Archive: Client Stories

Lorraine used a GetControl Loan to pay off spiralling high-interest debts.

Jude and her husband raised their family of four children in Wellington and owned their own home. When their youngest child was three years, Jude went back to work and worked until she reached retirement age. “We lived like so many people do – spending all that we earned. It was never a struggle, but we didn’t put anything away either. We had no insurances. When I look back, we didn’t do as well as I thought.” Later in their married life, Jude’s husband purchased a business in Palmerston North where they lived for 14 years. “We purchased the business, sold the house and moved to Palmy where we rented. While things went well initially, the business didn’t do well and it was eventually folded. My husband didn’t want to declare bankruptcy, so for many years we paid back our creditors and weren’t able to get back to the financial position we’d been in.” For Jude, there was a sequence of life events that led to her being in financial hardship. “When we reached retirement age, we moved to Foxton beach and rented a house there, which was wonderful. Then my husband lost most of his memory after a near-drowning...

Things were really tough for Paula* when she applied for a loan from Ngā Tāngata Microfinance. She had borrowed $3,000 from her bank and hadn’t been able to pay it back due to a change of circumstances, so the bank was planning to foreclose on her home of 23 years. “The bank wouldn’t let me pay the loan off over time – they were going to sell my house,” she says. A single mum in her 40s, Paula had arranged an overdraft with her bank a couple of years ago when she was laid off from her job. There was a seven week stand-down period before she could get a benefit from WINZ and she was really stuck for money. She says she struggled for money before that, but once she lost her job, thing went from bad to worse. On top of that, she hasn’t been able to work since then due to poor health. “On the benefit, there is no extra money. You just can’t get rid of the debt,” she explains. In desperation, and very stressed about losing her house, Paula turned to the Salvation Army. There she talked to a Financial Mentor, who recommended applying to...

Through no fault of her own, Tanya* (age 50) was in a really tough spot financially. She says she had never been in debt in her life, but then a partner left her with an outstanding loan that wasn’t hers. As the single mother of three children (two of who still live at home), she felt overwhelmed by the ever-increasing debt. “I’m normally really good at budgeting, but I just couldn’t get on top of the debt – especially with all the interest,” she explains. Tanya turned to Pakuranga and Howick Budgeting Service for ongoing advice, where one of their financial advisors suggested she apply to Ngā Tāngata Microfinance for a GetControl Debt Relief Loan. “I was really freaking out, but as soon as I heard I’d been accepted by Ngā Tāngata for a loan, it took all the pressure off – and all the anger that I’d been dumped with this debt. It was awesome,” she says. Tanya elected to pay off $25 a week and has since paid off the loan. “It was manageable with just a small amount a week. And not having all that interest continuing to add up was amazing. I absolutely recommend it to...

Sandra* and her husband live in New Lynn in West Auckland and recently applied for a GetControl Debt Relief Loan to pay off some debts. Sandra had been working for a few months with a financial mentor at Henderson Budgeting, who suggested she should apply for a Ngā Tāngata Microfinance loan to reduce her debts. Sandra says she wasn’t sure initially, but she had a look at the NTM website and thought it looked good. “I read a bit of information and got hold of my financial mentor who emailed NTM and helped me apply for the loan.” She says the process was surprisingly easy. “To be honest, some of the questions worried me at first, like having to disclose personal information, but actually it was really easy. The money came through very quickly and went straight towards paying off our bills.” “I would definitely recommend a Ngā Tāngata loan to others in the same boat,” Sandra says. “I feel so relieved – like a real weight has been lifted off our shoulders. My husband is happy that the debt is off our record now, and we don’t have to keep worrying about it.” “Working with the financial mentor has...

Maria used a GetControl Loan to pay off spiralling high-interest debts.

Virginia McCreadie is a financial mentor for Budget House Taupō. Like most financial mentors, she works with clients from all walks of life. “There is a perception that we deal with only one income bracket,” says Virginia. “But we work with clients right across the spectrum, from those who are homeless with no income, to those who are wealthy with assets – and everyone in between.” “Whether you have a little or a lot of money, financial challenges happen,” she explains. “Things can change in the blink of an eye; big life events like a marriage break-up, a death in the family or the impact of COVID-19 – there are all sorts of reasons that people need financial help. We’re here to help with people in crisis, but also with financial resilience and future planning, so there’s less chance that a financial crisis will happen again.” Organisations like Ngā Tāngata Microfinance are targeted at those who have fewer options, says Virginia. “ They’re here to ensure that people who were okay but now aren’t, are able to be okay again,” she explains. “Especially for those on low incomes who need to pay off high-interest debt or get the essential things...

Tui* and her five children had spent ten months living with Tui’s parents in a small, two-bedroom house. Because of the cramped conditions, Tui’s relationship with her parents had become very fragile - her father has a brain injury and found it hard to tolerate the noise of five children in the house. Not only that, Tui had a difficult relationship with the children’s father and her eldest daughter was unwell. Tui and her family desperately needed to move into their own home, but she didn’t have enough saved for a tenancy bond. She had been working with a financial mentor for over 10 years, who suggested she apply for an interest-free GetAhead Asset Building loan from Ngā Tāngata Microfinance to meet the cost of the tenancy bond. The loan was approved and Tui and her children have happily moved into their own home. With the encouragement of her financial mentor, Tui also undertook a course of study for a degree and is now employed using that qualification. She continues to work with her financial mentor as her student loan repayments are leaving her little money to save. Now that she’s not living in such a cramped living environment, Tui...

Eileen* had been working with a financial mentor for around 18 months, who had helped her consolidate several small debts to make them more manageable. She was working 12-hour shifts for a very low wage, while caring for her disabled daughter. Due to her low income and debts, she had to sell her car to pay for food, so had resorted to riding a bicycle to work. While going to work one day, she fell off her bike and broke her arm. When her arm healed she went on to a better job, but had to move on from her Housing NZ house, because her new home needed to be within biking distance from work. Eileen tried several sources for the required bond money, with no luck. Desperate to move into a suitable house that she had found, she applied to Ngā Tāngata Microfinance for an interest-free, fee-free loan. Because she had been seeing a financial mentor for a number of years and had demonstrated her strong desire to manage her life and take good care of her daughter, her application was successful and she was offered a GetAhead Asset Building loan. Eileen was able to move with her disabled...

Selena’s* cell phone was only 18 months old, but needed replacing as it was the only phone in the house, shared between Selena and her three children. A salesperson from a truck vendor company sold her a cell phone from a catalogue, which he said was good value at $300. Selena had just started attending a local financial literacy course and the discussion in the class at that time was around this type of high-pressure, high-cost sale. This affected Selena to the point where she went home that day and cancelled the sale using the 0800 number. She hadn’t yet received the phone because she was required to make a set of payments before receiving the goods. The company said they would cancel the order, but that it would incur an administration fee, which Selena accepted. In Selena’s neighbourhood, buying from truck vendors is common. Many people don’t go into retail shops because they cannot afford to pay cash for items, which means they can be widely out of touch about the prices for goods. Items sold door-to-door are not advertised in the catalogue at a full retail price but at a ‘per week’ cost, which can be very misleading....