Bargain Betty has finally weakened and sold out to the God of wide-screen TVs. I’ve avoided this moment for a long time as I really don’t believe in replacing things that ‘ain’t broke’. My old TV certainly wasn’t broken.  What once looked like a large TV, however, had shrunk. Subtitles and weather information appeared off the screen.

To make the purcahse less painful I have been saving up points on my True Rewards credit card.  I get these points according to what I spend on the card.  Yet I never ever pay interest. So the points are money for nothing.

That, however, is no reason:

a: to treat the points as a bonus. They could have been used to buy a supermarket or petrol voucher, and therefore transferred into cash

b: to buy a more expensive TV than I would otherwise. For the record, I bought the cheapest Full HD 40+ inch TV I could find.

Bargain Betty’s children are very happy.

For the past 12 years I have given up caffeine and alcohol for Lent every year.  For the uninitiated, that’s the 40 days and 40 nights from Ash Wednesday (usually in February, but this year in March) to Easter.  It’s a type of fast.

I do it for healthy living reasons. But it also has a financial spin off.  I figure that I save at least the cost of five cups of coffee at a cafe a week – amounting to a minimum of $20 and also maybe one bottle of wine a week or perhaps a couple of glasses of wine in a restaurant. That adds up to about $15 to $20 a week.  That’s a nice saving over five weeks.

The maths isn’t quite that simple however. When we went out for dinner at the lovely Manuka Restaurant the other night I bought a $4 Feijoa juice.  But I’m sometimes naughty there and have two glasses of wine over an evening. That amounts to $14 to $18.  So I saved some money.

The other dilemma is how to do the maths at home. I’m not having coffees out, which means that I’m having more hot drinks at home. Some years I allow myself decaf (bought from Chiasso, so not cheap). This year I’m not having decaf, but I’m still having Rooibush tea and Inka, neither of which is cheap. Overall, however, they cost less than Chiasso decaf beans, so I’m saving money.

The best thing is that I feel so self-righteous for five an a half weeks.  It’s not suffering at all.

This blog first appeared on MSN at http://money.msn.co.nz/blog.aspx?blogentryid=684861&showcomments=true

Holidays are expensive. It’s something I build into my budget. But I’ve just read that a third of UK parents can’t afford to take their children on holiday this summer.

Many Kiwi parents will be planning their summer holidays at least six months in advance. So it’s time to start planning.

There are ways to keep the cost down and here are some of my favourites:

Staycations
These are about having a vacation at home. But don’t just sit at home — there’s no fun in that. Do touristy things in your own location. If I lived in Wairarapa, for instance, I might schedule in daytrips including a mooch down the main street of Greytown checking out the antique shops, take a trip on Featherston’s Fell locomotive engine and take the kids fishing at Ngawi.

Book a cheap bach or crib
Last year we booked a basic bach at Mangawhai heads for $60 a night. A friend of mine got one for $30 a night on a remote Northland beach. The advantage of a bach over other cheap accommodation is that they’re usually fully furnished, have cooking facilities to save you from eating out, and often come with toys. Our Mangawhai bach had a PlayStation for the kids and kayaks.

Go remote
If you book somewhere in the back of beyond, you’ll avoid spending anything other than accommodation costs and transport to get there and back. I’ve done this — checking into a farmstay hostel north of Kaeo.

Another option, which I often do, is to go on a multiday tramp. That way you’re often only paying to stay at Department of Conservation huts, at $15 a night. When you’re tramping, you can’t even carry an excess of expensive food and alcohol.

WWOOFing
That’s Working Weekends on Organic Farms. WWOOFing has been around for as long as I can remember. The idea is that you stay and sometimes eat free on an organic farm in return for a few hours labour each day.

If you’re cooped up in an office all week, the occasional WWOOFing weekend can be fun. You get to meet interesting hosts who’ve often given up the city life for their dream.

Camping
Away from home camping is one of the cheapest holidays you can have. Flash campsites such as the lovely Top 10 ones can cost more than $50 a night. DOC and local regional council campsites are much cheaper — although they usually don’t have many facilities, but they’re mighty cheap, lots of fun, and often in very beautiful locations.

I’ve even camped in the garden of a friend’s bach for free — with the use of cooking facilities inside.

Cabins and on site caravans
If you don’t like camping you can still rent cheap accommodation on campsites — which are great places for kids. I’ve rented both cabins and caravans at campsites. Cabins are usually cheaper than similar motel rooms — although they can be basic.

The last time we visited the lovely Te Aroha Holiday Park we rented a retro 1950s caravan for just $30 a night for three people.

Home exchanges
This is a great concept. You exchange houses with someone else in a location you want to visit. I’ve done one formal exchange, when I was in the UK, and that worked like clockwork. I’m also always trying to convince friends to swap houses with me.

That way we can have a holiday without accommodation costs. There are a couple of home exchange websites in New Zealand: HomeSwap and HomeLink, although I haven’t personally used either.

So try these out, or share your own stories of cheap holidays with other readers by having your say here.

More information

• Freedom camping
• Paradise on the cheap
• Cheapest destinations
• How to get competitive online travel deals
• Best family holidays
• Eight ways to travel like a local

I really am a convert to these new one-day-sale websites – as anyone who has read my previous blog would know.

Today I’ve come across Grabonebottle.co.nz, which has some phenomenal bargains.  I don’t actually buy wine for home – because I think it’s a waste of money and not good for you. I do appreciate that most people in New Zealand do buy wine, so I’m happy to share these links and discuss wine bargains.

Financial prescription for the New Year

From my RaboDirect blog – for those of you who resolved to spend less this year:

Gyms, weight loss companies, and self-help authors make a killing in the first week of January as the ghost of Christmas past is turned into hare-brained New Year’s resolutions.

http://www.rabodirect.co.nz/blog/2011/05Jan11-financial-prescription-for-the-new-year.aspx?type=tcm36-95773

An email from a work contact:

Hi Diana

I’ve been looking at buying a Dulait toaster for several years but despite the weak Pound the retail price in NZ never changes.

I’ve looked on-line and virtually all the outlets charge the same price:

Milly’s Kitchens        $499
Pantry Magic            $499
Choice Catering $403
Award Appliances        No price, but I think they are the importer so its propbably close to $499.

Then I look on-line at O’Gormans in the UK and its GBP 102 or NZ$214, and for UK customers they do a next day delivery serive for GBP4:60.

It’s another example of NZ consumers getting a raw deal.

So what does “Bargain Betty” have to say??

Jeff

Bargain Betty says: yet another example of the classic Kiwi rip-off. You really do need to shop around – worldwide for things.

I’m the biggest hypocrite when it comes to buying coffee.  I don’t believe in buying the daily Latte. But I do it.  I try lamely to justify it by saying it is my sanity time. Or when I’m really being fanciful I suggest it’s a big part of our culture here in New Zealand to drink coffee in cafes. That is true, compared to places like the US and UK. But it’s still not an excuse.

Since the GST rise the price of a coffee has risen way more than the 2.5% rise. I’ve seen lots of cafes put it up from $4 to $4.50 in the past few weeks. For the first time I’m starting to rate cafes not just on the quality of their coffee, but the price.

I have to say that I’ve become way more attached to the Devonport Deli in the past month.  That cafe (where the coffee is decent, but not amazing) sells pre-paid cards for 11 cups of coffee.  That brings the price of the daily latte down to $3.60 per cup (less if you’re a flat white drinker). Admittedly that’s still $3.60 too much. But it’s an awful lot better than $4.50 or even $4.80 that I’ve seen.

Finally, caffeine is an evil drug. It really is. I once read that it’s more addictive and more toxic than LSD.

I’ve always been a bit cynical about the one-day-sale websites that have started popping up here there and everywhere. My first impression was that they were selling a lot of cheaply priced Tat that people didn’t need to buy. There’s certainly an element of people getting too excited over these sites. Grabone.co.nz has more than 50,000 people who “like” it on Facebook.

I have, however, seen the other side of them. I’ve noticed that some of the sites like DailyDo.co.nzoffer services (eg dental work and beauty therapy) and tourism days out at really cheap prices. I went on a Kayak Fishing expedition, which I have written about for the NZ Herald. The other customers had bought their tours from DailyDo.co.nz at half the face price.  If you want to do something like this it’s a great bargain.

My article from the Herald on Sunday:

Bargain Betty: Breadmaker adds to culinary mix

I love good bread. In fact, a great baguette or fresh Turkish pide pretty much top my list of favourite foods.

The trouble is that I get indigestion at the thought of spending $5 or more on a loaf, which in reality contains little more than flour, water, yeast and oil/fat.

If I acceded to my children’s demands I’d be buying MacKenzie bread at $5.11 a loaf – just for half of it to be left uneaten in their lunchboxes.

Read more:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10681061

I wrote this originally for my MSN column:

Does beauty care need to cost a fortune? And will a $500 moisturiser really make you look 10 years younger than a supermarket brand?

Some weeks ago I wrote about the phenomenal cost of fashion. This week I’ve got the beauty industry in my sights. But it’s going to be a difficult task. Many women would rather cut back on food than save money on their beauty regime.

Newsweek has just published some must-read research on the cost of a lifetime of cosmetic maintenance for the modern diva. The authors estimate that the average American woman spends $449,127 on hair and beauty over her lifetime. Ouch.

Keeping up good skincare is important. But it needn’t cost an arm and a leg. Once, in my early twenties, I asked a consultant dermatologist to advise the best moisturiser to buy — and I didn’t care what it cost. The answer, to my surprise, was E45 Cream — one of the cheapest on the market.

I wouldn’t deny any woman her $50 lippies, La Mer moisturiser, or a trip to the hairdresser for “the works”. If you budget, these can be included as special treats. What you shouldn’t be doing is treating them as everyday purchases if you want to get ahead financially. Try to use up what you have first and then decide which of these items you could save on and which you should splurge on.

Can you, for example, splurge on eye shadows and save money on supermarket-brand mascara, lip gloss and eye pencils?

One area of beauty care where you can save enormously is by doing your own beauty treatments. There’s nothing in a facial or pedicure, apart from the pampering, that you can’t do at home. Try checking out some of these DIY beauty treatments for more ideas.

And it’s possible to shop around and get your beauty treatments done for less. For example, where I live, in an expensive suburb of Auckland, eyebrow threading costs $18. Instead, I get it done for $5 a time when passing through modest Mount Roskill, which I do on a regular basis.

Even better, get your hair or beauty done cheaply or for free at a beauty school. There are heaps of listings in the Yellow Pages.

Thinking outside of the square can save you an awful lot of money over a lifetime. Just lately I’ve started making my own organic shampoo and conditioner thanks to the fact that my children developed mild allergies to soaps and shampoos, and my wallet is severely allergic to the cost of “eco products”. Making my own is both easy and satisfying and the raw ingredients are available over the Internet from websites such as Go Native.

Finally, remember that a big part of the cost of your miracle creams is the marketing, advertising and packaging. Can you do without them? Your wallet would be happier if you did.

Have your say: Do you save or splurge on beauty care?