Loss Leader

Lightly inspired by various purchases made at a local Asian supermarket, where the price label and actual price at the checkout counter are two different values. So far, it's been somewhat generous, allowing me to save tens of cents so, as with all semi-random systems, I'd rather not push my luck more than I need to.

Also, time for a LIFE UPDATE! I'll be going on some holiday during June, so you may not see anything new on the blog for, like, a month or something along those lines. I'll try to post something on Wednesday or Thursday to account for the fact that I won't be around on the weekends to post as I normally would. But it might also not happen, in the event I horrendously underestimate the amount of time and effort needed to sufficiently prepare for a holiday. We'll see what happens in due time...

Nothing but bad news

Surprisingly, the English language doesn't really have a word to describe the fear of government agencies. I suppose for the conspiracy theorists reading this, one might conclude such a term has been deliberately redacted from the Internet by the powers that be.
Personally, I'm under the impression that the fear of Centrelink (and other government agencies in general) is more or less universal, and is actually quite normal. I have yet to meet someone who enjoys those sorts of interactions.

On Closer Inspection

Based on an actual listing on the Facebook Marketplace that I haphazardly stumbled into a few months ago. If you want my unsolicited opinion about the platform itself, it seems to suffer from the same problems that sites like eBay and Gumtree have to deal with, namely falsified seller reputation and listing subversion (e.g. some sellers set the price label of items to "Free" just to gain attention but then mention the actual selling price only in the listing description). Then again, I rarely buy anything from these online marketplaces, so what would I know about buying a cheap second-hand T.V. from some random person on the Internet?

Double Lifetime

Based on some articulated thoughts after stumbling across this "Golden Golden Gaytime" promotion while wandering around (mindlessly) in a nearby shopping centre some time ago. Yes, the Terms and Conditions text is a direct quote from the actual Terms and Conditions, under the Prizes subheading.
But can you imagine eating the same ice-cream product every day for the next 4 - 5 years? At least you won't have to worry about cooling off on a hot summer's day anymore. But eating ice-cream during winter might be problematic, unless you're a true fan of cold weather.

Splurging

As much as it shocks you, I do indeed spend money on non-compulsory luxuries from time to time. Most of the time, it's something small such as a pack of pork rinds or spicy peas. And sure, buying these things has no real future investment value, although I imagine the natural counter-argument would be just to work in the finance industry if you were solely aiming for returns on investment. So as it stands, at least there is some minimal joy in *gulps nervously and wipes sweat from forehead* spending money.

First-Time User Experience

As I happened to be searching the internet for affordable soft drinks, I happen to stumble across these well-known Australian purveyors of all things fizzy (i.e. they sell soft drinks). Oddly enough, the first few search results got me into these unusual situations after browsing around their respective sites for a bit. Interestingly, IGA have still left the misnamed "blckberry Ginger all" unaddressed, which either goes to show the unpopularity of IGA as a whole or the fact that nobody cares enough to do anything about it. Or maybe it is spelled correctly, but the product image is incorrect. I guess the mystery still continues...

Supply and Demand

You know that feeling: You're strolling around the supermarket, trying to look for something in particular and in one of the aisles, you notice an unusually large void of products on the shelf. It just so happens the product was on sale so everyone had the sudden urge to purchase a 375ml can of Pepsi. It also turns out you also had a craving for Pepsi not so long ago, but now you're left disappointed and parched, so now you'll have to settle down for one of those *shudders* alternative options, like L.A. Ice (is that brand still a thing these days?) or Thums Up (an interesting brand for all you cola connoisseurs out there).