NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Personal Finance

<i>Bargain Betty:</i> Repair not replace a cost saving mantra

Diana Clement
By Diana Clement
Your Money and careers writer for the NZ Herald·Herald on Sunday·
18 Sep, 2010 05:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nothing more than a nail file was needed to 'fix' the 10-year-old keyboard. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Nothing more than a nail file was needed to 'fix' the 10-year-old keyboard. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Arrgh. My keyboard has died, I bleated on Facebook a few weeks ago. Immediately I hit pricespy.co.nz to find the cheapest replacement and started drooling at the sleek lines of the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 - the latest version of my "dead" one.

In my mind I'd
almost made the purchase when my Bargain Betty alter ego kicked in. A cursory inspection of my old keyboard indicated one of the gaggle of 7-year-old boys who hijack my home office to play Mathletics had dropped something sticky between the keys. Nothing more than a nail file was needed to "fix" the 10-year-old keyboard.

From a consumer behaviour point of view, what I was doing was seeking to reward myself by buying a new item when I didn't need it, consumer behaviour expert Robert Aitken of the University of Otago told me.

"It is all to do with people's self-image," he says. "It might be an opportunity to step up a little. You have progressed quite nicely and you deserve this."

Fortunately I'm not egotistical enough to think I deserved this new keyboard. I just coveted it.

We're getting out of the habit of letting things wear out, although we're better than our cousins in Australia, the UK and the United States. I certainly don't darn socks any more. But taking this approach with more expensive purchases starts to burn a hole in a person's long-term savings.

"Repair, not replace" is my mantra when it comes to breakdowns. It seems appliance repairs have dropped out of our collective psyche, in part because it's almost too expensive to call a tradesman.

Yet even for a DIY-phobe such as me, it's not that hard to do many repairs. Sometimes simply opening up and investigating the item draws your attention to the cause of a problem. If not, I have repair strategies.

Strategy 1: When it came to repairing my out-of-guarantee washing machine, I tottered off to the library, borrowed a copy of the Haynes Washing Machine Manual and repaired my own machine by following simple instructions.

Strategy 2: In the era of the internet, repair manuals aren't necessary. If you need to repair anything, from your iPhone to your bicycle, there are how-to videos on YouTube or step-by-step instructions on websites.

Strategy 3: When my InSinkErator broke down, I phoned the company's help-line. Superwoman on the other end of the phone talked me through the problem. She even sent me the replacement part free. I love that company.

Strategy 4: If all else fails I make a beeline to the nearest Asian-run repair shop. They can repair almost anything and charge a pittance. Case-in-point was my CD player that stopped working. I popped it into one such store in Dominion Rd.

The outcome was a $20 repair bill and a stereo that is still doing its job three years later. That's a bargain, if you ask me.

diana@bargainbetty.co.nz

Discover more

Opinion

<i>Bargain Betty:</i> Frugal living makes sense - even to the wealthy

07 Aug 05:30 PM
Personal Finance

<i>Bargain Betty:</i> Think ... and cheap is well within reach

21 Aug 05:30 PM
Retail

<i>Bargain Betty:</i> Shop around for geek gadgets at bargain basement cost

04 Sep 05:30 PM
Personal Finance

<i>Bargain Betty:</i> Breadmaker adds to culinary mix

16 Oct 04:30 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Personal Finance

Premium
Opinion

Nadine Higgins: How innovative schemes are aiding first-home buyers

05 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Mary Holm: The ways to make your cash last in retirement

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Business|personal finance

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Personal Finance

Premium
Nadine Higgins: How innovative schemes are aiding first-home buyers

Nadine Higgins: How innovative schemes are aiding first-home buyers

05 Jul 05:00 PM

OPINION: Buying your first home? Here's how to get there faster, without the strings.

Premium
Mary Holm: The ways to make your cash last in retirement

Mary Holm: The ways to make your cash last in retirement

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM
Premium
NZ company linked to UK money-laundering probe

NZ company linked to UK money-laundering probe

03 Jul 11:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP