Kishkash Entertainment is a Melbourne based, family owned, independent on-line retailer of CDs, DVDs, Blue-ray, games, books and vinyl. They offer an extensive range of DVDs from all genres including all the latest television shows. Games are stocked for an extensive range of consoles such as PS3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PCs, and Nintendo DS.

From my experience KishKash's DVDs are very competitively priced. They have the added bonus of free delivery on all items and aim to dispatch from Melbourne within 48 hours of ordering. All DVDs are Region 4. The DVDs I've ordered have all arrived in Brisbane within 3 or 4 days of order. Unfortunately Kishkash's website appears to have a bit of a glitch and sometimes fails to load subsequent pages of a search. As they also sell on eBay you can overcome this problem by undertaking your searches there.

After comparing prices on-line I purchased an adjustable height keyboard bench from Artist Guitars. The purchase price was considerably less than any other on-line retailer and the quality of the product was excellent. Even my two boys, who are infamous for the damage they can cause, have been unable to break this bench which is rated as "normal duty". It's just perfect for our Casio keyboard which is on an adjustable stand. The keyboard bench was delivered from Sydney to Brisbane freight free and arrived in a matter of days. I couldn't have been happier with the service.

Approximate cost: $32.00

My survey is one of the better survey sites around. The number of surveys received varies, although as an indicator, in the last month I've made 3 PayPal claims of $5.00 each. I love the fact that payment is so prompt and made within 7 days of redemption. Unfortunately it's only recently dawned on me that it's the mini polls that give you the prize entries. To maximize your chances of winning in the quarterly draw it's worth logging in every couple of days to check if there's a new poll.

Another incentive to regular participation is the loyalty scheme. A Bronze member with 500 points goes into a prize draw for a $100 Myer gift card. A Silver member with 2000 points receives a bonus 5% on all surveys and goes into the draw for an iPad and a Myer's gift card. Gold members, at 5000 points, receive an additional 7.5% on all surveys and in addition to the iPad and gift card, can also win an ounce of gold. Finally, a platinum member has in excess of 10,000 points. They receive a 10% bonus on surveys, and together with the other prizes, are also eligible to win a year's payment of gas, electricity and water bills. They're certainly great incentives to participate.

What may have initially begun as a women's fashion store has morphed over the years into school uniform shop. Located in the Save City Shopping Centre, Maureen's Fashions is a small store crammed full of school uniforms and sportswear. For sale are uniforms for specific schools within the general area, for example Balmoral State High School, together with generic items such as black and grey school shorts. There's always a $5.00 bargain bin where you'll find named brand items, such as King Gee shorts. School socks, hats and other related wares are also sold. From time to time you'll also pick up great specials such as extra large school tunics at a price much less than that charged at the school.

If thousands of junky products that break within 5 minutes of buying them is your thing, then the Gold Coin Shop at Cannon Hill would appeal to you. Located in the shell of the former Coco's supermarket, the Gold Coin Shop is minimalist in its style and design. Goods are displayed on trestle tables on a bare concrete floor.

The Cold Coin shop is divided into two halves. In one half are items that are all $1.00 each. These range from sunglasses to soap and fake flowers to CD racks. They have an extensive range of crockery and glasses, together with an innumerable number of cooking utensils. You can pick up a baseball cap for $1.00 or a pair of thick, warm winter socks for the same price.

The other half of the store has slightly higher quality items. It's here that you will find a rather eclectic range of gifts. My children seem always drawn to the Japanese swords, much to my dismay.

Approximate cost: $1.00

It's always both an inspiration and a pleasure to go to Sewco Sewing and Patchwork at Mt Gravatt. The first thing that hits you when you enter the store is the massive array of sewing, overlocking and embroidery machines down the centre of the store. As authorized dealers for Babylock, Bernina, Brother, Husqvarna Viking, Janome, Pfaff and Singer, they have an immense quantity of machines in stock. Unlike many other fabric stores they have lots of high end models on display. It's not unusual, therefore, to see an embroidery machine costing over $5,000.00. This doesn't mean that entry level mechanical machines aren't available as you'll always find a basic Janome for $299.00 or less.

At the rear of the store a variety of classes are being constantly held. Details of these are available from Sewco's website. I'm always pleased to see young people sewing there during school holidays. It goes to show that sewing isn't a dying art after all!

Bayside StitchCraft is a mecca for sewers and quilters. Conveniently located in a small plaza with lots of parking right outside the door, StitchCraft has an extensive range of fabrics for both quilting and sewing. They are authorized dealers for Janome, Pfaff, Bernina, Husqvarna Vicking, Singer, and Brother. Unlike the large franchised fabric stores, Bayside StitchCraft has an enormous range of machines from each of these brands in stock and on show. For the first time ever I was able to see (in the flesh) the Janome Memory Craft machine that I'm interested in, together with 20 to 30 other models. The staff are extraordinarily helpful and will spend copious amounts of time with you discussing the machines. As sewers themselves, they give an honest oversight on the pros and cons of the various machines.

Bayside StitchCraft also provide servicing for machines and on-going support for purchasers of their products in the form of numerous workshops. These classes, for which customers pay a very reasonable price, are held in an upstairs mezzanine level of the store. To assist the disabled and elderly the store has installed a chair lift up to the class room area. Classes start from as low as $10.00 for a 2.5 hour Introduction to Machine Embroidery. A full day Overlocker Workshop is only $45.00. Details of classes are available on StitchCraft's website. If you've ever wanted to expand or refresh your sewing skills, Bayside Stitchcraft is the place to go.

If you're looking for good quality, discounted fruit then the Cleveland Discount Fruit Barn lives up to its name. Located next to Coles in Stockland, the Fruit Barn is a massive oasis of fruit and veggies in an otherwise concrete jungle.

Aside from everyday great prices on fruit, the food barn offers weekly specials at extraordinary prices. Last Wednesday and Thursday, for example, Seedless Watermelon was on sale for 49c per kg whole and Farm Fresh Large Celery for 99c a bunch. On Thursday Cavenish Bananas were just 49c per kg and Lebanese Bread was 99c per packet. There's a happy hour every Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. where prices are slashed on produce and there are also giveaways. The fruit and veggies are always fresh and enticing and the staff friendly. Cleveland Discount Fruit Barn is certainly worth a visit.

The Music Shop is a brilliant Brisbane based independent on-line music store. With over 30 years experience in music retailing The Music Shop endeavours to ship all items on the day of order. I've bought a number of CDs from them over the years and have never had to wait more than two days for delivery! Delivery charges are quite reasonable at $4.95 for the first CD and $1.00 for each CD thereafter.

The Music Shop regularly dispatches emails to clients outlining their latest specials. At present there's a nothing over $10.00 CD sale, with over 550 CDs on offer. Artists range from David Bowie to Sherbet and Eric Clapton to Neil Young.

The Music Shop also sells an extensive range of DVDs, DVD box sets, Blue-Ray and vinyl. They also have plenty of specials that are $5.00 and under. If you're looking for that special CD or DVD The Music Shop is a brilliant destination.

Lamb Island is the second smallest of the four Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI). Located not much more than a stone's throw from the much larger Macleay Island, Lamb Island is only 2km long and 1km wide. Akin to the other SMBI it is accessible only by passenger ferry or vehicular barge. Access to a convenience store is therefore vital to the residents and visitors to Lamb Island.

The Lamb Island Convenience Store very much reminds me of the kiosks one finds at the larger caravan parks. There's a little bit of everything for sale, but nothing in large quantities. You can pick up the band aids you need for your cut knee, the mossie coils to keep the biters away, and the sauce to quickly make up your curry dinner. The daily newspapers and ice-creams are available and you can quickly snack on a meat pie from the oven. Other take-away meals can be bought and eaten in the beautifully shaded area in front of the store.

In the lush grounds of the store is a flower shop which was not open at the time of my visit but appears to operate on weekday mornings and on weekends. It looks very inviting and will certainly warrant another visit to the island. What I found incredibly community minded was the table outside of the flower shop. On the table was a large selection of very good quality second-hand clothes with a sign saying "FREE". Community spirit appears very much alive on Lamb Island.