What to do if you find yourself in financial hardship
THE FACTS
When money's tight, it's easy to feel you're up against an insurmountable wall. Job losses, reduced hours, break-ups, business failures, and rising costs mean more Kiwis are under financial pressure.
Every single baby step helps when you're navigating hardship. You don't have to solve everything today. Just start.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
1News
35 minutes ago
- 1News
Govt making thousands more building products available for NZ use
The Government has opened the door for many building products from overseas to become available in New Zealand, including cladding systems, external doors, plasterboard, and windows. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said products had been given "the green light" for use in New Zealand to end what he called "costly monopolies" on select products. "These changes have the potential to reduce total building costs by thousands of dollars when building a home." Penk said it was "frankly outrageous" how much it cost to build a house in New Zealand. "It is 50% more expensive to build a standalone home in New Zealand than in Australia." ADVERTISEMENT He said there were thousands of well-made, high-performing products that had been tested against international standards but had faced barriers here because they had not been tested against New Zealand standards. "This Government is serious about lowering the cost of building and helping Kiwis into homes faster." Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it would provide "much needed" competition, lowering the cost of building and subsequently the cost of living. "We want to level the playing field by increasing competition for high quality buildings products, and in turn, lower prices for builders, which leads to lowering the cost of living and making houses more affordable for Kiwis." The first version of the building product specifications document would be released tomorrow. This lists international standards for products such as plasterboard, cladding, windows and external doors. "Later this year, additional pathways will go live enabling more high-quality building products to be used including over 200,000 plumbing products through the Australian Watermark scheme," Penk said.
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Prime Minister Chris Luxon faces questions on building product investment, immigration numbers
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will face questions this morning on the latest boost for builders, the Foreign Minister's concerns on immigration numbers and the new road cone hotline. He will join Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking at 7.30am. It comes after Luxon said the Government would be increasing the number of building products available in New Zealand, including plasterboard, cladding systems, external doors and windows. He made the announcement at the weekend with Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk, who said thousands of overseas building products had been given the green light for construction. '[This ends] costly monopolies on a small number of products that are currently used in New Zealand,' Penk said. 'It is 50% more expensive to build a standalone home in New Zealand than in Australia. That is frankly outrageous.' Luxon is also expected to face heat this week from NZ First leader Winston Peters, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, over his concerns about the number of migrants entering New Zealand. Peters said he is observing an 'alarming development' overseas where 'careless immigration policies' are 'transforming cities' and 'changing centuries of development and social life'. He referred to his party as 'nationalist' while his coalition partners are 'globalists', and believes Kiwis are increasingly worried about immigration issues. 'We intend to turn that problem into a success story, so people do understand that, when you're coming here, there are some fundamental things you need to sign up to,' he said. 'If you don't want to sign up to it, don't come.' Meanwhile, Luxon's new hotline to curb overzealous road cone use has come under scrutiny, with a chief executive of a traffic management company saying he is very doubtful it will work. Traffic management planning company Parallaxx helps train WorkSafe staff for the hotline, but chief executive Dave Tilton is sceptical of the concept, partly due to the number of people a report needs to go through before action is taken. 'We absolutely have oversupply [of road cones] beyond the minimum without question ... but I'm very doubtful that this particular thread [the hotline] is going to bear fruit in fixing it.'
1News
10 hours ago
- 1News
'Call me Mr Cash Man': MP seeks protection for hard currency
Self-proclaimed cash advocate and MP Jamie Arbuckle believes his proposed law protecting hard currency transactions is about more than accessibility — it's also about privacy and preventing "Big Brother" surveillance. The New Zealand First MP's members' legislation, the Cash Transactions Protection Bill, would require vendors to accept cash up to the value of $500, with no limits on the amount of cash that must be accepted for essential items like fuel and food. 'There's a real concern across New Zealand that we're becoming a cashless society, and we've got a lot of people who depend on cash,' the MP told Q+A. He said that particularly applied to people living in rural areas, the elderly who are more comfortable using cash than digital systems, and those on low incomes. A self-professed fan of using cash, Arbuckle said, 'cash is king, and you can call me Mr Cash Man if you like.' ADVERTISEMENT 'I've got to tell you right now, I don't like walking into a shop and not being able to pay cash for a coffee.' Composite image by Vania Chandrawidjaja (Source: iStock/1News) But he said in an increasingly digital world, there was a more serious point to be made about the ability to make anonymous payments. 'People are telling me they want to have the ability to use cash, it's a freedom of choice issue.' 'It's really the only true way of having privacy in a transaction. You don't get that with electronic payments. There's always the concern that Big Brother or someone is able to look at where you've been, what you've purchased, so the majority of people have been very positive about protecting cash use.' A Reserve Bank survey released in June 2025 found that — while electronic and debit card use was by far the most common method of making payments — a significant minority of the country continued to use cash regularly. Around 46% of respondents said they used cash 'to pay for everyday things', down slightly from 48% which an equivalent survey found in June 2023. ADVERTISEMENT The survey also found a majority had used cash at least once in the seven days preceding the survey being taken, with approximately 33% of respondents saying they hadn't used cash in the last week, and a further 3.6% saying they would never use cash. Further research undertaken last year by the Reserve Bank found Kiwis value being able to use physical cash. Director of money and cash Ian Woolford said, '84% of respondents were worried about losing access to banknotes and coins, and want assurance that cash will still be issued by the Reserve Bank and not reduced or replaced by digital cash.' 'We'll keep issuing cash for as long as New Zealanders want to use it," he said in December. "We're doing a lot of work to redesign the cash system, including helping retailers through community cash services trials next year in several rural communities lacking over-the-counter bank or ATM services.' Some businesses have moved to being cash-free, but Arbuckle said in his view, it couldn't be an opt-in and opt-out system. 'The majority of businesses hold cash, so we're only talking about a small amount of businesses that would have to change. ADVERTISEMENT "Cash is legal tender, and you should be able to purchase with cash.' He said if the bill is pulled out of the member's bill biscuit tin, he'd welcome feedback from businesses that might be affected during the select committee process. Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
