Here I am heating my apartment with my gas stovetop, purely because the gas isn't individually metered so is included in our rent. It got me thinking, I wonder what the tightest thing ozbargain users do on a regular basis.
What are your worst tight-arse habits?
I just keep coming back to this thread for the romantic entertainment value… :)
(You know who you are…) lol
;)
You've got some great tips mate!
Also on the soap thing…we use liquid soap at the bathroom basin.
When it gets really low and the pump can't reach the bottom layer, I dilute with some water. Before use, give it a quick shake and you have ready lather (saving a bit of water).
Toothpaste: when I can't squeeze any more from the tube, I'll cut the tube in half, stick my toothbrush in there and harvest some more!
If you've paid for 50g, 100g, 250ml or 500ml for these items, might as well use as much as possible.
Some of the following are my money saving tips, though they might already be intuitive to some:
Think that's enough for now, will add some more if I can think of any.
use vinegar and water as household cleaning solutions
You forgot the bicarb. There's a lot that vinegar alone won't do. Coupled with bicarb though you have most household cleaning needs covered.
If you are a university student, you can loan textbooks from the library rather than buying new. The library usually has more than 1 copy, meaning when 1 copy is close to the expiry, return the book and loan the spare copy.
This really only works when nobody else has the same idea (otherwise you will be fighting each other for books).
I did this in my first semester for Marketing and ended up saving $120 bucks.
Bubble wrap — whenever you buy stuff online, always unpack neatly so that you do not damage the bubble wrap and cardboard boxes.
You can re-use the bubble wrap for sending fragile things and the boxes can always be re-wrapped with butchers paper. Don't spend money buying boxes from the Post office!
Unfortunately, when I was back in Uni, each of my courses needed newly published books not available in the library. Or better yet, the "books" were university printed binded text books. Great scam!
But whenever I travel now, I borrow a Lonely Planet or whatever travel book from the library then just return it when I get back. Fortunately, I can renew a book up to 3 times online. I don't really get buying guide books as it's really never going to be something you use again in the future especially as they get outdated quite quickly.
I always bought my high school textbooks for a fraction of their original cost from careless sellers and sold them at a profit, with one year of use. Largest profit I've made on a single book was about $60. It's harder to do this in uni, but not impossible.
Occasionally I get university textbooks for 50c-$1 each from local op-shop
you actually waste more money buying unnecessary things
Just resell on Gumtree.
I split my shoppings and do multiple checkouts so that each receipt is rounded down to the nearest 5 cent and never rounded up. Beat that guys.
Or splitting them into $30 purchases for multiple Coles / Woolies fuel vouchers.
Or splitting them into $30 purchases for multiple Coles / Woolies fuel vouchers.
Hate people who do that — they take so long at the self-serve checkouts!
Hate people who do that — they take so long at the self-serve checkouts!
That's me you hate:-)
I've got 4 cars in the family need all the vouchers I can get.
I put the spare vouchers near the printer at work and they do get snapped up pretty quickly.
When I was a kid (long time ago), my grandma used to give us fresh iceberg lettuce leaves, sprinkled with sugar, and rolled up into sausages. Cost, next to nothing. Delicious!
That is interesting. There would be zero nutitional benefit, but sugar doesn't have that big of a calorie count and it would help satisfy both the sweet and crunchy cravings that most people have.
Green leafy vegetable with high water content = zero nutritional benefit?
News to me.
Iceberg lettuce offers very little nutrition.
That's what I thought too, but apparently it is very high in nutritional ingredients, especially minerals and vitamins. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable…
nourish
1. to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.
2. to cherish, foster, keep alive, etc.
3. to strengthen, build up, or promote
Not sure if it actually makes a difference, but I always get fuel from a pump opposite from the fuel cap. So that the hose is straight at a 45° angle rather than an U shape (holding up fuel). Probably not helping if the flow meter is on the trigger.
Doesn't help if the flow meter isn't on the trigger, flow is flow.
Doesn't help if the flow meter isn't on the trigger, flow is flow.
He is talking about the fuel left in the hose that has already been 'counted' If the hose is in a u shape thanks to gravity the petrol will sit there in the hose. But if the hose was straight then that would flow into his tank (hose is stretched because of using opposite fuel cap)
Pretty sure it doesn't matter, the pump is set up to keep the hose primed with liquid. Once you open the trigger the pump starts to keep fuel in the line. If you end up getting the "free" "leftover" fuel in the line, you are paying for exactly the same amount to fill the line for the next person when you shut the trigger. If you were to measure out a set quantity into a beaker (as Weight and Measures check for on a regular basis) you would find the delivery is reasonably accurate, apart from pumps which are dodgy (e.g. they are 3% inaccurate, but that is 3% regardless of the quantity of fuel delivered. I often fill fuel cans, 5/10/20 litres and even a 1 litre as an emergency supply for the motorbike. They are accurately dispensed and these containers have no room for error. If I was getting a free half-litre of fuel I'd know about it.
Like I said a theory.. It's in 2 parts.
Think about the same thing with a garden hose with a trigger head. The tap is on and when you pull the trigger the water flows out. Once you let go of the trigger the water is still in the hose (imagine that half filling your tank)
Now if you filled a $ amount or filled the tank till full the pump cuts out when it is done. Imagine that turning the tap off at the actual tap. In this scenario would you agree there is still water in the hose? Yes. With your finger still on the trigger the water would keep flowing what's left in the hose if it was at a 45 deg angle. This is what he is getting at. If it was in a u shape it would sit in the hose.
The reason I think that the pump needs to 'stop' is because if it was still pumping you would still be getting charged and not getting that 'free' amount left in the hose. Thus filling up a jerry can you wouldn't know as the pumping has stopped at the trigger end. I would love to test this theory out hey
I have no doubt there is a you tube video on it somewhere.
The main difference is that the water was under pressure rather than being pumped. Pump stops, no pressure, no flow.
Yes I agree, but there would still be some in the hose.. Disconnect the water hose from the tap, hold the hose at an angle and pull the trigger (eliminating all pressure) Do you get water?
I'm splitting hairs here I know but basic physics would suggest there would be fuel still in the hose. Probably not enough to worry about tho.
Not sure if it actually makes a difference, but I always get fuel from a pump opposite from the fuel cap. So that the hose is straight at a 45° angle rather than an U shape (holding up fuel). Probably not helping if the flow meter is on the trigger.
I used to think this too, but then I noticed that when you first pull the trigger, the pump starts but the price isnt ticking over but there is fuel coming out. In other words your getting that little bit of fuel left from the last person.
Funny tho I thought the exact same thing. I also had a theory that method you are talking about would only work if you were filling the tank or putting a pre purchased amount in (hitting the dollar amount buttons) as the valve on the trigger would have to be open when the fuel cuts out. When u fill a tank or do a set dollar amount the trigger is still open when it cuts out allowing that fuel in the hose to flow trough. Like I said it was just a theory.
Easy:
Switched entirely to cash. One account with one debit card. I get paid, out it comes into neatly arranged $5K stacks. No credit, no other debit, no other accounts. Everything is cash based or debit online. Simple.
Stop going out. Period. No more pubs or restaurants. Rip-offs. Brew ale yourself, cook for yourself, invite friends over. Find other ways to get your entertainment and rely on a WD TV Live.
Cut all other expenses to the bone. You want clothes? Kmart or heavily reduced sales online (and no I'll never do seconds). Food? Fresh or frozen vegetables and fresh meat. No other crap. Unless Kettle chips are $2. No on can resist. Buy what you really need, until it falls into bits and pieces, and of course, shop for heavy discounts.
Get rid of the car. Switch entirely to public transport/bike if you can.
Switch all your bills etc after looking online for a better deal. I'd strongly avoid the black holes that are houses and mortgages.
5 steps, saving thousands a year.
Debt is not necessarily a bad thing to have - e.g. that which is attracts little or no interest.
Also credit cards can be used to your advantage. E.g. for the awards, if the balance is always paid back on time, credit cards can actually be a fiscally responsible alternative.
Just no. If I can't afford it I don't buy it. And the awards? Pfffft. Zero debt, always.
I agree with inasero. I've had a credit card for many years and never paid interest. The best thing about them is if you get paid monthly you can pretty much roll all your bills into one monthly bill. Time is money right? Makes it easier to pay everything, also stops you from getting those late fees from forgetting to pay them. It's just if you have the will power not to over spend.
As a bonus lit lets you know how much you spend in an entire month, so you can budget for everything and cut back a little when your spending too much.
Planning to purchase a house or business outright?
And if you do have a loan for one of these, credit cards make a lot of sense, rewards asside you get 55 days of NOT paying interest on the money that you can put on your loan.
This also applies if you don't have a loan - the money that you would have just paid on bills/petrol/whatever gets another month to earn you interest.
Almost all purchases I make are on a credit card, even though I have one with no rewards.
If I wanted a house (I don't but still) I'd pay in 100's. Ditto for business. I don't do loans or credit.
You're wasting money by not utilizing shopper protection on the 28degs mastercard. Use it like a debit card - zero interest, zero monthly fees, but you get free insurance for 6 months, and if the price of the item drops in that 6 months, you can claim the difference.
Don't be so set in your ways and think CREDIT CARD = EVIL. If you're disciplined, credit cards are better than cash since you can use the benefits they offer for free.
Enough has been said about the benifit of "good debt".
If following these rules, yes you will "saving thousands a year", but you don't have a life. Our ultimate goal is to enjoy life. What's good to save for the sake of saving and be an ascetic?
Get rid of the car. Switch entirely to public transport/bike if you can.
While the credit card point is controversial - it's free if you pay on time (i.e. they make money off the untimely and stupidly late people)
I'm not so sure about public transport..
Switched entirely to cash. One account with one debit card. I get paid, out it comes into neatly arranged $5K stacks. No credit, no other debit, no other accounts. Everything is cash based or debit online. Simple.
Choose a credit card with no annual fees and a ridiculously high interest rate. Pay the card off on time, attracts no interest. problem solved.
Also, if someone robs you, they get a stack of money… not a useless card you cancel 5 minutes later
As I'm sure many here would know, the ING orange everyday account with Visa debit card is a great way to go. Zero fee banking made easy.
They were giving cash bonuses a while back ($20 x3 for different transactions) maybe still?
I have a friend that goes out with us for drinks / coffee / deserts whatever and she always waits until everybody pays the bill first (most people would overpay as they do not have exact change) and it would usually add up to more than the bill. Then she would physically count up the money, fiddle around with the money a bit to pretend that she's actually paying and she would take the 'liberty' of paying the bill to the EXACT cent via her credit card (to earn points) and keep the remaining change to herself! I've noticed that on a few occasions until I exposed her in front of our friends! lol So not only does she not pay for her share, she actually profits from this scheme!! Dodgy!!
I see your username. I assume your friend is also asian. I am not in any way surprised.
I can say this being asian myself lol.
lol @ the guy who reuses cup to get free softdrink. :) I usually only buy hungry jacks if I get the 50% off on the app. Today me and my dad manage to get 2 aussie burgers, 2 large drinks, 2 sundaes, 10 chicken nuggets for around $5.50 each. Not a bad lunch, I don't know if they'll give you the discount with vouchers as well, I mean $1 whoppers would be fantastic and all but I can't see them being that generous?
My car runs on waste vegetable oil that I pick up from a couple of local cafes.
Hahahaha +1
Don't laugh, it saves me about $3500.00 in fuel costs per year.
Not sure he was laughing in that sense…
being rich would be nice so we wouldn't have to do all this crap to save a few bucks
You wouldn't stay rich for long if you did this (eg. Tatts winners, children of the rich, etc). The rich stay rich by being tight arses.
rong thread
When buying weekly train tickets, you can buy a single that morning, and on the way back (i think after 3pm)buy the weekly. It will last an extra day.
Better if you're someone who doesn't start early and can buy theirs out of peak pricing.
Also similarly to the previous post on people buying overpriced crap at Servos is Parking.
It often happens that some friends end up spending same/more on parking than dinner when we go out.
Paying for parking when not absolutely necessary is imo one of the biggest waste of money. Usually the 5-10 mins you have to walk parking further away is made up with the time it takes getting in and out of the parking complex anyway.
I don't use public transport but I did, from what I remember a weekly train ticket costs the same peak or off peak.
If you work 5 days a week, 2 trips each day is a grand total of 10 trips, which a weekly travel card will cover. However you say the single plus weekly will cover 12 trips, so an extra trip is included. But does the does the extra cost give better value?
Weekly / 10 = ?
Weekly + Single fair / 12 = ?
I used to live in a studio apartment where gas and water was free as well and I thought to myself … "what if I boil some water to turn a turbine and generate free electricity… sadly that project never went off
Ok, I don't do this myself but I know a family that does. They have a house rule, that if someone goes to the loo and does number 1 then they won't flush the toilet until another person does another number 1. Obviously if someone does number 2 they do flush each time.
I don't think I can go that far just to save money on water bill. Is it even safe to do so?
I wouldn't want to do this either. The thing is, when I do a number 2 (a shit) the water splashes my arse sometimes so I really don't want pee splashing against my arse cheeks. Also urine stinks.
I have a toilet that has a 2 flush functionality, 1/2 flush and full flush, I think that is enough of a water saving measure.
Yup, I get what you mean. It's quite gross really…
I just lost my lunch. Thanks guys.
Speaking of toilet-related thriftiness, I know a friend who lives very close to work (he works in RSL club) and he drops in to say hi before hitting the dunnies. He's earned the nickname "Pooh Bear" because of how often he makes use of the public toilets.
Pooping at work: you literally get paid to poop and you save on toilet paper costs. You can work out how much money you're saving annually by using this calculator.
I'd rather pay a couple of bucks annually than wipe my arse with the sandpaper at most public toilets
I'm glad you covered off what a number 2 is (a shit)
A good way of preventing buttsplash is to lay down a layer or two of toilet paper on the surface beforehand.
It's not saving much. At the highest volumes, water is $1.74 per kilolitre. A half flush is 3 litres, which costs half a cent.
This is pretty standard practice in my hometown in China, as well as Vietnam and a few other Asian countries I have visited.
If it's brown, flush it down
If it's yellow, let it mellow
lol I tried this experiment once, after about two days the smell gets unbearable it's just not worth it
So no dumps in two days? Far out. Get some fiber in your diet.
I use my lunch times to look thru Coles or Woolies perishable sections looking for markdowns.
I just got Coles branded curries- beef madras etc - marked down from ~$9 to ~$3, so I cleared the shelves with $50 worth(alot) and put them all into the freezer. Delicious microwave family meals for ~$3 + rice.
I know a true ozbargainer would have saved more $ by cooking their own in a massive batch, with meat which was from roadkill, but I'm only a beginner.
Dozens of additives, less than 15% beef, full of salt and has less nutritional value than a double quarter pounder. You wouldn't have saved by cooking it yourself but you would have had a real actual meal.
I dunno, the beef vindaloo we had last night was almost all meat. I was dissapointed it didn't have more sauce to soak in the rice. Tasted great.
Although beef and horse meat can be a bit interchangable these days. :)
Ditto on the Coles curries (sometimes Safeway too). Marked down, they are great value and my kids will eat them too, if they are not too spicy. You can also get papadums in packets at supermarkets, microwave them and break them up for some crunch.
I eat a lot of food that makes me constipated. That way I only take a dump once a week and save on toilet paper.
Bahahaha
I shower in the gym.
That's not being tight… That's being hygienic. :D
Better hope the gym keeps the floor clean, lest you get an athlete's foot infection..
(or wear flip flops)
obviously he means instead of showing at home. including when he hasn't worked out.
I shower /shave at the gym as my HWS system at home is only good for 10mins at a time. Whereas the gym is unlimited LOL. The amount I've saved on power bills is more than my membership fee!!! Always wear thongs anyway to avoid catching something. Surprisingly I'm the only person I've seen who does this. Everyone else is more than happy to walk around in bare feet. Filthy buggers!
saved on power bills is higher than what I pay the gym
You must take very long showers then…
That and very cheap membership $5/week.
Crunch gym?
Always wear thongs anyway to avoid catching something. Surprisingly I'm the only person I've seen who does this. Everyone else is more than happy to walk around in bare feet. Filthy buggers!
Hmm I might start doing this… I wipe off my feet with my workout clothes before I put socks on.
Means I will have a pair of thongs in my bag though.
Of course I shower at work being that I do avro shift and the work shower has a low flow showerhead & a small cozy/sauna feel for winter, while my rented studio has an instant hot water system with a high flow showerhead which requires lots of flowing water to turn the power on for hot water.
And I freeze ice in used plastic mineral water bottles in the work fridge to take home & put in my fridge to save electicity.
I'm not sure it would make any difference tbh. (the ice/fridge method).
Probably opening the door would negate any savings.
Forgot to add that this method is including cooling sugarless softdrink/wine/whatever in work fridge & bringing all home in a cooler bag so not opening fridge more that normal.
You freeze water and take it home?
Wtf is wrong with you?
It's quite clever actually. Every time you open a fridge door, the cool "falls out". I read an article from a greenie magazine once, where they suggested lining the inside of your fridge with styrofoam. The more efficient and expensive a fridge is, the thicker its walls. It's also why a chest freezer is so cheap to run. When you lift the lid, the cool can't fall out - it sits inside the box.
Oh - and there's a guy on ebay selling replacement thermostats. You put one into a chest freezer so it operates at fridge temperature. Because of the thicker walls in freezers and their top-lift lids, it's cheaper to run than a fridge.
To 'keep the cool in', just fill up the fridge with bottles of water. Water has a much higher heat capacity than air, so it'll 'keep the cold' inside the fridge better.
(it's the same reason why a mug of hot water stays hot for a long time compared to a mug of .. well.. hot air)
*this will 'keep the cool in', but whether or not this saves electricity hasn't been tested yet!
It will help, but the question is if the savings offset the loss of cooling the water in the first place, and increased door open time moving water around the fridge.
Well, before modern refrigeration, this is literally how "ice boxes" worked.
So I did a quick calculation on this frozen water used to chill the fridge:
Assuming you bring home water at -20ºC and your fridge is set at 5ºC.
The heat capacity of H2O are as follows:
Cp solid = 2.09 J/(gK)
Cp liquid = 4.184 J/(gK)
dH melt = 6.01 kJ/mol
Calculating the specific heat, q = CpdT
For -20ºC - 0ºC
q = 2.09*20 = 41.8 J/g
For 0ºC - 5ºC
q = 4.184*5 = 20.92 J/g
For phase change
q = 6.01/18 = 334 J/g
Σq =~ 400 J/g.
Assuming you bring home two litres of water everyday. Q = 800 kJ. Using Newton's law of cooling, guessing k = 0.2 since we don't have two data points, takes about 14 hours for the water to increase its temperature by 25ºC, assuming the phase change time is small.
To get power, 800000/14/3600 = 15.873 W saved a day, which is about $1.45 a year if electricity costs $0.25kWh. Of course this negates the effect of opening the fridge door and the fact that the water displaces the air that flows out every time you open the door, but a two litre bottle out of a 400 litre fridge is 0.5% of the volume.
Let's say by opening the fridge door you increase the temperature by 10ºC and it takes 300 W over 10 minutes for the fridge to react to this change in temperature according to this random graph, that'll cost you $0.0125 every time you open the fridge door. 5x a day, over a year it costs $22.81, excluding the base load of the fridge. An average fridge on energyratings.gov.au consumes about 1kWh of electricity a day, or $91.25.
So you can say that about 20-25% of the electricity consumed by a fridge is wasted on opening the door. Theoretically you'd get to save 1.6% by bringing home ice, but in practice you'd waste more electricity by opening the door and putting the bottle in.
If you don't open the fridge specifically to put the bottle in - i.e. you put it in quickly during a regular opening - then you could end up in front.
Wow, I'm glad I'm not the OP's landlord. That is thrift mixed with 'I don't really care' in equal amounts.
Hope I never get that desperate or that needy. I can understand it if your really needy but if your not and your just ripping the landlord off…well it's your karma and you deal with it.
Yeah your all correct…I've only just twigged that OzBargainers are really that tight that they shower in gyms to save money…I'm floored by that one, lol.
And people freeze water to save electricity…ffs, guys get a grip, deal with life don't let life deal with you.
This aint thriftiness, this is borderline weirdo stuff.
*I'm guessing my standing is gonna take a hit for this post…major neg.
Cheers anyway
Come on luc… confess your sins here. You know you do some stingy stuff sometimes!
I like the 'DONT GO OUT, DONT HAVE FUN. IT COSTS TOO MUCH!!!' one, hilarious.
Picked up, or learnt some habits ever since learning the Ozbargain ways of saving money this is one of them!
I do reviews every week in order to obtain cellarmasters $50 vouchers to purchase a type of wine we sell in business, I'd normally pay roughly $16.70 ex through suppliers however with the use of these vouchers on cellarmasters they end up being roughly $11.50 ex. So far I've purchased roughly 10 dozen so to me that's a saving of roughly $600+ so far in 2-3 months on alcohol I have to purchase anyway.
So all up I get extra frequent flyer points due to cellarmasters, extra points for using my Amex (no surcharge) and potentially save thousands every year on I particular brand of wine, and an overall increase in GP. Win win? Is that considered tight? Lol…
I visit Woolies a couple of times a day at mark down times.
I use florist throw outs and fallen branches for floral arrangements.
I save most packaging for reuse.
I sell anything I don't use anymore, no matter how small, on eBay (I once scored $30 for an ancient cassette cleaning tape!)
I make my own clothes.
I freeze leftover food to reuse later.
Last time I changed plans with Telstra I successfully charged them $20/hour for my time taken to sort it out ($200).
My pets are wild lorikeets who visit me daily for my uneaten fruit.
I walk everywhere.
Last time I changed plans with Telstra I successfully charged them $20/hour for my time taken to sort it out ($200).
What!?
If you've ever had dealings with Telstra you'll know how frustrating that can be! Now I always keep a log of my contacts with them, including mode (phone, live chat etc), any docket no or identifier, and time involved. 10 hours of my time is totally unreasonable for a simple plan change, so I lodged a complaint and demanded credit. Had to speak to maybe 3 CSRs, but the last one did it for me :)
u r a genius mate.. "charged them $20/hour for my time taken to sort it out ($200)."
"I sell anything I don't use anymore, no matter how small, on eBay (I once scored $30 for an ancient cassette cleaning tape!)" This is the best Sweet3st! One day I will do this! (working up to it!)
I visit Woolies a couple of times a day at mark down times.
I guess if you aren't working it's ok , but seriously how can that be efficient, Won't you be better off finding some good work that will pay you more than the savings you make by visiting Woolies many times a day ?
I sometimes buy a 2L bottle of chocolate milk from Woolies or Coles. I find it is quite sweet and often there is a buildup of sediment at the bottom (I usually shake the bottle to get rid of it). As such, I usually add some normal milk to the bottle of chocolate milk when there is about 1/3 of the chocolate milk to make it slightly less sweet and to get a dose out of the bottle.
Yeah, I have to do that. I don't know how people can drink it straight, there's so much sugar and chocolate that it's disgusting. A 600ml flavoured milk mixed with a ~$1.20 litre of plain becomes cheap and gives an entire family a drink (and one that won't make their teeth fall out).
We do a similar thing at McDonalds. We often ask for plain ice water, which is free. But because they pump it from the same gun as the softdrinks, you usually get a taste of the last flavour they pumped - and you wouldn't believe it, but after switching from all the sugar drinks around you to just water, just that tiny amount of flavour is enough. (Anyone that's had water with a slice of lemon in it would know the flavour level. Just enough to be interesting over plain water.)
I buy normal milk and the home brand chocolate topping, which is much cheaper.
Aw, I remember you too… ;-)