I have a little introduction to my blog featured today on Weblog New Zealand

http://www.weblog.co.nz/the-bargain-betty-blog

Take a look

Way back when I lived in the UK I read an article about baked beans. It was a comparison between Heinz (Watties here in NZ) and Tesco (budget) brand.  It said that there were significantly more baked beans in the branded Heinz can.

I carried out an experiment to compare the contents of Watties and Budget brand beans.  The result was that

I counted 311 beans in a Budget brand can and 430 in a Watties can. That’s a huge difference. I also weighed the beans after they’d been drained for 30 minutes, but the results weren’t relevant. Budget brand has a thin sauce that runs off easily and Watties has a thick sauce that doens’t drain in a collander.  I guess I could have heated them.

We also had a blind taste test.  Both of my children and an adult relative decided they liked the taste of the Watties beans best.

I have since bought a can of Pams’ baked beans and will do a similar test when the time comes to open it.

Happy money saving.

I had a hissy fit in the Warehouse this week. I’d gone there to buy Coverseal for my kids books. As the assistant started to ring up my children’s choices, I realised that the 1 metre packs were $4.99 each.  I stood there and said: That’s daylight robbery, to the embarrassment of my children and the shop assistant.  After what seemed like an age wondering what to do, I decided not to buy the stuff.  We walked around the corner in the mall and my daughter got the same brand of Coverseal from Whitcoulls for $3.29 a roll, still a rip-off, and my son got his from the $2 shop. It just shows that it’s never a good idea to assume prices are cheap.

I’ve been fighting back against public holiday surcharges. Usually I just walk with my feet and spend my money elsewhere. I’ve gone a step further and published a list of local cafes showing which charge and which don’t. I’ve given my research to The Speculator.

Click here to read my research.

I pay my electricity bill by direct debit in order to get the prompt payment discount.  For some totally unknown reason the payment didn’t go through on January 24.  Instead of emailing me (and Contact has my email address, which it uses regularly for notification of statements), the company waited eight days before mailing me – and that letter arrived 11 days after the payment was due. In this day and age there is no excuse for not informing a client immediately by automated phone message, text or email instead of waiting until the customer loses their discount. I feel that the extra $30 or so I’ve been charged is a rip-off due solely to Contact’s poor customer service and lack of moving with the times.

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 had a Bargain Betty moment at my daughter’s birthday party this weekend. In fact three of us had it at the very same moment.  Maia had been expressing an interest in an ice cream cake earlier this year. I thought she’d forgotten about it and her aunty made a very nice heart-shaped cake.

On the morning of the party Maia had a hissy fit about not getting her ice-cream cake.  We were in the supermarket at the time and I looked at the ice cream cakes, thinking she could have two cakes.  At $19.80 it was beyond what I wanted to spend (having a trolley of party food and supplies already).  So I convinced Maia to let me buy a $3.99 pack of ice cream and a $2.76 pack of lollies.

When we got home we put the lollies in the bottom of a cake tin, pressed the ice cream in and froze it. When it was frozen it was simply turned upside down and pressed out. The kids loved it.

It was only afterwards that I realised what a bargain cake it was.  $6.75 in total and only a few minutes to make.