Can't boot this bargain

At Big Dubs right now you'll pay $9.94 for rain boots for the whole family! Men unfortunately only get your bog-standard black knee-high gumboots, but women and kids get ankle boots in a jaunty array of colours.

The women's boots are pictured above (I think the yellow ones are my favourite); they come in sizes 6-10. Kids' boots come in lime green, purple, orange, cobalt blue and yellow, in sizes 10-3.

It might still be boiling hot, but soon enough it'll be raining and you'll suddenly find a hole in your shoe and wish you had taken advantage of this bargain.

Invest in cast-iron cookware

Aldi has a six-piece cast-iron cook set for $69.99. It includes a 9-quart camp oven with a wire handle, 3-quart saucepan and wire base, 12-inch skillet, 2-burner BBQ hotplate, 43cm lid-lifting stick and a wooden chest to keep it all in. Holy shit it is heavy.



It's designed for use in open fires while camping, but honestly I love cast-iron cookware and find it very hard to buy cheaply. I get so much use out of my skillet, which Sandor gifted me as a cherished heirloom from Donald Street. It's the same pan in which my housemate Matt used to make his patented meal, 'skillet'.

If you'd like to know how to rejuvenate old, rusted cast-iron cookware, here's a good step-by-step guide.

Music festival essentials

At Ray's Outdoors they are selling 26L plastic party drinks tubs for 2 for $10 – convenient for spring/summer/seasonal parties.

They also have 30% off gumboots – snap some up ahead of Meredith for $23.99. Patterns include bright red, grey paisley, grey and pink argyle, brown leopard, purple pink and blue circles and blue tartan.

And 1.8m beach umbrellas in jaunty stripes are just $6.95. I wonder if you could also use them on your outdoor table or balcony.