Readers and the professionals offer their
tips to beat the recession:

READERS:

FOOD

1. Get together with friends, family or
neighbours and buy  groceries, meat and
vegetables in bulk lots

2. Find the cheapest supermarket -
shop wisely

3. Look for cheaper substitutes for
expensive food

4. Don’t buy takeaways except on special
occasions. Home cooked meals are yum

5. Drink water rather than soft drinks

6. Cut back on non-essentials, especially
coffee

7. Consider becoming a vegetarian or vegan

8. Buy in bulk

9. Take your lunch to work

GOODS

10. Swap kiddies clothing as soon as they
grow out of them instead of hanging onto
them

11. If you have two cars, sell one

12. Sell things you can do without on Trademe

13. Buy clothes that will last

BILLS

14. Change to a pre-pay mobile

15. Save on electricity – use extra blankets

LIFESTYLE

16. Stop smoking

17. Cut out Sky. Hire the odd DVD

18. Keep internal optimism. Keep focused
on what’s important/a goal, or intention.
Appreciate what you have today

19. Watch your health – don’t stress

20. Stay warm

21. Carpool or bus

22. Walk the dog instead of going to the gym

23. Limit all hot showers to 10 minutes

24. Shower in the dark, using just the cold tap

25. Try energy saving lamps

26. Repair your clothes instead of buying new
ones

27. Put on more layers of clothes instead of
using the heater

MANAGING YOUR MONEY

28. Put all items on your credit card and get
rewards points

29. If you use a credit card pay it off before
incurring interest

30. Differentiate between need and want -
shop only for needs

31. Get a set amount of cash out every week,
leave credit/EFTPOS cards at home

32. Stop buying Lotto tickets

33. Reduce debt

34. Buy an accounting journal to keep track
of your expenses and income(s)

35. Reduce your broadband plan

WORK

36. If you’re still employed, work hard and
appreciate your job. Don’t give them an
excuse to fire you

37. Set up another income stream, eg home
business/part time job

38. Use automatic payments for bills so you
know how much is left over each week

39. Consolidate loans

TIPS WE DIDN’T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH!

40. Ditch the poor husband and find a rich one

41. Take up smoking – tobacco is cheaper than
food and it’s an appetite suppressant

42. Lick the inside of the baked beans can clean

43. Wait by any duck pond, quite often you’ll
get bits of bread that the ducks haven’t got

44. Lie cheat and steal. The best way to get
through a recession

PROFESSIONALS:

Raewyn Fox, New Zealand Federation of Family
Budgeting Services:

45. Don’t take on debt that you’re not
absolutely sure you will be able to service

46. Be very sure of your income and your job
before taking on more debt

47. Ask yourself, “What will happen to your
debt commitments if you lose your job?”

48. Have a backstop bank account

49. Set up a bank account with enough money
in it to pay for your expenses for up to
two months. That includes mortgage payments,
power, phone and other bills

50. Do some forward planning. Work out a
12 month projection of your expenditure
using bills and bank account statements.
An annual projection is necessary because
it takes into account annual expenditure
such as car registration, winter school
uniforms, rates and insurance payments

51. Don’t wait for the mortgagee sale
notice or the repossession notice

Jackie Gower, Simple Savings NZ:

52. Fill your pantry with staples

53. Start cooking from scratch, instead of
buying expensive ready-made options. “We’ve
lost a lot of basics and survival skills
in the last few decades”

54. Put in a veggie garden. It doesn’t have
to be big but it will help and it’s amazing
how much you don’t have to buy

55. Change your habits. Look at what you’re
spending money on everyday and look at the
big picture

56. Look at the cheaper brands in the
supermarket. Don’t just look at the
products at eye-level, look for specials
and cheaper brands

57. Take a look at electricity. Check your
lights at night and think about which rooms
need to be heated in the winter and which
don’t

About the author:
Blankets

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