eek i hope i dont have a divorce! i married young too, at 23, we had a very small casual wedding in a garden with 13 guests and a 'gourmet bbq' afterwards, bought my dress on trademe even - it was nice and cheap - about 4 of my friends got married in the last couple of years - some paid up to $25k for their wedding which i cannot get over...that could go so much further than on one single day!we've taken out a 20yr mortgage and i really do hope we are setting ourselves up well financially.
it sounds like you're doing a great job.you must know a million different ways to do potatoes!he sounds a lot like my dad, my mum is in a very similar position to you.
kuaka,
Aug 25, 9:34am
mistrycelebrity - yes, the million different ways to do spuds are: boiled, roasted, mashed and chipped - mainly mashed.I've tried other ways to do them, and he always says they are nice the first time and then the second time I serve them he says he prefers them mashed.
kob,
Aug 25, 6:58pm
there is a thread i started a while ago called Who needs to budget ME, check it out for 2 years everyone has put their tips and tricks on there so if your truing to save money all you will find on there is great inspiration, ill bump it up for you
winnie15,
Aug 26, 12:45am
Kuaka ... my hubby is the same . He's a meat , spud and pea person. Doesn't like pasta (calls it glue) or couscous. he grows his own spuds in the summer and we enjoy our spuds many ways like you do .. mashed ,boiled, roasted, chipped or a potatoe bake. He likes his puddings so i do things like apple crumble, or banana muffins and serve with ice cream , i always make puddings from scratch. i bake during the week and always have fresh fruit and vege in the fridge. I just have to start managing my other $$ areasbetter. Like tolls and broadband .. thats $140 a month! We also live in a popular tourist town, out rates are $2200.00 a year .. daylight robbery! Like yourself i too have an older hubby, he's the bread winner so if he doesn't like pasta he doesn't get pasta! I can't work because of a medical condition i have. We are raising 2 teenagers and 3 animals, we just do the best we can with what we've got.
kuaka,
Aug 26, 3:10am
oh winnie, I'm pleased there's someone else out there who has similar problems to mine - I was beginning to think I was the only one whose husband doesn't like pasta or couscous.He will eat alfalfa on his sandwiches (not every day mind) but he always calls it "grass"!I must admit I'm not keen on couscous.We always used to have puddings, but as we've got older and become less active, we don't have them very often as we are watching our weight.As kids we only ever had rice as a milk pudding, we also had things like semolina or tapioca pudding (I still love them), steamed puddings (both sweet - jam, golden syrup or savoury - bacon or steak and kidney).I can honestly say that I don't remember ever being hungry as a kid although I'm sure there were plenty of times when mum struggled to feed us (there was only me and my sister so not a big family) but it was soon after the war, lots of things were still rationed.I can remember mum using her ration book when we went shopping.Both my grandmothers and my mum always had a very well stocked pantry, and my sister and I are the same.My son is always amazed when he looks in my pantry and says things like "are you expecting some sort of natural disaster to wipe out the shops?", but then again, if I get sick my hubby doesn't have to worry about grocery shopping.
kuaka,
Aug 26, 3:14am
Last night for tea we had butter chicken, rice and frozen green beans.Today for lunch I did chicken fried rice with the left over rice, added a bit of chopped onion, chopped red capsicum, a few peas and beans, and started off by whipping an egg with some milk and making a very soft omelette and chopping it up, put it to one side, while I did the rest, then added some chopped cooked chicken and finally the cooked egg.It was very tasty and cost next to nothing.Another thing I do with cooked chicken, (when I've done a roast chicken and there's some breast or leg meat left) cut the meat into chunks, batter it and deep fry it.Scrumptious!And makes a little bit of cooked chicken go a long way.
Also meant to say that when I do the chicken pie, I reduce the amount of water I put in the packet soup, so that it thickens quicker.
Any more ideas very welcome.
sapphirez,
Aug 27, 8:44pm
I thought i would be organized today, so i put my crockpot on - Sausages, onion, chickpeas, tin of tomatoes and spices.Hopefully it will taste good :)
tich - can you explain what you mean by the "envelope system".Do you mean you start the week by putting your budget in cash into an envelope, and when it's gone, it's gone?I don't deal in cash these days, haven't for a long time.I put everything that I can, and I mean everything, on my credit card, and pay the total amount off each month, never pay interest.I can easily keep track of what I spend and I get points on my card which I can eventually use to purchase goods or groceries.I have a figure (imprinted in my brain) as to how much I can spend per month.Sometimes I shop at the supermarket twice in that monthly period, other times it might be five or six times, but I never exceed that figure.I take advantage of the specials and stock up accordingly, and spend frugally on things that aren't on special.That way, I hope to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the budget.
white_elephant,
Aug 28, 7:21pm
mistrycelebrity I have to say I am very impressed with you, I work with young people, about your age and none of them have your work and saving ethic, because I had children late and got my house freehold asap. I don't have to penny pinch now, I'm still a bit careful, old habits die hard but I can have lots of pets and buy mostly what I want at the supermarket. My only advice I'd give you is somewhere in your life plan buy a rental property, I have one but with what I know now I'd have bought a couple. The old age pension will still be there for me when I finish work but I'm guessing it won't be there for your generation until you're well into your 70s.I will add I left school early and have no qualifications so have never been a high earner and rarely have holidays.
sapphirez,
Aug 28, 7:23pm
I do the same as you, put everything on my credit card, earn points and pay it off in full each month and don't pay interest.I am just needing to learn to budget and cut down on what i am spending.I have been doing it this way since i changed over to NZ Home Loans October last year.I still haven't learn't how to budget, i find it so hard with all the expenses that keep on popping up.
if anyone is in Christchurch - Super value on Lincoln road do 5 meat packs for $25.00 they are great! Always a mixture of different meats each day but 5 different meat packs for 5 nights dinner for 25 dollars is cheap! And i would never do fruit / veg shopping at supermarket always go to a fruit veg store. I get grapes, apples, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower peppers, tomatos and lettuce for 20-30 $. I only use the supermarket for non perishable things and lunch foods.
toadfish,
Aug 30, 6:10am
Kuaka
Countdown/Foodtown/Woolworths have some great meat specials this week. 30th Aug to 5 September.
Beef mince 2 x 500gms for $7 - will probably need skimming. NZ Skinless Chicken Thigh Cutlets $8.99 1kg or more chicken drumsticks $5.99 Kilo Snitzel - $10.99 Very lean and good for casseroles, stirfry, snitzels, beef olives. Bolar Roast $9.99 kilo... roast then cold. Even the Angus Burgers look not too bad and very lean.2 x 4 Packs for $10. Ryans 800gms bacon $8.99
mistrycelebrity,
Aug 30, 8:38am
Thank you so much for your advice white_elephant! I will definitely use it in the future, we are already trying to save for a deposit for a small rental.My husband and I only bought our home in June, but before we were married when he was 25 he went thirds on a deposit on a rundown house with his brother and a friend, and over a year they renovated the place themselves then sold it and split the profits - I would recommend that to young guys who have some handyman skills.The mortgage was as cheap for them as flatting would be.
I also put everything on my credit card, all day to day expenses and recurring bills, and pay it off in full once a month, and I keep the limit on the card to an amount that I know I will always be able to pay off in 1 month.
I dont recommend that for everyone tho.For people who don't keep a mental tally of what they are spending or who find the temptation of credit too much, I recommend using cash, such as the envelope system people on here are mentioning, and having your employer pay a portion (aim for 40%) of your income into a high-interest savings account such as with Rabo that is more effort to log into and take money out of than you can be bothered with except in emergencies or for well planned reasons.
amieward,
Aug 30, 8:51am
Interesting reading this thread. I've recently moved out on my own, and I'm trying to work out how much I should pay for groceries. I'm on a very limited income, but luckily cheap rent. I hjave $80 dollars to play with after the bills, for food and personals, but I don't want to spend all this. I don't own a car, so I can't go around store to store. I'm a pretty decent cook skill wise, I grew up baking heaps. But I still am learning how to cheapen the shop. More tips would be awesome!
mistrycelebrity,
Sep 7, 9:32am
Grr, just went grocery shopping and all the meat was so expensive, including the usually cheap cuts and even the closing-time discount specials were expensive.So all I came home with was a $7 frozen chicken, and a $7 lump of beef silverside.Both need to be cooked slowly but should give the 2 of us enough meat to last a week, and at least I can throw them in the oven/in a pot and leave for an hour or more!
Eggplant was quite cheap so going to try a new ricotta & eggplant bake recipe.Pumpkin, Mushrooms, Cabbage, Cauli, and Spring Onion were all quite cheap too.
Broccoli, Cucumber, Capsicum, Lettuce and Tomatoes were all very expensive, so I might have to go without them week or try and find them cheaper at a vege store.I did find a pack of tomatoes marked down that were still ok so grabbed those.
kuaka,
Sep 7, 11:41am
I'm not going until the end of the week but I've looked in the "specials" leaflet from Countdown and capsicums are $2.95 each!Won't be buying any of them.I see they have pork shoulder roasts on special at $5.99 kg.They have to be really lean before I buy them, but when I do, if it's a bit bigger than I want, I cut a nice thick slice off it before I cook it and cut that into pieces for sweet and sour pork (that works out much cheaper than buyer ready-diced pork pieces).Broccoli were $1.99 each for dwarf-sized ones at the local Four-square.When greens are too expensive I rely on frozen beans and peas, and use tinned tomatoes instead of fresh ones for cooking (not much good if you want them for salad sandwiches!)
kay141,
Sep 7, 7:33pm
Cucumber, capsicum, lettuce and tomatoes are all out of season so are either imported or hot house grown. That makes then expensive at this time of year. It is far cheaper to buy only seasonal produce. Broccoli is weather dependant and always fluctuates.
mistrycelebrity,
Sep 8, 9:32am
Ahh yep, I am still trying to learn what produce is in during what season, its usually obvious by their prices - capsicum were $2.95 each yes! would prefer to just go without in that case.
mamabecs,
Mar 7, 4:53pm
This week at Pioneer New World in Palmerston North is good.I got a bag of carrots, a 3kg bag of spuds, a 1.5kg bag of kumera, a whole pumpkin and a head of broccoli for $10 -- it is a package deal, so you must get all of those things...but still very good value!
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