Originally Published 2 July 2024 - Updated 16 Sept 2024
​Being a high consuming power home, reviewing our power supplier regularly is critical. ​And, as we are home during the day, an off-peak plan seemed like it must be a good option for us, and sustainable too since it shifts power away the periods of peak-expensive demand.

This article includes our original comparison of the various Off Peak or Time of Use plans with approximately monthly updates.

When we made our switch it saved us hundreds of dollars each month - again, we are an electricity heavy household.

You can Jump to our Comparison Summary, or read on and I’ll explain the process we took and share some of our learnings (in the highlighted quotes below.

Several New Zealand power companies are using hours of free power to entice people to switch their electricity to one of their plans. Other companies have off-peak rates. This sounds fantastic - but don’t rush into the first plan you see.

• First up - work out what off-peak plan is best for your current usage. Read my “Best Off-Peak/Night/Free Power Plans” article.
• Then be realistic about how much power you can “shift” to the free or off-peak period. I say choose a plan based on your current patterns of use - anything you switch is a bonus.

If your plan has free hours of power, read on for 20 ways you can exploit free electricity .

With two mega-supermarket chains, it’s great to support The Warehouse with it's grocery offering where it makes sense and cents.

Sadly the range of groceries at The Warehouse is insufficient to be your one-stop-shop for groceries and for some products they're just not competitive with Countdown & Pak n Save. 

​But there are definitely some real deals to be had so check out what we've found.

As usual in the worlds of literature and film regularly converge in spectacular fashion.

​The last year or so produced a wealth of book-to-screen adaptations that delight both avid readers and movie buffs alike. In this article we present twelve amazing adaptations that made their way from bookshelves to cinemas and streaming services.

On a recent holiday in Hawaii, I signed up with a friend to go swimming with the local manta rays only to remember shortly after that I hadn't brought contact lenses on holiday with me.  What to do?? Being short-sighted my view of the spectacular marine animals would be sorely limited.
I then discovered it's possible to get snorkel masks with prescription lenses.  Magic!!

Fresh cherries are my favourite taste of Summer and this wonderful little gadget lets you enjoy them stone-free.  
​There is nothing more decadent and delicious than popping a pitted cherry in your mouth and there are some situations where the stone being removed is a real bonus:

Bring colour and ingenious design to your kitchen with the delightful Joseph Joseph range of kitchen utensils.
The colour coordinated range includes bowls, measures, cooking utensils and every item is beautifully and functionally designed.
The Joseph Joseph range make a space saving, designer statement in any kitchen and have fans around the globe.

In Paul Cleave's thrilling novel The Quiet People, husband and wife crime writers Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are forced to confront their own hubris when their eight-year-old son, Zach, goes missing. The Murdochs have in the past made the bold claim that crime writers could pull off the perfect murder. Now, they must explain themselves to the police, the media, and their own fans.

Liane Moriarty is known for her masterful storytelling and complex characters, and her latest novel, The Apple Doesn't Fall, is no exception. This gripping mystery-drama follows the Delaney family, retired tennis school owners whose lives are turned upside down when Joy mysteriously disappears.

Keeping the kids busy during school holidays or wet weekends can be a challenge so here's a starting list of 16 my ideas to build their creativity and knowledge.

Painting, robotics, origami, and other crafts - there are a range of kits to appeal to any child.

My mother's pressure cooker terrified me.  Hissing and spitting it seemed like a time bomb ready to explode dinner over the walls. But combine the latest, safer pressure cookers with new generation recipes from these cookbooks and you have delicious, nutritious, time saving meals for the family.

Create the art of creative conversation with Chat Pack. Whether it's over the dinner table or on long journeys - Chat Pack is a great interaction game that encourages dialogue and imagination. Some examples
If you could have any round object in the world, what would you choose? 

• Which musical instrument would best describe your personality? 
• If you could be one inch tall for a day, what specific place would you most like to explore?
• If you could have 50 pounds of anything other than money, what would you want most of all?
  

Butterflies, box kites, sharks and schooners - Sky dogs has the most amazing kites. Click for more details.

Spooner boards teach kids the movements of skate/snow boarding and all the tricks in relative safety. Click for details including a video.

Hyperdash is the electronic tagging game that can be played on an area as small as a tabletop or as large as a football field.

Use you personal gravity to send rockets soaring with Stomp Rocket.

This novel explores the relationship between two English sisters in unusual circumstances. The elder, Beatrice, is more conservative and pursuing her career in New York when she receives a call telling her that Tess, her younger art-student sister, has gone missing.

The story is told from the perspective of Beatrice recounting to a police officer how she came to discover what happened to Tess. In the re-telling we learn of Beatrice's struggles with police reticence and explore not only the deep relationship between the sisters but also that with their mother, their disenfrachised father and the brother they lost as children.

It is beautifully written and combines the complex drama of relationships with a whodunit crime mystery and the ending ... it is both surprising and satisfying.

Highly recommended reading.

Stephen King's latest book 11/22/63 will be of major appeal to lovers of time travel fiction. Jake Epping discovers, via his friendly diner owner, a portal to 1958. The diner owner, shares with Jake his dieing wish - to change a watershed moment in history - the nearest to 1958 being the assassination of JFK in 1963. But there is danger ahead because "the past is obdurate," reluctant to change, and seems to pose obstacles to Jake's efforts. King paints a vivid and poignant picture of the late '50s/ early 60s as he bides time for 4 years as George Amberson and plans his attempt to change history.

Some people never wear mascara because by lunchtime they end up with embarassing panda-eyes. 

Blinc is a salvation for this because it is rubber based and forms what they call "tubes" around your lashes that don't smudge or create black rings around your eyes.  You don't need special eye make-up remover either since just warm water and gentle pressure will remove the "tube" quickly and easily leaving little rubber strips on your face-cloth. 

Although you use warm water to remove Blinc, it's largely water-proof - I suspect it would take five-star, tear-jerker movie tears to come off - and even then you'd just end up with little pieces of rubber on your cheek that are easily picked off.

Blinc mascara sells for around $35 at the time of writing but may change. They also sell a Blinc liquid eyeliner and a heated lash curler - I've not
tried these but they could be worth checking out.
Click on the images for more information and availability.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is the highly regarded book by Jonathan Safran Foer.  It tells the story of a young boy two years after his father's death in 9/11 who on finding a key of his father's starts a city-wide mission to discover what it opens.
This incredible movie releases in cinemas soon starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullow, Max Von Syndow so if you want to read the book first you'll need to be quick.  Click on the cover on the right for more information and pricing.
If you've already read it - comment on what you thought below.  Will the movie be as good?