Finance

People say times are challenging, and for some they are, but it's moments like these that the oily rag pioneering spirit of frugality, thrift and adventure is reawakened

"Free" is a word everyone living off the smell of an oily rag loves to hear. It is surprising how many things are free - everything from buses to sofas!

There're always lots of odd jobs to do around the home but even odd jobs can add up to thousands of dollars in costs. Fortunately, many of those costs can be avoided.

In this column we are going to depart from our normal selection of new money saving tips for the frugal minded, to announce an important new shopping psyche discovery.

 Read more Oily Rag articles by Frank and Muriel Newman  We had a huge response to ...

Last week we received an emergency phone call. It was the lovely lady at NZ Post. Desperate, she was - "Can you PLEASE come and clear your mail box. Oily Rag mail has overflowed onto the floor and is piled up to the ceiling!"

Its holiday time, which for many is about sharing, caring, and food. Food usually plays a major part in the festive conviviality's and social engagements so our thoughts once again turned to ways to entertain family and friends with frugality and fun.

It's quiz time. How do your oily rag skills rate? Here's your chance to find out, by taking the oily rag test. Answer these simple questions, then see how you rate.

It is traditional in January to make promises for the year ahead. For many, these resolutions are more about aspiration than they are fact, but oily rag folk like aspiration so we thought it would be worth reflecting on penny-pinching resolutions, mottos

Surveys, surveys, surveys. There have been lots recently so we thought we would recap on what they tell us about our spending habits. How do you rate on the Christmas spendometer?