The important Medium Term Budgetary Policy Statement or \'mini-budget\' is presented to Parliament in October each year. It not only outlines the government\'s spending plans for the next three years but has become a significant occasion for the Minister of Finance to give a broad assessment of the current economic outlook for SA. Newly-appointed Finance Minister Nene has recently presented his maiden mini-budget at a time when a number of red lights are flashing in the economy. We evaluate his efforts to discipline government spending - \'to do more with less\' - and examine the impact of his mini-budget message on taxpayers and the economy as a whole, and on what might be expected in the main Budget in February 2015.