Category: Uncategorized

Walking into the laundry this morning I had to smile at how much hubby has changed over the last year. There in the rag container was an old pair of hubby’s shorts that had basically fallen apart – before heading off to work this morning he had carefully placed his dead shorts into the rag bucket for reuse. He is out working today on a Saturday – he has been working very hard to build up his client base to improve our income. Hubby has branched out to maintenance work rather than just ‘builder’ to capture more work – he even mowed a lawn for someone last week, a task that is worse in his eyes than cleaning the toilet. Last week he de-cluttered our garage so that we can now drive into the garage for the first time in two years – no more frosty morning worries plus our van will last longer housed in a garage. Hubby has become such a big convert to free-range bacon that he came home yesterday and told me that he tried to get one of his clients to change to free range! He still is a terrible spender but change in people is about small steps. Lots of people think that somewhere out there is this amazing hint/piece of information that is going to change their lives and they hungrily keep looking. I think 20% of improving your life is about knowledge and 80% is being prepared to put in the effort to use that knowledge in order to change the situation you are presently in. Hubby is starting to appreciate the importance of that effort.

This week I discovered we have a walnut tree at work. It has only taken me six years to discover it! So tomorrow I will be dropping off a bag of walnuts to my mum – she will love them. This afternoon we visited the mother-in-law and came away with a beautiful large ceramic plant pot – one of three that she had been given for free. In addition we picked up some lemons for the week from her tree. Now if I could only find a way to pay our tax bill that arrived in the post this afternoon through freebies I would be a very happy woman.

As the year comes to an end it is a good time to reflect on some of the things I’ve learnt this year. Here are just a few……..

• Cats want to be the centre of attention and take great pleasure in sitting on the keyboard whenever you sit down to write (but they are so adorable that they get away with it)

• Men don’t make changes in their life easily (or quietly).

• Vinegar and Baking Soda are wonder products.

• Always shop with a list (even for non-grocery shopping).

• Don’t go shopping as a form of entertainment – impulse shopping can be fatal to your financial goals. 

 • Second hand products help your pocket and the earth.

• Planning meals is a great way to reduce wastage and prevents takeaway splurges.

• Anyone can grow herbs near a window. 

• Know exactly what your money is being spent on each month.

• Educate yourself.

It’s been a year since I wrote my first entry. I can’t say it’s been an easy year at times, but it is satisfying getting to the end knowing that we are in a better state than we were a year ago. It’s not just financially that we are slowly getting better – having specific goals and plans means you can recognize when you are achieving your goals which in turn motivates you to keep continuing with challenges everywhere in your life. Wandering along aimlessly can be de-motivating and living beyond your means can cause huge problems that affect everything you do. Going into next year I’m not thinking about resolutions because I’m unhappy with what I achieved in 2009, I’m thinking about resolutions that will build on what  I’ve personally achieved this year. I think that’s a pretty good place to be and is probably a first for me!

Although things are tight around the household at the moment we are lucky that we have some flexibility when it comes to spending. We are mortgaged to the hilt, our newly renovated house pretty much all belongs to the bank and we have lost one salary due to the recession but because we presently have a mortgage in that respect we are doing better than before the recession because of lower interest rates. Because we have a mortgage we also are able to try and ride the recession as we have access to borrowing money. We can buy in bulk if we see things on special – toilet paper, meat, toothpaste, coffee etc. As a result of being able to buy in bulk cooking at home is a cheaper option than takeaways and we can therefore save money. As an earner I received tax cuts last year. We insulated our house while renovating it and were able to put in heat pumps so we can heat our house more efficiently. While renovating we chose not to go with gas sticking with electricity figuring that in the long run having one daily charge is better than two regardless of the unit charge.

 

Those on or below the poverty line don’t have all this flexibility, as prices rise they have few options to pay full price as their weekly spending can’t take benefit of bulk spending. Those without jobs don’t get tax cuts to assist them to survive the price hikes and those who rent make no savings from lower mortgage rates. Often those who rent live in houses with poor insulation so heat is a necessity for their health not a luxury. My mum, living on superannuation, lives in a house that has both gas and electricity. Even if she never puts any appliance on she still has to pay two daily charges.

 

At times like this it’s easy to stop payments to charities and donations to food banks but now is the time that those who are struggling most need the support of those of us who are in situations where we can at least try and buffer ourselves against the recession.

 

Having just come in from the boiling hot sun, covered in paint, red faced and exhausted I can’t say I’m feeling very positive about recycling at the moment! Recycling your paper, cans, plastic is child’s play compared to recycling your weatherboards. Taking them off carefully, denailing them, running them through the thicknesser again and again, sanding the edges and finally priming the boards. There have been days I have stood there with my ear muffs on, waiting for the wood to come through the thicknesser, dreaming of running down to the hardware store and buying brand new already primed weatherboards………………mmmmmm. However I am presently convincing myself that at the end it will all have been worth it and I will feel great at having saved all that wood!

 

Other recycled goods of course are not such hard work. The last month or so we have been trying in as many ways as we can to find alternatives when we need something.

• The cats adore their new ice-cream container water bowl. It may not be a designer bowl but it has been very popular with the temperatures soaring.
• Needing some more clothes to go back to work I popped in to Save Mart and found a lovely skirt and blouse. All up $15. You don’t always find what you are looking for but it’s worth dropping in every now and then. I prefer doing this than using Trade Me for clothes as then the clothes have to be wrapped up for posting.
• My mum needed a lighter coffee table that she could move around easily by herself. We had one so we did a trade. As a bonus her coffee table was a box with a lid so we get extra storage in the house.
• Containers that come from food we have prchased get stored and reused. Seemingly sales of adult lunchboxes are on the increase (Dominion post, 7/02/2009). What a waste of money! My recycled containers go to and from work with me each day.  
• Our brown framed mirrors from our old house will next weekend get painted black to match the décor in our new house.  

Today one of my tasks was bill organisation and payment. Although I pay my bills electronically I realized recently that I don’t receive my bills electronically.  Looking at some of my bill companies I found that Genesis electricity allows you to get electronic bills instead of having it posted to you so I’ve arranged for this. Telstraclear lets you lookat bills online but doesn’t seem to offer the option of not getting paper ones – I may drop them a line to see if it is possible.    

The other thing that arrives in my mail box is junk mail. I know I have to give it up but I have to admit I do like reading some of what comes in the mailbox! It is only once in a blue moon that I ever buy something from the junk mail though so I don’t know why I’m finding it so hard to put up a “no junk mail’ note on my post box.  I will make a commitment to put one up by the end of this month. There! I’ve written it down in black and white.

This was the heading of an article in today’s paper (Dominion Post). The article was discussing that fast-food sales typically increase in an economic downturn. McDonald’s NZ has enjoyed a record New Year period. It seems McDonald’s Britain has also reported 2008 as one of its best years for two decades (Timesonline). The paper linked the fast food trends to restaurant diners looking for cheaper options which to me sounds bizarre. I can’t imagine choosing to get takeaways instead of going to a restaurant that I can no longer afford to go to. I would rather go and buy similar food to what I might have had in a restaurant and cook it myself. Tonight we are having a meal which will cost us about $9 in ingredients plus the electricity. There are very few takeaways that would come close to $4.50 for a meal and taste that good. It’s not that I don’t eat fast food but in an economic downturn one of the few things I can try to control is my food budget. We’re not likely to get many pay rises during an economic downturn but I can award myself a ‘pay rise’ by reducing my food costs.

 

My husband admitted to me yesterday that he really likes our food planner, he said he likes being able to see what is for dinner, it gives him something to look forward to when he’s working during the day. I was surprised because he is a big takeaway guy but he really has been enjoying all our meals. Not sure how long he will last in our takeaway free zone but he’s doing well so far!

As a consumer it’s easy to think that I am only creating a small amount of waste – what’s the big deal? I find these art works Running the Numbers by Chris Jordan are a good reminder to me to try to keep reducing my waste even if it is only in small ways – my full load of laundry washed in cold water is outside drying in the sunshine, my batteries are charging in the charger, my appliances are off at the wall, I haven’t shopped today, I’m bulk cooking tonight for a few meals ……… tiny small steps!!