More tips from frugal families – by Frank and Muriel Newman

The mail bags have again been full of great oily rag tips from the ever growing oily rag community. Here are some tips received in the last week and we report on the key findings of the price of flour survey.

D.H. from Howick writes, “Hide keys, rings, jewellery etc in an empty baked bean tin and place it up high on a shelf when you go away. Should anyone break in when you're away, valuables will appear to be part of the larder! Harder to find than easy places like the dressing table in the bedroom!”

Jeff Cameron from Te Awamutu says, “Don't spend heaps on anti virus software! Avast antivirus offer a free version that gives protection as good as the top brands but no yearly renewal fee. Just Google avast and make sure you choose the free version.”

SMP from Whangarei writes, “The local refuse centre has been a great place to buy books for our daughter. I have purchased Margaret Mahy, Lynley Dodd, Maori language books for 10-20 cents each. Some books I’ve seen in book stores for $20-$40.”

D.H. from Howick writes, “Plug all of your tv, dvd, sky, freeview etc devices into a multi-plug adaptor. When you go to bed, turn the one switch off at the wall and all those annoying power hungry devices that would normally be on standby 24/7 will be off when you don't want them. One flick of the switch when you want to use them will fire the whole lot up again. Say Bye Bye to Standby!”

We recently asked the oily rag community about the most economical way to buy flour. Hundreds of responses came in from all over oilyragaroa. This is what we found.
• The cheapest way to buy flour is in a 20kg bag. A reader from New Plymouth pays $15.60 for a 20 kg bag of high grade bakers’ flour (that’s 78 cents a kg). The next best price was 90 cents a kg for a 20kg bag bought at Gilmours in Tauranga. The only other place to buy flour for under a $1 a kg is in a 10kg bag purchased from New World in Oamaru.
• For those buying smaller bags, 5kg bags averaged around $1.40 a kg. There was very little difference in the supermarket prices, ranging between $1.35 and $1.43 a kg, with Pack N Save coming in with the lowest price. Supermarkets offered better value than some of the bulk bin outlets. The average cost of a 1.5kg bag was $1.55.
• One word of caution, bulk is not always the best buy and there is quite a big price difference depending on the retailer. We found one bulk outlet that promotes the economies of bulk buying, had higher prices.
• Our pick? We reckon you can’t go to far wrong buying a 2.5kg bag of plain Campion flour from Pak N Save. It costs just over a $1 a kg and offers good value and a convenient size for most kitchens.
• The most expensive way to buy flour was by the 100 gram.

Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag by Frank & Muriel Newman is available from all good bookstores or online at www.oilyrag.co.nz If you have some favourite motoring off the smell of an oily rag tips, share them with others by visiting the oily rag website or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

* Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living Off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ . Readers can submit their oily rag tips on-line at www.oilyrag.co.nz. The book is available from bookstores and online at www.oilyrag.co.nz.

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