Lessons in cultural thriftiness from Christchurch

When it comes to saving money there's a lot we can learn from different cultures.

Thrift and Here Now visited the Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resources Centre to learn more.

Rana Alkhalely from Kuwait is the Centre's programme co-ordinator, and says, swapping things out is a great way to cut costs.

"You can replace it with something cheaper, not like the original, but it will work.

And forget about non-seasonal produce, she said.

"If this one is expensive, no need to buy it this season. I will go for another option."

Sara Qaeder is from Hyderabad in South India. She and her family eat one traditional curry, only stretching to more if they have visitors.

"If you want to splurge that way, if there's company, there's at least more than a couple of curries. But what we do is we just have a single curry for home, and we have either rice or bread."

Very little gets thrown out, she said.

"Try not to waste food. That's the best I can say. We do cook at home, and we try not to waste food."

Bulking up meals with pulses is another good option.

"Legumes are great protein as well. So we sometimes go for protein that way."

And a bit of heat goes a long way, Sara said.

"We do use a lot of spices. We don't eat as much, I find if you make it really delicious, you don't really want to eat a lot more."

A small amount of meat will also go much further if you cook it in a curry or a one pot meal.

"So, you're not losing by not having a piece of meat, you're still getting quite a lot of the nutrients from the meat into your curry. So that's the whole point of the curry, some genius thought it up, some thrifty genius!"

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Isha Masoodi came to New Zealand from Kashmir in northern India. Her strategy is to save first and then choose food according to what's left over.

"For me, what works is I keep a little chunk of money aside and put it into the savings and after that I spend, whether you're eating meat today or you're eating pasta, whatever you're eating, if it is in your budget, you eat that."

When she does find things that are well-priced, she'll often buy extra.

"Sometimes I do bulk buy things that doesn't have a short expiry. Rice is a good example. So instead of buying 1kg or 2kg I'll buy 20 kilos, so we cut down the cost."

Another who bulk buys is Alliff Danial. He's Malaysian and comes from a large family.

"Typical Asian families we tend to have more than four to five people in the same household. For example, my mum, she has 10 siblings, you know. So, we are the norm in that kind of living."

And cut out eating out to make the food dollars go further, they all said.

Alliff brings home cooked meals to work for lunch, and he doesn't buy pre-packaged dinners from supermarkets.

"Our own dishes we tend to use more ingredients. We tend to use more spice."

He can get these at various Asian supermarkets around Christchurch. But his style of cuisine also relies on a lot of vegetables, and he's found them pricey. So, he's selective now about which ones to buy fresh.

"We buy just carrot, potatoes, cabbage, probably the rest are quite expensive."

Then he'll supplement them with frozen vegetables or spices bought from specialist shops.

Sara points out that eating with others brings its own benefits too.

"It saves money. And I think when communities meet together, there's more blessing, you know, you're meeting each other. There's more blessing in the food. There's blessing in your company. So go for the blessings."

Thrifty tips from the Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resources Centre.

• Be prepared to adapt, reduce or change ingredients or swap them out for something cheaper. You might invent an amazing new dish.
• Use a small amount of spicy or rich food, bulked up with pulses and supplement with bread and rice.
• Buy and cook in bulk where possible.
• Check smaller markets for cheaper specialist foods and use a combo of fresh and frozen veg.
• When you eat, share with other people, either out or at home.