As the cost of living stretches household budgets to breaking point and beyond, many people are reassessing their spending habits and lifestyles in order to make ends meet.
'Sides to middle." It's a phrase evoking vivid memories for a generation of New Zealanders – memories of cash-strapped mums running scissors down the middle of worn sheets, flipping the halves and sewing the edges together to eke a fraction more life from the fabric. And when the mattress again began to scratch through the fraying threads, the sheets became curtain lining.
"It wasn't a case of being thrifty. It was just what you did. Things were not available or you couldn't afford them," says 77-year-old Mollie Brown, of Lower Hutt, who grew up during the Depression and struggled as a young mother in postwar shortage years.
When Mrs Brown married in the 1950s, washing machines and fridges were scarce, and credit non- existent. She stretched the [PndStlg]5-a-week housekeeping by growing vegetables at the couple's Waterloo house, planting fruit trees and keeping chooks. She even had a beehive till the neighbours complained.
She remembers cramming the boot of their inherited Austin 10 with five- shilling sacks of coke, a byproduct from Petone Gasworks, to keep the wetback firing hot water. She knitted, "sewed like mad", baked, made jam and bottled preserves, and still does. There's a fresh batch of Weet-Bix slice in the pantry, and jars of marmalade, plum and apricot jam in the garage.
It seems extreme in today's disposable culture. It's hard to imagine young sophisticates even contemplating cutting up old linen, rather than popping into Briscoes for a new set, much less piecing together a patchwork of curtain lining out of old cloth nappies.
But spending attitudes are changing. With petrol prices up more than 30 cents a litre on last year, a basket of basic groceries up 25 per cent and fixed mortgage rates pushing 10 per cent, many are feeling the pinch and looking to their parents and grandparents, as well as new technology, for ways to save money.
Gerald Davidson has put a down- payment on future savings, installing solar water heating in his Petone home as insurance against rising gas prices. It costs him about $140 a month paying off the interest-free loan he took out to put in the $8000 system about two years ago.
In summer it provides enough hot water for the household of four, but in winter the sun disappears behind the hill at about 1pm and the electric backup system kicks in. A government audit (a government scheme covers the interest up to $500) found the system halved Mr Davidson's summer electricity bill.
Renewable energy seems the perfect long-term answer to rising electricity costs, with the feel-good bonus of helping save the planet by reducing carbon emissions. But the best way for the average urban family to save money on energy is to use less, says Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) renewable energy adviser Joseph Mayhew.
He says expensive renewable technologies such as photovoltaic panels (which convert the sun's energy into electricity) and micro wind turbines are only likely to be economic on rural properties without a grid connection. It's cheaper to save by using compact fluorescent light bulbs or insulating.
Solar water heating can be cost effective, especially if it's a household of shower-happy teens. EECA estimates about 35,000 homes now have it, each with an average annual saving of $350 to $450. But at a cost of $4000 to $8000 to install, it's no quick fix.
Fuel is also becoming a budget killer. Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) says traffic on its Fuelsaver website has quadrupled since January – 40,000 people a day look for tips. There was also a threefold increase in visits to its Rightcar site, rating car models for fuel efficiency.
Again the best money-saving strategy is simply to use less, LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt says. Many car trips are shorter than two kilometres – easily travelled on foot or by bike. Short trips use more fuel, especially in winter – a cold engine burns 20 per cent more petrol. If you have to drive, car-pool to reduce costs, accelerate smoothly and travel at less than 100kmh to burn less fuel, Mr Knackstedt says.
A survey this week found that one in four Kiwis is preparing to leave the car at home if petrol prices hit $2 a litre. Some are swapping four wheels for two. Cycle Aware Wellington has signed up an extra 200 members this year, bringing its total to 700. Most cite rising petrol prices as their motivation.
James Brown and his partner have resolved never to get a car, having lived in France for a year and been horrified at the way cars dominate cities. They chose their Island Bay house for its proximity to bus, shops and school, and they bus, bike and walk to get around.
Mr Brown cycles the 15 to 20 minutes to work at Te Papa, and his partner bikes or catches a ride to her job as a school teacher. They walk to the supermarket, breaking down the weekly shop into two or three more portable loads.
It can be limiting – the kids, aged eight and 11, enjoy the bus and getting into town is no hassle. But trips to the swimming pool at Kilbirnie, or journeys between suburbs out of the girls' biking range are more convoluted.
The couple has generous neighbours who lend their car when needed, but are dependent on hooking up with other families for outings such as river picnics.
But it is a huge money-saver. Biking to work saves Mr Brown $5.60 a day in bus fares.
Switching to public transport was one measure that enabled Auckland couple Tara and Greg Holland to save more than $1000 in a month by axing non-essential spending.
The couple, who have two young children, have been living off Greg's jeweller's income for four years. They got through Christmas and realised, "Oh, my god – we seriously needed to budget."
Greg, 38, gave up daily takeaway coffee, made sandwiches for lunch and caught the bus. Rather than taking supermarket snacks for a friend's barbecue, Tara, 34, made dips and Greg made bread. The couple bought 2 1/2-year-old Maia a second-hand bed and mattress on Trade Me for about $250, instead of the $450 frame Tara was eyeing, and made about $600 selling the kids' old clothes.
On-selling baby and children's gear is one of the easiest ways to earn cash on Trade Me – that category has some of the highest success rates alongside mobile phones, weight loss products and concert tickets. Last week, the site hosted 230,000 successful auctions, about 60 per cent for second-hand goods.
But the Hollands' biggest saving was on groceries. Tara saved about $100 a week by shopping at Pak 'N Save instead of Foodtown, piling her trolley with house brands and stretching a week's purchases to nine or 10 days.
Though their one-month challenge was extreme and the couple has eased off on savings, the mentality of justifying even small purchases – "that's where the money just leaks out" – has remained and they have increased their mortgage payments.
Mother of two Sophie Gray, who writes the destitute gourmet cookbooks, maintains it's possible to cook healthy, fashionable food cheaply.
"Peasant cultures around the world have been doing it for years." She's worked to a tight budget for nine years, since she and her husband took a big income drop to start a business from home.
At their leanest, the weekly food budget was $50. Ms Gray is often in supermarkets researching prices and has never seen people so angry about the cost of living. "I've heard people ranting to complete strangers in the supermarket dairy aisle."
She advocates eating healthily and in season, shopping smart, and picking a couple of luxury items and spinning them out. Old-fashioned concepts, such as Mrs Brown's capped housekeeping money, make people think about how they spend.
Menu planning – setting a weekly budget, planning meals within that, making a list and sticking to it – is the key to cutting grocery spending, Ms Gray says.
Home baking, cooking from scratch instead of buying pre-prepared sauces, cooking satisfying but cheap ethnic food, slow-cooking cheaper meat cuts and bulking up meat meals with extra vegetables are all good ways to reduce costs. Savings usually come with a cost in time and effort, so it's about deciding how far you want to go.
Supermarkets, while convenient, are often not the cheapest source of fresh produce and meat, Ms Gray says. The Dominion Post found in-season fruit and vegetables were, on average, twice the price at a major supermarket as at the Victoria St Sunday vegetable market. Eggplants, peppers and red onions were almost three times as expensive. The market specimens are less perfect, but taste the same.
Manager of Simple Savings website Jackie Gower also advocates menu planning and spinning out expensive food – replacing cheese sauce with white sauce sprinkled with grated cheese, for instance. But her top tip is to take a long, hard look at spending.
"Middle New Zealand is quick to blame the lack of money on rising food and petrol costs, but people still spend weekends at shopping malls and buy the latest mobile phone. People need to look at how much crap their money is going on."
She's also a fan of growing veges. Always having something on hand, you're less inclined to make an extra trip to the supermarket, which always costs more than expected, she says.
Island Bay greenie Jon Field is proof you can have a productive garden even in Wellington's sometimes inclement weather. He built a vege patch from nothing when he moved in 6 1/2 years ago and now grows everything from parsley and coriander to fruit, root vegetables and berries.
He does it more for quality (spray- free) than thrift but saves about $400 a year. He spends $50 to $100 annually on seeds and seedlings and brings in about a dozen bags of zoo do at $6 each. But it could be done more cheaply if you were prepared to invest more time, he says.
Akatarawa herb farmer Donna Lee also marries economy and environmental awareness, running sustainable living, frugal living, and chemical-free household classes.
And she practises what she preaches, turning the glut from her garden into tomato sauce, tomato chutney and beetroot relish. What she doesn't grow she buys in bulk when it's cheap and cranks up the dehydrator. Apples and kiwifruit become healthy, long-life snacks, onions can be used for soup.
Her chemical-free classes include recipes for alternatives to harsh and expensive cleaning products, including centuries-old concoctions such as vinegar and baking soda. "That can be a huge saving. There's so much you can do. It's a question of wanting to and learning how."
While most Kiwis could undoubtedly save by emulating Mrs Brown's parsimony, it's unlikely to be the answer to all of today's price squeezes. One former sewer has given up making her own clothes, as patterns and material have become too pricey. Wool is also expensive – $11 will buy enough merino for a newborn's cardigan. But that doesn't take account of the investment in time.
Dressmaking tutor Kim O'Neill says for basics it's more economical to buy super-cheap Chinese imports. But it is still possible to make clothes cheaply by buying one pattern and making it up in several different materials.
The Fabric Warehouse in Thorndon has cheap end- of-line designer fabrics from $2 a metre. With a pattern, you can make a simple pencil skirt for $5.
Her classes, run through Wellington High School's community education programme, have a waiting list. Students range from young women making jackets and skirts for work, and mothers making a daughter's ball dress or bridesmaid dresses, to men sewing dresses for their girlfriends.
And there's always clothes swapping. Emma Williams, of Vogeltown, has held clothes-swap parties for years and reckons their spoils constitute up to a fifth of her wardrobe. "It's a great way to get new clothes and save money."
As a sustainability consultant, that also fits with her ethos of recycling. She invites friends for drinks and gets them to bring clothing they're tired of.
The old adage of one man's junk is another's treasure really rings true, Ms Williams says. Even when people think they have nothing worth trading, others will snap up their offerings. It can get a bit heated if there's competition for one piece, or when the person proffering atrocious granny underwear makes a grab for the designer dress. But it's generally all in the spirit of fun.
The do-it-yourself Kiwi tradition also has potential for big savings. Despite falling retail spending, it's business as usual at Wellington home improvement shops, with customers taking up DIY classes and trying their hand at home decorating to cut costs.
Bunnings Warehouse in Newtown has seen an upsurge in sales of hot-water cylinder blankets, Pink Batts and underfloor insulation – a sign of efforts to save on home energy costs.
In the past four months there has been an increase in the number of home owners buying wallpaper, and stores are stocking up on paint as suppliers predict more householders will do their own decorating, says Guthrie Bowron, Thorndon, owner-manager David Archer.
He says that as living costs increase, people tend to cut down on movies and coffee, so have more time. "It is a time when people stop and think, 'We can do this ourselves'."
That's something Mollie Brown's been doing her whole life.
