Tip Sheets - Free

Below are some free Savings Mart tip sheets covering a wide variety of topics.

The Saving Mart Free Newsletter below offers money saving tips, hints and super savings. You will benefit and save money now!

Remember you can then receive a FREE newsletter in you mail box for 3 months - give it a try BEFORE-YOU-BUY. Join our mailing list here on the right and start saving today.

If you implement all the tips in the newsletter, you could save around
$50 - $100 per week on your grocery shopping, wine, clothing and other basics. If you have a mortgage and increase your repayments, you will be saving $1000’s of dollars.

Free Newsletter

 “Stop paying hidden commissions on your investments – keep the cash yourself”

Paul and Juliet Brady stumbled upon the idea of reclaiming hidden commissions when Juliet discovered she was paying commissions on her super fund to somebody who wasn’t providing an ongoing service.

Why should a financial adviser or anonymous agent, who you may never meet again, earn a lifetime of commissions from your investments?  It’s just not right.

The hundreds of dollars you save each year are better in your pocket than theirs!

Therefore a new financial service called YourShare was created by accountants Paul and Juliet Brady and launched in May, designed to give you back these hidden commissions. YourShare collect the commissions for you and give back your share.

Paul Brady said, “We established the business after discovering the amount of hidden commissions we were paying from our own super fund. It’s outrageous that for the life of an investment, some anonymous agent can receive continuous commissions from your funds and in most cases do nothing for you.”

To read more, click on the link below or go to www.YourShare.com.au

Youths and young adults are racking up phone bills so dangerous it’s like a time bomb waiting to explode!

It’s been found that young people’s phone bills are so large; they’re considered a package and need to be collected from the post office.

To avoid mobile telephony debt, many experts agree that a prepaid service or pre-agreed cap on phone call costs will help control the issue. This allows consumers to budget how much they can afford to spend on calls.

But about half of young people are refusing to use pre-paid accounts - favored as a way of controlling debt - because calls cost more than they do for regular accounts.
Additionally the trap of call credits expiring if unused by a certain date is an expensive catch. 

Understandably consumers have a right to feel ripped off when research shows that $1.25 billion dollars of expired call credits is raked in by big business, lining their fat wallets every year.

But one big business wants to give Australians a “fair go”. Savvy Telecommunications (SavvyTel) discerned a niche in the mobile market that prepaid consumers deserved and launched the world’s first pre-paid deal that offers “calls credits that never expire.”

What's more SavvyTel offers cheaper call rates at 12.5c per 30 seconds compared to other companies charging an average of 37.8 cents for the same time. Connection fee with SavvyTel is 20c whereas others charge average 27c and SMS is 15c, a lot less than the competitors.

If you want value for money at knock down prices check-out SavvyTel. www.savvytel.com.au

Cheap Baby Products

Finding the cheapest places to buy baby products can be time consuming but these days you have a lot of choice.  Local chain/department stores are often the cheapest places to purchase products especially when they have sales.

Junk mail advertisements alerts you when sales are on but if you live in an area where you don’t get junk mail Lasoo is an online catalogue directory which will email you when certain products, like nappies are on sale.

When you need expensive items save a few dollars not only on the product but on fuel and time by letting your fingers do the searching. Baby Saver offers free online shopping to compare prices from a variety of retailers on a choice of baby products, such as prams, monitors, car seats, cots and much more.

If you are “time poor” or dread shopping with the kids, there are many cheap online shops to purchase products.

Bump, Baby & Beyond offers all season factory outlet shopping at home, selling good value maternity wear and discount baby and kids clothing. Their smart buying at end of season provides incredible savings for you.

Modern Mums’ Boutique Warehouse provides online shopping for “time poor” mothers,  offering an extensive product range including women’s clothing and fashion accessories, children’s wear, babies clothing, nursery products, baby gifts and lots more.

Additionally, newsletters and practical information on caring for children are provided to assist Mums in managing the many and diverse challenges of parenting.

WuggleWear is quality Pre-Loved clothing for babies and children without the expensive price tags. Sizes range from newborn baby size 0000 to 0, babies 1-3, children 4– 6 and up. Postage is very reasonable to keep purchases affordable.

You’ll even find some great Brand Names such as OshKosh, B'gosh, Pumpkin Patch, Tool, Classic Pooh, Fred Bare and much more. 

Tip provided by: Saving$Mart
Date: 8 September 2008

How to Save Money at the Supermarket

We've all heard about guaranteed ways to slash your grocery bill like only buying the items on your list, not shopping when you’re hungry and ‘last minute before closing  discounts’. These tips are good and we ought to continue apply them. But we ought to start being clever and on alert to the sneaky marketing tricks used to trap you into spending more money.

Tip #1: The eye-level trick

Higher-priced products tend to be at eye level.  Check the top and bottom shelves to see if a different brand or another size might be a cheaper price.

Also be mindful that things children love are often placed at their eye level - just another clever trick to pressure you into buying more but makes shopping with the kids even more stressful!

Tip #2: End-of-aisle ambush

The End-of-aisle displays don’t mean the products are on sale and actually most of these products are not very healthy.  Usually Coke, sweet biscuits, chocolates and other items like these are flaunted to ambush us into impulse buying...sneaky eh?

Tip #3: Grouped items gambit

Items such as chips, dips, soft drinks, strawberries, cream, sponges and chocolate dip are often grouped together as a ploy for you to buy more - and boost sales.

Tip #4: Buying in bulk ploy

Supermarkets are selling more bulk items lately to increase sales but be careful you are not caught out by this strategy by buying more than you can use before the expiry date. Alternatively you may eat more than you need or devour it because it’s there - so it’s not a saving in the long run and may increase the waistline.

Tip #5: Shrinking sizes swindle

You go to buy a product you’ve used for years and discover it’s shrunk but the price is the same or more. Most feel cheated and find it very underhanded so compare other brands for better value.

Tip #6:  Eye appeal trap

Marketers of name brand products know that creating an eye appealing packaging sells but a savvy consumer needs to be aware that just because it looks good doesn’t means its worth more money. We are often paying for the more expensive packaging and promotion. Usually generic or home brand items have less eye appealing packaging but are really good value - saving hundreds of dollars per year. The quality is generally just as-good-as or even better than the name brand - so why be tricked into thinking they are lesser product.

Tip #7: Shelve shuffle scheme

Supermarkets often change shelves, making shoppers search for their regular products.  A few years ago we could zip into the supermarket and pick up our milk and bread quickly.  Now they have been put further away and apart from each other so we have to walk past a lot of items to pick up our basics.  In the meantime we are tempted to purchase extra and end up buying more items as we trek through the maze.

Being aware of these clever marketing tricks will save you money on groceries at the supermarket.

In isolation one tip may not seem very big, but applying a number of tips can save you $1000’s of dollars a year.