The BIG thread of financial tips and tricks

[cnombob]

@snlmommy Great compilation. Thanks.

 

[zrinka]

@cnombob One sizeable omission : Use the Grocer app.

 

[snlmommy]

@zrinka Added

 

[lookingup]

@snlmommy 50cc scooter, no wof needed, $7-$9 to fill the tank. It's not that bad yall but I get it's not for everyone. Get a big op shop backpack you can strap things to

 

[lucasjomar]

@snlmommy If youre wanting a great tool to see your spend, creat budgets, and have a general overview of your financial well being, I highly recommend mybudget by booster. It's an excellent free tool that uses your bank feed (similar to Xero), has machine learning to classify future spend and an easy to digest layout to see where you might be able to change some habits.

I've been using it for 3 months now, and it's been great to see where trends are forming, and where you're able to pull back some funds to save (or invest).

Once you get a picture, you can form a plan.

Also good for overall wealth view, as you can add assets, liabilities and savings.

 

[cardboardhorder]

@snlmommy These seem like great frugal tips but not neccessarily poverty finance. I.e. people struggling may need a vehicle in order to get to work and may not have alternative options or money upfront to pay for a car. It's expensive to be poor.

I think hybrid vehicles are going to be double taxed. They have to pay EV road user charges and petrol tax. So not sure if that will impact the running costs of hybrid vehicles.

 

[omaheart]

@cardboardhorder Plug-in hybrids do have to pay both RUC and petrol tax....
Traditional hybrids (smaller battery, only recharged during braking or coasting) do not pay RUC and are only taxed through fuel-use... which is typically near half of a similar sized ICE...

 

[flocculus7]

@cardboardhorder Hybrids can be quite expensive to insure too, I work inbound call centre and depending on age of driver and location of vehicle is can be as much as $3600p.a (under 25 driver)

 

[dudemandapanda]

@flocculus7 I'm currently paying $1450p.a for my 2021 Toyota hybrid, full comprehensive through AA. But not sure what the go is when under 25 like you say haha.

 

[goodolchristiangal]

@dudemandapanda Maybe get a quote from Toyota Insurance, I pay around $53 per month for full insurance on my 2013 Toyota hybrid.

 

[flocculus7]

@dudemandapanda Yeah they may have had claims too, makes a big impact, but often people call having already paid for cat then gasp at premiums so like to mention when I see these threads.

 

[snlmommy]

@cardboardhorder The tips in there can apply to a wide variety of people and not every tip will be for everyone (I even used hybrids as an example). Also no RUC on non plug-in hybrids.

 

[hoohkostwon]

@snlmommy As much as possible, buy second-hand: clothes, furniture, sports gear, appliances, crockery, linen, gardening equipment, household items. And I don't just mean from second-hand shops: have a look through TradeMe and Facebook Marketplace. Higher end second-hand clothing stores like Recycle Boutique are more expensive but can have some really nice pieces. Tupperware containers, drinkbottles and KeepCups are all found in abundance at opshops for $1 apiece and are often good quality brand names. I simply can't see a reason to spend hundreds of dollars more buying something new when so much stuff goes to waste every day.

Do your due diligence on things, obviously - don't buy second-hand clothes if they're ripped or stained, and don't buy second-hand furniture if it has borer. Test electrical appliances before buying them. Clean things when you get home before you use them.

 

[chrisx]

@snlmommy My ideas

• Instead of a hybrid, consider a cheap Nissan Leaf. I had a 24kwh 2014 model for 5 years and it paid itself off in petrol savings alone. And way more environmentally friendly. I splurged last year and got a 2019 62kwh model and it's fantastic, but the 24kwh was more than enough for 99% of our needs. The battery degraded about 7% over the 5 years I had it so all these idiots saying that battery degradation is a problem are talking out their arses. The EV market has dropped a fair bit since our wonderful new govt decided to kill the clean car rebate and RUCs are here (though that was always gonna happen), so a 24kwh leaf is super cheap now. I would only go with a 2014 onward model though. An EV is still going to be cheaper than ANY hybrid even including RUC and much more environmentally friendly
• Instead of any car or a polluting 50cc 2-stroke scooter, consider an e-bike! They are amazing.
• Rather than buying expensive cartridge razors learn how to shave like your grandparents did and use a double edge razor. They are SUPER cheap to get started with - a Weishi 9306 can be had for about $18 delivered from Ali Express, and 100 razors are about $8-16 depending on brand. Each blade lasts me about a week, obviously it depends how often and what you shave. If you're a guy, Nivea or Palmolive both do tubes of shaving cream you can get from Pak n Save or wherever for about $4-5 that last ages, and Nivea also do bottles of sensitive post shave balm that's really good for about $9-12 normally from the supermarket too. You can get a lather brush for pretty cheap on Ali Express too - check out the Yaqi synthetics.

 

[bn123]

@snlmommy You can get a cash and carry card, or go splits on buying bulk with someone who has one.

 

[edenspeak]

@bn123 However, many products at cash and carry are more expensive than supermarkets - which is why you see small shop owners stocking up on supermarket specials if quantity isn't limited.

 

[bn123]

@edenspeak Yeah - absolutely. I have a card for one of the ones down here in the SI so I generally look at what jumps out to me and then make a comparison by weight to the New World site. I find there's usually a handful of basics I would buy normally that I can pay around 70% ish of what I'd pay at the supermarket. You get Gilmlours in the NI so there's more scope for savings up there I think.