What are your biggest money savers?

roderigo on 02/09/2014 - 16:54
Last edited 02/09/2014 - 16:59

Mine at the moment are:

1) my immaluclately presented 150kklms $2500 4cycl 5 speed manual 2.2 litre wide bodied Toyota Camry wagon running on LPG. I reckon it costs me somewhere in the region of 9-11 cents per kilometre to drive in the city with the aircon always on full

2) my 7 year old $400 toshiba laptop with 8gb Ram running Elementary OS (a flavour of linux with the look and feel of Mac OS and all the free applications that come with Linux http://elementaryos.org/ )

3) my $197 motoG and aldi $30 per month sim card - awesome andriod phone and the telstra network on the cheap from Aldi.

4) my costco card - I reckon I save $50 - $80 per week minimum buying my stuff at Costco.

If people in sydney give you shit about being a tight arse simply say "im more into property investing" —- this shuts them up even if you are not a property investor.

Cheers

new

For the record - I used to be a bit of a tosser and had a string of Mercedes and a porsche at one stage and the latest Iphones and gadgets.

I honestly feel happier every day getting into my camry and smiling at my MotoG knowing that they are serving me at 1/4 the cost of how I used to live.

Automotive

Comments

  • roderigo on 02/09/2014 - 16:57
    +3

    =

  • tanoshiiki on 02/09/2014 - 16:59
    +9

    Not smoking, not drinking, don't drive, very limited going out, watching movies on Channel BT, spend very little on clothes - look for classic and simple (female), $15 haircuts…

    These savings go towards eating out at nice places and general savings (including property).

  • roderigo on 02/09/2014 - 17:01
    +1

    I agree - I still love nice food (home or out on the town) and quality fabrics in clothes and shoes (but not expensive)

  • mmd on 02/09/2014 - 17:33
    +1

    Ozbargain! Getting crazy good bargains and learning heaps from reading comments from the other pros.
    I pay ~20 bucks/month for TPG mobile for 1gb data and phonecalls. Would have recommended that to u, but it seems like they dont offer that plan anymore.

    • cpho on 02/09/2014 - 21:43
      +3

      Ozbargain is counter-intuitive. Yes you save money from bargains, but you find yourself buying shitloads more junk. I never jumped on the eneloop train but just looking around, I see 5 pairs of earphones, several phone cases, screen protectors, charging cables. And torches. Dem torches.

    • pascal03 on 03/09/2014 - 11:44

      I haven't saved money since discovering Ozbargain.

  • craigoss on 02/09/2014 - 17:54
    +4

    Haven't paid for a hair cut since 2003.

    • cim85 on 03/09/2014 - 08:53
      +4

      Are you the host from Gardening Australia on the ABC? Don't think he worries too much about haircuts!

    • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2014 - 12:56

      I haven't had my hair cut at all for over a year and a half. The joys of being female with straight hair - you can leave it for however you want and still get away with it. ha.

      Usually I only pay $10-13 for a haircut.

      • tanoshiiki on 03/09/2014 - 13:58

        How do you take care of your hair to be able to go without a cut for a year and a half? Do you naturally not have split ends?

        • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2014 - 14:35

          I don't do anything to it lol. Been lucky to have never had issues with split ends or tangles in all my life. I don't blow dry my hair ever, either - nor do I straighten it, dye it etc. I guess that helps it stay really healthy.

          If you have split ends, try the Moroccan Argan oil from Aldi (much cheaper than anywhere else). Doesn't make your hair oily. Just put a bit in your hands and rub it through your hair (mainly the ends). Really helps my mum who has dry hair, and I've used it once myself and was impressed with how not-oily it was.

        • roderigo on 04/09/2014 - 15:24

          @waterlogged turnip: Hey I have to see this amazing hair! want to go on a date to Costco - have a $1.99 hotdog with free softdrink refills and check out my Awesome LPG Camry? And ALDI mobile signal strength?

        • [Deactivated] on 05/09/2014 - 16:04
          +2

          @roderigo: lol I've never been wooed so romantically before! lol

          Hey I have to see this amazing hair!

          Here's a recent selfie, then.

        • roderigo on 06/09/2014 - 15:25

          @waterlogged turnip: touche!

      • altomic on 08/09/2014 - 20:46

        I haven't had my hair cut at all for over a year and a half. The joys of being male with straight hair - you can leave it for however you want and still get away with it.

  • pao2x on 02/09/2014 - 20:33

    5% ING then 5% ME Bank

  • Davo1111 on 02/09/2014 - 20:51

    Not spending money on cigarettes or women. Foreveralone.jpg

    • montorola on 05/09/2014 - 10:18

      More like #foreverhappy #nodramas #onemoodallthetime #carefreeliving

  • fruit on 02/09/2014 - 22:04

    Making lunches not buying them.

  • MITM on 02/09/2014 - 22:22
    +2

    Sending partner to work full time was the antidote for retail therapy.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2014 - 09:28

    Electric bike, charge the battery at work. A little bit of investment up front but I have more than paid it off in fuel savings. I still have a car but it is a little 3 door Mitsubishi hatch that is very economical.

    I shave my noggin. $11 for a set of clippers.

    Delivering local pamphlets. Getting paid to exercise = money in pocket, plus no gym expenses.

    I don't know how anyone affords to smoke. <Insert Captain Picard WTF image>

    Using budget software like YNAB to see where money is really going.

    • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2014 - 12:59

      Delivering local pamphlets. Getting paid to exercise = money in pocket, plus no gym expenses.

      How often do you get to do that? How long would one 'shift'/delivery round be (or, how many pamphlets do you deliver)? What's pay like?

      I would consider doing that over the weekend. lol

      How do they know that you've delivered all the pamphlets rather than just dumping them all in a recycling bin somewhere? (not that I'd do that… defeats the purpose of being paid to walk around the block a few times - plus it'd disappoint the catalogue/pamphlet addicts who eagerly await bargain-filled junk mail)

      • rhino015 on 09/09/2014 - 12:55
        +1

        I think they pay some people to report on what pamphlets they receive (in exchange for money) sort of like a mystery shopper type thing. And then if the right ones aren't being delivered, you'd get in trouble.

  • porkandbeans on 03/09/2014 - 15:08
    +6

    Having no friends.

  • Toph Beifong on 03/09/2014 - 17:36
    +1

    $10 amaysim prepaid lasts me 3 months. Can people here in Perth use Aldi? Want to see if I can get better call quality.

    Taking the train to uni, even though I get a lift to the train station.

    Not buying any food at uni cause its ridiculously expensive.

    Not buying designer branded clothes like simple t-shirts that cost $100

  • Munificent on 03/09/2014 - 20:13

    Random off-peak opal trips, using public transport wherever possible
    Putting everything on the CC, then paying it off in full
    Eating at work for free
    Instant coffee for free at work
    Bring lunch
    Drink free water to hydrate
    Not going on holidays…

  • snoopgrl on 03/09/2014 - 23:57
    +1

    Getting up early on Wednesday morning and buying Nudie juice on clearance at Woolies. That's all. And sticking to a budget. And having near vegetarian meals despite not being vegetarian.

    • punter1 on 05/09/2014 - 15:33

      Is it only on wednesday the Nudie juice on clearance ?

      • snoopgrl on 07/09/2014 - 01:00

        Depends on your local Woolies. I usually only find them on clearance on Wednesday and sometimes Thursday morning. Thursday or Friday afternoon I get bacon and sausage on clearance too.

  • Cheeper on 07/09/2014 - 10:28
    +1

    Re the op's wide body camry. I had one of those but a manual one… it was the most incredibly economical car I have ever seen on petrol. I bet it is still running somewhere.
    Still have Toyotas, no funny servicing bills or expensive breakdowns.

  • roderigo on 07/09/2014 - 19:38
    +2

    Thanks - I love the car I have had Porsches and Mercs - but this puts a smile on my face all the time. Especially when my yearly insurance is $202 dollars vs 8 grand for my old Porsche.

    The thing is that if you can cook, serve wine, dress nice and can ballroom dance the girls come to you..you dont need to be out chasing them in Fancy cars AT ALL. Charm and humour beat expensive stuff.

  • altomic on 08/09/2014 - 20:56
    +2

    I only use hardrubbish PC or laptops or uber cheap ebay finds. it's amazing what people throw out. the laptop that I'm using at the moment is a HP dv6000. got it off freecycle. the screen hinge had broken and all the lcd cables had come loose and had no HDD or Ram. bought a 320gb HDD off eBay for $20 , new hinge from aliexpress for $7. 3 gb of ram from other salvaged laptops.

    it's great.

    mother in law was about to throw out her 5 year dell PC (with 21" monitor). I grabbed it converted it to a hackintosh. loaded it with 4gb ram and a 2tb HDD. sweet as.

    I don't game or do graphics- i just need computers for interwebz, movies, uni, work.

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