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Many are needing to turn to second jobs to pay the bills. Photo: 123RF From police officers to IT workers, people are picking up second jobs to make ends meet. As part of Checkpoint's series Crunching the Numbers, we're drilling into the detail of people's finances and this week, we've spoken to people with full-time jobs who are burning out because they're having to find side hustles to stay financially afloat. Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal works for an IT company in Auckland and on top of her full-time job, she became a marriage celebrant to help pay for extra expenses. She said the money from her second job goes towards everyday needs like groceries, petrol and public transport costs, as half price fares have now ended in Auckland. "Nowadays we've reduced our expenses so much, before we us...

Photo: 123RF Inflation pressures are showing more signs of easing, but consumers still look reluctant to spend to any extent. A slew of Stats NZ data showed food prices rose 0.2 percent in August on July, but the annual rate eased to 0.4 percent. Higher prices for eating out, takeaways, and groceries were the main drivers behind the annual gain of 3.6 percent, while fruit and vegetable prices fell 12.2 percent . Among groceries olive oil, butter and chocolate were notable price rises. "The average price of a 250g block of chocolate has increased 20 percent since this time last year," consumer prices manager James Mitchell said. World olive oil supplies and prices have been affected by bad weather in Europe, while chocolate prices have surged on the back of disease, drought, and reduced s...

Photo: Supplied Waikato dairy co-operative Tatua plans to double production of its cream-based products with a new factory expansion. The farmer-owned co-op has invested $85 million into the construction project its board first approved in April. Tatua manufactured products like sour cream and mascarpone from milk supplied by 101 farms within a 12-kilometre radius of the factory. It exported around 90 percent of what it produced there to top export markets China and Japan. Chief executive Brendhan Greaney said there was more demand in New Zealand and abroad than it could supply. "This is quite a significant investment for us, at circa 85 million [dollars], it's our largest investment to date," Greaney said. "We're essentially doubling the capacity of what we call our foods plant and that...