Saving & Making Money

This post is for my lovely Australian readers!

I do about 90% of my shopping online. The other 10% is grocery shopping, which I’m trying to make Brett do more often without me anyway. It’s just so much easier to hop onto a website and find what I’m looking for and have it arrive at my doorstep not long after. What I love even more is how you can score some pretty great deals using coupons, promotional periods and comparison shopping.

The brilliance of online shopping also comes in the form of shopping sites that are like classifieds, with listings from other individuals that have items they want to sell. This could be their business venture, or just simply some items they no longer use and want to make some cash. If you have an item that is just taking up space in your home that you no longer use and it is in good enough condition for someone else to benefit, why not sell it online and make some extra cash…to buy new stuff, of course! The buyer also benefits by scoring a slightly used to brand new item for a fraction of the cost they would see in stores. It’s just win win all around. I have had some great luck with both buying and selling online and have seen friends and family do the same.

Did you know Australia has it’s very own classifieds/auctions site? It’s Quicksales and it’s 100% free to sell on!

About Quicksales:

Based in Melbourne, quicksales is Australia’s best local marketplace where you can browse, buy and sell just about anything. We are Australian owned and operated and proudly part of the carsales network.

At quicksales we’re working hard to create a website that provides the best possible experience for Australians, whether shopping for something in particular or looking to turn some unwanted household items into cash and sell your stuff online. And unlike some other foreign-owned websites where you will pay fees to list an item, edit your ad or commission when it sells, quicksales is 100% free! We are completely committed to trust and safety too, something we are very passionate about at quicksales.

There are a bunch of categories so you can shop for or sell pretty much anything.

To shop for items, simply click any of the category listings or enter what you’re looking for into the search bar at the top of the screen. I did some virtual window shopping and here are several items that caught my eye:

It’s really easy to list something to sell and the best part is that there are absolutely no fees to sell! That’s right…no listing fees, re-listing fees or final sale fees! That’s much different than other online classifieds websites.

So, go ahead and search your house for some stuff to sell, go to Quicksales and easily make some money and then turn around and buy some stuff you really want/need!

This post was in collaboration with Quicksales.

Since 1991, the federal government has designated October as Energy Awareness Month, and Best Buy makes it easy for you to find ENERGY STAR® certified products online and in our stores to help you save money on your energy costs. They can also help you connect with local utility rebates on the energy-efficient products we use every day.

Each month, when I open my electric bill, I always say I need to find ways for us to become more energy efficient. Of course, the main motivating factor would be to save money long-term, but also because I know it’s better for the environment. I was shocked to see so many different types of products at Best Buy that help improve energy efficiency.

October is Energy Awareness Month and it’s a great time to upgrade to a new energy-efficient appliance, television or computer to save money on your home energy bills. Best Buy has more than 2,300 unique ENERGY STAR certified products available in Best Buy stores and online at http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/ENERGY-STAR/pcmcat149900050024.c?id=pcmcat149900050024&ref=184&loc=01

Beyond savings from simply having energy efficient products, local utility companies provide additional rebates that can save you up to $300. To find rebates available in your area, check out the Best Buy online rebate finder here: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Appliances-Promotions/Appliances-Eco-Rebate-Finder-Tool/pcmcat239700050034.c?id=pcmcat239700050034&ref=184&loc=01

Just by going to their Rebate finder and entering your search terms, you can find some pretty spectacular potential rebates! I’ve scored some pretty great deals with rebates in the past, so I definitely recommend looking for and submitting them. Just make sure you read the details and include everything that’s required so they can quickly and easily process your rebate…and send you your money!

The average home’s annual energy bill is $2,200 and energy efficient products can save you money. Check out how much you can save with a new appliance by visiting http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/ENERGY-STAR/pcmcat149900050024.c?id=pcmcat149900050024&ref=184&loc=01

By looking for the ENERGY STAR Certified logo, you can be sure you are getting a product to help your improve your carbon footprint and save money as well! Sounds good to me.

ENERGY STAR is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency. See http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.ab_index

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This is a sponsored post for Best Buy. The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card. All opinions are my own and honest. Thanks for reading.

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I’ve had Progressive insurance for my car for almost 6 years. I even dressed up as Flo for Halloween a few years ago! Brett made this entire costume!

I promise I’m not obsessed with Progressive, I just thought Flo was a great costume! It was a hit!

I get every discount I qualify for, like homeowner and e-statement discounts, but I’m always on the lookout for new discounts.

When the Progressive Snapshot device was introduced, I was definitely hesitant to try it. The premise is that you plug the Snapshot device into your vehicle and it monitors your driving…the times you drive, your speed and your hard breaks. If, after the monitoring period, they see that you are a safe, low risk driver , they will give you a discount!

Well, my first thought was wondering whether it could go the opposite way…as in, could you be charged more if they find you to be a higher risk based on your driving habits? There also isn’t set in stone rules about what they consider risky and how they determine your discount (if you know where to find this information, please let me know!), and I prefer to know what my goals are or what will be considered bad.

Well, either way, Brett decided that we should give it a try. After all, he is now home with Trent and doesn’t have to drive over an hour a day for work, so he should definitely be considered low risk. However, I’m from New Jersey, the state of risky drivers. This could get interesting.

After talking to our insurance agent, our Snapshot devices arrived in the mail within a few days. We each received one to plug into each of our vehicles.

Setting up the Snapshot is simple and quick; it took Brett less than 5 minutes to plug them in to each of our vehicles. It just plugs into the vehicle’s onboard diagnostic port, typically beneath the steering wheel.

Each day, the device sends your driving information to Progressive to analyze. You can even go online and view the information that has been sent to them.

You can view all of the days and general information from each day, such as your driving time, number of trips and hard brakes. Quick tip: Progressive considers a hard brake a reduction of over 7 mph in less than a second. I found this out AFTER I saw I had 2 hard brakes. Sometimes I question the validity of the information…I swear I didn’t have those 2 hard brakes on the day they say I did, but then there has been other days where I would think I had a hard brake and nothing showed up. Shhhh…don’t tell.

You can also view more specific information from each day, like the times you drove and how fast you were going.

We’ve had the Snapshot for a little over a week and we are definitely more mindful of our driving. I think about how each action will affect my Snapshot information and try to plan ahead for when I know I’ll need to brake. However, I have noticed times when thinking about the Snapshot has negatively affected my driving, especially when braking. For instance, when braking, I will look down at my mph to make sure it doesn’t go down too fast instead of paying more attention to the road or I will start braking too slow so as to not reach that 7 mph threshold, only to not brake fast enough once I finally reach the car in front of me and then I have to brake harder than as if I had just started braking normal to begin with.

I think after a 30 day “test drive”, Progressive will review our Snapshot information and apply a discount if they find us to have good driving habits. Then, we can keep the Snapshot plugged in for an additional 5 months to get even more of a discount…up to 30%.

So far, I think I’m doing pretty good other than driving during medium risk times each day. Brett has only driven about 3 times since we started, but fortunately they have mostly been during low risk times. I’ll keep everyone updated to our progress…I hope we get a big discount baby!!

UPDATE: Click here to find out if we got a discount after the first 30 days!

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