Laceshawl's Personal Finance Blog

In my quest for budget recipes I came across this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYeYduqoGo and decided to try out the lentil patties. I used pumpkin as it's cheaper than sweet potato. I added too much water when cooking the lentils and rather than boil them dry I just tipped the oats and pumpkin in and called it a stew. Tasted pretty good.

Payday. At New World I bought
vege stock powder $2.99
grape juice $2.49
can mandarins 99 cents
flour $1.59
broccoli $1.49
total saved $2.90. The grape juice is for communion. I could get reimbursed by the church but it seems cheap when I get the leftovers.

I went to a farewell afternoon tea today and ate so much grapes and bread and hummus that I wasn't hungry for dinner.

I weighed myself and I have lost half a pound. I would like to lose a little faster so am aiming at 1600 calories a day.

Today I baked oat squares. I worked out the cost:
125 g oats 28 cents
80 g flour 9 cents
50 g sugar 11 cents
100 ml oil 25 cents
Call it 50 cents for the electricity and it comes to $1.23. Cheaper than buying and they will last me 3 breakfasts.

For breakfast I had peanut butter and banana rice porridge. Next time I will try adding some cocoa powder to it. For lunch potato and cabbage soup with the last of the cabbage. It has lasted for almost a month, good job it keeps well. For dinner macaroni and beans with the last of the silverbeet and a can of tomatoes.

At the end of the fourth week I spent $18 on food, 50 cents on misc and have in my cash envelopes:
food $8
misc $52 and $4.61 on my bus card
medical $80
change dish $5

I am putting more thought and effort into my food than I have in a while. I am actually enjoying experimenting with different recipes. Normally I don't care all that much about cooking. Of course it might be different if I was forced to live on $20 a week, at the moment I am stiil enjoying the challenge and regarding it as an exercise in gratitude in preparation for my next trip to India. But if it all gets too stressful or my health starts to suffer I will give it up.

Only one purchase today, a big bunch of kale at New World for $2.80. saved $1.20.

I'm disappointed with Financially Free. It has a little bit about saving and budgeting but mostly about prosperity thinking and acting rich to be rich. A jobless person who's about to get their lights cut off might get the impression they just need to tell themselves "I deserve to be rich", go off on holiday and the money will miraculously materialise. I recommend Stop Acting Rich by Tom Stanley as an antidote.

At PaknSave I bought
can tomatoes 69 cents
can green beans 99 cents
macaroni 75 cents
600 gram cut pumpkin 50 cents. All the other pieces were 99 cents, maybe this one was a mistake but I grabbed it
saved $1.20

For breakfast I had applesauce cake with peanut butter; for lunch potato pancakes and for dinner the rest of the rice and soy meal. This time I put in a chili and it tasted quite spicy.

I'm trying to sprout some adzuki beans but they're reluctant to poke their little heads out this time of year.

I had trouble sleeping last night so got up at 1 am and baked an applesauce cake from this recipe

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2016/01/29/applesauce-bread-.... I like Jack Monroe as she was once a single mom struggling on a tiny budget and aims her recipes at poor people. Most of them are vegan too.


Gardens New World had a one day sale today. I had a good look for bargains but only wound up buying peanut butter at $1.99 (saved 30 cents) and strawberry jam at $2.29 (saved 20 cents).


I increased the weekly amount going into my bill paying a/c by $10 to cover winter power bills. The latest one I received is for $100.35. Pretty good, but the real frosts are still ahead of us.

And I transferred $300 from my checking account to my FFEF. I should be able to save over $200 a month.

Payday. Today I went to Veggie Boys and bought 10 kilos of brushed potatoes for $8. Getting it home was a bit troublesome. It kept overbalancing my wheelie basket as I trundled along but I managed it. Saved $6 over buying the washed potatoes in the closest supermarket.
Potatoes have a bad reputation among the low carbers but they're actually quite nutritious. This Aussie guy

https://spudfit.com/ lived for a year on nothing but spuds and was quite healthy. Good to know if I'm really struggling. He lost weight too, despite potatoes rep as fattening.

I walked past Knitworld today and saw they are having a winter sale. Proud to report I did not go in "just to see what they have". Could it be I am finally overcoming my CYHD (Compulsive Yarn Hoarding Disorder)?
There are still plenty of apples at Artsenta so I took 4 more. Someone had also brought chilli peppers from their garden so I took 3 of those as well.

I took $2.00 a Day back to the library. It was too depressing reading about such destitution in the richest nation on earth.

I was browsing a website and a little ad popped up saying "every Kiwi deserves a reliable garage door." Well I'd agree a reliable garage door is a good thing to have, but "deserve" one? How 'bout we work on some other things first, like people in poor countries deserving clean drinking water and every child deserving a safe, loving home.

Onto the fourth week of my $20 a week challenge - 49 weeks to go. I blogged the first 19 days at

https://veganonabenefit.simplesite.com/ before running into difficulties and then remembering I already have this blog.
Today I bought cinnamon and ground coriander at the Indian Mart for $4. And from my misc I bought a book at the thrift store for 50 cents. It is called Financially Free: think rich to be rich by Anne Hartley.
For breakfast I had toasted homemade fruitbread with peanut butter; for lunch I made oaty pancakes; and for dinner I cooked up a big barley and split pea stew with the rest of the chard. Enough to last the next 2 days.

Tena koutou katoa. I hadn't realised how much time has passed since I last blogged. Some changes: I am now on disability and my 60th birthday is coming up, so it doesn't look as if I'll ever work again. It depresses me, but at least I am getting more money now: $269.15 a week. Ds is currently living with me and gives me some money for his share of the power and internet. So things are manageable, but I still Iike to save money tho reallistically I'm not going to get to FI. In fact I'm looking forward to turning 65 when I will get more money from the govt!
With one thing and another my FFEF has taken a hammering and is now down to $1382.86. I want to work on getting it up to $10,000. And both the kitchen and bathroom need work so have to save more into the House a/c, currently at $2,345. I do have $5,000 in the Travel a/c and was hoping to make another trip to India this year, but we shall see.
To facilitate my savings efforts I have set myself the challenge of spending just $20 a week on food and $20 a week on misc spending for a year. I don't know if it's possible to get that low, but I'm giving it my best shot. Today is my third completed week on this challenge and at the moment I have in my envelopes:
food $11
misc $33
change dish $3.50
I also have $6.53 on my bus card and I started with a fairly full pantry so have plenty of food left. I also hope the lesser amount spent on food will result in weight loss. I've become vegan since last writing so that should help.

I burned the rice and despite much work with the baking soda the pot looks past salvaging. Also I tried my hand at sourdough breadmaking but it turnd out damp inside and not much risen. Si I gave in and bought more yeast.

Yesterday I dropped my watch and it stopped working. As it originally cost me $20 from K Mart 5 years ago, I didn't cry over it. Today I bought another one.

DS emailed out of the blue to say he will be coming back to NZ next month, after 9 years of living in Britain. I have to get a bed for the spare bedroom so he will have somewhere to sleep.

Thanks to walking my legs are in fairly good shape, but the upper half is very weak. I am determined to change that, so I have paid nz$16 for a pair of 2kg dumbells and am working out to a beginners routine with Bob Harper on You Tube. What? me pay for a gym? Well, maybe I will eventually - we shall see how I stick to it.

Today I increased the excess on my house to $5,000 and lowered my premiums by $300 per annum. I can afford to pay for small repairs, i'm only insuring against catastrophic loss. I have only made one claim in the last 30 years.

I happened to be at the other end of town today and while I was there I looked in their local supermarket. Prices are around .10 cents per item lower than mine, but i didn't want to carry a whole load of stuff home on the bus. I did buy 2 kilos of salt for $1.90 and put the saved dime in my change jar.

I walked past my local Member of Parliament's office this morning, down by the campus. Outside was a gold coin lying on the ground, but it turned out to have been glued by some student. I laughed and went on my way, but coming back, I saw it was gone. Someone more determined than me had prised it up.

i got my plumber's bill for $106.44 and went online to pay it right away. I've never been the type to save up all my bills and have one marathon paying session once a month. I pay my bills as soon as I get them so I don't have to keep remembering the due date, and also so I know that the money left in my check account is all mine to spend.

Today is benefit payday. As well, I received $220 from my Bonus Bonds, which will be reinvested, and I found .20 cents. Now to see how much I can hold onto. The only cloud on the horizon is my share of the plumber's bill for a burst pipe which affected all our units.

I have spent only $5 on a prescription in the last 4 days. I finally got it thru my head that if I want to save money I should not go into stores "just to see what's on sale". However I am starting a course tonight, learning the Maori language, so may have to spend on paper, pens and a plate of food.

I put $7 into my 52 Week Money Saving Challenge for a total of $28. I dodn't feel comfortable having cash around the house so, so will invest it in Bonus Bonds.

I was charged $7.70 on my checking a/c for Feb. It's all my fault for using my debit card for minor purchases. New Zealand was the first country where debit cards and ATMs were introduced, and we were encouraged by the banks to use them because it was free, whereas the fees for checks and over-the-counter transactions went up. Once we were all happily using them, a .30 cent per use fee was slapped on. I try to make one cash withdrawal for the week and make all my small purchases in cash, but last month I slipped up.

Some people still get free usage of debit cards, esp students and retirees. It bemuses me when I see them paying for a cup of coffee with the plastic. One time I was bemoaning my high bank fees. Quoth my dad, "I don;t have fees because I'm retired." Quoth DS, "I don't have them because I'm a student." No wonder my fees were so high - I was paying for both of them!

The cheapest rice I have found sells at $5.99 for 5 kg. White rice. I buy brown rice at $1.69 for 1 kg, but the price has just increased by .30 cents. The 5 kg bags of brown work out more expensive, besides brown rice doesn't keep as long as white. Strict budgeting suggests i should buy the cheapest white, but brown is more nutritious and my health is more important than saving money. So I will carry on buying the same brand until i find a better bargain.

Someone told me today about a fruit & vege coop that runs out of one of our nearby churches. Apparently it is only $3 a week for a single person. I must look into it. I'm curious to know how much you get for that amount of money.

One of the quotes at the top of the page - by Tom Robbins, I think - read, "There's a Buddhistic calm that comes from having... money in the bank."

It's true, I'm happy and not worrying now I have ten grand in my emergency fund. Of course the money won't prevent stuff happening, but knowing I've taken practical steps to deal with Murphy helps me feel relaxed and capable of dealing with whatever comes along.

My first no spend this week, plus I found .60 cents.

Neil Diamond is coming to perform at our stadium soon. I had a great time at his concert back in 1974 (OMG! over 40 years ago!) but I'm afraid if I go to this one he may be over the hill and spoil my happy memories. So I'm putting the $100 aside to pay for a visit to the optician.

I am in the third month of my spending fast, and today was the first time I have bought anything but food. My sneakers were worn out, so I bought a new pair at 50% off. I also went to the library book sale, where i got a book of knitting patterns. That was a want rather than a need, but i've wanted this particular book for a long time, and thanks to a small tear on one page, which doesn't hinder reading the instructions, it was mine for $2.