Interior stylist Emma Blomfield provides her top five tips to make your house feel like a home without breaking the bank. Careful planning allows you to add character and cosiness to your space and keeps you on track budget wise.  1 – REFRESH YOUR WALL PAINT  If you’re happy with the bones of your home but you’ve grown tired of your colour scheme think about a fresh coat of paint for your walls, trims and doors. You’ll be surprised how …

Celebrating your new home is a piece of cake with these tips from the experts. Bill Granger is an Australian chef and food writer, loved by family cooks and sophisticated foodies alike for his relaxed style and fresh local ingredient-led dishes The best celebrations are relaxed ones. Your guests are coming to see you as well as your new home so you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen. If you serve something simple that can be …

Growing a small container or raised bed herb garden makes it easy to grab a handful of basil for a pasta, a sprig of rosemary to sprinkle over potatoes, or pick a few chillies to spice up a curry.  Creating a DIY herb garden can be easy and I’m going to give you some information that will hopefully convince you to spice up your home and grow an herb garden.  One of the main reasons I love growing herbs is …

OLDER PROPERTY  Pros  One of the main advantages of buying an established home is that you know what you’re getting. Any defects should show up in a building inspection report, giving you an accurate picture to help you make better investment decisions. Knowing whether you need to factor any repairs or maintenance into your budget, gives you greater clarity.  When you buy an older established home, you’re not just buying the house, you’re also buying in the neighbourhood. This can …

Jessica Yun, Yahoo Finance Australian businesses lost $128 million by falling victim to fake payment emails last year as the financial damage of scams continues to escalate. False billing scams were the most common scam reported by small businesses, with this scam making up three quarters of all losses to businesses. But it was a specific type of fake billing scam, called payment redirection scams or business email compromise scams, that hit small businesses hardest. In these scams, the cyber-criminal will …

Our friends in the Carbon Landscapes team have been taking a roll-call of the native species living happily on the land at Talopea Downs, the biodiversity sanctuary First Option supports directly with our Environmental Rewards credit card program.  Some of the species at Talopea Downs are already gone from nearby Wyperfeld National Park. These include one recent discovery, Rosenbergs Goanna which is formally classified as ‘threatened’, as well as seriously cute critters like the Little Pygmy Possum and the one …