Lifestyle
A day in the life of Joanne's Citro card
One ordinary day. One smart card. Over $1,500 received in cashback. Here’s how Joanne’s building her savings, one transaction at a time.
By Bron Maxabella
Meet Joanne. She’s a newly retired professor in Sydney who’s dedicated half of her life to her passion: teaching English as a second language. Joanne retired last year and this year she’s filling her calendar with interesting activities she’s never tried before.
For the past few months, she’s found new purpose volunteering with a local women’s shelter with some of her former colleagues. She’s also taken up yoga and is dabbling in crafty hobbies like crocheting, calligraphy and jewellery making – you name it, Joanne has signed up for it!
She also does strength training every other day to keep her balance and mobility going strong. She and her husband, Victor, are also busy with their 2 dogs and 3 grandchildren. Yes, they’ve joined the ranks of ‘grandcarers’, minding the kids a few days a week while their daughter is at work. Both find looking after young kids exhausting, but ultimately satisfying. Joanne knows that without their support, her daughter wouldn’t be able to continue on with her career. It matters a great deal to her that she does.
Okay, so at this point I need to tell you that Joanne is actually a character I made up based on many of our Citro customers. Sorry, but fictitious Joanne is the quickest way to introduce you to one of our many ‘typical’ Citro cardholders. I want to show you how easy it is to use your Citro Card each day to buy what you need and put real money back into your pocket or into your super (your choice).
To give you an idea, here’s how Joanne used her Citro Card last Friday.
Morning
- Makes coffee for Victor and herself and is reminded she needs to order a new bag of Vittoria Coffee Cinque Stelle beans online (8% cashback = $4.84)
- Gets ready for the day, using her Dyson Airstrait (2% cashback = $14.58)
- Heads out for her morning walk with the dogs and grandkids and realises she really needs to replace her trainers – once home she finds a special boosted Citro offer from Nike and buys her new Nike Motiva SEs online (6% cashback (usually 2%) = $10.80)
Morning cashback = $30.22
Lunchtime
- Victor makes lunch for everyone using a recipe from their HelloFresh box ($7 cashback)
- Cleans up after lunch using Who Gives a Crap paper towels, dishclothes and garbage bags (1% cashback = $0.43)
- Gives the floors a quick vacuum using her new Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute vacuum (2% cashback = $14.98)
Lunchtime cashback = $22.41
Cashback so far = $52.63
Afternoon
- Attends her ClassBento Jewellery Making class while Victor takes the grandchildren to the park (5% cashback = $7.50)
- Once the kids have been collected, books a longed-for Outback By Air Outback Classic tour (5% cashback = $1,530)
- Books flights to Sydney with Virgin Australia (1.25% cashback = $7)
- Uses Booking.com to book a couple of nights accommodation and hire car in Sydney before the trip (3% cashback = $17.40)
Afternoon cashback = $1,561.90
Cashback so far = $1,614.53
Evening
- Gets Thai delivery for dinner from Menulog (5% cashback = $4)
- Organises a bouquet from Mr Roses delivery for tomorrow (7% cashback = $8.75)
- Arranges a Red Balloon gift voucher for her nephew’s birthday (1.8% cashback = $4.50)
- Spends some time browsing Temu and (of course) buys a few ‘essentials’ (5% cashback = $8.50)
Afternoon cashback = $25.75
Total cashback earned for the day = $1,667.28
Yep, in just one day, Joanne has quietly collected a whopping $1,667.28 in cashback simply by earning a little back on the things she was buying anyway.
She’s putting that money towards something extra special: souvenirs on the upcoming Outback By Air trip for Victor’s 65th birthday. It’s a trip that has been on Victor’s bucket list for years and one they are both excitedly looking forward to.
With an extra $1,667 in their pocket, Joanne has cleverly used her everyday spending to help fund a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
No extra effort, no big changes.
Joanne may be a fictitious character, but the Citro cashback deals mentioned here are all very real. How much cashback are you missing out on? Use our online rewards calculator then check out the deals in the Citro App – download on Apple or Android.
Feature image: Canva/Gerardo Weckesser
More ways to save: