For most people holidays involve travel. It’s therefore an appropriate time to remind motorists that safe driving also makes financial sense. We have done some number crunching using the latest motor vehicle operating cost report. This is what we found. The cost of owning a vehicle (ignoring any interest cost or lost income […]
It’s only a few weeks until summer and one can feel a sense of urgency building as people start thinking about sun, sand and an oily rag Christmas! Lots of oily raggers will be planning something special so here are a couple of ideas. No-one can consider themselves a proper kiwi cook without knowing how […]
We can’t believe the year is coming to an end so quickly: as one gets older, the years just seem to get shorter! Christmas is almost here, again, and oily rag households are getting busy planning for the special day. Fortunately the oily rag community has lots of ideas to take the cost out of […]
This week we took a spring dip into the bulging oily rag mailbags to see what fantastically frugal, and sometimes funny ha ha ideas the oily rag community have come up with. As usual we were not disappointed and again marvelled at the creative ways oily raggers come up with to strength a gold coin […]
Living off the smell of an oily rag is all about being frugal with one’s money. That means being sensible about borrowing. Central government is currently reviewing consumer credit laws, and this has awakened media interest in the scandalous Payday Loan industry, which has grown exponentially in recent years. Payday loans are short-term unsecured loans […]
A survey published a few months back revealed some good and no so good news about the spending habits of the imaginary Mr and Ms Average Kiwi. The not so good news is that about a third of us feel that dealing with money is a stressful business, but the good news is that about […]
Oily raggers are not the sort of people to let anything go to waste. It is no surprise that they have lots of ideas to make the most of what others throw out. Here are some suggestions for plastics, paper and tyres. “Use the inside ‘plastic’ bags from cereal packets to wrap left-over food instead […]
Being oily raggish does not have any age restrictions. Young or just young at heart but not years, matters not a jot when it comes to being part of the oily rag lot. The garden is a wonderful place for kids to be kids, and parents or grandparents to be parents. What better place to […]
We, like most people, are curious to know from people who are financially very successful, how they achieved their success. Fortunately, the answer is usually much more mundane than one sees in the movies. It’s usually about service with a smile, enthusiasm and optimism; a frugal eye on costs, and investing generously in things that […]
The oily rag tips from readers just keep coming. This week we have tips from Whangarei in the North to Dunedin in the South, on topics as diverse as snails and play dough. Spring time means oily raggers go gardening. Marion from Auckland has this tip for making a natural weed killer. Mix 1 gallon […]