When going out of town we always check www.wotif.com and www.lastminute.co.nz for motels and hotels. Great rooms and really great prices. We also use www.holidayhomes.co.nz and www.holidayhouses.co.nz for when the whole family are going away for a few nights or more. All 3 sites have been very helpful and have saved a thousands in accommodation. […]
If you (holiday) house swap with family members then you don’t have to advertise and you should know whether your place will be looked after or not.
Did you know there is a network of couch swappers? There were in fact 3950 couches available in New Zealand at the time of this posting! It works a bit like a social networking site. You put up your profile, say you have a couch available, and people make contact and sleep on your couch […]
I need to share with your readers my experience with a tradesman (plumber). I had some work done on remodeling a bathroom. The cost included 5.5 hours of labour at $39.50 an hour (which was fair enough I thought), but what I had not expected was the $653.06 charged for materials. When I queried the […]
Here’s an interesting story sent in by a reader. “It can’t be, it must be a mistake, they must have overcharged me” – I thought as a raced out the door of my local hardware store. “They stuff I just bought was on special. They’ve charged me the full quid!” “No, it’s not a mistake” […]
Gain extra storage space under a bed base that is too low by placing 5cm blocks of wood under the legs. This enabled me to fit 3 plastic under-the-bed storage boxes beneath a single bed. Boxes measure 800mm by 400mm by 170mm deep and there is 20mm clearance gap with that under my bed. The […]
When using paint in spray can, do not turn the can over to clear the nozzle. This wastes the paint that is in the tube and uses the pressure to do so. Take the spray nozzles off and keep it in a small jar with turps. Re-attach when needed again. I use a lot of […]
Learn how to do basic repairs. First step – read the manual! It is amazing how much money the do-it-yourself-dunce wastes by not knowing how to do some of the basic stuff. Jobs like repairing a broken window, fixing a toilet cistern, replacing a light fitting, and so on. If you still find you are […]
Many service manuals are available free online. I recently diagnosed and repaired my very geriatric F and P smartdrive washing machine by finding the service manual and engaging in a bit of problem solving and DIY. The Service Manual is different to the User Manual that you get given when you buy a machine. The […]
After partially using a pale of paint, paint a stripe on the outside of the pale. That will show you how much paint in left in the tin, and also the colour!