I recently bought a power bank for travel but what I am doing now is charging the power bank at work so that I dont have to use my electricity at home to charge our mobiles and ipads.
I also turn off the gas booster to my solar hot water on sunny days so all my hot water is free…..when the sun is out.
What do you do to save $$
WOW, Thank you all for replying. I didn't expect such a response.
What a community!
Some great ideas and some funny comments too.
Thank You
@niggard: no you don't need lock chain starter thing.
you need this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkbP0XZ31No
if you make one, send me one ok? :)
@tinx: that just looks like a bent nail…I should've googled for ways to get coins out before buying a chain
And did it take you 20 hours?
It sounds like one of those things where your time would have been better spent working for minimum wage even if you are in the highest tax bracket.
I have found a way to unlock trolleys without the trolley lock chain and saved myself $20.
A pair of pliers works too but it's too shifty carrying that shit around
No and I will continue to brag here. Are you going to start crying now?
You can use paper clip, or the iPhone SIM card tool. I have one with my keys all the time :p
Yeah, just do the right thing and bring them back to the docking area to get the coin.
Sometimes the docking area is fully fuсked up. You get flipped over trolleys, wrong-sized trolleys back to back, etc.
I have made one myself and it fits in my wallet.
Lool, I use paper clip save me $20 :p
And when the ladies see that tool hanging off your belt the relative humidity in the immediate area goes up measurably.
What are the legalities of doing this? Would it be considered stealing?
Buying a Myki, putting $1 on it, catching a train into country victoria, throw away myki, repeat.
Walking 14km instead of catching a taxi.
I know someone that was in Florida and was going to Cancun.. And bought a flight via Chicago because it was cheaper. I believe it was a 12 hour transit vs a 1 hour transit.
You can get done for fare evasion when travelling on vLine if you don't have enough on your myki to cover the trip. The conductor would have made you aware of this when checking your myki.
Hmm.. I haven't been checked when doing this.. I must just be having a lucky streak.. Haha
Rambutan! Now that's a fruit I could get in Msia very often :)
Yea this is no different to just sneaking on the train with a myki you drew with crayon.
I did this in Sydney, where the cards are free. Put just enough on it to put it in positive, go to the airport, throw card in bin, catch flight. $15 bucks saved :)
That is not ripping off that's giving Maquarie bank what they deserve!
It's owned by Westpac now. I walked from Domestic Terminal to Mascot recently to avoid the Private Rail Line Surcharge.
I doubt that the owner of the airport station is missing out. I reckon the government is wearing the loss.
@dealman: I'm only speculating. The card goes into negative so I'd say they got paid, these big companies rarely miss out when it comes to this sort of thing.
Interesting that you say that..
I guess at some level you are right if the card goes into negative, the government is essentially charging the card owner and prepaying the airport.
Maybe it's not such a good idea after all then
I do this in sydney ALWAYS, get the free opal card, which you must put a minimum $10 credit on it, use it enough to make sure theres only a few cents left on it, then off to the airport and scan through, funny when you see the balance go to -$18 when the gates open, then chuck the card- rinse and repeat next visit to syndey.
You can't do that with just a few cents, you need the minimum of $3.46 (or $2.42 off-peak) to touch on your opal in the first place
@R-Man: , nope, I was in sydney 3 weeks ago and it worked with a few cents on it. The gates opened at the airport with no issiu when I touched the sensor. maybe i still had enough credit when I touched on at cirqular quay?
@MelbBargainChaser77: Yes soz thats what i meant :) when you touched on at Circular Quay you must have had $3.46 or $2.42 to get in. That then got obliterated when you touched off at Airport!
Would be amazing to touch on with $0.01 haha
how does this work?
Does the ticket machine let you through even if you are on negative credit?
To catch a Sydney train you need a balance of $3.46 or $2.42 if off-peak to touch on your opal card. The trip to the airport costs $15 or more.
Your trip to the airport costs you $10 at worst or $2.42 at best depending on your other use of public transport and time of day. Anything better than $15!
@R-Man: i think i read that they are now cracking down on this. If you don't have enough credit they direct you to pay before you exit.
@shiningstars: Damn, i guess they could set up pay machines just before the Opal gates. Another way to close this opportunity for good is to put a price of $15 to buy an opal BEFORE any credit is added (similar to Melbourne's $6 myki fee).
Anyways this was working around 30 August when i last tried it.
Picked up food that was in a grave yard
Currently considering rooting through fast food bins
Reuse tissues I've had in my pocket
I have done this once.. Was not proud of myself but it was just cold chips left out by somebody at a train station.
Well thats the difference between you and I. I was proud of myself :D
I endevour to prosper from the waste of others.
Oh I meant I was ashamed I let my guard down.. I mean I could have easily caught something knowing the kind of people who do that in my neighborhood. Food was shit too since it was raining so double loss for me.
Mr. Humphries died in real life from hep A, which surprisingly he caught from eating food handled by someone with hep A. Don’t you worry about things like diseases you could catch from eating someone else’s food?
Can't help you there. I wouldn't eat someone elses food unless I knew the person eating it. Not even if I hadn't eaten in a week.
I have been known by my friends as the racoon. I raid the trays left on the aisles of fine hotels when away on tour.
I send them photos of the fest all the time.
I saw a group of hipsters come into a restaurant and clean up somebody's leftovers after they'd left..
I think they may have just been homeless.
Haha reminds me of a convo regarding a colleague, him and the guys I was chatting too are all management/sales so all well off ie 150k+ easy
They spoke at a work lunch how he eyed a couple who left, had barely touched a bottle of expensive wine they bought, chatted abit about it to get the courage then went and scoped it for their table
Me and two mates wanted to go from one station to another but I didn't have a MyKi, so the two went over first and one of them came back to me with the other guy's myki
Awesome
I've walked from a station down just to avoid the zone 1/2 surcharge
I have done that for bus zones, save my self 10 cents per trip.
You'd be wasting your time doing that these days. They don't charge for both zones anymore, the most you will pay is the zone 1 fare.
Was one friend a fox, and the other a chicken, or something like that?
Used a Pokemon code that someone on ozbargain posted so I could sell the one I had.
despicable me
I like it, keep up the good work.
I use both sides of the toilet paper
Or use the butt hose.
The correct term is bum gun.
Join ozbargain!
Reusing glass peanut butter jars instead of buying a cup
Reusing a large 10kg yoghurt bucket instead of buying a bucket
Package parcels at the post office using their own tape
Get free bubble wraps from other people instead of buying new bubble wraps to package parcels
Use free recycled boxes at bunnings instead of buying new ones for packaging
Reusing an empty water bottle as an ice pack for esky instead of buying an ice brick
Using a pack of frozen peas/vegetables as ice pack instead of buying an ice pack
Reusing old plastic shopping bags for packaging instead of buying satchels
Instead of using a workshop I obtained all the right mechanic tools and learned how to service my own car.
I basically try to recycle as much as possible instead of spending money on useless stuff.
I also go to brick and mortar stores to try on clothes and shoes and then do my online shopping at home using ebay discount codes on ozbargain lol.
Yeah an old girlfriend of mine used to do that i couldn't think of anything worse then making clothes shopping drag on
Yeah for girls its about the thrill of the hunt. My brother and i swore never to take my two female cousins clothes shopping again. It was our xmas gift for them. We wasted half a day bought nothing. Subsequent years after that we just hand them cash.
A few years ago, an old girlfriend didn't have a decent dress for a wedding, so she bought one at Target, wore it to the Saturday wedding, then returned it to Target on the Monday, saying it didn't fit. She had even spilled red wine down the front of it, and had spent an hour or so sponging it out before returning it.
No, in fact she always dressed indecently. I was more than happy with that, but it scared the hell out of me when she went out with her girlfriends on a 'girls' only night out', clubbing or whatever.
No, in fact she always dressed indecently. I was more than happy with that, but it scared the hell out of me when she went out with her girlfriends on a 'girls' only night out', clubbing or whatever.
I really like ur first post, but really hate this. The first post everything you did was good for you and society, but going to bricks and mortar stores to try and test things and then heading online to buy is just a transfer of costs of them providing you a service to the people who shop in store. It's free for you at the expense of others.
Additionally the online retailers, depending on what you are buying, probably pay no tax. So again, simply another transfer of wealth effect.
Ways of saving money coz they reduce waste is a +.
Ways of saving money becaus you are transferring the cost, is a bit like stealing. Emphasise on "a bit", coz it's not, but feels wrong
I would've bought without hesitation if bricks and mortar stores were cheaper than online. I bought online because I am stingy. I get what you are saying but this is more like a loophole like finding a loophole to minimize taxable income when doing tax returns.
This is nothing in comparison to other's post about them stealing printing paper, toilet paper rolls and hand sanitizer soap for personal use at home.
yea, totally understand, and im sure you would have plenty of friends in this regard. I mean, bricks and morter stores are providing a service of sorts for free, and you are redeeming the freebie because they are unable to charge for it.
Plus, as i said, they always dodge GST as well, so you are literally minimise your tax ;)
I would compare this to something like counting cards in blackjack. It's not illegal to count but frown upon just like masturbating on an airplane lol. You need to worry about the posts on this forum about them stealing these stuff from work for personal use instead of focusing on this issue.
I disagree with worrying about stealing. Stealing is clearly wrong and hence needs no debate. Debates occur due to behavours of questionable stance.
I have to wonder if in the future of retail we'll ultimately end up with showrooms for many products, paid for the brands themselves, with staff who are knowledgeable about the product, but with a clear understand that you're just there to look, and understand the product, and find out if it's for you, with zero pressure to buy, and no means of selling to you anyway (the showrooms would not even have registers or cash or credit card machines, they are literally just be a showroom, not a shop).
And then you go buy it wherever it's cheapest (eBay, Amazon, etc). That way showrooms can demo the product well, and online retailers can sell it cheaply and get it to you quickly. Obviously you'd end up with fewer showrooms that current stores, since the end prices paid would be lower, but there would be enough in major cities, and surely the shopping experience would be better.
The above is what some people are doing anyway, but this just makes it explicit, removes any moral issues. Apple stores seem the closest to this right now in terms of the experience, except that they sell stuff. If they refused to sell you stuff, but instead helped you find the right thing, and wrote that down on a card, and said "now go buy it at the cheapest place", then they'd be it.
Mobile phones and shoes seem the most obvious to me for a showroom model. Maybe Dyson vacuums too. Basically it'd suit products that are expensive enough to be worth shopping around for, have strong brands who want to engage directly with customers, and which benefit from some physical interaction with the product, but where there are already multiple online channels for buying that product.
Perhaps showrooms could also handle manufacturer's warranty repairs and replacements? I'm a bit unclear on that myself, but seems like a reasonable opportunity.
yea, i reckon you are probably close to being what the future could be like.
In the end, people are subsidising some others. If a showroom is paid by brands the end cost will pass on to online retailers via higher prices and as you say, remove the moral issue, and even the cost discrepency.
The problem right now with this moral issue is that only some people understand the problem. Most people are probably like Armdrags, don't know or don't care. Must get it cheapest, who cares who pays for this as long as i can get it cheaper.
Which is why I highlight this issue, and as i point out, there is no discussion needed on balant stealing, this on the other hand is invisable to most people.
Reusing an empty water bottle as an ice pack for esky instead of buying an ice brick
I do this too. Another benefit is that you can drink it when it melts, or depending on how good your esky is you have super chilled water for a day or two as it slowly melts.
Great tips for ur hip pocket and environment. Love it
I stop at my local Cole's/Woolies, every evening at closing, on my way home.
I find 50-80% off items in meat/dairy/pasta. Most (if possible) I freeze.
Saves me having to figure out "what's for dinner" & saves $$ (plus, allows me to sometimes partake in things I'd never have the $ to). I'm a single mum, so every $ counts for us to survive. We have no nothing related to TV. Not even a free-to-air antennae. All we need is what it takes for them to succeed via internet. That, has proven very bad— even moving house to a better node. I'm pushing my two to finish uni strong so that they don't have to (hopefully) scramble as their mum does.
Cheers
where is this 50%-80% off meat/dairy/pasta?
It's the usually the bits and pieces close to expiry date. Look for the discount stickers on the packaging - usually in the regular place, but put at the front of fridge/freezer/shelf by staff. They don't tend to last long, so you gotta go at the right time.
The best day I had was a half-trolley of fresh salmon, pre-made burgers, chicken, beef, steaks, pasta & store-brand pizzas (cheaper than buying a plain crust)….I think everything was 70-95% (true!) off. There was heaps there— but our freezer was already 1/2 full.
And yes— timing is everything. Like I said, I try to check every day. Also, it seems that some shops have more of this than others. We have two Cole's, within 5km of each other & one nearly always has something where the other, not so much. That being said, I snagged 50% off marinated lamb & chicken strips + nice sausages at the latter yesterday.
Woolie's is best for their bakery mark-downs every day, with the occasional good meat discount. One time they had a nice whole, smoked turkey breast reduced to 50% & it only had one day left. I asked the butcher if he could do any better & he marked it down to 70% off- lol. Hey, you don't know unless you ask.
Happy hunting :)
@Geekomatic: Very nice.
I used to frequently drive between Melbourne and rural South Australia, passing through Hamilton along the way. One evening, I stopped at the Coles in Hamilton, thinking I wanted a chocolate milk or iced coffee, or whatever I found on special. Instead I found a 1L bottle of regular full cream milk marked down to 17 cents as it was due to expire in a few days. Since then I've trained my eyes to hunt for those red and yellow mark-down stickers whenever I'm in a supermarket.
I find woolies bakery discount every night. I presume they want to sell fresh bread the next day, Coles doesn't mind selling the bread the next day I assume coz they always have lots at the end of day, like way too much that is not even on shelf it's still in the bakery racks.
Those pre made Ireland loathes probably last longer on shelf.
@cloudy: I walk my dog past Woolworths at 5am and they are always filling 2 or 3 shopping trolleys with yesterday's bread and rolls. A woman waits for them at the loading dock and fills her little car full of all the bread.
You gotta skulk near the guy putting the yellow stickers on.
The do it in the last hour or two before closing. But trust me, on the meat you want to cook that stuff within the next 12 to 24 hours when its 50-80% off.
Yeah, because 50-80% of it is off.
When life hands you lemons, strong peopke make lemonade.
i took this a step further and enquired what day my local supermarket restocks. Now I shop the evening before.
I use to do this. I'd go in half and hour before closing and get the cheap steaks and donuts usually. For some reason they marked down the steaks about 2 hours or so before closing. This were the ones that were already marked down heavily due to being the last date before use by.
This is because the butchers go home at 5pm and the bakers around 4pm. They mark down earlier. The dairycase will often wait until 7 or 8pm as they're there until 9 or 10pm usually.
I always do this as well!!
in my opinion I find woolies are more generous with the price of their reduced items, Coles only give a slight markdown. And Sunday is always full of gems!!
Hahaha if I go at around 7pm-7:30pm passing by a classy neighbourhood I can get so much good reduced meat/bakery/dairy. My best find so far has been 98% off!!
If I go to my local, all the scabs take everything :P
Coles is so much better than Woolworths for it as well.
Probably just not eat for days.. sleep for days…Not shower for weeks
Damn dude. Were you going through a tough time at the time, or something
Haha actually I was recovering from one.. still am ;) being in control of my food, sleep and hygiene has actually taught me a lot about myself and still does today.. don't realise how much of a rat race life is until you slow down.. still got a lot of work in progress to go but I am in a lot better place now than say I was five or ten years ago haha lol.
Yeah.. when it came to the rat race I guess I must've had my shoes untied, because I could never quite get started on that one. I've gone back to the basics too. The good news is that it doesn't take much in natural world terms to go from the bottom to the top, and I truly believe someone with the basics all setup and in full control of themselves can become successful in just a few years.
@altomic: you need one of those + a lock chain starter thing to release the coins without damaging the trolley