Hours per week.
Many minimum-wage jobs are part-time or fluctuate. A "full-time" budget assumes 40 hours, but the reality is often less.
Where and who you live with.
Where you live and who's at home drives most of your weekly costs—especially rent. Pick your district and household type below, or enter your exact rent if you already know it.
Anything else?
Tap any that apply, and add an "Extras" figure for anything else you spend on weekly.
What if you changed something?
Tap a lever to see how it shifts your week. This is where the trade-offs become real.
Sources & assumptions (prototype): Adult minimum wage of $23.95/hr from 1 April 2026 (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment). Tax via Inland Revenue's PAYE tables (M tax code, no exemptions). Rent figures based on Tenancy Services rental bond medians, latest 12 months. Grocery and utilities baselines from Stats NZ Household Economic Survey, scaled by household size. Working for Families and Accommodation Supplement entitlements modelled on Ministry of Social Development calculators. This prototype is illustrative; final figures would be reviewed by a data journalist and a financial commentator before publication.