2014¶

How to Save Money

Are you price conscious in your everyday spending? A lot of us aren't for the basic reason that it consumes brain cycles for little percieved reward. Quitting smoking led to an adjustment in the way I value money. Forking out $20 a day for something the literally goes up in smoke can make saving $5 a day on parking seem pretty irrelevant.

In considering my monthly spend I found a number of ways I could spend less without any real impact on my quality of life. Perhaps some of these could help you?

Stop Smoking, Start Vaping ($600/mon)

I'd describe myself as dependant on nicotine. My pack a day habit was costing me $600 a month. I'm now using a vapouriser to get my nicotine fix for $20 a month.

Park 10 minutes walk from office ($110/mon)

Adding 20 minutes of gentle exercise to my otherwise sedentary existance saves me a packet.

Stop buying takeaway coffee ($88/mon)

We have coffee machines at work. It's free and I'm a good milk frother.

Find cheaper car insurance ($35/mon)

I was surprised how easy this one was. Thanks Google.

Buy supermarket milk ($30/mon)

I was under the mistaken impression that the branded milk was better.

Pay Less for Petrol ($12/mon)

There's about a 10% difference between low and high prices for petrol depending on when in the cycle you fill up. I can save $6 on a 40 litre tank by filling up at the right time.

A tank lasts me 2 weeks. If you need to fill more often YMMV.

Vendors try to mix it up but the graph above is updated daily and gives a good idea of when it's a good time to buy. They also have petrol prices for other Australian states.

Don't buy premium fuel unless your car needs it ($8/mon)

I've not a petrol head and haven't even researched this one very well but started saving around $4 on a tank of fuel by not paying for premium.

Australian petrol stations market several types of unleaded petrol. They tend to be 91, 95 and 98 "octane". I don't know much about fuel and the higher numbers cost more so I tended to choose 95 or 98 thinking I must be getting more from it.

It turns out some cars (European) require high octane fuels or their performance deteriorates. I checked my Subaru manual and it said I was fine using 91 octane fuel.

night friendly lighting

Truth about Edinburgh Gardens NYE

What happens when more 15,000 revellers converge on an inner city Melbourne park to ring in the new year with no perimeter fencing, byo drugs/alcohol and just 12 police officers on duty?

A potential horror story of violence and destruction didn't eventuate but this hasn't stopped the media from describing it as such.

There are over different 15,000 versions of NYE in Edinburgh Gardens 2014 and I suspect most people had a pretty fun time. The fact it turned out to be a largely peaceful celebration despite the absence of any effective crowd control seems both newsworthy and worthy of further discussion.

Ms Fristacky says local residents had varied views of the New Year's Eve party. "Quite a few residents who attended said it was a great night, they enjoyed it, it was 20,000 people mostly peaceful, yes there were some incidents, but they were isolated."

City of Yarra Mayor quoted by ABC

Reading between the lines, the night sounds a bit like a night at an open air music festival like Meredith or Golden Plains. Events like these show us that while we will never be completely rid of dickheads, most people want to be good to each other.

Misrepresentation of the evening and villification it's participants has spread righteous indignation far beyond residents of the parks gentrified surrounds. Yarra Council is now facing increased pressure to crack down on park users.

'Trash'ing the Gardens

We were told the park was trashed. While this brings thoughts of vandalism and permanent damage, reporters were actually referring to litter, most of which was all picked up and removed by Council staff and volunteers by sunset on 1 Jan.

Now don't get me wrong, there was a whole lot of litter. The place was a mess but one man's trash is another man's treasure and the indignation inspiring imagery was media gold for the evening news and daily papers.

What kind of people would do this?

"inadequate lighting and excessive crowding also appeared to dissuade people from using the rubbish bins and toilet facilities provided, with significant complaints about public urination;"

• Council Report

Oh yeah, people partying in the dark

Music festivals like Meredith and Golden Plains see attendees cleaning up the mess from the night before when the sun rises.

Fence Climbing

Climbing can be fun but the recently installed tennis court fences aren't very strong. The top bars slipped under the weight of people climbing on them. The Herald Sun reported this as vandalism. By these standards your average two year old is a wanton vandal.

Darwin was Right

Casualties

Ambulance staff set up an emergency triage area in the park, where they treated about 20 people.

Most were treated for alcohol-related problems, while others suffered cuts from broken glass in the park.

"Paramedics Outraged"

Meredith and Golden Plains are two music festivals where you can bring your own alcohol but have a strict NO GLASS POLICY.

There were two violent acts reported. A man lost several teeth when he was punched in the face and a seventeen year old boy was arrested after he allegedly punched a female police officer in the face.

I don't think anyone has worked out a solution to dickheads but MMF try:

Festivals at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre have a No Dickhead Policy.

Essentially this is a self-policing policy whereby ‘the dickhead’ is not celebrated at the festival. Dickheads or people involved in dickhead behaviour will usually find that a solid citizen will firmly but politely inform them that their dickhead behaviour is not admired or appreciated. The Dickhead will usually realise they are being a dickhead and pull their head in. If not, our Helpers or Staff or even Security might make a discreet intervention.

So if you are a Dickhead, this festival isn’t for you.

MMF No Dickhead Policy

Hey Rupert, Stop Bashing Our Youth

Demonising our youth may sell papers but what does it do to our social fabric? Crafting words that stir up moral panic doesn't make life easier for anyone.

The sky is not falling and the connected generations are not falling for your lies.

Eat Something New Every Day

On Redesign My Brain, Todd Sampson took on the challenge of eating something new each day in order to get his brain working more creatively. I decided to try this as well to see if I notice any changes to my thinking.

Fruit seems like an obvious place to start for me as I only eat three of them: apples, bananas and mandarins.

Jan

01 Kiwifruit # I solved the kiwifruit for myself. 02 Apricot # I cheated and watched a walkthrough. Do you eat the skin?