As me and hubby are.hoping to save to buy soon I'm really looking at ways to budget.
I've just recently quit smoking so saving 50 a week there. Ive cut back on buying work lunches and limiting to 20 a week for that (shift worker so hard to have a proper mealtime)
Also only buy kids clothes shoes etc when on sale or clearance and stock up on certain foods when on a good sale. Also use alot of natural cleaners as they're alot cheaper.
I'm just trying to see where else i can save money but I'm lost haha. Me and hubby only have a date night once a month if lucky and we don't splurge on any luxuries really well we jave foxtel and netflix but thats only 40 a month.
Also i dont want to go through mybudget or similar I've had friends who have used them and regretted it.
Any tips or suggestions would be great
4 Replies
Make sure lights are being switched off in rooms not in use. TVs off at wall when not in use. If your fridge is old have the seals checked etc to make sure you're not losing power from there.
Check your insurances - can you save by opting for a higher excess or shopping around?
Get a budget calculator from the Money Smart website and plug everything in. It's amazing what we forget to account for and this one is pretty good.
Yes lights off etc, don't leave things on charge or plugged in. Keep aircon at the highest possible temp, you don't need to live in an icebox.
Also go over your food shopping habits with a fine tooth comb. Look for recipes that use cheaper cuts of meat etc and spread further.
Go over phone plans etc, are you on the best plans for you.
If you have any credit cards, credit card debt is hugely expensive, as are car loans etc so make sure you get all those down to a minimum or gone otherwise saving for a homeloan is kind of a false economy.
My hubby and I saved 40k in 4 years on a combined income of under 70k while i was a stay at home mum, with three kids. Very doable! But no life.... haha
Pay all your bills weekly. So phone, electricity etc, work out your average bill. Divide by 12 for quarterly and 4 for monthly. Pay that amount by bpay every week. Then save. Straight away after bills/groceries.
Do you both go to a gym? We stopped and trained at home. Saved a bit.
Go over your phone bills. If you're on a plan for your mobiles, prepaid is generally SOOOO much cheaper. I pay $30 a month with Telstra. $250 worth of calls, unlimited texts, 2g data. Etc
Weekly grocery bill is a big one. I never spend more than $250 a week for a family of five. Most weeks is under $200. Trick is don't overbuy. Especially fruit and veg. I never have to throw a single carrot out. I use everything before I restock. No waste. We eat very healthily, too. Don't eat meat every night. Bad for your health AND your budget.
Big drinkers? We don't drink and I find that's the difference between us owning and our friends on the same income renting. They spend $100 a week on booze. That's 5k a year. 20k in four years.......on alcohol. Crazy.
And the biggest one is put ALL your tax refund into savings. Every cent.
Congrats on giving up smoking!
I have found that with shopping it is easier to shop online (woolies or Coles), you get to see the specials they have for that week/month and are not tempted to impulse buy, plus if it is a const and thing you buy sometimes they will have specials taylored to you. I also buy homebrand, as it is still good quality your just not paying for the brand name/packaging, I also pick it up so I don't end up paying for a delivery fee.
For energy saving tips I looked at the Ergon website and watched their short videos on how to downsize your power bill. Managed to save $100 quartly, I also looked at the last bill that informed us of our weekly cost of power and bpay that amount every week, just to stay on top and not get charged with late fees.
For kids clothes, try buy, swap&sell pages or go to life line and buy second hand. You can usually find good bargains at garage sales plus it can be classified as a family outing.
For family outings, have a look at your local councils website they will have suggestions on free places to entertain the kids, just take a packed lunch.
Start up a coin jar, (a 600ml bottle of coke can hold $1000 of $2 coins) it also comes in handy when you don't want to use your cards.
Buy fresh fruit and veg at the local markets as they are a lot cheaper and last so much longer, buy meat in bulk. Tips with buying rump steak, get 3/4 cut and the rest left as a whole for stews and casseroles. Freeze left overs for work lunches.
If you cook a lot using herbs, invest in your own herb garden (the kids love it) we also got chickens, we at enoe getting 3eggs a day for about 41c a day..