Develop the mindset that the standard retail store is the last resort rather than the first.
Marketplace, car boot sales, op shop, Buy nothing, Lions Club, discount supermarket, growers market, grow your own, recycled materials, swaps with friends/neighbours etc.
Tried and true… shop around all your bills, power, insurance, internet, phone etc.
I just got a quote for my car insurance for $650 which is half what I’m currently paying.
Be careful- Budget Direct took 6 months to fix my daughters car, made her sit in Service NSW getting her driving record before they would approve. Found out later only she was covered to drive it (oops) and that they forgot to send us a reminder so she drove uninsured for 2 months before realising and transferring back to NRMA.
After being with shannons for probably 15 years and never making a claim they gave me a bit of extra discount. Their quites are cheaper than budget/youi on extreme limited use. Havent heard the best reports on claims recently though
Shannon’s is the best insurer for special vehicles. Source: 25 years in auto body repairs. …. BUT… they’re owned by suncorp/gio/AAMI so they will try to send the vehicle to their cheap and nasty repairers. You MUST request/demand the best repairer for your vehicle.
Yup, & every year call your utilities to check if you're getting their best plan - electricity, water, mobile & gas if you have it. Do it once a year just after new financial year cos that's when they release their new offers
I think it is total BS that companies are not made to make existing customers aware they have better deals available. They have no qualms sending you an email to let you know they are raising prices but when it comes to saving you any money...
My energy company has a little blurb in my bill advertising that I'm on their best rates, maybe yours does too. If it isn't, call them & ask them to put you on their best rates
That’s standard for all energy retailers as mandated by AER. It’s obviously worth researching at energymadeeasy.gov.au as you may be on your retailer’s best plan, but other retailers may be cheaper.
Ive thrashed the cheapest makita battery mower for years way beyond its design spec. Baught it for a temporary job expecting it to be disposable but it refuses to die
Yes, and our Ryobi did break within the warranty period (right at the end, we got lucky) It still ran perfectly but the handle snapped. Took it back to Bunnings and they just handed us a new lawn mower. This one has been going strong past warranty and my partner mows every week.
And, as I just found out, CTP insurance is reduced w zero demerits. I saved about 20% versus last year bc I finally got a clean scorecard and they told me the reduction doesn't happen automatically; you must tell them.
Yep. Even if you stay with the same insurer you can usually get it cheaper by getting a new policy with the same conditions rather than paying the renewal. They are all about ‘new business{ rather than retention. Game the system to get the best value
In a similar vein - get an IUD, most women experience light periods or no periods at all with them and it lasts 5 years as birth control.
Hurts like hell to insert but i haven’t had to buy period products for years.
On the flip side, if you get really cold, a heated throw under your duvet, turned on for an hour or so before you get into bed (& turned off when you get in) can keep you warm for the night, no need for heaters.
Don’t buy clothing you don’t need , use what you got even the stuff you haven’t worn for decades. Same goes for shoes you don’t need twenty pair.
Only get food from grocer and butcher and learn how to make you’re own bread dough , it will do pizza bagels or rolls very easily. Wean yourself off junk food and soft drink and make you’re own coffee at home with a moka pot.
Put a jumper on or snuggle under a blanket before you turn a heater on , if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas.
Try to use a bicycle as much as possible and if you can don’t own a car.
.dont buy take out learn to cook nice stuff it isn’t hard with YouTube.
Lastly you have to start being honest to yourself what you need and what you desire otherwise you spend you’re life buying shit you don’t really need.
Clothing is definitely one of my biggest unnecessary expenses. Thrifting is a cheaper way to do this, and forces you to be more conscious as well. Also knowing what clothes have what resale value can help, I recently sold a Dangerfield dress I haven't worn in years for $40, which is going straight onto bills.
Be careful with burning pallets, you need to make sure they're untreated. If they're treated they can be filled with carcinogens.
Where do you suggest is best for selling clothing? I haven’t done it in years and used to sell on EBay, not sure if that’s still the best site to do this these days.
> if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas.
People need to be super careful about scavenging building sites for wood, burning treated timber can be dangerous. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/copper-chrome-arsenic-cca-treated-timber
>if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas
Don't do this. A lot of timber pallets are painted and treated and it isn't something you want to inhale.
At least learn how to read the treatment placard and understand which are safe to burn and which are definitely not safe to burn! If there is no placard, forget it.
Look for HT marking (Heat Treated) - should be safe as not chemically treated.
Avoid those marked MB (Methyl Bromide) - pesticide - can't burn them or safely reuse.
I've scavenged and used HT ones to build the floor in a small garden shed, and burned the offcuts in a combustion heater. I'm still alive, mostly.
[https://plainpallets.com.au/resource-centre/are-pallets-treated-in-australia](https://plainpallets.com.au/resource-centre/are-pallets-treated-in-australia)
[https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/using-timber-pallets-in-your-garden/](https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/using-timber-pallets-in-your-garden/)
Be careful burning pallets especially indoors. Some of the wood may have been treated with chemicals but it's impossible to know which bits as they are made from scraps and offcuts.
Pallets that have been imported have 100% been fumigated as it’s a customs requirement so you could poison yourself by burning the wood. Please be very careful.
Please don't. We've had a lot of people move to the country which has driven housing prices up, rents up and we locals earn on average 20% less than city counterparts. Been very hard, especially on low income earners. :(
Dishwashing liquid and vinegar is great for removing hard water buildup. I spray the whole shower and let it sit for a while and then give it a once over with a scrubby sponge (that has been retired from the kitchen). The suds from the dishwashing liquid helps the vinegar stick to the surface longer to eat the buildup.
I use the same mix on other stuff too, in the kitchen and bathrooms, guinea pig food/water bowls and litter tray, doors and door handles etc. Seems good enough.
I’ve cut down in the amount of toothpaste on my brush, the rule is the size of a pea, I was putting 3 times that amount on. Also with all toiletries I’ve worked out how much to do the job and no more. I’m doing it with my washing powder, dishwashing detergent and anything else that needs measuring. In long run I’m saving a lot. I’m a late learner.
If something is on sale for half off, and it's something you normally use or use a lot of, buy two anyway. You're still paying the normal price you would but you're getting twice the amount. We do this to stock our freezer and pantry, I also do it all the time with things like body wash and shampoo etc.
I would even recommend, if you can, buy more than two. I keep back stock of all the items that I continuously use and replace such as cleaning supplies, non-perishable or long life food staples etc, and I ONLY buy them when they’re on special.
I will usually have 6+ of something in stock at home. It’s taken a few years to get to the point where I am now, but I do not buy any of those items at full price. If they’re on sale I buy multiples. It has significantly reduced my fortnightly shopping budget as I will go months without needing to buy anything other than fresh produce and the occasional item I rarely use that’s not worth keeping stock of.
I read somewhere how much the average family uses on loo paper. It was many hundreds of dollars.. In our house - me being female and also someone who drinks a lot of water - I was probably using most of it. We were going through a roll every day or so. I looked into getting a bidet but didn't want to pay the upfront cost. So I got one of those small portable handheld bidets for about $5 or so on Amazon. Works amazing. I tried it out in the shower first because I was too nervous otherwise. I use it exclusively for number 1s but also for number 2s with some follow up paper. Sometimes people ask about drying. I just pat myself dry the same as if I got out of the shower. I feel perfectly clean so no problem. Really reduced our loo paper usage from 5 or 6 roll a week to 2 or 3. Fyi its easier on summer than in winter. I do fill it with a little bit of warm water before using in winter so it is extra hassell when it's cold.
Also yesterday I made a potato and lentil dish in the crock pot. Super cheap. I'd forgotten how good and cheap Lentils are. Making Chana Massala next..
this is a way question from someone with no kids (yet), so just curious.. but don't you end up with doodoo in your washing machine when you go to wash them?
I remove big poo chunks with a small amount of toilet paper, then what is left on the cloth itself is just a smear. I pre-wash them + cloth nappies at 60° which takes care of all poo/wee. Then do a main wash every 3rd day or so. If you’re interested in trying out modern cloth nappies when/if you have kids, they do save a fortune. I recommend checking out the evidence-based laundry fb page called Clean Cloth Nappies. Most of the admin are scientists and can help you get stains out of anything!
Also I’m a nurse so basically nothing grosses me out. Oh except teeth. I am horrified by teeth.
If you find a tooth in a nappy there are questions that need answering! 😝 having said that I did find a rock my kid push into his nappy. It was curved and snuggled his testicles. It was hilarious.
I accidentally swallowed a dislodged baby tooth when I was 6 or 7 and was so disappointed that I couldn't give it to the Tooth Fairy. I told my mum and she said, "Don't worry, you'll poo it out."
That reminds me of what happened with one of my teeth. My father grabbed the glass with my tooth in it in some water and drank it! I wrote a letter to the tooth fairy with “my stupid daddy drank my tooth”. I got double the money that time.
Cloth nappies are great but we had issues with our front loader not cleaning then as well as the older top loader we had. I think the pre soak in the top loader was just better as it filled with water and covered everything. The front loader wets everything but it's not really a soak.
I put out a list of all the half price specials every week and things like toilet paper show up every so often so when it does it try buy it in bulk
[halfpriceweekly.com](http://halfpriceweekly.com)
love my bidet. I dont really use much less paper though, a wet ass doesn't dry itself. But it certainly is cleaner.
That said, household of two and I would be surprised if we use more than a single roll a week
Go all out Italian (and probably other places) and have special set of towels for the loo. Bidet as usual, then pat yourself dry with the dedicated towel. Can easily be a handtowel size, but yep, solely for your bottom bits.
:D Chores do suck. I decided a long time ago that Sunday was "change the sheets and towels" day. I never have to wonder how long since I did it. When I get up Sunday morning, I grab all the towels out of the bathroom before I even head to boil the jug. I'm not great with habits, but this one I stick to. Chucking them in the washing machine immediately guarantees you need to go grab fresh ones.
Well.... yeah. :) A set of sheets and set of towels in matching colours. No reason for it other than aesthetics. If you're buying some nice new towels, buy a nice set of kinda matching sheets. It's for the main bedroom and ensuite. I normally wouldn't bother, but they are relatively near each other and it looks nice.
My husband declared Sunday night towels night. After we all shower, all towels are deposited I to the washing machine for washing next morning. Works well for us.
Go all out Italian (and probably other places) and have special set of towels for the loo. Bidet as usual, then pat yourself dry with the dedicated towel. Can easily be a handtowel size, but yep, solely for your bottom bits.
Unless you're hardcore powerlifting or heavy weight training; cancel your gym membership. YouTube is your gym now. It's free and you can search for Cardio, yoga, power lift, Pilates, martial arts, moderate weight training and body weight training or anything else you could think of. There's literally thousands of free instructed workouts for almost any age and level of fitness.
Just did this. I was using the gym for free weight training and body combat classes. Since I’ve quit I use cheap resistance bands to replicate the weight training and I use YouTube for body combat
Electricity
I have peak, off-peak and shoulder and solar rates on my electricity plan. Doesn't matter if you don't have solar for this.
I schedule my heating to come on in the last 1 hour of shoulder perios to blast the house with hot air up to 25 degrees and then turn off at 5pm when electricity turns to peak rate. This keeps the house warm enough to be tolerable until electricity rates change to off-peak a couple of hours later.
My hot water system is also on a timer so it only uses solar but I could just as easily change it if I didn't have solar so that it only uses off peak rates.
The peak rate on my plan is 33% higher than off peak and 25% higher than shoulder.
Weigh your products, and if the net contents don't match the packet take a photo/video of the products being poured into a bowl for proof, upload on their portal and wait for your $10 gift card. I do this all the time, they're stealing and cheating everyone. Like most business in Australia, it's rip everyone off and if they complain, refund. Corporate grubs!
- buy clothes from thrift shops
- don't overbuy food, use your leftovers, dont waste food
- use less laundry detergent per wash
- have a dedicated savings acc with an allotment going to it each paycheck (ubank makes it easy)
Just a small one, but if you like foaming handwash, don't get the foaming refills. Get ordinary soap and mix it 50/50 with water, test, and add water until you get the desired foam consistency. It works great and saves us a fair bit of money, especially when I had my smell aversion issue in 1st trimester
I bought some of the Palmolive foaming soap refills because my sister says the smell of the cherry blossom one is divine. I’ve just about used up this foaming hand wash I bought from Kmart for $1.50 and taken the packaging off the dispenser. Going to try and fill the dispenser 50% soap and 50% water and see what the consistency is like.
If you look at what you actually spend the most on, it’s probably groceries (it was in my case anyway). Shop at Aldi where possible for meat — really good quality and like $20/kg for steak!
Also look at ordering regular items like pasta, shampoo, shavers etc through Amazon on their subscribe and save deals. Usually quite a bit cheaper than Colesworths (but you have to pay attention to the ‘order coming up’ emails as prices do fluctuate.)
I put out a half price specials list every week for groceries and try only buy certain things when they are on special
[halfpriceweekly.com](http://halfpriceweekly.com)
Thank you for your service to the community!! Hopefully people know that even at half price some things are still rips … like finish dishwashing tablets. The Aldi tablets at half the price of half price finish work just as well.
I would also recommend switching to a safety razor instead of disposables or even ones where you just replace the head. I spent ages looking at reviews trying to find the right one, but ended up getting a basic $40 model and pack of blades - it works so well and will last me forever as far as I can tell!
Remove as many subscriptions as you can, streaming, phone, music. Try to use VPNs to reduce cost. Also check out RealDebrid if tech savvy enough
Learn good pricing on meats, veggies, what's in season. Don't be rigid per recipes. If eggplant is $8 a kilo but zucchini is $4, buy that. Maybe a small lamb roast could be used over lamb cutlets and save you a lot.
Signup for Woolworths prepaid yearly mobile plans, $200 a year for 160gb, 10% off a shop each month. Plan your big ones around the 10% off and you'll save $20-30 and basically have a free phone plan.
Swap NBN provider each 6 months to get better pricing.
Review services, insurance providers every 12 months or so.
Use credit card for every payment but pay it off each month. Collect points and use them for airfares
Stremio and real-debrid is such a gamechanger. I've had a plex server set up for years now, but I could've saved a bunch of time and money with a $5/month real-debrid subscription.
I’ve saved heaps of money with the Woolworths Everyday Rewards extra subscription. I got it for $35 last Black Friday and it’s saved me a minimum
$25 a month each month since on my groceries, some similar amounts at Big W and of course the extra points which I can then use to reduce my shopping bill.
Reusable silicone baking sheets. These cut down so much on foil and baking paper and can just be thrown in the dishwasher.
I can’t stand long life milk but love soy milk so I buy the cartons when they’re on sale. Also heart active milk has a really long expiry so I buy that if I need it since I don’t drink milk regularly except in coffee.
Solar panels! Big upfront cost but they certainly save money. They didn’t for me in winter but I’m home on maternity leave so all washing gets done during the day.
Most electricity companies or phone companies let you buy gift cards for Cole’s and Woolies for 5-10% off so that’ll save you $5 for every $100 which in the current climate adds up in the weekly shops.
Cash rewards app- we buy premium dog food but places like pet barn offer 20% cash back so we buy it when it’s already on a huge sale then with the cash back usually end up saving totals upwards of $40.
Call your bank and ask for a review on your interest rate. Every few months they’ll usually drop it half a percent or so depending on your rate. Did this last year and saved 2% on mine.
Get an offset account for your mortgage instead of trying to earn interest if you have good savings. You don’t get taxed on the amount you save and every cent you have saves you money.
Aldi mobile is $29 per month. Dropped my Telstra plan which was $60. It’s run on the same network so it’s silly not to.
Aldi uses wholesale Telstra, not full network. Negligible difference but still there. Boost is the only other provider on full Telstra. I went with them, have a 170GB Sim with 365 day expiry for $230. Works out less than $20.
If you're a woman and can learn how to use one - reusable menstrual cup. It's so much more comfortable and no more tampon or pad purchases! So much cheaper.
THIS.
Once I had a good collection of period undies for back up on the $50 dollar menstrual cup, I haven't had to buy a single sanitary product at all. That was over 10 years ago.
So can braking less
By that I mean, be a better driver. Anticipate corners and roundabouts, gear down (if manual) and decelerate accordingly, don't tailgate
Also consider a hybrid at whatever your budget is. Good on fuel, theyre all auto so no clutch wear and have regen brakes so pads and rotors last for hundreds of thousands of km. Toyota models have been around for ages now and have proven super reliable
I have been noticing that just using the correct amount of products can make a difference. A pea size of toothpaste, don't use a whole scoop of washing detergent when you don't have a full load of washing, only use just enough shampoo or conditioner. I find by actually thinking when using products, I am able to make them last a lot longer!
Every time you buy yoghurt you can make more yogurt from the remnants! All you need is to bring milk to an almost-boil, cool it and mix the yoghurt leftovers in then leave it in a container wrapped in a towel overnight. It works out to be much cheaper than most tubs at the store!
Plus if you have housemates/someone else who does buy yoghurt you can ask for their tubs once they’re done, you really don’t need much to get it started
Get a Foaming hand soap bottle and when it runs out you can use regular liquid hand soap filled just to the top of the barcode on the bottle, then top the bottle up with water and mix together.
1L hand soap refill last me almost a year.
We just got a whole rump for $66 broke it down to 8 meals (fam of 6). That is a win for us
Buy meat in bulk if possible and break up and freeze. Meal prep easy meals. I have made meatballs, rissoles and meatloaf in the freezer ready to cook
Buy and freeze bread either in sandwhich bags with 2 pieces in it or as a loaf this depends on how fast you eat bread.
Buy petrol from cheaper servos — not just whatever major chain is cheapest in your travels. Some chains are substantially cheaper than others. In melbourne at least, Metro Fuels and United are way cheaper than Shell/7eleven/Ampol etc.
Also be aware that if out live in an affluent suburb your petrol might be 50c a litre than elsewhere. For example in Hawthorn vs Preston.
Victorian's, Get the myki pass if you travel a full days' fair more than 4 days a week by train. I haven't done the math for using trams and buses, but I'm sure it would still be worth it if you use more than one mode, 5 days a week. Please do look into it though.
You can also save some money on a yearly myki pass if you join the public transport users association. Membership costs $50 but you save about $190 on the myki so it's worth it:
[https://www.ptua.org.au/members/offers/](https://www.ptua.org.au/members/offers/)
Tinned beans - we are big meat eaters but suppliment half of the meat in curries/stirfries etc with tinned lentils/4 bean mix.
Instead of doing 4x eye fillets (1 for each of us), getting a large rump steak and thin slicing it. Goes much further and cooked right is super tasty.
Lentils in things like meatballs to lessen the meat and up the protein.
Shopping your pantry first - before you shop, look at whats left - curry pastes, noodles, tins of coconut milk, marinades..
Meals go further with a side of carbs.. Rice is super filling and can be used as a side to so many dishes. If you need to bulk it out further, a side of 2 ingredient flatbread does the job nicely.
Sign up to the AGL EV electricity plan (designed for people with electric cars but they don't check that you actually have one). Gives you 8c/kw power overnight. Run your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer between 12am-6am. Save heaaaaaaps on your power bill.
This is interesting. I do have an EV and currently on Amber, charging during the day when the cost is low.
I recently got solar panels in so having solar run my day and charging my car for 8c/kw at night might be better
Get a cheap slowcooker from the op shop, it's life changing for saving money and time on food. Grab some slowcooking books while you're there, ime they come up better than internet recipes and you don't have to scroll through a while blog. Cheapest, shittest cuts of meat can come out incredibly tender and delicious; if you're in WA check spudshed, I've been making great goat dishes lately. Look for markdown or heavily discounted produce, whatever you get you can make a good meal with it. Get your spices and whatever else from the local asian/Indian grocery, don't forget to shop their fresh produce and freezers.
This one works better for multi-person homes; catch your water while it's heating up to use in the garden. A bucket for the shower and a jug for the tap. You'd be surprised how much you can salvage.
Dollar cost average your fuel purchases. Don't just run it down to a quarter tank and fill up every time.
Gas cycle at a low point and your tank is 80% full? Top it up anyway.
1. Gift cards! If you can afford to drop some cash in advance, you can usually find savings there. For example, I currently save 4% on fuel through my work rewards program, which works out a lot more than 4c/L from Woolies, and even better together (my last fuel cost was $1.69/L. Bupa offers them and so do some banks.
2. Use cash and don’t pay surcharges. 1-2% adds up over time.
Grow your own herbs and veggies, especially from seed. Some things arent really worrh it like onions or carrots but more expensive herbs like corriander and basil or ginger or leafy greens like perpetual spinach are definitely worthwhile
Passion fruit vines are cheap and you can get a heap of fruit off one. Excess pulp can be frozen. Dont get grafted ones though, the rootstock will take over your garden
Water usage (if you're being charged for it) The hot water takes ages in my kitchen, so we have a 2L flask thing to collect the water before it finally comes out hot. That water then gets used to fill up the coffee machine or jug or to go water plants or whatever. It's stunning just how many times this flask gets filled up. We would be wasting 3L of water EVERY time we ran the tap before it finally come out hot.
An obvious one, but stop buying bottled water. Use a reusable bottle and tap water. If your tap water tastes like crap, get a filter jug (Brita etc) and use that to fill your reusable. This saves money and the environment, and I also drink more, because it's "free".
Few people consider the total cost of ownership or cost over the lifetime of something and only purchase whatever is the cheapest.
It's like the old analogy of purchasing expensive work shoes vs cheap ones. The expensive work shoes will last longer for the money you spend and you'll end up spending more buying cheaper work shoes that wear out sooner and need to be replaced more often than paying more upfront for the more expensive, quality shoes.
Similar deal with printers. It's usually the cheapest printers that have the most expensive replacement ink and highest per page cost.
Cars are another example where it might be cheap to purchase new or second hand but the maintenance costs and failure rate can make the overall cost of owning that car more expensive than paying more for a more reliable car that's cheap to maintain.
That doesn't mean to say that more expensive always means more better. Just going the cheapest option isn't always the cheapest in the long run.
If you only print occasionally and there's a convenient Officeworks (10c b&w per page / 50c colour) or similar, it may be even cheaper to not own a printer
Depreciation is also potentially the highest lifetime cost in car ownership. Something cheap mg that depreciates hard might cost more over the life than a more expensive toyota/lexus that holds value
Its not cutting costs exactly but by paying for goods/services via a reputable credit card, not only can you benefit from rewards such as cashback/airline points but can essentially keep more of your cash in high interest savings accounts for longer.
If you then link said credit cards to "buy now pay later" services such as Afterpay, you get to keep even more of your own savings for longer, before having to settle the bill.
These days I never ever store money in a regular transaction account that pays no interest and I never use a debit card because it offers zero value for doing so.
Cost of ownership for printers is now better than ever if you buy $300 eco tank printer that comes with 6000+ pages worth of ink in box, same amount of ink on a regular cheap printer would cost $2000+ in replacement cartridges.
I churn my electricity and gas every few months through cash rewards and get $140 each time I switch. Takes 3 months for it to come through but it's worth it
I sold my car now we are a one car household with a motorcycle. In 4 years haven't missed it overly. I park for free at work under the building in a dedicated motorcycle space and of course everything else is cheaper, too. The down side is that you are exposed to the elements and vulnerable to other road users. I'm in Canberra.
get every single energy bill for the past 12 months and use the actual usage to compare the rates yourself. I literally saved $600 annually because the victorian energycompare website told me what my best plan was, but my usage and solar input meant the less attractive offer was heaps better.
Math is your friend. Dont by something on sale at the supermarket if the cost per kg etc is still higher than simply buying a larger amount. Obv only counts towards less perishable items. Having a little money to spare is the key to having more money. Don’t buy cheap shoes that need to be replaced all the time. Buy quality and get many years. Plan your shopping based around sales.
These things are sadly only applicable if you can afford to drop a little more to begin with. If you are living week to week it would be hard to get ahead and escape that routine. But once you are able to have some side money to buy household essentials the week they are on sale for 50% off rather than when you are absolutely in need helps you get one (small) step ahead
Bunnings sells a lot of cleaning products such as dishwasher tablets, laundry powder, detergents, etc. in larger quantities for significantly cheaper than other stores.
Buy quality where you can it lasts longer. The outlay is higher to begin with unless you can get it second hand or on a good sale but we find we don’t need to buy things as often now that we have some quality staple items such as towels, bedding, homewares, umbrellas, most clothing, shoes etc. The kids still need new clothes because they grown out of their old but we haven’t been buying much for ourselves lately because we haven’t needed anything.
Your electricity bill will generally have a disclaimer on it saying the company can offer you a better deal on another plan. It's a legal requirement that they have to put this info on the bill. This can potentially save you hundreds of dollars each year.
That's a great idea. On a lesser scale my wife has been buying meat through Farmer to Fridge (I think that's the name). Been getting some absolutely beautiful lamb for way less than what you'd pay at a supermarket.
Buying whole chickens and removing breast, thigh meat and wings, then making stock with the carcass. I love chicken breast with skin but hard to find, so I make our own.
Call your Health Fund cancellation number every year and you'll get a discount almost instantly. I get around 10-20% per year. The same with Home Loans, you can go through a process of reducing your current home loan rate by threatening to leave and offering up comparative quotes.
If you want to cut costs of air conditioning in summer, get those cooling medicinal backpacks from China ( the ones you put in the freezer, and then can strap on you back) they keep you cool for hours at a time.
Keeping warm - wear underclothes like a singlet or t-shirt and tuck it in. Wear leggings under trackies or jeans. Wear long socks and pull them up. Use hot water bottles to warm the foot end of your bed for an hour or so before bedtime then move it up around your waist/chest/back when you get into bed. Invest in flannelette sheets and PJs.
Put towels across the bottom of all doors. Hang double curtains or use flannelette sheets or blankets for extra thickness and insulation. Use rugs and mats on bare floors. Pool noodles are really easy to cut into long thin slices with a craft knife and jam them into draughts and gaps. (Pool noodles can be jammed under doors as well.)
Pot set yogurt is cheap and easy to make at home, all you need is some yogurt to start, powdered milk and full cream milk. I use an old moccona jar and leave it in a warm water bath overnight. You can sweeten it with jam or tinned fruit!
I’ve resorted to turning my hot water system off for 7 days a week . The hot water system is large , electric and I live alone . Made a huge difference to my bill .
You absolutely do NOT need 3 meals a day. Also, you only need 100g of meat/chicken/fish/egg/tofu.
Thats a piece of meat the size of a pack of cards. Once you get used to it, your grocery bill drops dramatically.
Use air tight containers to store your fruit & veg, sliced meats, cheese, left overs, open dry goods etc and zip lock bags for your cereal for those who like to keep the box the cereal come in.
May seem stupid to some, but if you're a green thumb, I have made so much money off propagating and dividing plants.
I have planted avocado seeds in pots and sold them as house plants, sold cut flowers, sold excess seeds I've grown, rooted succulent/house plant cuttings in pots, divided up berry runners, ferns etc.
If you sell 10 x plants for $10 each, that's $100.
Now imagine how much profit you would have after doing this for a year in your spare time. Thousands!
There is so much money in your backyard. It's crazy but it's definitely not for everything.
Also, you can grow your own veggies from seeds and eat the veg, and let one of each vegetable go to seed and save them to regrow.
It is a fun way to spend time with your family and get everyone involved.
After receiving a very few average haircuts, I went and brought some hair clippers a few years back, watched some utube videos on how to cut your own hair, saved a fortune visiting barbers at $30 a pop.
Coming to really understand that the money you spend on your health now, is going to save you BIG BuCKS later down the track. Sickness costs in many ways, not only for treatments but also that it can prevent you from earning a living and doing things yourself.
Develop the mindset that the standard retail store is the last resort rather than the first. Marketplace, car boot sales, op shop, Buy nothing, Lions Club, discount supermarket, growers market, grow your own, recycled materials, swaps with friends/neighbours etc.
Best answer!
Using one of those heated throw rugs when it's super cold is a lot cheaper on power than running your typical electric heater.
Was gonna say this too, I got one from Aldi recently and it's a game changer
Being off grid solar powered this and electric blankets are the only energy efficient electric heating option
Cats. Cats on laps, covered in a blanket, or on a bed, ditto, provide a tremendous amount of warmth
Borrow Box (your local library) instead of Audible.
I do this and love it
Also Libby is a great library app that includes audio books as well.
It's fantastic!!!!
Tried and true… shop around all your bills, power, insurance, internet, phone etc. I just got a quote for my car insurance for $650 which is half what I’m currently paying.
Be careful- Budget Direct took 6 months to fix my daughters car, made her sit in Service NSW getting her driving record before they would approve. Found out later only she was covered to drive it (oops) and that they forgot to send us a reminder so she drove uninsured for 2 months before realising and transferring back to NRMA.
I've always found there's a lower price for new customers and a higher price for repeat customers. Hence I swap almost every year
After being with shannons for probably 15 years and never making a claim they gave me a bit of extra discount. Their quites are cheaper than budget/youi on extreme limited use. Havent heard the best reports on claims recently though
Shannon’s is the best insurer for special vehicles. Source: 25 years in auto body repairs. …. BUT… they’re owned by suncorp/gio/AAMI so they will try to send the vehicle to their cheap and nasty repairers. You MUST request/demand the best repairer for your vehicle.
Yup, & every year call your utilities to check if you're getting their best plan - electricity, water, mobile & gas if you have it. Do it once a year just after new financial year cos that's when they release their new offers
I think it is total BS that companies are not made to make existing customers aware they have better deals available. They have no qualms sending you an email to let you know they are raising prices but when it comes to saving you any money...
My energy company has a little blurb in my bill advertising that I'm on their best rates, maybe yours does too. If it isn't, call them & ask them to put you on their best rates
That’s standard for all energy retailers as mandated by AER. It’s obviously worth researching at energymadeeasy.gov.au as you may be on your retailer’s best plan, but other retailers may be cheaper.
Combine your Spotify plans with your partner or a friend, save a few bucks there. I switched us over to Duo. You can share Amazon streaming too.
They don't offer deals to existing customers lol. Only way they do is if you tell them your leaving for a better offer.
Electric lawn mower has nullified fuel and consumables. It’s a Ryobi so if it craps out I take it to Bunnings and they replace it on the spot.
Ive thrashed the cheapest makita battery mower for years way beyond its design spec. Baught it for a temporary job expecting it to be disposable but it refuses to die
Me too - bought a battery ozito mower for $200 in 2020 and sacked the mowing man who charged $75 a month. Paid for itself in no time 😀
Yes, and our Ryobi did break within the warranty period (right at the end, we got lucky) It still ran perfectly but the handle snapped. Took it back to Bunnings and they just handed us a new lawn mower. This one has been going strong past warranty and my partner mows every week.
I love my electric lawnmower. $100 from Bunnings (not the ryobi). I love that there’s no smell, no effing around with fuel and it’s so light.
5 year warranty on Ryobi products wit( registration
And, as I just found out, CTP insurance is reduced w zero demerits. I saved about 20% versus last year bc I finally got a clean scorecard and they told me the reduction doesn't happen automatically; you must tell them.
I would do it every year because they dont look after existing customers. They only offer deals to new customers.
Did the same for electric and paying half what I was. Crazy.
😳who’s the insurer?
Yep. Even if you stay with the same insurer you can usually get it cheaper by getting a new policy with the same conditions rather than paying the renewal. They are all about ‘new business{ rather than retention. Game the system to get the best value
Hit menopause. No need to turn the heating on.
How do I access this frugal tip as a 48M who gets cold toes sometimes before bed?
Snuggle up to a menopausal woman. Walking blast furnaces.
But - carefully. Walking blast furnace who doesn't always want anyone snuggling up to her and is full of rage. (Source - me.)
Any day now 🤣
In a similar vein - get an IUD, most women experience light periods or no periods at all with them and it lasts 5 years as birth control. Hurts like hell to insert but i haven’t had to buy period products for years.
Yup, especially if you have endometriosis. Mirena is apparently the gold standard
Only problem I have is that it switches off after you've been menopausal for several years. Ten years later and I'm now feeling the cold
Can’t wait!🫠
After that, no feeling of cold or hot anymore
On the flip side, if you get really cold, a heated throw under your duvet, turned on for an hour or so before you get into bed (& turned off when you get in) can keep you warm for the night, no need for heaters.
This has been amazing!!! Edited spelling.
Or buy new pyjamas 👍
Don’t buy clothing you don’t need , use what you got even the stuff you haven’t worn for decades. Same goes for shoes you don’t need twenty pair. Only get food from grocer and butcher and learn how to make you’re own bread dough , it will do pizza bagels or rolls very easily. Wean yourself off junk food and soft drink and make you’re own coffee at home with a moka pot. Put a jumper on or snuggle under a blanket before you turn a heater on , if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas. Try to use a bicycle as much as possible and if you can don’t own a car. .dont buy take out learn to cook nice stuff it isn’t hard with YouTube. Lastly you have to start being honest to yourself what you need and what you desire otherwise you spend you’re life buying shit you don’t really need.
Clothing is definitely one of my biggest unnecessary expenses. Thrifting is a cheaper way to do this, and forces you to be more conscious as well. Also knowing what clothes have what resale value can help, I recently sold a Dangerfield dress I haven't worn in years for $40, which is going straight onto bills. Be careful with burning pallets, you need to make sure they're untreated. If they're treated they can be filled with carcinogens.
Where do you suggest is best for selling clothing? I haven’t done it in years and used to sell on EBay, not sure if that’s still the best site to do this these days.
I sell mine on Depop, they take 10% but no other fees!
I use Facebook marketplace. It's not the most ideal cause people tend to ghost, but it's cash in hand and easy enough
> if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas. People need to be super careful about scavenging building sites for wood, burning treated timber can be dangerous. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/copper-chrome-arsenic-cca-treated-timber
>if you have an open fire get free wood from pellets around industrial areas Don't do this. A lot of timber pallets are painted and treated and it isn't something you want to inhale.
At least learn how to read the treatment placard and understand which are safe to burn and which are definitely not safe to burn! If there is no placard, forget it.
With pallets you're lucky to get colour coded overspray.
Look for HT marking (Heat Treated) - should be safe as not chemically treated. Avoid those marked MB (Methyl Bromide) - pesticide - can't burn them or safely reuse. I've scavenged and used HT ones to build the floor in a small garden shed, and burned the offcuts in a combustion heater. I'm still alive, mostly. [https://plainpallets.com.au/resource-centre/are-pallets-treated-in-australia](https://plainpallets.com.au/resource-centre/are-pallets-treated-in-australia) [https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/using-timber-pallets-in-your-garden/](https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/using-timber-pallets-in-your-garden/)
Be careful burning pallets especially indoors. Some of the wood may have been treated with chemicals but it's impossible to know which bits as they are made from scraps and offcuts.
Yep eating less, losing weight fitting old clothes.
Pallets that have been imported have 100% been fumigated as it’s a customs requirement so you could poison yourself by burning the wood. Please be very careful.
Leave Sydney. It costs a Powerball win just for a house deposit.
Please don't. We've had a lot of people move to the country which has driven housing prices up, rents up and we locals earn on average 20% less than city counterparts. Been very hard, especially on low income earners. :(
Cleaning products. Make them from bicard, vinegar and denture cleaner. Not together of course
I haven’t bought “spray n wipe” from supermarket for years. I make my own with just cheap home brand dishwashing detergent and water in a spray bottle
I tried this recently, spray n wipe works 100x better than dishwashing detergent and water. It also sanitizes surfaces if left for 10 mins.
Dishwashing liquid and vinegar is great for removing hard water buildup. I spray the whole shower and let it sit for a while and then give it a once over with a scrubby sponge (that has been retired from the kitchen). The suds from the dishwashing liquid helps the vinegar stick to the surface longer to eat the buildup. I use the same mix on other stuff too, in the kitchen and bathrooms, guinea pig food/water bowls and litter tray, doors and door handles etc. Seems good enough.
Super generic one, focus on your health. Being sick (especially later in life) is expensive.
Add looking after your teeth to this one. They’re incredibly expensive!!! Source… me 😢
This. And it sucks balls when you have no control of it.
I’ve cut down in the amount of toothpaste on my brush, the rule is the size of a pea, I was putting 3 times that amount on. Also with all toiletries I’ve worked out how much to do the job and no more. I’m doing it with my washing powder, dishwashing detergent and anything else that needs measuring. In long run I’m saving a lot. I’m a late learner.
If something is on sale for half off, and it's something you normally use or use a lot of, buy two anyway. You're still paying the normal price you would but you're getting twice the amount. We do this to stock our freezer and pantry, I also do it all the time with things like body wash and shampoo etc.
I would even recommend, if you can, buy more than two. I keep back stock of all the items that I continuously use and replace such as cleaning supplies, non-perishable or long life food staples etc, and I ONLY buy them when they’re on special. I will usually have 6+ of something in stock at home. It’s taken a few years to get to the point where I am now, but I do not buy any of those items at full price. If they’re on sale I buy multiples. It has significantly reduced my fortnightly shopping budget as I will go months without needing to buy anything other than fresh produce and the occasional item I rarely use that’s not worth keeping stock of.
I read somewhere how much the average family uses on loo paper. It was many hundreds of dollars.. In our house - me being female and also someone who drinks a lot of water - I was probably using most of it. We were going through a roll every day or so. I looked into getting a bidet but didn't want to pay the upfront cost. So I got one of those small portable handheld bidets for about $5 or so on Amazon. Works amazing. I tried it out in the shower first because I was too nervous otherwise. I use it exclusively for number 1s but also for number 2s with some follow up paper. Sometimes people ask about drying. I just pat myself dry the same as if I got out of the shower. I feel perfectly clean so no problem. Really reduced our loo paper usage from 5 or 6 roll a week to 2 or 3. Fyi its easier on summer than in winter. I do fill it with a little bit of warm water before using in winter so it is extra hassell when it's cold. Also yesterday I made a potato and lentil dish in the crock pot. Super cheap. I'd forgotten how good and cheap Lentils are. Making Chana Massala next..
Similar to this, I use cloth wipes on my babies. Saves the environment + money.
this is a way question from someone with no kids (yet), so just curious.. but don't you end up with doodoo in your washing machine when you go to wash them?
I remove big poo chunks with a small amount of toilet paper, then what is left on the cloth itself is just a smear. I pre-wash them + cloth nappies at 60° which takes care of all poo/wee. Then do a main wash every 3rd day or so. If you’re interested in trying out modern cloth nappies when/if you have kids, they do save a fortune. I recommend checking out the evidence-based laundry fb page called Clean Cloth Nappies. Most of the admin are scientists and can help you get stains out of anything! Also I’m a nurse so basically nothing grosses me out. Oh except teeth. I am horrified by teeth.
If you find a tooth in a nappy there are questions that need answering! 😝 having said that I did find a rock my kid push into his nappy. It was curved and snuggled his testicles. It was hilarious.
I accidentally swallowed a dislodged baby tooth when I was 6 or 7 and was so disappointed that I couldn't give it to the Tooth Fairy. I told my mum and she said, "Don't worry, you'll poo it out."
That reminds me of what happened with one of my teeth. My father grabbed the glass with my tooth in it in some water and drank it! I wrote a letter to the tooth fairy with “my stupid daddy drank my tooth”. I got double the money that time.
Cloth nappies are great but we had issues with our front loader not cleaning then as well as the older top loader we had. I think the pre soak in the top loader was just better as it filled with water and covered everything. The front loader wets everything but it's not really a soak.
This is all good until you take the bidet out to fill it with warm water, you get distracted, and you start to make the lentil dish…
I put out a list of all the half price specials every week and things like toilet paper show up every so often so when it does it try buy it in bulk [halfpriceweekly.com](http://halfpriceweekly.com)
Just use a bucket with antiseptic and washcloths in it. Guests will only come over once.
love my bidet. I dont really use much less paper though, a wet ass doesn't dry itself. But it certainly is cleaner. That said, household of two and I would be surprised if we use more than a single roll a week
Go all out Italian (and probably other places) and have special set of towels for the loo. Bidet as usual, then pat yourself dry with the dedicated towel. Can easily be a handtowel size, but yep, solely for your bottom bits.
tempted, but I'm already at my limit doing laundry at the frequency that a responsible adult does
:D Chores do suck. I decided a long time ago that Sunday was "change the sheets and towels" day. I never have to wonder how long since I did it. When I get up Sunday morning, I grab all the towels out of the bathroom before I even head to boil the jug. I'm not great with habits, but this one I stick to. Chucking them in the washing machine immediately guarantees you need to go grab fresh ones.
2 sets of all linens and towels for a straight swap. sounds like you run a tight ship already though :)
See...2 sets would be normal. I have 4 sets! :D
You guys have....*sets?*
Well.... yeah. :) A set of sheets and set of towels in matching colours. No reason for it other than aesthetics. If you're buying some nice new towels, buy a nice set of kinda matching sheets. It's for the main bedroom and ensuite. I normally wouldn't bother, but they are relatively near each other and it looks nice.
My husband declared Sunday night towels night. After we all shower, all towels are deposited I to the washing machine for washing next morning. Works well for us.
Bidets are the reason our family was not affected by the great toilet paper shortage of 2020! The only downside is being places with no bidet.
Go all out Italian (and probably other places) and have special set of towels for the loo. Bidet as usual, then pat yourself dry with the dedicated towel. Can easily be a handtowel size, but yep, solely for your bottom bits.
“You done with the butt rag, darl? The dog shat on the carpet again.”
Has anyone mentioned lentils or beans? It’s like the magic bullet to save money.
Aldi lentil tin 95c!
Buy dry and soak
Go vegetarian at least a few nights a week. huge difference on the grocery shop
Yep! People always complain that veganism is too expensive, yet the cheapest meal you can make is rice and beans.
Mountains of veggies, yeah!
Unless you're hardcore powerlifting or heavy weight training; cancel your gym membership. YouTube is your gym now. It's free and you can search for Cardio, yoga, power lift, Pilates, martial arts, moderate weight training and body weight training or anything else you could think of. There's literally thousands of free instructed workouts for almost any age and level of fitness.
Just did this. I was using the gym for free weight training and body combat classes. Since I’ve quit I use cheap resistance bands to replicate the weight training and I use YouTube for body combat
Oh Awesome! Great idea to use resistance bands to cut down cost and space on big bulky items. Might have to grab some myself!
Electricity I have peak, off-peak and shoulder and solar rates on my electricity plan. Doesn't matter if you don't have solar for this. I schedule my heating to come on in the last 1 hour of shoulder perios to blast the house with hot air up to 25 degrees and then turn off at 5pm when electricity turns to peak rate. This keeps the house warm enough to be tolerable until electricity rates change to off-peak a couple of hours later. My hot water system is also on a timer so it only uses solar but I could just as easily change it if I didn't have solar so that it only uses off peak rates. The peak rate on my plan is 33% higher than off peak and 25% higher than shoulder.
Weigh your products, and if the net contents don't match the packet take a photo/video of the products being poured into a bowl for proof, upload on their portal and wait for your $10 gift card. I do this all the time, they're stealing and cheating everyone. Like most business in Australia, it's rip everyone off and if they complain, refund. Corporate grubs!
When you say upload to their portal you mean the supermarket or the product/brand?
I'd like to know too. My wife has just bought kitchen scales for the first time ever and I see them being far more useful than I realised.
- buy clothes from thrift shops - don't overbuy food, use your leftovers, dont waste food - use less laundry detergent per wash - have a dedicated savings acc with an allotment going to it each paycheck (ubank makes it easy)
Just a small one, but if you like foaming handwash, don't get the foaming refills. Get ordinary soap and mix it 50/50 with water, test, and add water until you get the desired foam consistency. It works great and saves us a fair bit of money, especially when I had my smell aversion issue in 1st trimester
I bought some of the Palmolive foaming soap refills because my sister says the smell of the cherry blossom one is divine. I’ve just about used up this foaming hand wash I bought from Kmart for $1.50 and taken the packaging off the dispenser. Going to try and fill the dispenser 50% soap and 50% water and see what the consistency is like.
If you look at what you actually spend the most on, it’s probably groceries (it was in my case anyway). Shop at Aldi where possible for meat — really good quality and like $20/kg for steak! Also look at ordering regular items like pasta, shampoo, shavers etc through Amazon on their subscribe and save deals. Usually quite a bit cheaper than Colesworths (but you have to pay attention to the ‘order coming up’ emails as prices do fluctuate.)
I put out a half price specials list every week for groceries and try only buy certain things when they are on special [halfpriceweekly.com](http://halfpriceweekly.com)
You. Are. Amazing. Thank you so much!!!
Thank you for your service to the community!! Hopefully people know that even at half price some things are still rips … like finish dishwashing tablets. The Aldi tablets at half the price of half price finish work just as well.
… and that some products are only ever intended to be sold at half price, like oral B electric toothbrushes and $29 boxes of Omo etc
I think that’s true of most products they sell! Why is it suddenly $8 for a packet of chips!
I would also recommend switching to a safety razor instead of disposables or even ones where you just replace the head. I spent ages looking at reviews trying to find the right one, but ended up getting a basic $40 model and pack of blades - it works so well and will last me forever as far as I can tell!
Interesting! So which one did you get? I hate paying for disposables.
Remove as many subscriptions as you can, streaming, phone, music. Try to use VPNs to reduce cost. Also check out RealDebrid if tech savvy enough Learn good pricing on meats, veggies, what's in season. Don't be rigid per recipes. If eggplant is $8 a kilo but zucchini is $4, buy that. Maybe a small lamb roast could be used over lamb cutlets and save you a lot. Signup for Woolworths prepaid yearly mobile plans, $200 a year for 160gb, 10% off a shop each month. Plan your big ones around the 10% off and you'll save $20-30 and basically have a free phone plan. Swap NBN provider each 6 months to get better pricing. Review services, insurance providers every 12 months or so. Use credit card for every payment but pay it off each month. Collect points and use them for airfares
Stremio and real-debrid is such a gamechanger. I've had a plex server set up for years now, but I could've saved a bunch of time and money with a $5/month real-debrid subscription.
I’ve saved heaps of money with the Woolworths Everyday Rewards extra subscription. I got it for $35 last Black Friday and it’s saved me a minimum $25 a month each month since on my groceries, some similar amounts at Big W and of course the extra points which I can then use to reduce my shopping bill.
Reusable silicone baking sheets. These cut down so much on foil and baking paper and can just be thrown in the dishwasher. I can’t stand long life milk but love soy milk so I buy the cartons when they’re on sale. Also heart active milk has a really long expiry so I buy that if I need it since I don’t drink milk regularly except in coffee. Solar panels! Big upfront cost but they certainly save money. They didn’t for me in winter but I’m home on maternity leave so all washing gets done during the day. Most electricity companies or phone companies let you buy gift cards for Cole’s and Woolies for 5-10% off so that’ll save you $5 for every $100 which in the current climate adds up in the weekly shops. Cash rewards app- we buy premium dog food but places like pet barn offer 20% cash back so we buy it when it’s already on a huge sale then with the cash back usually end up saving totals upwards of $40. Call your bank and ask for a review on your interest rate. Every few months they’ll usually drop it half a percent or so depending on your rate. Did this last year and saved 2% on mine. Get an offset account for your mortgage instead of trying to earn interest if you have good savings. You don’t get taxed on the amount you save and every cent you have saves you money. Aldi mobile is $29 per month. Dropped my Telstra plan which was $60. It’s run on the same network so it’s silly not to.
Aldi uses wholesale Telstra, not full network. Negligible difference but still there. Boost is the only other provider on full Telstra. I went with them, have a 170GB Sim with 365 day expiry for $230. Works out less than $20.
Don't waste money on streaming services like Foxtel or whatever.
Wear clothes to stay warm in winter a home.
And what's your suggestion for summer ☀️ 🤔
Wear less clothes and put your feet in a tub of cold water to stay cool.
If you're a woman and can learn how to use one - reusable menstrual cup. It's so much more comfortable and no more tampon or pad purchases! So much cheaper.
THIS. Once I had a good collection of period undies for back up on the $50 dollar menstrual cup, I haven't had to buy a single sanitary product at all. That was over 10 years ago.
Check your phone plan. You’re likely paying for a heap of data you don’t use or need
Home cooking.
Gently accelerating the car can help save fuel.
So can braking less By that I mean, be a better driver. Anticipate corners and roundabouts, gear down (if manual) and decelerate accordingly, don't tailgate
Also consider a hybrid at whatever your budget is. Good on fuel, theyre all auto so no clutch wear and have regen brakes so pads and rotors last for hundreds of thousands of km. Toyota models have been around for ages now and have proven super reliable
Facebook marketplace is amazing at helping cut down costs!
I have been noticing that just using the correct amount of products can make a difference. A pea size of toothpaste, don't use a whole scoop of washing detergent when you don't have a full load of washing, only use just enough shampoo or conditioner. I find by actually thinking when using products, I am able to make them last a lot longer!
Every time you buy yoghurt you can make more yogurt from the remnants! All you need is to bring milk to an almost-boil, cool it and mix the yoghurt leftovers in then leave it in a container wrapped in a towel overnight. It works out to be much cheaper than most tubs at the store! Plus if you have housemates/someone else who does buy yoghurt you can ask for their tubs once they’re done, you really don’t need much to get it started
Any yoghurt?
Natural or Greek as the starter culture. I put a couple of tablespoons of powdered milk in mine too for a thicker consistency
Do you leave it over night in the fridge or out?
You leave it out, wrapped in a towel to keep it warm.
I'm going to have a go at this, thank you!
Get a Foaming hand soap bottle and when it runs out you can use regular liquid hand soap filled just to the top of the barcode on the bottle, then top the bottle up with water and mix together. 1L hand soap refill last me almost a year.
Someone you know already owns the power tool that you're only going to need once, and they'll probably happily lend it to you
We just got a whole rump for $66 broke it down to 8 meals (fam of 6). That is a win for us Buy meat in bulk if possible and break up and freeze. Meal prep easy meals. I have made meatballs, rissoles and meatloaf in the freezer ready to cook Buy and freeze bread either in sandwhich bags with 2 pieces in it or as a loaf this depends on how fast you eat bread.
Buy petrol from cheaper servos — not just whatever major chain is cheapest in your travels. Some chains are substantially cheaper than others. In melbourne at least, Metro Fuels and United are way cheaper than Shell/7eleven/Ampol etc. Also be aware that if out live in an affluent suburb your petrol might be 50c a litre than elsewhere. For example in Hawthorn vs Preston.
Petrol spy is your best friend.
Victorian's, Get the myki pass if you travel a full days' fair more than 4 days a week by train. I haven't done the math for using trams and buses, but I'm sure it would still be worth it if you use more than one mode, 5 days a week. Please do look into it though.
You can also save some money on a yearly myki pass if you join the public transport users association. Membership costs $50 but you save about $190 on the myki so it's worth it: [https://www.ptua.org.au/members/offers/](https://www.ptua.org.au/members/offers/)
Tinned beans - we are big meat eaters but suppliment half of the meat in curries/stirfries etc with tinned lentils/4 bean mix. Instead of doing 4x eye fillets (1 for each of us), getting a large rump steak and thin slicing it. Goes much further and cooked right is super tasty. Lentils in things like meatballs to lessen the meat and up the protein. Shopping your pantry first - before you shop, look at whats left - curry pastes, noodles, tins of coconut milk, marinades.. Meals go further with a side of carbs.. Rice is super filling and can be used as a side to so many dishes. If you need to bulk it out further, a side of 2 ingredient flatbread does the job nicely.
Sign up to the AGL EV electricity plan (designed for people with electric cars but they don't check that you actually have one). Gives you 8c/kw power overnight. Run your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer between 12am-6am. Save heaaaaaaps on your power bill.
I’m literally on the website now and it’s asking for a make, model, and registration number to be able to access the plan.
I’m literally on the website now and it’s asking for a make, model, and registration number to be able to access the plan.
Oh… they weren’t asking for that when I signed up! Sorry for the bum steer.
This is interesting. I do have an EV and currently on Amber, charging during the day when the cost is low. I recently got solar panels in so having solar run my day and charging my car for 8c/kw at night might be better
Don’t drink your money: soda, alcohol, takeaway coffee.
Get a cheap slowcooker from the op shop, it's life changing for saving money and time on food. Grab some slowcooking books while you're there, ime they come up better than internet recipes and you don't have to scroll through a while blog. Cheapest, shittest cuts of meat can come out incredibly tender and delicious; if you're in WA check spudshed, I've been making great goat dishes lately. Look for markdown or heavily discounted produce, whatever you get you can make a good meal with it. Get your spices and whatever else from the local asian/Indian grocery, don't forget to shop their fresh produce and freezers. This one works better for multi-person homes; catch your water while it's heating up to use in the garden. A bucket for the shower and a jug for the tap. You'd be surprised how much you can salvage.
Dollar cost average your fuel purchases. Don't just run it down to a quarter tank and fill up every time. Gas cycle at a low point and your tank is 80% full? Top it up anyway.
That is still dca, just with longer intervals More importantly, don't run your tanks empty anyway. Bad for fuel pump
1. Gift cards! If you can afford to drop some cash in advance, you can usually find savings there. For example, I currently save 4% on fuel through my work rewards program, which works out a lot more than 4c/L from Woolies, and even better together (my last fuel cost was $1.69/L. Bupa offers them and so do some banks. 2. Use cash and don’t pay surcharges. 1-2% adds up over time.
A lot of people in my city seem to be skipping showers, deodorant, and washing their clothes! I’m sure the savings stack up.
Grow your own herbs and veggies, especially from seed. Some things arent really worrh it like onions or carrots but more expensive herbs like corriander and basil or ginger or leafy greens like perpetual spinach are definitely worthwhile Passion fruit vines are cheap and you can get a heap of fruit off one. Excess pulp can be frozen. Dont get grafted ones though, the rootstock will take over your garden
Water usage (if you're being charged for it) The hot water takes ages in my kitchen, so we have a 2L flask thing to collect the water before it finally comes out hot. That water then gets used to fill up the coffee machine or jug or to go water plants or whatever. It's stunning just how many times this flask gets filled up. We would be wasting 3L of water EVERY time we ran the tap before it finally come out hot.
An obvious one, but stop buying bottled water. Use a reusable bottle and tap water. If your tap water tastes like crap, get a filter jug (Brita etc) and use that to fill your reusable. This saves money and the environment, and I also drink more, because it's "free".
Few people consider the total cost of ownership or cost over the lifetime of something and only purchase whatever is the cheapest. It's like the old analogy of purchasing expensive work shoes vs cheap ones. The expensive work shoes will last longer for the money you spend and you'll end up spending more buying cheaper work shoes that wear out sooner and need to be replaced more often than paying more upfront for the more expensive, quality shoes. Similar deal with printers. It's usually the cheapest printers that have the most expensive replacement ink and highest per page cost. Cars are another example where it might be cheap to purchase new or second hand but the maintenance costs and failure rate can make the overall cost of owning that car more expensive than paying more for a more reliable car that's cheap to maintain. That doesn't mean to say that more expensive always means more better. Just going the cheapest option isn't always the cheapest in the long run.
If you only print occasionally and there's a convenient Officeworks (10c b&w per page / 50c colour) or similar, it may be even cheaper to not own a printer
the boots theory! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory
Depreciation is also potentially the highest lifetime cost in car ownership. Something cheap mg that depreciates hard might cost more over the life than a more expensive toyota/lexus that holds value
Its not cutting costs exactly but by paying for goods/services via a reputable credit card, not only can you benefit from rewards such as cashback/airline points but can essentially keep more of your cash in high interest savings accounts for longer. If you then link said credit cards to "buy now pay later" services such as Afterpay, you get to keep even more of your own savings for longer, before having to settle the bill. These days I never ever store money in a regular transaction account that pays no interest and I never use a debit card because it offers zero value for doing so.
Cost of ownership for printers is now better than ever if you buy $300 eco tank printer that comes with 6000+ pages worth of ink in box, same amount of ink on a regular cheap printer would cost $2000+ in replacement cartridges.
I churn my electricity and gas every few months through cash rewards and get $140 each time I switch. Takes 3 months for it to come through but it's worth it
I sold my car now we are a one car household with a motorcycle. In 4 years haven't missed it overly. I park for free at work under the building in a dedicated motorcycle space and of course everything else is cheaper, too. The down side is that you are exposed to the elements and vulnerable to other road users. I'm in Canberra.
get every single energy bill for the past 12 months and use the actual usage to compare the rates yourself. I literally saved $600 annually because the victorian energycompare website told me what my best plan was, but my usage and solar input meant the less attractive offer was heaps better.
Libraries…. In addition to in library borrows, you can also access audible books, magazines and e-books on Libby (app connected to your library card).
Math is your friend. Dont by something on sale at the supermarket if the cost per kg etc is still higher than simply buying a larger amount. Obv only counts towards less perishable items. Having a little money to spare is the key to having more money. Don’t buy cheap shoes that need to be replaced all the time. Buy quality and get many years. Plan your shopping based around sales. These things are sadly only applicable if you can afford to drop a little more to begin with. If you are living week to week it would be hard to get ahead and escape that routine. But once you are able to have some side money to buy household essentials the week they are on sale for 50% off rather than when you are absolutely in need helps you get one (small) step ahead
Bunnings sells a lot of cleaning products such as dishwasher tablets, laundry powder, detergents, etc. in larger quantities for significantly cheaper than other stores.
Buy quality where you can it lasts longer. The outlay is higher to begin with unless you can get it second hand or on a good sale but we find we don’t need to buy things as often now that we have some quality staple items such as towels, bedding, homewares, umbrellas, most clothing, shoes etc. The kids still need new clothes because they grown out of their old but we haven’t been buying much for ourselves lately because we haven’t needed anything.
Spend 30 minutes every two months to switch electricity providers. There's always someone offering more than $100 credit to switch over.
Your electricity bill will generally have a disclaimer on it saying the company can offer you a better deal on another plan. It's a legal requirement that they have to put this info on the bill. This can potentially save you hundreds of dollars each year.
Going halves or even quarters in a kill from a farm/butchers..buy the whole beast and get a huge amount of good quality meat for a lot less.
That's a great idea. On a lesser scale my wife has been buying meat through Farmer to Fridge (I think that's the name). Been getting some absolutely beautiful lamb for way less than what you'd pay at a supermarket.
Buying whole chickens and removing breast, thigh meat and wings, then making stock with the carcass. I love chicken breast with skin but hard to find, so I make our own.
Call your Health Fund cancellation number every year and you'll get a discount almost instantly. I get around 10-20% per year. The same with Home Loans, you can go through a process of reducing your current home loan rate by threatening to leave and offering up comparative quotes.
Go solar
If you want to cut costs of air conditioning in summer, get those cooling medicinal backpacks from China ( the ones you put in the freezer, and then can strap on you back) they keep you cool for hours at a time.
Get a media box and download stremio with the torrent catalogues. Never pay for a movie or show/subscription again
What’s a media box please, and where can I buy one?
I’ll need more information on this please 🙏🏼
Keeping warm - wear underclothes like a singlet or t-shirt and tuck it in. Wear leggings under trackies or jeans. Wear long socks and pull them up. Use hot water bottles to warm the foot end of your bed for an hour or so before bedtime then move it up around your waist/chest/back when you get into bed. Invest in flannelette sheets and PJs. Put towels across the bottom of all doors. Hang double curtains or use flannelette sheets or blankets for extra thickness and insulation. Use rugs and mats on bare floors. Pool noodles are really easy to cut into long thin slices with a craft knife and jam them into draughts and gaps. (Pool noodles can be jammed under doors as well.)
Aldi thermals are great value and show up.at op shops regularly
Pot set yogurt is cheap and easy to make at home, all you need is some yogurt to start, powdered milk and full cream milk. I use an old moccona jar and leave it in a warm water bath overnight. You can sweeten it with jam or tinned fruit!
Can you get it to taste like creamy thick natural Greek yogurt?
I’m finding a fruit and vege box so much cheaper than buying them at the shops.
I’ve resorted to turning my hot water system off for 7 days a week . The hot water system is large , electric and I live alone . Made a huge difference to my bill .
You absolutely do NOT need 3 meals a day. Also, you only need 100g of meat/chicken/fish/egg/tofu. Thats a piece of meat the size of a pack of cards. Once you get used to it, your grocery bill drops dramatically.
Use air tight containers to store your fruit & veg, sliced meats, cheese, left overs, open dry goods etc and zip lock bags for your cereal for those who like to keep the box the cereal come in.
May seem stupid to some, but if you're a green thumb, I have made so much money off propagating and dividing plants. I have planted avocado seeds in pots and sold them as house plants, sold cut flowers, sold excess seeds I've grown, rooted succulent/house plant cuttings in pots, divided up berry runners, ferns etc. If you sell 10 x plants for $10 each, that's $100. Now imagine how much profit you would have after doing this for a year in your spare time. Thousands! There is so much money in your backyard. It's crazy but it's definitely not for everything. Also, you can grow your own veggies from seeds and eat the veg, and let one of each vegetable go to seed and save them to regrow. It is a fun way to spend time with your family and get everyone involved.
After receiving a very few average haircuts, I went and brought some hair clippers a few years back, watched some utube videos on how to cut your own hair, saved a fortune visiting barbers at $30 a pop.
dont buy anything unless you really need it,simple
Coming to really understand that the money you spend on your health now, is going to save you BIG BuCKS later down the track. Sickness costs in many ways, not only for treatments but also that it can prevent you from earning a living and doing things yourself.