KEY POINTS:
When 57-year-old Michael Mortimer came to New Zealand it was to make a better life for his family. But skyrocketing household bills and high mortgage payments have destroyed the dream.
"I thought it would be a better lifestyle, but it's been harder... Since we've been in New Zealand we haven't even been able to afford a holiday. It's just a matter of trying to get ourselves set up."
When Mortimer was made redundant in March last year from Air New Zealand's engineering division, 11 years after moving to New Zealand from West Yorkshire, he found himself spiralling into debt.
His bills just kept on rising - electricity rates shot up 29 per cent and water went from $316 a year to $594. The rates dropped slightly, from $1161 to $1013, but that's the only relief he's been able to find.
With mortgage payments of $460 per week on his four-bedroom home in Mangere, he was really struggling. The mortgage, which was with an independent finance company, had a rising interest rate which had reached almost 10.5 per cent.
Mortimer and his family, wife Jovita, and three sons Michael (22), Sean (19) and Mark (13), struggled on a weekly budget of $600-$700.
Three months behind on the mortgage payments, Mortimer could also no longer afford to pay rates, electricity or water bills. A loan for his car was not being serviced and all up Mortimer owes around $15,000 on loans and credit cards he used to pay bills. It became almost impossible to live on the budget.
"It's hard all the time. You're just living week to week. Some weeks we don't have enough and the next we do. It's just getting by. It's not from extravagant living, it's just a matter of surviving."
And the food bills have been a struggle. They go to local markets to save money on vegetables. And they are eating cheaper cuts of meat. "It's been a while since we've had a good cut of steak. We are definitely changing our eating habits," said Mortimer.
But it was when his home was put up for mortgagee sale that Mortimer really started to panic.
"We really thought we were going to lose it. If we had lost the house, I don't know what we'd have done."
The cost increases have forced an even more frugal lifestyle. New measures in the house, such as turning off appliances and saving on water, have cut costs.
"It's all the essentials that you need to live on. The economy is good but it's not good for ordinary people."
