Renee Mackie was shopping at Rotorua's Pak'nSave supermarket on Sunday afternoon and was feeling stressed as she only had $30 left on her WINZ payment card.
She said she was tired and worried as she was not sure how she was going to "make it work" for herself, her 13-year-old son and husband until payday on Thursday.
Mackie said she was quite oblivious to her surroundings as she was "in her own world, freaking out" and as they were leaving, their pup barked and a lady was standing by her car window with a baby.
The lady then asked "can I give you some money?", which caused Mackie to burst into tears and look at her husband in shock.
She said the pair were both "overwhelmed and speechless".
The woman had seen them looking stressed while buying their shopping at the checkout and thought she could do her bit to help them out.
Mackie said "this beautiful lady gave my family $60" and that she was feeling so blessed, but also bad.
She said her family were currently homeless and so it was "amazing" to be given the money.
"I will 100% be paying it forward where I can."
Mackie went on to post the story on a local Rotorua noticeboard page, garnering a number of warm-hearted comments.
The woman who helped her has asked not to be named.
