What I Use - Richy's Money Tips

This page goes over the various accounts that I personally use. My goal is to make it as optimal as possible but by no means does it mean that it’s already there. Feel free to use some or all of the same accounts and if you have any suggestions, please send me a message here or use the contact form in the sidebar and I will continue to update this page.

Transacting

When making a transaction, I try and get the most out of my money and here are all of the services I use to do so:

Crypto.com Visa card
Discounted store gift cards
Discounted Eftpos and Visa/Mastercard gift cards
High sign-up bonus points credit card (this changes regularly)
Eatclub
TheFork
Liven
Any other service when they have a cashback promotion better than one of the above payment methods

I always ensure my Crypto.com card has prepaid funds and I only make the transfer when I can make profit on the exchange. This happens when the exchange rate between AUD and SGD falls after the Mastercard rate has been set for the day which I check here and I can check the purchase price from my Up card here.

I try to regularly sign up for as many high sign-up bonus points credit cards as I can to meet the minimum spends and then cancel the card once I get the bonus points. I’m generally able to get around 3-4 cards throughout per year. When I have a credit card sign-up offer then I will use the card for all purchases until I meet the minimum spend (and purchase additional gift cards [usually WISH cards] to meet the minimum if I’m not yet close. As soon as I have met the criteria for the bonus spend then I will stop using the credit card and only use my Crypto.com card as the 3% cashback is many times higher than the 1 – 1.5 Qantas points earn rate of credit cards. If the Crypto.com card doesn’t work for whatever reason, then I used my Bundll card to earn velocity points, and then pay that off with another points earning credit card.

I always ensure that I have enough discounted gift cards for my on-going expenses, that is WISH gift cards for Woolworths and Caltex (at Macquarie Marketplace), and Coles gift cards (at RACQ) as they can be purchased at a discount. I purchase the gift cards with my best rewards card.

I try to get Eftpos and Visa/Mastercard gift cards whenever Woolworths or Coles have an offer (either bonus points or a discount) and I purchase the gift cards with my best rewards card.

When I want to purchase something online, I’ll see if the store offers gift cards at a discount as most large retailers do. If they do, then I’ll buy the highest denomination below the cost of what I want to buy to ensure that none of it goes to waste (spending $90 on a $100 gift card to buy something worth $50 still leaves you $90 out of pocket with a $50 item) unless I’m likely to shop at the store again soon and can use the remainder of the gift card (which I do at eBay and Amazon). I purchase the gift card with my best rewards card.

Generally I avoid eating out but if it’s a special occasion or I want to eat out, I’ll check Eatclub, Liven and TheFork for any discounts at a place I might want to eat and pay with my best rewards card. Sometimes restaurants have cash discounts and/or card surcharges but I will still use my card unless the discount and/or surcharge make cash 3% better value or more.

Storing Funds (savings)

These are the services I use to try and get the most out of my money instead of having it sitting and doing nothing:

I keep my emergency funds in my BoQ account as it has the highest interest (3%). At the beginning of every month I use Beemit to do 5 transfers from my BoQ account to another one and transfer out $1000, then transfer it all back in order to be eligible for the bonus interest.

When I want to increase my index fund holdings, I purchase them through Selfwealth with a flat $9.50 brokerage fee.

If I want to retain AUD but earn high interest, I would usually have it in an earn term with Crypto.com.

The bonus CRO and Visa card cashback CRO go into the Crypto.com Supercharger to earn some other cryptocurrency that I will usually hold.

Ongoing Expenses

Groceries

I generally go to the local grocer when they have good deals for fresh produce. I also look at the Coles and Woolworths weekly catalogues and from there, decide which one to visit for the week. If something I really like is at half price then I will usually buy a few in bulk to last until the next cycle where it’s half price again.

At the beginning of the week, I cook all of my lunches and what I eat throughout the week is based on what was cheap at the shops during the week. A lot of the time it’s just pasta.

I scan my rewards card every time I can which means my offers usually become out of reach however I just leave them and don’t spend more for the sake of reaching them.

I usually have had a Woolworths SIM in the past and this provides a 10% discount on groceries once per month so if I plan on doing a big purchase, I will try and align the purchase with the discount.

Phone Plan

I switch providers every month and usually alternate between an Amaysim 28-day deal with cashback through Cashrewards and a Woolworths 30-day plan to get 10% off my first Woolworths shop. If there is another good option (usually from Catch or Kogan) for a month then I might go with one of those. With all this, I average around $3.50 – $4 per month for a plan that has sufficient data (5GB+ per month) and unlimited national calls and texts.

Fuel

I usually fill up at Woolworths Caltex as it comes out to be the cheapest option with my 4c Woolworths voucher and discounted WISH gift cards.

I live in Brisbane where the fuel cycle seems to be roughly every 4-5 weeks and I track the prices with PetrolSpy. I fill up at the start of the bottom of the cycle (which usually lasts a week) and then around the end of the cycle once some stations have already jacked up the prices, I can usually find a 7-11 nearby to lock the low price for another week. I top up again at 7-11 just before the lock expires which should be enough to last me until the end of the new cycle where I repeat it all again.