Money Saving Tips

Consider these tips for saving money:

* Make your own lunch - lunches can cost upwards from $8 to $20 (or if you go to one of the swankier restaurants in the city, $35-$50). Bringing your own lunch in a container ensures you have nutritional food every day - especially if your partner is a good cook!! :-)

* Make huge meals and freeze them. I have mentioned this in my posts on Baccarat cookware. The 8L dutch oven can make enough food for a week, sometimes more. It works particularly well on the nights you can't be bothered cooking!!

* Replace every single light in your house with compact fluorescent light bulbs. It will be a bit more expensive at the beginning, but you will thank yourself when your new, smaller energy bills come in.















* Direct your efforts to paying off your credit card or credit cards. Once these are paid off, lower your limit so you don't get in trouble again. If the bank offers you a higher credit limit, say "NO".

* Say "NO" to 24 months easy finance on home goods, store cards, special rewards credit cards, extra personal loans and refinancing mortgages. If you don't have the right advice, refinancing can be devastating. Stop taking out loans. If you are unable to do this, you may have a problem. Seek advice, legal and personal. A compulsion to take out loans can be as damaging as a gambling problem.

* Try to save a small amount each week or month. Try not to touch it and see what happens. You can find a number of good accounts with the main banks - see if you can find a savings account with interest around the 7% mark.

* If you already own your own home, consider installing solar panels. You may be eligible for the solar panel rebate, as discussed on SolarGen's website. The outlay can be expensive but the rebate, plus the decades of free solar power will take the sting out of this purchase.

* Have a cooling off period of 1 day for each purchase you are considering. It will give you time to prioritise and decide whether you absolutely positively need this purchase right now. This is advice I personally follow. If not, I would have so much questionably useful stuff from Ebay and no time to use it.

Until next time, happy shopping and saving!!

technorati tags: shopping saving money

Saving on Groceries

I have become aware of a number of TV programs like "A Current Affair" that are uncovering the discrepancies in grocery prices across Australia. Strangely enough (for those of us naive enough to think all animals are equal*) many of the wealthier suburbs enjoy a better range and cheaper prices for groceries. So if it isn't bad enough for these people to live in a crap part of town, the chain grocery stores further insult them by displaying mouldy tomatoes and charging $7 a kilo.


Tips for saving on groceries:

1. Buy in bulk. If you are constantly buying 50g containers of coffee, why not invest in a 500g or 1kg tin? I tried this once (before I gave up coffee!!) and the tin lasted about six months. When you think of how many 50g tins you would have to buy in that timeframe, you realise the saving.










2. Junk mail is a scourge that should be wiped out however a Coles or Safeway advertising mag can save quite a bit of money if you plan ahead. You can find the specials and buy accordingly when convenient.


3. Shop at local markets and grocers. Not only will you often save money and find better quality, you will also be supporting local businesses. Local grocers often have a better organic range of vegetables for half the price you would pay in the supermarkets.

(click to enlarge)



















After all, where else would you get to buy "wedding sausage"? ....*holds in double entendre compulsion* ... too many jokes....


4. Try shopping on your way home, or near your work. As mentioned earlier, sometimes the prices can vary greatly between suburbs. You may be able to make significant savings on various items.


6. Lay off on buying meat. I do not say this because I am a militant vegetarian (I'm not!!) This weekend I watched a Victorian news story featuring the large chain stores and how traces of metal have recently been found in various meats. Unless you think you don't have enough iron in your diet, steer clear for a while.

technorati tags: grocery shopping save money

*"Animal Farm" - George Orwell

From the Mouths of Babes....

The following scenario took place yesterday in the park, early in the evening. My Partner was practicing golf, I had finished my walk and we were seated at a picnic table. Soon we were joined by The Dad and The Daughter.

The Dad: Hi guys, what's happening?

My Partner: Just practising some golf..

Me: Making the most of daylight saving...

The Daughter runs out and circles our picnic table, stopping in front of me.

The Daughter: I'm NINETYSIX!!

Me: Wow, you don't have any wrinkles or anything. Are you sure you're not six?

The Daughter: He doesn't have any wrinkles (runs to The Dad and points)

Me (to My Partner): That's so cute.

The Dad: Hey is The Simpsons actually drawn or is it that computer animation thing?

The Daughter: Homer has three hairs!

Me: I think they have animation cells so they probably draw it. They've got that exhibition...

The Daughter (grabbing The Dad's shirtsleeve): HE's got no hair like Homer Simpson!

(Awkward pause)

The Dad: So did you see that movie "American Beauty" last night?

My Partner: We watched a bit of it.

The Dad: Me too. But I fell asleep just as Kevin Spacey is getting shot in the head...

Me: How can you fall asleep in that part?

The Daughter: But he's HAIRY!! Here, here, here and here (pointing to various body parts)

My Partner: We saw Ratatouille as well.

The Dad: Haven't seen that one.

Me: It made me want to cook something, probably Ratatouille.

The Dad: What's it about?

Me: It's about a rat who wants to be a chef.

My Partner: It's really good.

The Daughter: ...AND HE'S GOT MAN BOOBS!!!

(Stunned silence)

The Dad (ignoring The Daughter): I think I'll rent the DVD out.

The Daughter: BIG HAIRY MAN BOOBS!!!

My Partner: Why don't you try a couple of shots (hands The Dad a golf club)

The Daughter: My mum hasn't got man boobs, she ran out of milk so she can't breastfeed my brother!

(Oh My God)

The Dad: (Loudly) Here, let me have a go.

The Dad hits a couple of shots.

My Partner: Mate, you don't have man boobs...

Me: (stifling giggles)

The Daughter: Little kids get man boobs too.
...but not as big as DAD'S BIG MAN BOOBS!!

The Dad: Hang on a second, we've got to stop this. Where did you hear about man boobs?

The Daughter: (pointing) From you!

The Dad: Really?

The Daughter: (proudly) Yep.

The Dad: Aha.

technorati tags: general

Bat Faeces Soup

I saw one of those travel documentaries on the weekend. It was one of those "foods of the world" specials. I love to cook (and eat!) so I thought this would be good.

How wrong one can be.

As you know, I am a vegetarian. It is not something I would want to shove down anybody's throat (if you pardon the pun!) but I will tell you one thing.

I would rather be force fed a baked potato (in small pieces of course!) than be forced to drink bat's blood or some of the other "things" they showcased on the show. These things masqueraded as food for a while. Up until the time when one of the presenters had to take a bite.

The most distasteful bit (apart from the food itself) was the insincerity of a particular US based backpacker presenting the show. When eating the food, she will almost always say "Mmmmm. This is soooooo gooood. Mmmmm."

While her face says "Anybody got some Listerine? Like a whole bottle? Germs I tells you. Germs!!!!" I'm sure when the camera is off she spits it out and runs for the nearest bathroom.

I can't even call these things food. I'll just list them. And if my stomach permits (it won't!), I will add photos.



** Bat's blood and bat soup.
The presenter spat the bat's blood out. I wonder why.
Is it just me or is drinking the blood of a vampire kind of symbolic? I tried to find out some more info on this dish but all I could find were Halloween recipes.

Yes, Ozzy Ozbourne was reported to have bitten or eaten a bat onstage. He had an excuse. He was on drugs.




















**Hedgehog. That's right. I can't remember which country. It was either the US or Canada. They went out. They "hunted" a hedgehog, ripped off all the spines, then cooked it. Amazingly, it tasted like sh!t.

This is probably why not many people eat hedgehogs. I don't know about you but when I look at that cute little fella in the picture, I don't automatically think "dinner".



**In Scandinavia, a traditional meal was served - a sheep's head on a plate. Yum yum. You have to eat the eyes, tongue and everything. Remind me not to travel to these places because I'm going to offend a lot of these people.

"You must have the eyeball. You are our honoured guest. We will be offended if you do not eat the eyeball."
"Thanks but no thanks. Got any lentil soup? No? I'll be off then. Nice meeting you."
"You must at least take the eyeball."
"Get f@cked you bunch of weirdos! I'm not going to eat your f@cking Hannibal Lecter food!!"
There endeth my exploits at diplomacy.



**Sheeps' uterus, and "Cock and balls". Pretty self explanatory. The presenter insisted they both tasted like calamari. I don't care if they taste like cheesecake with chocolate shavings, I've got a visual of where they came from. And what's been through them...



**Seal faeces and blubber.
I'm not joking but I hope somebody was. The guy actually tried it. I would have told that travel documentary company to shove it and started walking. These people sat on the kitchen floor in a kind of circle and passed around this concoction.
I mean what is the tradition here?

Did ancient people sit around and say "we've eaten all parts of the seal, now we must try the sh!t"



You know what I think? I think the peoples of the world got extremely bored and started daring each other to eat inedible things. Perhaps they kept doing it for so long that they started to take these hideous dishes a bit too seriously. After a while they couldn't remember exactly why they started eating this crap in the first place and then it became "tradition". Once it is tradition it is hard to break. Even if the tradition is sticking porcupine needles in your behind while dancing on a first-born donkey while gargling bat's blood and seal sh!t.

technorati tags: travel TV bad food

F@ck! F@ck! F@ck!

I can't think of anything to write and it's driving me mad. Does anybody else go through this while writing their blog? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGRGHGHHHHGHGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
THBLELBLBLBLBLBLB!!!

F@ckity! F@ck! F@ck! F@ck!


LABALALALALALALALALALAALLA

WOK TOSSED SALAD

FROG'S NEST ENTRAILS WITH LARK'S VOMIT

GOAT BAGGING MUSHROOM

WAKAKAKAKAKAKA

FRAG

SPLAT

technorati tags: blogging

Spyware Adware Bastards

I haven't been able to get near my computer for a while now, everything has been down. Some nasty little thing calling itself "Virtumonde" decided to worm (pardon the pun!) itself into the registry.

What is your worst nightmare when dealing with spyware and viruses? I'll tell you what mine is, for the damn thing to keep reappearing after a virus and spyware scan. Which, incidentally is exactly what happened.

The trouble with spyware scans is that they take so damn long. But a lot of the time they take so long because you have been infected with spyware. So scanning can take most of the day. Then you "fix" all the problems, restart, and the problems reappear like magic. Black magic.

After installing CA internet protection, I got rid of Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware. I'm not too fussed about Ad-Aware because the only version available now is the 2007 version which is resource hungry and my GOD does-it-slow-things-down. CA Internet protection also slows things down to almost a standstill. They have a fantastic anti-virus (VET) - I seriously think this is one of the best. Their spyware protection is pretty good, it seems to pick up some things that Symantec anti-spyware misses. The firewall, anti-spam and internet surf protect are bloat factor - I uninstalled them.

But...you can't do without Spybot S&D in my opinion. It's free and you can download it from Safer Networking. This is the only program I have found that consistently picks up what the other spyware scans miss out. P.S. Never download an anti-spyware problem from a flashing ad or sponsored link. Always check PC world ratings and various other feedback about the program before downloading.

I have been combing over the registry and using various programs like Vundofix. This program is supposed to fix what the other programs can't. For some reason it didn't work for me but I have read many blogs and forum posts about how Vundofix had worked for them.

Beware if you open IE or Opera or Firefox and your usual pages have unusual ads on them. Be especially wary if an ad disappears, then reappears as a flashing box saying "You have won!!!" or "You are the 999,999th visitor! Click here!". Sometimes they try to look like windows error messages, sometimes naked people holding telephones appear. Which is quite frightening when you were just trying to do a search on Ebay.

After combing through the registry (and a little help from my Obi Wan nerd!) it seems the problem has finally gone. Spybot S&D is a permanent fixture now and in conjunction with CA spyware protection, it should be ok.

Phew!!!

technorati tags: spyware adware malware virus virtumonde

Mortgages

There's a lot of talk about Mortgages these days - the Sub-Prime crisis has affected many countries, interest rates and inflation all contribute to anxiety when choosing a mortgage. It makes it even more important to get a good deal that will put you in the best position to ride out the ups and downs of the global markets and trends. Make sure you visit mortgage comparison sites on the internet, compare bank rates and see how much you can save. You might be surprised. The Reserve Bank has speculated about raising interest rates again so make sure you take these factors into account when choosing a home loan that suits you.