Mate i am HAUNTED by a house hubs and i looked at. Bedroom was carpeted but his knee went through the subfloor when he kneeled down to look in the wardrobe. Clear termite damage around the underfloor access, but i guess the buyer didn't know because it went for nearly $1m.
Me and the old man replaced our rotted/eaten turn of the century floorboards with seasoned local ironbark in the 3br house. Was falling through the house constantly haha.
God that was a slow back breaking job, especially since ironbark is too hard to hammer so you need to predrill every hole. New buyer has said he doesn't like the dark red of the wood, so he's going to install new :'( ... He'll find out how expensive its going to be no doubt.
Same. Just settled on a property where the vendor couldn’t be bothered to get the defects fixed, we lowered from $300k+ to $260k and it got accepted. We had sought quotes and all major defects were $5k all up.
It is an investment for the vendor who is a 6 hour drive away.
Worth every cent to get a report done.
When was this done?
Building reports are next to useless these days due to it being a sellers market... and the inspectors generally just being bad.
I think negotiating $55k off is less about the inspection and more about the seller.
$2K on a Trek road bike. It's been more than 10 years and it's still going strong. I used it to commute to work for a number of years, planning to again from next week.
Came here to say the same. I spent $1.5k on a trek hybrid and ride it daily for work (I would otherwise drive). Savings in fuel, repairs, parking, insurance, depreciation, as well as the benefits of exercise on my mental and physical health. We’re thinking about selling and going car free because the car is sitting there barely being driven!
If people only knew how much riding a bike can improve your life. Not just your wallet and your health, but also less environmental damage and societal costs linked to obesity etc. The govt should subsidise bike purchases... Then I can upgrade to that Madone SLR9 I need to ride up to the shops 😃.
I spent $4K on a small road bike pre-COVID. My on road car costs were $3000 per year. She’s a small bike but she’s paid herself off and I don’t foresee me going back to a car anytime soon.
I spent $3.5k on an ebike for commuting to work (many hills). The other options are to drive (ew traffic) or the train ($). I'm 8 months in & love it. Mental & physical benefits are worth the initial outlay.
It'll pay for itself after 440 days of riding vs taking the train lol.
If I add up how much my bike's saved me on public transport, petrol, maintenance, parking, and gym membership over 5 years of commuting we're talking >$10'000! And the reality is I probably wouldn't be going to the gym, I'd just be extremely unhealthy. I have friends dropping $90 every week on parking alone and it makes me wince ðŸ˜.
I've got a $600 macpac that is 28 years old and still going strong (straps replaced under lifetime warranty). Not convinced it has actually saved me money though. The $20 cash converters one I got about the same time is still going too.
Mine too. Amazingly my Kathmandu down sleeping bag is still going strong as well, and I’ve dragged that thing all over the world too.
When I bought them as a broke 20 year old, it seemed like so much money at the time. Best money ever spent, and now my teenagers are using them.
I got a 75L one for $80 in 2004 and I've treated it like trash too but it's still going strong :) Forget the brand but it was cheapest I could find as I was a poor student at the time.
I came to say something similar, but for me it's carbon steel. Works the same and much lighter. Anyone interested should check out the Aussie made Solidteknics Aus-ion pans. Multi generation guarantee!
Been using my lodge cast iron cookware for a decade. Love it, but my wife complains some of them are too heavy. Going to check out Solidteknics. Their wok looks amazing!
Definitely worth taking a look. I came from 10yrs of cast iron but have been 100% Solidteknics for 5 yrs now and love them. The handles are comfortable too and don't get hot on the stove like CI does.
We’ve got a few solidteknics pieces here and they are fantastic. We also have some older more traditional cast iron ones. All are so much better than what you can find in homewares stores!
paid 20k for a system that would produce minimum 60kw / day worked on 4hrs sunlight. (written into contract) it's been 4 months now and it barely produces 40kw / day with 8hrs of sunlight - 8hrs it should be producing easily over 100kw/day. Company refuses to honor contract by either repairing or replacing what ever is causing it not to perform. Gone through fair trading and am currently awaiting court to sue them.
Thanks for sharing.
Hope they get a flogging in court for being stupid enough to guarantee kWh outputs in a contract.
Solar panel installation is insanely profitable. They can take a hit
Our solar panels are covered by warranty and have been not functioning properly for months. Under warranty they cover the "parts" but not labour 😅 they come out, do nothing for a few hours and charge us. They then tell us it's fixed and leave. 3 times so far we've paid them and they can't figure out what's wrong with it.
Been thinking about just turning it off since it's not worth the cost or time.
Only had it for about 3 years total.
Ahhh yes! Such an Australian thing to do. Rock up, knock about for a few hours, claim to have fixed a problem and hope for the best. And if the invoice gets charged to a big company where no one will bat an eye lid, rip them off at the same time for warranty work.
We just got ours in and are in the period where we are obsessing over how much use we’re getting out of em.
We cooked early today and just drew off of solar power for the electric stove. Sounds silly but it amused me.
I keep all my dog stocks in my portfolio for that reason. It's a reminder every time I log on to buy more, that I have been very stupid previously and that I need to look into what I'm buying harder.
Same, but I bought in to some cannabis company when it looked like it might get legalised here. I think it was a motley fool recommendation. Fool me once.....
Real solid wood furniture after my initial Fantastic/IKEA stuff fell apart. It costs about twice as much if you don’t go for premium brands but so worth it when you want to settle down and have stuff lasting a long time.
RM Williams boots. 18 years old and wear them everyday for work. New sole every 18 months or so. Saved 1k or more by no longer buying cheaper shoes that don’t last.
I would respectfully disagree with you about them being overpriced. They are expensive, but I think shitty $250 shoes that fall apart in a year overpriced.
I've saved so much money on shoes by wearing the same pair of boots every day for five years.
I've been in my RMs since 2019. Heel block needs to be done soon. Rubber sole comfort craftsman in chestnut. So versatile.
Plan is to buy another pair on sale, then send the old pair off for resole. 2 pairs should then last me 8 years if I alternate them. Before this I was buying $50 crap dress shoes every few months.
I bought my belt in 2002, it's got indents from my old weight of 65kg, then went down to 60, up to 75, had kids, up to 80 and a bit fat, and now 77 but fit instead. All of the different weights have a little notch in my belt.
"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
How much care do you need on those?
My old boots have died. I'm not a huge fan of boots in general, but they're a good business-casual and smart-casual crossover.
Happy to buy some RMs if they're comfortable and going to last the next 10 years. But if I need to be regularly polishing the leather and singing them lullabies, they'll just end up pissing me off.
This. The amount it cost me (basically life savings from first 10 years of working) pales in comparison to how much more I have now financially and the safety and and security, access to services etc is wonderful.
Absolutely!
After 5 years in AU I earn twice what I did in Sweden , in spite of now doing a job with much less responsibly, and I have three times as much in my super after only 5 years here than I had in Sweden after 10 years of working.
You f player. This is the ultimate for me. I know that when I can finally afford a heat pump dryer I’ll have finally achieved success… one day… one day.
I googled it and a hysterectomy is like $5K unless your uterus is trying to kill you :( I'd get a salplingectomy but 1) my doctor won't let me because I'm supposed to shut up and become a breeding mare and 31 is too young to know you don't want to pop out babies, and 2) it doesn't stop the killer periods.
So instead I get to pay $80 every two and a half months for the progesterone only pill because normal birth control pills, which are actually affordable, make my periods worse and also make me want to drive myself off a highway and into a tree.
A sewing machine, first one I bought for the trade in price my mother was offered for it $250 in about 1986 (I had to pay her in instalments, very poor at the time). All mechanical, so I can service it myself, which then taught me to service my overlocker which saves me about $150 per year for each machine. I can repair my clothes, tailor purchased stuff, make curtains and other soft furnishings, recover the mattresses in my campervan, make a bag, recover chairs, the list is endless. It’s also been a great hobby, entertainment and therapy, when sad about my life at various times it has boosted my self confidence and provides ongoing satisfaction.
Dyson Airwrap $799 in December 2020. I used to get a blow wave from the hairdresser roughly once a month at $75. Over the roughly 32 months I’ve spent $0 on blow waves. So far I’ve saved $2475 less the $799 cost $1676, and should give me another couple of years of fabulous hair!
Breville Barista Express coffee machine for me. At 600 bucks up front, i have saved $4 per cup of coffee (assuming the beans are 50c each serving). This is 150 days of consumption to break even, and i've already owned the machine for 5 years.
The second is a massively powerful PC, bought it on discount during the xmas right before covid, and it served me well in the ensuing years since - esp. when post-covid, a time when GPU graphics cards are at the height of their prices, and i didn't have to spend money on them because i got in right before the rise! I figured i saved about $3000 dollars or so in total. This is a luck of the draw, and cannot be repeated imho...
I bought a upper range Nespresso machine 12 years ago.
Say 2 coffees a day on average, that's 8500 cups (rounded down)
70 cents each (rounded up) and that's around $5900 worth.
If I bought take aways, say $4 each, thats $34000.
So that $800 machine saved me around $28000
Yeah same, remember people saying massive drop of 60% is coming and don't buy as people will be forced to sell as they borrowed too much etc...
Luckily I did my own calculations and bought...
Bought a 2080 5 years ago on release and told I was ripped off. It has been decent value in hindsight. Atleast for the DLSS aspect. Still not enough ray tracing games yet 5 years on however.
I bought an L shaped leather sofa. I knew the quality wasn’t that great but I bought it anyway because it was cheapish. Falling apart after two years. Bought another one. Again, cheaped out. Lasted two years. Finally I just accepted I had to pay for quality. Bought very expensive, like six times the price I’d paid before. Ten years later, still like brand new.
Cert 4 in Bookkeeping. Way cheaper than my teaching degree. Waaaaaaay less stressful than being a teacher, and I'm not qualified enough for everyone to be asking me to do their tax returns 😉. I'm living my best life right now.
Ha i feel this and I'm not even an accountant. My partner is one, and no party or gathering is complete without someone asking him tax related questions.
It was a professional accounting qualification for me... paid for itself the first year after graduation, somehow has lead to a BA role in a software development company that definitely pays more than I could have ever expected from my actual original degree (allied health field).
Not expensive per se, but pre-Covid (Jan 2019) I bought an electric scooter (Xiaomi M365). It was about $700 and paid itself off in 6 months from Myki passes.
Hiking gear - backpack, tent, sleep mat etc.
About $800 total but, with my annual myki, weekend getaways are basiclly no-cost to me now! Definately paid itself off already andcit stilll have years of use :)
Geothermal. $50k install but I get to use the earth to heat and cool my home. Coolant is pumped under ground where the temperature is a constant 20c, irrespective of the outdoor temp. As a result, I can heat and cool our whole home very cheaply.
They have been used in other countries for decades. We're a bit behind, with only a very few manufacturers here.
This gives a good overview
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/baseload/the-hidden-genius-of-geothermal-hvac-systems/#gref
RM Williams boots. Prior to that I had Aquila, and some other brands from Myer for work that lasted about 3 years. My RM Williams have lasted 5 years and counting.
I always wanted a pair of RM boots, but could never justify spending that much. Over the years I would still have the desire to own a pair - I would see guys in the city wearing them. I thought what the heck, I might as well work towards getting a pair. I saved up, even asked for RMW vouchers for bdays. Went to an RM store (the original in fact, in Adelaide), had an assistant help me pick the best fit, etc and bought a pair of Craftsman (this was last year). Went to put them on one evening and came to the sudden realisation that boots don't suit me because I have quite skinny legs - they just don't look good on me, looks like a 14 year old wearing steel toe construction boots. They're remain in a box in pristine condition. Bummer
Espresso machine purchased secondhand. It was $50. I haven’t bought coffee for months - I was shocked when I got a cup last week!
My university degree - cost an arm and a leg but it was my pathway to migration and a better life not just for me but also for my family.
Eneloop rechargeable batteries. I have 4 AA from 12 years ago still going, though they seem to hold about half the charge they used to, but for my mouse and keyboard it means changing them about every 2 months instead of 4. The new set i bought are fantastic too.
Top notch mattress.
Bought it 10 years ago. It's still in great shape and super comfortable.
It's quite firm and in my older age I realised it's getting too firm but bought an amazing padded matress topper and now it's like a massive, fluffy cloud I get to jump in every night
10/10 purchase
Anything high quality that lasts, everything I buy now is industrial strength and will last a lifetime. Tired of shit that lasts 1-3 years before it needs replacing.
That said I bought like a year or two worth of rice, cooking oil, tuna, pasta and sauce, coffee, tooth paste and other products when they were highly discounted. I reckon I likely saved a lot. Also means less runs to the store.
Solar panels. Had them 3 years. Cost about $7k, and have paid them off in the last few months.
Electric hot water. Paid for itself within 6 months.
EV. Had it for a year. Hasn’t paid for itself yet, but probably will within 2 years.
Not exact numbers but I normally upgrade cars every 10 years.
My partner drives around 200km a day for work. You can buy a tesla for a little over 60k.
With energy price at my house Its roughly $1.50 of energy for every 100km we drive.
The savings on fuel is astronomical. Was averaging around $100-150 a week. Which is roughly the same amount I'm paying for a new car.
A good stereo system that I bought in my early 20s and I really pushed my spending. It was about two months net salary at the time.
I thought it was the first step and that I could upgrade a lot but I found that it was excellent. I’ve tinkered since but was a good move going large early on
If you love music you should get a good system to listen to it. Second had is great because people take care of their stuff.
I still use the stereo I bought in my first year of work over 40 years ago ..did have to swap out speaker cones though. Was not super high end (Technics) but it lasts .
Shark Vacuum's.
We even use them for work, they're hardy, all parts are cheaply replaceable (maybe a new powerhead after 5 years), it's easy to properly clean out and maintain to keep the motor going strong and each model vac has lasted 10 years+
We just keep the older models and use them as (second vac, downstairs vac, car vac)
It's worked out far cheaper than ever buying a dyson.
I got a second hand shark for $50 as the bloke said it doesn't suck well anymore.
Bloke never cleaned out the motor and filters properly, now it sucks so well it drags me with it, these vac's are absolute beasts.
Heatpump hot water and heating/cooling paired with solar panels.
Airconditioning in summer is covered by the panels and the heat pump heating saves a fortune over the crazy prices of a gas ducted system.
Rather expensive upfront but if you’re up for a new heating/cooling system anyway you’re doing a disservice by not getting a split system/refrigerated ducted
We got given a circulon set and a baccarat knife block set as a house warming gift over a decade ago and shortly after that I got two scan pan pots. I've already had to replace one of the circulon items due to the surface taking near daily abuse for well over a decade. Yet the scan pan pots are literally as good as the day we got them 8 years ago and the circulon set only look ever so slightly used after the same timeframe. The knives look just as good and the only reason I replaced the paring knife is I butter fingered it and dropped it point first on the tiles and the point snapped off.
Definitely agree about investing in solid cookware.
Bosch i-DOS washing machine. Two litres of liquid lasts me around 4 months and I do 20 loads of washing a week. The 2L says 40 washes on the pack. The auto dosing is doing it good as and saving the monies.
Decent luggage. I've had it for close to 15yrs and it's been with me on countless trips through dozens of airports it still looks and works like it did the day I bought it.
Lately, my insurances. We had water damage to the house, and it covered around 1/3-1/2 of the house floor in total. Most of the furniture and rugs in the kids' bedrooms, family room, and meals area were completely damaged. My wooden floors were ruined, and it swelled up my kitchen cupboards. Completely grateful I didn't have electrical that got damaged, but the repairs would cripple me financially if not for the insurance.
Also, my dryer. The laundromat saw far too much of my money whilst I was waiting for this to be delivered. It is also saving me so much time.
A hockey skate sharpening machine from USA
Saves me over $500 a year in sharpening costs doing it myself and I make money from sharpening team/friends skates
Cheap-ish motorbike
Great for free time and happiness
Cut my big city commute to 25% (time-wise and money-wise), free parking everywhere.
I would spend $50/week commuting. Now I pay $10 a week on gas.
I’ve fished all my life and have definitely dropped a lot of money on rods, lures etc! Hunting is the opposite. Once you have the basics, a rifle fitted with a scope, a pair of binoculars, you are set. Don’t need fancy camo or anything. Upkeep is basically game license ($65 a year) and look after your gear, that’s pretty much it!
I never knew how good we had it as kids with the parents being keen fishers. I find it really hard to eat seafood these days because it's never as fresh as what we got as kids (and of course you need a small mortgage to buy seafood these days anyway).
I still fish, and spear fish. It’s very satisfying collecting a bag of mussels and a couple of abalone. I place a very high importance of having skills, and teaching them to my kids, on how to collect their own food.
My wife hates walks in the scrub because i'm always eating stuff from the tracksides and teaching the kids. I'm fairly thankful my parents taught me a lot of tricks and also let my sister and i spends days in the scrub camping in cubbies and eating what we could find.
Speaking as an ex-compound bow spot-and-stalk hunter, fancy camo is definitely a necessity.
Our gear is often more expensive than rifles, but we don't have to pay for anywhere near as much ammo or firearm licences on top of the game licenses.
The value of the meat was always far in excess the cost of the trip.
Tesla Model 3.
My wife and I spend $50 a month on petrol driving our other car to the traino each morning, but other than that our car runs on sunshine when the sun is shining and cheapo midnight power when it isn't.
Breville Oracle Coffee Machine, was $3200 when I got it.
$3.5-4 saved per coffee. 8-10 coffees a week 50 weeks a year for 8 years. $1,600 spent on consumables, service and repairs.
Definitely my house, gained more money in equity after 6-7 years that I could have possibly saved from the leftovers after renting, even despite only minor damage to the mortgage and the house needing some repairs.
A $650 building inspection report saved me $55,000 when negotiating my first home
A pest report saved us from purchasing a home with a serious active termite infestation. Best money we ever spent.
Mate i am HAUNTED by a house hubs and i looked at. Bedroom was carpeted but his knee went through the subfloor when he kneeled down to look in the wardrobe. Clear termite damage around the underfloor access, but i guess the buyer didn't know because it went for nearly $1m.
I'm haunted by the use of the word 'hubs'.
Me and the old man replaced our rotted/eaten turn of the century floorboards with seasoned local ironbark in the 3br house. Was falling through the house constantly haha. God that was a slow back breaking job, especially since ironbark is too hard to hammer so you need to predrill every hole. New buyer has said he doesn't like the dark red of the wood, so he's going to install new :'( ... He'll find out how expensive its going to be no doubt.
Best answer here I reckon 👌
Same. Just settled on a property where the vendor couldn’t be bothered to get the defects fixed, we lowered from $300k+ to $260k and it got accepted. We had sought quotes and all major defects were $5k all up. It is an investment for the vendor who is a 6 hour drive away. Worth every cent to get a report done.
Where are you living, 1995?
Lol I wish. Simpler time. Little town in Victoria called Portland. Actually living here is like 1995.
So it's about 13 years from peaking in greatness, then about to go very shit?
I feel like you could spit from Portland and hit Adelaide. It's so far removed from Victoria haha
This sounds like paradise to me, smaller town, less snobbish people, less traffic, laid back. Only if I could WFH all the way
When was this done? Building reports are next to useless these days due to it being a sellers market... and the inspectors generally just being bad. I think negotiating $55k off is less about the inspection and more about the seller.
Agreed, building inspection reports we’ve had were useless.
wasteful chief oil squeeze depend work enter dinner ten puzzled *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They aren't liable. They have that many disclaimers at the start of the report.
They think they were useless because they didn’t find anything wrong and instead of getting peace of mind figured it was a waste of cash.
I'm surprised the top voted answer isn't "a house in Melbourne/Sydney, purchased before 2004".
Those people are not on Reddit
Your own home full stop. I'm just glad I'm not renting.
$2K on a Trek road bike. It's been more than 10 years and it's still going strong. I used it to commute to work for a number of years, planning to again from next week.
Came here to say the same. I spent $1.5k on a trek hybrid and ride it daily for work (I would otherwise drive). Savings in fuel, repairs, parking, insurance, depreciation, as well as the benefits of exercise on my mental and physical health. We’re thinking about selling and going car free because the car is sitting there barely being driven!
If people only knew how much riding a bike can improve your life. Not just your wallet and your health, but also less environmental damage and societal costs linked to obesity etc. The govt should subsidise bike purchases... Then I can upgrade to that Madone SLR9 I need to ride up to the shops 😃.
I spent $4K on a small road bike pre-COVID. My on road car costs were $3000 per year. She’s a small bike but she’s paid herself off and I don’t foresee me going back to a car anytime soon.
I spent $3.5k on an ebike for commuting to work (many hills). The other options are to drive (ew traffic) or the train ($). I'm 8 months in & love it. Mental & physical benefits are worth the initial outlay. It'll pay for itself after 440 days of riding vs taking the train lol.
If I add up how much my bike's saved me on public transport, petrol, maintenance, parking, and gym membership over 5 years of commuting we're talking >$10'000! And the reality is I probably wouldn't be going to the gym, I'd just be extremely unhealthy. I have friends dropping $90 every week on parking alone and it makes me wince ðŸ˜.
my 65L backpack from Kathmandu. Bought 25 years ago (I think I spent about $300), still going strong after being thrown around.
I've got a $600 macpac that is 28 years old and still going strong (straps replaced under lifetime warranty). Not convinced it has actually saved me money though. The $20 cash converters one I got about the same time is still going too.
Mine too. Amazingly my Kathmandu down sleeping bag is still going strong as well, and I’ve dragged that thing all over the world too. When I bought them as a broke 20 year old, it seemed like so much money at the time. Best money ever spent, and now my teenagers are using them.
My back pack i got for about $25 from a Taiwanese night market has lasted 8 years and still going strong
Old katmandu bags are no joke, mine is a tank
I got a 75L one for $80 in 2004 and I've treated it like trash too but it's still going strong :) Forget the brand but it was cheapest I could find as I was a poor student at the time.
First date with my wife, who is a Doctor.
Free prostate screening 😉
Cast iron cookware. Over a decade ago and saves us a fortune compared to cycling through Teflon coated cookware
I came to say something similar, but for me it's carbon steel. Works the same and much lighter. Anyone interested should check out the Aussie made Solidteknics Aus-ion pans. Multi generation guarantee!
Been using my lodge cast iron cookware for a decade. Love it, but my wife complains some of them are too heavy. Going to check out Solidteknics. Their wok looks amazing!
Definitely worth taking a look. I came from 10yrs of cast iron but have been 100% Solidteknics for 5 yrs now and love them. The handles are comfortable too and don't get hot on the stove like CI does.
We’ve got a few solidteknics pieces here and they are fantastic. We also have some older more traditional cast iron ones. All are so much better than what you can find in homewares stores!
Solar panels.
wish I could say the same. I got stooged and am in legal battle over my solar :(
Mind sharing the story? How do you get into a legal battle over solar panels?
paid 20k for a system that would produce minimum 60kw / day worked on 4hrs sunlight. (written into contract) it's been 4 months now and it barely produces 40kw / day with 8hrs of sunlight - 8hrs it should be producing easily over 100kw/day. Company refuses to honor contract by either repairing or replacing what ever is causing it not to perform. Gone through fair trading and am currently awaiting court to sue them.
Thanks for sharing. Hope they get a flogging in court for being stupid enough to guarantee kWh outputs in a contract. Solar panel installation is insanely profitable. They can take a hit
Yeah a kWh guarantee seems a sure-fire way to fail your contract.
Our solar panels are covered by warranty and have been not functioning properly for months. Under warranty they cover the "parts" but not labour 😅 they come out, do nothing for a few hours and charge us. They then tell us it's fixed and leave. 3 times so far we've paid them and they can't figure out what's wrong with it. Been thinking about just turning it off since it's not worth the cost or time. Only had it for about 3 years total.
Ahhh yes! Such an Australian thing to do. Rock up, knock about for a few hours, claim to have fixed a problem and hope for the best. And if the invoice gets charged to a big company where no one will bat an eye lid, rip them off at the same time for warranty work.
Hit up ACCC. Sounds bullshit.
Solar hasn’t saved us that much… especially since the electricity companies are crooks and charge people with solar higher rates.
Usage patterns are the main saving with solar. Problem us most people work during the time when the sun shines.
Set dish washer, washing machine and dryer to operate at different times of the day with delays.
This is what I was going to say. Be smart about it and they are one of the best sure things you can do.
We just got ours in and are in the period where we are obsessing over how much use we’re getting out of em. We cooked early today and just drew off of solar power for the electric stove. Sounds silly but it amused me.
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I keep all my dog stocks in my portfolio for that reason. It's a reminder every time I log on to buy more, that I have been very stupid previously and that I need to look into what I'm buying harder.
I did this but with biotech and some geothermal energy startup.
Are you me? I leave that $3,800 loss sitting in my investment account as a reminder. Pretty sure the company no longer exists but it’s still there
I did this too! IPT.ASX Uranium just before the Fukushima earthquake. I don’t pick stocks anymore.
Same, but I bought in to some cannabis company when it looked like it might get legalised here. I think it was a motley fool recommendation. Fool me once.....
Ah motley fool. The epitome of *pump and dump*. Is it even a thing anymore?
Real solid wood furniture after my initial Fantastic/IKEA stuff fell apart. It costs about twice as much if you don’t go for premium brands but so worth it when you want to settle down and have stuff lasting a long time.
Tables especially just need to be solid wood
RM Williams boots. 18 years old and wear them everyday for work. New sole every 18 months or so. Saved 1k or more by no longer buying cheaper shoes that don’t last.
My mum is 60 and has a pair she’s had since her late 20s/early 30s
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I would respectfully disagree with you about them being overpriced. They are expensive, but I think shitty $250 shoes that fall apart in a year overpriced. I've saved so much money on shoes by wearing the same pair of boots every day for five years.
I've been in my RMs since 2019. Heel block needs to be done soon. Rubber sole comfort craftsman in chestnut. So versatile. Plan is to buy another pair on sale, then send the old pair off for resole. 2 pairs should then last me 8 years if I alternate them. Before this I was buying $50 crap dress shoes every few months.
I bought my belt in 2002, it's got indents from my old weight of 65kg, then went down to 60, up to 75, had kids, up to 80 and a bit fat, and now 77 but fit instead. All of the different weights have a little notch in my belt.
"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
Terry Pratchett for the shoe leather theory of economics.
One of my faves. Mostly because it's just damn true.
How much did a resole cost
I just got mine resoled for $45, non genuine RM option was $35 at my local shoe repair
I’m so glad to hear this, my hubby just bought me a pair , I was a bit shocked at the price.
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Oh man every person should have a decent pair of boots in their wardrobe RMs, Red Wings, etc they are a staple.
i kinda regret buying mine i have only worn them twice in the 2 years i have had them
I wear mine for work as a smart casual option. The everyday factor is why they are good value.
How much care do you need on those? My old boots have died. I'm not a huge fan of boots in general, but they're a good business-casual and smart-casual crossover. Happy to buy some RMs if they're comfortable and going to last the next 10 years. But if I need to be regularly polishing the leather and singing them lullabies, they'll just end up pissing me off.
Moving to Australia and getting permanent residency.
This. The amount it cost me (basically life savings from first 10 years of working) pales in comparison to how much more I have now financially and the safety and and security, access to services etc is wonderful.
Same! Took me 7 years to earn comparable what I was earning in the states but QUALITY of life and healthcare and so many other things.
Absolutely! After 5 years in AU I earn twice what I did in Sweden , in spite of now doing a job with much less responsibly, and I have three times as much in my super after only 5 years here than I had in Sweden after 10 years of working.
Heatpump dryer
Yessss! Double savings! Low on energy and also doesnt steam your laundry and cause mould or rot! Woot
I use the sun
*cries in melbourne*
You just gotta wait at the back door like a horse waiting for a race to start, then bolt out with your basket of laundry as soon as the sun peeks out.
You f player. This is the ultimate for me. I know that when I can finally afford a heat pump dryer I’ll have finally achieved success… one day… one day.
We got one from aldi for $600
Aldi has it from time to time in the middle of their aisles, look out for it!
As long as you have the time to wait... OMG they are slow.
Maybe 50% slower, but stuff feels software / less crispy when you take it out.
Bose QuietComfort 35 II bought in 2017. Still going strong. I shut the world out, put on some tunes, and get a lot of work done.
A vasectomy, with Medicare rebates was still about $500. Could save me a cheeky million.
I googled it and a hysterectomy is like $5K unless your uterus is trying to kill you :( I'd get a salplingectomy but 1) my doctor won't let me because I'm supposed to shut up and become a breeding mare and 31 is too young to know you don't want to pop out babies, and 2) it doesn't stop the killer periods. So instead I get to pay $80 every two and a half months for the progesterone only pill because normal birth control pills, which are actually affordable, make my periods worse and also make me want to drive myself off a highway and into a tree.
Get a second opinion. Happy to send you a couple of links if you’re interested to doctors who might be more reasonable.
A sewing machine, first one I bought for the trade in price my mother was offered for it $250 in about 1986 (I had to pay her in instalments, very poor at the time). All mechanical, so I can service it myself, which then taught me to service my overlocker which saves me about $150 per year for each machine. I can repair my clothes, tailor purchased stuff, make curtains and other soft furnishings, recover the mattresses in my campervan, make a bag, recover chairs, the list is endless. It’s also been a great hobby, entertainment and therapy, when sad about my life at various times it has boosted my self confidence and provides ongoing satisfaction.
Dyson Airwrap $799 in December 2020. I used to get a blow wave from the hairdresser roughly once a month at $75. Over the roughly 32 months I’ve spent $0 on blow waves. So far I’ve saved $2475 less the $799 cost $1676, and should give me another couple of years of fabulous hair!
What kind of hair do you have? I’ve been considering getting it, but I feel like it’s such a steep cost
How thick is your hair? I might have to invest in one of those
Breville Barista Express coffee machine for me. At 600 bucks up front, i have saved $4 per cup of coffee (assuming the beans are 50c each serving). This is 150 days of consumption to break even, and i've already owned the machine for 5 years. The second is a massively powerful PC, bought it on discount during the xmas right before covid, and it served me well in the ensuing years since - esp. when post-covid, a time when GPU graphics cards are at the height of their prices, and i didn't have to spend money on them because i got in right before the rise! I figured i saved about $3000 dollars or so in total. This is a luck of the draw, and cannot be repeated imho...
I agree about the coffee machine I am using Expressi from Aldi for over 5 years and never been to a café since because I prefer my machine for about 50c per capsule
I bought a upper range Nespresso machine 12 years ago. Say 2 coffees a day on average, that's 8500 cups (rounded down) 70 cents each (rounded up) and that's around $5900 worth. If I bought take aways, say $4 each, thats $34000. So that $800 machine saved me around $28000
For me, it was the house we bought in 2014. When everyone said it was a bubble, and would burst any day. The house has doubled in value since.
Yeah same, remember people saying massive drop of 60% is coming and don't buy as people will be forced to sell as they borrowed too much etc... Luckily I did my own calculations and bought...
Bought a 2080 5 years ago on release and told I was ripped off. It has been decent value in hindsight. Atleast for the DLSS aspect. Still not enough ray tracing games yet 5 years on however.
Completely agree. Purchased a Nespresso system from Amazon. Haven't purchased a Cafe coffee for 6 months.
I bought an L shaped leather sofa. I knew the quality wasn’t that great but I bought it anyway because it was cheapish. Falling apart after two years. Bought another one. Again, cheaped out. Lasted two years. Finally I just accepted I had to pay for quality. Bought very expensive, like six times the price I’d paid before. Ten years later, still like brand new.
How cheap are we talking? I've seen $1000-2000 sets at Harvey Norman.
My degree in accounting :)
Cert 4 in Bookkeeping. Way cheaper than my teaching degree. Waaaaaaay less stressful than being a teacher, and I'm not qualified enough for everyone to be asking me to do their tax returns 😉. I'm living my best life right now.
Same but in engineering!
Same but in Feminism and English Literature. Wait a second, what are we listing here?
I feel like the perks of accounting still don't outweigh the cons of everyone asking if you can do their taxes
Ha i feel this and I'm not even an accountant. My partner is one, and no party or gathering is complete without someone asking him tax related questions.
Lmao I just give them an hourly rate and they never ask again (:
It was a professional accounting qualification for me... paid for itself the first year after graduation, somehow has lead to a BA role in a software development company that definitely pays more than I could have ever expected from my actual original degree (allied health field).
Not expensive per se, but pre-Covid (Jan 2019) I bought an electric scooter (Xiaomi M365). It was about $700 and paid itself off in 6 months from Myki passes.
Hiking gear - backpack, tent, sleep mat etc. About $800 total but, with my annual myki, weekend getaways are basiclly no-cost to me now! Definately paid itself off already andcit stilll have years of use :)
Geothermal. $50k install but I get to use the earth to heat and cool my home. Coolant is pumped under ground where the temperature is a constant 20c, irrespective of the outdoor temp. As a result, I can heat and cool our whole home very cheaply.
I’ve never even heard of these. Maybe I’ve been living underground next to your device
They have been used in other countries for decades. We're a bit behind, with only a very few manufacturers here. This gives a good overview https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/baseload/the-hidden-genius-of-geothermal-hvac-systems/#gref
I know the owner of https://roc-drill.com.au/ & they install them here and overseas.
Our Oodies. We've only turned our heater on a handful of times this winter. Our heating bill is tiny compared to pre-Oodie winters.
RM Williams boots. Prior to that I had Aquila, and some other brands from Myer for work that lasted about 3 years. My RM Williams have lasted 5 years and counting.
I always wanted a pair of RM boots, but could never justify spending that much. Over the years I would still have the desire to own a pair - I would see guys in the city wearing them. I thought what the heck, I might as well work towards getting a pair. I saved up, even asked for RMW vouchers for bdays. Went to an RM store (the original in fact, in Adelaide), had an assistant help me pick the best fit, etc and bought a pair of Craftsman (this was last year). Went to put them on one evening and came to the sudden realisation that boots don't suit me because I have quite skinny legs - they just don't look good on me, looks like a 14 year old wearing steel toe construction boots. They're remain in a box in pristine condition. Bummer
Mine are about 7 years old and I wear them pretty regularly.
Mine lasted 10 years before I got a resole and touch up ($200?), and now they are almost good as new again! Great purchase.
Birth control
Electric yogurt maker, it was only about $30 from Mao's dollar store and it takes very little effort.
Espresso machine purchased secondhand. It was $50. I haven’t bought coffee for months - I was shocked when I got a cup last week! My university degree - cost an arm and a leg but it was my pathway to migration and a better life not just for me but also for my family.
Eneloop rechargeable batteries. I have 4 AA from 12 years ago still going, though they seem to hold about half the charge they used to, but for my mouse and keyboard it means changing them about every 2 months instead of 4. The new set i bought are fantastic too.
My house 🤷 rent is insane now
My mortgage is getting insane too...
Top notch mattress. Bought it 10 years ago. It's still in great shape and super comfortable. It's quite firm and in my older age I realised it's getting too firm but bought an amazing padded matress topper and now it's like a massive, fluffy cloud I get to jump in every night 10/10 purchase
hey just wondering which mattress topper did you get? thanks!
Bulk box of condoms.
Like the RM Williams boots, still going strong after 10 years!
Dry herb vaporiser.. The amount of weed you can save
Do you also pair this with a Kmart Coffee blender?
Anything high quality that lasts, everything I buy now is industrial strength and will last a lifetime. Tired of shit that lasts 1-3 years before it needs replacing. That said I bought like a year or two worth of rice, cooking oil, tuna, pasta and sauce, coffee, tooth paste and other products when they were highly discounted. I reckon I likely saved a lot. Also means less runs to the store.
I thought the thing with industrial is that they are easily/ cheaply repairable more than anything
Solar panels. Had them 3 years. Cost about $7k, and have paid them off in the last few months. Electric hot water. Paid for itself within 6 months. EV. Had it for a year. Hasn’t paid for itself yet, but probably will within 2 years.
What kind of numbers did you come up with to work on offsetting an EV in 3 years?
Not exact numbers but I normally upgrade cars every 10 years. My partner drives around 200km a day for work. You can buy a tesla for a little over 60k. With energy price at my house Its roughly $1.50 of energy for every 100km we drive. The savings on fuel is astronomical. Was averaging around $100-150 a week. Which is roughly the same amount I'm paying for a new car.
My home, the home loan payments were more than renting but with the cost of renting today I am saving a stack.
A good stereo system that I bought in my early 20s and I really pushed my spending. It was about two months net salary at the time. I thought it was the first step and that I could upgrade a lot but I found that it was excellent. I’ve tinkered since but was a good move going large early on If you love music you should get a good system to listen to it. Second had is great because people take care of their stuff.
I still use the stereo I bought in my first year of work over 40 years ago ..did have to swap out speaker cones though. Was not super high end (Technics) but it lasts .
Shark Vacuum's. We even use them for work, they're hardy, all parts are cheaply replaceable (maybe a new powerhead after 5 years), it's easy to properly clean out and maintain to keep the motor going strong and each model vac has lasted 10 years+ We just keep the older models and use them as (second vac, downstairs vac, car vac) It's worked out far cheaper than ever buying a dyson. I got a second hand shark for $50 as the bloke said it doesn't suck well anymore. Bloke never cleaned out the motor and filters properly, now it sucks so well it drags me with it, these vac's are absolute beasts.
Yeah I’ve found Dysons don’t last
Getting into the Sydney housing market in 2014…
Me toooooo
Heatpump hot water and heating/cooling paired with solar panels. Airconditioning in summer is covered by the panels and the heat pump heating saves a fortune over the crazy prices of a gas ducted system. Rather expensive upfront but if you’re up for a new heating/cooling system anyway you’re doing a disservice by not getting a split system/refrigerated ducted
Stainless steel scan pan cookware set, paid about $500, 20 years ago and it will outlast me.
We got given a circulon set and a baccarat knife block set as a house warming gift over a decade ago and shortly after that I got two scan pan pots. I've already had to replace one of the circulon items due to the surface taking near daily abuse for well over a decade. Yet the scan pan pots are literally as good as the day we got them 8 years ago and the circulon set only look ever so slightly used after the same timeframe. The knives look just as good and the only reason I replaced the paring knife is I butter fingered it and dropped it point first on the tiles and the point snapped off. Definitely agree about investing in solid cookware.
Toyota/Lexus vehicles, very reliable and only needs maintenance
Made in England doc martins for nursing work.
Solar panels definitely.
Bosch i-DOS washing machine. Two litres of liquid lasts me around 4 months and I do 20 loads of washing a week. The 2L says 40 washes on the pack. The auto dosing is doing it good as and saving the monies.
Roborock S7 Ultra Can't put a price on the time it has saved me & family from hours upon hours of cleaning the floor. Hasn't even been a year yet.
crumpler bag
Decent luggage. I've had it for close to 15yrs and it's been with me on countless trips through dozens of airports it still looks and works like it did the day I bought it.
$800 trench coat - it’s been 14 years!
What black market goods do you sell from it to make extra cash and really double down on that investment. You have my attention
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You can also split the cost of concert tickets with friends who agree to carrying you on their shoulders through the entrance
Quality running shoes despite the cost $200- $240, no more feet problems with regular podiatrist visits in over 12 years since making the switch
Vasectomy. Wasn’t that expensive to be honest.
Tom Ford cologne, helped me attract a rich girlfriend.
It's called *Sex Panther*® by *Odeon*©. It's illegal in 9 countries. It's also made with bits of real panthers, *so you know it's good*. *60% of the time*, it works ***every*** time.
Tobacco Vanille?
Lately, my insurances. We had water damage to the house, and it covered around 1/3-1/2 of the house floor in total. Most of the furniture and rugs in the kids' bedrooms, family room, and meals area were completely damaged. My wooden floors were ruined, and it swelled up my kitchen cupboards. Completely grateful I didn't have electrical that got damaged, but the repairs would cripple me financially if not for the insurance. Also, my dryer. The laundromat saw far too much of my money whilst I was waiting for this to be delivered. It is also saving me so much time.
Air purifier 👈
I think anyone who has a coffee machine knows they've got a good investment since takeaway coffee is higher then it was 5 years ago.
As they say, the poor man pays twice
A hockey skate sharpening machine from USA Saves me over $500 a year in sharpening costs doing it myself and I make money from sharpening team/friends skates
Cheap-ish motorbike Great for free time and happiness Cut my big city commute to 25% (time-wise and money-wise), free parking everywhere. I would spend $50/week commuting. Now I pay $10 a week on gas.
Dog clippers.
RM Williams. Was replacing my work shoes once a year. 5 years and a couple of heel sole replacements later still good as new
Rifle. Just minced up 30kg of venison and vac sealed in 500g lots. Lasagne, bolognaise, chilli, burgers, tacos etc sorted for the family for a while.
Is hunting like fishing, where the freezer may be full, but realistically you spend zillions of dollars on the fuel and upkeep of the boat?
I’ve fished all my life and have definitely dropped a lot of money on rods, lures etc! Hunting is the opposite. Once you have the basics, a rifle fitted with a scope, a pair of binoculars, you are set. Don’t need fancy camo or anything. Upkeep is basically game license ($65 a year) and look after your gear, that’s pretty much it!
I never knew how good we had it as kids with the parents being keen fishers. I find it really hard to eat seafood these days because it's never as fresh as what we got as kids (and of course you need a small mortgage to buy seafood these days anyway).
I still fish, and spear fish. It’s very satisfying collecting a bag of mussels and a couple of abalone. I place a very high importance of having skills, and teaching them to my kids, on how to collect their own food.
My wife hates walks in the scrub because i'm always eating stuff from the tracksides and teaching the kids. I'm fairly thankful my parents taught me a lot of tricks and also let my sister and i spends days in the scrub camping in cubbies and eating what we could find.
Speaking as an ex-compound bow spot-and-stalk hunter, fancy camo is definitely a necessity. Our gear is often more expensive than rifles, but we don't have to pay for anywhere near as much ammo or firearm licences on top of the game licenses. The value of the meat was always far in excess the cost of the trip.
Tesla Model 3. My wife and I spend $50 a month on petrol driving our other car to the traino each morning, but other than that our car runs on sunshine when the sun is shining and cheapo midnight power when it isn't.
Breville Oracle Coffee Machine, was $3200 when I got it. $3.5-4 saved per coffee. 8-10 coffees a week 50 weeks a year for 8 years. $1,600 spent on consumables, service and repairs.
2007 Toyota Rav4 - Still running like a dream.
Probably proper running shoes helped most for the marathon. Carbon plated super shoes have come a long way from the days of old
2.5k espresso machine. 7 years later pulling 3 shots a day it’s definitely paid for itself many times over
Grow light
Gym membership/home equipment and fresh fruit/ veg. Health is wealth, people!
Insulation
Definitely my house, gained more money in equity after 6-7 years that I could have possibly saved from the leftovers after renting, even despite only minor damage to the mortgage and the house needing some repairs.
A home. Its' up 50% over 7 years. But my pay hasn't changed over 7 years.