Save money? You Can’t Touch This

MICHAEL Van de Elzen’s broad smile has been a regular on our screens from 2012’s The Food Truck to his current show Eat Well For Less.

And today he reveals a particularly cheeky method to stop people overspending on their weekly groceries – put MC Hammer’s face on our currency.

The cost of living-busting tip comes in an interview with Sunday magazine (and can be read on Stuff), in which Van de Elzen admits he was a huge fan of the baggy pants and madcap dance styles of the 80s and 90s star.

‘‘I used to love MC Hammer back in my youth, I even had an MC Hammer outfit, with the gold buttons, a purple suit,’’ he says.

‘‘Imagine if MC Hammer was on a banknote and every time you pull out that note it would say, ‘You can’t touch this’ and it’d stop you from spending because you’d think ‘I’ll just put it back’. It would be like having a little savings bank because you couldn’t touch any of your money.’’ That’s a fair idea, for sure, but if everything gets a little hectic, he’s got a different idea about chilling out. ‘‘I’d like to be like Hector the dog because he’s got a pretty good life. I’m looking down on the ground and there’s Hector fast asleep in the sun, not a worry in the world.’’