Our son, when he first started a full time job used to pay $30 board, it wasn't much but we wanted him to enjoy a bit of cash in his hand first and to experience what it was like when you had spent it all long before the next payday! When he moved out flatting, he still kept that $30 going into our account for his "board". Kind of like a compulsory savings. The deal was that it would continue to go into the account until he turned 21 and on that day we would match how much he had in his account and he could "blow" it on whatever he wanted, fast cars, fast women or what ever he fancied. Unfortunately he passed away very suddenly 8 weeks shy of his 20th birthday so that money is just sitting there gathering interest. Nearly 4 years ago now. But what I am getting at is that we and he found it was a great way to save, he had gotten used to the $30 being taken out of his account before he got paid, so didn't miss it. He wouldn't have saved anything otherwise.

mrsrickp - 2012-04-24 06:59:00

Insurance- is another thing that our children need to get a grasp on, I from the time they started buying their own stuff for their bedrooms like hirepurchase items encouraged them to start up a contents insurance policy even if it was for $5 grand that way if there playstation or their guitar that they had slaved doing dishes or waiting tables for was damaged they were insuranced. I know their stuff would of come under our household contents but that way they had their own policys then when they had moved out of home they only had to increase it, to be the amount they could afford.
My eldest has had his car broken into and amps and guitars and sound pedals stolen and what a god send insurance can be it doesnt replace a hand made custom rockstart guitar to your very own specifiactions but it does replace it for you so you can rebuild it all over again,and make a better one.Every time they say mum I cant afford to ahve it anymore I remind them of the break in he had and he finds the money some how.

kob - 2012-04-24 08:13:00

Toadie where jave you moved too?

crails - 2012-04-24 08:31:00

sounds like paradise Toady. Lucky you. I'm enjoying life at the moment. have money coming in again so no longer feeling the pinch... Mind you i'm still being quite frugal with my money so theres a bit in the bank account now. I dont drink, dont smoke and my entertainment of choice at the moment is taking my nephew fishing, we both enjoy it even if we dont catch anything and it gets him out of my sisters hair for awhile. I'm not having to work a 40hr week anymore and am making enough to manage on with some over... I'm loving my landscaping course i'm doing at Tech. I'm into making bread and relish and tom sauce for the 1st time and am going to make quince jelly when my friends fruit finally ripens - never done that before but should be fun.

dibble35 - 2012-04-24 10:45:00

crails wrote:

Toadie where jave you moved too?

Not far from where we were, but rural. We have traded a big modern house for a smaller Lockwood Cottage down a country Lane..... We are really enjoying it.
Although we are beginning to think we are contributing to global warming... we moved here 4 weeks ago and now we are on tank water.... it hasn't rained lol .... Still have half a tank though.... phew.

toadfish - 2012-04-25 08:13:00

Mrs Rickp..... nice to hear from you but it teared me up to read that you had lost your son.... nothing would prepare you for that. (((((Big Hugs))))

toadfish - 2012-04-25 08:15:00

toadfish wrote:

Not far from where we were, but rural. We have traded a big modern house for a smaller Lockwood Cottage down a country Lane..... We are really enjoying it.
Although we are beginning to think we are contributing to global warming... we moved here 4 weeks ago and now we are on tank water.... it hasn't rained lol .... Still have half a tank though.... phew.

Your very brave, I'm too much of a 'townie' to move out there

crails - 2012-04-25 20:52:00

crails wrote:

Your very brave, I'm too much of a 'townie' to move out there

LolI am a townie through and through as well... thats why I love it here, I can be at a shopping cente in 10 mins and I am actually closer to work.. so hardly in the sticks lol.

toadfish - 2012-04-26 05:39:00

Another budget hint in this family.... Keep your husband out of the supermarket!!!
DD did the weekly shop again ...bless her and spent $175 but i missed off milk..... so hubby went to pick up milk and spent $65!!!!! Brought me wine as a treat (I had decided to do without) a Rotiserie Chicken for lunchs... (So expensive)... Coke.... and not sure what else...
He is of the mindset... we work hard and deserve these things... I am of the mindset... we have had so many expenses lately...lets try and cut back while we recover...

NB to self.... Make sure Milk is on the list.....
But on a positive note.....mmmmm 2 bottles of my fav Lindaur Sav Bubbles in the fridge.... I have a handy dandy sealer so a bottle lasts me a week.

toadfish - 2012-04-28 06:00:00

agree Julia keep DH out of supermarket, i have had heaps of experience with that but the one the springs to mind is the icecream sandwich........he loves them, I always use the excuse bloody new world never has those wrapped icecream sandwiches in stock, they are $8 for goodness sake its only a 1 litre icecream wrapped into 10 even slices and a litre of icecream is $3.80 so I get away with him having to cut his own slices for his icecream sandwich.....anyway he comes in with me and not only does he discover that they do have plain un marinated pork chops that are about $50 a kilo and wants a pack thats about $22 and not $8 becasue they have been marinated, but he walks down the freezer section and almost falls over with excitement that they have his favourite childhood memory of warpped icecream slices, and when I say well I havent seen them in here before, he buys two in case they go out of stock quickly. SO that adds an extra $38 bucks to my shopping trolley, and like your DH Julia he says we work hard and if wrapped icecream slices is what he wants he shall have them, I did say id individually wrapped a 1 litre cut with gladwrap already for him in the freezer, but the glare I got back was daggers, frozen icicles and stones all in one......so keep them away from the aupermarket and yes Julia a great lesson never to forget milk.....

kob - 2012-04-28 07:29:00

kob wrote:

but the glare I got back was daggers, frozen icicles and stones all in one.....

I know.... why is that, DH often credits my budgeting skills with why we are where we are and how we do as many cool things as we do......
But then on the other hand, thinks I am being cheap arse when I too suggest something like the above that means you can get twice as much identical ice cream for the same price.
My new love is the one day deals....we are probably off for an early mothers Day dinner tonight (its hard to get the 4 of us all to have a free night together, so we grab it when we can).... Indian entree, main, naan, drink for the 4 of us for $76... Bargain... thats almost a 50% saving for us.

Edited by toadfish at 8:08 am, Sat 28 Apr

toadfish - 2012-04-28 08:07:00

I hope my baby is home from egypt for mothers day, been along 6 months longer for his new bride, but it will all be worth it

kob - 2012-04-28 17:56:00

new worlds, triple flybuys and 25 cents off fuel this weekend for $150 spends, and to take advantage of this offer, I brought $110 worth of groceries and a $40 voucher which qualified me for the both flybuys and the fuel voucher so I like getting something back from the system, Its great wehen you know how to work it, it feels very satisfying

kob - 2012-04-28 17:58:00

Thats a good saving off fuel... I only ever get 4c off, but its only me I shop for so cant justify spending $150 on groceries. Having said that i did manage to spend $85 today and I think there were only 7 things on my shopping list, sack of spuds, block of cheese and a big bag of dog biscuits took up a lot of it but then I discovered some reduced chicken in the butchery that had already been on special at a good price and was even cheaper/reduced as was best before 30th ... score.

dibble35 - 2012-04-28 18:14:00

kob wrote:

new worlds, triple flybuys and 25 cents off fuel this weekend for $150 spends, and to take advantage of this offer, I brought $110 worth of groceries and a $40 voucher which qualified me for the both flybuys and the fuel voucher so I like getting something back from the system, Its great wehen you know how to work it, it feels very satisfying

That's lucky that New World let you top up your groceries with a voucher - I tried that at Countdown once and was told no vouchers don't count towards the $150 needed to get the fuel discount.

32oscar - 2012-04-29 10:17:00

dibble35 wrote:

Thats a good saving off fuel... I only ever get 4c off, but its only me I shop for so cant justify spending $150 on groceries. Having said that i did manage to spend $85 today and I think there were only 7 things on my shopping list, sack of spuds, block of cheese and a big bag of dog biscuits took up a lot of it but then I discovered some reduced chicken in the butchery that had already been on special at a good price and was even cheaper/reduced as was best before 30th ... score.

Dibble If you have a credit card and can afford it on those weekends that you would normally spend $85 on groceries and its a corresponding weeeknd add a $65 voucher to your groceries to use next week or next fortnight that way you still spend the $150 on the week of the shop so you still get the flybuys and the 25cents off gas, thats all I do, theres only two of us home now so groceires are pretty much $100 a week maybe less so I buy all my cleaning products and shampoo etc the week of the promo, I call it a way off getting something back from the place I spend the most money.

kob - 2012-04-29 11:14:00

BLOGGING------I am seriously thinking about starting a blog, my days are so full and there is never a dull moment in them, from my 2 jobs and my home life plus owing our own business being a mother, loving to cook and be thrifty I feel there is a lot I can share etc etc does anyone know of anygood blog sites that I can look into

kob - 2012-04-29 11:16:00

kob wrote:

BLOGGING------I am seriously thinking about starting a blog, my days are so full and there is never a dull moment in them, from my 2 jobs and my home life plus owing our own business being a mother, loving to cook and be thrifty I feel there is a lot I can share etc etc does anyone know of anygood blog sites that I can look into

Don't know but please do start one. I used to follow one but the blogger is not posting regularly anymore :( It would be great if you could develop an onlne following of all of us of similar mind/frugality.

medicina - 2012-04-29 17:43:00

kob wrote:

Dibble If you have a credit card and can afford it on those weekends that you would normally spend $85 on groceries and its a corresponding weeeknd add a $65 voucher to your groceries to use next week or next fortnight that way you still spend the $150 on the week of the shop so you still get the flybuys and the 25cents off gas, thats all I do, theres only two of us home now so groceires are pretty much $100 a week maybe less so I buy all my cleaning products and shampoo etc the week of the promo, I call it a way off getting something back from the place I spend the most money.

This (voucher purchase) no longer works at Pak n Save or Countdown unfortunately.

medicina - 2012-04-29 17:44:00

medicina- sorry to hear that about pak n save and countdown, its sucha good thing and like i said i love it casue im actually getting something back from my SM......Ive got my mum onto doing it as well and they take both card and their fuel cans and totally utilise the 25 cents a litre off fuel, its 150 litres maximum so that works in fine with them, they are happy as well as they feel they get something back and because they are on there own they can chosse to only go shopping on the weekend the promo is on as they dont want for much so once a month or every three weeks is ample for them, unless its milk etc

kob - 2012-05-01 06:03:00

Just checked out how to go about saving 33% on installing home floor and ceiling insulation, go to www.energywise.govt.nz and find out how, im waiting on quotes nowas we speak, cant beat a warm cosy house, the newer part of our house has had floor and ceilning insulation done and you can tell. They reckon you save around $1300 per house by going through this site.Check it out, you may be amazed

kob - 2012-05-02 15:31:00

Just checked out the website to see what money you can save by changing your power company, aparantely I can save $291 a year if I change from genisis to energy online, is it worth the hassle for $291 what do you think, im sure there will be some hidden or secret thing i wouldn't of seen, check it out www.whatsmynumber.co.nz....you get a huge print out of all the different power companies and what they can offer you in savings, the whats my number site changes you to a more informative site and that was www.powerswitch.org.nz and this asks you direct questions regarding your last power bill so have that handy if you want accurate savings repost to print out.NOt sure if I will or not but I may ring to enquire about how its done etc etc and will keep you posted.

kob - 2012-05-02 15:33:00

Rang Telecom today to make sure that I was on the right home plan, and because I have home phone, internet & answer ph etc on my plan I was ok on what I had, they said they could change me to a cheaper call plan but I would go over the net usage for my interenet if they changed that, so cant really complain I guess , Im on total home line & broadband and that includes 2 email addresses for $135.00 approx a month so happy with that, and that includes heaps of free calls and free faxes as well, so happy as. Like to know im doing ok with things like this

kob - 2012-05-02 15:37:00

Power update rang Genisis to enquire about my weekly payments and they downgraded my payments to $43 a week for the 2 of us at home, they said I am definately using that amount of power, BUT i was paying $48 so that $5 is milk money each week. So pleased there. Ring them find out how you can save money. Paying by DD saves you money and it also quilifies you for quick pay which you save % by paying your bill of quicker thatn the propossed date

kob - 2012-05-02 15:40:00

can you tell im on a penny pinching week this week lol

kob - 2012-05-02 15:40:00

just realised with Genisis giving me the $5 a week savings that works out to be $240 saved a year so will stay with them im sure energy online would of had some hidden costs/requests and for the extra $50 to save I cant be bothered annually now if that was per month WELL lol

kob - 2012-05-02 16:48:00

Trying to set up an business account with Z fuel what a blimmin hassle, try to do the online set up it cuts you off half way through ive tried 3 times, so I rang them to let them know thinking it may be a glitch & they said you can only apply for the cards online & (*(%&%$&^$^^%$^%@%$%$#-
@^%$&
they will have to be in touch with me, so how will they do that i said, if they cant set it up over the phone,to email me they would just send me a link i said. I dont think he appreciated my sense of humour, but I mean how ridiculous, you could be a fraudster setting up an online account at least if you speaking direct to the person you can tell if there an honest type, I dont have much spare time lately and whe I do I like to try and utilise it the best way possible & i hate being screwed around. Choose Z cause they have flybuys and I love free flybuys points, they offer 1 point per $50 so that means I would get 15 a day so im excited about that. Rural fuel (bp)has taken some of its truck stops out of the country and they are few and far between so have to diversify and get more access,dont want my trucks parked up, want those flybuys points , come on Z get back to me

kob - 2012-05-02 16:54:00

Well I went op-shopping with my friend this morning. We should go more often but this is only the 2nd time we've got together to do it, I got a jacket, skirt and 3/4 jeans for $13, oh and a hand knitted hat i liked for $3- new I think. 3 Books for $1.10, a $1 garden hand trowel as i broke my other. So a fun way to spend a few hours and cheap to. I love all the little old ladies(and men) that volunteer at the op-shops..... they are funny to listen to, they must do a day or 2 a week and they grump and moan about the other volunteers re arranging the shop/their area/putting stuff where it should'nt be. I was on the hunt for a jam funnel and a preserving pan.... didnt find either, but i did make Toadies suggestion of cutting the bottom off a regular funnelto make a wider opening.... that'll do me, meant to be getting some quinces next week to make my Jelly...yummy

dibble35 - 2012-05-02 17:08:00

1 salad dressing 7 different salads to use it on............................-
...................
1/2 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of wine vinegar ( i use white and balsamic mixed together)1/2 cup of oil, 2 dessertspoons of curry powder. Bring to boil and then let cool and pour over salad.......Salad Options, 1)make a pasta salad in normal way and cover with dressing 2) make a roast vegetable salad and cover with dressing 3) hot potatoe salad, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, spring onions cooked corn kernals & tomatoes placed over lettuce and then coated in dressing.4)make a rice salad in normal way and coat with dressing 5) cous cous once the couscous has done its soaking and you have fluffed it up pour this over it to coat it and fill the salad up with your favourite salad ingredients 6) Orzo pasta- cook pasta and drain under cold tap to cool, add salad ingredients and pour over dressing 7) tomato and feta cheese with red onion slices- cut tomotoes, shread onions into half rings and sprinkle the feta over the top drizzle dresing over....All these salads benifit from a lenghty standing time, im sure you may come up with more ways to use this dressing its so good and versitile-enjoy

kob - 2012-05-02 17:10:00

dibble35 wrote:

Well I went op-shopping with my friend this morning. We should go more often but this is only the 2nd time we've got together to do it, I got a jacket, skirt and 3/4 jeans for $13, oh and a hand knitted hat i liked for $3- new I think. 3 Books for $1.10, a $1 garden hand trowel as i broke my other. So a fun way to spend a few hours and cheap to. I love all the little old ladies(and men) that volunteer at the op-shops..... they are funny to listen to, they must do a day or 2 a week and they grump and moan about the other volunteers re arranging the shop/their area/putting stuff where it should'nt be. I was on the hunt for a jam funnel and a preserving pan.... didnt find either, but i did make Toadies suggestion of cutting the bottom off a regular funnelto make a wider opening.... that'll do me, meant to be getting some quinces next week to make my Jelly...yummy

I love love love the 2nd hand shop, when my DIL comes to stay now she cant wait for the boys to go to golf she says will we do our usual today Mum which consists off lunch out, second hand shopping and then we do the fancy gift stores have a hot choclate and go home, shh shh dont tell anyone..............they had a old preserving pan for $15 in ours didnt see a funnel though but as a suggestion why dont you get an enginieering shop to make you one, they could probably make it up cheap as chips, or i know tupperare made them at some stage what exactly do they look like

kob - 2012-05-02 17:14:00

does it look like the one in here dibble http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/3/215560203_full.jpg

Edited by kob at 5:18 pm, Wed 2 May

kob - 2012-05-02 17:16:00

didnt want to loose this thread bumping for more great ideas

towie11 - 2012-05-09 10:11:00

kob wrote:

does it look like the one in here dibble http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/3/215560203_full.jpg

found one in hammer hardware same as that one in photo, about $6, but i had already made mine - sawn? sawed? off a regular funnel. Made my quince jelly last night and today, lots of effort for very little reward, ended up with 1, yes 1, jar of jelly. seemed to boil down to nothing, but i'm sure its going to taste wonderful. Am off sugar for now so will have to try the smallest scraping on a bit of toast. Hoping for some nice weather on friday... was supposed to my gardening job on tuesday but got rained off, today would be good but shes not home, thursday i'm at nursery so it's friday or nothing.

dibble35 - 2012-05-09 12:58:00

kob wrote:

here you go First make sure you have empty containers to put it in. I use empty 2 litre milk containers as I make up 30 litres at a time and so use 3 x 10 litre buckets to mix it up in. Dissolve 1 cup of Lux flakes and 1 cup of washing soda (both available at supermarket for about $8-9) in a bucket of boiling water. Then divide the mixture in that bucket so that all 3 buckets have equal amounts of mixture. Top each bucket up to full with cold water and pour the final mixture into your containers. Use about one cup of mixture per full load of washing, gets the washing nice and clean. I have been using this mixture for over 2 years and it is so easy and cheap to make. Btw 30 litres of mixture will last approximately 3-4 months.....toothpaste can be made as well...

Hi Kob ....can i add some type of nice fragerance(sp) to this? as it washes lovely ...but doesnt come out smelling nice...
maybe someone has the answer in this thread,but unfortunitely I don't have the time to troll all the messeges.
Thank you.

juddy1 - 2012-05-09 20:58:00

you sure can just add some essential oils to the mix and you get the nice smell, I found that using this mix on whites made my whites go grey so I ended up only use on towels, colours and sheets etc, for whites id do a cleaning wash with white vinegar empty in the machine to remove all crud then do my whites with napisan or something similar then go right back to itnormal washing again

kob - 2012-05-10 04:27:00

kob wrote:

you sure can just add some essential oils to the mix and you get the nice smell, I found that using this mix on whites made my whites go grey so I ended up only use on towels, colours and sheets etc, for whites id do a cleaning wash with white vinegar empty in the machine to remove all crud then do my whites with napisan or something similar then go right back to itnormal washing again

Wow you are up early KOB, must be like me an early riser. I have a self imposed rule that I am not allowed to actually get up till the time has a 5 in it lol

We we have had a reduced to clear store open in my local area. They had my favourite Meusli Bars for 99c for 6, these usually retail at over $3, so I brought 10 boxs.... won't be buying those for a while. You have to be so controlled in those places or you will end up with crap in your trolley that you wouldn't usually buy. I also got some spring rolls and samosas for Miss 18's birthday drinks Saturday night. And a couple of bags of lunch box chippies... bit of a treat but i buy those normally as a bit of a treat. A lovely pack of Bacon..... Will be visiting there as part of my routine I think.... when I am feeling controlled lol.

toadfish - 2012-05-10 06:40:00

kob wrote:

you sure can just add some essential oils to the mix and you get the nice smell, I found that using this mix on whites made my whites go grey so I ended up only use on towels, colours and sheets etc, for whites id do a cleaning wash with white vinegar empty in the machine to remove all crud then do my whites with napisan or something similar then go right back to itnormal washing again

great! thanks for that
who sells these oils?chemists?

juddy1 - 2012-05-10 08:36:00

ohhh good question i normally get mine from a $2 shop like store or if you want more upmarket you could go to somewhere like the body shop or rawleighs etcetc the list goes on and on, but $2 was all I used

kob - 2012-05-10 12:42:00

toadfish wrote:

Wow you are up early KOB, must be like me an early riser. I have a self imposed rule that I am not allowed to actually get up till the time has a 5 in it lol

We we have had a reduced to clear store open in my local area. They had my favourite Meusli Bars for 99c for 6, these usually retail at over $3, so I brought 10 boxs.... won't be buying those for a while. You have to be so controlled in those places or you will end up with crap in your trolley that you wouldn't usually buy. I also got some spring rolls and samosas for Miss 18's birthday drinks Saturday night. And a couple of bags of lunch box chippies... bit of a treat but i buy those normally as a bit of a treat. A lovely pack of Bacon..... Will be visiting there as part of my routine I think.... when I am feeling controlled lol.

sometimes a girl has too much on her mind to sleep lol

kob - 2012-05-10 12:43:00

So Kob,Is there a way in which i can add something to my washing liquid,to save the whites becomming greys? or do you suggest buying washing powder?

juddy1 - 2012-05-11 07:58:00

juddy, to be honest I used to use it for everything, only because it was there, but I was never happy with the way the whites turned out as after a few washes they did turn greyish, every now and then I would go through the process as I explained up above and give all whites a good soak in the napisan mix and then go back to normal, it certainly saved heaps on cash

kob - 2012-05-11 13:24:00

i have been using the washing liquid for years, but what i do now is when i make it i add a cup of nice smelling washing powder, and it seems to stop some of the clothes turning greyish

2215 - 2012-05-12 00:16:00

http://www.cheap-and-easy-recipes.com/index.php
This website is quite good for those wanting home made cleaners, gardening tips, recipes etc. I'm gonna try the oven cleaner and drain unblocker recipes

dibble35 - 2012-05-12 20:21:00

bumping for simple savings thread

kob - 2012-05-13 11:39:00

Briscoes are having a sale on oils - $1.50 for a little bottle worth stocking up for a multitude of uses.

angela137 - 2012-05-13 13:52:00

Re: buying vouchers to make up the minimum spend for fuel discounts. The shops that don't allow this calculate the total when you SPEND the voucher. In which case, if you're able, try saving up some vouchers (eg $30/40/50) on the good pay/ less expensive weeks so you have them to spend on really-good-fuel-discount weeks, and replace them the following week so you always have the same amount of vouchers.

trudznz - 2012-05-13 20:51:00

trudznz wrote:

Re: buying vouchers to make up the minimum spend for fuel discounts. The shops that don't allow this calculate the total when you SPEND the voucher. In which case, if you're able, try saving up some vouchers (eg $30/40/50) on the good pay/ less expensive weeks so you have them to spend on really-good-fuel-discount weeks, and replace them the following week so you always have the same amount of vouchers.

or just keep your cash --it's more flexible than store vouchers

medicina - 2012-05-14 12:45:00

bumpity bump

g1bo - 2012-05-14 14:37:00

Milk Powder question ! I currently buy a 3 litre of milk for nearly 5 bucks, this lasts me about a week, maybe more. I use this for my baking and hot drinks, but sometimes I will just drink a glass of milk . I am thinking of getting milk powder as I am getting sick or running out. Does it tastes the same as bought milk for if I wanted a glass of it ? or best used for baking ?
Much appreciated :)
Vamp

Edited to say On anouther note, I will be adding vinegar to my washing in plavce of buying fabric softner. Does this leave a smell or can you ass an oil ? I currently use eco store lemon laundry powder.

Edited by vampiriousmist at 4:45 pm, Mon 14 May

vampiriousmist - 2012-05-14 16:43:00

vampiriousmist wrote:

Milk Powder question ! I currently buy a 3 litre of milk for nearly 5 bucks, this lasts me about a week, maybe more. I use this for my baking and hot drinks, but sometimes I will just drink a glass of milk . I am thinking of getting milk powder as I am getting sick or running out. Does it tastes the same as bought milk for if I wanted a glass of it ? or best used for baking ?
Much appreciated :)
Vamp

I do that. 4 Ts of powder to one cup of milk.

catlover28 - 2012-05-14 16:44:00