$10 grocery challenge - how it went

I'm into the last week of my self imposed $10 grocery challenge. It's been fun getting creative with few ingredients,  not as difficult as you'd imagine, and has given me ample opportunity to reflect on my eating and spending habits.

I realised that laziness was costing me a lot of money. Our weekend vegetable markets are such good value for money. Sleeping in instead of shopping there meant a much less varied and healthy diet.

Cooking from scratch is also so much cheaper.  I was craving pasta this week and at my closest supermarket the budget brand was $1.20 a bag. Instead I grabbed a 99c bag of potatoes that were reduced to clear and made gnocchi just with the addition of a cup of flour. With a tomato and sausage sauce,  the gnocchi is enough for 4 meals with potatoes to spare for another 3 meals as a side as well as for soup. Yes, the gnocchi took much longer than boiling a bag of pasta, but it's delicious,  I learnt a new skill and it'll be a filling meal.

Something that suprised me was the difference in price and shopping experiences between supermarkets.  In my head, Moore Wilsons would seem like the most expensive option but their free range eggs and meat are great value. This week I'm dining on free range roast chicken courtesy of a singular 89c drumstick from their butchery counter. Pak n save is good for basics like grains. From here on in I'll be happy to split my shopping between the market and Moores.

I rediscovered how great pancakes are, for both breakfast and a quick dinner at work. I also discovered how cheap barley is. At under $1 for 500g I'm a little sick of it at the moment but it's so filling and versatile.

Mostly I've discovered a lot about my habits and character that will make sticking to a budget easier for the next 6 months.  I am lazy and don't do mornings. Thus packaging meals up straight away and having them in the fridge or freezer is the only way I'll avoid buying food at work. I'm best suited to spending my one night a week off in the kitchen and not have to cook for the rest of the week.

It's handy having a couple of back up meals stashed at work for when you do forget to pack dinner.

I also think challenges like this are fantastic for keeping me focussed - it's making a game out of budgeting.

From next week I'll give myself a little more room to move with a $15 weekly budget, give or take.  That will allow for more fruit and cheese - two things I have missed.

$10 grocery challenge

It's less than 8 months until I head off on my big OE, take two. I'm trying to cut back on expenses so my savings account grows a little faster.

Recently I went caffeine free for 4 weeks to nip that addiction in the bud. I love coffee, but it's definitely healthier for my budget to not need it and just to enjoy a good one every now and then.

My next challenge beginning today is to spend $10 on groceries a week for the next 8 weeks. Our flat account covers cleaning products so this is purely to be spent on food.

The fact I'm not starting with an empty pantry will help, but it's still going to be interesting coming up with varied, healthy meals on that budget.

Here's the basics I'm starting with:
● 1/2 packet milk powder
● rolled oats
● 1/2 packet rice
● 500g masa
● Dried kidney beans
● Flour
● 1x egg
● 1/2 packet soup mix
● Baking basics like sugar & baking soda
● Frozen spinach
● yeast
● Dried herbs & seasonings
● Leftover fruit and veg from last week - 2x persimmon,  1x tamarillo, onions, 3x cloves garlic, 2x purple carrots, 1x potato, 1x bag of yams

Week 1, Day 1:

Put some soup on at 3am before going to sleep. 1/4 packet soup mix, carrots, yams, potato. Baked 1x loaf on bread in the breadmaker.

Went shopping at the vege market with my crisp $10 note. Here's what it bought.

● 1/2 dozen free range eggs
● 1/4 pumpkin
● 4× broccoli
● 1x large apple
● 3× mandarins
● 3x golden kiwifruit

With $2 leftover to take to the supermarket for cooking oil.

It's going to be fun turning that into some interesting meals.

New travel blog

Though I've been slack with blogging this year, I have set up a travel blog ready for next year's big trip over at wordpress. The year is going by so fast - less than 10 months of work left. The bank account is still emptier than I'd like so from next pay day, I'm entering the serious saving, serious getting fit before hiking in the Andes mode!

Tightening my belt

With the new year, my travel savings budget has started.  I'm aiming to save $23,000 this year and hopefully I can meet that target - that is a huge amount to save for me as I earn a hospo income :-)

The first fortnight of this is a shock to the system.  I am not used to having an empty bank account a week before payday. For the next wee while my travel savings are going straight into paying off the Antarctica cruise and what I've saved already is locked up in term deposit. So there's no raiding my savings account between pays for lunch money.

I'm doing a year without buying takeaways, not buying yarn, no new dresses for quite a while, walking instead of taking buses more often and trying to do cheap or free activities on my days off.

I babysat on my last day off which was great as I got a free trip to the zoo and was kept entertained by a cheeky toddler. I have the biggest yarn stash to keep me occupied, been doing a lot of cooking for the flat (with the flat money) and reading. I'm also lucky to get free movies so that's my days off taken care of. It's easier to not spend money when working, especially now I'm not popping to the dairy for sweets.

The other thing that keeps me enthusiastic about staying on target is travel planning. It is my favourite thing to do, save travel.

I have already written a packing list. A year out! This is good though as now I have months to chip away at it, making it more efficient.  It also stops you making unnecessary purchases when you see how little you'll actually take on the road with you. It also means when shops have sales you can buy the things you do need, like thermals, rather than waiting 'til the last minute when they might not be in season.

I'm already splurging on Antarctica but looking into the feasibility of seeing Easter and the Galapagos too. The more research I do, the more I think I can find a budget way to do it. It really would be amazing to dive with sealions, mantarays and perhaps even hammerhead sharks!

A wee wine update

Last night I took my sister to one of my favourite restaurants,  El Matador.

Of course it wouldn't be dinner out without a glass of wine. I had the La Multa 'Old Vine' Garnacha 2011. It was the perfect match for my plate of sweetbreads.

Other wines drunk since New Year are an old favourite Lawsons Dry Hills Gewurtztraminer,  Rockburn Tigermoth Riesling,  Chard Farm Riesling, and Red Knot GSM.

Last month in Auckland we visited the Villa Maria winery near the airport.  It amazed me that it's right in amongst an industrial area but as you drive down the driveway past the rows of vines, you can forget you are within the bounds of New Zealand's largest city.

We tried several of their range - the Cellar Selection 2010 pinot noir (Marlborough), Syrah 2010 (Gimlett Gravels), Reserve Cab Merlot 2007 (Gimlett Gravels), Reserve Semillon Botrytis 2011, Methode Traditionelle (Pinot Noir grapes from Auckland, Chardonnay from Hawke's Bay), Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (Marlborough), Reserve Chardonnay 2012 (Hawke's Bay).

That's quite a good tasting line up.

I was particularly taken by the chardonnay. It would be easy to drink without food. 100% maloactic fermentation resulted in an amazingly creamy, buttery wine. Exactly how I like my chardonnay.

The sparkling, too was surprisingly tasty - excellent balance - not too sweet nor dry and with beautiful fruitiness coming through.

However the two bottles I walked away with were ones I didn't actually taste.  I can't wait to try them. They were the Omahu Gravels Viognier 2010 and the Ihumatao Vineyard Verdelho 2011.

I took two bottles of Argentine wine up with me that were great but I can't for the life of me remember the names. One a malbec and one cab sav.

I think I'll keep a list of everything I taste from now on and hopefully by the end of the year I hit 300 :-)

Year of the selfie; favourite selfie of the year

Not like a took a heap, but this is my favourite selfie of 2013. Travelling alone, sometimes a selfie is the only way to get a photo with you in it! That, or self-timer shots, and I suck at those. This was taken at the top of a hill on day 3 of cycling alone around Savai'i, Samoa. I still can't believe I did that. Such a fun and challenging holiday.

Rosé

Rosé is quite often overlooked as a wine variety. There are some very average ones out there, as there is with any variety,  however the more of them I try, the more I realise that rosé can be really dynamic and interesting.

This is no official definition but my understanding of rosé is that it can be made from any type of red grape. The difference between a red and rosé is the time you leave the skins in with the grape juice to macerate - resulting in a more mellow flavour and colour. It seems you don't get those tannins either making it a very easy wine to drink without food.

Typically most rosés I've had have had that vanilla and strawberry flavour. Some of them have been really buttery, almost to the point of tasting like movie popcorn (looking at you,  Esk Valley malbec blend rosé).

This month one of my best friends who also loves wine, and I stumbled across a rosé tasting at one of our local wine stores.

We tasted a wide range from France, Corsica,  Spain, Lebanon (!), Central Otago and Italy I think.

They were the:
Domaine de Paris, Pettale de Rose, Hrieure de Montezargues, Conde de Valedmar, Terra Sangta and Domaine Fazi Corse.

I probably spelt half though wrong as they were scribbled badly in my notebook.

The one I loved and will definitely return to get a bottle was the Conde de Valedmar.  It is made from rioja. Utterly delicious.

The one I found most interesting but not exactly to my palate,  was the Domaine Fazi Corse from Corsica. It actually tasted really salty. I know nothing of the vineyard but I'm imagining it was from a vineyard by the sea.

The Lebanese one wasn't actually for sale, just to taste.  It was beautiful and quite different.  It really tasted like it had spent some time in oak. I know there is a vineyard in the mountains of Lebanon that does burgundy varieties and took out some French awards a while back. I wonder if it's the same one. In any case it was a nice suprise as when I think Middle East I don't think wine.

Terra Sangta was interesting.  The label was beautiful and the vineyard based on Felton Road. I was surprised I'd never heard of it before as Felton is not a long road. It was a beautiful pinot noir rosé, a safe choice for the kiwi palate.

My favourite way to drink rosé at the moment is in a Deepest Darkest Peru though.  That's a cocktail my friend made up for me that we now list.  I wanted something with pisco and passionfruit and he managed to slip rosé in it too. Not only is it delicious but also so brilliant because pisco, rosé and passionfruit are the first three things I think of when I think Peruvian drinks, but never in the same glass. Peru actually makes quite ok rosé near Ica in the desert south of Lima.

I'm looking forward to trying a few more rosés before the summer is done.

My top 5 rieslings of 2013

When we wrote the new bar list this year, we were very tempted to become Wellington's first Riesling-only bar. Every tasting we went to, it was the Rieslings that stood out.

In no particular order here is my top 5 (actually the first one is actually number 1!).

1. Rockburn Tigermoth (Central Otago)
2. Maude East Block (Central Otago)
3. Chard Farm (Central Otago)
4. Carrick Josephine (Central Otago)
5. Mt Difficulty (Central Otago)

Notice a common theme there? Though more known for pinot noir, I can't get enough of Central Otago's Rieslings!!!! And pinot gris for that matter. Although all grouped into the same broad region, each of these wines/vineyards are in different sub regions - for example Maude from Wanaka, Chard Farm from Gibbston Valley, Mt Difficulty from Felton Road in Bannockburn and Carrick from closer to the lake.

Rockburn was my absolute knockout of 2013. Most of my knowledge of their wines before this year was of their lower tier, Devil's Staircase pinot noir. I wanted so badly to list it at work but the numbers didn't quite crunch, so I recommend it to everyone I meet instead. Normally retailing for close to $40 a bottle, it's often on sale at Glengarry for only $23! Even cheaper if you buy a whole case! It's started hauling in the medals at wine shows so I'm sure it'll be a household name soon enough.

More Milos

My ribbed hat is coming along nicely. I really love the way it's striping on a diagonal. Excuse the fact I took the photo on my messy desk at work. The alpaca is so soft. I'm very jealous of the wee boy who'll get to wear it.

Once that's finished I am casting on yet another milo (hopefully by Tuesday). I ordered Skeinz vintage DK in pink for it. Haven't decided yet whether to do a plain cable, owls or XOXOs down the panel. It will be in newborn size so shouldn't take long but will be bitter sweet knitting as the little girl it was for sadly passed away - so I'll be thinking of her mum with every stitch.

Here's the link to the pattern for the Milo. People I've made it for before have said it's the best baby knit as it's so easy to get on and off - no buttons - and great for any season. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/milo-3

I think I've posted the photo below before but I just love this photo my friend took of her gorgeous little girl modelling her Milo. I made that one in Ashford Tekapo yarn so it was quite a cheap knit. Only $18 or so... and my labour was free as it was a gift.  It seems to have washed up well too. 

Gone fishing

I've had this yarn for a while. I bought two skeins of it at Flagstaff Alpacas in Dunedin and got several small projects out of it already.

It's so beautifully soft. 80% alpaca, 20% wool.

This will be a simple rib hat. Because it's ribbed it should fit a 1-3 year old. I'm planning on sending it to a friend for her son. Hopefully he'll get some use out of it next Winter.

Isn't the colourway gorgeous?!

Blanket

Tonight I picked up a knitting project I hadn't touched in a while as I needed a break from my lace hat.

This will eventually be a blanket - either a couch snuggle rug or big enough for a single bed. I've used a baby blanket pattern from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies but cast on extra stitches.

It will be for my niece once it's done and hopefully I'll finish it before I go travelling! There's hours and hours of work to do before then though. Each row has a couple of hundred stitches. I've done only 40 rows so far...

The yarn is assorted part balls of dk weight left over from other projects. It seems that purple is going to feature a lot - remnants of baby girl knits.

More Catching Fire knits

Tracked done some more pictures of some of my favourite costumes from the latest film in The Hunger Games trilogy.

I am so in live with Katniss' knit nightgown/top.  Likewise this jumper.

A 'new' site in Peru to explore

Too many late nights have turned me a little into an insomniac. The internet at least can while away some time when the rest of the city is tucked up in their beds.

 

I stumbled across several articles on an archaeological site in Peru that somehow I've never heard of. I've been to so many museums in Peru, visited I thought most of the major sites in both the north and more touristy south, but somehow this escaped my attention.

 

Marcahuamachuco is being billed as a big tourist drawcard in the future. It's situated in the north, not far from Trujillo but up in the mountains. It's a massive site that spans over 200 hectares and is surrounded by a stone wall. It sounds incredible. They still don't know who built it/lived there as it was abandoned before the rise of the Incas and unfortunately,  like in many parts of Peru, grave robbers have looted a lot of the site of objects that might have provided clues.

 

It's been researched since 1900 but only started to be cleared in late 2010 (which is probably how it escaped my attention, having left Peru in late 2010). Anyway I am excited to visit this next time having done Machu Picchu twice before. In the bit over 3 months of my life I've spent travelling in Peru I've barely scratched the surface on things to see and do. Counting down the months until next time...

For now, here's a link to an article and also some photos of other sites I've visited. There is definitely more to Peru than Machu Pichu. The south of Peru that EVERYONE visits is pretty darn cool. But the north of Peru is what blew me away. Such beautiful scenery, amazing ruins, much friendlier people and best of all, way less tourists.

 

http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-marcahuamachuco-archeological-site-emerges-from-obscurity-in-peru-11080

Chavin ruins, Cordillera Blanca

Chavin ruins, Cordillera Blanca

 

Ventanillas de Otuzco near Cajarmarca

 

 

Kuelap fortress in Chacapoyas province

Catching Fire

Well I finally watched Catching Fire. The 11.30pm session on opening day was the first I could make, and it did not disappoint. I can't wait to see it again.

The movie was all around awesome - great acting, great effects (the jabber jay scene in Dolby Atmos = holy moly!) and some great costumes. I love films that are set somewhere cold as there always seems to be some great knits. Catching Fire was no exception.

Actually that cowl/top is woven apparently but I read that they're making it into a knitting pattern. Yay.

Finding savings where I can.

I'm starting to look at which spending I can cut out or lessen.

One area that I spend more than $1000 a year on is hair cuts. That's just a haircut and blonde highlights every 2 months. Seeing as I won't be able to keep that up on the road anyway, I figure I might as well get used to being brunette now.

I'm going to keep growing it long for another year as I'm plain lazy and love to throw it in a ponytail each day. Plus you can get away with trimming it only every 6 months or so. Looking back on my last trip,  I can see I might cut it shorter once I reach Bolivia and Peru. Hot water in hostels is not that common there and let me tell you, washing hair in a cold shower on a freezing cold morning is not fun at all!

Travel planning: Antarctica

Well I've done it. I've handed over the first of a lot of money for my next overseas adventure.

I bought a new laptop this week but I'm not sure that counts as a travel expense. However having excel again has meant a lot of playing around with budgets and researching costs.

Which in turn led me to make the decision to splurge quite a lot on a cruise to Antarctica.  It isn't cheap but wasn't as expensive as I imagined. I'm officially going now that I've put down a deposit to hold my space!

My plan now is to fly in one go from Auckland - Santiago - Buenos Aires - Ushuaia.  Thats about 34 hours of travel to make it to the southernmost city in the world.  Doing it without stopovers cuts out those little costs that add up to quite a bit - taxis to and from airports, accommodation, rushing to see sights in a few days. 

I've booked the last G Adventures cruise of the season on March 12th 2015. I like that I'll arrive into Ushuaia a few days before (don't want to miss the boat!) and get the only booked tour in right at the start leaving me months to meander up the continent.

Cost:
Bed in a 4 share cabin NZ $6099

The tour includes a warm jacket (to keep) and gum boots, all meals and all excursions.

They apparently aim for 2x excursions ashore or tours in the zodiacs each day but that's weather dependent. There are lectures on the region and wildlife to keep you entertained as well.

There is an option to do kayaking but it's an extra grand so I've opted not to.

Other costs I foresee are:
Any drinks (alcohol not included)
Tips (they recommend US$10-$15 per day)
Paying more than I would normally for travel insurance due to needing higher cover for medical evacuation from remote areas.
Renting waterproof pants
Accommodation amd other expenses in Ushuaia but I would've visited that city regardless.

I'm so excited about this trip. I can only imagine how amazing it will be to see icebergs,  wildlife like penguins etc. Not to mention all that knitting time on the trip over the Drake Passage if I'm not too sea sick!

New yarn

Serious savings

I'd composed this post a couple of days ago but it still says uploading and I can't access it - darn blogger app.

This week I had one of those moments of clarity when all of a sudden some switch clicks on, motivating you to do something. I added up in my head all the little holidays I've taken this year and how much they cost.  The total was $5000. That's this year alone. In the past 2.5 years I've done Samoa twice more,  Sydney and quite a bit of NZ. Basically it dawned on me that I've spend on a series of mini breaks what it would cost me to spend 6 months in South America.  Ouch!

I don't regret any of those holidays for a second, but all of a sudden I can't wait to get out of here and long term travelling so a serious savings plan is about to kick in.

My minimum savings goal is $32,000. I will fly out February 2015 as soon as the final Hobbit is done with and I feel like I'll be able to leave Embassy (again) tidily. I need another year there to make sure those knitting sessions are firmly established,  you know...!

Hopefully I'll be able to save a bit more than my goal (I haven't factored in a final holiday pay pay out, for one). I've chosen a fortnightly amount of $760 to save which allows for a comfortable amount to live on and not give up wine! My hours differ depending on the time of year so over the busy summer period I'll do 7 day weeks and give the savings an extra boost.

I want to have a spare 10K to have in the bank while I'm away so that I have it to fall back on if I decide to study or can't find a job right away.

It's not an easy thing to post about money on the Internet but I found last time I planned a trip there was too little info out there on what travelling costs and how much everyone saves to do it.

I've banned takeaways and taxiing to work when I'm feeling lazy. I just placed my last yarn order and will be working through my stash over the next year. I'm holding off buying new work dresses until I've worn the current ones out. I'm sure I'll make more cuts as time goes on.

I'm reading up and planning where I want to go - getting excited about it makes saving easier!

This time I want to start in Santiago, hitting the vineyards nearby and possibly a side trip to Easter Island. Then I want to trek Torres del Paine in Patagonia.  The Perito Moreno glacier is a must, then head up through Argentina visiting Barliloche and the Mendoza wine region (again). Buenos Aires will feature of course, along with Northern Argentina, a proper tour of Uruguay, Paraguay and up through Bolivia to Peru.

I want to spend a lot of time in Peru volunteering probably and backpacking through the less touristy central Andes to Pucallpa and catching a launch down a different Amazon tributary.

From there funds will decide whether to continue upwards. It'd be cool to go right through Central America and end with a working holiday in Canada.  Who knows?!

Strawberry lemonade

I don't know what this 4 ply hazelknits yarn is going to become,  but between 3 and 4 am this morning it somehow ended up in a tidy ball....

It's probably about time it jumped on the needles considering it was a birthday gift from mum a couple of years ago. What to do with 800 yards of it?

Melbourne

I had an amazing and busy 3 days in Melbourne.  What an amazing city. Here are the photos.  I spent a lot of time just walking the streets,  looking at the architecture and street art (and offspring location stalking). I loved Fitzroy.

Other highlights were the Monet waterlily exhibition, watching King Kong the musical, having a drink or two at the gin palace, the Queen Victoria market, Cooks Cottage, the view from the highest skyscraper and of course going to a couple of yarn stores. Pretty much the whole trip was a highlight!

I kept costs down staying in the YHA.  Enjoy the pictures.  Hopefully I'll be back there next year for Les Miserables!