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Whangarei - cost of living

Whangarei - cost of living

Old May 12th 2007, 12:25 am
  #46  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by soulflour
Hi Louise

We live in Waipu, so Whangarei is our 'big' town that we go to for big grocery shops, cinema, clothes etc...

We have a mortgage and two kids, so i'd imagine out budget priorities are slightly different than yours but i can give you ours if it helps at all?

Firstly booze - i only ever buy the $6.99 specials on wine and they're all yummy (to my budget-deprived palate anyway). Generally they're the same wines I used to buy in the uk - banrock station or hardy's or whatever... so no worries there.

We pay around $16 for a big box of beer.

Our monthly expenses, most of which you won't have are:

Food/groceries: $480 ($120 per week)
Petrol: $200
Elec: $120
Phone: $70
Broadband (uncapped): $54
Health ins: $80
Rates: $50

You won't need to know about the mortgage!! I'm not very 'good' with cars i'm afraid... but i know it costs around $70 to fill ours up...

Will you be working up here?

SF
Hi Soulflour,
You have inspired me. Since arriving in Nov my shopping has spiralled out of control to around $300 per week. With only my OH working this cannot go on. I am ready to do everything i can to sort it out. We dont eat salad, fruit is also not really an option and veg are tolerated abit. I make puddings and am now going to make puddings for school as well. Also biscuits and popcorn for snacks. I am going to get a bread maker for mothers day and a slow cooker for my birthday.
What id like is a recipe for pizza base. I can get a tub of dried yeast at the supermarket.
Also a recipe for chicken and beef caserole(not together)
any other cheap suggestions would be great. I have 3 children who love chicken nuggets etc.
Thanks a bunch.
Carole
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Old May 12th 2007, 4:53 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Hi there, ok you can do this by hand - but when you get your breadmaker I make our pizza bases in it.
It is SO simple

water 1cup
castor sugar 2tbsp
salt 1tsp
sunflower oil 1 tbsp
white flour ( I use the basic cheapest stuff I can find) 2 3/4 cups
dry active yeast 1tsp

and use a dough setting.

takes about an hour ish

and the BEST bases!
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Old May 12th 2007, 8:01 am
  #48  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by pixi-dust
Hi there, ok you can do this by hand - but when you get your breadmaker I make our pizza bases in it.
It is SO simple

water 1cup
castor sugar 2tbsp
salt 1tsp
sunflower oil 1 tbsp
white flour ( I use the basic cheapest stuff I can find) 2 3/4 cups
dry active yeast 1tsp

and use a dough setting.

takes about an hour ish

and the BEST bases!
Pixi-dust thanks.
Any other cheap and cheerful recipes greatfully recieved. Birthday soon so bread maker on the way.
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Old May 12th 2007, 8:47 am
  #49  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by soulflour


Well, it's taken me a year or so to figure it all out, i'm not naturally very good with money... but we HAD to live on a low budget at home when dp was doing his post grad and I had two babes, no income and a big mortgage, so we got really good then!

When we first got here though I was spending about $800 a month, which i knew was crazy, but it took a wee while to get it all sorted...

Firstly, I don't buy any cleaning products at all except for washing up liquid, white vinegar, bleach (which i use in TINY amounts) and bio washing powder. I use bio washing powder in my dishwasher (a friend of ours has a phd in chemistry and was the first to tell me that it's basically the same stuff, then i found out lots of people do it), i use about a third of the recommended amount in my washing machine.. i use the vinegar, bicarb & tiny bit of bleach for everything else. This all started when babes were tiny and we wanted to get all the chems out of our house.

Secondly, i've learnt (and trust me, it's taken time!) that if I ever throw out a food item, then something's wrong. Stuff can ALWAYS be frozen/made into soup/saved for 'left over's night' etc. That was big learning thing for us. So if we have fruit collecting it's pension in the fruit bowl, for instance, it becomes a crumble or icecream or a cobbler and goes in the freezer.

Um, i batch cook for the freezer so when i'm at work (3 days a week) i have 'ready meals' to use so that i don't buy takeaways.

I make all our lunches (4 packed lunches) each day so we don't buy food - but again in my freezer i have HUGE tubs of mini pizzas, quiches, sandwiches, cakes, tarts, cooked chicken drumsticks, cheese biscuits, humus, tubs of soup, lasagnes frozen in individual portions - lots of stuff (all homemade) so that each night or morning all i have to do is open the lid and pull out a few bits each and then add some fruit or yogurt (home made )

I have a breadmaker, a slow cooker and a pressure cooker and i use them all constantly (we make all our bread). The slow cooker means that you can use cheaper cuts of meat and also get in from work to dinner all waiting for you! I make things like pitta breads too, and once you do you realise how much you're paying over the odds buying them ready done.

Um, we only have meat say twice a week? We eat a lot of fish and pulses - tonight for instance we had falafel with humus and salad in wraps, and the falafel, humus and wraps were all homemade - works out SO much cheaper. Night before that was a huge homemade pizza and garlic dough balls, there were two slices left (it was massive!) so of course they're now in the freezer for lunches next week.

Do you know, thinking about it, i very rarely go to supermarkets - i'm sure that makes the difference. I buy flour in bulk and have a big tub for it in my pantry, so i buy that. I keep a supply of things like butter etc in my freezer... but once you start making everything yourself you realise how little 'stuff' you really need.

We use that $120 for anything else that we need too - so last week for instance we drove down and took the kids to auckland zoo ($40 + $17 on icecreams and stuff) and still had tons of food left!

This week i've spent $100 already - it's swings and roundabouts really.. but we never go over our $120 - it's like a challenge - we have a savings account for the first time and watching that go up is a bigger high than spending it all (it's taken me some time to realise this ).

I did have to cut down on booze - but tbh that's no bad thing - we were drinking silly amounts when we first got here (woo-hoo! barbies, sea, sun DRINK! ha ha) so now I try to stick to weekends... (i say try).

I use the boards here
for help and recipe ideas (i've learnt loads from there) and it helps that dp and I are both a bit anti-logo anti-corporation... i'd rather eat sawdust than buy anything connected to nestle, for example...

It also helps that my boys are both really good eaters that eat everything and anything (something i made sure of) - both love curry and olives and 'spikey' food (spicy!). They both start the day with 1. cereal 2. porridge and then 3. toast! I don't know how they do it - but it does seem to set them up well.... the most i can manage in the mornings is a smoothie!! (h/m of course...)

If I think of anything else I'll let you know. But really, it's a question of starting small and gaining confidence and realising how much you can do (and trust me, i don't spend all day in the kitchen). That thing about never throwing anything out is my biggest tip, from an ideological perspective too really (in these anti-consumerism global warming days!). Oh, and yes, try to buy fruit and veg IN SEASON... this is even more important in NZ than in the UK where food travelling thousands of miles and still costing pennies has obsured it somewhat - it's a shock to realise that you can't buy 'salad' all year round here... without exploring 'salad' and learning about winter salads etc. of course.

good luck!

x
Hi Soulflour,
For us thick people out there, can you tell us exactly what washing powder for the dishwasher. Is it reaaly as good?
Cheers
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Old May 12th 2007, 9:02 am
  #50  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by Spacecake799
Hi Soulflour,
You have inspired me. Since arriving in Nov my shopping has spiralled out of control to around $300 per week. With only my OH working this cannot go on. I am ready to do everything i can to sort it out. We dont eat salad, fruit is also not really an option and veg are tolerated abit. I make puddings and am now going to make puddings for school as well. Also biscuits and popcorn for snacks. I am going to get a bread maker for mothers day and a slow cooker for my birthday.
What id like is a recipe for pizza base. I can get a tub of dried yeast at the supermarket.
Also a recipe for chicken and beef caserole(not together)
any other cheap suggestions would be great. I have 3 children who love chicken nuggets etc.
Thanks a bunch.
Carole
You cannot go wrong with keeping the recipe cheap and simple, if you begin with 2 large chopped onions cooked really slowly in a little butter or oil, with the lid on, until soft. chop the beef into 1inch chunks and shake the pieces in flavoured [salt and pepper to taste] plain flour, add 3-4 chopped carrots, tip in on top of the onions, stir about to mix, add 1 pint of stock [or water] and leave to simmer really gently for an hour - best of all use a casserole and cook it in a slow over. If you put some baking potatoes on the rack in to the oven at the same time, you should end up with the whole meal ready at the same time! Bon appetit! For better economy, you can add more vegetables to the casserole, make dumplings out of flour/herbs/suet to cook for the final 20 minutes on top of the casserole.
Hope this helps
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Old May 12th 2007, 10:12 am
  #51  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Hi Carole,

This is our recipe for a chicken casserole. It was passed on by my mum. I make it in the oven. It's a very easy meal to prepare and our family all love it.

Chop up and put in casserole dish:

carrots, peeled potatoes, leeks, tinned sweetcorn & chicken (I use whole chicken thighs with skins left one, the meat is so tender and cheap) and enough stock to cover. I use stock cubes for convenience although homemade stock would be even better.

Cook for approx 2 hours until contents are cooked through, chicken skin has browned and the potatoes & carrots have absorbed lots of stock and taste absolutely delicious. I can say this as a general hater of coooked carrots!

Serve with rice.

Yum. We haven't had it for a while but I think we might well do.

One of my children's favourite meals, which was requested last night, since you mentioned chicken nuggets is the following:

Homemade breaded chicken fried in a little vegetable oil. I cut up chicken breasts, cover in flour, dip in egg and roll in breadcrumbs. They are even nicer with rosemary put in the egg mixture and garlic added to the frying oil.

Served with cous cous. Our kids adore cous cous (& risotto). For this, I finely chop up a bunch of spring/salad onions, 1 large courgette and 1/2- 1 block of feta cheese. (Latest version, but it's very adaptable!)

Fry onions in butter, add courgette and continue to fry on low heat until soft. Add hot chicken/veg stock (1 cup - eg 1-2 stock cubes dissolved in a cup of kettle water) and keep on heat for 1-2 mins. Then remove from heat, place veggies in a big bowl and add cous cous. All this should be covered with liquid - if stock cubes/concentrated stock was used, the additional water can then simply be from the boiled kettle.

Cover the bowl with a plate for c. 5 minutes. Make sure the cous cous doesn't totally dry out (if it does, add more water.) When ready, add feta cheese. And a little good olive oil if you wish, although not necessary.

HTH - Carmen x
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Old May 12th 2007, 11:29 am
  #52  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by Spacecake799
Hi Soulflour,
. We dont eat salad, fruit is also not really an option and veg are tolerated abit.
Have to say I'm a bit concerned about your statement. Is this due to cost of these things, dislike of them or both?

You can always try the market gardens/orchards if they are not too far away. Also buy fruit & vege that are in season, on special etc. You can put quite a bit of veg on a pizza, in casseroles, curries, homemade soups etc

When fruit and veg get pricey I cut down (or out) juices, softdrinks, potato chips etc. Basically the stuff manufacturers want us to buy but we don't need! It can be difficult with kids I know but if you don't buy it then they just have to accept that and it's better for their health anyway not to have as much processed foods.

Baking your own biscuits etc makes a nice treat as they are fresh and tasty.

Salads don't have to be a tomato, bit of lettuce and grated carrot; There's a whole world of salads out their and a great simple dressing is a little extra virgin olive oil mixed with a little lemon juice.

I make most of my stuff from scratch too (a food processor and blender are real handy here) but sometimes I dont have the time or inclination.

A SIMPLE CHICKEN CURRY

2-3 TBspns of your fav pataks or sharwoods curry paste

couple of green or red chillies sliced thin(seeds in or out.can omit if you prefer it milder)

8 chicken legs

700g Kumara diced (sweet potato)

Can of low fat coconut milk

1TBspn oil

Heat lge pan turn down and saute chillies and chicken till lightly browned.
Whack in kumara coconut milk and curry paste.stir. Cook on med heat for a few mins then turn down to low. Cook for around 45-60 mins stirring occaisionally. Make sure kumara has softened, if not turn up heat a bit. Serve on Jasmine rice. Add a little fresh chopped corriander in last few mins and garnish with same. You can also squeeze a little lemon or lime juice in as well if you like. Also other optionals are some kaffir lime leaves and onion chopped and added at the saute stage. I try to buy KLL loose or else by a bunch and make up a couple of family sized dishes to freeze for later.

If you have a food processor you can simply make a green or red curry paste from scratch once you have a recipe for it, and omit the pataks curry paste.

Last edited by kiwi_child; May 12th 2007 at 11:38 am. Reason: Additional info
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Old May 12th 2007, 3:03 pm
  #53  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by soulflour
It's great isn't it?

I think people will be surprised how much they can earn before these kick in too - we are on $70k combined (my job's only wee, for a charity )

good eh?

All of you paying childcare - get applying!!

Oh, we get family credit too! $121 a fortnight!

Do they tell you how to apply for all these things? do you have to be in the country for a certain amount of time first? I kind of assumed that we wouldnt be able to get anything like this and I have been worrying about our money (I have 3 boys, 10, 7 and 2) and only want to work part time (OH is a joiner so wont be earning a huge amount). Every bit helps!!

My top tip for food: my children hate carrots so I always grate them and put them in spag bol and shep pie, they eat it no problems!


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Old May 12th 2007, 3:55 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

[QUOTE=kiwi_child;4770043]Have to say I'm a bit concerned about your statement. Is this due to cost of these things, dislike of them or both?

QUOTE]

Yes I agree. Apparently, the (UK) Govt's recommendation of '5 a Day' is an absolute minimum we should be eating. I read recently that it should be more like 9 portions a day! Ultimately, if we all eat the things we need, there's no room left for any (yummy) crap!

Chicken curry sounds delicious. I want to try it. Do you put the chicken legs in as they are or pull the meat off, maybe when cooked prior to serving? I've only ever had 'curries' with meat off the bone, hence the question. I say 'meat', but I don't eat red meat, so curries are always chicken in our house!

Hope you are happy in Perth. Carmen x
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Old May 12th 2007, 4:34 pm
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

[QUOTE=uk+kiwi;4770770]
Originally Posted by kiwi_child
Have to say I'm a bit concerned about your statement. Is this due to cost of these things, dislike of them or both?

QUOTE]

Yes I agree. Apparently, the (UK) Govt's recommendation of '5 a Day' is an absolute minimum we should be eating. I read recently that it should be more like 9 portions a day! Ultimately, if we all eat the things we need, there's no room left for any (yummy) crap!

Chicken curry sounds delicious. I want to try it. Do you put the chicken legs in as they are or pull the meat off, maybe when cooked prior to serving? I've only ever had 'curries' with meat off the bone, hence the question. I say 'meat', but I don't eat red meat, so curries are always chicken in our house!

Hope you are happy in Perth. Carmen x
Hi Carmen. nah I can't stand Perth LOL Will be making the move back to NZ or over to UK in the next 18mths approx. Have family in NZ but would love to live in UK and visit EU (have british passport). Just abit concerned about being mid 40s and jobhunting there. RU still in UK? What part?

The chicken curry: I buy the legs (or fullsize drumsticks) from the deli in the supermarket.They usually come with the skin off. If you prefer you can scrape the meat off the bones after they have been cooking a while (as it falls/comes off easier then) and return to pot, or you can serve still attached to the bone.

The liquid in this curry is simply delish poured over the meat and rice!
PS: You can also use chicken thighs (about 1-1.5kg), just skin them of fat and then take all the meat off and throw the large thigh frames/bones in the curry until its all cooked, then get the last (hard to get) meat off them before tossing the bones away.

Last edited by kiwi_child; May 12th 2007 at 4:47 pm. Reason: Additional Info
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Old May 12th 2007, 10:28 pm
  #56  
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by kiwi_child
Have to say I'm a bit concerned about your statement. Is this due to cost of these things, dislike of them or both?

You can always try the market gardens/orchards if they are not too far away. Also buy fruit & vege that are in season, on special etc. You can put quite a bit of veg on a pizza, in casseroles, curries, homemade soups etc

When fruit and veg get pricey I cut down (or out) juices, softdrinks, potato chips etc. Basically the stuff manufacturers want us to buy but we don't need! It can be difficult with kids I know but if you don't buy it then they just have to accept that and it's better for their health anyway not to have as much processed foods.

Baking your own biscuits etc makes a nice treat as they are fresh and tasty.

Salads don't have to be a tomato, bit of lettuce and grated carrot; There's a whole world of salads out their and a great simple dressing is a little extra virgin olive oil mixed with a little lemon juice.

I make most of my stuff from scratch too (a food processor and blender are real handy here) but sometimes I dont have the time or inclination.

A SIMPLE CHICKEN CURRY

2-3 TBspns of your fav pataks or sharwoods curry paste

couple of green or red chillies sliced thin(seeds in or out.can omit if you prefer it milder)

8 chicken legs

700g Kumara diced (sweet potato)

Can of low fat coconut milk

1TBspn oil

Heat lge pan turn down and saute chillies and chicken till lightly browned.
Whack in kumara coconut milk and curry paste.stir. Cook on med heat for a few mins then turn down to low. Cook for around 45-60 mins stirring occaisionally. Make sure kumara has softened, if not turn up heat a bit. Serve on Jasmine rice. Add a little fresh chopped corriander in last few mins and garnish with same. You can also squeeze a little lemon or lime juice in as well if you like. Also other optionals are some kaffir lime leaves and onion chopped and added at the saute stage. I try to buy KLL loose or else by a bunch and make up a couple of family sized dishes to freeze for later.

If you have a food processor you can simply make a green or red curry paste from scratch once you have a recipe for it, and omit the pataks curry paste.
Hi,
I hate to say it but we actually dont like fruit, veg and salad.
My OH eats it all and my daughter is not bad. Unfortunatly i have never eaten fruit, cant bear the thought of it. Veg has to be cooked to oblivion and salads also a no no. Wish it was different.
Carole
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Old May 13th 2007, 1:36 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Originally Posted by Spacecake799
Hi,
I hate to say it but we actually don't like fruit, veg and salad.
My OH eats it all and my daughter is not bad. Unfortuntly I have never eaten fruit, cant bear the thought of it. Veg has to be cooked to oblivion and salads also a no no. Wish it was different.
Carole
And yet you are still alive. Unbelievable. You must have a special digestive system. If I tried to live on what you eat I'd be dead within the year. Wow...no fruit, ever? All I gotta say is...wow.
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Old May 13th 2007, 3:42 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

Carole - that means that you're eating meat, pulses and carbs.... and that's all???? is that right?

The general consensus is that you can make yourself like a food by eating it 10 times.... and I really think that you should try and work on that! If you have kids you're going to be setting them up for health problems later on if you really REALLY don't eat salad, fruit, or much veg I'm worried about you too!

If the 10 times thing doesn't work you could try hypnotherapy or something?

Anway, the pizza base recipe I use is the same as pixi-dust's - but I don't use any sugar in mine.

Make sure to buy your dried yeast in binn inns - where you'll find it in vacum sealed packets like real coffee which hold about 3 times as much as the jars in supermarkets and is the same price. Also, just buy the basic yeast, rather than the ones with 'additives' (which are only citric acid or 'bread improver' (actually gluten flour, which many people are sensitive too anyway)). I have an old yeast jar which I decant the bin inns stuff into, and keep it all in the fridge.

Caramalised onion is yummy on pizzas, and easy and very cheap - just cook some onions down with a teaspoon of sugar on a lowish heat until they're all brown and sweet and scrummy (there's a veg you could eat - i BET you'd all eat them!).

Try to think 'outside' the traditional salad of lettuce, cucumber and toms - you need to eat more with the seasons here anyway (budget wise I mean!) so start exploring the veg that you CAN eat raw, with different dressings... there are loads and loads you can do - vegetarian web sites are good for these.

I also have a fab carrot cake recipe that is really REALLY nice and quite healthy - good for lunchboxes if you'd like.

xx
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Old May 13th 2007, 3:45 am
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Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

ooh - just to say that your slow cooker will be fab for casseroles - when searching for recipes use 'crock pot' which is what the americans call them.

If your kids like chicken nuggets (PLEASE tell me you're not buying them! you don't want to begin to hear what's in them ) then they're really really easy to make with chicken meat (the remains of a roast, for example - after a roast you roll your sleeves up and pull off EVERY last scrap of meat then boil the bones for stock!) and some breadcrumbs (use up old bread, freeze it if necesssary till you have enough).

Let us know how you get on - especially with eating veggies and fruit!

x
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Old May 13th 2007, 3:47 am
  #60  
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soulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nicesoulflour is just really nice
Default Re: Whangarei - cost of living

As for the washing powder - i just use the cheapest bio washing powder I can find!
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