11. Financial Management

I stayed at my aunt's house for about two months, working as a day laborer. I paid for accommodation every week because the system there is that you get paid weekly. From now on, I'd like to briefly explain how I managed my income.

 

When I was there, let's say on average I had the opportunity to work five days a week. Actually, if I could work on Saturdays and Sundays, I usually would, because to be honest, this work might seem tiring and time-consuming each day, but for me, it was a chance to get close to trees and nature, to be outdoors in fresh air, to see the roadside scenery in the morning, which might look like art moving along with the car windows. It was a chance to do work that didn't require much thinking, to listen to whatever I liked while working, to move my body and move around. For me, it was exercise in itself.

 

When working, I go at the team's pace, not too fast or too slow. After all, it's between our team and the client, not between any one person and the client. So, there's no need to rush. Just go with the flow, let time pass smoothly, and don't get hung up on the hot sun. Look at it casually and the heat will pass on its own. After a while, you'll start to not feel anything about it (or what they call desensitization).

 

Sorry, I got carried away. Let's get back to talking about managing income. Let's say there are an average of two rainy days per week, which are usually the days when gardeners get to stay home. So, in a week, there might be five days of work. If you work one day and earn the minimum wage, after taxes, you'll actually get about 120 NZ dollars. If you earn this amount for all five days, your average weekly income will be around $600. The accommodation at each place I stayed was about 100-130 dollars. Food costs depend on the individual, but on average, it's about 15 dollars per meal. At this price, the quality of the food is about what you'd get in Thailand for Pad Krapao with a cold drink – it's not luxurious, but it's a satisfying meal. If you're smart about buying ingredients from the supermarket and cooking yourself, like meat, vegetables, or rice, or if you eat with the people you're staying with and have the opportunity to buy them something in return, or wash dishes for them, you can save a considerable amount of money. Phone top-ups cost about $30 per month, and car fuel costs about 25 per week. I don't drink alcohol or smoke. If you're not addicted to these two things, you can save a lot. On average, I save at least $300 or more each week, depending on the situation. It might be less if there are changes, but that was very rare.

 

But I often jokingly think that even though some weeks I earn less than $300 due to necessity and unforeseen circumstances, the weeks when I earn more than $300 will compensate for it. Thinking this way prevents me from putting too much pressure on myself. On average, I save about 50% of my weekly income. This savings is important. The fact that it gradually increases will give us the freedom to spend our time as we become more and more immersed in society. I'd been staying at the aunt's house and working to save money for over two months, and I was starting to feel that I should start doing what I wanted to do, which is traveling to places I want to go. "Going to the South Island" is about exchanging our money or time for what I want. Deep down, I always told myself that since I'd come this far, I should see what I wanted to see, which is the beautiful nature of New Zealand.