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7th - Eyes wide shut
12th - The School of Ken
19th - Try and try again
24th - Out of the ordinary
27th - Under the influence
Eyes wide shut
Apr 7, 2010
Oops, sorry it's been a while! We've been enjoying a bit of family R & R lately, spending the Easter long weekend at the beach and prior to that watching the NZ Black Caps play Australia in the cricket test. While we won't talk about the result it was a brilliant way to spend a day, relaxing on the grassy bank in the sunshine, while the boys ran around madly collecting autographs from their favourite cricketing heroes. We were lucky enough to be given free tickets, which was a fantastic saving of $90 for the four of us. Unfortunately we got stung with the food! With so much going on in the way of kids' sports and racing around on weekends and after school, both Noel and I were sick to death of packing lunchboxes and drinks every time we had to leave the house. 'Stuff it, we'll just get something when we're there. It won't cost that much!' we thought. However we were proved wrong when we purchased a small bottle of soft drink and a pot of chips each and it came to $32! We decided there was no way we were spending another cent at those prices but it was a long day and we were all absolutely starving by the end of it! The next time we went, we were prepared and packed enough food and drink to sink a battleship!
I'm delighted to say that with the exception of our gold plated cricket snack I have finally found something that has helped me break my last remaining bad habit of buying food and drink when out. It's ridiculous isn't it - how can someone who can feed her family like kings on next to nothing when we're at home, be so rubbish at throwing money away when we're out? Disorganisation mainly, but my 'Would Have Spent' account has proved to be exactly the memory trigger I need. The current balance after just a few weeks stands at $370.50! Admittedly, not all of it would have gone on food and drink but a good part of it would have been frittered away without thinking if it hadn't been for this account. It has also helped prevent me from making other daft impulse purchases, such as spending $39.99 on a pair of 'wheelie' shoes for Ali, even though he has wanted a pair for ages and they were on super special on 1-day. I stopped and thought and decided Ali already had plenty of shoes and didn't need ones with wheels in, no matter how cool they were. Instead, I proudly put that money into my 'Would Have Spent' account!
No doubt some of you are reading this and are thinking 'Duh! That's not exactly rocket science. I can't believe it's taken the silly moo so long to work it out!' But everyone's different and different things work for different people. Sometimes we don't see what's staring us in the face. It always makes me laugh at library talks when I tell people that the average food bill for a family of four is $320 a week. 'Oh no, I definitely don't spend that at the supermarket!' they reply smugly. 'Oh really? But what about all the trips to the corner shop when you run out of milk? What about your bottled water and takeaway coffees? What about the sandwiches you buy to have at work?' You can literally see their expression change as they realise 'Oh heck, that sounds like me!' They just never considered that all those little bits were actually part of their food bill too. So yes, there are a lot of us thicko's out there but the important thing is not when, why or how we change - only that we DO change. It may have taken me a long while to find a foolproof method that really did the trick for me but I'm 100% confident that I have finally cracked it!
To help with my mission I have just picked up an ingenious 'tiffin holder!' Well, that’s what I call it, ever since I read Sophie Gray’s article on ‘tiffin’ in an old newsletter. It's a three tier food thermos that can keep food hot or cold for hours and comes with three stainless steel bowls, each with a sealed lid. It's brilliant and means we can take enough hot food for all of us to warm up with on rugby or swimming nights now the evenings are getting colder. The only downside to my tiffin holder is the size. It’s ideal for the car but far too big for the boys’ schoolbags, so I have purchased a Foogo food jar for each of the boys at school. It’s really important that Liam can take hot food to school in the colder months as he's not able to take sandwiches and other bulky fillers like the other kids. We have been really impressed with their drink bottles of the same brand and are really looking forward to broadening our lunchbox horizons with these little beauties!
So the 31 Tip Challenge is over and we’re into $21 Challenge Month, woohoo! As I mentioned before, sometimes you don’t see what’s staring you in the face. It turned out that one of my favourite new tips was also one of the simplest and most basic you can imagine. I have made all sorts of cleaners in the past but had honestly never cleaned my toilet with purely vinegar and bicarb before. Still, it was 31 Tip Month and I had nothing else so I decided to give it a go. I chucked in a cup of each into the bowl and watched the explosion. Wow! I can honestly say it's the best toilet cleaner I have EVER used! Our grotty looking downstairs loo has never been so white and sparkly!
Still, I’m really glad it’s $21 Challenge Month because I’m going to need it more than ever. I’ve been experiencing problems with my car for what must be at least 12 months now. First it was little things – this funny little light which looked a bit like a helicopter would light up on the dashboard whenever it felt like it. The mechanic didn’t know what it was so I took it to a Holden specialist who didn’t know what it was either but charged me $700 to replace a part. As it turned out, it made no difference whatsoever. Soon I was experiencing a wonderful light display and my little helicopter was joined at random by an exclamation mark and sometimes even the airbag light. That was a bit of a worry I can tell you – I never knew when I was driving if the airbag was going to blow up in my face!
More trips to the mechanic and Holden specialist ensued but nobody ever found an answer. Not even when the speedometer and air conditioner began conking out on me. It’s not a nice feeling when you’re doing 100km on the motorway and your speedo suddenly dies without warning! Still, both Noel and all the ‘experts’ insisted there was nothing really wrong with my car. Even when it broke down in the middle of the main street in front of half the town and I had to get it towed away.
Admittedly this only happened once and it was a good few months ago but recently it has started doing it again – cutting out without warning. It broke down in a gateway when I arrived at cricket practice. It broke down as I pulled up at the Post Office. It broke down as I was about to go round a roundabout. It broke down in the middle of Whitianga when I was trying to find the library and most worrying of all, it broke down when I was following a cattle truck along the notorious Kopu Hikuai road on the way home, with a stream of traffic behind me. I don’t mind telling you, I was crapping myself. I was literally praying ‘please get me home!’ Since then I have only driven it once and I didn’t even get 5km down the road before I had to turn back as it was spluttering and lurching so badly, before – you guess it – the blasted thing broke down 1km from home.
As you can imagine, I’ve pretty much had it up to the eyeballs with this car. As well as spending several thousand on mechanics and specialists and new parts, I’ve also recently had to replace all four tyres. I don’t mind that – they’re about the only things that actually work! The thing is, every time Noel drives the car it goes perfectly, hence he thinks there’s nothing wrong with it. He’s so convinced that he took it to yet another mechanic for a third opinion and whaddya know? They can’t find anything wrong with it either! Aghhhh! What’s it going to take for anyone to actually take me seriously – a ten car pile up?!
Don’t get me wrong, the last thing I want to be doing is spending a large amount of money on buying a new car but it would just be nice to have one that I could trust to get me and the kids from A to B in one piece. Either way, whether I end up forking out for a new car, or by some miracle an angel in mechanic’s overalls discovers what’s wrong with my car and actually fixes it, it’s going to cost us some money. So you know what that means? Next week is going to be $21 Challenge week in our house! I’m really looking forward to it, as I’ve spent a heck of a lot of time talking about the Challenge lately but haven’t actually done one for quite a while. I can’t wait! The only thing is, do I put the money we WOULD HAVE spent on food towards my car or into my ‘Would Have’ account?!
The School of Ken
Apr 12, 2010
What an emotional week it's been! Happy things first. On Friday we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of our good friend Dave to his lovely wife Maria. We felt very privileged to be invited to this intimate gathering. Everything about the day was perfect - the weather, the venue, the food, the music, the company. The whole occasion was a perfect reflection of these two people and their values. They invited only the family and friends who were closest and most important to them, meaning they had plenty of time to mingle and share their special day with everyone. Music was provided after the ceremony by the bride's sister and her friend, stunningly simple on vocals and guitar. The evening 'knees-up' came courtesy of the bride's father and his band, who could play anything from rock to country, whatever the dancers wanted. A good time was had by all! Two more decent, genuine people you couldn't hope to find. Dave is no small chap but his face has always been an open book and I couldn't help smiling as I watched him at the reception. People often say 'the bride was radiant' but this would have to be the first time I have seen a radiant groom. He was positively glowing!
This delightful celebration was a wonderful way to finish what had also been an extremely sad day, for it was also the same day that we had to farewell a dear friend. Ken Greenfield was a colleague of Noel's, who was adored by everyone he came into contact with. He suffered a massive heart attack on Easter Sunday and died instantly, aged 62. Understandably this news was met with immense shock and sadness but I have yet to find anyone who didn't let out a chuckle shortly after and say 'Do you remember when...?' That was the kind of person Ken was, he made everyone laugh. All the time. As expected, his funeral was huge, with an estimated 1500 people attending the service. As also expected, his funeral was full of laughter - or as Liam told Noel afterwards 'That was the funniest funeral ever!' Everyone had so many hilarious stories to share, they had to limit the number of speakers at the service. We all agreed that Ken would have been pleased as punch with his send off. As funerals go, it was undoubtedly the best one ever!
I learned a heck of a lot at that funeral. Sure, I learned a lot about Ken's childhood, his career and his family that I didn't know before but what I learned most was that Ken lived the best life he possibly could. He loved everything about his life. He loved a drink and a flutter on the horses. He loved his job, his children and grandchildren and most of all, his wonderful partner of 20 years. As she told everyone when she stood up bravely to speak at the funeral, 'All Ken wanted from life was to have fun. And we DID have fun'. While it is tragic that such a good man was taken from us so soon, I think many of us learned something from the way he lived. As Fiona has told me many times, 'happiness does not come from things' and Ken was a true testament to that. For him, happiness came in the form of your company, pure and simple. He surrounded himself with people he loved and paid no mind to those that he didn't. A huge man with a giant sense of humour an even bigger heart. The saying 'nobody's indispensable' does not apply to Ken Greenfield. He is irreplacable and there will never be another one like him but I will forever be grateful to him for teaching me some important life lessons.
Eventually the jokes and laughter had to come to an end and we had to bid a final farewell to Ken. Ali was inconsolable bless him; he adored 'Poppa Ken', as all children did. 'Now I don't have anyone to tell me I'm ugly and I can't catch fish!' he sobbed. 'We'll never be able to put ice cubes down the back of his pants again!' Liam agreed sadly. The wedding later on that afternoon was just what we all needed and couldn't have come at a better time. It put us back in touch with some people we hadn't seen for a long time and we realised just how important our friends are to us. Noel and I have never been great 'visitors' - we've always been so tied up with work, the boys and sports that there has never been much time for anything else. But this week we have realised that life is too short. From now on we will make more of an effort to spend time with the people we love, who's company costs nothing, yet is priceless. From now on, we will endeavour to live our lives according to the School of Ken.
Try and try again
Apr 19, 2010
The Easter holidays have seemed endless but the boys have finally gone back to school today! I always say 'hooray!' but to be honest if I could I would keep them at home all the time, I always miss their company terribly! They are both growing up so fast at the moment it's just plain scary. At 13 Liam is now able to look his dad in the eye and has just had to buy himself new shoes and rugby boots as he has already grown out of his size 11's. His voice is also breaking and last week he had to start shaving! While he is very proud of his new stubbly moustache I found it all too emotional when Noel was giving him his first shaving lesson and had to leave the room before I burst into tears! So now my big 'baby' has his very own razor sitting in a little dish of olive oil, just like his dad's. Ali, while not yet shaving (but fervently wishing he was) is also growing at an alarming rate and I can see it's not going to be too much longer before he is also taller than me!
We had a lovely surprise last week when a dear friend of mine came to visit with her children. Back in my earlier blogs I used to talk a lot about my friend Rochelle and her four children. She was the one who first got me into running and is the most wonderful, warm person you could ever meet. Unfortunately she moved away four years ago and as we all know, life gets busy. Somehow we never got around to catching up properly and before we knew it, almost three years had passed since we last saw each other. But as Rochelle often says, 'Just 'cos I don't see ya doesn't mean I don't think about ya!' and she turned up with the kids for a visit. It was so lovely to see her and the timing was particularly serendipitous following my recent School of Ken vow to surround ourselves with the people we love. She hadn't changed a bit and our kids soon overcame their initial shyness at not seeing each other for so long and had a ball. One thing's for sure, there's no way I'm letting another three years pass before we catch up again!
We were all excited at the thought of visitors but there was just one small problem - we had no food, not even a loaf of bread! With my car at the mechanic's once again I couldn't even drive to Mr Patel's. Somehow I had to come up with enough food to feed eight people. With only an hour before our visitors were due to arrive, I grabbed my trusty $21 Challenge book and started flicking through for inspiration. I defrosted a pack of sausages and squeezed the sausage meat out, then used it to make home made sausage rolls. I dragged the breadmaker out of the cupboard and threw in everything I needed to make a loaf of bread, then switched it on and let it work its magic. Finally I spotted a box of Weetbix in the pantry and used them to make the Budget Bix Slice, which everyone always raves about. By the time Rochelle and her family arrived, the sausage rolls were done, the chocolate topping was setting on the Budget Bix Slice and the breadmaker was filling the kitchen with the unmistakable aroma of home made bread. Rochelle was impressed - and I had to admit, so was I!
Last week was supposed to be a $21 Challenge week but apart from my economical lunch for eight, the rest of the week went a bit pear shaped! Just as the book says, 'Sometimes it feels as though the whole universe is trying to put the cobblers on your $21 Challenge!' and so it was that week. Twice I couldn't cook properly because my kitchen ceiling was being painted. I had to take not one, but two dogs to the vet, both with sore feet and the other half of the week was spent driving the car back and forth to the mechanic and even the panelbeater. I'm happy to say that the third mechanic finally discovered what was wrong with my car - it needed a new alternator! This was good news as the repairs were only going to cost $300; a significant saving compared with the cost of a new car. Unfortunately whilst on the way to get the aforementioned alternator, a tanker truck drove past, flicked up a large stone and smashed a huge whole in the windscreen. Thank goodness there was nobody sitting in the passenger seat the the time, there was glass everywhere! No sooner did I get my car back and running smoothly than I had to take it to get a new windscreen. Fortunately this was at least covered by insurance but with one thing and another, my $21 Challenge went flying out the window.
Still, as the book also says, 'if at first you don't succeed, try again when things have settled down' so that's what I'm going to do. We've all agreed that next week will be our Challenge week and are looking forward to it. And I've finally got my car back! We still have to pay for the repairs though, not to mention the vet bill for Nushka (who broke one of her tiny toes) and Minnie (who picked up an athlete's foot type of infection - rather ironic as I've never known a less athletic dog in my life!) so the $21 Challenge is going to be a real lifesaver. Even though our family will only manage to participate in $21 Challenge Month by the skin of our teeth, it's always really nice to know that you're not alone; that somewhere out there other households are doing it this month too. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's photos in the 'Before and After' pantry competition!
Under the influence
Apr 27, 2010
I've come to the realisation that if it wasn't for Simple Savings members I wouldn't know what was going on in the world half the time! I stopped watching the news years ago. Call it sticking my head in the sand but I couldn't handle sitting there night after night, shaking my head at man's inhumanity to man, or going to bed and laying awake worrying that the latest escaped axe murderer was going to get me. Give me good news any day! In five years of Simple Savings membership, I've discovered that all I really need to keep me up to date is the Forum. I can 'tune in' and get the top stories any time I want. The Forum has thousands of reporters with their ears to the ground, broadcasting the latest news. The difference is, the Forum is full of news that I want to hear. News that is relevant to me. News that makes a difference to my family.
Over the years I've lost count of all the ways that the Forum members have helped me. They help me choose something for dinner when I'm lost for inspiration, or feel like cooking something new. They give honest product reviews and have saved me a fortune in the past by warning me off wasting my money going to see crap movies or buying rubbish books. When I'm tempted to buy the latest gadget, you can guarantee there'll already be a Forum discussion in full swing, most of the time telling me what I already suspect - that it's just a five minute wonder and if I buy it I'll just regret it. If you think it sounds as though I'm too easily swayed by the opinions of others, think again. Time and time again they have been proven right - and on the rare occasion I go against their advice and buy something anyway, I end up red faced and trying to resell whatever rubbish I bought for a pittance on Trade Me.
In the last month alone I've been truly grateful for all the things I have learned about through the Forum, that I would otherwise never have known about. Like the Thermos Foogo food jars that my boys take to school every day so they can enjoy their lunches piping hot or icy cold. With no disposable packaging they reduce waste and means we can make greater use of leftovers. Now the whole family can enjoy yummy hot food for lunch, not just me! While these are widely available in Australia, you can only currently get them online from Yum Yum Kids in NZ. Their service is excellent and the products are well worth the outlay. No more leaky drink bottles or yoghurt covered schoolbooks! Thank you Forum!
And then there are the books I've been reading lately that I've loved but would also have never read or even heard of if not for the Forum. I've never seen a single episode of Masterchef but the title alone would be enough to put me off. I'm a cook, not a Masterchef and could never hope to be. On hearing of Julie Goodwin's book I immediately had connotations of hopelessly impossible recipes, using horribly expensive and obscure ingredients. But I heard so many good things about the book on the Forum that I decided to risk a look - and discovered I was wrong. The book is beautiful. I absolutely love it and want to make everything in it. Who would have imagined that a Masterchef could also be frugal? I can't wait to get better so I can try out the recipes!
Another book I have just devoured is 'Living Oprah', by Robyn Okrant. I heard about it through - where else! - the Forum. In a nutshell, it's the journal of a woman who decides that, for one year she is going to do everything Oprah Winfrey tells her audience to do, through her show, magazine and website. It's an absolutely fascinating read that takes the reader through a huge range of emotions. Brutally honest and very enlightening, I wouldn't think that Oprah would have appreciated being so thoroughly analysed! I haven't watched Oprah since the boys were babies, back when the guests were 'ordinary people' and the audience got to ask questions and yell out things like 'Kick him to the kerb girlfriend!' It sounds as though the show has changed a lot since then. The project cost Robyn thousands of dollars, as whenever Oprah said 'You need this' or 'You've GOT to see this' and so on, she literally went out and did it, saw it, cooked it or bought it. Talk about devotion!
I never realised until I read the book just how great an influence Oprah has had. The day after I finished 'Living Oprah' I happened to be reading the TV listings and it read as follows - 9.00am - 10.00am The Dr Oz Show,12.30pm - 1.30pm Dr Phil, 1.30pm - 2.30pm Oprah, 2.30pm - 3.30pm Rachael Ray. All of whom are Oprah's proteges. Yikes! As I went through the book I discovered that there were actually a lot of similarities between Oprah's show topics and the Simple Savings way of life. Happiness does not come from material things. Turn off your screens and spend time with your family instead. Nothing beats home cooked food. Live your best life. But that was where the similarities ended. In the next breath viewers are told that their lives won't be complete without a pair of Christian Laboutin shoes and that they haven't lived until they've made turkey burgers using the recipe from Donald Trump's personal chef. These burgers cost Robyn Okrant over $50USD. I was feeling a bit disillusioned after finishing the book so I picked up a copy of 'O' magazine from the library in the hope that I could prove Robyn wrong. I loved the articles, I loved the letters, I loved the inspiration. What I didn't love was the running thought that everything has to be perfect. I opened the front cover to a double page childrenswear ad - for Ralph Lauren. Our houses have to look perfect. Our husbands and partners need to look perfect. We need to look perfect. It made me wonder how many other people out there were sucked into parting with thousands of dollars a year in their attempts to 'live their best life'.
And then I got to thinking about Fiona. While not word for word, her message through Simple Savings is also 'live your best life'. But her message is constant, unwavering. It's as natural to her as breathing. She doesn't tell us to do one thing and then go and do the complete opposite. I remember Robyn Okrant being horrified when Oprah told all her viewers to join her on a 21 day diet - then the very next day doing a show sampling decadent desserts and telling the viewers 'I'm starting MY diet tomorrow'. Do as I say, not as I do. Could you imagine our Fiona doing anything like that? Tell everyone it's No Screens Month, then go out and by a 42 inch plasma TV the next day?! Sorry Oprah, I know you do some fantastic work and help a lot of people but I would still rather live my best life Fiona's way. Still, I'm really glad that I read the book - thanks once again to the Forum!
Unlike most news channels, the Forum is always chocka with good news and things that make me smile. If it wasn't for the Forum I would never have seen or heard Susan Boyle's first performance on Britan's Got Talent. Or 20,000 people doing the same dance to the Black Eyed Peas. Or the beautiful video for 'Lost Generation'. Things like that make my day but you'll never see them on the news. So thank you Forum members for sharing all your good news and for being SS's very own frugal versions of Trinny and Susannah. Thanks to you, I always know 'what not to buy!'