Not just a Janet Jackson song, we’ve uncovered five free (and guilt-free!) things that you may not have known about that will keep your money tree flourishing and the debt collectors at bay!
By Anna McDougall, The Money Maven
Fantasy Shopper:
At last! If your man goes on and on about his Fantasy Football team, get one back with the Fantasy Shopper!
Don’t let the ‘online game’ tag deter you from this ingenious website, if you’re an online window shopper and already make up your dream shopping carts, this is the game for you.
Players visit a city and compete to find the best bargains and assemble the best outfits using virtual money to spend on goods that are actually in stock. The choices can be published on Facebook where other players vote on the looks on offer and are rewarded virtually with ‘badges’ and vouchers you can actually use – they even throw in the odd competition, Stella McCartney handbag anyone?
Gumtree
Did you know Gumtree has a Freebies section? Every minute people around Australia are posting a myriad of unwanted items in good nic for your benefit. What’s that saying about trash and treasure? Find TVs, sofas, adorable puppies in need of a home and I think I spied Splendour in the Grass tickets?!
But don’t worry about scams and spam emails, Gumtree has it covered. It recommends you tick a box to hide your email address, and there is a helpful link to Scam Watch outlining the commonest means by which fraudsters try to rob you.
Food and Wine Events
There are constantly events free of charge all around Australia for you to tantalise your taste buds with and experience the country’s best in food.
Perhaps you’d like to taste Kangaroo Islands seafood and produce and the Kangaroo Island Seafood Festival? In Adelaide get ‘Uncorked’ and receive complimentary cheese platters upon your (free) entry to the wine tasting events. Adelaide also offers the widely popular Tasting Australia Festival where even your junior master chefs can take part in free cooking lessons.
In Sydney, not your average food festival, Bankstown Bites celebrates the area’s rich culinary diversity with the event showcasing a mix of gourmet food stalls, cooking demonstrations, celebrity chefs, live entertainment, children’s activities and rides.
Volunteering
Generate some good karma and volunteer in your local community, it’s free of charge and your good conscience will be reward enough! Help others, meet new people, build new skills, experience new challenges, build up work experience and gain more confidence simply by taking the time to volunteer.
GoVolunteer is an intiative of Volunteering Australia and provides you with all you need to find out about volunteer opportunities, and helps you make the best match possible between your personal requirements and choice of work. There’s no need to register to use GoVolunteer. It’s easy to use, completely free and available to anyone who is interested in volunteering!
Free Hugs!
Go out and hug someone! It is proven that love and friendships have a wide range of physical and mental health benefits. Having ‘the look of love’ is not just a saying! After all love is never wasted and is probably the one thing guaranteed to leave your wallet nice and chunky.
– Love induces a calming effect on the body and mind by raising levels of nerve growth for about a year.
– Research shows that loving acts neutralise the kind of negative emotions that adversely affect immune, endocrine and cardiovascular function.
– The endorphins produced by the body when in love increase blood flow to the skin, which helps keep it soft and smooth, and reduce the development of wrinkles
