[Tia Maria]

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I need to budget. We weren't extravagent in the UK, we didn't have exotic holidays, we didn't shop every weekend in fact we didn't even own a car! :laugh

But with the costs of emigrating, buying a house, buying a second hand car, taking about a 40% paycut and having a third baby I've accepted we've just got to bite the bullet.

I'm only going to metion things I have done rather than things that I plan to do, as I think saying you've given up cream cakes is more relevant that saying you plan to.

I'll try to consider it a change in lifestyle rather than a diet. So all changes must be possible in the long term. No use using candles, if I only end up going on a lightbulb binge later on!

I'll also try to be very specific, so those others can make the changes if they want.

So yesterday:

1) After much research into economy nappies (the economy ones in New World bought him out in a rash), I decided on Loving Touch from Foodtown rather than Huggies.

Huggies: 96 pack: $49.87 ($0.52 a nappy)
Loving Touch 160 pack - $54.99 ( $0.34 a nappy)
Roughly saving $32 a month

(also at the moment buying Loving Touch bulk nappies comes with free food delivery - saving $10 a month)

2) Finding cheaper Houes & Contents Insurance. Switched to the bank I had car insurance with and made an overall saving of $160 a year (partly because their quote was cheaper, partly because they gave me a discount for holding multiple insurances with them)
Saving $13 a month

Although it does now look like my car insurance might be a bit high! :laugh But that's not up for renewal for a little while.

So anyone going to join me???? :D

Cheers

Tia

PS Please only new budget changes, I don't want to know how back in 2001 you gave up wine and managed to fit into size 12 jeans, well not unless its a really good tip! :p

[jubjub]

Nappies, after his first year in huggies and reaching the size that cost over 65c each, we changed to cosies, they are still a quality nappy, at just over 40c each www.babyonline.co.nz (http://www.babyonline.co.nz), free delivery within auckland too. Dont even want to entertain cloth ones (yes I know the environment and all that....:o ) they will send you samples so you can choose what suits best.

Takeaways, one a week, eat out once a month, but we have even cut that back so we have some extra cash for our Ozzie trip, so hubby cooks on Sat instead of us buying takeout.

Cash, we have taken an allowance each, and thats it for the month, sometimes I even have some left! That has to buy my coffees, entry fees to things like lollipops and music, and the odd snack at lunchtime. Hubby always runs out, as he eats out a lot more than I do (he then takes sammies instead!)

Booze.... hmmm *hic* we have limited that too, only buy it on Thurs and it has to last all weekend, if we run out, tough. Or we buy any extra out of our own cash.

All our insurances are together to take advantage of group discounts.

Home baking/cooking, no pre-prepared meals (except for babyfood sometimes)

Due to this lot we have shaved nearly $400 a month off our spending!

[Nathan]

Can't you switch insurance policies any time? Here (States) I can switch whenever I want and I get a refund for the unused part of the policy. Can you do that in NZ?

[sarahw]

Tia,

You can save a fortune in nappies (and a huge load of landfill) by buying washable ones - we use Fuzzibunz - we saved $800 on disposable nappies for our daughter by using these since she was 4 months & will continue to fit until she's 18 months old (longer if your baby is petite sized) They cost us $400 for a system. We do a whites wash every night anyway having a baby in the house & the nappies go straight in there - hardly any extra work & no soaking.

Quite a few of our friends use them too & I'd thoroughly recommend them. Jub jub you'd be surprised I reckon - they're just like disposable nappies to put on & take off your baby & come up like new every time you wash them plus you save a fortune on nappies again if you have another baby or can sell them at half price on trade-me after you've finished with them - oh that means we've saved $1000 - not bad! (you use disposable/flushable liners in them so you don't have to 'deal' with nasties!!)

[Junnifer USA]

Here are some of the things we have been doing...I want to save for a vacation!

We negotiate a bulk purchase of meet from the Mad Butcher. It comes vac packed to our specifications. We save about $50 per month.

We just negotiated a new phone deal with telecom...yeah..they will negotiate.

Jen

[Ana&Steve]

Awesome thread, Tia! I'm taking notes from all the replies....
Ana

[Moorf]

I grow as many veggies as I can :nice1 and bought a soda stream :D sure saves on bottles of fizz/ginger beer (and the trips to the shops to get more) and makes great soda for cocktails!

[nippa&pippa]

Tia,

You can save a fortune in nappies (and a huge load of landfill) by buying washable ones - we use Fuzzibunz - we saved $800 on disposable nappies for our daughter by using these since she was 4 months & will continue to fit until she's 18 months old (longer if your baby is petite sized) They cost us $400 for a system. We do a whites wash every night anyway having a baby in the house & the nappies go straight in there - hardly any extra work & no soaking.

Quite a few of our friends use them too & I'd thoroughly recommend them. Jub jub you'd be surprised I reckon - they're just like disposable nappies to put on & take off your baby & come up like new every time you wash them plus you save a fortune on nappies again if you have another baby or can sell them at half price on trade-me after you've finished with them - oh that means we've saved $1000 - not bad! (you use disposable/flushable liners in them so you don't have to 'deal' with nasties!!)

:yes :yes Very easy to use it. I use bambino mio and had it since my first child..cost nothing to you when next child(ren) come along because you already got it! Big saving :nice1

[nippa&pippa]

Use public transport if you can, save money on petrol and parking fee etc. Cost me just $1.80 with bus pass for three of us as children under 6 is free :nice1 to city and no need for parking fee. You can get bus pass called metrocard from bus exchange in christchurch to save you 70c each time. Also with card, you can use many bus in 2 hour for $1.80, even if you return back home within 2hour too. One day I use six bus in two hour, save me $12.50 with pass :nice1

Homemade your foods save more money than pre-packaged. Search around as some foods in farm shops or butchers is cheaper than supermarket's.

Takeaway, have it once a month or buy one-off pre-packaged foods that you can just heat it at home.

Use cloths nappies as mentioned above.

Use special cloths that clean your house without use of chemical to save money on chemicals...I find out the name of brand for you if you wish

Look out for special offers, like banrock station at pak'n'save usually cost nearly $10, brought two yesterday for $5 each, we used to pile up stock of wines everytimes there is special offer so we don't pay full price every time we need wines. Stock them up special offers if you can, but only buy what you do really use it.

[incredible hulse]

We swapped from Contact to Genesis for electric and the estimated savings are quite significant. Also turned off water heaters at the fuse box and just turn on 10 mins before needing it, use internet sites for nappies (don't worry about the environment jubjub as there's supposedly nothing in it -http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4559665.stm ). We compost everything, buy on deals.
Other than that simple things like wearing 3 jumpers in winter and going to bed at 7pm with all the lights off. If we still can't get the monthly bill below 3K I'm investing in some of those head torches and plan to use them and candles ;)

[zardell]

Other than that simple things like wearing 3 jumpers in winter and going to bed at 7pm with all the lights off. If we still can't get the monthly bill below 3K I'm investing in some of those head torches and plan to use them and candles ;)



Now I know what all thos NZ promo ads meant when they told us all to come to NZ 'for the lifestyle'.............:D

Oh, by the way - do you really stop up 'til 7pm every night, or is that just weekends? Personally, I think thats a bit frivolous.............:laugh

Julie

xx

[nippa&pippa]

Couldn't work out why my sister mentioned to me back in UK that kiwis go to bed early and up in the morning early as my mum often on phone to my sister at night time when her boyfriend was already in bed at 9pm!!!......maybe now i can see why, save money on electricity and to keep you warm in cosy bed without spent fortune on heaters' bill!

[spudulike]

[QUOTE=Other than that simple things like wearing 3 jumpers in winter and going to bed at 7pm with all the lights off. If we still can't get the monthly bill below 3K I'm investing in some of those head torches and plan to use them and candles [/QUOTE]


:laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh So true!!

L

[sarahw]

Couldn't work out why my sister mentioned to me back in UK that kiwis go to bed early and up in the morning early as my mum often on phone to my sister at night time when her boyfriend was already in bed at 9pm!!!......maybe now i can see why, save money on electricity and to keep you warm in cosy bed without spent fortune on heaters' bill!

Sophia - you are so right!!! In the middle of winter you go to bed to get warm!!! Someone else mentioned to me that Kiwis go to bed early before we moved here & we now find ourselves in bed around 9.30pm even on Saturday nights - what party animals we are!!! ;)

[Nathan]

Hmmmm.... more time in bed.....
I don't see this as a problem! ;)

[real_sunfire]

One of the biggest things we had to get used to is to budget - one of the main areas we have concentrated on is food shopping. We are lucky to have a New World and Woolworths within 300 metres of on another. Before we shop we made a shopping list. I then pop into New World and make a note of the prices of the stuff we want to buy. I then walk over to Woolworths and buy anything that is cheaper there. Finally I go back into New World and get the rest.

You would have thought prices between these supermarkets to be very similar but we found that on some items prices differ by up to 25% on normal prices, and you might save even more with specials.

If you have more than one supermarket near you I would highly recomnmend price checking before you buy.

Rgds.,
Nick.

P.S. Also support your local greengrocer, fishmonger, baker, and butcher even if they are a little more expensive. If you don't use them you will lose them and the supermarkets will just jack up their prices

[sarahw]

Great suggestion!

I did exactly the same shop in New World as I usually do in Pak N' Save when we first arrived - I mean exactly the same (we don't buy ready made food & all of the branded stuff I made sure was exactly the same brands as an experiment) and the outcome Pak n' Save was over $20 cheaper than the New World shop - imagine that $20- extra on your weekly shopping bill every week?!! Our weekly shopping (before bubs came along) used to be $160- and at New World it was $180-

$1000 saving a year if you switch to a cheaper supermarket based on the above(if you don't already shop at a cheapie!). Worth thinking about!

[anna_c]

Making our own sushi saves $30/month between us.
Walking both to and from uni/work instead of getting the bus (atm I tend to just walk the downhill leg and bus back) approx $35/month (just me).
Drying clothes on line outside where possible - not sure how much it saves, but it's a good thing to do for several reasons.

[zardell]

I did exactly the same shop in New World as I usually do in Pak N' Save when we first arrived - I mean exactly the same (we don't buy ready made food & all of the branded stuff I made sure was exactly the same brands as an experiment) and the outcome Pak n' Save was over $20 cheaper than the New World shop - imagine that $20- extra on your weekly shopping bill every week?!! Our weekly shopping (before bubs came along) used to be $160- and at New World it was $180-

$1000 saving a year if you switch to a cheaper supermarket based on the above(if you don't already shop at a cheapie!). Worth thinking about!


Couldn't agree more - the only problem is that they keep changing their blooming prices all the time !!

I still go in both stores though to compare prices and look to see whats on 'special' so I can stock up.

I've still to get my head around the fact that I keep pretending that $20 is only £6 (ish) and that £6 isn't that much really !! Well, $20 is a trades-mans average hourly rate (after tax) and that's what I must remind myself of.

Julie

xx

[jen]

Drying clothes on line outside where possible - not sure how much it saves, but it's a good thing to do for several reasons.

I would love to know if anyone has tracked how much electricity is saved by drying wash on the line. It looked so strange to me at first seeing every house equipped with a clothesline - almost never saw one in CA! I've been drying my clothes on the line for the first time in my life, but I'm not really sure why - I have the feeling that it saves electricity and some wear and tear on the clothes but I don't have anything to back that up.

Grocery shopping - I do a weekly shop at Pac n Save, then over to Woolworths (across the street) to pick up their sale items and things I couldn't find at Pac N Save. If I need gas, I use the pac n save coupon & get it at their station. I use New World only forsales items from the weekly flyer (since you NEVER actually need those coupons or 'key cards' they mail out?!) and that 'oops, I forgot something' shopping; I try not to otherwise as they seem to be more expensive than the other two (sounds like that's right from what you all are saying).

We've been listening to CDs from New Zealand bands that we get from the library instead of buying them - at $30/CD in the stores I hate to risk buying one if I've never heard the group before! They also seem to have a pretty decent selection of TV shows on DVD - just got Battlestar Galactica season one; cost $3 for checking it out and $1 to get it sent to the Island Bay branch. I don't usually watch movies/TV shows over and over so I think I'll be doing that more rather than buying them.

Jen

[anna_c]

I would love to know if anyone has tracked how much electricity is saved by drying wash on the line.

Just checked this out - apparently (http://www.trustpower.co.nz/Content/PowerSavings.aspx) the drier uses 32-55c/hour, so it adds up. Trouble is, it's so much easier just to bung it in the drier, even if it's not the best option environmentally and financially.

[sarahw]

I would love to know if anyone has tracked how much electricity is saved by drying wash on the line. It looked so strange to me at first seeing every house equipped with a clothesline - almost never saw one in CA! I've been drying my clothes on the line for the first time in my life, but I'm not really sure why - I have the feeling that it saves electricity and some wear and tear on the clothes but I don't have anything to back that up.


It saves a heck of a lot of electricity - I have always refused to have one after I saw the electric meter whilst my mum's dryer was on... it was spinning round adding on the electric units very fast... I can't tell you how much it saves since we never had one to compare but here in Welly it doesn't take long to dry your washing with all that wind!! You just have to use a lot of pegs though otherwise you end up chasing all the clothes around the garden (funny my mother-in-law repegged a whole load of my washing out when we were in Australia to make it dry quicker because I have a habit of turning the washing over the line and pegging over it so it stays on the line on a windy day rather than just pegging one layer to the line!)

Also if you dry nappies on the line the sun deodorises, sanitises & naturally bleaches them.

Another money saving tip - don't use your washing machine on hot washes as a standard washing temp. All of my washes are at 30degrees (C) rather than 40 or 60. It still gets the clothes clean & you're not paying for either the machine to heat the water or to heat the water through your water-heater if you have it hooked up to a hot tap...

[Moorf]

Since living out here in rural Canterbury I've been a new convert to line drying! I love it and sometimes I see how much I can get done in one windy, sunny day - I'll wash anything!!

In UK I'd always use the dryer and never used the clothes line (in fact, I don't recall having one!) and still resort to dryer for rainy days, but if there's a whiff of wind nowadays I'm out there pegging stuff up!

There's also that nice feeling that you've just done it all.. for nothing!

Not sure that'll ever extend to washing by hand tho :o

[Moorf]

Another thing to watch out for in supermarkets is their strange way of pricing. It doesn't happen all the time but often with coffee, pasta sauces etc we've seen it.

It can catch you out sometimes and OH thinks its fraudulent :roll... basically, what we've spotted is that something that costs, say, $5 for 250g can often cost MORE, say $12 for 500g making it cheaper to buy two small ones.... keep 'em peeled.... :yes

[jubjub]

I have noticed that Moorf, they will sometimes have the smaller size on special, but its still cheaper to buy the bigger one! Your mental arithmetic gets a good workout doing the groceries!

[Milliemoo]

Oooohhhhhh that's my pet hate at supermarkets.

Tesco's was always really bad for it, so I'm used to looking more carefully :nice1

Milliemoo

[the wilson's]

Hi I'm pretty new to this site, but well impressed with your savings. We are coming over to NZ in June having never been and must admit I break into a sweat sometimes regarding "Are we going to be skint". Hopefully not!!!!!!!

[katandbob]

I check out both Countdown and Pac n Slave for their prices, I actually saved a dollar+ by buying flour at Countdown on special for a branded bag than the Basic Pac n saves budget brand, so I keep a close eye on specials and as everyone else pointed out - you have to watch out the how they price them - once we nearly got caught out on the price of a watermelon - a week before we got them at $2.99 each - We went a shop later and I noticed that it flashed up at $8! I said "hey that should be $2.99" - it turned out that it had changed to $2.99 per KG!!
So I told her to take it off!:mad: :mad: So now I shop on seasonal vegies, stock up on cat food/wash power when its on special - saving over a dollar a pack.

I dry my clothes on the line - or when I am at work I hang it in the conservatory on a clothes stand, as then they get dry - but if it rains they dont get wet again before I get home:nice1

I am lucky that I can get free wood - so so far I have saved money there (but we will eventually run out of the buildings we have torn down - LOL!)

We have a shower (would kill for a soak in a bath somedays!) but this saves water and electricity heating it - we have a tank but we are also connected to the main water supply, so it only tops up when it hasn't rained for a while.

New world also offer petrol vouchers, so I also check out their specials.

We need to save up for a trip to the UK in May 08, as well as sort out the insulation/heating, so I budget constantly...its become a normal now, and hopefully next year I will have time to grow more vegies rather than just the potatoes that I grew this year - free from a bag that had grown eyes - so I just planted them in compost - and Voila - More potatoes

I grow them in Pots, as then I just empty one when I need to stock up the larder.
... oh and for the stables that Robs been fixing up for me - we reused all good timber, and the Tin, and we have used the rest in the multi fuel burner - and plan on taking the scrap tin to the scrapyard where they pay by the tonne.

I haven't had the chance to work out how much we can save - but I know its more than when I just bought on impulse when Jordon and Rachel were here.

our savings are going up - unfortunately we had both cars come up for WOF and MVL at the same time - so they took a hit on the savings for now:(

But I am trying - and I haven't bought a CD since xmas the radios free!

Kat

[sarahw]

I was a real book-freak in the UK & was always buying new books - I haven't bought a book in months - I use the local library - amazing they have DVD's and CD's as well as magazines & a massive craft section in their books. Have saved a fortune - the libraries here seem to be very good. (The children's section in our local library is massive so I'm looking forward to taking my daughter there when she's older - well I already take her there for a different board book every week).

[ruthyroo]

We now meal plan all meals and shopping in advance. We sit down once a week and work out what we're going to eat for the next seven days and then draw up a list, and shop to that. Our food / grocery bills are down to about $100 a week for a couple - and that's still eating plenty meat (french trimmed rack of lamb, steak, happy pig pork), loads of fresh veggies and fruit and a couple of treats from the farmers market - usually sheep's cheese! I thought it was really restricitive at first but now I am lost in a supermarket without a list, and I love seeing an empty fridge at the end of the week - no waste! Oh and we both take packed lunches to work - the sarnies here are pretty rubbish and expensive. I can pretty much feed myself lunch for a week on what it costs to buy one soggy beetroot / grated carrot / egg / lettuce / tomato / cheese / ham / coleslaw / cheese savory filled roll here.

We don't have a tumble drier, we don't use the dishwasher and we only use the washing machine on warm / cold setting. There are a couple of oil filled rads in the bedroom / kitchen for winter, but even then our leccy bills don't come in at about $90 a month at the very highest.The electric blanket is my best friend...

We did splash out on Microsoft Money to manage everything - it tells us very clearly where we are going over budget...

We cut down drinking wine (sorry OP) to weekends only - so we probably spend slightly less but much better quality.

Re. supermarket pricing. i noticed that a lot of the shelf labels at Count down have a "$price per unit" prince on them - so you can compare them easily. Don't know if they do it on all their products, but certainly on the toilet rolls they do!

[anna_c]

Hey, I've got one - trade in the cat for a short haired one and save on electricity costs of vacuuming :D

Guess what I've been doing today :roll

[speckythecky]

trade in the cat for a short haired one and save on electricity costs of vacuuming

Or just trade in the cat and save on food, or maybe share the cat, if you don't feed it for a couple of days it will find a new master but still come back occasionally to show that it is still in charge

[Croft]

It saves a heck of a lot of electricity - I have always refused to have one after I saw the electric meter whilst my mum's dryer was on... it was spinning round adding on the electric units very fast... I can't tell you how much it saves since we never had one to compare but here in Welly it doesn't take long to dry your washing with all that wind!! You just have to use a lot of pegs though otherwise you end up chasing all the clothes around the garden (funny my mother-in-law repegged a whole load of my washing out when we were in Australia to make it dry quicker because I have a habit of turning the washing over the line and pegging over it so it stays on the line on a windy day rather than just pegging one layer to the line!)

Also if you dry nappies on the line the sun deodorises, sanitises & naturally bleaches them.

Another money saving tip - don't use your washing machine on hot washes as a standard washing temp. All of my washes are at 30degrees (C) rather than 40 or 60. It still gets the clothes clean & you're not paying for either the machine to heat the water or to heat the water through your water-heater if you have it hooked up to a hot tap...


Be careful of that. I generally wash at the temperature the garment requires as higher temperatures help kill the bacteria that cause clothes to smell. Hot water in itself doesn't do the job (it would have to be scalding hot and therefore not very good for your clothes!), but must be combined with detergent. Or so I'm told.

I've always used a line here in the UK, as did my parents despite owning a dryer all the time I lived at with them. We only use our dryer when it's wet outside, or at night when we need something dried quickly. We bought our dryer in April - half price, as funnily enough, people don't buy dryers in the summer!

Funnily enough, I think we've save with one of those policeis that covers all electrical items in the house (never buy cover individually!). We bought it for peace of mind, but the number of times we've had out elderly - newish dryer, washing machine and dishwasher repaired we may have recouped the outlay!

Wish they had Costco in NZ - you can make some BIG savings there.

[sarahw]

Hey, I've got one - trade in the cat for a short haired one and save on electricity costs of vacuuming :D

Guess what I've been doing today :roll

Ha!! We've got a long-haired cat & I know what you mean about vacuuming bills!!

Croft, I certainly agree about the detergent. Maybe I should have been more specific - I use a good quality biodegradable detergent which is designed to be used with colder washes. I've been washing everything in my wash for 10 years at 30 degrees & haven't had a smelly or dirty bit of clothing yet come out of the machine. Of course, If there is something that clearly is filty & needs a hotter wash I would use it but for general washes of darks, towels or whites I have always used 30. Baby's nappies come out immaculate & the instructions on them say not to wash them hotter than 30-40 anyway (they're not the old fashioned type of big old bits of cloth that need soaking & boil washing (and sometimes bleaching to get rid of stains), they're modern materials which dirt doesn't stick to & can be washed at lots lower temps without any soaking etc. and just a bit of Napisan (Vanish) for anything really dirty - just wanted to clarify that incase anyone thought I was washing old nappies at low temps since they'd be filthy and stinky!! yuk! :D.

[Tia Maria]

I haven't posted on this for a while as I promised myself I would only post when I made an actual change.

Everyone seems a lot further along than me many of you are already at the salad and exercising stage, whereas I'm still just changing my coke, to diet and my crisps to low fat! :)

So my latest change is actually discovering the Captain's Club. So for those of you who travel by ferry to work in Auckland, you may be able to use this:

www.fullers.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/123

Essentially its a Fullers ID card which allows you to get a monthly pass for less than a weekly one. In our case its the differnce between $35 per week and $115 per month.

I think it is based on a calender month, so you have to check you will be using the ferry enough that month as it doesn't have the same flexibility as the 10 trips weekly pass.

But the OH thinks its worth getting anyway as it also give you a discount on beer (hmmmm, I can see those savings disappearing!).

Possible saving:

$25 per month.

So far:

Nappies: $32 per month
Insurance switch: $13 per month
Captain's Club: $25 per month

I was thinking of looking into my phone rental next, does anybody know if you sign up to telecom for a year or 18 months, I can't seem to find anything about it?

Cheers

Tia

[Tia Maria]

I just cancelled caller ID on my telephone account - saving $2.50 a month!

Every little helps!

:laugh :laugh :laugh

Cheers

Tia

[kanatakiwi]

Just got my (shocking!) phone bill, and realized I have to figure out how to save money on this. We are on the go large broadband plan ($50) but the rest of it is all phone charges, and the amount I spend making 0161 calls to Canada is minimal when compared with calls to mobile phones within NZ. calls to 027 are bad enough but calls to vodaphone phones are double that. Is it better to have a cheap vodaphone mobile and phone these people on that rather than our land line. Seems more than half the people I know do not even have a land line! :confused: how are others dealing with this?

[barryp]

Most people deal with that by texting. A lot.

I carry two mobiles, one 021 and the other 027, which reduces the inter-network hit. Not something I'd recommend but I had both phones anyway... one purchased by work, the other personal from a past life (tm).

Individual rates are far higher than most companies' group rates, so if you can use an employer-provided mobile and pay for your personal share, that is a good way to save serious money.

[incredible hulse]

Cancelled Sky Sports (England out the World Cup, and no non-Premiership football) and also dumped their magazine which I didn't realise was costing me 2-50 a month anyway

[sarahw]

Really? that magazine costs? Gosh it goes straight in the recycling - I'm phoning Sky as soon as they open to cancel it!!

[veronica]

funny how once you are here it makes you realise how much is wasted in the UK. its one of the things I noticed when I was there after being here for a few years. you get used to changing your shopping habits and when you go back its a bit of a shock to realise how you used to shop.

[kanatakiwi]

I think this has been covered before re vehicle insurance but just to re-iterate our experience: We went to AA as we had got insurance from them once before when we were here for 4 months and bought a cheap runner to do our travelling. This time they wanted $1100 per year for insurance because "we were not good customers" because we only insured with them for four months and then cancelled. We were shocked at this because what should it matter to them how long we insured for as long as they got our money and we didnt have any accidents anyway?

So we took our business to ASB and they gave us car insurance for $400 a year as long as we gave them our house insurance as well, which we were happy to do. So definitely shop around. We always thought AA was the best because we used them in Canada and thought they were not so profit-oriented, but dont be fooled by that.

[KerryS]

Tia regarding phones - I call everyone in NZ on my mobile. Having a plan with inclusive minutes makes this the cheapest way to do it. Most of mmy friends don't have landlines or are rarely at home anyway, so mobile to mobile is the best option for us.
I don't have a telecom line anymore. I signed up with Woosh and use their broadband and phone option. The sole reason for me having a landline is so my grandfather and granny can still call me. They don't have computers and this is their only communication method.
Everyone else I contact via Skype. I can call a landline if I charge my account, and it costs $0.017 per minute to the UK. (More to some other countries - Switzerland is about $0.03, but still incredibly cheap compared to Telecom.)

Is there anyway you can ditch your Telecom line? I don't think there is a tie-in period with them, I certainly never paid anything when I terminated my contract, and it had been less than a year.

[Debbie]

Kerry, I was also wondering about this, As most people on a forum seem to have some level of broadband I was supprised that so many aren't skyping or msm'ing there native country. OUr telecome a/c gives us free local calls and I skype everyone else. Obviously computer to computer is best (free) but even to land lines it allows me to call the UK and chat for very little.

Our big savers since moving to NZ have been packed lunches for OH which saves a fortune and taking picnics with us when we go out for the day. In the UK we always brought lunches out. There is a novilty / honeymoon element to being happy with free days out at the beach with picnics but there is also a desire to start to live life 'the kiwi way'.

OH looked around near his work and found a local church was selling parking spaces for $60 a month which is a lot better than the $8 a day he was having to pay at his office.

Debbie

[kanatakiwi]

this may be a dumb question, but can you skype a mobile phone number? I use skype to talk to my rellies in Canada, computer to computer, but its those calls to mobile phones that are a driving up my bill

[Debbie]

I don't know if you can skype a mobil, I'll ask OH, he does all the technical bits. Being 'billy no mates' means I don't have tons of mobile numbers to call yet.
Debbie

[jubjub]

Re insurances, I just saved us $600 a year (for two cars, house and contents), by moving from ASB to State, who are both operated by IAG??? Weird huh?

[anna_c]

You can skype to mobiles in a lot of countries. It's often more expensive than skyping a landline, but less than calling from a phone. If you look at the rates on the skype website it includes mobile rates.

[KerryS]

Re insurances, I just saved us $600 a year (for two cars, house and contents), by moving from ASB to State, who are both operated by IAG??? Weird huh?


The insurance for most of the banks in NZ is done through IAG... who are the parent company of State and NZI...

[Moorf]

Another money saving activity I've just discovered- cooking supper on the open fire :) - baked pots have been in the ashes under the grate for an hour or so, skillet frying bacon on the grate and grated cheese ready to go...

[Tia Maria]

Kerry S wrote:

Tia regarding phones - I call everyone in NZ on my mobile. Having a plan with inclusive minutes makes this the cheapest way to do it. Most of mmy friends don't have landlines or are rarely at home anyway, so mobile to mobile is the best option for us.

I did consider this but as I'm going to start working from home I felt better about giving out a free local number than a mobile number. Plus I am completely unreliable when it comes to my mobile, its always running out of charge and I'm always spotting texts and messages several days later.

Cheers

Tia

[sarahw]

We've saved $35 a month by having a new hot water boiler installed - (OK so we had to spend out in order to get the saving but in the long-term it'll be a nice saving!). We got rid of the absolute huge electrically heated water tank in our loft (well its so big they couldn't remove it!) and have had an infinity boiler installed - so far we've used about $40 of gas in 2 months - our electric bill is $60 cheaper each month - I can't believe how much of a saving we've made just by making one change but we're only paying for the hot water we use now rather than continuously heating a huge tank of water. I thought the difference would be negligable but its been quite dramatic!

I've also started making our own bread on an every-other day basis & instead of paying about $4 a loaf (hubby likes that expensive stuff in the paper wrapper!) I've just paid $12 for ingredients for the whole month's bread!! - saving of about $9 a week! Plus it tastes better too.

I have also started (yeah don't laugh at me I know you'll all think I'm crazy!) Xmas pressies(!) eek! & birth gifts for my preggie friends rather than visiting the shops or P'Patch - have bought a load of wool from Spotlight at 99c a ball & am crocheting up scarves, baby blankets, booties, hats & gift bags. Hopefully will save a fortune in gifts & will also have really personal gifts that don't cost too much to post overseas. I am also making all my own cards for birthdays etc. (buy them from Spotlight on a 20% off day which is usually a random Monday that they only announce the night before).

Tia you sound like me with the mobile phone - I go to answer it when its ringing & just have time to say hello before it cuts out because I've forgotten to charge it for the last week!! :)

[jubjub]

Article from the paper today....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10436730

Everyone is having to cut back by the looks of it....

[Tia Maria]

This week we have changed our phone from Telecom to our broadband provider IHug.

The offer was for 3 free months of broadband ($90 x 3 = $270) plus saving $10 per month on our boradband.

We also noticed Telecom were charging us for wiring and maintenance (about $2.50 per month), we've opted not to take this with IHug as we weren't sure how useful it was.

Their call charges come in slightly cheaper for us also.

I've also got much better at online shopping, buying in bulk whenever possible and switching to cheaper brands if they don't compromise on quality - probably saving about $30 per week.

In last weeks shop over half the products were on special, this is something I find a lot easier to do when shopping on-line as I'm not dragging 2 toddlers around with me, plus I don't have to buy them treats at the end :D . So the delivery fee more than pays for itself.

The OH has packed lunch more often, saving about $20 per week

So so far:

Nappies: $32 per month
Insurance switch: $13 per month
Captain's Club: $25 per month
Cancelling Telephone ID and Wiring: $5 per month
IHug Broadband deal: $10 per month (plus one-off $270 saving)
Weekly Food Shop: $120
Packed Lunch: $80 per month

Current Savings total - $285 per month

Cheers

Tia

[jubjub]

I was thinking about this thread yesterday..... recent changes here

Insurance (cars/house/contents) saved $60 a month by switching
Sky, cancelled sports until UK premiership starts again & magazine $20 a month
Food, we are just about sticking to our budget, saving around $2-300 a month. Spend around $200 a week now. Takeaways reduced to twice a month

[Lupin]

Really interesting thread, thanks.

Mind if I join your diet club?

I have identified the following areas as places where we could save some $

Broadband and phone= currently with Telecom getting a dire service. They are looking into the fault but the connection drops out so often that it's impossible to really use skype. I shall: 1) Get Telecom to fix the fault 2)Investigate whether I can get a cheaper deal and leave Telecom 3) look into losing the land line
Electricity= currently with Contact. I will 1) Get gas disconnected as we don't use it (heater looks dodgy) and we're paying just to have it there 2) Consider switching to a cheaper provider 3) Investigate the cost of running the dishwasher 4) I vow NEVER to use the oven on low to rise the bread again and will be organised and eitehr do it nwhen the fire's lit or let it rise slowly all day at room temp.
Groceries= we already do fairly well here but I like the tip of comparing the prices between two supermarkets before buying. Napier has a countdown and pak n slave next door to each other and shopping day is on Thursday, so I'll experiement with menu planning (have done this before and got good results).
Rent= I'm going to phone the agent and see if I can negotiate a cheaper rent. Worth a shot perhaps!
Wood= We're (read dh) going to get serious about foraged wood because our bought pile is running low.


Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. We don't have a credit card, we have two vodaphone mobiles, which we pretty much only use for BestMate calls to each other. I wash at 30, unless the stuff is filthy. I've never owned a tumble dryer but line dry and have two racks for wet days. We could probably do better with arranging car use for optimum petrol consumption ie Let dh take the big car to work if I'm going to cover more mileage than him :wah

I'm really considering something like microsoft money....any tips on how good it is or similar for cheaper?

I love the idea of a soda stream because, to my shame, I find fizzy, cold D Coke really yummy :o

I've also been considering a sewing machine as the kids are starting to look silly in their clothes but we don't really have any money for more this year, but I hatched a plan to buy cheap second hand stuff in fabrics they like and make them. They both thought this idea really cool (thank goodness we don't live in the city!) but it means an initial outlay and a learning curve, so I'm not sure.

If you got this far, thanks for listening to my ruminations :laugh

[jubjub]

Lupin, I would get MS money or maybe Quicken, although I have only used Money, both of these have a good reputation.

Money is good, but only as good as the information you give it, so it takes a few months to get it right, but once you have its great, and tells you exactly where you are with things, and even better (or worse;)) where you will be next year if you carry on the same way!

[IanW99]

If you are a Telecom customer and also have Sky TV then you can save money if you pay for your Sky through Telecom.

Sky Basic Package costs $47.73 if you pay direct to Sky.

From Telecoms website:-
Add SKY Digital Start Up to your Telecom Anytime or HomeLine
connection for $34.00 per month if you have all your direct dial calling with Telecom.

Customers who don't have all their direct dial calling with Telecom can still save on their monthly bill by adding SKY Digital Start Up to their HomeLine rental for an additional $39.04 per month.
SKY Digital installation is $99. A 12 month minimum term applies. A $50 fee is payable for early disconnection.

Note: You don't need to be a new customer e.g. you can be an existing Sky customer and still get this deal.

You can also get Fly buys through Telecom.

Ian

[Debbie]

Lupin, We had a fault on our Telecom line and they were happy to credit us a months rental for our inconvenience once we asked them for it.
Debbie

[nippa&pippa]

Thought I pass tip too...

Since we moved into house, we become more strictly with budget, as we need more money back up for emergency within our lifestyles block and to buy calves to rearing into cows/bulls, so we can sell them in 18months time, one for us as stock of meats in our freezer, save huge money on buying meat from butchers :nice1 and sell the rest of cows for profit (hopefully!)
We worked out what is outgoing of electricity etc in a list per fortnight, so we taking money from OH's wages to separate accounts to pay funds for it and work out average outgoing of foods, petrol and mobile phone's fund etc, then that is my budget for forthnight of $550 come into my homekeeping account from my OH's wages. Which mean I have only $550 a forthnight on foods, petrol, children's clothing etc:exit ...yes did caught me short for two days without any funds left in account (brought fleece nappy liners and reuaseable baby wipes, so I don't have to buy baby wipes and liners every week anymore)!! so I learn my lesson to be more careful and it's work. Any leftover wages go into another account that is emergency funds that we can't touch it!!
Went on trademe and brought very good large heavy duty fireguard for $110 compare with $400 plus for brand new one...:nice1

[aberdian]

I'm really considering something like microsoft money....any tips on how good it is or similar for cheaper?


Quicken is excellent and I believe that there's even an NZ specific version. However, it's only as good as the amount of data that you put into it, which can be quite time consuming. My advice would be to use it for 6 months, plus input 6 months of back bank statements if you have them to give you a good idea of where you are. We did this years ago when we were saving to get married and it was a real shocker where all the money was going ie. not where we assumed!

Cheers

Ian

[IanW99]

Not really a money saving tip but more a time saving one.

If you are using a program such as Quicken or MS Money then check if your bank can export your statement in a useful format.

For example with the ASB you can output your statement in the following formats:-

OFX - MS Money
OFX - Quicken
QIF - Quicken
CSV - Generic
TDV - Generic

It is a simple matter of importing this file into your program and then reconciling the details.

If you are considering buying an app then I would check that it can import the data format from your bank - makes life so much easier.

Ian

[steviec]

[QUOTE) fleece nappy liners and reuseable baby wipes!

4 daughters and I have never heard of these. Please tell me more.

[nippa&pippa]

[QUOTE) fleece nappy liners and reuseable baby wipes!

4 daughters and I have never heard of these. Please tell me more.

No problem, I used bambino mio cloth nappies for my children (currently using it for my second child and will be for my third, due in sept). They are prefold nappies with wrap. You place either paper or fleece liner between nappy and baby's bottom to hold the poo when baby done it, that you simple flush paper down the toilet or flick the poo into toilet by stretch the fleece liner:laugh then wash liner with nappy and wipes at same times, simple! I find fleece liner are nice and soft, very easy to use than paper. Reuseable baby wipes is made of bamboo fabric or double layer of fleece, and you can either wet with water or camomile tea (prefect!) then wipe the bottom and I find wipe very easy, much better than baby wipes from supermarket. I wish I knew about these when I used cloth nappies for my first child!!

[Tia Maria]

Well the youngest member of the family has finally started helping by giving up the juice - formula milk that is :D . So that saves us another $17.91 a week.

Of course if breast feeding had worked out that would have been a saving of about $1000 over the year but hey ho.

For those wanting to know, formula costs from about $14 up to about $32 for the more specialised formulas ( karicare follow on goats milk 2 is $38 a tin!)

So so far:

Nappies: $32 per month
Insurance switch: $13 per month
Captain's Club: $25 per month
Cancelling Telephone ID and Wiring: $5 per month
IHug Broadband deal: $10 per month (plus one-off $270 saving)
Weekly Food Shop saving: $120
Packed Lunch: $80 per month
Finished Formula: $71 per month

Current Savings total: $356 per month

Cheers

Tia

PS IanW99 - thanks for the Quicken tip it saves a lot of time using the export feature.

[DMcG]

Remember that if you're connected to water mains, you'll be paying water rates.
Even if you have a small garden, it's worth getting a rain barrel so you can keep your veggies watered during the dry spells. My OH managed to keep us well supplied in vegetables from a very small patch of garden at our previous rental :)

Dougie

[GeordieLass]

I've been raving to anyone who'll listen about WorldXChange. I have them supplying my broadband and a second phone line for my home office. That's a voip service where the phone plugs directly into my wireless modem/router, so it's always on, I don't need to make calls through the computer. Local calls are still free, toll calls are 5c a minute and mobiles are 30c a minute and those rates also apply to UK calls and mobiles - which is great for the sort of calls I make, short two or three minute ones. (Their tolls plans are better if you're going to be on for longer periods their as they have capped calling at $1.99 for 2 hours and UK calls for $2.99) The voip service also has free voicemail and caller id and if I'm at work and someone leaves a voicemail on my home office line, a copy of the message is emailed to my work email so I can listen to it there without having to call in! Bloomin clever if you asked me. Their customer services help lines are great too.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I have another suggestion. If you have a waste disposal unit, do not use it!! You will save on both electricity and water. It is really easy to compost, if you don't already. You don't even need a compost bin....large covered plastic flowerpot would do....a bit of wee in there from the blokes to get it going (well it is easier for them to do this:laugh ), and 6 months later you've got free plant food...:clap

[KelvinAng]

I've been raving to anyone who'll listen about WorldXChange. I have them supplying my broadband and a second phone line for my home office. That's a voip service where the phone plugs directly into my wireless modem/router, so it's always on, I don't need to make calls through the computer. Local calls are still free, toll calls are 5c a minute and mobiles are 30c a minute and those rates also apply to UK calls and mobiles - which is great for the sort of calls I make, short two or three minute ones. (Their tolls plans are better if you're going to be on for longer periods their as they have capped calling at $1.99 for 2 hours and UK calls for $2.99) The voip service also has free voicemail and caller id and if I'm at work and someone leaves a voicemail on my home office line, a copy of the message is emailed to my work email so I can listen to it there without having to call in! Bloomin clever if you asked me. Their customer services help lines are great too.

I think that's a great tip, thanks for sharing. I was wondering about WorldxChange myself. Before reading your post, I was thinking of getting a SkypeIn number (local NZ "landline" number), but the problem with that would be my computer will have to be powered up always (or at least when I'm not sleeping).

The service you described is almost exactly like one we have here in Singapore offered by a cable internet company.

[IanW99]

Another money saving tip which was mentioned on another thread recently.

When you need to buy medicines, see if you can get the generic version instead of the branded one, generally speaking they are around a third of the price.

For example, we need to buy Claratyn for hay fever each year which last year cost us $56 for 30 tablets, I have just purchased the generic version for $22 (still 30 tablets).

Ian

[JoanneG]

Can't resist a money saving thread!

Stop buying expensive chemical cleaners! I clean my whole house by filling a spray bottle with filtered water and a few drops of Lavender (surfaces) or Tea Tree (Floors & toilets) Essential Oils. They are both anti viral and anti-bacterial and completely safe to use on children's toys and mats etc. More importantly - they smell wonderful! You can even let your kids do the cleaning!

White Vingegar cleans glass and windows and removes limescale.

Scatter Bicarbonate of Soda (from the hardware store - not the baking section) over your sink and squeeze on lemon juice or white vinegar - the whole lot will fizz and act as a mild, abrasive bleach.

And, finally, remove mould & mildew with good old fashioned tooth tincture - Oil of Cloves - diluted with water.

Of course, someone actually has to use them for your house to get clean. :laugh

[Tia Maria]

Bump for all those with Budget New Years Resolutions and Xmas to recover from!

Cheers

Tia

[Smiler]

Bump for all those with Budget New Years Resolutions and Xmas to recover from!

Cheers

Tia

That's me then! :o

I thought I was new to all this budgeting lark, but reading some of these tips I've been doing it without realising. YAY!

Some things we've done;

Switched leccy suppliers and saved around $20-30 per month. We're home all day running multiple pc's and electrical stuff too.

We'd already combined all insurances with State, who work out cheaper for us than anyone else.

Finally got around to buying medical insurance (ok an expense I know) but saved 10% of the cost and an admin fee by paying 6 months at a time.

Make a lot more from scratch - jam's, chutneys & relishes and grow lots too.

Buy at special offer time in bulk - I bought washing up liquid on special last week and saved $1 a bottle eek thats a lot! I do the same things with toilet rolls.

Oh and I braved Pak & Scratch :( ok my food bill was cheaper probably by about $30, so I may go again, but under duress.

Check your till receipt - I've been doing this for a while, especially in my New World (that's the shop, not Smiler's planet) who can't co-ordinate the special offer prices with the shelf ones! If you find a mistake, they'll refund the cost of the item and give you the item as well. I got $43 dollars back in one trip alone -staggeringly overcharged! The manager also sent me a $25.00 voucher after I'd been overcharged on 2 consecutive trips and called to complain, something I don't usually do!

I also watch the items as they go through the till, if I can. Impossible with kids though........

And my new biggie? When I get paid, I stash a chunk straight into our savings. I then go throughout the month managing on less money than I would have anyway! It's all in the mind!

I've tried this for the last two months and it's shown me how much I 'frittered' away on general stuff, even though I only go anywhere near shops once a week.

Oh another tip, move rural. No shops, no takeaways, no easy eating out, nothing to spend your money on. :nice1

[jubjub]

I think this has probably been mentioned before, but we have an ASB visa card which gives us true rewards points (most banks have a scheme like it).

I chose to convert our points into Farmers vouchers and some airtime for my mobile. So for the next couple of months I have no phone charges to worry about. I then went and cleverly spent my Farmers vouchers in the sale, and got double what I would have got for my money out of sale time.

Now bear in mind it costs about $30 a year to collect the reward points on two cards, its still a good deal when we convert something like $300 a year into various vouchers!

[jubjub]

Oh and I braved Pak & Scratch


*faints*