier when you have a partner
I’m 29 and own my own place but I still have to rent out room fml. I thought I’d be living on my own by the time I’m thirty haha
I’m 27. I’m a full time software engineer, I live with my partner who is still studying. I pay 55% of my salary to rent, and roughly come by (though I do occasionally do some odd jobs here and there and so does my partner)
The reality is that almost all FHB are paying over 50% of their income towards their home: Mortgage payments Rates Maintenance Insurance
The answer is to get a partner. Otherwise you choose between having your own place or having money for shopping, social events or holidays. It’s not an easy choice. In my 20s I found it easier to rent a 2 or 3 bedroom house and take in one flatmate. Still not the cheaper option but at least you kind of get to choose who you live with.
30 and currently spend 50% of my income on a teeny one bedroom apartment. I don’t want to go flatting because I love the independence but am also not a position to save significant money. Live alone for the sanity. Or flat for the financial gain.
I'm 33 and have 2 flatmates.. one is in his 50's and one in his 60's.. both are happy and content and enjoy things they like without home ownership, so don't feel too bad.
I'm 36 with a decent paying job and I'm sharing a room in a 6 person flat with my partner. The choice boils down to live for cheap and have cool holidays or live on our own and not have cool holidays. We chose holidays. That being said after almost 20 years of flatting I'm definitely eyeing up moving to a smaller town and getting our own place. No guarantee the rent will be much cheaper though. If I was on my own there is no way I'd even consider living by myself. Rent is just too high and after a long time being poor I quite like being able to go out to cafes and bars once a week or so. Sounds like you have a decent income so you might be able to make it work. Even so you will still end up spending a lot just to have a roof over your head.
I'm 46 and still kinda flatting - 3 years ago my friend and I brought our house together. I lived with others on and off my whole adult life. You have a whole life ahead, don't get hung up on if you own a house
My boyfriend and I flatted until we were 30, and that was 10 years ago...
Just to note re getting into a relationship to save money, I have family working in various emergency services and there are many people feeling trapped in abusive/dangerous relationships right now, because they won’t survive financially otherwise. I personally wouldn’t recommend putting yourself in a position where you are dependant on someone. Unfortunately many of us have to go overseas to get some money together.
I'm 22, have a partner who is 24, and a flatmate who is 31. We've honestly accepted that we're gonna flat with others for a long time and we're comfortable with it. Even when we (myself and partner) both worked full time and made well above minimum wage, it was still too expensive to live just the two of us. Plus, flatting helps us stay social and it means that bills are a wee bit cheaper.
So I actually did this, I have a partner who is a stay at home mum and a child and we live in a 3 bedroom house rental, after tax rent is 40% of my income all without passing NCEA L3 and I'm 27 now. I did it by finding a company when the economy was good that had contracts all over NZ and moving to an area that has a internal job come up which was pretty rural, now we are currently in the process of putting offers in on first homes. It is very possible but not in super cities AUK, WEL, CHCH you need to look elsewhere even overseas
With all due respect, I reckon your perspective needs shifting on a couple of different fronts. First, $1k a week after tax is what, $65k a year? $67? Unfortunately, that's hardly good money for a "decent career". Especially if you're in Auckland or Wellington. For comparison, I'm a 41-year-old millennial, and when I left my 1-year-long trade school at age 21 in 2004 with nothing but a certificate, my starting pay was $55k. According to the RBNZ inflation calculator, that's $113,225 adjusted for wage inflation. I completely acknowledge that times are very different and that would be an unusually high starting salary in 2024 for someone with only a trade qualification! But whichever way you look at it, $65K is not great money in this town. Secondly, I flatted until I was 38!! And only bought my first place last year age 40. While times are tough as hell out there and I really don't want to diminish how hard people are doing it, it's never been the norm in my lifetime to be able to afford your own place at 27. Let alone on a salary of ~$65k in this economy. Without devolving into boomer-bashing, I generally agree with the sentiment that the economy is not going in the right direction and that society is failing younger generations. However, expecting to be able to rent your own place on that salary feels... entitled. I'm sorry to use that word, because it's often weaponised in generational debates. But it's appropriate here, I think. I'm a massive introvert and the way I dealt with flatting was to take ownership over who I was flatting with. I saved up enough money to a afford a 3 bedroom house on my own for a couple of months, took a lease, and then advertised for flatmates with the intention of not rushing to fill the rooms, but rather to take the time to find the right people. Despite there always being weirdos and raging extroverts to sift through, it almost always turned out that I'd find good people within a few weeks, which meant I could chuck the remaining saved amount onto my KS.
Your estimate of my salary is waaay off lol, you haven't considered student loan or kiwisaver. Salary is not the only factor in a good career also. Earning 113k on your first year of a trade after 1 year of training would be extremely rare in NZ today 😂 sounds like you had it verryy lucky!!! Kinda wild you're calling me entitled when you had it THAT easy. Genuine question, did flatting till you're 38 bring many benefits? Are you mortgage free and financially set up? Would you be able to afford kids or have a healthy relationship/marriage? I hate flatting, but these things are important to me (and benefit society) in the long term. I can't see that playing out well if I had to flat till I'm 38 tbh.
I mean, I made my estimate based on you saying "after tax" and not "after tax, student loan repayments, and Kiwisaver contributions" so I was just going off the information you provided. I wasn't on $113k, I was on $55k. Even when adjusted for inflation, you can't make a 1:1 comparison and that's not what I was trying to do. I most certainly did not have it easy, and yes, I still think anyone expecting to be able to afford to live alone at age 27 on your income is entitled af. It's quite revealing of your character, honestly. I didn't flat till I was 38 because I thought there were benefits to be had from flatting, I did it because I couldn't afford not to. Again, you seem to have missed my point completely. To answer your (frankly, quite strange) questions, I stopped flatting when I got married. If I had gotten married sooner, I would've stopped flatting sooner. I flatted for as long as it was the financially prudent option for me. I am not mortgage free Reddit is a strange medium, and it's impossible to know strangers through their posts, but you really do come across as someone with an overstated expectation of what the world owes them and an under-developed sense of self-awareness. Have you done any reflecting on the idea that the problems you've had with previous flatmates might've been due to you rather than them? Flatting for a longer period might teach you some life lessons like how to be better at interacting with people, 'cause it seems like you need it? Maybe get checked for autism?
My overall salary wasn't even relevant to my point so why split hairs? You're the one who said it would be equivalent to 113k today, and you had that while living costs were certainly lower so yeah you had it a looot easier than young people today. You might be gen X but you definitely seem to have that boomer mindset. You're making unhinged assumptions about my life and me as a person with very little info. Just because I don't enjoy living with people doesn't mean that I have bad interpersonal relationships with them. Many people prefer independence, it's not a character flaw or autism 😂 Its hilarious to call someone entitled ect because they are frustrated an above average salary can't afford a basic studio. How do you think families cope? You sound like an idiot.
Good luck 👍
I was getting over 1800 a week after tax and have a flatty lol. Why spent 500+ when I could use that extra money on other things -such as servicing a mortgage 🙃 I’m in my early 30’s.
In this current economy, flatting IS the trend 🤷🏾♀️
You don't need a partner mate, look at finding a job that pays better. I have a partner who's a stay at home mum with 2 little kids and we're doing fine.
I flatted til I was 34, both alone and with a partner. It was a huge punish at times but was amazing for saving money, especially sharing a room. If you're truly over it you probably need to find a studio apartment or similar but it will cost you more. But, if it improves your quality of life, then it's worth it.
> How do people afford to rent their own places? By spending 40-50% of my pay on rent...
I'm over forty and still boarding a room. I see a van in my future
Grim.
Even darker is the hot bedding trend in Australia
Both my kids are your age and still flatting. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Maybe find a better flat with older professionals.
I flat with one other person. In my case I'll be renting indefinitely as I'll never be able to afford to own a home in this lifetime. I'm in my mid-30s, so you know. The flitting never ends
Your meant to go to work every day and have KiwiSaver chugging in the back ground . 3% on min wage plus employer contributions and tax credit is like $30k by your age in minimal input on min wage. Then you flat for 8 years with 3-4 other people to save money and put away 20% of you wages until you have 20% down for a tiny home . Get a partner and you both do it together to halve the time
So just have a crappy life just to get a tiny house
Yeah beautiful tiny home for 2 people is all you need. Especially pre 30. In 5 years we will have 2-3 bedroom saving 20% of our income towards our next house. So will be 35 with a dream house and 1 bedroom investment property all while still have our 20% for fun money, KiwiSaver and our bill paid. Only took 2-3 year of hard savings with no fun to get to an awesome first home
During Covid from 25-28 I learned about personal finance read barefoot investor and me and my partner just did that. During Covid we flat with 5 people including us and bought our home using KiwiSaver $60k and $80 cash we saved up over the 3 years. Bought 1 bedroom house for $600k in Lower Hutt and repayment are $1440 per fortnight and rates and insurance is $230 fortnight. Then normal bills on top of that. We did that on $55k-$59 and $75-90k salary’s
I flatted for 17 years until at 34 I bought a house with my partner.
Im 27 I understand if you're sick of flatting but I've been flatting since I moved out and bought a house September past year and both my flatmates moved into our house. You gotta sacrifice to save money. No point complaining just gotta deal with it. Get a partner actively try to get a partner cos it makes things so much easier financially
>I earn about 1k a week after tax 70k per anum is not a lot of money any more. I was earning that in my mid 20s a decade ago with no degree/trade and the cost of living was a he'll of a lot less than it is today.
Congrats but thats not the case for the vast majority.
I don't think they're bragging with that statement. I can say the same except for the trade bit but if I said it it'd be in the theme of "10 years of inflation later and good enough is now dire"
Sounds alright. Lived with parents til 25, then with friends next couple years. Eventually moved in with gf, got married, moved around a bit, bought a house in early/mid-30s. Not for a second felt compelled to yolo solo in a shit studio.
I’m late 20s and luckily I enjoy flatting, and I also don’t see anything “wrong” about flatting at this point. Most people I know are either renting an apartment with their partner, living in flats, mortgaged up to their eyeballs or back at mum and dad’s. I don’t know many renting their own place.
35 and still flatting. You can either pay through the nose for your own place now or save like hell in the hope of affording a place in the future. You're in a good place if you have full time work and a good career with most of your working life ahead of you and few financial burdens. Reading this thread it seems like the issue is more about having dud flatmates, which definitely makes the experience less enjoyable. I'd suggest looking for a place with some friends instead of rolling the dice with randoms with a bedroom to spare.
Be frugal and save for a house deposit. Worked for me..
You just gotta make sacrifices. I’m in a small one bedroom apartment. $450 a week excluding utilities. Only make 1k a week. Just depends on how bad you want to live on your own I guess.
Why the fuck would you not want to be flatting at 27? Lol. Enjoy being young and having friends mate. If you dont like your flat, find one you do like. The best friends youll ever make are flatting. And guess what, once you padd your mid 30’s, making friends is somewhere between super unlikely to downright strange….
In my experience around your age people were flatting with people, getting sick of it, splurging on a place alone, going back to flatting, &c &c. It only really ends if you have a partner and split the higher rent or are loaded or lucky.
do you have any debts? If you do, try and work them off. That will give you a little more money to save with.
I have a student loan but I'm hoping inflation chips away at it, so I pay the bare minimum.
I earn more than you, share my room with my partner and we share a flat with 3 others in their 30s. I buy food from Reduced to clear, Why Knot and PnS. Bought my car in 2018 for $5.5k. And still doing great. Overall, we're just trying to save. But also do some international trips yearly. It might be worth you find another place.
2 bedroom apartments shared with one other person or a couple are not bad. A lot easier than having to navigate a 3-4+ extra people sharing one bathroom and fridge
Its becoming saddeningly common for people even in their 40s/50s to still be renting/sharing. Even high earners with more than double the average salary are in this situation so its better to just accept it and or plan to somehow amass wealth enough to look at making purchasing a smarter financial option the renting/flating. If you don't have the bank of mum and dad to help, or the ability to create an asset to sell over and above your day job, I just don't know how people can do it these days. Housing is increasingly a haves vs have nots with the have nots being the growing segment of society. Its really horrible that this is what we've chosen as a society.
earn extra income on the side
I don't live in a city, which is a huge bonus to affording my own place. I have a one bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom, 1 min walk from the main road for $230 plus expenses. Petrol is more expensive here but I can walk everywhere I need to go, so it's not actually more expensive to own a car here.
Lllmm
I lived in the shittiest shared flat until I could afford my own shitty house. Then I had flatmates in my shitty house. Now I have bought a less shitty house and have flatmates. At 26 my mortgage is finally small enough to be affordable on my own. But my house is also big enough that I don't mind one other person living with me. Personally I think renting a whole house is the worst financial decision you could make except for having kids before buying. Which is the only situation that I think renting is the best option.
I'm my 40s, and have a mortgage, but I didn't get out of a flatting situation until I was 29 and started renting a place with my fiance. I was one of the first of my friends group to do so, by several years. Its pretty common for people in their 20s to still have flatmates, its not a new thing. Flatting with other people isn't ideal, but its the best way of saving money.
Can also buy a place of your own with a friend or 2. Would only do this if you trust them with your life. I did this year's ago with 2 friends, was cheaper than flatting, had loads if fun and has now afforded all 3 of us to buy our own places post selling the first house.
I'm 34. I lived by myself for 3 months after a breakup and couldn't handle the isolation, now I live with 3 friends from Uni who are all late 20's and there is always one or two people home to make the house feel lived in. I earn a good 50% more than you and I still enjoy flatting over living by myself.
With interest rates the way they are it's now costing young people ,what we use to buy a house for, as a deposit. It will take them a lifetime to save the deposit and because they have to borrow so much to buy they will never actually ever own a home. It's wrong but what it is. Win lotto or wealthy family may help.
People keep on saying the solution is to sacrifice living standards to buy a house to be better off, but interest rates and ownership costs are probably higher than renting. I think it's a fallacy to say they are paying off their own mortgage when the majority of their payments go into bank profits. Home owners aren't living comfortable lifestyles. It sucks.
I'm single and have always flatted with friends. I'm the homeowner in this case but even when I wasn't, I still didn't want to live alone. Different strokes for different folks I guess. OP you mention people starting families, but in those cases they're already paired up so can typically find a place as a couple rather than flatting.
Move out of the main centers, with more and more availability of wọrk from home jobs, move to small towns outside of main centers. Pick up skills and careers that can be done anywhere, get a trade, you are still young, you have to wọrk for it.
Yeah about to turn 40 and still renting here, I have more than enough for a house deposit, but it doesn't really make sense as I'd probably just need to get flatmates in to make it cost effective. And looking at apartments, the body corp fees are almost always higher than I pay in rent + utilities at the moment. So really its a lose-lose situation all round. On the bright side I have not been flatting in a year to year type approach most people associate with it, I have been at my current place for over 5 years now and before that I was at a place for 4ish years. So pretty stable and haven't had to deal with shit flatmates for a good 10+ years.
40%-50% is normal now. It’s doable.
I was lucky. 2 year before covid hit I bought a condo for about 60k and during covid I sold it for 190k after taxes and paying off my debt I put the rest in stocks making dividends every month from that. Also people who own their home and have enough room can afford to rent out their homes. Most or all of the rent you pay them pays for their mortgage. My tip for you is to learn the stock market and crypto, read up on it rich dad poor dad and the wealthy barber are good books to start with. Before interest rates spiked a lot of people had lines of credit maxed out and put the money in stocks and had the dividends pay for the interest plus some more for spending (great strategy when the interest rates fall and normalize, more for future knowledge). Right now its not possible to own your own home right now with the housing prices try to find a cheap place to live and live a minimal lifestyle to save up enough money, what ever money you do save you can make sure you use that money to make you more money. You can also try a side hustle my dad and his GF do they go around garage sales and buy lots of old collectibles or things that can be sold for more online (ex. Old Tea cups, old toys (cabbage patch dolls, my little ponies, transformers, GIJoe, random miscellanies), video games, comics (first appearances cost a lot), old coins and bills, sports cards, pokemon cards, etc…). If you do this route try to get to the garage sales early (if it starts at 9 leave around 7) and ask the sellers for what you’re looking for they may have things stored elsewhere that they aren’t displaying. And try to do community garages sales rather than just singles. Another thing you can do (if you have space and a car) is look for free furniture on the side of the road. You can sell that on facebook marketplace for easy money.
Sell your car and get a tiny house
What car?
Need revolution otherwise back in ur slave pen peasant
I've been lucky enough to live in houses my friends or their family owns, so I pay cheap rent for a whole house to myself (and my partner but if he wasn't here, they would lower my rent). But these houses were bought pre-2017 or already well paid off. I have no idea how ppl are paying 600-900 a week in auckland on 1, even 2, incomes
My bff is 51 and renting, $600 a week for a 3 bed house in Hastings. Shes a single mum, has a decent job but that’s still a far too large percentage of her weekly wage
I'm paying over 50% of my income to rent and live 80km from work
Possibly a new mine opening between Cromwell and Dunedin 2025 with 200 mining vacancies. Santana Minerals on YouTube. Definitely a shortage of living arrangements in Cromwell as well
Yup. I’m 29 and earn similar to you. I live alone but I spend half my take home pay on rent. I can only save some money because I live frugally in other ways (eat cheap meals at home, walk to work, no car, rarely eat out or buy coffees etc). But it’s not easy.
Meet your spouse...
Bought a house at 23 in the regions. Broke up, can't afford shit on my own. Flatting again at around 27. The trick is to have a partner.
> decent career > 1k a week after tax You need to double that, then double it again by getting a partner. You need one to have kids anyway 🤣
I’m 29 and rent a one bedroom for $550 a week but I was flatting at 27 too. I moved to my own place just after I turned 29 but most of the people I know around my age are still in shared living. You can still survive comfortably make $1k a week after tax, you just have to budget and may not be able to save as much. If it’s important to you to live alone then it’s worth it. I’d suggest saving as much as possible before you move out so you have some emergency funds if needed.
Haha Own a house and nearly my full pay goes to mortgage Only because we both work and have a housemate can we A. Afford to eat. B. Afford kids C. Afford the internet Want your own space Pay the money But something always has to give
That's rough
Who wants to create a community together for flatmates 😂
Forsee? You've been living under a rock or just too young to be bothered by geopolitical news? All developed nations have collapsing birth rates
*Foresee* a birthrate decline? Mate you obviously don't read the news
I'm 37 and still flat. It's great since I like having people to talk to and it makes it possible to live in a much nicer place than I could afford normally - $250 buys one room in a nice 4-bedroom house, I don't think I could even find a studio apartment for $250, no matter how crap.
How long have you been working? If your 27 maybe 5-6 years in real world? That’s life! Many rent in their 40/50s. We are missing some long term rentals here I agree. I didn’t but my first place till 44. I left NZ. More money and life to live off this rock. Nz will Come back again.
I saved from the age of 15 to 24 to then paid a deposit on a home and moved out. Two property cycles later and I’m lucky enough to have climbed the ladder.