Amy’s story

Amy Tusa constantly found finances were ‘tight’ – especially with the whānau living on one income and with high Auckland rent. She and her husband were just managing to put food on the table, and provide the necessities, but at times she was forced to ask her parents to top them up. When Amy decided to put a stop to that, suddenly there was an overdraft – and it was unmanageable.

Recalling a recommendation from a colleague, Amy called CAP, and was encouraged to jump online to find a CAP Money course nearby.

“I’ve never been to a financial course. I was expecting I’d be shamed. In my head the narrative was, ‘you brought this on yourself.’ But I turned up at St Columbus Church and Bruce, the coach, cancelled all that out. He was so warm, I felt comfortable.”

During the three free sessions, Amy was inspired by the CAP Money content and the way Bruce broke down a budget. She recalls being encouraged to investigate: ‘Have a look – can you save here? What income can you increase?’ Amy credits CAP Money with breaking ‘a toxic mindset.‘

“It was so safe you could be vulnerable. Each week it ended up being more uplifting. Bruce was like, ‘So, you’ve got debt, why do you have the debt?’ I was empowered to make changes.”

Then came the cherry on top… after attending CAP Money, Amy applied for a rent-to-own house with the Housing Foundation. In August, the Tusa’s application was accepted!

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