Money saving tips for new arrivals

[jtct]

Buy a Car with a Towbar if possible.It can prove a great asset when buying furniture,moving rentals etc.Trailers are cheap to hire from petrol garages,or to buy off gumtree ,local ads etc.We have saved a fortune with ours since we've been here.Best of luck .

 

You get a Free trailer from Le Cornu and cheaper than having stuff deliverd! Bunnings hire them for 4 or 8 hours a very reasonable prices.

[jtct]

Check out

 

http://motormouth.com.au/pricesearch.aspx?s=M

 

 

for keeping an eye on petrol prices in your area and trends/monthly diary to work out when the cheap days might be.

[Diane]

Although it's nearly a year old now, this thread, I thought I'd ressurrect it for the new people coming over, and also because we've had a lot of new members on the site and new arrivals in Adelaide who may be able to add stuff to it.

 

Also I couldn't remember if I'd mentioned the website http://www.lasoo.com.au - you can go on there, put in the item you are looking for in the search bar, and it lists all the current offers on that item in the stores arouond you from that weeks catalogues. I just used it for some printer cartridges: black cartridge cost me $26 last time I bought one, and found a three-pack on offer at Officeworks for $44. However, when I got there, the individual ones were only $12.70 - so that's another tip - do some mental maths on so-called "offers"! They must think we're stoooopid...,.

[flossybeth]

We arrived today and although I shall be using a lot of these well recommended tips can I add my own?

 

Instead of short-term rental we're house-sitting - we've managed to secure two sits which will take us into October, so plenty of time to have a good look around at areas and houses and in return for staying in these two 3-bed homes (one in the north of the city, the 2nd way south in Noarlunga; so getting to try out the different suburbs) we pay utilities and take care of the family pets. A massive saving, especially considering we are a family of five.

[Guest dondon75]

How did you find people that are willing to trust there house to people from uk they've ne er met! Please give us some tips.

[zebedee]

We used a dedicated house sitters website, it cost only forty quid to register for a year and thought it was worth a go rather than fork out the crazy short term rental costs. Search for aussie house sitters and check out the links, the one we used is a one band cost, some seem to base it on zones. Reckon we have saved around five grand in rent.

 

The key seemed to be checking out for new adverts as quickly as they came on.

 

I would certainly consider offering our house out, when we eventually get one and if we ever are away for any length of time.

Edited July 31, 2012 by zebedee

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

I would be careful doing 'trial weekly shops' on Coles/Woolies websites from the UK.

 

AFAIK, their online prices are more than on-the-shelf prices (unlike the UK where it's the same or cheaper).

 

Here you pay a delivery charge, AND more for your items (well, according to a Tonight Show type special shown on TV last year - it might have changed since - us Poms are running the supermaket industry in Oz now - fact).

 

So any online shop you do will probably be more expensive than it actually is.

 

We're a family of 4 and we do all our shopping weekly at Woolworths in the Marion centre. Can't be bothered going around for bargains etc.... not in a 3.0 V6 anyway :-)

 

We spend anywhere from $250-$300 per week (depending on expensive items such as cleaning products etc), booze is on top of that :-)

 

You deffo want a reward card here, jeez............

[Diane]

Bumping up this old thread again in case anyone has anything to add....

[soo_the_panda]

I recently ended a contract with 3/Vodafone. I shopped around for the best deal on 'bring your own' phone plans for those who don't want to sign up with the big players (Telstra, 3/Vodafone, Optus) on an expensive plan including a new phone when their phone still works. For people who have just arrived with an unlocked phone this is applicable too..

 

I went from playing minimum of $79/month with 3 (plus often went over that limit) to paying just $40 a month on AMAYSIM - that is on their unlimited plan with no lock in contract (you pay month by month) and that includes unlimited calls to Australian land lines and mobiles, unlimited text and MMS in Australia, a huge 4GB of data (most plans here seem to offer 1GB) and free voicemail, 13 numbers (freecall, taxis etc that are often $$$ from mobiles) plus calls and texts to the UK are only a little extra - the most reasonable I've seen from a mobile company (calls to UK landlines are only 6c a minute if you need to call people who don't do skype - yes, I'm talking to you, Grandma ) Definitely a big money saver for me. They also do a $20 a month plan which is a total bargain in my opinion for less heavy users.

[JimandBarbinAus]

Use a front loading Washing machine instead of a top loader, save on the leccy bills!!!

[Guest Guest12727]

Use a front loading Washing machine instead of a top loader, save on the leccy bills!!!

 

Maybe, but depends on many factors. An example for cost over 10years to run based on 31c/kWhr. Left column is cost electricity over 10years.

 

[TABLE=class: comparator-table, width: 0]

[TR]

[TD=class: firstcol, bgcolor: #F1F8FA]$1138[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]FISHER & PAYKEL[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]WH80F60W1[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]Australia,New Zealand[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]Cold[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]Front[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]8[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA]367[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #F1F8FA][/TD]

[TD=class: lastcol, bgcolor: #F1F8FA][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: firstcol]$1144[/TD]

[TD]FISHER & PAYKEL[/TD]

[TD]WL80T65CW1[/TD]

[TD]Australia,New Zealand[/TD]

[TD]Dual[/TD]

[TD]Top[/TD]

[TD]8[/TD]

[TD]369[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Front loaders are generally more expensive to buy, so $ savings may not exist overall.

 

Miele front loader comes in the best at $685 for 10 years running cost - but I think they are around $2500 to buy.

[Guest Guest12727]

Use a front loading Washing machine instead of a top loader, save on the leccy bills!!!

 

I do agree though that checking energy efficiency when purchasing is essential for long term savings.

 

This link gives good appliance comparison information. http://reg.energyrating.gov.au/comparator/product_types/

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

We just got a top loader for only $150, whereas front loaders were going for at least $400 more (and that was the really good bargains), so unless its really pants efficiency, we shouldn't be too much worse off with the top loader - its just the two of us though no kiddies, which I guess makes a huge difference Top loaders are way easier to shift as well, easily carted it into and around in our wagon, whereas a front loader is a right git, what with the concrete slab in them....

 

(We are rather taken with top loaders from our travels around the country, and hubby really likes the fact he can bung the odd stray sock in them mid cycle, as one always seems to escape not to be found until the thing has filled with water lol)

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Gumtree really really is a good way to go if you want to furnish your house on a budget to start with - get the essentials, and haggle, from there and then you can take your time waiting for sales and nicer things to come up, but people who are moving country/interstate just want rid of perfectly good items, especially white goods, and you can get some real deals. (Admittedly, there are some real idiots who want *more* for their manky used thing than the item costs brand new from say IKEA or something, but there are still lots of good deals too )

[JimandBarbinAus]

Do a supermarket sweep round 5ish when products are knocked down to sell by their date, like meats you can often pick up

up at 60 % less off the price then stick them in the freezer when you get in, go wild in the aisles.

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

Morning All!

 

We've recently discovered 'The Meat Market' on south road a big butchers, we've consistantly had really good meat from there, when Mum arrived a couple of weeks ago we went and bought meat for four people for a week for under 70 bucks, and none of it was sausages etc, steak, lamb, pork steaks, rib racks etc Bargin! Every thing we bought was really good, no yuccy stuff you couldnt eat, in fack the ribs were the best we've ever had at home, although that could be my superior cooking of course!

 

They do a loyalty card too, we didnt get one yet so not sure what the deal is there, they have different specials each week, heres this weeks

 

SA Grown Yearling Rump Steak 2 kg for $20

*

BBQ Lamb Forequarter Chops $6.98 / kg

*

SA Grown Yearling Bolar Roasts $5.75 / kg

*

Extra Lean Beef Mince 2kg for $12

*

Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets $7.97 / kg

*

SA Grown Legs of Pork $3.96 / kg