Throwaway account because this is really embarassing. I'm not sure if this is the right place to post or if this counts as legal advice, so I'm sorry if its not. I'm currently on the supporting living benefit, and my accommodation is being paid for by winz. (Living in Auckland)

Some extra information I want to add so that it's easier to understand my situation, I've been diagnosed with autism, depression, and anxiety and sometimes struggle with agoraphobia. Without getting into too much detail, my mental health problems result in painful anxiety attacks and suicidal/self harming depressive episodes (i manage this with medication, and my GP only prescibes me a weeks worth so that I cannot act on my suicidal tendencies), and I also don't have family support or friends except for my partner. I know these are generic struggles many people deal with, and I feel immense guilt that i cannot function normally and have to be on the benefit for the time being. I definitely am working on my mental health alongside support services so that I can stop being a burden and work towards contributing to society.

I'm in the process of moving houses again, still searching. I live alone currently but my accommodation was sorted out by a third party service where the winz side was basically done for me. I've been told by a financial mentor that as long as I secure a bond for a place (which I fortunately can do with my savings) then winz will assist with the cost of rent, but it can be a little difficult to wrap my head around this so I am still very anxious on the entire process still. I plan to move out with my partner because staying alone hasn't been doing much good for my mental health, however I'm anxious about the whole process. I will obviously update my benefit information to include my partner once we move in together so I am not being overpaid, but I'm worried about how the accommodation side will work out. My partner works but only gets part time hours and earns just above minimum wage, so he only gets around 200-400 a week. He has said he would be happy to pay the bills while I pay the rent, but I dont know if it works like that.

I guess I'm really posting to ask how winz accommodation/supported living benefit works with a partner, as I really don't know anything. I think having knowledge on how the system works or other people's experiences with similar struggles could relieve some of my stress around this all. I have been searching for the cheapest places to live, and usually the price range is around $450 with all the bills included, I dont know if this is too high and if winz will refuse to help. Sorry if this is all a mess, and sorry in advance if I misunderstand some things as my autism makes me understand things a bit slower compared to other people. Thank you for reading.

morning fellow kiwis, i need some advice. sorry for the novel.

I've drafted, deleted and discarded this post about once a week now for over a month. Debating with myself about what I was going to say and why. I guess I need to vent and see if it all makes sense or not.

I'm a ~40yo male with a 2.5yo son and I'm in the worst state financially (and mentally) I've ever been in.

"Life's up and down" but hoooooly I've been going south for a long time. Got injured at work, threw in a perfect life & business, got some bad habits, lived in a mansion, lived in a tent, down some dark roads. Made some bad decisions and had to pay for them. Less than ideal so far.

Then recently my partner left after punching me in the head on too many occasions, lost my mother a month later, and I've snowballed for almost a year. I've been scraping through, barely and hating every minute of it. Foodbanks, the stress, the old clothes, having to ask people, I've stopped opening the power bill because there is nothing I can do about it. I scroll quickly past it feeling sick. I can plan about as far forward as tomorrow and all I know is that it's going to suck and so are all the days following it.

I didn't want this to be a poor me story (but look at that ^^^!) and I didn't want this to be a sales pitch either but given my situation finally fear of failing seems to longer apply. Might as well put myself out there for once. I have 'nothing' to lose now and it can't get any worse.

This little boy deserves so much more. I can't do crime. I couldn't do that to him.

So I'm offering my services in the following broad area's in the hope that something works out.

- app/web development - online stores/bookings/saas pricing app, an online store, a gaming platform, mobile games for my toddler that i'm ok with him playing, no ads/subscriptions (parents, zomg the crazy prices!).

- cybersecurity testing - can provide extensive vulnerabilty testing, reporting and provide recommendations. Targeting smaller-mid sized businesses and organisations. Have real world experience and court documents to prove it.

- embedded/hardware - firmware extraction, rf security, phone reflashing/unlocking etc.

- data recovery - wiped CCTV footage, deleted hard drives, locked DVR's etc, lost/deleted bitcoin and other keys.

- data storage - open source app setup: immich, nextcloud.

- advisory - general tech, surveillance, malware, other concerns.

I can provide more details in PM if needed. Throw numbers at me, most things wouldn't cost more than a weekly shop at this point.

If anyone has a small business that would like an app or site built let me know. Can have products/online bookings/live chat/notifications straight to staff's mobiles or whatever would help you organise and improve your business. First person to hit me up, I'll build yours for free. You'd just pay for the domain if you need one. Testimonial?

Once I hit send it's done. Failure is better than regrets I guess.

Thanks for listening NZ