Neil McAndrew, 80, is Dunedin born and bred. He spent his working years as a sales rep, travelling around the South Island from Geraldine to Bluff.
Now living on a pension, McAndrew is well placed to dish his money-saving tips – many inspired by the era he grew up in. He was born just after the end of the World War II.
“Mum would say, ‘look I can’t buy this for groceries this week, but we’ll get it next week’ because they were rationed,” he told RNZ’s Thrift podcast.
These days, he said, it’s like going back in time, still rationing, but in a different way.
McAndrew said he lived pretty much from payday to payday, so every week he made a call on what he spent his dollars on.
“Can I afford to go away for a weekend? I might think, well, next week I’ve got the insurance bill to pay so I’ll give it a miss.”
“[Or] I might think well because I want to go away next week I won’t buy as much food.”
Nearby in St Kilda, 79-year-old Betty Laing is semi-retired, and works part-time at an early childhood centre.
Like McAndrew, her approach to budgeting also harks back to the way she was brought up. It was a simple life, one she believes has lessons for us now.
“I try and get things fixed if I can, doing a wee bit of mending. Or your car, just be gentle with your brake and your accelerator and I’m sure that must cut down on petrol.
“One of the biggest things is just watching what you buy and just think well do I really need that?”
Laing doesn’t like to waste anything – she only buys veges she likes and knows she’ll eat. Every ingredient is accounted for in her meal planning.
A keen baker, there’s always butter and dairy products in her fridge.
“One batch of biscuits, that’s probably the equivalent of two packets of bought biscuits,” she tells Thrift.
She makes her butter go a bit further by mixing in other ingredient such as margarine, and she’s swapped out olive oil for a cheaper oils.
While McAndrew grows some of his own veges, he makes good use of his freezer. Fish, meat, vegetables, ice cream and pies are all stashed in there, helping him pick his portion size without wasting food. He shops around to get good deals.
“That’s a good motto, shop around. There’s always bargains out there.”
However, neither ration their social life. Laing goes out for coffee, visits friends, or they visit her, and she has a weekly lunch date with a group of ladies.
“It’s quite a basic place that we go to, so the meals aren’t expensive.”
McAndrew has a diary stuffed with appointments. He is a member of various clubs in the area, including two men’s friendship groups.
“My favourite club, or one of the many, is the Otago Historic Military Group.
“Another group I’m in is the Otago Orphans Entertainers Club.”
The busyness brings thrifty benefits, he says, so he’s not sitting at home “on your own eating too much”.
The subs for virtually all of his clubs are $20 to $30 a year.
“To me that’s cheap entertainment. It’s good value for money.”
rnz.co.nz
