I’ve had conversations with quite a few people who say they were doing great a year ago and are now struggling to make ends meet, despite their household incomes staying the same or even rising.
That’s what happens when food prices rise 12 per cent in 12 months.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably searched “ways to reduce costs” on the internet a few times and have been frustrated with results suggesting you do things like grow your own vegetables, buy in bulk and take the bus.
That kind of advice is good in theory and not so good in practice.
Vegetable gardens, for example. They take time to care for and money to start up – and the payoff is not guaranteed. If you’re a newbie gardener, there’s a lot to learn and mistakes to be made, and that’s not a gamble worth taking when you’re poor.
Rather, here are some tried-and-tested ways to reduce costs around the home that I and the people I’ve spoken to have used in our own households, that involve no (or very little) outlay and are relatively easy to implement.
Utilise “click and collect” shopping for your groceries
- It will help you stick to your food budget. Each of the major supermarket chains has a “trolley” icon at the top right of the screen so you can see the total cost of everything you’re adding to your virtual cart as you go.
- Instead of roaming the aisles, you can type in the exact item you’re looking for, which can curb impulse buying and helps with easy price comparison. If you’re a picky shopper, you can choose to add a note on your shopping list specifying exactly what you’re looking for (green bananas, please, and soft avocados). Plus you can always arrive at the supermarket 10 minutes early and nip to the produce and meat sections before collecting your bags, or buy your fresh produce
- Once you know what you’re doing, online grocery shopping is surprisingly quick – saving time is a huge bonus, too.
- Pak’nSave and New World charge $6 for Click and Collect ($5 collection fee and $1 for bags). Countdown has free Click and Collect for orders over $50 and a choice of a $1.50 bag charge or free BYO bags.
Shop around – online
- Don’t waste your petrol going from shop to shop in search of a bargain when most of that information is available at the touch of a finger.
- This applies to things such as electronics, homewares and clothing, but also groceries – there’s nothing stopping you from inputting your entire grocery list on each supermarket website and seeing the total before choosing which store to shop at.
- Don’t buy bottles of multipurpose cleaner. Some supermarkets and most hardware stores sell bottles of multipurpose concentrate that can be diluted in water, which can replace many household cleaners. The concentrate bottles are often only a few dollars more than an individual bottle of, say, kitchen spray, and will last far longer.
Plan your dinners wisely
- Make meals that will have enough leftovers for lunch the next day, or will contribute to the next night’s dinner. For example, leftover roast chicken is delicious the next day in a pasta dish.
- Have set days of the week for certain meals, just like the classic Sunday roast but tailored to your busiest and most stressful days of the week. For example, you know you’re going to come home on Friday exhausted after a long week at work, so make sure you’ve got an easy night planned. Frozen pizza Friday it is.
- Frozen vegetables, lentils and/or chickpeas are great (and healthy) ways to bulk out meals like stir-fries, curries, pasta and mince dishes.
Take shorter showers
- Hot water is often the largest portion of your power bill. According to an article published by Genesis Energy in 2022, a 15-minute shower costs about $1 – a family of four taking 15-minute showers will therefore use about $120 of hot water a month. Cut those showers down to five minutes each and that cost will go down to about $40.
- Hang a clock on the bathroom wall to time yourself in the shower.
- Things like washing your face or shaving your legs can be done in the bathroom sink instead.
Automate your bills
- Calculate the combined yearly cost of all your bills and average them out according to the number of pay cycles you have in a year. Set up an automatic payment for that amount, plus an extra $10, to go out of your account on payday and into a separate bills account.
- Set up all your bills to be direct debited from that bills account automatically. You’ll never have late fees, and you should always have enough set aside to pay your bills, even in the cold months.
Utilise roadside stalls and honesty boxes.
- Just make sure they’re actually cheap before you buy.
And, lastly:
Share.
If you’ve anything to spare, share it. Take a bit of baking along to a friend’s house. Give away some of those mountains of feijoas. If you’re more well-off, consider donating time or money to a charity that helps struggling families.
Kindness and generosity go a long way.
Sonya Bateson is a writer, reader and crafter raising her family in Tauranga. She is a Millennial who enjoys eating avocado on toast, drinking lattes and defying stereotypes. As a sceptic, she reserves the right to change her mind when presented with new evidence.
