About AfforditNZ
Affordit NZ is a social enterprise and is all about increasing the awareness of the importance of True Affordability, to get NZder’s ahead with their money. The ability to afford your wants and desires in life, will profoundly affect your ability to get ahead with your finances; build your Financial Capability, and live the life you desire (rather than the life you have to live due to financial constraints).
Doing well with your finances, we believe, is all about balancing living and enjoying the now, with having more financial security in the future. You choose where you want your balance to be!
Affordit NZ are here to provide you with the resources to Assess your True Affordability yourself, or we can refer you to free or paid for Independent Budgeting and Financial Coaching/Mentoring services to assist you in your journey.
If you are struggling to budget and make ends meet and already living in hardship, getting a loan may not be the best option for you now. We aim to educate you about what other options are available to you, that can provide pathways for you to get out of your hardship and build your Financial Capability.
Alternatively if you dream of owning your own house one day, or are ready now, our tools and resources can also be used to determine your True Affordability. Thus giving you reassurance and pathway that you can meet your goal of home ownership 🙂
Who is Behind Afford It NZ?
Affordit NZ came about due to the changes in the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA) legislation around Responsible Lending and Loan Affordability. Lenders now need to determine affordability before approving loans.
Realising that this would significantly impact Consumers and Lenders alike, Financial Coach Shula Newland started investigating potential uses for her knowledge of Loan Affordability.
Shula is an expert in assessing how people spend their money, and in achieving long term financial behaviour change. Shula founded FULL Balance Financial Coaching 15 years ago from scratch, and built up an Independent (no sales or commission of products) Financial Planning/Coaching advice business. Shula has based her business on what was best for the client, rather than what was historically done in the industry, where product sales were the main driving force.
“This is about what people want out of their finances and life, not what others think they should be doing with their money based on society and government agendas.”
At the coalface, Shula saw the damage done by giving loans to people who really couldn’t afford them, or understand the consequences of getting loans.
“There really is no reason for there to be child poverty in NZ, as unlike some other countries, we have a government support system that can provide for basic lifestyle costs.”
The impact of this type of unaffordable lending was causing more harm than good. This is why the government bought in the CCCFA legislation. Harm was being done by unaffordable lending, where families were unable to afford basic living costs even when on two wages. This included at times big brand lending companies and banks. There seemed to be an ignorance and apathy of normal costs of living, and what people could afford.
Shula wanted to put the power back in the hands of the consumer to determine their True Affordability, and what sacrifices they are prepared to make to get Loan Affordability. After all, one of the key Lender Responsibilities Principles is to help the borrower make an informed decision. The Lender also has an opportunity to make more informed decisions, as after all, True Affordability is one of the best measures of risk!