New Zealand: Saving for survival

As the cost of living stretches household budgets to breaking point and beyond, many people are reassessing their spending habits and lifestyles in order to make ends meet.

‘Sides to middle.” It’s a phrase evoking vivid memories for a generation of New Zealanders


…It seems extreme in today’s disposable culture. It’s hard to imagine young sophisticates even contemplating cutting up old linen, rather than popping into Briscoes for a new set, much less piecing together a patchwork of curtain lining out of old cloth nappies.

But spending attitudes are changing. With petrol prices up more than 30 cents a litre on last year, a basket of basic groceries up 25 per cent and fixed mortgage rates pushing 10 per cent, many are feeling the pinch and looking to their parents and grandparents, as well as new technology, for ways to save money.

Stuff