Thursday, December 29, 2016

Qantas cash change pin at RediATM.

OK. I decided to use the Qantas cash card to test the coming cashless society. In my mind it is only a matter of time until the government decides to make it harder to use cash. The first step will be to remove higher valued notes as we're seeing happen in other countries. The banks will love it because of the increased fees they'll get. The consumer will lose by having to pay increasing fees.

Since I think it's going to happen, I decided it was time to see how easy it was to go cashless (with a smaller note for emergencies). However I don't want to rack up fees. I simply want a card that will give me access to a store of money, I can easily check the balance, and if possible, have no fees. It turned out I already had such a card in my drawer. It was a Qantas cash card. Qantas sent out their new Frequent Flyer cards some time ago and the new card is also a cash card. The Qantas cash card is designed for travellers, but there's nothing stopping you using it locally. If used appropriately you should be able to use it and pay not fees.

I activated the card. No problem there.

The next step is to load some money. I used BPay as there's no fees to load money onto the card using BPay. There's a delay of up to three days, but the money was there the next day, so that was good.

The first gotcha I've encountered is I wanted to change the pin to something I could more easily remember. The online help states I could change the pin number at selected ATMs. Of course I don't know what they mean by "selected". I tried two ATMs and both didn't have an option to change the pin number. Both were operated by NAB. I later read on another banking site (CUA) that RediATMs run by NAB and BOQ don't offer the change pin number option. On my next outing I'll try a RediATM that isn't run by NAB or BOQ. I'm not game to try another brand of ATM as I'm concerned about the potential for being hit with fees. I don't intend to use ATMs in the future, but of course if I need cash, then I may be forced to.

Now I have cash loaded on the card I can start the next stage of my testing. Spending money!

Once I find an ATM that will allow me to change the pin I'll let others know whether I've managed to change the pin or not.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Update: 30/12/2016
Changed the pin number at the CUA branch at Doncaster Shoppingtown. They have a RediATM in the wall.

Went to make my first purchase which was Sushi at the Doncaster food court. I should have known, but had simply not thought about it, but they wanted to charge a fee. That's a gotcha for many people. I remember many people complaining about cafe's not accepting cards. Small purchases can be a problem with some businesses. With the large businesses this is not a problem. Maccas had no problem or fees. Coles sold milk for $2 without a problem or fees. If you want to go cashless, sticking to the big names is probably going to be easier. That's not going to be good for smaller businesses. Although charging a small fee for a $10 purchase of sushi which is probably half profit and then losing the sale as a result doesn't make good business sense either.

Not only do you have to keep in mind the fees banks will charge, but it's just as important to keep in mind fees traders will also charge. Hard to go cashless when we have such a system.

Update: 1/1/2017
Whilst some retailers only take cash, or won't take cards for small purchases, Aldi charge 0.5% irrespective of the amount. As such small amount purchases don't cost too much extra.

Update: 4/1/2017
Recently ordered pizza from Dominos. Opted to pay cash so I could use my Qantas cash card when I got there. Sign stated $9 minimum EFT so paid cash. Next time I'll try the credit card option when I order online and see if that works.

Update: 14/1/2017
Balance was running low due to purchase so put in $100 on the 11/1/2017 (Wednesday) using BPay. The amount has not yet reached the card. A good reminder to allow three banking days to clear.

Received an email today from Qantas Cash Recoveries. The card had been put on hold due to a suspect transaction. OK. In a way I strayed from using the card as a cash replacement. The supplier is in the USA and I used the card for their site. To verify the card they charged 1 USD. Since there were no other USD transactions this flagged as potential fraud. This took around 20 minutes (mostly waiting) to resolve. This is a reminder your card could be locked as a fraud security prevention measure. That doesn't happen with cash, but of course I couldn't have done this transaction with cash.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Cheapest Electricity Provider - Compare two electricity providers to work out which is cheapest.

Cheapest Electricity Provider - Compare two electricity providers to work out which is cheapest.: Cheapest Energy Provider.

My latest web app is the Cheapest Energy Provider which helps to determine which is the cheaper of two energy retailers.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.CheapestElectricityProvider.com.au

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Aldi frozen treat maker

I noticed Aldi will soon be selling a frozen treat maker. I purchased a similar unit about two years ago. The idea of freezing fruit and making a tasty treat sounded very appealing.

In hindsight the product was very disappointing and ended up being another gadget that simply sits in the cupboard never to be used again.

The problem is fruit frozen in this way doesn't taste that good. The unit is noisy and it takes quite a bit of cleaning up for the small quantity food produced. It really takes quite a long time to produce a small portion of food.

If your looking at one of the frozen treat makers hopefully my experience may help.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Hungry Jack's vouchers.

NOTE: Link to latest brochure in the updates below.

I''m not quite sure why Hungry Jack's simply don't have their latest vouchers promoted on their website.

In the past family have passed on their sheet of vouchers they've received in their mail box and won't be using. We don't get junk mail so don't see the vouchers. The cost of printing and delivery surely must be quite significant, and with over a third of people having no junk mail signs on their mail boxes, it isn't necessarily the best way to get to as many people as possible.

A quick check of the internet and you can download and print off their one page of vouchers. The following is a link to a PDF which has the specials until 30 January 2017.

http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Hungry-Jack’s-Vouchers-expires-30-Jan-2017.pdf

I've found Hungry Jack's in the past have honoured the vouchers without a problem. In fact even just mentioning the special offer without a voucher has often been enough to get the special offer. It really doesn't make sense why they wouldn't simply make the vouchers available on their website when it is fairly easy to go to another site and get the vouchers and that's traffic to their site they're missing out on. Ultimately however it is Hungry Jack's choice.

Hungry Jack's can be a bit hard to find in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne so if you're looking for a Hungry Jack's perhaps give my site www.Mapz.com.au a go.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Update: 8 Feb 2017 - Expires 13 March 2017
The following is a link for a PDF with vouchers expiring on the 13th of March 2017.
http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Hungry-Jacks-Vouchers-valid-until-13-March-2017-v3c.pdf

Update: 22 March 2017 - Expires 1 May 2017
The following is a link for the PDF with vouchers expiring on the 1st of May 2017.
http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/hun420_vouchers_march2017.pdf

Update: 1 June 2017 - Expires 26 June 2017
The following is a link for the PDF with vouchers expiring on the 26th of June 2017.
http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/hun434_vouchers_may2017.pdf

Update: 23 July 2017 - Expires 18 September 2017
http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Hungry-Jacks-Vouchers-valid-until-18-Sep-2017.pdf

Update: 27 November 2017 - Expires 28 November 2017
Oops. Forgot to post earlier. Sorry.
http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Hungry-Jacks-Vouchers-valid-until-28-Nov-2017-v2.pdf

Update: 21 February 2018 - Expires 7 May 2018
https://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Hungry-Jacks-Vouchers-valid-until-7-May-2018.pdf

Update: 18 May 2018 - Expires 30 July 2018
https://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Hungry-Jacks-Vouchers-valid-until-30-Jul-2018.pdf


Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Closest Petrol Station web app for Sydney and NSW now available.

Following on from my earlier Nearest Petrol Station web app which shows the nearest petrol stations to you in Melbourne and the surrounding 100 km approximately, I've now created the Closest Petrol Station web app for those in Sydney and NSW.

The Closest Petrol Station web app for Sydney and NSW covers all of NSW enabling you to find the 1 closest petrol stations, or if you prefer a particular brand of petrol, the closest ten petrol stations for your favourite petrol retailer.

In the past a number of people have let me know they've found the various petrol station web apps to be handy and hopefully the Closest Petrol Station will be handy for those in, or travelling to NSW and Sydney. You can find the Closest Petrol Station web app at https://www.closestpetrolstation.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
Closest Petrol Station for Sydney/NSW
Nearest Petrol Station for Melbourne and the surrounding area



Friday, December 02, 2016

Kurt Russell died hoax

Every now and then I open Facebook and today I noticed at the right the article titled, "Kurt Russell Leave Us At 62".

For those that haven't seen one of these adverts before, this is a hoax advert. It's not true. A quick check on the internet and you'll find there's plenty of posts letting people know this is a hoax. Of course the picture of Russell Crowe is probably a bit of a give away as well.

Facebook is accepting these fake ads which appears to be a real problem for them in terms of news credibility. If you see an news item in Facebook, perhaps don't click on the article, but instead perform a search to find out more information. You really don't know where that link will take you.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Thursday, December 01, 2016

Google Webmaster Content Keywords option missing

Today I noticed one of my favourite Google webmaster options, Content Keywords, was missing. A double check and yes it has gone.

A quick search of the internet revealed Google on the 29th of November in their blog they were retiring the option.

If like me you're looking for the webmaster Content Keywords option, yes it has gone.

Sad to see it go as it was a handy tool.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au