Happy Oily Ragger from Mangawhai writes. “Last year one of your columns inspired us to get some chickens. We made a nice cage for them so they are well housed and free range through an orchard we put in recently – also inspired by an oily rag lifestyle. It is all working so well. We […]

Last week NS from Canterbury asked for pet friendly ideas for controlling insects like ants and spiders. Gaynor from Paraparaumu has this anti-ant tip. “I sprinkle ant sand around the exterior of my house. I also put plastic containers of cloves on some windows sills.” Gaynor is referring to a commercial product called ‘NO Ants […]

While the country was coated in ice like a wedding cake we got thinking about ways to keep warm in winter – without having to go on holiday to a tropical island! Some people say there’s nothing like a good hot cup of tea to warm you up, but that got us thinking about meals […]

The winter chill has set in so oily rag households have the wood burning stoves stoked up and the slow cookers brewing warm winter meals. A couple of weeks ago Andrew asked: “Does anyone have some super simple, cheap recipes for meals for cold winter nights that are suitable for a young family?” It is […]

On Thursday the Government released its Budget, and lots of people had a lot to say about there being too little money. We are told +250,000 kids (and presumably their parents) are living in poverty. The strange thing about poverty is that nowadays it seems to be defined as living in a household with a […]

Many thanks to those who have risen to the challenge and offered suggestions to some oily rag questions from readers. Valmae recently asked, “What do others recommend as the easiest and most efficient method of tracking our money? Is there some great cheap or free oily rag software or already set up spreadsheet? Would be […]

We have previously written about giant pumpkins, but never before about giant feijoas. Unlike pumpkins, which are measured in hundreds of kilograms, giant feijoas are measured in hundreds of grams. Hawke’s Bay Today reports a new New Zealand record has been set by a couple, Roger and Julie, from Havelock North. They have raised some […]

Fair Go ran an interesting segment about a couple (Mike and Kirsten) who were having money worries, despite being a +$100k income household – the sort of household that some politicians call “rich”. Trouble was, Mike and Kirsten were not rich, and like many, were working hard but not getting ahead. They had a $410k mortgage which at the current repayment rate was going to take 25 years to repay.