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News$700k worth of savings tips from the government
$700k worth of savings tips from the government

$700k worth of savings tips from the government

Tags: Energy Information
Last updated by Someone on

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you would have noticed all the talk about energy prices. If you have been off the grid (pun intended), there’s no hiding from your energy bill, which will find you eventually. 

And so will the Federal Government’s latest $700,000 ad campaign!

Launched this month, the Powering Forward Campaign reportedly cost tax-payers $300,000 for 60 seconds of airtime during the AFL & NRL Grand Finals, and as much as $700,000 in fees to a Melbourne ad agency.

There's some useful information buried in there, but it's hidden behind propaganda pushing the government's energy policy credentials.

What do you think of the campaign?

Our take? The website contains some useful info for people wanting to save on power bills, for example it links to the Energy Made Easy comparison site and the Victorian Switchon site to compare offers.

It also contains energy efficiency tips for households, which can be handy.

But all that useful stuff is buried behind the silly “powering forward” slogan and some bumph about the Government’s Snowy Hydro 2.0 and gas reservation policies.

They’re important, but we’d like to see the moneysaving info up front and centre!

Here’s something else you can do to save.

A couple of months back, the Fiftyup Club started our Power-Up Campaign,  which now boasts a staggering 50,000 registrations nationally That tells us that you do want to do something about energy prices even if it’s just to send a message to power companies that enough is enough.

While Australia may rank second in the world for quality-of-life, we rate first in the world for the highest energy prices. Data from the Carbon + Energy Markets' MarkIntell service says we’re ahead of Germany, Denmark and Italy with 4 Australian states in the top ten (click here to see the list).

This despite Australia having every energy resource available in the world including coal, wind, solar, nuclear and sea-water hydro power.

What can you do? It’s as easy as picking up the phone, calling your energy retailer and asking for a better deal. Don’t take no for an answer. The energy market has never been so competitive and you can get results, with many members reporting savings in the hundreds of dollars.

Click here to see the latest Fiftyup Club energy offers, extended for a limited time only


 

 

Originally posted on .

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David
David from VIC commented:

We need to encourage Coles and Woolworths to discount single items, 3 for $5 may sound cheap but will you use the other two items? 

Rhonda
Rhonda from QLD commented:

Why can't we overhaul the government. They're busy restructuring the hospital, medical and police services, why can't they restructure themselves. I am sure there is a lot of people and jobs that are no longer needed and my!! couldn't it save us on taxes! 

bev
bev from NSW commented:

Coles and Woolworths both mark their fresh bread down in the early evening and meat is often marked down also. All safe to buy and can be frozen.By shopping at Aldi for basics you can save up to 30%. 

Laura
Laura from QLD commented:

I shop at Aldi, I find most of what I need, there, and so much cheaper than Coles or Woolies. I have a list, most of the time. I do check out the weekly specials catalogue from all 3 supermarkets, and add to my list, only those things that I regularly use. Luckily for me, all 3 supermarkets are located under the one roof, so I can easily shop where it suits my budget. I have a fixed weekly grocery allowance and I pay in cash. 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

The banking system needs an overhaul. I suggest that the ideas of the organisation http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/ would go a very long way to fix a one sided (broken for the common person) system. The ideas easily translate into AU and NZ as well as the US. Unfortuneately for us Mr. Murray is part of the problem! 

Jess - FiftyUp Club
Jess - FiftyUp Club from VIC commented:

Thanks for all the feedback to our grocery bill story. We are looking for the best comment for next week's newsletter, so keep them coming. Cheers, Jess 

Marlene
Marlene from QLD commented:

If you are on a fixed income. eg Centrelink. Make your groceries last one day extra each fortnight if you can. For example, if you get paid on a Monday shop on Monday. The next fortnight Shop on the Tuesday and the next fortnight, shop on the Wednesday. Eventually it will go a full circle and you have a whole fortnight's shopping money saved. 

Peter
Peter from QLD commented:

Hey, easy way to fix Australia's financial problems, bring in the Debt Tax, invented by a Queenslander, easy way to rake in the money, everyone pays 0.5% on transactions thru banks, even big business, that gets rid of all other taxes, gets rid of the ATO cause the banks collect the tax, we normal people are better off, and finally big business pays the same as us, check it out, smart system 

Helen
Helen from QLD commented:

always check the weight or percentage of the product in a can (eg baked beans, corn, peas) as the cheaper brands vary a lot and fill up with juice or sauce. 

Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

I love buying in more bulk and freezing in the average amount, tasty cheese I grate and freeze any left overs at all I freeze and have for lunch or dinner, there is not much I don't freeze lemons ,oranges , strawberry's anything I have to much off go's. 

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