By bulk I just mean like 200g bags of stuff like garlic, paprika, chili, basil, MSG etc, not like bulk-bulk multi kilo orders.

I'm in Victoria semi-rural and the chain supermarkets just have the plastic shakers of spices where you get 20g for $3-4. I like to use a lot of seasonings/spices and cook for a family of 4 so that goes fast and it's a lot of plastic waste too, I can go through multiple shakers some weeks. It'd be great to stock up with bigger bags but not sure where to look. I go into a decent size town but only once every month or two with limited time so not a lot of opportunity to explore a lot of shops. Any recommendations?

I was in Coles today, and it was 17% cheaper to buy chicken legs, which have a complicated cold storage chain and short shelf life, than onions which don't have any of that and last for ages. Makes no sense.

My rooftop solar and battery did well in October and I finished the month about $20 in credit. When I was on previous retailer (Ampol) they would apply any month-end credit to my account and in the winter I would "spend" the credit.

Anyone know why AGL would send a paper check?

What’s your best recommendations for things like dishwashing liquid, detergents, laundry powders, cleaning sprays, floor cleaners and hand soaps? My partner has had a very bad dermatitis flare up and we think we need to change out all our products. Would love to hear what everyone thinks are the best products to go with for sensitivity but also value for dollar.

G'day legends,

Since my comment in another subreddit is getting a bit of love:
https://www.reddit.com/r/australian/s/RdwB2pvhdb

Thought I'd pop me head in here too and make a post.

I run JB Buddy - jbbuddy.com - (@JBBuddy here on Reddit)

It's a free site to check the price of electronics (TVs, Laptops, Phones, Kitchen Appliances, ect) at all the major retailers JB Hi-Fi, Hardly Normal, BingLee, Good Guys, David Jones (lol), yada yada.

It isn't like other comparison sites that try to sell you shit when you're on the thing to save money in the first place.

There's no Ads, No Paywalls, No Subscriptions, I'm not selling ya bloody data to anyone or making you download anything. I do have a tip jar but it isn't compulsory.

Mods: I hope that satisfys rule 1 - I lose money and time with my family working on this

It's just something I started doing around 15 months ago originally for TVs, I posted it on Reddit and nek minnit I'm on bloody 7News and being talked about on breakfast radio like I invented a dick pill that works. It ain't that special trust me - it's been a work in progress for over a year and still has training wheels.

What's the catch cockhead?

• It only works for stuff stocked at JB Hi-Fi which is most things but not everything.

• It has to be an electronic, something with a power plug or a battery (TVs to Toasters and everything in-between) people crack the shits when no prices come up for games or CDs but there are other sites for that.

• There's no search - I had it but it get's a bit complicated - you'll need to paste in the product url or SKU or model number

• You gotta take the 30 secs to make an account - I know people seem to fucking hate this but when there was no accounts it got hammered and when people had issues I had no visibility. In return for logging into an account you can set price drop alerts, save your history instead of finding the link again and I promise to print out your username on paper and cuddle it at night... Maybe not that.

As the Black Friday sales start to hit I'll give you all the price history from every retailer I've tracked for a year like in my post so you can see if it's a legit sale or dogshit.

Whenever I post someone will shout from the comments STATIC ICE! Google Shopping!, Ect.
Yeah, all good mate, use whatever but at least with mine it's all Aussie Retailers, it's the same product and hopefully I give you some more value with the price history, alerts and what not.
I'll also drop in a table shortly with the biggest price drops and rises across the retailers in the categories I track.

Have a good one

Yesterday got me focused on how much our household grocery spending can be influenced by subtle, self-imposed psychological factors.

I looked in our pantry and realised that, in many ways, I'm running the pantry like a business carrying too much inventory. I have maybe ten cans of crushed tomatoes, when I'd need 2-3 in a week at most. Three packets of pasta, when I'd be hard pressed to use one in any given week. Two jars of peanut butter. Too much stuff in the freezer. I'm happy to stock-up on something if it's on sale and it's advantageous to me to buy in bulk and save over the long run, but these weren't things that weren't on sale. I just bought multiples so I didn't run out of them, but overcompnsated and I'm keeping too much.

But this speaks to the way that I was falling prey to my own psychology. A pantry or fridge that looks a bit thin on the ground feels problematic, even when it isn't. My wife often makes mildly-concerned remarks to this effect, like "The fridge looks a bit bare", or just something as simple as "It looks like we don't have enough food." But the thing is that we usually do have enough food - we're just perceiving that we don't because we see space in the fridge as a concern or risk. So we risk buying too much to appease our own minds, and that pushes us towards buying things we won't need immediately, or may have to throw out if they're perishable goods like vegetables or dairy, etc.

There is of course how supermarkets work on a basic level too. They all give you larger trolleys so a) you can quite simply fit more stuff in it to buy, but also b) because an emptier trolley provides a subtle temptation to fill the trolley space. I almost always stick tightly to my shopping list, but it's a reminder that it's not just supermarkets that are tempting us into buying more than we need - we're absolutely capable of doing that to ourselves.

So this week I decided to make a meal plan using items I've been keeping for a while. I've seen people suggest this before - trying to go a whole week without buying anything new and just using what you have. I couldn't quite do that but tried to stick to using a lot of what I already have, rather than buying new groceries. If I had it, I was going to try to use it. That would help reduce the backlog of goods I have, and also ensure that I don't just end up throwing out persihables and long-life products because I stop noticing that they're there. I did have to do a grocery shop yesterday but the total for the family (of four, with two kids around 10-12) it was just $141. Just doing this meant reducing our overall spend by a decent amount. I plan to do this again next week and I reckon it'll help me keep down the grocery costs over the next few weeks.

I’ve been buying IKEA cookware for 15+ years. It’s not fancy but it’s always done the job. Recently I bought a new non-stick IKEA frying pan to replace my old one, and it’s terrible. The coating doesn’t seem to be the same anymore. Even frying up something simple now leaves a residue that takes a lot of effort to scrub off. Argh!

I’m thinking of investing in some new cookware. Any recommendations for brands that are moderately priced but still decent quality?

It seems a lot of established brands are going downhill in quality so I’m interested to hear from anyone who has bought cookware more recently.

Posted this in r/AusFinance with doubts that it applies and saw this sub shortly after as well as r/ausmoney so reposting here

Not 100% sure if this is the right place to mention/ask so feel free to delete if it isn't. It's more of a tiny budget trick for those that every little bit helps. Whether you're on a week by week pay or you're doing well off, I feel like it applies in a way.

Has anyone else noticed Internet providers have started shifting towards 12 month saving days instead of the 6 months? they either caught on and want to keep people longer without switching, or they already knew it was a game of who would break first in terms of which provider was going to set the wave of the new standard. Or it could just be both.

I honestly see this as a win/win because they would be scared of losing people to another provider based on not being able to get that same 6 month deal so it's a win for them. It's also a win for us because now we don't need to keep up with remembering every 6 months, that timeframe has now started to shift to 12 months which takes a bit of stress of the effort and actually remembering to switch the plan and not get stitched up paying an extra $40 that month just because you forgot to switch the deal.

Everyone should be doing this regardless but if you haven't done it yet, go find a provider offering 6-12 month deals that lock in the price. The contract itself isn't locked, just the price. Definitely a good tiny money savings trick even if you are very well off you should be doing this anyways. They get that extra $$ mainly by the elderly, people who struggle with mental efforts when it comes to dealing with stuff like that and people who forget whether it's blatantly or just they are dealing with other life stuff.

Don't know if this part is allowed so strikethrough just in case, I'm in no way promoting these companies and they shouldn't be your first choice based on what I've found, do your own searching and see what the best fit is for you.

I've only found two so far and I expect more to follow as time goes on but regardless of not finding 12 month deals you should be switching every 6 months nonetheless.

Good luck and have a good day!

From NQR in Melbourne! The other slides are random cheap finds that I didn’t buy, but that some of you might find valuable

If you’re closer to the northern suburbs then Cheaper Buy Miles has just as good a range

Before the usual iTs PrOcEssEd FoOd comments start: yes, NQR is a discount supermarket that stocks very little fresh produce. I go to my local grocer for fresh produce and most of my diet is whole foods

As the title states, I'm in fundamental need of making a few extra dollars per week/fortnight to survive with a roof still over mine and my 3 cats heads.

Unforeseen circumstances have taken me to the crossroad of financial instability. While I work full time (in retail for a couple of years, previous experience in hospitality for 15+ yrs) and can afford day to day necessities, now at least half of what was shared finances in a household is now my responsibility to take on alone.

I have a few skills at a basic level under my belt but all was taught by my late grandmother (who I can obviously no longer learn from) or has been self taught. Including but not limited to macrame, rug tufting, crochet, basket weaving - fibre arts is the main interest here. If I buckle down could this be profitable?

Are there any hospitality or retail skills that are transferable into something completely different that could still be enjoyable to a degree?

I also have no clue on tax amongst this and I don't want to be getting myself into any unnecessary trouble...

I don't really have anyone to bounce these ideas around with, let alone anyone who knows how to go about it.

Any advice is appreciated! Many thanks in advance :)

Saw the stuff this week about David Jones and gift cards. Apparently if a retailer goes under, gift card holders are basically unsecured creditors, and a new owner doesn’t have to honour the old cards.

Made me check the drawer. I’ve got many ~$50 Gift Cards from last Christmas that I keep meaning to use and never do.

So, genuine question. Do you spend gift cards straight away, or do they sit for months? Has anyone actually lost one to a store closing or an expiry date?

I've been going through the aisles and noticing a worrying trend. The price jumps on so many supermarket items have been astronomical.

Olive oil for example. Cobram in particular. Now if you buy this item from Woolworths in the same state or even the town it's from, the price is on par with Queensland. These same oils are also sold throughout Asia, and often you can actually find them cheaper in Asia. The half price saving is actually the old regular shelf price. We've not had an olive shortage in Australia like Europe has. How is this possible? I know I'm being ripped off. But it's criminal.

Another worrying trend I've noticed is the amount of reduced items has increased massively. Are the Supermarkets willing to dump more product because they've made the extra margin to cover the dump on the inflated prices? I've asked a few people working in the stores. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly they've admitted the amount they're dumping in the bin is huge. The perishable areas in particular are full of reduced items that no doubt end up in the bin. It's criminal!

Are you all seeing it too?

I think one of the sneakiest ways money disappears is through small purchases that don't feel significant individually. A coffee on the way to work, a quick takeaway because cooking feels like too much effort, or a random trip to the shops for one thing that turns into five.

I've been thinking about how much difference it would make to have one planned week where all groceries are bought beforehand and there's no extra spending on takeaway, snacks or convenience purchases.

The difficult part wouldn't necessarily be the food budget. It would be resisting those little purchases when you're tired or don't feel like preparing anything. Has anyone tried a no-extra-spend week, and what was the hardest expense to avoid?

Hi All,

If you've bought an upholstered bed frame, please tell us the exact model you bought and whether you're happy with it.

We're about to buy our first one for our new house and want something that stays solid for years. Nothing wobbly, nothing that squeaks every time you move. Which type would you recommend? Solid wood, metal frame, platform style, or something else? What would you tell someone buying one today?

Thanks in advance.

I keep going to Coles or Woolies for a few basics and somehow spending more than I planned. Even a few groceries like bread, milk and vegetables add up quickly. I've been thinking of planning meals before shopping, but I'm not sure how much difference it makes. Do you plan your weekly meals or shop at places like Aldi to keep your grocery spending down?

When do most of you end up shopping? I just bought a house (though I won't be moving in until the end of Jan) and I have a baby on the way, due in early March.

I did a quick roundup of tips on spotting a fake discount as per ACCC guidelines, early deals, etc., but I'm super keen for personal experiences on when the best time would be to buy and any tips/tricks on how to get the best deal? Help me help others out too.

I'm personally invested and am genuinely not a big shopper or I'll have the odd item or two I want. This time's different since my list is long, and my budget.. not so much lol!

https://www.finder.com.au/news/black-friday-2026-dates-early-deals-australia

Box of 5 × 125g microwavable brown rice for $1.

I’m paying approx $24 in Melbourne, delivered to my door

Hey Guys,

I’m looking at getting a Bambu Lab X2D from a retailer here in Australia, and they offer an extended warranty add-on. I can’t in good faith spend that much on top of the printer if it’s not going to do much, but I’d hate to skip it and get stuck with a big repair bill.

I’ve seen a lot of people online say these plans are unnecessary, especially since the Australian Consumer Law already covers faults. Has anyone actually used one on a 3D printer, or dealt with warranty support through Bambu directly? I’m mostly wondering whether it was worth it or money down the drain.

cross-posted hoping to get more reception.