Families


Fun Winter Family Activities

Posted in Families, Save money on July 23rd, 2010

janelle

By janelle

3 Comments

Don’t let the winter season bog you and your family down! Though it may be cold, and rainy… get your family together and have fun (without spending heaps of money). If you are in need of some inspirational ideas to get you going, read on for fun activities to do when the weather is nice, or not so nice.

Oh What a Lovely Day!

Take advantage of the days when the sun is shining, and the clouds are nowhere to be seen. Put on your coat, and get outside for some fresh air! Take your family hiking, and check out the beautiful landscapes while you explore. Walk around town, stop by the shops and visit your local museums. Take a bike ride, or a car trip all over the place! There are many (low cost) things to do and see all over New Zealand. Not to mention countless free ways to have fun; toss a Frisbee around, play catch, walk the dog, etc.

What a Great Day to Stay Home!

When the weather is not so lovely, and you would much rather stay in; consider these fun idea’s for family activities! Depending on the age of your family, some of these activities will work better than others. I’ll try to provide enough inspiring idea’s that you could work with. Families with young children could enjoy building a fort in the living room, playing twister, creating art, or cooking goodies. If your children are a bit older; you might enjoy card games, sharing stories, watching movies, put together a puzzle, or playing the Wii. We all know that kids eventually grow out of the stage where they think family time is fun, try to get ideas from them on what they would like to do. Or, allow them to help plan the next family vacation.

Ask Your Friends and Family

If you are having troubles pleasing the members of your family, create an “idea bowl.” Have the members of your family write 3 to 5 ideas on a bit of paper, put them all in the bowl and draw one out. Working together is a great way to keep the peace! Ask your friends and relatives what they do to keep themselves entertained during the winter. Sharing your ideas and listening to others is perfect for coming up with new and exciting activities.

Get a babysitter! Take a night out, just you and your mate. Enjoy a quiet dinner and a movie while the kids play with their friends. Or, send the kids to a friends and enjoy a quiet evening at home. Everyone deserves a break!

Take control this winter and have fun! What winter family ideas do you have for families with young children or teens? What has been the most successful way to keep everyone entertained?

No Kids? No Problem!

If your family consists of you and your mate, here are some exciting winter activities for you! If the weather permits, be sure to get outside and take a walk through a nearby park. Take a hiking adventure or consider taking a weekend getaway; take in the views, experience some winter snow sports, or enjoy the nightlife and dining. If you are staying in, try cooking a romantic dinner or having a movie night. Have fun playing games with close friends and family, consider setting up a weekly dinner with friends. (Everyone can save money when everyone pitches in a little to support the fun!)

What ideas do you have for families without children? What is the best way you have found to enjoy your winter without spending heaps of cash?

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Creativity on a Budget: Up-Cycling

Posted in Budget, Buy a home, Families, How to, Students, Young Couples on July 13th, 2010

janelle

By janelle

1 Comment

Up-cycling is basically recycling, except you end up with a really cool product at the end. By using your creativity you can convert old materials or ‘useless’ products into something you will enjoy and benefit from. Not only does this help the environment, it gives you cool new stuff without spending much, if any, money! Awesome!

You can up-cycle anything! Think about it; your clothes, furniture, art, and electronics can all be transformed from trash to something fun and new.

Who Up-Cycles?

New Dress A Day

“365 days. 365 items of clothing. 365 dollars. And the blogging begins…”

Marisa decided to quit shopping the traditional way, and challenged herself to create her own wardrobe (for an entire year!). She also decided to limit her spending to $1 a day for clothing items. Marisa has been blogging her activity, and providing photos of the transformations she is making.

Marisa’s journey shortly after being laid off from a job that was over-working her. She found herself in a creative crisis, but decided to take matters into her own hands. Her inspiration came from watching Julie & Julia; she wasn’t interested in creating french cuisine rather, she wanted to do something that would get her creative juices flowing everyday.

Marisa shares her experience on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Her money saving fashion and ideas are inspirational to many people. What kind of radical things have you done in order to save money, or just to boost your creativity?

How do I Up-Cycle?

If you are feeling creative but need a bit of inspiration, there are heaps of up-cycling ideas online.  Keep an open mind and make adjustments to personalize your projects. You don’t have to be an artist to up-cycle, just have fun and try new things.

A great up-cycling idea that I found online was to use your old scarfs to create vintage decorative pillows. Make your pillows whatever shape or size you like, use different patterns on either side, add a zipper to create a more finished look.  If you don’t have any scarfs of your own laying around, check out second hand shops, and garage sales.  Got any other creative tips? Share them here!

Make it an event: The big Shwop

Join other ethically-minded shoppers in Wellington on Sunday 25th of July.  The Big Shwop is a place where you can bring your unwanted, barely worn, quality, fashionable clothes, and exchange them for any of the other lovely threads on offer.

Simply put – bring along up to twenty pieces from your wardrobe that are barely worn quality clothes and exchange them for vouchers. When the shwop begins, you can ‘cash in’ your vouchers for any of the other lovely threads on offer. Guilt free shopping straight ahead!


So spend a day out with a bunch of your best friends, your mum, your daughter. Go home at the end of the day, with flash new threads completely guilt free, knowing that your fashion sense hasn’t been sacrificed for the environment, and the environment hasn’t been sacrificed for fashion either. For more information about The Big Shwop, check it out online!

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Stay at Home Mum: Full-time Job

Posted in Budget, Families on July 2nd, 2010

Wahid Hussaini

By Wahid Hussaini

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I Couldn’t Handle It

The responsibility of a stay at home mum is greater than anything I could ever handle and I often wonder how countless mothers (including my own mother) have been able to go through such a role. Women like Talia Tuhakaraina (whose video you see below about how her family manages to budget) have the responsibility of raising and taking care of their children, look after their homes, worry about groceries, doctor/dentist appointments, school work, playtime, and the list goes on.

Divide and Conquer

As daunting as it may be, mums’ responsibilities can be split, a ‘divide and conquer’ tactic if you will. Having a clear picture of household finances is very important so bills and groceries can be paid more efficiently and with casualness. A certain budget and a practice of tracking expenses can eliminate any mystery in spendings.

My own mother would take careful practice of how much she would spend on everything – food, clothes, coffee, petrol, you name it. And she would do this on a daily basis (every other day at the least). This has been a practice that my mother adopted rather recently and she exclaims that it does make things a lot easier for her in a sense that she knows where money is flowing to.

Family Involved Spending Plan

Making a spending plan is perhaps most important for families that do include stay at home mums because there is typically only one salary coming in. Having a plan eliminates the fear of not having enough money for a certain necessity in the future.

One practice that has worked is to deposit cash into separate labelled envelopes (petrol, food, clothes and the like) and to try to only use that amount. Make sure there is still income going into savings for emergencies, and debts are being paid for.

Keep Options Open

So besides the well-being of the children, the upkeep of the house, and all the other responsibilities that comes with being a stay at home mum, there are the financial responsibilities as well. And always remember that you can keep options open. Would it be worth-while financially and time-wise to have a part time job? Or would it not be worth hiring a babysitter to take care of the children? My own mother has had a couple part-time jobs in the past years (albeit only after my siblings and I were old enough to take care of ourselves).

Are there ways in which you stick to spending plans in your particular family? Are spending plans something shared with the entire family or the responsibility generally given to one person only?

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