Cost of living (Nov 2022)

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I know that the cost of living has risen over the years, but sharply in the latter half of 2022, so I thought we could post helpful tips for easing these costs.

I don’t want this thread to become a blame game about who caused what to increase the cost of living, just hints to help those who may be struggling.

Post your suggestions here, or post your experiences if trying the suggestions.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

Fuel savings

There are many fuel saving suggestions, here are just a few:

I have read about the 7-11 seven day price lock.  This could help those who have a 7-11 service station near to where they live.  This would provide savings if the 7-11 price is competitive and prices are at the bottom of a pricing cycle.

https://www.7eleven.com.au/my-7-eleven.html

For Origin Energy customers who have a Woolworths reward card that gets 4c per litre discount at Woolworths service stations, you can piggyback another 4c per litre through generating a barcode in the Origin Energy app (one discount per day, barcode valid for 15 minutes - so generate the barcode after filling but before paying, or generate a new one if the first one times out).

 

For those who have the G'day Parks card for discounted caravan park rates who also shop at Coles, you can get an extra 4c per litre for use at Shell Coles Express simply by generating a discount barcode on the G’day Parks app (one barcode per day for one purchase).  There is a fee to use the G'day app for discounted rates for caravan parks, but if you use that app anyway the fuel discount is a bonus.

There are fuel price reporting apps available, some state based, that let you see the price of fuel near you.  These are worth looking at.  I use the (free) Fuel Map app, but that relies on users updating the price regularly.

 

If you have other helpful tips for fuel savings then help others and post about them here.

Cheers

[countessalmirena]

Fantastic idea for a thread, k1ooo!

I use the 7-11 app; it has saved me quite a lot of money. I use the ACCC petrol price cycle page to gauge when prices are at their lowest and about to jump, and then I lock in the lowest price in the 7-11 app. The locked-in price will be applicable to any 6-11 petrol station.

If anyone’s car insurance is up for renewal, it’s worth checking how the Woolworths car insurance price compares. One of the benefits is a monthly 10% discount on groceries. (Can be used in-store or online.)

Talk with neighbours about whether any arrangement can be made to combine regular trips, to travel together (one car with 4 members from separate households?) and combine the costs. Maybe click-and-collect grocery (or other) orders from the whole street can be made at the same time with one person collecting them all?

It can be worth using a power meter/energy meter to check what is using the most power consumption, turning off switches unless needed…

I’ll try to think of further and perhaps better contributions for this thread. 

[roaminghigh]

Prepare yourself for the possibility of homelessness if you are renting your home. The current rental crisis has me gobsmacked, I never thought I would see so many people struggling to keep a roof over their heads. I'm so fearful of becoming homeless myself, that I've bought a cheap caravan just in case. I can't imagine having to live in it for any length of time, but what's the alternative? 

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

Mobile phone plans

Want a mobile plan that is greatly discounted, or free?  Read on.

Last week I saw a ‘story’ on the google search page about a lady sharing a savings tip for mobile phone plans.

I don’t normally read the stories on the google search page, but I did read this one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/lifehacks/article-11463387/How-save-money-food-Mums-little-known-...

In short, if you are a WW shopper who uses WW as your mobile phone provider you can get 10% off one shop per month (up to $50 saving).  You can also get discounted WW gift cards.  Pay for your shopping using a discounted gift card and you save even more than 10%.

I worked out the cost of my Telstra mobile plans and it is costing me $58 per month X 2 mobiles X 12 months = $1,392 per year.

There are multiple plans available, but the one that provides best value for me is the $200 One Year Sim plan costing $200 per year X 2 mobiles = $400

The WW SIM plan doesn’t offer as much as my current Telstra plan, but here are some of the comparisons:

- 30 mins overseas calls per month on Telstra, zero minutes on WW (I haven’t called overseas for 16 years!).

- 40Gb data allowance per month on Telstra (80Gb shared between the 2 mobiles), 180Gb per year each SIM on WW with data transfer available (so shared data).

- ‘Telstra plus’ rewards program based on account payments, 10% off one shop per month on WW and discounted WW Gift Cards

I needed to get the mobile my wife uses transferred to her name to maximise our savings (2 discounted shops per month).  We can transfer our current phone numbers once we activate the SIM.

The reduction in data allowance does not affect me because when we are home we use connect with our home nbn.  When we are out we don’t use much data, but will have the equivalent of 15Gb per phone per month on the WW SIM plan.

Over the course of just one year our Telstra plans cost us $1,392 per year and the WW plans will cost us $400.  If we can use our 10% off-one-shop on $2,000 (approx $165/month) of groceries we will essentially get our mobile phone plans for $200/year . . . saving us $1,192/year on our current spending.

(link and screengrab in spoiler)

Spoiler

https://mobile.woolworths.com.au/plans/long-expiry-plans

 

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

something I forgot to mention about the WW mobile plans . . . they operate on the Telstra network BUT can not connect to 5G (some will 4c this as a blessing).

I get good, reliable 4G coverage here in Mildura, so not having 5G is of no consequence to me.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

NSW Opal Card savings for interstate seniors.

If you do not live in NSW and have a Seniors Card in your home state you are eligible for a NSW Seniors Opal Card that will give you greatly reduced prices for public transport in NSW where Opal Card readers are used on transport.

When I got mine a couple of years ago I was able to access the Public Transport network for less cost than my brothers and sisters who live in Sydney.  You would need to check the current T&Cs, but for those who travel to Sydney and other places where Opal Cards are used it may reduce travel costs.

[springyzone]

I can't think of many tips for saving money as such but one thing I have found is that in the shops, fresh herbs are quite expensive and unless you are a person who cooks in bulk, often parts of them end up going to waste.

I got really sick of buying a bunch of this or that when the recipe only called for a small amount.

So I would suggest that if anyone is short of time or space but was thinking of growing something, try the herbs rather than vegetables as they can be in small pots and won't take much room, so they are possible to grow even if you live in a unit.

The ones I have found the easiest are rosemary (and it is very useful), parsley and vietnamese mint.

Coriander is hard.

[imastawka]

My mobile phone plan is with Circles.Life and is the cheapest I've found.

$10 per month - unlimited text/calls, but only 5GB data.

I don't even use that much.   Like you, I use the wi-fi at home and rarely need the data when out.   No 5G with this plan either.

I've had no problems with the service.

It's an offshoot of Optus

SIM-Only Data Plans | No Contract, BYO Phone | Circles Life AU

Springy, for those who can't or don't want to grow their herbs, when you buy, you can chop them up and put them into ice cube trays with a bit of water and freeze them.

Once frozen, transfer the blocks to a container or bag and label.

They can then be thrown into stews/casseroles/soups etc., and there's no waste.

[twyngwyn · Accepted solution]

70 Tips to Save Money And Cut The Cost Of Living | Canstar