Cost of groceries, homes worrying Southlanders
The continuing rise in the cost of accommodation and food security were Southlanders’ two biggest concerns for the year ahead, a trust has found.
Jubilee Budgetary Advisory Service trust operations manager Caitlin Baker said the budgeting service was seeing an increase in clients struggling with all aspects of the cost of living crisis, but particularly the cost of renting and increased mortgage interest rates.
“Couple this with the increased cost of groceries and petrol has meant that there is far less money available for discretionary spending,” Baker said.
The increased cost of living across the board had resulted in a higher demand for the trust’s service, Baker said, not just for budgeting but also with KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals, debt repayments and other crisis situations.
Separately, research and analytics company Canstar’s third annual Consumer Pulse report found that as compared to the national respondents, more Southlanders did not expect the inflationary pressures and cost of living pressures to ease off.
Nationally, 32% respondents expected the pressures to ease off, as compared to 19% of respondents from Southland. However, 48% nationally did not expect the pressures to ease off, as compared to 56% of Southland respondents.
When asked if they had felt any relief from cost of living pressures over the last year, nationally, 70% of respondents said no, as compared to 85% of Southland respondents.
Similarly, for Southlanders, the biggest financial concern for the year ahead was the price of groceries at 38%, while nationally, this was 28%.
This was followed by mortgage interest rate movements at 12% for Southlanders and 9% nationally, and cost of rent for 8% Southland respondents, as compared to 11% for national respondents.
The survey had a sample size of 2500 people throughout the country.
Baker said according to the trust’s financial mentors, Southlanders were downsizing their vehicles, growing their own vegetables, shopping around and looking at affordable fruit and vegetable options to relieve their cost of living pressures.
In addition, they also noticed people using buy now, pay later services to pay for basic living expenses, and noticed an increase in people needing to be referred for food parcels to get by.
Baker said the continuing rise in the cost of accommodation and food security were Southlanders’ two biggest concerns for the year ahead.
Last month, it was reported that new customers were going to the weekly farmers market in Invercargill in search of more affordable produce.
Southern Farmers Market chairperson Annette Trent said the new interest was most likely stemming from the rising cost of living. People were shopping around and being discretionary with their spending, she said.
“A lot of people are being very careful about what they purchase.
‘‘They know that they’re getting great value at the farmers market, because we’re often a cheaper price.”