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With the cost of living ever increasing, now is a great time to look at some ways that you can reduce your spending. The great thing about reducing your spending is that you’re also reducing waste which benefit the environment as well as your wallet.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
For most people, the temperature of the water coming out of the hot water tap is scolding. Your hot water service needs to keep it’s tank at this temperature all of the time (unless you have instant hot water). Besides savings some dollars on the heating costs, you’ll also have a safer water temperature coming out of the taps (especially great if you have young kids).
This one was a favorite for my father when we were growing up - the shower ended up producing such little water that no one wanted to stay in there for long anyway (double savings!). There are many options for water saving shower heads that will still give you an enjoyable shower. So if you have older style rain heads on your showers currently, you can get some good water savings from finding something that reduces the volume of water coming through. A quick win here is that you can also just bump your taps water pressure down a notch for instant savings!
There’s a lot of great energy saving light globes around these days that are just as bright and can look as full spectrum as regular bulbs. An easy way to save some money on your electricty bills. Some states even offer this service for free as part of a government initiative.
Clothes dryers can be expensive to run, however it’s hard to get your clothes dry any other way in the colder months. If you can’t hang your clothes outside, try pegging them to a clothes horse in an outdoor undercover area. Alternatively put the clothes horse over a heating duct and cover with a sheet or table cloth to trap that heat in there and dry your clothes in no time.
Hopefully no actual zombies in your house, but devices that are left in standby mode use electricity. Remembering to turn them off at the wall can save some dollars each year as well as reduce your fire risk.
Did you know that gas and electricity retailers offer the same product, but for different prices? Depending on your usage and the times you use your utilities, there might be better plan or retailer out there for you. If you don’t want to spend the time comparing manually, there are comparison sites that allow you to upload your bill and will show you how much you can save by switching. If you live in Victoria, you can get a $250 bonus just for checking at energy.gov.au
Besides making sure that your insurances have you covered correctly, you should also check to see whether your current insurer is still competitive. There are plenty of incentives offered by insurers to make the switch so it’s worth looking around. For things like health insurance there are certain times of the year where they push to get new customers - try checking before the end of the financial year or April 1 (when premiums go up!).
The best way to see where you can cut back is by tracking your spending for a few months. Once you see where your money is going you can identify your non-essential spending and look at ways to cut back in these areas. There’s nothing more satisfying than tracking the savings you’re making as well! You can also look at putting a budget in place to provide some discipline on your expenditure.
Interest payments on debt is lost money. Consider a strategy for focusing on paying down your debt to free up that interest money.
As interest rates are on the move again, it’s worth calling your bank from time to time to see if they can do a better rate (or match another banks rate). You can always get a mortgage broker to help you here - they’ll usually do the work for free as they get paid commission by the bank if you change. Independent mortgage brokers can find you the best rates and banks will sometimes offer a refinancing fee to cover costs and the inconvenience.
If you use a credit card, it’s worth looking at whether a rewards program is worth joining. Once you spend over a certain amount each month on your credit card, the rewards points value can cover the annual fee and start to benefit you. There are also plenty of sign up incentives that can cover your flights for your next holiday so it’s worth looking around. Sites like Point Hacks cover the best offers and cards in detail. Alternatively if you’re not getting the value out of the rewards, or you’re paying a high annual fee, consider swapping to a no fee card or getting rid of your credit card and using Visa debit from your normal bank card.
There are plenty of shops that now offer their own rewards card from restaurants to bakeries. Most of these can be stored in your phone’s wallet app to save you carrying around a million cards.
I hear you, it never tastes as good as your favorite barista however swapping out your morning latte for a home brew can save some decent dollars each week. If you’re time poor in the mornings, you can try brewing a batch of cold brew on the weekends and keep it in the fridge for the week. This has become one of my favorites - I just pack one of those insulated drink containers with some cold brew concentrate and milk and drink it on the way to work. Delicious.
Another tough one for those busy mornings, however the cost of buying your lunches at work can really add up. Try cooking larger dinners and taking leftovers the next day, or keeping some emergency non perishables at your office for the days you don’t have time to pack. A pack of wraps, a few cans of tuna and whatever salads you can find at home can scrape by for a lunch when needed.
Most supermarkets now list the unit price for items so you can compare different size products to find the best value. Often buying larger sizes will work out more economical, especially if it’s an item that will keep for a while (and you’ll use it!). If you shop online, try sorting the items by unit price so you can instantly find the best value products to buy and bring down your total grocery bill.
The supermarkets also offer their own brands which can also be more economical that the other brands on the shelf. Take the Pepsi challenge on these products and if you can’t tell the difference consider swapping.
Shopping online will also allow you to see all the specials without having to walk through the store looking for them and possibly being tempted along the way to buy other things. The cost of delivery may be a consideration for going to the physical store, but there’s also the petrol cost to drive there and your time.
Prices for fruit and vegetables fluctuate significantly throughout the year. Do you research and try to buy items in season - you’ll save a bunch, as well as getting the fruit and vegetables at the time that it tastes the best (and is locally produced). Not sure what’s in season? You can look this up as well.
Even if you don’t have much space, you can start growing a few herbs in a pot so you have them on hand when cooking. How often do you end up buying a bunch of herbs for $5 just to use a few leaves for a dish and throw the rest out?
This one’s an easy one and saves you struggling to think of what to eat for lunch the next day. Simply cook up a bit extra the night before and pack (or freeze) the leftover for another meal.
It’s great for your wallet and the environment. Your water will probably taste better too.
Baked too many cookies? Have a lemon tree that produces more than you need? Jump on your street’s WhatsApp and let people know. You’ll find most people are more than happy to share items and you get to know your neighbours better as a by-product.
If you’re able to be flexible with your flights, you can usually score a better deal flying on a weekday or on an earlier flight. This goes for points as well - rewards seats aren’t offered on all flights so picking the right one can be significantly cheaper than a full points seat. You can also consider [tracking the flight prices] (https://www.google.com/travel/flights/saves) and get notified if they get reduced.
Accommodation can be one of the largest expensive when looking at a holiday. Some people can only get away during peak times (ie. school holidays), but for those that can, consider going at quieter times where accommodation prices might be discounted. Or if you’re really spontaneous, have a look at last minute deals to find heavily discounted rooms.
How many people do you see driving by themselves to work and back each day? With high fuel prices and the wear and tear on your vehicle, it might be worth considering whether there’s anyone you can carpool with each way. It also makes the trip more enjoyable.
Whether going to work, school or on holidays you should consider whether there are other transport options available. These are generally cheaper and give you an opportunity to undertake another activity instead of focusing on the road.
You’ll notice that petrol prices tend to cycle between high and low prices throughout the month depending on where you live. Whilst there doesn’t appear to be a set day, if you keep an eye on prices you’ll get a feel for what’s cheap before it inevitably jumps up again. The ACCC tracks fuel prices and gives an indiciation of which way they are heading. Over the course of a year, these savings can really add up.
You might not see many new books in your local library, but you’d be surprised. Popular new books typically have a queue of reservations so they don’t end up free on the shelf for a while, but if you’re happy to wait just queue a few favorites up and they’ll eventually start coming through. Better than buying a book that you read once and have to store somewhere! Did you know that many libraries also have magazine subscriptions? It’s worth checking before you go out and buy your own copies.
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