Laura’s story...
We are lucky in a number of ways and have been muddling through the rest.
Work: My work remains the same - I work for a company based in NYC (from my desk here in NZ, so remote work is my usual MO). Until this Wednesday, my partner worked for an NZ firm in the travel sector that just underwent large-scale layoffs. Thankfully, he had accepted a new job a few weeks ago that he is due to start after Easter, so was on his way out the door from travel as COVID-19 started to ramp up. The on-boarding to his new job will probably be a bit rocky as he tries to get caught up remotely, but we're hopeful that he'll be able to get everything set up. We're both doing our best to hang on to our jobs and to allow for some stability in these uncertain times.
Housing: We were originally due to settle on a house on April 20th, but are one of those deals caught up in the Level 4 Lockdown delay. We've managed to organise a settlement within 5 working days of going back down to Level 2, and will then try to speedily get movers in action so we can get out of our rental before the new tenant is due to move in. "Three months ago" me would be incredibly stressed about the timing, but I'm learning to just go with the flow and when it happens, it happens. (Also, the more times I email our lawyer with questions the more our bill goes up! Ha!)
Saving: We are both savers by nature, and our expenses have gone down with the lockdown as we're only purchasing food and essentials. However, putting down the deposit on our new house has certainly put us in a different savings balance situation. We aim to keep squirrelling money away in case either of us ends up in a layoff situation - we will have this new mortgage to worry about and want to ensure we can cover our expenses for at least 3-6 months.
KiwiSaver and Investing: I love tracking my account daily, although I haven't touched anything. It helps give me a rough idea of the "impact" of the financial situation. My partner, on the other hand, hasn't looked and doesn't plan to! :)
Thank you for sharing these stories, Ruth! It's another way for us all to connect as we figure out a new normal.
Laura
You are very welcome Laura! Thanks for sharing and good luck with everything, Ruth