Blog Marco

About a month ago I wrote a short article about Parramatta parking. Now I'll tackle the more important Sydney car parking. Sydney has really expensive parking. The average cost of parking a car in Sydney's CBD is $733 a month, making it the fifth most expensive city in the world according to property researcher Colliers International's annual parking rate survey. (The City of London was the most expensive at $US1,020 ($A1,281). , followed by London's West End at $US955 ($A1,199) a month and Amsterdam at $US805 ($A1,011). America's most expensive area was Manhattan in New York, with a median monthly rate of $US550 ($A690). Anyway, point is: if you don't plan ahead - parking your car in Sydney can be an expensive experience.

Car Parking in Sydney or Public Transport?

Most office workers choose to catch the train. They park their cars in the morning at the commuter car parks and jump on a train (or use light rail or ferry). If you Park'n'Ride saves petrol, the frustration of getting stuck in Sydney traffic as well as saving you money on the price of parking in the city. So if you have the choice and can forgo the comfort, avoid driving to the city and parking your car there.

Have you ever had a bad smell cause you a headache or even a migraine? Well it did for me today. I was waiting in line at the post office today when a woman walked by with the most awful stench I've ever smelled. It's worse than the worst fart. It was worse than smelling gas or petrol vapours at the petrol station. The smell was so smelly I would classify it worse than rotten eggs, rotting fish or even driving by a decomposing garbage dump. Have a shower woman! (Or at least use deodorant)

The smell emanating from this woman was so powerful that even though she only spent about 10 seconds in the vicinity, the smell hung around for a long time. It made me gag and I noticed the other people waiting in the line rolling their eyes, coughing and covering their noses.

It's instances like this that make me a believer of aromatherapy. Therapy from smells. Bad smells can make you feel sick - even giving you headaches. Good smells from different oils can influence mood. Or so the theory says.

Join the latest craze! Instead of wearing a sexy bikini consider wearing a Burqini this Summer beach season. With in-built SPF50+ protection, this modest swimsuit for any lady, woman or girl, you won't need to worry about sunscreen. (except for the exposed facial part). Made with polyester, it is chlorine, water repellent and quick drying.

Aheda Zanetti is the Australian inventor of this modest swimsuit, humbly called a Burqini (a play on the word bikini). The leg and head covering polyester swimsuit was brought to market in 2003 and is highly controversial in many countries. The swimsuit was banned in most countries before being accepted. For example, the burqini was initially banned in the UK, The Netherlands Germany, Sweden and Austria before being approved. More recently, a 35-year-old French woman was banned from her local swimming pool after wearing the swimsuit. Business is booming for the burqini as Muslim and non-Muslim women seek a conservative approach in their swimwear.

Want to start living frugally? A part of smart frugal living is utilising free services provided by your government. Most developed countries would have many local, state and national libraries accessible to anyone. Your taxes pay for them, why not use their services? Don't have a library card? Get one! Stop watching TV, go and visit your local library. This article is a part of the Frugal Living series. Where we look at how to set up frugal budget setting.

A part of Frugal living is about making the most of free services. And you local library is a free service which depending on what your local library decide to have on loan can get you free access to:

• movies on DVD(educational and blockbusters)
• books (duh?!)
• music CDs
• magazines (find one on a topic you're interested in from knitting to current affairs or even travel and cars)
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Submitted by Marco on Thu, 13/08/2009 - 1:10pm.