Family struggles with cost of living

Hospital maintenance worker Nga Tere (left), with Tearoa, 2, Elizabeth, 6, Rosana, 12 and wife Miri, pays half his wage on his rent. Photo/Glenn Taylor

Nga Tere has given up waiting for a Housing New Zealand home for his family, since emigrating from the Cook Islands 10 years ago.

Married to Miri with three bubbly children, they live in a warm and dry three-bedroom Flaxmere house, which at $270 per week rent costs about half his take-home wage.

"I thought rents in Flaxmere would be cheaper, but they aren't," he said.

His wife Miri is a full-time mum for their children aged 2, 6 and 12.

He said a Working For Families tax credit of $280 per week helped, but a $200 per week car loan repayment did not.

"Then you have got the power on top of that, the food, the cost of my petrol and there isn't anything left," he said.

"My kids, whatever I eat they have to eat. We can't afford to eat what they want to eat - it's tough."

He said the older the children became the more costs rose.

A special treat was KFC "but $40 is just all gone".

He said it was cheaper to take his fishing rod to the river mouth at Clive, where some days were better than others.

"All my kids eat fish on the bone.

"It used to be good before - everything was cheap.

"Now we have to look out for what we buy, we have to make sure we have something for the kid's food, milk, bread for their lunch for school and the doctor ... It is quite hard."

Mrs Tere shrugs when asked why they had not applied for a Community Services card, to make doctor's visits cheaper.

"Friends have told us we should," she said.

He works on the maintenance crew for the Hawke's Bay District Health Board (DHB).

He said he would like to buy a house "but they want a 10 per cent deposit and I can't afford to save".