PHOTO
Lyn Webster believes how you spend money is more an attitude than anything. About four years ago the former Dunedin woman, a solo mum and dairy farmer, was in danger of losing her business and decided she had to do something about it.
''It opened my eyes to where the money was going. I had plenty of money coming in but it was all going out the other side,'' she says on the phone from Northland, where she leases a dairy farm and works it by herself.
She has written Pig Tits and Parsley Sauce (Penguin) about how she slashed her grocery spending from more than $200 a week for herself and two teenage children to $100, then to $75 for three people and a baby when her grandson was born and his father moved in, and now to $35 for herself and one daughter.
They are the better for it too, because they are eating more healthily, she says.
The title of the book comes from a humorous saying of her mother's when the young Lyn, growing up in Mosgiel, asked what was for dinner. It was the first thing she thought of when she offered to write a budgeting column for a Taranaki newspaper when she started her new regimen.
In it she tells her story, shares tips and a few recipes for food, cosmetics and cleaning products, and encourages readers to rethink their own shopping habits.
She believes the world is set up to encourage you to buy, and she had to change her attitude to save her money.
''I'd just fallen into the habit of using all those products and desiring them, but now I'm taking a step back, I'm a bit horrified because it's not very sustainable, not for me financially or for the environment or anything, yet the normal way of living is a buying frenzy,'' she said.
''I got the wake-up call because I couldn't proceed with what I wanted to because of my own stupid fault wasting money. I thought, what is something simple, everyday that I can do? OK, I've got control over the groceries, so I'll slam a limit on that.''
She limited herself to $100 a week, writing down everything she spent on food, snacks, cosmetics and cleaning products, and if she spent more than her limit, she deducted it from the next week's allowance. Her children, although not entirely happy at giving up chippies, packet snacks, biscuits, cakes, cereals and canned and bottled drinks, joined in the task of working out the best-value products and learned to make their own cakes and biscuits.
She no longer threw things in the shopping trolley because they seemed like a good idea, but thought about the value of each item, and whether she could conveniently do it herself instead.
Products like ready-grated cheese may seem convenient but it only takes a minute or two to grate your own and it's much cheaper, she says.
At first there was a buffer because of all the food stockpiled in her pantry, but when that was gone, she was in danger of running out of food before the end of the week. However, she found that by paying more attention to what she chose, her grocery dollar went further.
Own-brand products and fruit and vegetable specials were on the shopping list. Fruit and vegetables and meat were usually cheaper at specialist shops or markets - and, of course, you can grow your own, she says. Living on a farm, she has milk and eggs available, but she also uses whatever is around - watercress from the stream or grapefruit from a neighbour's tree - and freezes anything that's in abundance in her vegetable garden.
She threw out the old idea of a meal being meat and three veg and now eats less meat, often serving vegetarian meals or using smaller portions of less expensive meat cuts and bulking up with potatoes, bread, dumplings, rice, pasta or pulses - but flavouring them with delicious sauces, she says.
Not only her grocery bill but also her waste and rubbish have reduced drastically. She no longer throws out food they haven't eaten, but cooks less and uses any leftovers the next day.
She uses as much of the fruit and vegetables as she can so her free-range chickens only get the scraps humans don't want instead of all the food she used to throw out, she says.
Cleaning and toiletry products also took a cut as she discovered the many uses of baking soda and vinegar, including for washing and conditioning hair, washing clothes and dishes, and other cleaning jobs. Instead of buying from the aisles stacked with cleaning products for every purpose, she makes her own washing powder, moisturisers and cleaning agents, and finds most of them so good, she doesn't want to return to the commercial products.
''In my opinion, everything we buy for cleaning our homes is advertised on TV and it's all just such a lie. I think those products are just an outlet to get rid of chemicals from some other industry. They tart them up and sell them to the housewives and we buy them like stupid people. And they are all in plastic bottles, so it's all just contributing to the landfill and the horrible things it's doing to the earth,'' Ms Webster says.
In her book she gives several recipes for cleaning and cosmetic products, and more are available from her website, but she points out that the internet has a wealth of free recipes and tips, and so have public libraries.
''I provide recipes to make it a bit easier for people because they work for me and are tried and true, but I'm not saying my recipes are the be-all and end-all. They are just a starting point. Some of my recipes I've simplified even more, and some of them I've improved.''
But doesn't it take a lot of extra time, people always ask her when she talks to community groups.
''Not really. I'm a dairy farmer and I do it by myself so I'm time-poor. If I can do it, anyone can do it. The homemade things I've chosen are simple and quick. I haven't got time to muck around because I'm a working person.''
She even makes some of her recipes in front of people to prove it.
Her advice is to arm yourself with information, look at someone, like her, who's making it work, and adopt the right attitude to make it work for you.
Recipes from 'Pig Tits and Parsley Sauce'
This is great for a healthy snack or school lunch boxes. Combine cashew pieces, unsalted peanuts, other nuts on special (e.g. Brazil nuts) dried fruit on special (e.g. papaya, dried apricots, sultanas) and chopped cooking chocolate or budget chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container.
Thai-style vege stir-fry
Fry some onion and cheap seasonal veges in butter. Add salt, fish sauce or soy sauce, citrus (lemon or lime) juice, chilli sauce and sweetness (honey, sugar or jam) to taste. Add a can of budget tomatoes and cook down. This can be served with pasta, rice or noodles. Thinly sliced meat or cooked chickpeas can be added to make a full meal.
Laundry powder
Cut one bar of yellow washing soap into small pieces with a sharp knife. Place soap in a food processor with 1.5kg washing soda (sodium carbonate) crystals and process until a powder forms. Use 15g (1 Tbsp) of powder per load.
You can replace the washing soda with baking soda if preferred.
Shampoo and conditioner
Rub 1 Tbsp or more of baking soda into wet hair. Rinse and repeat if desired. Spray with straight white vinegar or a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water to condition. Rinse with water.
Tips and tricks
• Limit how much you will spend on groceries and stick to it.
• Look after the cents and the dollars will look after themselves.
• Don't go shopping when you are hungry.
• If you can't buy on the day at the right price, walk away.
• Look on the lower (or higher) shelves in the supermarket for cheaper items.
• Look for cheaper alternatives to the supermarket such as vege shops, markets and butchers.
• Take time to think before you buy.
• If children or a partner pressure you to overspend, leave them at home.
• Stick to drinking water (or tea).
• Replace expensive cleaning products with baking soda and white vinegar.
• Google recipes to use up ingredients you already have.
• Look to other cultures for interesting inexpensive food solutions.
• Grow or make your own. Plant things that are easily grown in your area.
• Freeze surplus vegetables when possible.
• Aim to cook only enough for each person per meal.
• Use any leftovers the next day.
Want more?
More information and advice, www.pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz