Over five days Newshub reporter Scott Palmer visited five different food stores to see if creative consumerism could stretch $5 into three of meals a day.
DAY 1: Pak'nSave
It's marketed as the go-to for Kiwis looking to squeeze their grocery dollar further - and it held reasonably strong.
For those who aren't familiar with Pak'nSave, it's set up like big warehouse - the idea is to buy in bulk and save dollars.
Thing is, there wasn't much bulk buy happening for five squids. I went and hit up the fruit and veggie section, then built from there.
I managed to get a full day's eating pretty easily.
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Peaches and apples
Dinner: Pasta, canned tuna and tomato, carrot and onion sauce
Review
8/10 Ease: There are Pak'nSaves all around the country, so finding one and commuting to was pretty straight forward. Prices are pretty clear and it's pretty simple to keep track of how much you're spending.
10/10 Variety: This place had pretty much everything and there was minimal judgement at the checkout.
7/10 Meal satisfaction: I was pretty happy and genuinely surprised with my Pak'nSave menu creation. I managed to get almost all the food groups in, sans dairy.
8/10 Viability: You can definitely make it work at Pak'nSave. Granted the hustle may become exhausting after a while and you’ll maybe left wondering if your time could be better spent making money than the hours used trying to save it. But it can be done with a high degree of success.
What factors are making it hard for Kiwis buying food?
Inflation
Inflation has surged this year. Inflation in the first quarter of 2017 is currently running at 2.2 percent, and one of its main causes is unusually high food prices.
Whether at the supermarket, the grocery store, or the takeaways, prices seem to be higher than the previous month.
Low wages
Advocates for the living wage have put the figure needed for 2017 at $20.20 an hour.
The living wage is about an extra $5 an hour compared to the official minimum wage of $15.75 set by the Government, and is defined as income necessary to provide workers and their families with the basic necessities of life.
With so many Kiwi workers earning below this, people can't afford to live on the wages they receive.
Rental prices
The wallet-burning cost of Auckland and Wellington has been highlighted once again as they jointly ranked the 16th most expensive cities to live in the world.
The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey covered 150 cities, with Wellington climbing 26 places since last year's survey and Auckland 22 places.
Rental prices in Auckland are up 4 percent than where they were a year ago and almost 24 percent higher than in 2001.
Increasing food prices
Vegetable prices were up 10 percent last month - with a lettuce costing up to seven dollars.
Two months of record rainfall destroyed entire fields of crops, and now new crops of spinach and lettuce are being dumped on.
And the extra rain could hamper new crops, pushing prices up even higher.
China - our largest export market for sheep meat and second largest for beef - is expected to increase its demand to at least 2020.
Rabobank's report, China's Animal Protein Outlook to 2020, forecasts an 800,000 tonne growth in beef and 50,000 tonne growth in sheepmeat going to China.
This is expected to prevent meat prices from falling.
Population growth
New Zealand is growing and fast. With population growth at 2.1 percent over 2016, we've reached our fastest rate of growth since the mid-1970s.
Annual net migration rose to 71,305 in the 12 months ended January 31 2017, eclipsing the record 70,600 set in calendar 2016, Statistics New Zealand said.
People arriving as permanent and long-term migrants outnumbered those departing by 128,290 to 56,985 in the latest 12 months - also an all-time high.
The effects on Kiwis
The combined effects are bad for Kiwi families, who have to stretch each dollar further to make ends meet.
And there's even worse news for hungry Kiwis.
Food costs are expected to remain high due to poor weather and strong export demand, putting extra pressure on already-stretched family budgets.
Food prices rose 1.2 percent in the March quarter CPI data, calculated from December 2016.
There was a 4.1 percent increase in the price of fruit and vegetables up to March, and a 4.7 percent increase in the cost of milk, cheese, and eggs.
Add that to increases in transport and housing costs - and it's easy to see why some families are going hungry.
Auckland is one of the most-expensive cities in the world to live in - ranking number 19, according to recent stats from crowd-sourced data site Numbeo.
Rent costs put enormous pressure on New Zealanders, who face the awful dilemma - to pay for a roof over their heads, or put food on the table.
Living with these conditions can be tough, and with so many expenses, putting money aside for a rainy day can be hard.
It's no wonder that we have such low rates of savings.
Things are so bad, people are withdrawing funds from their KiwiSaver accounts because they can't pay the rent.
"Many of our families are in rental arrears, so the reality is either lose your home or apply to take some money out of KiwiSaver," says Darryl Evans, from Mangere Budgeting Services.
He says his agency gets eight clients a day asking for help with a KiwiSaver financial hardship application.
"I absolutely believe that KiwiSaver is about saving for your future, but how can you have a future when next week, or the week after, you're being threatened with losing your home?" he says. "For me, it makes sense."
With house prices, rent prices and avocado prices at unprecedented highs, the average Kiwi is finding it harder and harder to hold on to their hard-earned wages.
And it's have a damaging effect on Kiwi children.
The Salvation Army says an estimated 68,000 New Zealand children and their families rely on The Salvation Army for their basic needs each year.
"I've had children tell me they love it when mum gets paid - that's the one day they get enough food. That's not OK for children to have this worry. It's not good enough in New Zealand," says head of social services Major Pam Waugh.
Newshub.
