Sticking with eBucks…for now

After having a minor meltdown about the eBucks rule changes announced on 1 June, and then realising I was overthinking it and it was actually fine, I revisited the idea of upgrading to Platinum again.

With the new rules coming into effect on 1 July, it will be much easier for me to calculate my rewards since the Gold rewards are now capped based on fixed amounts and not percentage anymore.

For example: I ran my app on my June transactions this morning, and realised that my Checkers spend is currently sitting at 25% of my qualifying spend. Since the (current) Gold rule is capped at 20% of QS or R7000, whichever comes first, I need to get my QS up to get my Checkers ratio down.

Fortunately, since payday is on Friday, there are some bills I need to swipe, some additions to the home gym need to be purchased, and we should probably fill the jerry can and cars with fuel before the price increase.

From July, it will be nice not to have to worry about that kind of thing, since Checkers is now capped at R4000. The downside of these rules means that, based on our current (slowing) spend, the maximum eBucks we will get each month will be about R1100.

On Monday, I did a quick Excel analysis of our average monthly spend, and the rewards we could expect based on new rules for Gold and Platinum. Taking into account monthly fees, despite receiving more overall rewards on Platinum, we still lose out because of the cheque account fee (double Gold).

In conclusion, we will remain on Gold. There’s less hassle with more rewards and it aligns with our reduced spending habits.

Now this is how you purchase a home gym

Yesterday, the SO and I popped around to Makro to get the components for his (our?) home gym. After cancelling my gym membership, we were eager to get the parts in place so that he can cancel his and I can finally return to my roots.

Since we’ve tightened our belts over the last two months, our eBucks rewards have also dropped, because not spending real money always trumps getting fake money back for spending more. Seriously, our total monthly spend has dropped by about R4000, so our qualifying monthly spend is even lower.

Nevertheless, we did have some rewards as I was able to convert my 11191 eB into a R1865 Makro voucher. This, in conjunction with the health equipment sale, allowed us to obtain a bench with an included barbell and curling bench, as well as a set of plates for free. We were also able to get two more sets of plates at a reduced price, as well as mats for the tiled floor and a core stretcher band thingy for me.

Overall, an excellent haul, and I’m super psyched to be able to do my workouts again. I’m also looking forward to adding some barbell work in addition to my dumbbell exercises on my strength days.

Making my money management app

I’ve been fiddling around with making a money management app for some time now. I wrote an eBucks calculator in Python to make sure that FNB wasn’t screwing me out of my rewards because I got tired of guesstimating the amount I should get. This was juuust before they released their own nifty calculator on the website.

Nevertheless, the exercise was good (my algorithm was spot on), as it serves as a backup check for me in case I get suspicious (which is all the time). Of course, two weeks ago I threw all my code out and started over because I’m sure I can implement the algorithm in a different way.

The reason I decided to create my own app is because, for years, I would track my spending in a spreadsheet on an ad hoc basis. I never spent enough for it to be a major issue. Last year, in preparation for all the big changes, my spending/saving habits changed/increased, and I had to include another person’s money habits as well.

I started using 22seven to track my (and now our) spending habits, and it has helped substantially. We went into financial lockdown last year to save as much as we could. Case in point: we spent the same amount on Eating Out and Takeouts in the first quarter of 2016 as we did for the whole of 2015.

This happened because not only did we virtually stop going out last year, but my husband moved into the house on his own, there was no time to cook because he was doing shifts as part of his training for the new job, and when I saw him on the weekend we didn’t want to hang around at my parents’ house.

The point is, I felt like I had to make my own app because though 22seven could track my transactions, I felt like the budget/spending plan side of it was not working for me. Also, it’s fun.

Trying to live a greener lifestyle: Washing clothes

I’ve always been interested in living “greener”. Starting in primary school, where a recycling culture was encouraged, all the way through to my environmental GIS internship, living with a small footprint has always been part of my life. Whether I’ve consistently stayed true to it is another story, but since the SO and I are aligned on this matter (and certainly aligned on the whole saving money thing), we are making conscious decisions to reduce our footprint.

In keeping with our couponing lifestyle, the SO and I decided last year before we got married that we wouldn’t be purchasing a washing machine. After debating the pros and cons of hand washing, we purchased one of these to do our laundry, because even an entry-level washing machine is expensive, without counting the cost of electricity, water and time. Although I probably would have offset the initial cost by using eBucks to buy it like I did with our fridge 😀

Initially the Sputnik proved useful, particularly with the smaller, delicate loads. However, it is no longer being used because of my husband’s tendency to let the washing pile up over the week and then do one giant load in the bath instead of doing it in bits. This does of course use more water, but I’ll let it go because overall we are still saving, and we throw the rinsing water onto the garden.

My experience with H&M: An analysis.

Yesterday, at the behest of my sisters and after weeks of them hyping it, the SO and I decided to visit H&M at the Waterfront. We were there when it opened at 9am.

I have not seen a shop fill up with people so quickly. I was so overwhelmed by the size, the super long escalator, the amount of clothing. I ended up getting a number of dresses and tank tops at 3 for 2, while the SO got a bunch of tshirts and shorts.

The experience was quite pleasant, and the prices are affordable, even at “normal” price. Quality of the clothing seems good as well (I’m currently wearing one of the dresses I procured), but we’ll see in the long run.

Black Friday 2015: A retrospective look

I wasn’t planning on taking part in Black Friday this year. I’ve long since held that SA does not truly “do” Black Friday, for a myriad of reasons (including our particular history, social factors etc).

My suspicions were of course confirmed by 8% off sales trumpeted as if it were heaven-sent. Canal Walk was already full at 10am when I slipped away from work with a colleague to get supplies for our function on Friday afternoon. I wanted to go to Checkers to buy lip balm and withdraw cash, but had to turn back because the doors were closed and there was a huge crowd standing outside waiting to get in.

The “5 Cokes for R50” was just too much of a bargain for those people I guess.

The difference in Takealot’s Black Friday offering this year compared to 2014 was also noticeable. Last year they went head to head with Kalahari, with both sites going offline throughout the day. Now that Takealot has acquired Kalahari, this year’s deals were less than impressive.

The shop which really brought it this year was Spree. I didn’t even know they were doing Black Friday, but they went all in. After I got over the disappointment of Takealot, I was clicking through my other favourite online haunts when I saw Spree unloading tops and dresses for R40, R50, R60…The faster I tried to add to cart, the faster the items disappeared.

I managed to snag two dresses, a pair of pants and a skirt for R250 (!), and three work shirts, two pairs of jeans and casual slip ons for the SO for R600. As noted previously, clothing was the only thing I was looking out for in the sales since the SO and I both need to replace our wardrobes due to the physique changes we have undergone over the last year.

I also snagged a backpack off Zando for the SO, as a “yay on starting your first job” present. It’s a good bag, and I was willing to pay its R800 price tag, but I decided to wishlist it and wait a day. I then paid R479 for it the next day, and will get my 4% partner eBucks + 3% FNB ebucks of course.

Overall, Black Friday turned out quite well for me. Now that it’s Cyber Monday, I used Spree’s 30% off to purchase the gifts for my bridesmaids (which I will personalise later myself). I honestly see no reason to ever set foot in a shopping mall again.

SA is trying so hard to make Black Friday a thing

I walked past Pick n Pay yesterday, and they had a board up announcing their “extended trading hours” for this week. It had all the days of the week listed, including Black Friday. I’ve been down this road before, and it pains me to say that the retailers still haven’t learnt.

Typical Black Friday sales should have a bunch of items that have at least 30 – 40% off, with some items going for 50 – 60% off. In SA though, we get offered 10% off (20% off if the retailer is feeling particularly benevolent). Not that I haven’t taken advantage of some actual deals already – since I’m in the process of replacing my wardrobe due to my epic revamp, I scored some clothing off Zando that I had my eye on, for half price. See, Zando gets it!

My experience using AliExpress: An analysis.

I’ve known AliExpress existed, and I’ve toyed with the idea of ordering some stuff from them. I was a bit hesitant about ordering things from China, and even more apprehensive about my goods going through the South African Post Office.

In August, I had a lengthy chat with one of my colleagues about ordering goods from them, so I decided to give it a shot. I chose items which had free shipping and were small. After getting lost on the site for a few hours (it’s so massive!), I ended up ordering a pair of sports Bluetooth earphones (for the SO), a pink rhinestone phone cover (for me), a pink Vivofit band (for me), a Hello Kitty pink and black wireless mouse (for me), and some wedding shoe stickers (for us).

I figured that the items were small enough to send via normal post and that indeed was the case. I received the stickers after 6 weeks in a small envelope that I had to go pick up. I didn’t get a collection slip, but a call from the Post Office instead. Hmm.

Sadly, none of my other items arrived. The total cost was R235 + R18 for the USD conversion, so since this was an experiment I am willing to write that money off. Luckily, Ali has this awesome Buyer Protection programme. Even though my expected delivery time on all the products is 2 days away from expiring (after ETA was 15 – 60 days), I’ve selected to extend the buyer protection time by another 30 days. If my items don’t arrive within that extended time frame, the seller will ship me another item for free.

Nice. I’ve already made peace with the fact that my Hello Kitty mouse was stolen when it reached the airport here. I say this because when I contacted the seller, he sent me this:

My mouse arrived at ORT on the 6th of September. That was two weeks after I ordered it. It’s been in the country for 6 weeks. I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing that mouse. I had a discussion the other day about stealing being the national pastime (although some say it’s hijacking, others say it’s denial).

Customers try to rip businesses such as insurance companies off (thereby increasing the rates for those of us who try to live honestly). Businesses try to rip customers off (all the monopolies we enjoy here in Mzansi) and act like they are mercifully bestowing their products and services on us (leading me to have to lose my mind in order to get merely adequate customer service). It’s all good if everyone is stealing from everyone, because then it would balance out, but not all of us are playing that game.

An overview of yesterday’s developments

A lot of things that I find interesting happened yesterday. I figured that today I need to point out a few of them.

• Twilight’s 10: And here’s a new book for all you people who still care. I count myself among those people. I now have to resist the urge to get the book until after my final exam on the 30th.
• Vox Telecom dropped their prices: Or levelled up their capped customers, either way it’s the same effect. I now get 150GB for the price of 100GB, which I had taken on promotion in the first place. That means I am paying R164 for 150GB of unshaped, anytime data that rolls over to a max of 6*monthly cap, so my data will only expire if I hit 900GB.
• Sweet, sweet relief: Microsoft did this, where they announced this and this and this and this. That was the Lumia 950 (for me), the Lumia 950XL (for the SO), the Display Dock (for both of us), and the Surface Pro 4 (so that I can get my hands on a soon-to-be discounted Surface Pro 3).

A couponing haul of clothing

I have a 6 months (interest-free) account at Edgars. Like many people starting out, I opened the account 3 months after I started my internship, in order to start building my credit rating. At the time (I say that like it wasn’t only 5 years ago), Edgars was the first place you would go to open an account, because they would take anybody. I knew very little about finance stuff then, but I knew enough to insist on the 6-month account, and a super low limit (I think it was R1500).

Once a month, I would buy something small at Jet to keep the account active – a pair of socks, some jeans, a BlackBerry (!!!) for the SO so that we could Mxit (!!!) – and would pay the balance within 3 months. I’d also buy some things on behalf of my mom or sisters.

That was before I realised there was a better way to do things. As the account is interest-free, I have 6 months to pay off a cash purchase. Like a lay-bye, but I actually have the stuff already. Now, the tricky thing is that, of course, they want you to tip over into the interest zone. By paying off the installment amount, and not the minimum due, one can avoid this harrowing fate. I shouldn’t need to mention that this amount should be paid in-store, with a credit card swipe (1.5% eBucks + contribution to monthly spend + 100% spend on credit card) instead of an EFT (more convenient, but no eBucks and no contribution to monthly spend).

I’ve gone off point. I need to explain that badly structured post title. Over the last year, I’ve been taking advantage of Edgars’ sales. I’m not talking about the sales where they mark up the price of the items, or where they make it half-price but still end up with 200% profit.

I’m talking about playing the game, only buying the things that are on sale when I was planning on getting them anyway. Last year, I was looking for a chocolate brown long boot, because I didn’t have any brown boots. I spent two months looking at different shops, and found a nice pair for R500 at Edgars. I then waited a month, and bought it at the end of August for R200.

This year is a bit different, because of My Epic Revamp. I’ve thrown out about 1/4 of my summer wardrobe, and half of my winter clothes because they are now too big. As the weather gets warmer and I carry on towards my goal, I’ll be chucking more summer clothes out. This means I basically need an entirely new wardrobe.

The SO needs new clothes as well, since he has much less clothing than I do, so he ends up wearing things out alot faster. He also has a penchant for destroying jeans and sandals rapidly, due to walking absolutely everywhere. So when we walked into the V&A Edgars a few weeks ago to window shop, I did not expect to walk out of there R1400 later.

Yes, we were overwhelmed by the sales, but we got 5 Tom Tailor Shirts, 1 pair of Reebok sandals, 1 Tom Tailor hoodie (for him), and 1 casual top, 4 underwear sets, and 1 pair of Jessica Simpson boots (for me). Strictly speaking, the boots were not entirely necessary, but they were an overly inflated R1899 (I paid R300, which is the most I’ll pay for shoes anyway), and are super comfortable.

In total, the real price for this haul would have been about R6000. I would never have bought these items at normal price, and only bought them at sale price because those were things we were planning on buying anyway. I also now get to spread the cost of this haul over 6 months, interest-free. I need to say this: couponed.