At the start of 2024, Indigo Phillips, Te Arawa, Waikato-Tainui, decided enough was enough. “That’s it,” she recalls thinking. “I don’t want to keep paying someone else’s mortgage.”
Indigo had dreamed of home ownership for years, but as a single mum, raising three kids had always come first. With her children now in their late teens and 20s, she says it was perfect timing when she learned about the Sorted Kāinga Ora programme while browsing an email from Waikato-Tainui.
“I was lining up to finally be ready to buy a home, so I thought the course would be great learning for me. At this point I thought I was going to buy the house by myself, but the programme actually made me think about home ownership a bit differently,” she says.
Sorted Kāinga Ora is an eight-week programme co-created by Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission to help whānau achieve their goal of homeownership. The course consists of eight workshops and offers follow-up support to assist participants continuing to implement their plans.
Indigo completed the programme in May 2024 and went on to purchase a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, alongside her two daughters in 2025. Her journey continues to evolve – she's chopped up her credit card, set a goal to pay off the mortgage in 15 years and is aiming to increase her retirement contributions to 15% of her income.
“I’ve been driven by hearing about how many women experience disadvantage and homelessness as they get older,” Indigo says. “I didn't want to become one of those statistics or be a burden to my children. That was a massive driver for me to get on the property ladder before I turned 50 and to increase my retirement savings."
One of her favourite parts of the programme was exploring the free tools available on sorted.org.nz. “I’ve been a fan of Sorted for a while, but the budgeting support and calculators were gamechangers for me during this time. Especially the mortgage calculator and retirement calculator, they are fantastic.”
Indigo also found it inspiring to learn alongside others with similar aspirations. “There was a wide variety of people at different stages of their journey. It was so nice to know we weren’t alone,” she says.
Fast forward to August 2025, Indigo and her two daughters moved into their brand-new townhouse with her elder son proudly watching from the sidelines. For Indigo, one of the most rewarding parts of the process has been teaming up with her kids. “We did it together, which was awesome,” she proudly shares.
She wants people to know that there is more than one path when it comes to buying a home. For Indigo, teaming up with her daughter helped her make up the deposit she needed and made the purchase feel more meaningful – a real whānau achievement.
The family now share the household costs and work together on financial decisions. She says this has been a great opportunity for her children to grow their financial literacy and learn about the responsibilities that come with owning a property.
“My kids are learning skills I never learnt when I was young – about investing, financial literacy, and the expenses that come with buying a home. We talk about everything, running weekly budget meetings as well as monthly meetings where we talk about where our mortgage is and how everything’s going.”
The whānau are already considering ways to increase the value of the property, such as installing solar panels and developing their garage and backyard space.
Alongside their home buying journey, Indigo and her two daughters have been studying te reo Māori, completing Te Ara Reo Māori Te Kaupae level one, two, three and four certificates with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Looking back on the past two years, Indigo feels immense gratitude for everything her whānau have been able to achieve together.
“I’ve just realised how lucky we are. I feel so grateful to be teaching them the way forward. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but it’s made us closer and I think we’re all stronger from it.”
About Sorted Kāinga Ora
The Sorted Kāinga Ora programme was co-created by Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission to empower whānau to realise their mana motuhake when it comes to their housing aspirations. Hundreds of people have taken part in the programme since the pilot began in 2018, and a number have successfully achieved their ultimate goal of becoming homeowners. The nationwide, eight-week course focuses on building the financial capability of whānau through eight workshops. Participants are then provided with follow-up support to assist them to continue implementing their plans. On graduation, participants better understand their housing goals, whether they’re:
- ready to buy a home
- needing to grow their savings
- wanting to continue renting.