Cost of living in New Zealand

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quickymart

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#3324239 24-Dec-2024 15:44

Tinkerisk:

We actually once had an older petty criminal in town who was very friendly. He didn't do anything bad except steal sweets from the supermarket with the intention of getting caught. Why did he do that?

In the summer he lived outdoors, always clean and tidy. But in winter he needed a warm flat. He took advantage of the ‘system’ by committing many small offences so that a judge HAD to sentence him for the frequency. He always insisted on the maximum sentence. As he couldn't/wouldn't pay the fine, he got his warm flat for 3 months in winter (where the prison guards were already waiting for him to play chess). He did this until the end of his life. 😊

That's actually pretty sad.

eonsim

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#3324240 24-Dec-2024 15:47

At approximately $150,000 per year per prisoner the lock-em up approach is a waste of money (short of the extreme threat to others individuals). There must be better ways to do things heck you could give them all 80k a year to stay out of prison, then for every 10 of them pay a social worker 100k to help them get there life together and you would still be saving $50k per annum per convict which could be used to help the victims or spend on more useful things like health or education.

It seems the main point of Prisons these days is to enrich those who on the prison industry.

tweake

2391 posts

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#3324250 24-Dec-2024 16:44

on the other hand, if you don't lock them up they continue doing damage to everyone else. how many times do we see people on home dentition etc go out and do more serious crimes. thats why i don't like judges being so soft on them. sometimes the only way to get them off drugs, out of the company of people they are with, is to lock them up for a while.

however i have also seen it where the crim came this close to going to jail, that they, at least appear to, have gone straight. people will push the limits of the system.

Tinkerisk

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#3324273 24-Dec-2024 18:26

quickymart:

That's actually pretty sad.

Possibly. But he was satisfied with what he had. I think he was rich inside.

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mattwnz

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#3324312 25-Dec-2024 00:24

eonsim:

At approximately $150,000 per year per prisoner the lock-em up approach is a waste of money (short of the extreme threat to others individuals). There must be better ways to do things heck you could give them all 80k a year to stay out of prison, then for every 10 of them pay a social worker 100k to help them get there life together and you would still be saving $50k per annum per convict which could be used to help the victims or spend on more useful things like health or education.

It seems the main point of Prisons these days is to enrich those who on the prison industry.

I recall it used to be significantly cheaper than that, , I think the increased price is far more than inflation. It is a lot cheaper to house people in resthome care. But I guess much of the money goes to paying people so is recycled back through the economy. The issue though is when overseas companies run them, so profits end up going offshore.

cruxis

480 posts

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#3324336 25-Dec-2024 07:25

They could copy Indonesia's prison model to cut expenses.

kingdragonfly

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#3324345 25-Dec-2024 09:07

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JimmyH

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#3324368 25-Dec-2024 11:11

The cost of living is becoming a problem. We are on what most households would consider a reasonable wicket, with 1.5x reasonable incomes, but aren't running much of a surplus at the moment. We did quick a budgeting exercise pre-Christmas, and compared to a few years ago the things that are killing us are soaring supermarket bills and insurance costs (medical and house). Unfortunately we have some house repairs coming up, an end of life 23 year old car that will have to be replaced in the next 12 months (it probably won't get it's next warrant without pricy repairs), and my ancient PC is probably on its last legs. So, I expect 2025 to be financially painful.

We already live fairly modestly so there's not a huge amount of frivolous or luxury spending that can be cut. In the new year we are planning to do a thorough budget, and take a scalpel to expenses. Probably scaling back some insurance, and dropping to three to one streaming subscription etc.

One thing we just did is pick up a very decently priced large chest freezer in the Black Friday sales. That will let us shop cheaper in bulk and take advantage of specials and decently priced short-dated clearances, by buying in bulk and freezing. On my math, the payback time for the freezer should be less than 18 months.

We will manage, but won't make much headway on the mortgage (and might even have to increase it a tad). I shudder to think how people with lower incomes and more kids are coping.

cddt

1548 posts

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#3324431 25-Dec-2024 17:22

JimmyH:

...and my ancient PC is probably on its last legs. ...

If you do need a replacement PC, then the secondhand market has served me very well. You can get very tidy PCs which were previously mid/high spec 2-4 years old and very reasonable prices.

JimmyH:

... That will let us shop cheaper in bulk and take advantage of specials and decently priced short-dated clearances, by buying in bulk and freezing. ...

If you don't already, start frequenting Gilmours if there is one in your area. Not everything is always cheaper in bulk, but we find there are generally very good deals on meat. E.g. sirloin steak at the same price as the cheapest cut of beef at the supermarket, you just have to buy 6 kg at once and slice it yourself.

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