A word on ethics

You may have been following news coverage of a terrible building collapse in Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza building housed five clothing factories as well as a bank and shops. The day before the collapse, inspectors had requested immediate evacuation after discovering large cracks in supporting columns. The bank and shops evacuated, but the garment factories continued production as usual.

More than 380 people have been confirmed dead, more than a thousand seriously injured and 900 more unaccounted for as rescue attempts have ceased. More than half the 3,122 people in the building were women, and some were children in a workers' creche in the building.

Australian clothing brands known to manufacture in Bangladesh include Target, Big W, Kmart, G-Star, Adidas, Duchamp and Cotton On. (My Big W 'work pants', aka pyjama pants, are made in Bangladesh.) Two brands known to be manufactured in the Rana Plaza are Mango and Benetton.

As a shopper and blogger of 'bargains' I feel dirty and complicit in the terrible working conditions that lead to such disasters. I've even commented uneasily about the conditions that enable super-cheap clothing. It's easy to take the moral high ground and say, "Well, I won't be shopping there any more!" or "I won't buy cheap clothes!" or "I'll only buy locally made clothes", but the situation is not that simple.

Some clothing companies deliberately obscure their supply chain so consumers won't know where the garments are made. Sometimes, they're not actively deceptive but simply don't know where the clothes are made because they rely on a network of contractors and subcontractors and don't always have a representative on the ground. Supply chains are really, really long – just see how many people it takes to produce a can of Coke.

Consumer pressure is mainly about making you feel good. It's unions, NGOs and governments who can more effectively agitate to prevent more such tragedies. For instance, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which remained the deadliest event in New York City until September 11, led to extensive labour law reform. Workers in Bangladesh have already been striking and picketing the Garment Makers' Association, with a list of five key demands for change. You can also sign a petition to help pressure the Bangladeshi government.

I will certainly be much more circumspect from now on about sharing bargain clothes with you. As I wrote, "Don't treat them disposably; wear them often and in the long term, as the building blocks of your wardrobe."

Grown-up lunch bags

Don't head off to work with your lunch in an old takeaway container in a plastic bag. What are you – a hobo?

Until 6 February, Kmart has some pretty jaunty neoprene adult lunch totes for $10. They zip up securely and have a carry handle. As well as being easy to carry should your work bag not be large enough to fit lunch in, they'd also be good for preventing those disastrous food-to-paper and food-to-fabric spillages.



There are also more rugged, manly-looking insulated lunch bags for $9 that look like miniature versions of those soft eskies you can get. They look as if they're meant for tradies to take onto construction sites. But I personally think they look pretty ugly.

Beanbags for peanuts

Everyone loves a beanbag! Seductively comfortable… yet nigh-impossible to get up with any dignity. Reading, listening to music, watching movies, bonging on… beanbags are great for many leisure activities.



Anyway, until 6 February Kmart has what it calls 'beanskins' in red, chocolate brown, purple and black, plus an '80s-looking leopard print, for $19. This doesn't include the beans, which are an additional $12 for 100L.

Even if you feel as if you're too sophisticated for a beanbag, they'd make an excellent gift for a kid or a share-housewarming present for a student about to head to uni.

Animal accessories

Round 2 of back-to-school catalogues has hit my letterbox, in case you missed it. Most of the same bargains are still there until the end of January. However, here are a couple more things that caught my eye:

Officeworks has novelty animal-shaped pencil sharpeners for 54c. A cute back-to-school gift, or just something silly to cheer yourself up on your own desk.

Kmart has rad kids' backpacks for $12 in the shape of either monkeys or owls, with googly eyes. I REPEAT, WITH GOOGLY EYES. I wish there was some excuse for me to carry such a backpack and still be respected by peers and employers, but there isn't, so I'll just move on.



And The Reject Shop has novelty animal-shaped paper clips in packs of 20 for $2. (Ignore the 'Gesture' variety.) Choose from crocodile, pig or rabbit, although the rabbit is my favourite because its haunch is incorporated into the curve of the paper clip.

Cheap skating for cheapskates

It's odd, but those little retro plastic skateboards must be back. When I was a kid in the '80s, they were deeply uncool and frowned-upon (you had to have a 'proper' deck with the sandpapery surface), but maybe things have changed.

At Kmart, 55cm Southern Star "retro cruiser" skateboards are $15. They seem to come in purple with blue wheels, red with green wheels or blue with red wheels.



Meanwhile at Big Dubs, Mambo skateboards in the same size and style are $20. They come in red, hot pink, orange and yellow, again with contrasting-coloured wheels. I guess you pay an extra $5 for the Mambo brand.

The style is apparently a ripoff of Penny, an Australian brand of plastic skateboards that's been around since 1983 and seems to have a fair bit of cachet in some skating circles.



Considering Penny boards cost upwards of $150, these are very cheap indeed.

Back to basics at Kmart

I love plain, block-colour cotton basic garments such as T-shirts and skirts. Of course I am troubled about the nightmarish exploitation of people and resources that enables the low, low prices at discount department stores. Don't treat them disposably; wear them often and in the long term, as the building blocks of your wardrobe.

Kmart's clothes are astoundingly cheap. Men's V-neck T-shirts are $4, "ultimate polo" shirts are $8 and "ultimate tee" shirts (round necked) are $5.50.

Meanwhile, women's tank top-style singlets are $4, with a high back and a scoop front. Women's V-neck T-shirts are also $4, while spaghetti-strap singlets with a shelf bra are $6. All these garments come in a great range of bright, summery plain colours, from the traditional white, red, black, navy and grey to interesting shades of blue, green, pink and purple.

Chicks: Kmart has stretch midi tube skirts (roughly knee-length, depending on your height) in plains and prints for $12 each, and mini tube skirts for $10. I own plain coloured skirts in both these lengths and get so much wear from them, except my mini skirts came from Cotton On and my knee skirts from Cocolatte.

If you have ambitions to look like a Robert Palmer video chick, Kmart also has what it calls "extreme mini skirts" in black for $5.

Dudes: want to go for a swim but forgot your bathers? At Kmart, $5 gets you a pair of plain board shorts in yellow, aqua, navy, emerald green or black, with contrasting-coloured drawstring waist. They have a roomy cut that sits just above the knee and they look much like regular shorts (unlike those ugly, juvenile 'surfwear' prints).

DVD bonanza

I have a policy never to spend more than $10 on a single DVD. I also only buy DVDs I'm happy to watch repeatedly. This means my DVD collection is surprisingly small for a professional film reviewer. Luckily for me and any other cheapskates, there are some good DVD bargains around until 16 January.

At Big W, TV shows on DVD are 2 for $50. These mainly include mainstream commercial procedural shows such as Rush, NCIS, Supernatural, Castle and The Mentalist, plus such guilty pleasures as Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Jersey Shore and the truly lamentable Geordie Shore. These same shows are either $29 or $35 at Kmart, so Big Dubs is your best bet if you're a fan.

However, the Big Dubs deal also includes some upscale costume dramas, such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey and Rome. Meanwhile at Kmart, such cult shows as Mad Men, Smash, The Walking Dead and Once Upon A Time are $35 for the most recent season.

Kmart's TV selection is depressingly Kardashian-heavy, but you can also pick up the original BBC Pride and Prejudice (essential comfort viewing; I start to relax even hearing the theme tune), the grim fourth season of Breaking Bad or season one or two of Community for $16.

For kids, and just fans of great animation, excellent films including the Toy Story cycle and Puss in Boots (which contained one of my favourite running gags of 2011) are just $16 at Kmart. It's also well worth forking out an extra $4 for Tangled at $20.

Kmart has relatively recent release movies for $16. These are mainly horrible crap such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Cowboys & Aliens and The Five-Year Engagement, but I wouldn't mind getting The Grey (aka Liam Neeson Punches Wolves). Also at Kmart are movies, including multi-packs, for $13. There are quite a few stinkeroos, but my picks include The Hunger Games and Abduction (the most inadvertently hilarious film of 2011!).

If you want to get cheaper, Kmart has movies for $9, my favourites of which include 21 Jump Street, Burlesque, Point Break, Step Up 3 (not Step Up 3D, as it was marketed in cinemas) and Easy A.

Big Dubs also has some fairly decent movies at 2 for $15. The ones that caught my eye – that I totally recommend as 'classic' investments – include GoodFellas, Mean Girls, Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightley – surprisingly great, even though I loathe Knightley as an actor), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 10 Things I Hate About You and Black Hawk Down.

If even $7.50 sounds like too much to lash out, there are even more movies at Big Dubs for just $5. The ones I like include The Crow, Lawrence of Arabia, The Virgin Suicides, Being John Malkovich, Boyz N The Hood, Secretary and Sleepless in Seattle.

Sizzling deal on cookware

Until 16 January at Kmart, you can get basically 50% off Tefal frying pans. These are very good quality pans – I got one for Christmas.

For instance, a 20cm So Tasty frypan is $17 (save $17), while a 32cm So Tasty frypan is $28 (save $26).

There's also a So Tasty wok pan for $25 (save $24), and a 30cm Envy frypan for $29 (save $29).

And the hard anodised pans (which is the kind I got for Christmas) are $25 for a 26cm pan (save $24), and $29 for a 30cm pan (save $30).

Back to school… for adults

Back-to-school season is now in full swing, and let me tell you, I've never felt better about not having to go to school any more. However, we can still take advantage of the bargains! If you like to wear polo shirts, grey, black or navy pants or white ankle socks, this is your time to shine.

Schools have made a massive move towards 'nude food' policies: kids have to bring their lunches in individual plastic containers that eliminate the need for lunch bags and wrap. I'm pretty sure this is because teachers hate having to supervise kids picking up litter in the playground. But you can use them to take your grown-up lunch to work.

At Kmart you can get Smash Nude Food Movers snack boxes and sandwich boxes, triple snack tubes or double snack tubes for $3 each.

Woolworths has all the Smash Nude products at half price. The sandwich box is the same price as at Kmart, but the snack box is only $1.99 and the double and triple snack tubes are only $2.49.

Woolies also has other products in the range, including a cube-shaped salad box for $3.99, a large meal box for $3.49, an "ice melt with chillout socks" for $3.49 and a hilarious "muffin pod" for $1.99.



Kmart has a range of aluminium drink bottles for $6. Good to have on your desk, clip to your bike or slip into your gym bag. Available til 16 January.

Are you a creative type who enjoys sketching or keeping a visual diary? Aldi has A4, 120-page visual diaries with covers in five different colours for $2.99. I'm not sure what quality the paper is, but for $3 I'd be happy to risk it.



Also at Aldi is a 200-sheet pack of coloured copy paper for $3.99. Officeworks probably has it cheaper, but what I like about this one is that each pack has 20 sheets in an assortment of ten different colours. It's perfect for small craft projects, or printing off just a few documents, or even – gasp! – writing a letter to someone.



The good thing about back-to-school footwear bargains is that the stores know parents prefer leather school shoes over synthetics, so you can get some decent shoes really cheaply. Big Dubs has some cool-looking Bata Scouts black leather sneakers, styled a bit like Chuck Taylors in men's sizes 6-12, for $30.

The ladies' ones are styled like hipster plimsolls; they look a bit too much like jazz-ballet shoes for my taste, but they're $30 too.

If you prefer good old Dunlop Volleys, but in a more durable material than canvas so it doesn't make a hole where your big toe sits, Big Dubs has men's and ladies' leather Volleys for $35.

And since 'back to school' clearly means fine literature, Big Dubs also has some hilariously titled books that almost seem to parody themselves – Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus ($27.99); Man Drought by Rachael Johns ($29.99); and The Girl in the Hard Hat by Loretta Hill ($32.95).



I am not especially into 'farm lit', or 'rural romance' as I hear it is more properly called, but I was curious about Snow White Must Die. Turns out it was not based on a fairytale but is a fairly standard-sounding detective novel, whose characters include Pia Kirchhoff, Oliver von Bodenstein and Tobias Sartorius.

Last-minute Christmas gifts under $30

If you are still looking for some last-minute gifts (especially for a not-very-close relative), Woolworths has some half-price beauty gift packs for $5! I quite like the look of the Floral Collection, which is some rose-scented hand and body wash, and matching lotion, with a pink rose-shaped object that might be a soap. (Actually, I investigated instore and it turns out it is a loofah thing for applying body wash in the shower.)

There's also a collection of eight mini nail polishes in a good range of colours, also for $5.

Kmart has women's summer pyjama sets for a ridiculous $5. The top is like a short-sleeved collared shirt, and the pants are 3/4 length. They come in powder blue with white spots, pink with white spots, or white with pink and blue butterflies. And they're sized from 8-10 to 20-22.

And if there's someone you know who takes long showers, you could give them the Bush Shower Radio from Big Dubs – $28. Presumably it's waterproof.

Kmart has some really nifty-looking kitchenware gifts for just $12. Choose from a stainless-steel pasta machine, a spice rack consisting of a sort of carousel with spots to put little round glass jars, a pizza stone with matching guillotine cutter, and a mortar and pestle. I'd go the mortar and pestle.

And if someone you know likes tea but says loose-leaf tea is too much of a drama, Kmart also has little 500ml ceramic teapots in red, white or black, with built-in infusers, for $5. I don't want to be one of those dipsticks in the ads roaming around the store marvelling at the low, low prices, but honestly I was astounded today to see quite nice, plain glass vases at Kmart for $2. I really worry about the conditions of satanic cruelty under which these products must be manufactured.

Did you know that you can buy Bunnings gift cards at Coles? This might be handy if, like me, you have a Coles within walking distance but no Bunningses for miles. Nasty Bunningses!



You probably don't want to buy these, but did you know there are board game versions of The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family? These are $28 from Big Dubs.

Catalogue browsing, Storified

Tonight when I got home, there was a thrilling sheaf of junk mail in my letterbox. Rather than go through it specifically looking for bargains, I decided just to tweet the interesting things that occurred to me while reading the catalogues, which were for Ishka, Kmart, Woolworths, Coles and Big W.

Read my ridiculous thoughts over at Storify.

Mother's Day

Junk Mail Bargains, vol. 1. As regular readers of this blog would know, I love reading the junk mail. From time to time I like to tip off people I know about the interesting products on sale at major retailers, and today I thought, "Maybe I should do this in a more organised way."

But if you know me, you know that an irregular blog post on the subject is as about as organised as I am prepared to be.

Anyway – Mother's Day is coming up soon, which is great because it is a rich source of Freelance Work Clothes, or as other people might call them, 'sleepwear'. Here are some other interesting bargains this week:

A while ago I realised Garnier has a BB cream. This stands for "blemish balm" and is some next-level tinted moisturiser that also contains a primer and sunscreen. I associated BB creams with insane Korean makeup – my book club buddy Helen gave me a sample of a brand she uses and it made me look as if someone had run an airbrush over my nasty pink skin, which as you know is a great source of angst to me.

Anyway, if you would like to try this kind of moisturiser for a low-stakes price, Garnier's Miracle Skin Perfector is currently on special at Coles for $9 and at Kmart for slightly less, $8.50. Woolworths also has it on special with 30% off, but that only works out to $9.76 so Kmart wins.

Also at Coles (BUT IMPORTANTLY: NOT ALL COLESES) you can get two pairs of women's leggings for $8. That's cheaper than tights, and as Ned Stark liked to say, winter is coming. They come in full length, lace trim or 3/4 length, but importantly you can only get them at the deep-suburban barn-like stores. They are not available at the following stores that you may actually visit: Melbourne Central, Spencer Street, Fitzroy, Richmond, Port Melbourne, St Kilda. However they might be at Barkly Square, South Melbourne or Prahran.

Julian Fellowes' Titanic miniseries, just screened in the UK and US to mediocre reviews and nicknamed Drownton Abbey, will be available from next Monday at Kmart for $29.95. This may only interest me, as I am still in the grip of Titanic Re-Obsession 2012.

Women's freelance work pants (aka pyjama pants) are at Big W for $3, an even better price than $5, which is how much I paid for two pairs back in March. They probably only have them in boring colours such as grey and black now, but they are great pants and I wear them every day.

There are also women's "sleep sweaters" at Big W for $9.94, which would be a nice long-sleeved work top for winter, and men's or ladies' fleece-lined boots at $7.48, which I highly endorse as I bought some this time last year and wear them all the time. My pro tip: if they get a bit stinky you can put a tablespoon of baking soda in there, rub it in, leave for a while and then shake or even vacuum out. These are not actual sheepskin slippers, but Big Dubs also sells real leather ones for $25 – a saving of $9.96.

Big W has men's flannies for $7 but hold off, because they are actually cheaper at Ray's Outdoors, where they are $5.99.

Myer has a decent Revlon gift-with-purchase if you spend $40 – which is easy to do on a foundation or something. The 'Sweet Look' option is my favourite: you get a black eyeliner pencil, a four-colour eyeshadow palette (mid-brown, chocolate, beige and pink), a mascara, a lipstick in a berry-pink colour and a candy-pink nail polish, all in a beige zip-up makeup bag. With the 'Intense Look' option the bag, eyeshadow and nail polish are purple and there's a lip-liner and lip gloss instead of the lipstick and eyeliner.

There's also a nice range of teacups at Myer – with 25% off Maxwell and Williams their 'Kimono' teapot is now $29.95 and a cup, saucer and plate trio is $18.65. There's also an introductory offer on Royal Albert where the 'Country Roses' trio is $34.95 (it'll be $49.95 after the offer ends).

And there are some seriously jaunty retro-inspired Kenwood kitchen appliances that come in agreeably bright colours including yellow, orange, magenta, aqua and green, and have rounded deco lines.

At Dick Smith you can get a Belkin jogging armband for your iPod or iPhone (useful if you like to listen to music or are doing Couch to 5K) for $19.95, which includes a bonus set of sports hook earphones designed not to fall out.

A turntable and radio with a built-in speaker is half price at Dick Smith – $34. This probably won't satisfy audiophiles but is great for the casual vinyl listener. Probably cheaper than most records.

Also, if you are paranoid about security at your home and would like to deter burglars, at Dick Smith you can get a fake dome-mounted security camera for $19.95 (save $5!) It has a realistic look and a flashing red LED light.

At Autobarn, you can buy – and I wish I were joking – eyelashes for your car's headlights to make it look like a GIRL CAR. Allegedly they are "the latest craze in car fashion" and cost $19.99. "Also available: car eyeliner." Why do I feminism?