Kiwi families will need to come up with an additional $4000 on average by Christmas this year just to live the same as they did a year ago. That's on the back of a $3000 rise, on average, in the cost of living last year. Average household spending, minus savings, based on Statistics New Zealand's most recent figures corrected for inflation, was around $68,000 in 2019, rising to $69,000 after 1.71 per cent inflation in 2020 and again to $72,000 last year after 3.94 per cent inflation. But that will rise to about $76,000 by Christmas this year if inflation is sitting around 5.5 per cent, meaning an extra $4000 to find, to meet the same costs. Asta Davies, aged 22 months, and Jackson Davies aged 12, of Timaru, don't have Netflix anymore - but do have Disney+.

Source: New Zealand Herald August 21, 2022 04:49 UTC