For the past two weeks, we have been telling people's stories from around the country about how they are surviving the recession. But today we look at two families who have suffered from the downturn, the Sumners - below - who risk losing their home and Ella who is struggling just to feed her family.
Read the full series here: nzherald.co.nz/go/surviving09
The Sumners, Whangaparaoa
The Sumners have tried everything, including renting out their house and pitching a tent in the park down the road for some extra cash.
Ray Sumner was a plumber and after having his hours whittled down to seven a week last August, he decided to go out on his own.
However, after falling off a roof and injuring his neck, his family are now depending on his ACC payments to pay the mortgage but they are about to stop.
Ray's wife, Sue, is doing her Masters and works in management training.
The Whangaparaoa couple are hoping their bank will let them sell their home, despite the mortgage being higher then its resale value. They are also hoping to qualify for a mortgage holiday.
"I would say this is a toxic asset and we're testing the system fully as to what happens in that situation," Mrs Sumner said.
She said the family have tried everything to stay on top of the mortgage repayments, bills, and food costs, including picking up washing machines and dishwashers on the side of the road, fixing them up and selling them on the online auction site, Trade Me.
"We were the inorganic waste collection. Because he was injured and he could pick up nothing, it was between me and my son Daniel to do the picking up. I would ring up Daniel and he would go: Oh no, Mum, I'm not going to come out to pick something off the side of the road," Mrs Sumner said.
The garage began filling up but the couple were living off an income that was only half of what they needed to make their mortgage payments.
They have also put in a vegetable garden, taken on a boarder and Mrs Sumner cuts her own hair.
"She wouldn't let me near it," Mr Sumner said.
During summer, the Sumners rented out their home and pitched a two room tent in Shakespeare Park to try and make ends meet.
And the future is bleak.
"We thought we were in hell before, we're actually entering hell now," Mrs Sumner said. She said the couple are "extremely anxious" about the future of their home.
But the couple are drawing inspiration, using a motto: "Nothing is impossible".
Mrs Sumner said her boss is allowing her to work from home, making it possible to save on fuel.
"It's all happening at the same time [the boarder] is leaving and the ACC [payments] are finishing all on the same day," Mr Sumner said.
"Basically as we see him walk out the door, we see our food money walk out the door," Mrs Sumner said
.
"Going forward from here, goodness knows how much harder it's going to get. At the moment we're selling everything, basically that we own, except the bare essentials," Mrs Sumner said.
Two of Sue's sons haven't faired much better.
One is a builder and the other is a plumber. Both have been made redundant.
"We actually draw quite a bit of confidence from them, sometimes, with the way they're pushing ahead themselves and they're young guys," Mr Sumner said.
Recession stories: Trying everything to pay the mortgage
Sue and Ray Sumner say the future is bleak. Photo / Videograb
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