Hello from Savvy Shopper HQ, where we’re locked down – saving time on commuting and money on everything else.
Get jabbed, get deals
Getting vaccinated (if you’re able) is the right thing to do. But there’s no harm in taking advantage of incentives while you’re at it. Luxury Escapes is offering $200 off the next international trip to the first million fully vaccinated Australians who apply by September 30. You have to travel by June 2022, but the more of us get the jab, the more likely we are able to travel internationally by then. We can’t see any reason couples or besties couldn’t get two vouchers and book two consecutive stays at the hotel of your choice, giving you $400 off your holiday.
Qantas also has an incentive program that will reward vaccinated passengers with prizes including unlimited travel for a year, Qantas Points and flight vouchers/credits. Accor hotel group will back up the Qantas mega prize with 1 million points towards accommodation. Virgin Australia is offering prizes of millions of Velocity Frequent Flyer points and business class flights. More details to come on those.
Revisit your car insurance
There’s a very good chance you’re driving less these days (the Savvy Shopper commute is now a brisk 30-second walk from bedroom to living room). If you’re not already reviewing your car insurance policy annually to avoid the loyalty tax – which you absolutely should be – it’s worth doing this year.
Our insurance is currently $1200 annually with NRMA. Five minutes on Compare the Market gave us a range of options with other providers that were significantly cheaper. The absolute cheapest was with smaller player Huddle’s Comprehensive Pay As You Drive Cover at $438 for the year – a saving of $762. Other options were Woolworths Drive Less Pay Less Cover for $518.10, and Budget Direct’s Gold Low Kilometres Comprehensive Cover for $601.45.
You’re paying too much for mobile
Competition in the mobile plan market is better now than it’s ever been, and changing plans is an easy way to save a little bit of money every month. A caveat: if you’re on a lock in contract, you’ll have to weigh up the cost of breaking the contract with any savings you make.
When you’re comparing plans, keep in mind that most prepaid plans have a 28-day expiry, meaning you’ll need to recharge 13 times a year rather than 12 bills on a postpaid plan. We also like SIM-only plans, as it gives us more flexibility to jump between providers and we really don’t need to upgrade our phones every two years.
According to Canstar, the average SIM-only postpaid phone plan in Australia is $41 per month – that’s $492 per year.
If you switch to Southern Phone’s Small SIM Only Plan on the Optus 4G Plus Mobile Network, you’ll pay $7.50 a month. No, that’s not a typo. It’s $7.50 for the first six months and reverts to $10 per month after that, making it $105 a year – a saving of $387. Admittedly, you’ll only get 2.5GB, but you’re likely home and on your WiFi a lot more these days and the average Australian’s data use is only 3GB so you might just scrape by.
Need a little more data? Moose Mobile has the Moose 9.80 SIM Only Promo on the Optus 4G Plus Mobile Network. It’ll give you 6GB for $9.80 for the first 12 months, then reverts to $15.80. Both these options are unlimited talk and text within Australia and no lock-in contracts – leaving you free to jump on the next amazing deal that comes your way.
Stay safe and happy shopping.