When David Boyle, the commission's general manager of investor education, learned the results, he said, "Jeez, that's terrible. What's going on?"
He was astounded that more people hadn't lied in the presence of commission staff and said they'd save the $500 or use it to repay debt.
Many of the "shoppers" apparently thought $500 was too little to do anything meaningful with. Whereas that sum would be a king's ransom to some Auckland families, perhaps it wasn't for many participants in the experiment, which took place in the vicinity of Westpac, Ernst & Young and Rabobank branches and Karen Walker, Jo Malone London and Federation outlets, whose patrons probably aren't struggling to keep their heads above water financially.
Had it been $5000, many participants said they might have made a different choice. One said she'd spend it either way, but would buy something more permanent for the house with $5000, but just blow $500 on a treat.
Later, in Devonport's Calliope Cafe, I asked customers and staff what they would do with a $500 windfall. The answers were mixed.
"I'd buy clothes," said one person. "Isn't that what you do with a bonus?" She said how she would spend the money depended on how she had acquired it. I raised an eyebrow at the classic behavioural economics trap she'd fallen into. We treat money differently according to how we acquire it, whereas the reality is that money is money.
I had that dilemma recently. I received a $50 Westfield voucher as a thank you for giving a talk. "Make sure you buy yourself something nice," were the parting words from the giver.
After a few weeks of carrying the voucher around, I gave in to the overwhelming urge not to blow the $50 and bought groceries with it. That meant in effect it was added to the pot and saved at the end of the month.
I figure that $50 here and $500 there invested for growth adds up to a more comfortable retirement than if I treated myself now, on stuff I don't need.
Some of the people I questioned at the Money Week event, in the cafe and on Facebook said they'd spend a little and save the rest. The amount needed for a "treat" varied greatly and was sometimes relatively sensible.
A Facebook follower who unexpectedly came into a largish sum of money bought new carpet and a dishwasher and put the rest into the mortgage. The carpet and dishwasher weren't essential but nor were they frivolous.
A few people admitted their spending was frivolous. One said: "I know I should, say, pay off debt because that would be the sensible thing to do but honestly, I would take it as a windfall. I would buy something memorable - a piece of art, to be exact, created by a local artist - to remind me of my good fortune. It helps support an artist and that is always a bonus."
She at least realised that windfall money shouldn't necessarily be spent - even if that's what she chose to do.
Another said: "I got just that a month ago - a tax refund of $3500. I decided to go on a mummy/son trip to Singapore because it would give us both a memory to treasure. It is always a trade-off of long-term security versus memories made now. I decided on the latter because I know too many people dying young."
Having done a "mummy-son" trip to Brazil myself, I had to agree with my friend. If, however, I'd been paying consumer debt at the same time, I may have had to think a whole lot harder. She wasn't the only one who commented about people dying young. It was also among my considerations and those of others I interviewed.
Most of the morning cafe-goers chose paying off debt as the best thing to do - and that bucket was the most full at the Money Week event.
Jian, the cafe owner, said the most "economic" thing to do was repay debt. That's true. Anyone with debt will be paying anything from 5 -25 per cent interest, which soon mounts up. By reducing the debt by $500 they immediately save the interest as well. So the money is growing by the equivalent of what they were losing in interest.
My Facebook post returned a number of reassuringly sensible responses. "Pay off debt. I begrudge every bit of interest I have to pay, so it would all go straight on the credit card," said one.
Some who put their ball in the "pay off debt" bucket were probably fooling themselves. They would most likely run their credit cards right up to the max again, meaning they were in effect spending the money.
A few said they'd buy something small, but put most towards debt. And one had a novel use - to put it in her Christmas savings account quickly, before spending it, in order to avoid going into debt at Christmas.
The winner of the commission's $500 was Cynthia Dickey, who put her ball in the "shopping" bucket, but is a believer in saving. Dickey is off on a 50th wedding anniversary cruise around South America next year and will use her winnings towards that. Saving, however, was instilled in her age group. She loved taking her bank book to school to deposit shillings and pence in the 1950s.
I had ummed and ahhed for a while over where to put my ball. I would pay off debt before most types of savings. If I had debt but didn't have KiwiSaver, or was not contributing enough to get the full government top-up of $521.43 and any matched employer contributions, then it would have gone in KiwiSaver.
Anna, a young mum in the cafe, surprised me and when I recounted her spending plan to Boyle later it cheered him. Anna said that if her money was in a KiwiSaver growth fund, she'd put be putting more in because the markets were down and her account would get a boost when they rebounded.
Of course Britomart and Devonport aren't exactly a cross section of Auckland, let alone New Zealand. The hip hop group Identity Dance Crew were at the event and after performing were given a ball each. Crew member Andrew Cesan, 24, chose the savings option. As a freelance dancer with only a small number of regular jobs, he likes to put money away for a rainy day.
This wasn't a scientific experiment. There were far too few buckets to choose between. There's shopping to treat yourself and shopping for survival. If you're already paying into KiwiSaver or if you're not in KiwiSaver at all your approach to repaying debt should be different. And if you're reducing debt just to spend more, then ask yourself some questions.
Having listened to everyone's responses I decided there was no right answer. Even some of those who viewed the money as a bonus did have logical arguments for their spending. The key is to have your eyes open and understand the full consequences of your financial choices.
