Accident on Princes Freeway near Kororoit Creek Road stopping traffic heading south

Just passed an accident on Princess Freeway near the Kororoit Creek Road turn off. Heading south on the freeway the traffic was at a standstill. Heading north the traffic is also at a standstill. Took over half an hour to move past the accident.





Best to avoid this section of the freeway for a while. Keep an eye on Google maps to make sure the road is clear.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLoca.com.au

New Manningham rubbish bins come with a hidden surprise.

The other day I had to wash out my new rubbish bin and noticed something I'd not seen before on the old bin.

Under the front lip of the bin I found an unusual round object that seemed out of place. A little investigation revealed this was an RFID tag made by HID.

RFID tags like these enable an organisation to better manage their assets. They also make it easier for organisations to collect information. Garbage trucks could easily measure things such as the weight of each bin and record the information for later use.

There is no good or bad inherent in using technology. It really depends on how the information is used.

Not sure really why councils would not openly let residents know their new bins now contain RFID tags as this is a useful feature for councils.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

SEO Company Melbourne site now removed but the SEO Value Calculator lives on.

Some time ago I created an SEO Value Calculator. The aim of the calculator was to let people know the value of a position in Google search results. That way people could determine if paying for SEO services was worth it or not. Many people pay a lot of money on SEO only to find little to no results.

SEO, or search engine optimisation does work, but you have to be very careful. If you're optimising your site for words people don't search for, you can easily be wasting your time and money. Equally you could be optimising your site where competition is fierce and you'll never get to the first page, again a waste of time and money. Often the cost of SEO services can far exceed the value to the client.

I've now moved the SEO Value Calculator under my JustLocal site since it is still a valuable tool that helps me to help myself and others on a regular basis. You can find the SEO Value Calculator at www.JustLocal.com.au/clients/seovaluecalculator/.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au/clients/seovaluecalculator/

Can't access Facebook when using Vodafone as hotspot. Error Safari Can't Find the Server.

I recently set up a mobile phone as a hotspot for some friends who were here from overseas. They could then connect their mobile phones to the hotspot to connect to the services they wanted to use. This avoided using expensive mobile data.

One thing I found which didn't work was Facebook. They could access anything they wanted on the internet including Facebook Messenger, but they could not access Facebook using www.facebook.com.

Testing the mobile phone hotspot using a MacBook Air, I would receive the following error message.

As you can see, even though I was typing www.Facebook.com, this would redirect to the site https://web.facebook.com. I tested this URL connecting via an ADSL service and went to the Facebook site www.facebook.com.

Further testing showed the problem wasn't with Vodafone, or Facebook, but the quite old Huawei mobile phone running Android 2.2.2. The Vodafone SIM in a newer Huawei mobile with Android 5.1, allowed access to Facebook when used as a hotspot.

A final tip. If you find yourself in this position and need access to your Facebook, use m.facebook.com to access the mobile version of Facebook. That website address worked around the problem.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Standard Drink Calculator for Australia

My latest web app is the Standard Drink Calculator. I wrote this calculator as I feel it is important for myself and others to have an idea as to how much alcohol is in their drinks. In addition I've added two extra pieces of information.

The first is how long it will take for your body to process and remove the alcohol from your body. The second is an indication as to how long it will be before an average person returns to 0.05.

These figures are just guides and it is important for people if they are in doubt in any way, they should error on being conservative and not drink and drive.

Hopefully others will find the calculator to be useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.StandardDrinkCalculator.com.au

Lock in unleaded petrol for 112.9

Just came back from Sydney and whilst there I wondered if the 7 Eleven app would allow me to lock in the price of petrol in Sydney. The price around the city using the app was 115.9, but I worked out if I waited until I reached the airport, the price would be 112.9.

Arrived at the airport, and about an hour before the plane was to leave, checked the price of petrol. Yes. The price was 112.9. Locked in the price for the next week. Sure beats the local prices in the mid 130- 140 range.

Never expected I'd be able to take advantage of the different petrol price cycles in Sydney and Melbourne. A very pleasant surprise.

If you're travelling around Melbourne, or even interstate, make sure you check the price of petrol and take advantage of the large discounts that may be available using the 7 Eleven app.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

How big a mortgage will rent payments cover?

The thought came to mind that if someone was renting a property, how much of a mortgage could a person have that they would cover by the rent payments.

I've now added a calculator to Mortgage Repayment Calculator where people can enter their rent payment and determine the mortgage the rent will pay for.

For example, say you're paying $400 per week to rent an apartment. If you take out a mortgage over 30 years, paying 5% interest, the rental amount of $400 per week will cover a mortgage of $323,110.

You can go direct to the calculator at https://www.justlocal.com.au/mortgagerepaymentcalculator/rent.php.

Kelvin Eldridge
Mortgage Repayment Calculator

Country petrol prices currently cheaper than Melbourne petrol prices. Go figure!

We went for a drive yesterday and since I'd locked in petrol at 115.9 at 7 Eleven, my intention was to fill up in Geelong. However as we approached Geelong the price was 118.9. I bought E10 at a United for 116.9 and decided to keep the 7 Eleven discount until later in the week. The price in Melbourne is around 139.9.

Often when we leave for a trip to the regional or country areas the first thing we do is make sure the tank is filled up, or at least that's what I used to do. Now I check where I'm going and see if there's cheaper petrol along the way if the prices have recently peaked.

This is the second time in as many months. First in Bairnsdale in January and now in Geelong. In fact most of the south west part of Victoria has prices around 10 cents per litre lower than Melbourne.

The old habit of filling up before leaving home on a long trip is now something to reconsider. Yes it's convenient to fill up before leaving, but if you have to make a special trip to fill up, perhaps check the petrol prices in the towns you'll be travelling through. Stopping along the way is a good time to stretch the legs and you may save some money as well.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Petrol prices in Melbourne are spiking to 139.9. Time to fill up.

Noticed this afternoon petrol prices for unleaded petrol have spiked to 139.9. Time to fill up.

If you're lucky, prices as low as 109.3 at Caltex in Hampton Park, (throw in a discount voucher for another 4 cents off). Costco Moorabbin have petrol for 107.7. In the Noble Park area you can find petrol down around the 110 mark.

I'd previously locked in 112.9 at 7/11 and filled up today. Locked in 115.9 for the next week at 7/11 should I need to fill up again. So if you're using the 7/11 app, lock in your petrol at the cheapest 7/11 you go past.

Each day I publish prices of petrol in my area around Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham, so for those interest in prices in that area, check out www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Mortgage Offset Account can add 10s of thousands of dollars of interest to a home loan.

Recently I wrote a Facebook post letting my family and friends know about the Mortgage Repayment Calculator. One person made a comment on having a mortgage offset account. The first tip on the Mortgage Repayment Calculator is about a mortgage offset account. I have to say I've always been a fan of a mortgage offset account to help reduce the amount of interest paid. However, I now realise my knowledge is dated.

When I had a home loan the mortgage offset account was a new feature and from my recollection was simply part of the loan. There was no additional cost. I now notice loans are offered in a range of packages with different interest rates. The mortgage offset account isn't offered on the base rate, but on a higher rate package. The higher rate package has an interest rate of 0.5% or more, greater than the base rate.

I plugged the $600,000 loan, 30 year, 5% interest rate figures into the Mortgage Repayment Calculator which results in total interest of $559,534.71. If I add 0.5% for an interest rate of 5.5% the total interest becomes $626,424.24. That's a considerable additional interest cost of $66,889.53.

If I check the base rate loans from a couple of banks the redraw facility is free on the base rate meaning you still have access to extra money paid into your loan should it be needed.

For those looking at a home loan, it is important to determine the costs of features you may or may not use. An informed decision is often a better decision.

Kelvin Eldridge
Mortgage Repayment Calculator

How much do you save paying a little extra each month on your mortgage?

Those following this blog will recall I recently created the Mortgage Repayment Calculator. As usual, when you do one thing it often leads to another. In this case I couldn't help wondering how much do people save if they pay a little extra off their mortgage each month.

I've now added an additional page to the Mortgage Repayment Calculator (https://www.justlocal.com.au/mortgagerepaymentcalculator/payment.php), when you want to enter in how much to pay, to see the effect on how much more quickly the loan will be paid off and how much it saves in interest.

Using an example of a $600,000 loan over 30 years at 5%, if you pay say an extra 10% each month, the loan is paid off five years earlier with a saving of around $100,000 in interest. That's a pretty big saving.

In any case, if doing some what-if calculations appeals to you, you now have a tool that may assist.

Kelvin Eldridge
Mortgage Repayment Calculator