GrownUps New Zealand

Saving Money and Having Fun

 Read more Oily Rag articles by Frank and Muriel Newman

This week we have great pleasure launching the inaugural Oily Rag Master Chef competition. We are now taking entries from oily rag cooks across the nation to find out the best oily rag dish. There are of course conditions. The recipe must be a family favourite, and it must be cheap to make. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. The winner will be declared the Top Oily Rag Master Chef 2012, and will no doubt gain immediate celebrity status, to be pursued by the paparazzi, appear on TV commercials, and feature on the cover of women’s magazines besides the like of Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Angelina Jolie.

So don’t be shy. Contact us via our website, www.oilyrag.co.nz, and send in your favourite frugal recipes.

With that important announcement out of the way, let’s turn to another important topic which gets talked about a lot in government circles: D-E-B-T, and how to get out of the debt trap. The best way of course is to not get into the debt trap in the first place by having good money habits. But since good money habits can’t be bought at your local convenience store, here are a few oily rag home truths that we need to be reminded of from time to time.

If you are finding it impossible to keep your head above an ever-rising tide of debt there are really only two things you can do: sell assets to repay the debt, or spend less. Selling assets or downsizing the home will be a hard decision to make, but it’s what you may need to do if you are caught in a debt vice. Those in a less desperate situation will simply need to be more creative about how they save money.

Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. If you have a favourite tip then share it with others via www.oilyrag.co.nz or post it to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei 0140.

* 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.