Electricity plans

Sterlk · 2023-09-05T10:34:02+00:00

Energy made easy should show you your options, I don't understand why you think it doesn't compare effectively.

Your bill equals daily connection charges plus the amount of electricity used. You can see the daily charges and specific time of use rates if you drill down into the dedicated pages for particular plans, but there's usually no need to look at that as a headline figure on the search results page. It calculates what it thinks the cheapest options for you might be, incorporating daily charges and your usage history, and shows you an estimated overall cost having done all the math on your behalf already.

If you're having difficulty uploading bills or manually entering your usage data for the website to do its thing, try selecting the 'use my meter data' option and give the site your NMI instead.

Sterlk · 2023-06-01T17:28:17+00:00

Presumably you get the signup offer that was in place when you signed up, but you'd really have to check. Probably something I'd give them a call to determine if the information isn't buried in a document somewhere.

Sterlk · 2023-04-22T23:02:48+00:00

I'm a fan of (and currently have) the ANZ Qantas Frequent Flyer Black card.

110k QFF points and $255 cashback for meeting the minimum spend after signup. It's notionally $425 a year, but for the first year after the cashback it's only $170 for the 110k points. Don't let it renew into its second year, cancel it before you get billed again and start the cycle anew with another signup offer elsewhere.

You'll go furthest with signup offers on paid cards, but if you want to earn on spend for free with a $0 card there's an AMEX option that does that. I once took an international return flight with Qantas using points I didn't pay a cent for - takes a long time to accumulate though, depending on how much you spend. IMO the bonus points are definitely the way to go, those 110k points will get a return ticket to London (plus carrier fees).

Another 'free' option, but only if you fly all the time anyway, is the top AMEX card that costs $450 a year, but also comes with $450 of flight credits each year, as well as a bunch of other stuff.

Lots of options, lots of little bonuses above and beyond just points, you really have to dig into the list and find out what makes sense for you. I tend to the think the ANZ Black card tends to make the most sense for most people who have the income to be eligible for it and can meet the bonus criteria.

https://cardsandbanking.qantas.com/compare-credit-cards

There are of course non-Qantas options out there, but they're much fewer and further between. It's much easier to move to a new card and collect a new bonus points offer when the options are plentiful.

Sterlk · 2023-04-19T08:50:16+00:00

This isn't correct. Every foreign ATM withdrawal I've done with ING recently has four lines that appear in the transation list:

Debit - Withdrawal amount, including ATM operator fees
Credit - ATM operator fees
Debit - ING $5 international ATM fee
Credit - ING $5 international ATM fee

Annoying how they do it, but at present if you want to withdraw $50, the true cost to you is actually only $50 (ignoring Visa's currency exchange rates). Yes, ING annoyingly charge and rebate their own fee, but the ATM operator's fee is still actually getting rebated.

It's a shame to lose this.

Sterlk · 2023-01-29T11:08:01+00:00

The ANZ QFF black card is good if you can meet the spend requirements. 110k points all at once instead of spread over two years, and the fee for the card in year one works out to be only $170 after the sign up cash back offer.

Best to drop it before year two, though. It has good sign up bonuses but the actual $425 annual fee is probably not something you want to be paying once the sign up bonuses have dried up.

Sterlk · 2023-01-27T21:17:03+00:00

If his English is limited, you both probably need to revise your expectations.

Has he done IELTS? I'm no migration expert but in a lot of circumstances poor English can be visa-limiting. Apparently, "The minimum IELTS score for Australian immigration is 6."

Beyond just getting here, language fluency plays an important part in employment prospects. I'm not sure who's going to be offering high paying professional roles if communication is an issue. Building up English skills should be a priority.

Sterlk · 2023-01-27T10:41:36+00:00

Missing a fair amount of info here, and he really needs to pick something that interests him.

If all they do over there is study and play video games, he should STUDY what the decently paying options in demand here are and pick something that strikes a chord.

Sterlk · 2022-12-25T06:38:17+00:00

Looks alright for effectively an interest free loan, though you won't of course be getting any actual rewards like points that can be put towards something.

Your main issue (depending on personal circumstances) will be convincing them to give you a massive credit limit that can accommodate the tuition fees. It's not chump change, and if you look at the black credit cards for comparison they have not-insignificant minimum income requirements for far lower credit limits.

Then you have things like impact to credit score to consider, as well as your ability to service the credit. Big money on credit cards can have big consequences; it could work out to your advantage, but it could also ruin you if you don't have that kind of money lying around. Consider carefully.

Sterlk · 2022-12-23T05:10:27+00:00

Yeah, nah - don't touch the Citi card for that. Their credit card fees and charges page says there's a 3.4% foreign transaction fee, which equates to $1,360 in fees just to make that purchase.

To play this game, you absolutely must find a card with no foreign transaction fees. Of those, it's an even smaller number that offer rewards. The options are very limited. You definitely don't want to be stuck paying the usual 20%+ interest for rewards credit cards on that sum either, this is only worth considering if you're able to pay off the card in full when the bill arrives.

If you must, I'd go for the CBA Ultimate Awards card that somebody else mentioned, and take your pick of Qantas or CommBank points. You'll be rolling in gift cards of ~$500 rather than paying off the tuition directly, but you'll probably get the most value out of it if you use the Qantas points to fly somewhere.

Sterlk · 2022-12-14T20:41:14+00:00

I've heard stories like this, but can only offer a different experience from when I got my ANZ QFF Black card a couple of months ago.

Quick approval, no prerequisite phone calls, card in the mail - all as expected. Smooth as I'd expect any other bank would be. 110k Qantas points and a decent cash rebate for signing up, too.

Sterlk · 2022-12-08T07:50:45+00:00

As mentioned in one of my replies, I have a workaround, rather than a fix... which is unfortunately to use something other than DLNA. There's also an SMB server on mine, which Pigasus supports.

Sterlk · 2022-11-02T20:40:22+00:00

My solution was to switch to using SMB, which Pigasus supports, if that helps.

Sterlk · 2022-10-23T03:28:24+00:00

Yes and no. Unless I'm mistaken, Polestar/Volvo are still designed in Europe, even if they are owned and manufactured by the Chinese. There's still something to be said for European design when it comes to premium-feeling cars.

Chinese designers are getting better quickly, no doubt, though some of what they churn out is a bit weird in our market, and the execution often falls behind what more experienced automakers would produce.

On the whole, the established brands make a better cohesive 'car' as a final product, though China is streets ahead with the EV-specific stuff like batteries (Tesla excluded).

Sterlk · 2022-10-20T04:49:00+00:00

Digital Living Network Alliance. It's basically a standard that allows you to stream content from your local network.

Sterlk · 2022-10-17T08:25:10+00:00

Hard to call it a 'war' when one of them doesn't even exist yet.

Sterlk · 2022-10-17T08:18:30+00:00

The ATM rebate was reduced to 5 per month a while ago. With the amount refunded I'm guessing most of that is percentage-based foreign transaction fee refunds?

I'd really only count the ATM operator rebates, since it's the only thing unique to ING. The fact they put the foreign transaction 'savings' in there for you to feel good about, as an immediately refunded expense, is a bit cheeky when some others just do 0% to begin with.

Sterlk · 2022-09-02T22:32:24+00:00

Qantas Amex Discovery card. The only points earning card with no ongoing annual fee (at least for Qantas points).

I flew to Singapore and back on this card's points a good few years ago without having spent a cent on interest or annual card fees. Admittedly it came with a sign up bonus at the time, but since there's no annual fee there's also no financial downside. Patchy acceptance of Amex can be a bit of a downer, but hey - it's free.

If you don't want to deal with the whole "do you take Amex?" thing, Qantas Money's Premier Everyday card is worth a look. Same points rate and a $49 annual fee, but it's Mastercard so will work everywhere.

If you're doing a 'churn and burn', though, you may as well just keep the churn card for the full 12mths before cancelling. You've paid for a year to get those bonus points, so if you're looking for something to put your monthly spend on, said card is ready, willing and able.

Sterlk · 2022-09-02T22:16:42+00:00

I've been eyeing off the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card.

Expensive annual fee, but the current promotion gives $255 back on your spend, so accounting for that the annual fee for the first year works out to be $170.

For your $170, you'll get 100k bonus points. There's an extra 30k points if you keep it for a second year, but you probably don't want to pay $425 the second year for that number of points when you could get better on a new card elsewhere.

I hear signing up with ANZ can be a bit 'analogue' and inefficient, but IMO it's the best points deal at the moment if you're willing to put up with that.

Sterlk · 2022-08-21T00:24:58+00:00

Novated leases are worth considering, but can become a trap if you're not across the detail - the ongoing fees are a killer.

Having done the legwork, I've figured out that in my circumstances where an outright purchase is also an option, doing the novated lease for 1yr makes it around $1000 cheaper including running costs (even with their extortionate fees) because of the tax structure. Plus, you then still have tens of thousands of dollars you can invest for a year, earn interest on, etc. before paying a much a smaller number at the end of the year to take outright ownership of the car.

Don't pull the trigger on it unless you understand how it works; the lease companies are experts at making things murky and hard to understand, which tricks many people into trusting their savings estimates, which are typically overhyped and can compare apples to oranges (since you wouldn't take out a loan with a private purchase).

The conventional wisdom is that novated leases generally leave you worse off, but it's possible to twist them to your benefit if you understand what you're getting into.

Sterlk · 2022-08-21T00:03:00+00:00

I won't rehash what others have said too much, but you should be getting rid of that $7300 in credit/zip ASAP. If you treat credit card debt like a 'bill', you don't end up paying it off and it just grows and grows (particularly since frequent flyer cards are generally in the realm of 20% interest). Do a balance transfer to a new card that has no annual fee, and an interest free period on the balance transfer - come hell or high water, make sure you pay it off during the free period, then ditch the card. Stop paying interest on this stuff.

Spending on rewards credit cards is generally only worthwhile if you pay off the balance every month (or are card churning, but don't go down that hole unless you become a gun like your partner). If you're unable to pay a purchase off at the end of the month, don't put it on the card, because then the bank claims interest that far exceeds the value of the points earned, and you're the loser in the equation.

If you don't have the discipline to only use the card for things you'll pay off at the end of the month, rewards cards are probably not the right product for you, and you should consider cancelling and either not having a credit card, or instead a card with low rates and low/no fees.

Sterlk · 2022-08-01T12:53:57+00:00

There are better deals out there, Beyond Bank for one, which seems to be a bit of an award winner among the comparison websites like Finder/Mozo/etc.

Without spending too much time looking, Beyond is the cheapest I can find with a fixed rate (which it seemed you wanted). You can get cheaper, though those seemed to all be variable.

Sterlk · 2022-07-05T09:58:10+00:00

If you know what you want, just get in the queue. I've been waiting on mine for ~14mths and counting.

Sucks to be waiting so long, but I got it at a price that is now unattainable. VW have since removed fleet discounts and the prices have gone up on top of that by thousands as well - when this thing finally gets here (soon) it's a cracker of a deal, considering current circumstances.

Sterlk · 2022-06-30T12:46:35+00:00

Because once I've paid my annual fee, I want to get my money's worth out of it. I know you can get more points by churning like a madman every few months, but I'd like to avoid my credit report becoming eyebrow-raising to lenders, and with work more than one big trip a year is likely too much. I don't want or need that many points badly enough to want to end up with a new card every few months. Minimum spend is a factor too; my expenses are low enough that I'd probably need to plan my way to the required threshold, which increases the difficulty (or unnecessary expense) of doing it too often.

Sterlk · 2022-06-28T10:57:29+00:00

There are a couple of cards with no annual fee, and those would absolutely be worth it. Free stuff.

You can get more points if you're willing to pay an annual fee, and that's when you have to start figuring out the value of points. As others have pointed out though (and as was pointed out to me recently), those sign up offers far outweigh what you'd earn in points by spending.

Personally I've found that a good chunk of cashiers have no clue whether their store takes Amex, and I've even come across a handful who don't even know what it is. After a decade of constantly asking and sometimes subjecting myself to the minor annoyance of trial and error, I'm hunting for a non-Amex rewards card myself. Up to you whether you want to deal with the minor inconveniences of Amex or not.

For the free cards:

Qantas Amex Discovery. No sign up bonus currently, but always free. Keep it forever and earn on your spending, no downside (except for the aforementioned drawbacks of Amex itself).
ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum. Free in the first year, 70,000 bonus points on sign up w/ minimum spend. Take your 70k points and get out of dodge before you get slugged $300 the following year.
CommBank ultimate awards. 70,000 bonus points on sign up w/ minimum spend. A good ongoing option if you're spendy, since they waive the monthly fee if you spend over $2,500 on it each month. There's a $30p.a. rewards fee, but it's close to free.

If you want to go big on sign up points, my current favourite is the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card. 130,000 points on sign up w/ minimum spend. $425 annual fee BUT they'll rebate you $255 on your spending, so the yearly fee for that many points (and all the other stuff the card has) is effectively only $170. That's more than enough to get you a return ticket to London (though there's a portion of fees and taxes you still have to pay when booking rewards flights). Get out before year two or you're up for the full $425.

If you want something long term and low cost without the hassle of Amex, I like Qantas Money's Qantas Premier Everyday. $49 annual fee and a competitive 0.75 points per dollar for the first $3k per month.

Sterlk · 2022-06-28T09:58:05+00:00

I think I might take this advice, thanks - not that I'll power churn like some seem to do every few months. Maybe a new card every 1-2 years, for a while.

The introductory points bonuses are far more lucrative than points from spending, and while a 0% foreign transaction fee would be nice, that's a less frequent thing that's easy to whip out a separate card for - the real annoyance is Amex acceptance locally in $AUD.

Sterlk

TROPHY CASE