For the Woolies app users, there should be a new Christmas bauble to click on today (Monday). If you open the app, the link will be under the stats, but above the booster items. I clicked mine when I got home from work tonight. If I spend more than $1 in store or online before December 24, 2,000 points! That's basically $25 of free money in a few days from the promos. Of course, I did get some really stupid ones that I'd never use and I felt a bit let down, but these last couple have made up for it. I'm guessing this will be the last one, so definitely click on it and see how you go. 

As for the weekly boosters, I boost everything. Even ones I'd never use, like signing up for Origin energy. You just never know when there will be one that you wouldn't normally use, you find you use. 

Scored 2,800 Woolies bonus points today for a $35 purchase thanks to the Woolies Rewards app. I got to click on the Christmas bauble promo last weekend and got 1000 bonus points if I spend more than $1 in store or online. Expires today, the 17th. 

During the week, I had another booster pop up offering a Christmas bonus of 1,800 points if you spend more than 1c (yes, you read that right, 1 cent), in store or online. Expires today. I clicked the T'&C's for both and the second one said you have a current promo, only one will count. I didn't boost the second promo.

So, I went and bought the few items I needed and used the first promo. 1,000 points, plus extra for what I'd spent. I then went and put those items in the car and boosted the second promo. Went back in and bought some milk that I'd deliberately not bought the first time. Bingo, 1,800 points! 

Over $10 just like that. I know for a lot of people, $10 isn't much, but it can mean a tray of snags and some veges for a family doing it tough. It was well worth the short walk out to the car.

Stawks, you mentioned you're having issues with the app. Last year (or the year before, I can't remember, but it doesn't matter), we were at Woolies and got booted out of the app as I was about to scan it. Couldn't log back in. Thankfully I had the physical card, but I lost all the booster points that I would have got. Like you, I'd be given an hour to reset the account, but the email would take several hours to arrive. Eventually, after repeatedly trying, the email eventually arrived before the hour was up and I was let back in. It took over a month. Keep persisting, or try getting a new card. I did that after my original card stopped adding points to my account. Over a year and I hadn't accrued $10! I got a new card and all was well (until we were kicked out that time!)

k1ooo, thank you for the update.

Is anyone using an expiry date app? It helps to be aware that a particular food is getting close to its use-by date.

It might also be helpful to have a recipe app that shows recipes from ingredients you already have (especially ones that you need to use up).

VICTORIAN councils free RAT tests

Free Rat tests available from many Victorian Councils.  I got 4 x Box of 5 from Mildura Council just this morning

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/get-a-covid-19-test

I keep coming back to the idea of neighbourliness… neighbours trying to help each other and combing (where possible) some expenses.

Those palm trees look incredible after you've trimmed them.

Yes, it can sometimes be worth it to hire equipment, and sometimes it's better to own it. (I'll admit I'm an "I must own it" personality, but I have fought the tendency when the thing is just for a one-off or hardly-ever-going-to-use-it task.)

I love the tip about last-thing pickup and first-thing return.

**this one won’t be for everyone, but it may help some members**

EQUIPMENT HIRE

If you are ever wanting to hire some equipment from a hire firm, ask what the weekday rate for hire is and then ask if you can pick it up just before close of business the day before you need it.  During Daylight Saving months, for those with DS, this will give better value for your hire as you could get almost a 1-1/2 days use of the hired equipment if you pickup at 5pm.

Alternately, if you need the hired gear for a big job, then ask what the rate is for both days of the weekend.  Also ask if you can pickup just before close of business on Friday and drop it off at opening time on Monday morning.  Definitely worth asking.

Here is an example using my last weekend’s efforts.

I have a lot of palms here at my place, LOTS.  Not talking about potted palms, these are tall!  I last trimmed them 2 years ago.  Back then I hired a trailer boom lift on a Wednesday and dropped it back on Thursday morning.  I had to trim back 10 years of dead fronds and it was hard work getting it all done in one day . . . so I decided then that I would trim them every 2 years.

I enquired about hiring a trailer boom lift from the same business I used 2 years ago.  The weekday rate is $260 a day, but the weekend rate is $200/day if you hire for both Sat & Sun with a ‘first-thing’ Monday morning return (no ticket needed to hire if max height below 10m).  Good Value I thought, and much cheaper than getting someone in to trim them.

I had to fill the tank when I was finished, but that was only 2 litres of diesel ($4).

(These are only some of the palms I had to trim back)

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I once hired a jackhammer for a day.  Picked up the afternoon before and dropped it back the morning after.  Cost me $50.  When Aldi had a jackhammer on Special Buys for $199 I jumped at the chance to own my own. Cheaper than having to hire one every time I need one.

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Five years ago we had a lot of concreting done here.  Salinity is a big issue here, and rust had eaten through the base of my verandah posts.  When we pulled up our pavers to get concreting done I had to support the weight of our back verandah clear of the line of where concreting was planned.  To do this I enquired about hiring Acrow Props.  $17/prop per day.  I was going to need them for at least a month so I bought 4 from Bunnings for $94 each instead (they are now $119 each).  Better than hiring, and I could sell them at anytime to get back most of my money (not that I would ever sell them as I have used them for other jobs).

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I’ve just been looking at Woolworths Pet Insurance. Sacré chat roux ! It’s considerably cheaper than any other pet insurance I’ve seen, even including cover for annual routine care.

May be worth it for anyone who would like insurance for their beloved pets.

10% discount for this also applies for monthly shopping.

Anyone here who’s an RACV member?

You can get up to 13¢ a litre off at the EG Ampol petrol stations by combing a daily RACV voucher (5¢ off) plus Everyday Rewards member discount (4¢) plus spending $5 in store (5¢ off).

Link: https://www.racv.com.au/membership/member-benefits/member-discounts/automotive/fuel-vouchers.html

imastawka, would Woolworths Delivery Unlimited subscription be of use/interest for you? It means unlimited free deliveries for orders over $50 (but I note that this applies to same day or next day orders - which must mean no threshold if you place the order for day after tomorrow, say). It’s $119 annually with 30 day free trial. You also get double Everyday Rewards points.

k1ooo, is the 10% off in addition to the 10% off one gets monthly with having insurance through Woolworths or other 10% off benefit? That would make it doubly good for anyone who already had a 10% discount.

Thanks. I should have looked at the link but just asked as I normally shop at Coles and Aldi. Mind you, there is also a woolies within a few steps of both of them but on the whole I find it slightly dearer there (though it does seem to have a bigger range).

I will send the link on to my two daughters though as they both shop there.

We used to have a Big W at the local shops too (I am Endeavour Hills) but it closed down a couple of years back and we got K mart instead. It's okay but I liked Big W.

That’s a very good tip about Bpay for regular expenses (including being in credit), s&d. It will also mean no % surcharge by using credit or debit card.

Worthwhile things to do or about which to plan ahead:

reduce heat loss / heat gain during cold weather and hot weather respectively

This is all about making your house as energy-neutral as possible. If your house is well-sealed - yay! Unfortunately most Australian houses leak more badly than a political office when it comes to heat. There are things we can do such as the type of curtains used, putty-filling those little areas open to the outside, using properly sized door snakes anywhere where draught may enter or warmth escape…

Make full-size screens as a project if you have large rooms and can heat just a section of the house.

Is it worth trying the neighbour thing (again) and perhaps having a couple of days a week where cooking is shared to lower costs? (May not be practical, I realise…)

Is it worth considering whether you can rent out a room or two to bring in extra money (with the bonus of reducing pressure on the rental market)? Again, I realise this may be impractical for many.

Unfortunately I can’t think of any way to reduce most of the consistent and very substantial bills that will keep coming in - rates, water, fuel.

k1ooo, re the 7 Eleven fuel app. For people that don't know, it scans your closest 5 servos. The 5th servo could be hundreds of miles away depending on where you are. The lock in is valid for 7 days and can be used anywhere in the country, but only once. My best saving was 90c/litre. I decided to check the prices at my destination location and they were horrendously higher. So, I filled up here, then locked in the cheap price, knowing I'd need to fill up to come home. The servo attendant was very impressed by the saving! On Thursday, I saved 19c/L. I was happy with that! Better than 4c at Woolies.

Countess, while we don't use the Woolies insurance, we changed over to Woolies Mobile for the phones a couple of years ago. It also means we get 10% off each month. Sometimes it can be quite a significant saving and it definitely adds up over the year.

k1ooo, re your mention of the Woolies mobile. We both switched over a couple of years ago. It runs on the Telstra network, so mostly reliable. Only had one time it go down, and that was for about half an hour. We have prepaid phones. We get 16GB of data and unlimited phone calls for $20 a month. Even without the home NBN, there is no way we'd get through 16GB in a month! Any unused data carries over to next month.

Spingy's mention of the herbs. Yes, it's awesome to have fresh chemical free herbs. BUT, NEVER put them in your garden. Herbs are essentially weeds, and grow that way. My, what once were beautiful, raised garden beds have been completely over run with herbs. Rosemary and Sage are generally OK, but most will take over everything, so leave them in pots. Especially Marjoram, Thyme and Oregano. As for the coriander Springy, it needs to be planted in winter. By around mid December, it starts to go to seed. Collect those seeds in Jan/Feb for next year's crop! I live in a cold climate that gets heavy frosts and occasional snow. I plant my coriander seeds in July. Oh, and case you didn't know, celery can be frozen! I have my step daughter to thank for telling me that.

From me: Turn your blasted lights off! I have been to so many homes where every single light is on, when it's not necessary. Once dinner is over, we have the light in the rangehood on in the kitchen, and a low voltage smart light lamp in the loungeroom. I don't get the need for lights blazing right throughout the house well into the night.

For cars, refill up when the tank gets to half. A car will use more fuel per KM once it's under half. No idea why, but they do.

If something is on sale, buy extra. You'll use it. If it's perishables, freeze them. Yes, you can freeze celery!

As far as energy bills go, we now pay an amount fortnightly to avoid bill shock. At the moment we are $1200 in front with the gas, and $900 in front with the power. Apparently we are 2 years in front with the land rates! I have the payments set up as a Bpay in my bank, so I'm not physically having to remember to pay them, it happens automatically every fortnight. It's only a small amount each fortnight, but gee it's taken the pressure off. Yes, I can get the excess money back from the utilities if I want it, but I'd rather stay in credit. I have reduced the fortnightly payments so more stays in my bank, while staying in credit. I no longer dread utility bills!

Late evening shopping seems when often half price cooked food items are offered , but have to be at the right place at the right time 

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-hack-save-80-groceries-Woolworths.html

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.

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

 

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