Saving Money - Ideas?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Saving Money - Ideas?

BinaryLimited

796 posts

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#133895 7-Nov-2013 11:19

Hi Everyone

Currently on a mission to re-evaluate all of my expense.
I'm interested to hear how you guys are saving money.

Looking at the following things :

Insurance ( health, life, car, home, income protection )
Internet - Considering Orcon
Gas & Electricity
Investment property expenses.
Groceries
lifestyle

I am open to more ideas and new service providers.

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7281 posts

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#928627 7-Nov-2013 11:29

I use Slingshot for internet - cheapest with largest cap that I have come across. Can't complain at the service, but I am close to a cabinet, which helps my speed etc.

Insurances - shop around.
I am lucky enough to have them lumped together and provided by my bank, as a part of a staff package YMMV

Gas and electricity - take a look at Powershop.co.nz

lifestyle - spend less, make the purchases worthwhile, enjoy the little things in life...

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*Gladly accepting donations...

BinaryLimited

796 posts

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#928633 7-Nov-2013 11:32

Handsomedan: I use Slingshot for internet - cheapest with largest cap that I have come across. Can't complain at the service, but I am close to a cabinet, which helps my speed etc.

Insurances - shop around.
I am lucky enough to have them lumped together and provided by my bank, as a part of a staff package YMMV

Gas and electricity - take a look at Powershop.co.nz

lifestyle - spend less, make the purchases worthwhile, enjoy the little things in life...

Thanks, this new insurance scheme got me going crazy... the whole rebuild and removing of debris etc. Prices have gone crazy!
Lifestyle is a tough one but have to do it!
Thanks, will visit powershop.co.nz!

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jonb

1771 posts

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#928651 7-Nov-2013 11:47

Groceries - I time my trips to the supermarket for about 7pm for reduced bread, salad veggies, pies and so on. Put some bread in the freezer. Only buy things on special, watch the per kilo price of meat and only buy cuts when they are at a price you know to be good, and then freeze some of it. We buy our veggies and milk from the local fruit and veg shop.

Lifestyle - Cancel Sky / Netflix etc. Make sandwiches for lunch at work.
Insurance - We only have house insurance and not contents insurance, which is a risk but saves $50 a month or something. Otherwise could reduce the contents insurance to a lower level and accept the risk that you won't be able to replace everything immediately if the house burns down. A burglary would most likely only take a few higher value items, not all your books and furniture. My life insurance will pay for the mortgage and a few years of income to the surviving parent. Could insure the lower earning partner for less money than the higher earning partner, assuming higher earner will keep on working after other one dies. See if you have any work reward schemes. I can buy gift cards for 10% off the value for example which is then further deducted from any sales the store has.

If you have 2 cars, only have 1 car. Only have 3rd party, fire and theft insurance.

Is it possible to ride your bike to work?

Marry someone with good teeth so you don't have to pay for orthodontists for your children.

Don't go on holiday.

I found the Grabone vouchers to be about cost neutral at best. Buying things I wouldn't otherwise buy, or sometimes missing out on using them in time.

MikeB4

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#928652 7-Nov-2013 11:47

I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

MikeB4

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#928663 7-Nov-2013 11:52

with regards to groceries we have found you can save heaps by making a list before going and buying only what is on the list, without a list you impulse buy a lot more. Also never do grocery shopping hungry, you buy more.
Try to grow your own, does not necessarily save a lot of money directly but again you tend not to shop as often as you have fresh veges at home, the shop purchased never last more than a day or two.

We have down sized our cars and we are saving approx $120 per month on fuel etc

BinaryLimited

796 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#928665 7-Nov-2013 11:52

KiwiNZ: I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

interesting about trust power, bill consolidation is always great! will check them out.

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Klipspringer

2385 posts

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Inactive user

#928673 7-Nov-2013 11:55

KiwiNZ: I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

I would not put all my faith in those power price check websites

I was with contact energy and was already getting the lowest rate around.

Then we had a doorknocker from meridian coming around. I spun the usual story, you wasting your time etc ... Besides, I really cant handle these guys because they always seem to come at the wrong time. Anyway. Long story short, he managed to save us about $250 per annum on our bill, and fix it on the same rate for 2 years. Not a huge saving, but at least Im assured of no increases for the next 2 years.

So next time one of these guys come knocking maybe invite him in for a cuppa. It seems some of them are able to do real good deals.

Dont switch to powershop. I was with them a while back and they really not cheaper.

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jpoc

1043 posts

Uber Geek

#928677 7-Nov-2013 11:58

jonb: Groceries - I time my trips to the supermarket for about 7pm for reduced bread, salad veggies, pies and so on. Put some bread in the freezer. Only buy things on special, watch the per kilo price of meat and only buy cuts when they are at a price you know to be good, and then freeze some of it. We buy our veggies and milk from the local fruit and veg shop.

Lifestyle - Cancel Sky / Netflix etc. Make sandwiches for lunch at work.
Insurance - We only have house insurance and not contents insurance, which is a risk but saves $50 a month or something. Otherwise could reduce the contents insurance to a lower level and accept the risk that you won't be able to replace everything immediately if the house burns down. A burglary would most likely only take a few higher value items, not all your books and furniture. My life insurance will pay for the mortgage and a few years of income to the surviving parent. Could insure the lower earning partner for less money than the higher earning partner, assuming higher earner will keep on working after other one dies. See if you have any work reward schemes. I can buy gift cards for 10% off the value for example which is then further deducted from any sales the store has.

If you have 2 cars, only have 1 car. Only have 3rd party, fire and theft insurance.

Is it possible to ride your bike to work?

Marry someone with good teeth so you don't have to pay for orthodontists for your children.

Don't go on holiday.

I found the Grabone vouchers to be about cost neutral at best. Buying things I wouldn't otherwise buy, or sometimes missing out on using them in time.

Plus one for that. It make a much more immediate difference to you finances than most things.

BinaryLimited

796 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#928678 7-Nov-2013 11:58

jonb: Groceries - I time my trips to the supermarket for about 7pm for reduced bread, salad veggies, pies and so on. Put some bread in the freezer. Only buy things on special, watch the per kilo price of meat and only buy cuts when they are at a price you know to be good, and then freeze some of it. We buy our veggies and milk from the local fruit and veg shop.

Lifestyle - Cancel Sky / Netflix etc. Make sandwiches for lunch at work.
Insurance - We only have house insurance and not contents insurance, which is a risk but saves $50 a month or something. Otherwise could reduce the contents insurance to a lower level and accept the risk that you won't be able to replace everything immediately if the house burns down. A burglary would most likely only take a few higher value items, not all your books and furniture. My life insurance will pay for the mortgage and a few years of income to the surviving parent. Could insure the lower earning partner for less money than the higher earning partner, assuming higher earner will keep on working after other one dies. See if you have any work reward schemes. I can buy gift cards for 10% off the value for example which is then further deducted from any sales the store has.

If you have 2 cars, only have 1 car. Only have 3rd party, fire and theft insurance.

Is it possible to ride your bike to work?

Marry someone with good teeth so you don't have to pay for orthodontists for your children.

Don't go on holiday.

I found the Grabone vouchers to be about cost neutral at best. Buying things I wouldn't otherwise buy, or sometimes missing out on using them in time.

The partner hunts prices like crazy at the shops.We looking at making meals at cheaper prices. ex, pizza night.
Definitely dont do sky or netflix, waste of money big time! Freeview is great.
The problem with cancelling insurance is its risky. Normally when its cancelled, bad things happen lol.
Definitely no work reward schemes going on here, i work for myself :)
I work from home, so 9/10 i don't need a car.

Will check out Grabone!
We also use the AA Smart Fuel mission has it keeps us updated on fuel discounts. 8c off a litre etc.
Shopping at pack n save also helps, get money off petrol there too.

Binary Limited - Safe. Secure. Simple. ™
www.binarylimited.co.nz

MikeB4

18435 posts

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#928679 7-Nov-2013 11:58

Klipspringer:
KiwiNZ: I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

I would not put all my faith in those power price check websites

I was with contact energy and was already getting the lowest rate around.

Then we had a doorknocker from meridian coming around. I spun the usual story, you wasting your time etc ... Besides, I really cant handle these guys because they always seem to come at the wrong time. Anyway. Long story short, he managed to save us about $250 per annum on our bill, and fix it on the same rate for 2 years.

So next time one of these guys come knocking maybe invite him in for a cuppa. It seems some of them are able to do real good deals.

Dont switch to powershop. I was with them a while back and they really not cheaper.

Agreed, it is indicative only. I keep all my accounts so I do a check myself . AT this time I would save if I were to go to Trustpower, I am still on contract with Telecom so I have to wait. I would like to consolidate, now if Vodafone did power as well that would be ideal

Klipspringer

2385 posts

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Inactive user

#928680 7-Nov-2013 12:00

jonb:

Marry someone with good teeth so you don't have to pay for orthodontists for your children.

Don't go on holiday.

You are joking right?

BinaryLimited

796 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#928681 7-Nov-2013 12:01

Klipspringer:
KiwiNZ: I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

I would not put all my faith in those power price check websites

I was with contact energy and was already getting the lowest rate around.

Then we had a doorknocker from meridian coming around. I spun the usual story, you wasting your time etc ... Besides, I really cant handle these guys because they always seem to come at the wrong time. Anyway. Long story short, he managed to save us about $250 per annum on our bill, and fix it on the same rate for 2 years. Not a huge saving, but at least Im assured of no increases for the next 2 years.

So next time one of these guys come knocking maybe invite him in for a cuppa. It seems some of them are able to do real good deals.

Dont switch to powershop. I was with them a while back and they really not cheaper.

Yep agreed, we had those knockers, they do offer good deals.
We found that going back to our current provider and saying " Jimmy from X company just knocked on our door offer us this discount...beat it or lose us"
Surprisingly our current provider did beat it!

Binary Limited - Safe. Secure. Simple. ™
www.binarylimited.co.nz

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#928692 7-Nov-2013 12:08

Klipspringer:
KiwiNZ: I have just been doing the Power price check, we are with Genesis and the consumer page thingy tells me that they are the best price. I have been considering Trustpower as I could combine Power/Phone/Internet on one account.

I would not put all my faith in those power price check websites

I was with contact energy and was already getting the lowest rate around.

Then we had a doorknocker from meridian coming around. I spun the usual story, you wasting your time etc ... Besides, I really cant handle these guys because they always seem to come at the wrong time. Anyway. Long story short, he managed to save us about $250 per annum on our bill, and fix it on the same rate for 2 years. Not a huge saving, but at least Im assured of no increases for the next 2 years.

So next time one of these guys come knocking maybe invite him in for a cuppa. It seems some of them are able to do real good deals.

Dont switch to powershop. I was with them a while back and they really not cheaper.

We had one of those that opened with a promise to save us $20/month on toll calls. We were surprised, mostly because our toll bill is only typically a few dollars a month at the most. Needless to say, he couldn't deliver on the promise.

...Probably should have tried to hold him to it...

jpoc

1043 posts

Uber Geek

#928694 7-Nov-2013 12:11

Never pay full price for petrol.

We shop at Pak'nSave and always make use of the fuel vouchers. We arrange our shopping budget so that, if we turn up on a Sunday and discover that they have just sprung a 50c/litre discount if you spend $400 then we are in a position to buy our normal $150 trolley and then buy non perishables that we would be buying anyway over the next month.

Countdown have the same offers to so if they suit you, make sure that you always take advantage of their offers.

If you have the flexibility to change your work commute, try to travel when the traffic is light. Doing that gave me a 5% fuel saving.

jpoc

1043 posts

Uber Geek

#928700 7-Nov-2013 12:14

How much money do you spend on beer and wine?

Consider making your own - wine from $3 a bottle even if you have to pay for all of the ingredients. Even bigger savings on beer.

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