Monthly Archives: January 2017

Tips from readers

Frugal living does not go on holiday, judging by the number of letters we have received recently. Here’s a sample. M B from Gisborne writes, “Re-use zip lock bags by washing in hot soapy water and drying, either in a dish rack or pegged up on a hanger”. MD from Auckland writes, “Cook a large […]

Credit card debt

Rachel writes in reply to our column about a spend-nothing year. “I was interested because I have Done the same thing. I had run up a credit Card unwisely. I saw an ad on TV saying If I transferred my balances to their bank they would give me 0% interest for a year. So I […]

Sola lights

Annette from Takanini in Auckland has this tip. “Buy a few cheap solar garden lights. Charge every day, by leaving in the sun, and at night, use inside the home. To avoid switching on electric lights at night, put one in the passage, another in the toilet or bathroom and one in the kitchen. When […]

Pavlova

Mary has a suggestion for mixing pavlova ingredients, which are 4 egg whites, 1 cup castor (fine) sugar, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, and 1 tablespoon cornflour.  Mary says, “an easy way to mix the pav is put the egg whites and caster sugar in the mixer and beat continuously for ten minutes […]

Cook and freeze

MD from Auckland writes, “Cook a large piece of meat then portion and put in snap locks and freeze. Always keep a list of what you have in the freezer and meal plan around what you have”.

Your buy nothing year

The Sydney Morning herald recently ran a story about a women who “bought nothing” for a whole year. The headline did not quite match the story but it has an interesting message for those who are serious about saving. That message is, of you stop buying stuff you don’t need, you will be able to […]