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
Wait a minute…can't you do multiple splits? Or is there a limit for cash? Because then if I do it 5000 times I pay nothing on a $100 shop..
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
I think there is no split button under the Cash option.So theoretically,you can only round off one-time 2 cents per transation.
Which Woolies? Recently? I recently tried this in Canberra - they seem to have changed the interface. If you do a split payment cash is first, card for the remainder.
I think the loophole is closed or closing.
The 7-11 fuel lock thing is way more lucrative than the 2c Colesworth thing anyway. That's one I do - better still in regions with high prices.
Please explain this fuel lock…
Similar in Coles,set aside 2c and press cash after card payment.Transaction is done.
It only works on non-card-only machine in both.
Dont do it on card-only machine coz you have to pay 2c later.It make sense that rounding is only for cash payment.
How many minutes to save 2 whole cents? I feel even at minimum wage you've wasted your time.
Just walk a little faster to the car and you make the time back
I agree.Just do it for fun or ditch some coins in your wallet.Not efficient in saving money at all!
This also works at woolies, but us
ing your example, pay 5.48 by card and 2c will be owing as cash…pop a 5c coin in and it will return the coin and clear the sale, if you dont it will still be waiting for 2c!!!
Was doing this about a year ago, at the time stopped leaving $0.02 balance to be left to be paid at coles, machine would spit out a receipt but stuffed the machine up for the next person/attendant as still had stuck on the screen balance to be paid $0.02. Not sure if they fixed that but now just do $0.07 and get rid my 5c. Never had issue at woolworths with $0.02 balance. Kids like the idea of putting money in the machine at coles and woolworths when they come along as well
You are wasting 10 sec of time to save 2c, that's way below minimum age. You could of earn way more by collecting empty cans in SA/NT :)
Separated existing 3 ply toilet paper into its individual plies. 3 times the value.
This also means that I only need one 3 ply sheet when separated, (one ply up, one ply down, and one ply to polish).
And then having to fold the 1 ply, 3 times over, so you dont break through.
why don't you just get a bidet poo on your fingers is disgusting
Poo is life
Respect the Poo
As a kid I used to collect bottles on the way home from school and return them to a shop and buy lollies for the refund money.
What sorcery is this? Do they do this in SA or something?
Wow I've read those so many times but never read them as return to the store. Always assumed it was at a special collection place.
SA residents must be rich with this deal!
@Herbse: yeah I don't think you can return them to the store, but there are quite a few collection places scattered around SA
In the 90s in Victoria you could return glass bottles for 20c. Fuelled my arcade game addiction back then (when a credit use to cost you 40c!)
Overseas, somewhere where drinking in public is ok and throwing your empty grog bottles to the ground is ok as well as there's plenty of people to come collect it (as you can't be bothered to haul it back to a shop yourself as you're more interested in getting pissed). If I recall correctly the recycling rate for glass/pet bottles was around 97%.
i would search the long grass around phonebooths for dropped coins to buy lollies as a kid, it became very profitable when the $1 coin came out.
Save bones with plenty of meat on them. Throw them in a pot with some broth and a potato? Baby, you got a stew going.
Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew.
It's good to see that the Ozbargain DNA is alive and well and not being diluted :)
I can never think of anything I can do to save money, apart from buying stuff through here - and even then, when you work out how much stuff you've actually bought that you don't really need, I'm not sure that's true either!
Time to start reading through these comments and picking up some tips
Do a number 2 at work so I get paid for pooping and free toilet paper!
Yeah I was totally for this until I changed jobs and now the toilet paper is like wiping your arse with cling wrap so it's a debate between taking your own toilet paper or just bite the bullet and do the dump at home.
But you also have to weigh up entering the post apocalyptic zone called "the mensroom" at work. This is a place where people wipe their snot on the back of a toilet stall door, pee on the floor/walls and get smears of poo in all kinds of places that somehow defy gravity and logic. This in hand with the groans/wails of grown man literally pray to god while they violently force the spoils of hell out of their bowels at light speed, really adds to the ambience of trying to take a modest dump.
Don't even get me started on the smell….
All ruined by the slaughterhouse conditions of mens bathrooms. Things have to be pretty dire before I consider a work cubicle. These days I prefer to drive home since its only 5 minutes down the road. I'd spend longer trying to restore the work toilets into a semi usable state.
Finch?
I had an electrician doing some work at home and needed some conduit in a hurry. Bought it at a mitre 10 that is close to my place and got it installed.
Then the following week I saw it way cheaper at Bunnings. Bought the same amount of conduit there and when to mitre with the receipt and returned it on my way back home.
I don't see how it can be theft. I gave them 4 pieces of conduit in the same condition that the ones they gave me.
This isn't theft.
Not theft. Cheeky :)
I've done this buying clothes at places with free change of mind returns.
Bought a new shirt & kept the receipt. Next week I saw the same item went on sale so I decided to buy it again at the discounted price. Next day went back to the store to return it using the original receipt.
To save money from buying toilet brush I used to use roommate's toothbrush.
That wasnt their toothbrush…
It was the toe funghi brush
Have been known to take a roll or two of toilet paper from work home.
Thief, just kidding. If you are fortunate to retire, you will look back on your life and wish you took more.
I've eaten someone's leftover grill'd chips
I've done so also, but stopped now when I once saw a homeless person forage leftover plates for chips at nandos. I felt like I was taking from the homeless.
Lmao. You're a good samaritan :)
About 10 years ago I was living & working in London. I had access to several company cars & used to take them to the local Sainsbury supermarket. They charged £1 to park in the car park but reimbursed it if you spent £10 in store. I did my shop (during work time) got my £1 back then kept the receipt & got £1 from petty cash at work to cover parking costs.
So essentially made £1 profit to do a shop and deliver to my home whilst getting paid.
I also used to collect all parking receipts discarded in other company cars & get petty cash for them also. I usually pocketed an extra $30 to $50 a week.
Take the early bird train to the CBD, makes the morning journey free. 2 hour ticket on the way back. Few days work from home, my total travel expenditure hovers around $60 for month.
Taking "extra" napkins from Macca's, Hungry Jacks etc to use at home or leave in the car
Yes, I do the same, especially when i get bad hay fever
Use to do that with straws. Started with just taking a few extra when I bought something. Ended up as just walking into the store, opening the top of the dispensor, grabbing a handful and turning round and walking out
All addictions start small, lol
When I first moved to Australia from the UK through work, I was told by the move coordinator (big global American company) that I could take a 20ft container of my stuff or just air freight a pallet worth of stuff and get the money for the container costs instead. I didn't have much stuff, so decided on the latter.
Got over here and the local HR department refused to give the money for the container as they said it wasn't policy here and the global move coordinator had made a mistake (which she had). I was pretty p*ssed off about it, so I used to steal finish dishwasher packs, toilet rolls, washing up liquid etc from their storage cupboard for my share house. Never felt bad as they owed me about $5k from the container.
Also got them to pay for my PR and immigration agency costs (7-10k) after a few years, then left about 2 months after it went through for a better company. Suckers!
Taking the late train to work to save $1.63/day. Sorry boss.
Bonus is that you also get extra sleep and more of your own time back. Pretty priceless!
I'm also freeing up one spot on a peak hour train - it's give & take
Use a single chair for my study, and doubles as a 'sofa' for watching TV. Saves money from buying a sofa.
Don't own a dining table, just eat on your lap.
or just sit on the floor and use a cardboard box :P
when invite girls to your place, just say you don't believe in commercialised crap and is a metro hippy or something.
I get excited when I get food in containers because I hoard them. I used to wash ice cream and butter containers but my partner thought it was weird and went and bought me new ones.
Take heaps of splenda/ equal packets, napkins and hand towelettes from big businesses.
Always ask for no ice at take away places because I get more drink.
If I see stuff I want at the shops I will always compare and will wait weeks to get it a 10th of the price from eBay.
I refuse to pay for water, I'd rather go to the public bathroom and take a water bottle with me everywhere.
I exchange my Qantas points and market research points for gift cards I use to buy Christmas/ bday presents.
And I'm always making mental notes of free facilities or places to get food in case I'm ever homeless. E.g. gym membership = free shower facilities, local hotel poker area = free food/ drinks etc.
I really don't know why!
My grampa did this. When he died and we got to rummage through his stuff full on half his cupboards were just stacks and stacks of takeaway containers xD
No one will top this one……. Out of pure boredom one day at Coles I was buying cherries when they were on special, i discoverd that if you take the stalk off them and they cherry was small enough ,a and due to the special price, an individual cherry could come up as 2c…. well the rest is history, after spending over hour weighing individual cherries that came up as 2c cents each, id done about a kilo and a bit of cherries. and at 2c they all rounded down to 0c !!!! And i had individual receipts for each and every cherry I "purchased"!! BAHAHAHAHA I searched for one of the receipts i took a pic off and found it!! But dont know how to post it here!!
Interesting! I think you have to post the photo on an external site and then link it here. Try Imgur
Don't you feel any shame or self consciousness?
Did the attendant or manager eventually come over and interrogate you?
I would feel so weird and cheap doing that. Not to mention standing there for an hour mucking around with their self service machines. You were being watched and HO probably has you on some 'infamous customer' list.
I felt no shame or self consciousness at all. Looking back at the receipt it was at 2am (when all Coles were open 24/7 in Victoria)
and I clearly remember being the only one there in a bank of 8 self serve machines. The only checkout chick working at the time thought it was ingenious and jokingly asked me to come back tomorrow at the same time and fill a bag up for her. Why would they interrogate me? I was doing nothing wrong, I was legally purchasing 1 cherry at a time. HO would love me, as a family we spend more than $300 a week at Coles alone.
I lol :)
Would you do it again? Say On a Saturday afternoon in full view of dozen of shoppers?
Nice try, pretty sure they don't even have the self serve machines open past 10 or 11pm these days.
@cloudy: That's what I was picturing. However, during the graveyard shift with a cute coles checkout girl you can have a laugh and offer her your cherry ;)
@serpserpserp: i miss 24 hour Coles. although there is 2 in Melbourne that still are 24/7, but not close to me
Just a FYI, keeping the stalks on cherries ensures they last longer :)
I steel toilet paper from public toilets.
I shit in the bushes and wipe with leaves as there is no toilet paper in the public toilets.
steel toilet paper sounds mighty uncomfortable, you'd be standing for a month afterwards
OP, you realise that charging you stuff at work saves you maybe $3 at most a year?
My brother has psychological issues about pilfering electrity.E.G. takes a laptop bag full garden power tool batteries and chargers.Brags his Mower takes 3.5 kW to recharge at $1.70 each time plus the trimmer, edger,drill etc batteries.
When his wife was very sick he also used the oven in the office kitchen to make bake complete diners and brought in a slow cooker.
At the movies he comes out of the parents room with 4 bags of microwave pop corn.
I think he is mistaken with his electrical calculations.
$1.7 worth of electricity is a hell of a lot to store in a lawn mower battery.
Assuming he is talking 3.5kwh input
At 50% efficiency thats a 1.75kwh battery
At 36v (assumption) thats close on a 50ah battery
and a 36V 50Ah battery would need a ute to move.
Waited 3 years to get a headset which was finally discounted for about 70% rrp (used normal phone headset till then)
Deleted and created new uber accounts to get new sign up user discounts / free rides
(used normal phone headset till then)
So you killed your ears for 3 years with shit sound. Your hearing also worsened with age for 3 years.
Then you bought a nice headset, which you can't appreciate as much as you could have 3 years ago.
Moved back in with my mother.
Biggest mistake ever.
Do you live with your mother or does she live with you?
Register a new Starbucks account everytime I order to get the 50% off promo.
University parking. It's not cheap, and is absolutely oversold. Get to the university at 9.30 and you'd have to wait an hour to get a spot.. On a tight uni budget, i couldn't really afford it.
Two methods:
Uni parking permit, $9 per day or half annual is $158.
I just reprint the invoice I received first semester and change the date every week. It is used to validate your permit for 10 days from invoice date. It's been 3 years…
Second, if the changing date method isn't for you. Pay for your parking permit, wait 10 days after receiving it and claim it didn't arrive, get the second and sell it.
Or just park in the backstreet and walk.
when I was monash uni clayton campus 20 years and they had the paper tickets I just scanned and photo shopped my ticket for each day. (in bulk in advance)
Did you pay for the photoshop?
UNSW requires you to bring your cars rego papers in to register for a perking permit. Security patrols use rego plate recognition cameras to identify any vehicle in parking areas without a current permit.
You also get a parking permit sticker that must be attached to your windscreen which shows your rego plate and the permit expiry date. I assume they can check the colour and make of the vehicle showing the permit to their database holding the rego papers records.
posted a letter without a stamp to save $1 and put the address I wanted to send it to as the return address on the back of the envelope
You sir, are a genius!
Tried this as a test once but AusPost just sent it to the address on the front anyway.
Some people are creative. Some are stingy. And some people have some issues related to their mental well being.
The person who steals from public toilets, the person who doesn't pay for using public service. These kind of people should see a counselor rather than shamelessly bragging about their exploits on this forum.
Most of them are probably joking. I doubt people really steal toilet paper 🚽
I certainly don't actually scab recipes out of the bin at 7/11 irl.
The OP charging his power brick at work is probably joking. He'd be saving $0.50 per year doing this, and wear out his battery.
I'd take these comments with a grain of salt.
I used to work as a waiter and if you left anything in the bathroom - like a spray bottle of cleaner or a wash cloth - you could guarantee it would be gone by the end of the evening
My uncle takes rolls of toilet paper from the Qantas Club (and he's not even a member, he's usually a guest of a paid member!)
Reminds me of someone I know who, when travelling on the aeroplane in economy, sneaks into first class to take a "royal dump" ;)
Is his name Leo?
Haha I actually do that myself. At woolies you don't even need to have the 5 cents, just leave 2 cents then press cash and it will spit out a receipt.