How to save $3,000 in 2025
What could you do with an extra $3,000 in your budget? Take a holiday? Buy some new appliances? Or maybe give your savings a boost? We think most households have the ability to make some financial tweaks that could see more money staying in their bank account this year.
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Here are some practical ways you can start spending less.
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Change your car insurance company
Potential saving: $670
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There are big differences in what car insurance companies charge for similar coverage. Instead of accepting the premiums offered by your regular provider year after year, spend some time rather than money on checking whether there are cheaper deals out there.
Our car insurance survey found the difference between the highest and lowest premiums for a family of four was $56 a month – $670 a year. A middle-aged person has the potential to be saving $516 a year. Just make sure you check the policy to make sure you’re getting the same or better cover.
There are lots of other tricks for reducing your premiums, such as taking a higher excess and paying annually rather than monthly.
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Shop around for groceries
Potential saving: $825
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Do you go to the same supermarket every time you need a grocery top-up? You might be surprised how much you could save by swapping supermarkets regularly or splitting your spending between chains.
We researched what we’d pay for a basket of 22 grocery items across 8 weeks. Buying our list of groceries at Pak’nSave was $14 a week cheaper than at New World – even using the New World Clubcard. Across a year, that’s a potential saving of $700. Woolworths was more expensive again – $825 more expensive a year than Pak’nSave – even using an Everyday Rewards card. These numbers show the possibility for some serious savings if you’re willing to shop around.
If it wouldn’t cost you much more in petrol, and you have the time, you could split your shop across supermarkets to pick out the best prices from each. We like to use the Grocer app to do this – it takes a bit of time, but you can make a list of where you’ll get the cheapest price for each item.
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Tweak the way you’re using power
Potential saving: $870
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There are some big savings to be made if you’re willing to make a few changes to the way you use power.
You can save $320 a year by setting your heat pump between 19°C and 21°C and leaving it there. Turning the temperature up really makes a difference to your power bill. It’s better to turn up the fan on your heat pump instead to get the warmth moving around your room faster.
Switch off your appliances at the wall to save $100 a year. Appliances with a stand-by light are often the biggest power suckers when not in use. Switch them off when you’re not using them.
You can save $260 per person in your household by cutting shower lengths from 15 minutes to 5. A 15-minute shower adds about $1 to your power bill. A shorter shower can save 66c. If you’re showering every day, that’s $5 a week, which adds up.
Do your laundry in cold water rather than warm water to save $50 a year. Washing in warm water doesn’t make much difference to the cleanliness of your laundry, so for most washes, cold water is all you need.
A warm towel after your shower might be nice, but your heated towel rail will be costing you nearly $3 a week. That’s $140-odd a year.
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Drop a streaming service
Potential saving: $240
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Have you taken a look at how many streaming services you’re paying for lately? It can be easy to lose track of how many you are subscribed to.
If you can say goodbye to one, stopping that small payment of $20 a month will save you $240 over a year. It doesn’t have to mean missing out on the shows everyone is talking about though – just do some service hopping and choose which streaming service you’ll give your money to each month.
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Change your power company
Potential saving: $494
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It can be frustrating to watch your power bills go up while news articles announce record profits for the big power companies.
You can take back some of the power by finding the cheapest power plan for you. Save on average $494 using free Powerswitch comparison website.
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7 tips for buying your Christmas ham
It’s the centerpiece of the Christmas table, so when you’re peering into the supermarket chiller or ordering from the butcher, choosing the perfect ham can feel like a daunting task.
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing one to bring home with you.
1. What type of ham to buy
You’ve got some decisions to make when it comes to the type of Christmas ham you’re going to buy.
Cooked on the bone (COB) ham is the traditional Christmas ham. If you’re buying a half ham, you’ll have the choice of the shank or fillet end. The shank is the part with the bone sticking out that gives the ham that traditional look. The fillet end is the round part that gives more meat. If you’re deciding whether to get a whole ham or half, consider how quickly you’ll be able to eat it all. You only have about a week to eat an opened ham before it will go off, so it can be a good idea to get two halves. That way you can eat one half during the week of Christmas and save the other for January.
Champagne ham has had the bone removed and only has the hock left on, so it’s easier to carve.
Pressed ham – also known as continental ham – has had the bones removed and has been pressed, so it’s also easy to carve.
2. Check the pork percentage
The label on a packaged ham will say what percentage is actually meat. Hams are injected with brine, to keep them moist, and additives. The brine injection level for manufactured hams is usually between 10% and 35% of the ham's weight. A manufacturer that wants to produce a cheap ham will add more water to bump up the weight.
3. Know how to tell if it’s New Zealand pork
By far, most of the hams bought in New Zealand this Christmas will be from pigs reared overseas. New Zealand imports pork from about 25 countries. It’s frustrating for New Zealand pig farmers because this ham can come from farms that don’t have to meet the same animal welfare standards as we have in this country. As a result, overseas meat is often cheaper.
If buying New Zealand pork is important to you, look for:
words on the packaging like ‘New Zealand pork’ or ‘born and raised in New Zealand’
4. Have a good look at the ham
If you’re going to be glazing your ham, look for one that is covered in a finger-thick layer of fat. This will give you the thickness you need to make good score lines.
New Zealand Pork’s website also advises looking for a ham that has a meaty texture rather than one that looks wet or rubbery. It says the ham’s skin should be smooth with even colouring. “If the knuckle is sunken, it may be overcooked. If the rind is buckled or uneven, it may be a sign of dryness.”
5. Ask a lot of questions
If you’re ordering your pork from a butcher, you probably won’t be able to compare hams like you would at the supermarket. So, make sure you ask lots of questions, now that you know what you’re looking for.
You could ask:
Is the ham made from New Zealand born and farmed pork?
What will be its injection percentage?
What flavours will it have?
You could even ask if there’s a glaze the butcher thinks would work particularly well with those flavours.
6. Know what size you’ll need
If the ham is the only meat on your Christmas menu, New Zealand Pork advises allowing 1kg of ham for five people. Or if you’ve got other meat options, 1kg will feed about six to eight people.
7. Know the best hams in New Zealand
The best hams of the year were awarded at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards earlier in the year so you can check out which ones got medals. Some of them are only available in the city the butcher is based, but a Farmland boneless ham available nationwide won a gold award and Woolworths bone-in and boneless hams picked up bronze.
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Some Choice News!
Many New Zealand gardens aren’t seeing as many monarch butterflies fluttering around their swan plants and flower beds these days — the hungry Asian paper wasp has been taking its toll.
Thanks to people like Alan Baldick, who’s made it his mission to protect the monarch, his neighbours still get to enjoy these beautiful butterflies in their own backyards.
Thinking about planting something to invite more butterflies, bees, and birds into your garden?
Thanks for your mahi, Alan! We hope this brings a smile!
From National MP--CHRIS BISHOP----'Twas the night before taxes'
’Twas the night before taxes, and all through the nation,
Hard-working Kiwis were still feeling Labour’s inflation.
While their payslips were hidden with care,
They prayed Hipkins and Chloë wouldn’t take their ‘fair’ share.
When out by the Beehive there rose such a shout,
The Greens’ TikTok was not getting enough clout.
“We need more taxes!” Chloë said with a flair,
“For justice! For progress! For… I’ll think of the rest later, I swear.”
Hipkins quickly agreed, as Chloë and the Greens held the key,
He knew he couldn’t win without their guarantee.
But before he could breathe, Te Pāti Māori came with a glare,
Holding a wishlist of taxes that reached mid-air.
And so the trio assembled, a most troublesome sight,
Ready to dream up new taxes till the early midnight.
But no need to worry, National set things right,
We delivered tax relief that finally eased the bite.
And with new roads, schools, and hospitals underway,
Our infrastructure is getting stronger everyday.
Fixing the basics and building the future, as we’ve said,
So every Kiwi family can finally get ahead.
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