Whanganui Budget Advisory waitlist grows as food, power and rents bite

Some people have been cutting back their spending for the past few years and can't find more savings, Whanganui Budget Advisory Service manager Sandy Fage says. Photo / 123rf

Whanganui Budget Advisory Service has had a “very challenging year” – and now it has a waitlist.

“We’ve had an increase in demand, our funding is not what it could be – or should be,” manager Sandy Fage said.

“We’ve had two senior staff retire so that’s adding pressure.

“What we’re seeing with our clients is people have been cutting back their discretionary spending over the last couple of years and now they’re turning to debt, essentially.”

That included using the “very popular” buy now, pay later platforms.

“To see people having to buy their food using that is a concern.”

With an easing in mortgage interest rates, there was the worry that people might push their spending limits, thinking things were more positive.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. You don’t know if your car’s going to need a new tyre or you’re going to get crook and you don’t have any sick leave pay.”

Post-Covid there had been much talk of building resilience as a country, right down to personal financial resilience, Fage said.

“You can’t save if you’ve got no money to save.

“They say cut back on alcohol, smokes, Sky, a little bit here and there – but people have done that. The last couple of years people have been cutting back.”

Many could no longer afford insurance payments and were being forced to stop their policies.

The budget service now had a waitlist of people needing its help.

Due to the organisation’s Christmas break, new clients would not be seen for at least four weeks – some potentially not until February.

“I hate that. We try to triage but you can’t triage if you can’t see anybody.”

The service gave people on the waitlist suggestions of what they could do financially until they could access the service’s help.

“A lot of those people are wanting KiwiSaver hardships – there’s a massive, massive uptake on that. I get it, when you’re desperate and that’s the only security or buffer or savings you’ve got and you need it to survive, but it’s meant to be there as a future-proofing plan.”

Unless people only took out some of their KiwiSaver and then built their savings up again, it could be “quite detrimental and we do worry about that”.

However, the service would help clients with their applications, as they could be complex.

Some people who were employed were putting their KiwiSaver contributions on hold because they needed that money for essentials such as power, food and rent.

“For Christmas this year, some people will go without; others will just create debt and try to figure it out later. That’s more the scary option because I don’t believe this year’s been a year that people have been able to go ‘I’ll save for my Christmas’.

“It’s the high food [costs], the high power and the high rents that are doing the damage. I’ve been saying the same things for the last three years and we’re not seeing any relief.”

Credit in some areas was easy to get and buy now, pay later backstops had become “normalised”.

She urged those who were financially more comfortable to help if they could.

“I have huge concerns about next year. We haven’t been able to replace our budget advisers yet. We’re going back to looking for volunteers.

“It’s not pretty for a percentage of our community.

“For those who can, give more to the food bank. We are referring people there every day.

“If you have 10 spare hours a week, you could volunteer as a financial mentor, or give back to the community with food and other donations.”

Sue Dudman is a NZME regional content leader, based in Whanganui.