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McLovin said:
$2/week is $104/year. And what's that, basically a night out. Infact, the way Sydney is now it's about half a night out. It won't change your life. Plus, you waste all that petrol hunting for the cheapest petrol, as Julia pointed out.
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It is better to have $104 in your pocket than someone else's.
 
Look after your pennys and the pounds will look after themselves -

Ive seen 15c price differences on the Gold Coast - thats 9 bucks on my 60l tank.

I wouldnt go driving around looking for it as my time is worth money , but ill certainly drive straight past the expensive joints never to return ....
 
numbercruncher said:
Look after your pennys and the pounds will look after themselves -

Ive seen 15c price differences on the Gold Coast - thats 9 bucks on my 60l tank.

I wouldnt go driving around looking for it as my time is worth money , but ill certainly drive straight past the expensive joints never to return ....
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i can honestly say i have never driven past, nor entered a servo because of price. in fact i rarely ever take notice of the price of fuel. just my laziness i guess. does anyone actually use those discount vouchers?
 
young-gun said:
i can honestly say i have never driven past, nor entered a servo because of price. in fact i rarely ever take notice of the price of fuel. just my laziness i guess. does anyone actually use those discount vouchers?
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Really ?

For me its as much as my distain for the unashamed greed of these Petrol dealers as it is to save myself a couple of bucks - typically doesnt cost me extra time or money to drive straight past. Sometimes that guage is getting so low that I have to stop but oh well .....
 
Tyler Durden said:
It is better to have $104 in your pocket than someone else's.
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It really doesn't bother me. It's like saying the key to financial freedom is a owning a piggy bank. I spend money on what I want to (travel mainly). I know a lot of people think that if they save every dollar they earn they will end up retiring at 45 but it doesn't work like that. If you're working a 9-5 job then even with saving your $2/week it will have almost no effect on your financial situation; $104 each year for 20 years @5.5% will be worth about $4,000, so about double what you have contributed. You're far better off trying to increase your earning power.

It's the same as people who put in the extra 1 or 2 cents in when they fill up because it will get rounded down and they have "saved" 2 cents. As though it makes a difference in the grand scheme of things.
 
numbercruncher said:
Really ?

For me its as much as my distain for the unashamed greed of these Petrol dealers as it is to save myself a couple of bucks - typically doesnt cost me extra time or money to drive straight past. Sometimes that guage is getting so low that I have to stop but oh well .....
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yeah, unfortunately as i said i am quite lazy when it comes to things like this. i could probably save myself 30$-50$ a week just by not being lazy, but i can't be bothered. i dont know how some people can go from coles to woolies in search of bargains, or save up several discount vouchers and go to one particular servo to save 8c a litre. i work on efficiency, i want to get done whatever i have to as fast and efficiently as possible, and if that means paying a little extra ill do it.
 
McLovin said:
It really doesn't bother me. It's like saying the key to financial freedom is a owning a piggy bank. I spend money on what I want to (travel mainly). I know a lot of people think that if they save every dollar they earn they will end up retiring at 45 but it doesn't work like that. If you're working a 9-5 job then even with saving your $2/week it will have almost no effect on your financial situation; $104 each year for 20 years @5.5% will be worth about $4,000, so about double what you have contributed. You're far better off trying to increase your earning power.

It's the same as people who put in the extra 1 or 2 cents in when they fill up because it will get rounded down and they have "saved" 2 cents. As though it makes a difference in the grand scheme of things.
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anyone remember "reminisence of a stock operator" where hes interviewing the ceos from different companies one was wasting the expensive note paper to write the figures on and the other one is tearing up envelopes for notepaper in his spare time to write the figures on. find enough places to save afew bucks often enough and it ends up being a substancial amount. but you will never find enough places if you look at them each independently its just not worth it.
 
im sparticus said:
anyone remember "reminisence of a stock operator" where hes interviewing the ceos from different companies one was wasting the expensive note paper to write the figures on and the other one is tearing up envelopes for notepaper in his spare time to write the figures on. find enough places to save afew bucks often enough and it ends up being a substancial amount. but you will never find enough places if you look at them each independently its just not worth it.
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True. But the average person can't come close to the largesse of a big corporation, they just don't generate the income to create meaningful savings.

I have seen plenty of over the top corporate spending, my own salary pre-GFC included!

The best example I've seen of how companies waste money: I worked for Citibank for a couple of years in London. There was a Citi project in Warsaw that some guys I knew loosely were working on. The Warsaw project was a bit behind because of a backlog in mundane data entry. Management in NY decided that the best course of action was to send PwC grads (ie guys straight out of college, earning ~$40k/year) to Warsaw in business class to help out with the data entry and fly them home (in business class) every two weeks for the weekend. These grads were being charged to Citi at about $100/hour + they had to pay their airfare. World's most expensive data entry!

I left Citi because it was the most dysfunctional corporation I ever worked for.:rolleyes:
 
young-gun said:
i dont know how some people can go from coles to woolies in search of bargains
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For many the saving directly translates to more food on the table, or better quality food. For many families, the available budget for food is x and if that doesn't buy enough then so be it - it's either go hungry or switch from fresh to frozen, steak to burgers etc. I can absolutely understand why anyone with spare time but little or no spare money would willingly search for bargains.

As for me, well I don't have time to search for the lowest price between Coles / Woolies but I won't waste money due to being lazy.

Why pay $125 a tonne for green firewood in June when you can get bone dry wood for $85 (delivered) in the middle of Summer? (For those unaware, you really don't want "green" wood anyway - it takes at least a year (literally) to dry out properly).

Why pay $1.55 for petrol when most days I drive past a servo (major brand) which is selling it for 12 cents less? It may only be a few $, but why pay more when there is no reason to?

I don't drink soft drinks very often, but why pay $3 for 600mL when you can get 2 litres of the exact same stuff for $4, or 1.25 litres for less than the price of 600mL in the same store?

And so on. I see no point in paying more than necessary just for the sake of it. :2twocents
 
McLovin said:
The best example I've seen of how companies waste money: I worked for Citibank for a couple of years in London. There was a Citi project in Warsaw that some guys I knew loosely were working on. The Warsaw project was a bit behind because of a backlog in mundane data entry. Management in NY decided that the best course of action was to send PwC grads (ie guys straight out of college, earning ~$40k/year) to Warsaw in business class to help out with the data entry and fly them home (in business class) every two weeks for the weekend. These grads were being charged to Citi at about $100/hour + they had to pay their airfare. World's most expensive data entry!
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I don't see anything even remotely extreme about that. Whenever you hear the word "outsource", this sort of thing is usually what is really going on.

Australian taxpayers would be furious if they knew how bad government can be with this sort of thing, outright furious. Government workers leaning on proverbial shovels are one thing, but they are nothing compared to what goes on when contractors get involved. It's much, much cheaper to employ some people and just do the work thus keeping consultants, contractors etc well away from the trough.:2twocents
 
young-gun said:
i can honestly say i have never driven past, nor entered a servo because of price. in fact i rarely ever take notice of the price of fuel. just my laziness i guess. does anyone actually use those discount vouchers?
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Doesn't it come down to how much fuel you use? Earlier I think you suggested you wouldn't bother switching savings accounts because the small % difference in the interest rate wasn't worth worrying about. But you then said if you had a lot of money in such an account then of course you'd be more diligent. (If it was someone else who made this observation, I apologise).

I only fill my car about once in 5 weeks so absolutely am not going to be bothered running round looking for the cheapest price, Instead I choose a petrol station that is conveniently on my way home. If it's 1cent more per litre, so be it.
However, if I filled the tank every second day I'd take a different view probably.


numbercruncher said:
Really ?

For me its as much as my distain for the unashamed greed of these Petrol dealers as it is to save myself a couple of bucks - typically doesnt cost me extra time or money to drive straight past. Sometimes that guage is getting so low that I have to stop but oh well .....
Click to expand...
Gee whiz, NC. Everyone is out to rip you off, aren't they. The big miners, and now the dastardly petrol dealers.
Life must be an irritating and upsetting business for you.

McLovin said:
It really doesn't bother me. It's like saying the key to financial freedom is a owning a piggy bank. I spend money on what I want to (travel mainly). I know a lot of people think that if they save every dollar they earn they will end up retiring at 45 but it doesn't work like that. If you're working a 9-5 job then even with saving your $2/week it will have almost no effect on your financial situation; $104 each year for 20 years @5.5% will be worth about $4,000, so about double what you have contributed. You're far better off trying to increase your earning power.

It's the same as people who put in the extra 1 or 2 cents in when they fill up because it will get rounded down and they have "saved" 2 cents. As though it makes a difference in the grand scheme of things.
Click to expand...
Zackly. However, I think there's a certain psychological satisfaction for some people in believing they have got a bargain, or at least the best available price. They will never think it through in the realistic terms you describe above, and will just be happy that they think they've scored.


Smurf1976 said:
For many the saving directly translates to more food on the table, or better quality food. For many families, the available budget for food is x and if that doesn't buy enough then so be it - it's either go hungry or switch from fresh to frozen, steak to burgers etc. I can absolutely understand why anyone with spare time but little or no spare money would willingly search for bargains.

As for me, well I don't have time to search for the lowest price between Coles / Woolies but I won't waste money due to being lazy.

Why pay $125 a tonne for green firewood in June when you can get bone dry wood for $85 (delivered) in the middle of Summer? (For those unaware, you really don't want "green" wood anyway - it takes at least a year (literally) to dry out properly).

Why pay $1.55 for petrol when most days I drive past a servo (major brand) which is selling it for 12 cents less? It may only be a few $, but why pay more when there is no reason to?

I don't drink soft drinks very often, but why pay $3 for 600mL when you can get 2 litres of the exact same stuff for $4, or 1.25 litres for less than the price of 600mL in the same store?

And so on. I see no point in paying more than necessary just for the sake of it. :2twocents
Click to expand...

I don't think any of us have said we want to pay more "just for the sake of it". That's just silly.
But the point is that for many people the tiny dividends obtained for a whole lot of effort just don't make logical sense.
 
Julia said:
Gee whiz, NC. Everyone is out to rip you off, aren't they. The big miners, and now the dastardly petrol dealers.
Life must be an irritating and upsetting business for you.
Click to expand...


Like I said doesnt bother me I drive right past and the reason I as I said is because I see 15c price swings around here, Petrol prices are a rather big issue in the real world.Like you said its of no consequence to you or any retirees really considering the tiny amount of the stuff you need.

And no life isnt irritating or upsetting - you appear to do alot more whinging than I so right back at you.
 
Good unemployment results following the good GDP results.
Another rate cut? Wouldn't bet on it.
 
I suggest people with funds in at call accounts check them regularly.
I've just done this with my ANZ at call a/c and it has gone from 5.5% to just 3.75%.

If my request to have the 5.5% reinstated (they are still advertising it on Infochoice) is denied, I won't be leaving it there.
 
Julia said:
I suggest people with funds in at call accounts check them regularly.
I've just done this with my ANZ at call a/c and it has gone from 5.5% to just 3.75%.

If my request to have the 5.5% reinstated (they are still advertising it on Infochoice) is denied, I won't be leaving it there.
Click to expand...

Oh, thanks for that Julia - my parents have an at call account with ANZ. I'll get them to check their rate.

Cheers :)
 

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