Hi, I'm NZ Money Karma- a Mum, Wife, Gardener, Biker (the pedal variety) and Budgeting Geek.
My family of four and I have been living an alternative lifestyle on a low'ish income for the past 7 years ever since we paid off the mortgage...but we are headed for the mainstream in 2024.
After many years of very part time work, unschooling our 2 kids and long overseas trips we have decided to pull all our frugal skills together to increase our savings and reach our early retirement goal by December 2026. I'll be 50 then and we can be free to travel and explore this wonderful world we share (without the return date!).
I believe what you give is what you get returned and each week you can find me budgeting, cash stuffing, planning trips and gardening so my family of four can enjoy an adventurous and abundant life on a low budget.
Follow along and get real life, honest thoughts on family budgeting from someone who walks the walk and would genuinely love to help you.
I put aside a little bit every month (I digitally cash stuff monthly) for birthdays, christmas, other celebrations, etc. Most of the time I'm ahead of the need - especially for christmas and other celebrations. I have a budget noted of how we want to spend each digital envelope so we're not overspending on one person's birthday to the detriment of another's later in the year. It is comforting. But we are fortunate to have birthdays spread out reasonably well throughout the year, if they were clumped I'd probably have to preload it initially. I get itchy feet too about doing something new, fun and or adventurous - had a convo with hubby about it a couple of weekends ago actually and we've decided to make sure we do something new to us every month. It's easy to get stuck doing the same things every weekend and the feeling of fun lessens each time you repeat an activity. It could be a new trail we've never hiked, or a new bakery/coffee shop we've heard about, or even a new beach (we always end up at the same one). Variety is the spice of life, and we are ready to add some serious spice back in 😉.
Hi! Yes I agree- variety is the spice of life! We tend to focus on the big grand plan and can forget to try and make the everyday fun. I like the idea of doing something new every month. I thought that recently while we were in Melbourne, all the things we did- can be done in our own backyard if only we make the effort :-).
I think you and your husband are doing an amazing job. You two have kids! My partner and I don’t have kids, but I always worry about the future. At 60, I feel that I’ll. Still be able to do some adventure travel. A couple of years ago in Heathrow airport we met a couple in their 80’s who were off to Africa to do some volunteer work and go on a safari😊. My phone wouldn’t let me reply to you, hence this new comment.
Another great video! I don’t have lofty goals like you and your family, so I don’t have envelopes like you. I basically just keep a running tab in my head. I do plan on retiring when I’m 60 and have been squirreling away money for the last 10 years . I would love to see a grocery haul!
hey, nice to hear from you. Yay, for your early retirement plans- that’s a pretty lofty goal in itself!! You’re doing well to keep it all in your head- my mind is muddled a good percentage of the time- it’d be a disaster!
Wow! Congratulations for meeting that goal. How impressive and well deserved. Glad to hear that all your hard work paid off this month. You and your husband certainty are a dynamic duo
Hello, NZ Money Karma!! Seattle Public Schools started the year at the beginning of September-of course, my principal expected us to be working the last two weeks of August 🤣🤣 So it has been bsck to 12 hour work days 6-7 dsys a week. All that to say I am behind on watching your videos. School should be in a normal by mid October so I’ll get caught up☺️ I was re-watching one pf your older videos and it linspired me to can some of the green beans and tomatoes I was given by my neighbor. Enjoyed the video and it was great to hear you got to get sway.
Hello, lovely to hear from you :-0) Oh those hours sound harsh after such a nice break, I hope you feel like your batteries are re-charged. So happy to hear that you are going to preserve some tomatoes and beans. It can be a bit of a pain at the time but eating summer foods in the middle of winter is worth it!
Hi, I got the binders from Ali express. 1st of October- D-day for our goal tally-up. I will definitely post about that- gosh what a slog! Now I have three glorious days off in a row!
Id love to know where you order from with your bulk shop, I shop at the bulk barn but I feel limited with options sometimes! Loved the video as per usual!!❤❤
Thanks so much. I bulk buy through a food co-op. I would love to get a card to Moore Wilsons or Trent's- I think that would be cool. In the past though I have bought straight form the Binn Inn the really big bags that they buy in themselves too, but had to get to know the owners first.
Kia Ora - where did the mystery $50 come from and return to?! Also - my eldest rowed for 7 years and yeah, it's expensive. Equipment is REALLY expensive (and easy to break) and it's not just the boats, but the oars, boat shoes, stroke coaches, communication systems, etc, storage buildings. Transporting boats and equipment to regattas adds up quickly too. I sympathize. That being said, my youngest does competitive gymnastics and that is actually MORE expensive than rowing. Kids and sports are always spunky, but I don't begrudge them at all, just means creative budgeting to make sure we can cover them.
Hey Jenni :-). Gosh I can't remember now where the $50 went sorry! Re: the expensive sports.... I don't begrudge it BUT eek- that's a massive chunk of our current budget. I'm thankful that I had those kinds of experiences as a kid and gladly provide them now too, but I will definitely have to get a bit creative with the budgeting!
So sorry for my slow reply- these weren't showing up in my YT feed! Our rates include all the city council type stuff. They have gone up about 20% recently- it's insane. My work colleagues rates have just hit $10,000- eek!
Hi, another kiwi here. I appreciate all the frugal tips and advice you give. May I ask what you order from the food co-op and would you mind sharing more details about the food co-op? I'd like to start doing that to save money on our food shop.
Hi there, thanks for watching and taking time to comment! I think I’ll do a walk through of my order next week when it arrives for you and I’ll add an explanation of how it all works too😀
Thanks! I know right, for my own sense of wellbeing I have to be organised otherwise it genuinely stresses me out to be spending money on things that don't require it!
👋 friend. I’m mostly using less envelopes because I haven’t been back to the library to make envelope labels. It feels like I lack time for crafty projects atm🤣
Enjoy your days off ,it sounds like your working hard. Hopefully youll reach your goals that much sooner. Happy Spring whenever it is. Haha . Ill look forward to seeing what your planting in the garden this year , i hope you show us. Great job on the challenges . Thank you for sharing lovely ❤
Welcome back Sairy, lovely to hear from you! Wow- France, magical :-). I read a book a while ago called "almost French" that I found pretty funny about an Australian girl who moved to France to live with her boyfriend- has made me think of Franc in a completely different way!
Thank you so much 🤗. Yes I am getting there with that one- it's my favourite so far, doesn't feel like as much of a slog as the others :-) Have a great week too!
I enjoy health debate, and I thank you for being open to sharing your opinion. I thought you bought up some good points, but what was missing for me is an acknowledgement of privilege. Sometimes the ‘bootstrap’ message can be harmful, as much as you want that to inspire. Not everyone in NZ or the other countries you mention has access to the same resources- not just money, but health care, education, familial connections and so on. Its not a level playing field by any means. It’s tempting to look at our achievements and say ‘it was hard, but I did it therefore everyone else who can’t is making the wrong choices’. Those things are true for you and you have every right to be proud of yourself. But I think it’s more nuanced than it worked for me so it works for everyone. There’s lots of research on the cost of poverty - all the little ways institutions and businesses are set up that result in impoverished people having to spend more to access the same services, or it being a barrier to services.
Hey- thanks for taking time to write such a thoughtful comment :-) I enjoy a bit of a debate too :-) Yes you are right- there is definitely a degree of privilege in my life in that I am white, have a healthy body and mind and I was brought up in a loving, safe home. That gave me a great launching pad to adulthood where I became responsible for my own decisions. Life is definitely not a level playing field however what I really wanted to convey is that no matter what your life is like today it is essentially easier than it would have been at any other time in human history. There is inherent privilege for all New Zealanders, in that we live without war, have water that's potable when we turn the tap, have access to benefits, education is free, secondary and tertiary care is also free etc etc. This has not always been the case in NZ and it is easy to forget. I like this old documentary to show how historically people used to budget too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8V4-HAGDObg.html and often look back through the history books to learn how previous generations made it through difficult times.
I agree with both of you on so many points but I think it's important in NZ to acknowledge it isn't a fair playing field for Maori because of the impact of historical inequalities that still influence in these times.
When my husband was considering doing his PhD and leaving his well paid job for a grad assistant position I ran an "austerity budget" to confirm we could cover all our essentials and still have a little wiggle room. It is very reassuring to know what our "nut" is that we have to crack in order to survive and thrive. We can go harder, but it wouldn't be sustainable. Knowing we could though is comforting.
Well said. So many people have a poor me attitude and need to realise that the only person who can things in their life is themselves. Life is not a nanny state.
I enjoyed the video-I felt as if I was tagging along! When I was in college I had a professor who led a walk every so often in downtown Seattle. Seattle isn’t too very old,but he pointed out all the gargoyles on many of the buildings, Native American sculptures and even walrus heads that grace the Arctic Building! Just look up every so often sounds as if you and your family had a great time.
Love that! It is our very favourite thing just to walk around a different place and look at what is around us. My husband really wants to visit Seattle too!
I would say we are definitely struggling at the moment, but it is ultimately because we have made some really bad choices over the years financially. Definitely all about choices. We are trying hard to turn things around! Love your insight 🙂
Right back at you :-) Your insight is inspiring, you will definitely turn things around now you are focused- it can sometimes just be a bit of a slog! Sing out if there is anyway that I can help. Here's something I wrote about our "financial wake up" call some years back nzmoneykarma.substack.com/p/tough-lessons-during-financial-crisis?
Yes I can totally relate to having highs and lows throughout winter when it comes to energy and motivation to be able to be productive and ticking everything off a never ending to do list. Still have to expect another month of winter weather yet. Thankfully it has been a rather mild winter over all this year. Todays generation have a completely different outlook on life compared to days gone by. People seem to be focused on living for the moment and hoping that tomorrow and the future is going to take care of itself. Social media has a huge influence in making people feel they are not enough if they are not living the same type of lifestyle. Technology is constantly replacing jobs eg self checkouts replacing humans in stores. We live in such a disposable age that things like appliances and technology just aren't built to last like they used to. So much to be said but I shall leave it there for now.
I hope you found the 10 dollars! A few years ago one of my students found my gas bill in a book in our classroom library🤣🤣 it was 3 months late and the gas company never said a word!! As always I enjoyed the video and your positive outlook on life.
Don’t worry about the soy sauce going off. Some expert cook in the US said that you could use it forever, because of the high sslt content. Growing up our family would buy soy sauce by the half gallon and we’re still at alive and kicking! Enjoyed listening to what you were planning on doing with your purchases.
Love your plant (and I love reading your Substack) ☺️ such a shame re the hair, I don’t bother much now, just the occasional haircut once or twice a year.
Thanks for taking time to comment😄🙏. yes happy with the plant progress, it’s quite cute- now I have to keep an eye out for a cute plant pot at the second hand shop and I am sorted!
Love a cash stuffing. Sorry you didn't like your hair - I haven't coloured in years now and it is the best thing I ever did. Even if the cut isn't 100%, it's only 2 weeks and you recover.
Glad that that you had an enjoyable time even it didn't quite end as you had originally anticipated and thanks for sharing your experience. Always great to get to have the chance to visit a place through someone else's eyes that I have never and might never get to see in person myself. I know that you are intentional with your purchases and don't like to collect things as your family travels for the experiences that it provides but just wondered is there any special kind of souvenir or memento that you or your children like to purchase when you visit different destinations to remind you of your experiences there? Isn't so interesting to see the changes that happen when visiting different places even if you have visited them multiple times before.
Hi @pens_n_pals, so lovely to hear from you! For souvenirs... The thing I buy most often souvenir wise to remember a trip is a Christmas decoration :-) Being small and easy to cart around is a bonus. Then each year when we decorate the tree it's fun to remember where we collected each decoration from :-) I have sometimes bought fabric or a picture. The worst thing I ever purchased were some gold shavings in a bottle when I was 15 from a temple in Japan.... eek. But strangely from that same trip I still have bamboo ear cleaners that are slowly getting used and little fabric bags that store bits and bobs :-). I still have some vintage material that my uncle brought back for my MUM from 1950's Japan- it's lovely BUT it would appear no one in my family can think what to make with it.......
I’m a teacher in Seattle, Washington in the US . In my school district families can change schools if they go through a process. It’s sad that all our schools throughout the district aren’t equally good and have the same resources. My school has a very active parent group who work hard to raise money to fund extras(assemblies, speakers etc.). Our principal isn’t my favorite , but I will say she is very generous with her money and will help out classrooms if we are doing something fun related to our curriculum. We were studying nutrition in our health class,and my students wanted to make smoothies. I mentioned it to her and she brought in blenders, all the fruit etc.for my kids! Years ago I had a student who enrolled in my class mid year. She had been homeschooled for 4 years, but she wanted to be in a situation with other kids, go field trips, and to get yelled at by someone other thsn her mom🤣🤣
Haha- yes I think my kids would agree. They've just been on school holidays and were really looking forward to goin back today :-). I'm not sure how the school system works in the USA but sounds similar where not all schools are created and resourced equally. I don't think the teaching per se is any better/worse but definitely the facilities, resources and behaviours of other students varies greatly depending on where you live.... I might join the PTA next year :-)
I’m slowly making my way through your videos. I think one of the reasons I enjoy them so much is because I have a similar mindset on how I save and spend my money. 😀😀
Do we? Don't tell my kids.... I had never heard of them, I must get out more ;-)!! They were pretty yum BUT definitely need to be in the "occasional" eating basket :-)
