I enjoy going to Spud's Fuel Stop for my weekly fuel-up. This little service station is a little bit out of the way so it's never too busy. The staff are always friendly and smile and don't badger me to buy extras. The service station supports local non for profit clubs through competitions. You can redeem Coles discount dockets for both petrol and gas.

If you want second grade strawberries at an extremely reasonable price, go to Green Valley Strawberries. They sell 500 gram punnets of seconds from the packing shed door for just $2 a punnet!!!
They are bursting with flavour because they are ripe to eat immediately compared to first grade strawberries that are picked a little earlier to get a greater shelf life in the supermarkets.
This is the cheapest place to buy strawberry seconds that I've ever found. You have to keep an eye out for their A-frame strawberry sign on the edge of the road. If it's out, you can come in and buy strawberries. If it's not out, better luck next time.

A friend invited me to the Olive Branch Cafe today and I was most impressed! The cafe is open and airy with plenty of tables and chairs as well as comfy sofas. They are extremely kid friendly with an enclosed playpen, very reasonably priced kids meals and drinks and food prep and crafty kids activities. My hot chocolate was so nice - hot milk with chunks of couverture chocolate which melted as I stirred! Delicious muffin and my daughter loved the kids home made chicken breast nuggets and chips. I'll definitely be back!

I LOVE this bookshop! The shelves are always full of quality second hand books at amazingly cheap prices. They are well ordered in sections and the staff are very happy to help if you can't find what you want. Apart from books I've seen old records, jigsaw puzzles and other forms of media there for sale. All proceeds go to OXFAM so you have an extra good reason to buy lots!

Approximate cost: $20 cents and up

My daughter has recently started Occasional Care at this Kindy and she and I love it! The staff are friendly, clearly love kids and treat them with respect. The building is well laid out and clean with lots of different play areas and equipment. Outside, there are a playground, sandpit, built in metal musical instruments and gardens. Occasional Care is available to children from 2 to 4 years of age for just $5 for a 3 hr session on a Monday morning or afternoon. (It's cheaper if you have a Health Care Card or are bringing more than one child at a time.) Suzie who runs the Occasional Care sessions is such a lovely lady and engages the children so well. She gives good feedback to parents on how their children are progressing and developing under her care. My daughter has grown in confidence and social skills and loves going. It's a great way for her to get used to the Kindy and staff before she starts going there as a 4 yr old.

I wasn't happy with my previous doctor's clinic and changed to this clinic. What a difference! Compared with the large, commercialised feel of my previous doctor's clinic, this clinic is small with a welcoming feel. The doctors actually listen to our concerns and wishes instead of sending you out of the door with a script. They refer you to other medical personnel as required. When I had a concern, my doctor returned my phone call promptly and gave me advice. The waiting room has an aquarium and plenty of children's toys. Importantly, the reception staff are friendly, smile and treat you like a valued client. Fees are about the same as anywhere else.

My 3 yr old daughter has been getting her fringe cut by the girls at Cindy's since she was 2. They're great with her and she enjoys coming to have her hair cut. I have never been charged more than $10 for cutting her fringe, a task that takes up to 15 mins. Friends tell me that Cindy's is the cheapest in town, which is why I went there in the first place. The staff are friendly and happy at all times and there are toys for my daughter to play with while she waits for her turn.

Approximate cost: $cheap

If you want top quality meat at a regular butcher price, go to Max Noskes! Not only does Max Noskes sell excellent fresh meats but they produce their own smallgoods and hams. Their Christmas hams are highly sought after and you won't get anything like it in the supermarkets. Good old fashioned customer service completes it for me.

SMJ Automotives are a small business who service petrol and gas systems. They have been able to service our car's gas system when nobody else in the area could because our car has a less common Romano gas system. They went out of their way to get the software required to do the gas service. More recently, they have been involved in trying to work out what's wrong with our car when Duttons have failed to do so. When you ring or come in, you speak directly to the mechanics and they talk in laypersons terms about how a car's engine works and how a fault with one car part can affect the running of another. They look you in the eye and are good honest down to earth blokes who don't charge the earth for their services. I wish we had found them earlier!

There has been a long standing problem with our Holden which we have tried to get fixed by Duttons. After spending a great deal of money and replacing lots of parts, the petrol engine was supposed to be running fine, leaving a problem with the gas system. They referred us back to the gas repair place telling us that a specific part was not working. The gas repair place ordered in that part and went to install it only to find that the part in question was not faulty at all. In fact there is still a problem with the petrol system that Duttons had not found.
While doing repairs, they accidentally damaged an unrelated car part which meant that they had to order in a replacement part to fix their damage.
I dislike the fact that when dealing with Duttons, you have to talk to a receptionist without mechanical knowledge rather than speaking directly to the mechanic. In fact on one occasion when I called up to ask questions about the repair, a mechanic answered the phone and said he would find out answers to my questions only to direct me back to the reception desk.
At the end of the day, we've spent a lot of money fixing problems and replacing parts but the problem is still not fixed. We're not going back to Duttons.

Approximate cost: $thousands!