Let’s work together to help you get through, budgeting tips, grocery budgets and more
You may have noticed that over the past 6 months (or more), your grocery bill has been higher than usual. Or perhaps you’re noticing it more in petrol if you’re on the road a lot. These are only two common examples of the cost-of-living increases that many Kiwis are facing today. How did we get here? The short answer is rising inflation. Inflation has hit a record high of 7.3%. If you’re not too familiar with inflation, don’t worry as you’re not the only one. We’ll try to unpack this heavy topic for you lightly.
Inflation is what happens when prices for goods and services rise on average. Essentially when demand for goods and services outstrips supply, this leads to a rising cost for those goods and services. It means that, in simple terms, your money is buying you less today than what it was 6 months ago. A relevant example of this is what we have been seeing in the construction industry – when the number of people who want to build a house increases, then the demand for housing materials and construction workers increases with it. This, therefore, drives the price of those goods and services up.
If we look at the example above you can hopefully see how this scenario can be applied to food, clothing, petrol, power and gas. With all the demand and increasing prices, without the rise in the average wage, naturally, we’re faced with a problem: people are needing to stretch their dollars even further for basics.
To learn more about inflation, visit the link in our references for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s detailed description of what can impact inflation.
So, where’s a good place to start? Budgeting
Budgeting is an effective tool that we highly recommend. Here are some of our top budgeting tips:
1) Take a deep dive into your spending. Really take a look at what you can cut back on – it’s a fine line between being realistic but also being firm.
2) Set up a rainy-day fund if you can. You’d be surprised – even putting aside $5 a week into this rainy-day fund can lessen the stress. It can be great for small things that you may not account for in your budget, for example, if a personal item breaks or an unexpected cost occurs! We appreciate that this might not be possible for everyone but if you’re in a fortunate position to do so, it’s definitely worth trying.
3) Review the way you structure paying your bills. Perhaps putting a little bit aside each week for your bills might be easier than having to make a big lump sum payment once a month.
Our next tips drill right down into some of today’s biggest money suckers: petrol and groceries
Groceries:
1) Always make a list
It may sound like admin… but trust us – it helps. It keeps you on track for priority items and doesn’t have you steering for the ‘nice-to-have-treats aisle’. If you’re after a great list-making hack – check out the TikTok video below. Still each week this blows our minds that we didn’t think of it… so simple. Please note this is not sponsored content for Countdown, simply a great supermarket hack. A grocery list is such a simple way to cut back on some of that unnecessary spending at the supermarket.
@emily.rmartin You wont see me doing my weekly shop in a supermarket again. With cost of living on the rise online shopping has been a great way to manage my spend and it takes me around 10 mins to order a full week of groceries. 🤯 – this post is not spon (although you are so welcome Countdown) #hack #savingmoney #groceryshopping #lifehacks ♬ Lo-fi hip hop – NAO-K
2) This leads nicely to our next helpful recommendation – online grocery shopping
It’s a great way to cut back on those cheeky things that sneak into the cart while you are at the supermarket. We see you… throwing in that extra herbal tea flavour in the cart…. to add to your collection of 5 or 6 different tea varieties at home.
Added bonus? An online shop allows you to order from the comfort of your own home – saving you time and money on petrol. If you’re like us and live out of town spending extra money on petrol just for groceries is a no-go. With online shopping, you can pick up groceries after work, daycare pick-up, or better yet if you live in town, delivery is cheaper than petrol these days. Another non-sponsored Countdown praise, but they now offer a $23 a month delivery fee – that’s $5.75 a week for unlimited deliveries.
3) Bulk cooking
Now we’re truly cooking with gas: this is a hack we can get behind. Buying more when something is on special can really help your budget. Get that 1kg of mince when it’s discounted and cook it up. Split it into three or four meals and freeze it. Then whenever you have a tight week, (maybe the car needed a service or an unexpected doctor’s appointment crept in), you still have something in the freezer to eat.
On another bulk cooking note, does a member of your family has a farm, or perhaps a work-mate has a lifestyle block? With the rising cost of meat, going halves on a beast can be a great way to stock up the freezer full of meat. We know the upfront cost can be daunting and it’s definitely a privilege not afforded to everyone, but if it’s something you have access to, it might be worth considering.
Try to cook enough for lunch the next day! If you can, pack the lunch before you eat your dinner. If you find yourself hungry again after dinner, you can always have a piece of toast… but at the office, if you’re hungry after lunch, what’s the bet you’ll pop out and spend money at the cafe down the road?
4) If you have access to the space, grow your own vegetables, herbs and fruit
You’d be amazed how much this can help the grocery budget. It can be daunting when you get started, with everyone’s opinions on what, where, and how to grow it best for your family. Our biggest piece of advice is to grow what you eat. You could even grow with friends, One fortnight you plant the spinach and they plant the carrots, and then you can swap half of your produce.
We live in a digitally-led world where you have all the information you need to be able to cut back on costs, at your fingertips. There are many different people out there putting videos on a variety of social media platforms showing how they feed 4 people for $20 – give it a google. It might not be the food you are used to but grocery shopping on a budget can definitely be done and does not have to be bland.
We hope this article has been helpful to get you thinking of ways you can make changes to your everyday living to help manage the ever-rising cost of living. You may not be able to do them all, but even trying to integrate one or two tips may go a long way.
References links:
Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Monetary Policy
Contact us
If you’re left with questions, or simply want to sit down and chat to us about what this might mean for your personal circumstances, reach out and get in touch.
While we’re home loan experts, our blog posts are for general information purposes only and are not intended as financial advice. If at any stage you need personalised advice, get in touch on 06 8788 4444 or Ben or Mark.
