Spend a penny
Discretionary spending jumps,
Tabitha Lorck is a sucker for a good feed. The Wellington student spends up to $40 a week dining out.
‘‘If my mum knew that, she would kill me,’’ she said.
It’s a stretch on her wallet, but Lorck blogs her foodie adventures and isn’t a fan of being stuck in the kitchen.
She realised early on that she could use her obsession with food to start a blog and now runs Fattat on Instagram.
Although she’s 21 and falls into the millennial avocado generation, Lorck is outside the age group that spends the most on dining.
Kiwis aged 36 to 55 spent an average of almost $500 a month on dining out, according to figures from 96,000 Westpac customers using its CashNav app from December to September.
Meanwhile, 18 to 34 year olds spent $370 a month, and 56 to 75 year olds spent $350. The national average was $400.
But young Aucklanders are preferring to go out rather than cook, spending $424 a month on groceries but $435 on restaurants, bars, and takeaways.
People in the capital spent the second highest amount – $436 on average.
Lorck said food in Auckland was usually more expensive, especially if you didn’t know where to go for cheap eats.
‘‘Eggs on toast are definitely more expensive,’’ she said.
‘‘In Wellington you can find eggs on toast for as little as $3. Whereas in Auckland is all $12.50, in Hawkes Bay it was $13.
‘‘It’s outrageous.’’
She admits she’s one of only a few young people who dine out on a regular basis.
‘‘I just have a food addiction. I try and drag people around. I was at Dragonfly last night on my own
'Under-35s in Auckland spend more on dining out than groceries.'
for an hour because no one would drink with me.
‘‘But it’s my priority. I can’t remember the last time I bought clothing, whereas my friends will spend all the money they earn on clothes.
‘‘It’s a disaster, I walk into a shop and see $40 for a top and think I can’t afford that. But then I’ll go out for dinner.’’
Westpac New Zealand general manager Andrew Kerr said the CashNav app allowed the bank to easily analyse spending trends.
The app also notifies customers if their spending is higher than usual by categorising transactions into categories such as eating out, shopping, and groceries.
‘‘We’ve only had the app over the last 12 months so we’re restricted in long range insights. Over time we’ll look at what changes we’re seeing.
‘‘Historically, we haven’t been able to analyse this kind of data because of size and quality,’’ he said.
Kerr said Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury were the biggest spenders in all categories.
‘‘Which isn’t surprising given the salaries and choice people have, but also cost of living.
‘‘Something surprising was [that] under-35s in Auckland spend more on dining out than groceries.’’
People on Auckland’s North Shore spent the most on fast food with an average splurge of $75 a month.
‘‘I don’t know if that’s a reflection of being time poor, lifestyle. We have UberEats starting to take hold making it much easier for people to get takeaway at any time of the day. That was fascinating.
Another thing was that young people in Taranaki spent $211 on entertainment, just $11 less a month than young Aucklanders.
‘‘Which goes to show despite people having greater choice in Auckland and greater variety at the end of the day, it’s still clearly a key thing young people want to spend money on.’’
But 36 to 55-year-olds in Auckland were the biggest crowd cheerers, spending $380. The national average was $230.