Most of us have been feeling the pinch lately, but the good news is that with a little bit of groundwork, you can keep more cash in your own pocket without feeling like you're sacrificing.
KITCHEN MONEY SAVING TIPS
1. DIY: Make your own kitchen cleaning product
In a cheap spray bottle (from a bargain shop, or just from the cleaning aisle at the supermarket) make your own cleaning product. Mix 600ml of water, with 200ml of white vinegar, along with 2 teaspoons of bicarb soda. If you have some essential oils, pop a few drops in to make it smell nice - (lemon essential oil acts as a great disinfector, climates mould and achieves a streak-free shine while eucalyptus has antimicrobial and antifungal properties).
2. Shop smart at the supermarket
We’ve all noticed that prices have increased at the supermarket, and this is almost unavoidable. Dairy products have increased the most, with an average 14.4% increase in prices (according to the ABS). Shop smarter by buying on sale, and buying when things are heavily reduced (when they’re nearing their use by date). An easy hack is buying cream when it’s near the use-by-date and turning it into butter (which is quite easy to do when you have a Thermomix).
Meal plan! And plan cleverly, plan meals that use similar ingredients so there is no wastage.
3. Download money-saving grocery apps
It’s a time-consuming task to compare prices for products from all the supermarkets, so why not let an App do all the work. Free App Frugl helps you compare prices and get the most out of your grocery shop. The Half Price App also let’s you know what products are currently half price at Woolworths and Coles. And remember, even if you’re only saving $10 a week, that comes to $520 in a year. It all matters!
4. Sell your second fridge
A fair few of us are guilty of this, having a second fridge that is home to drinks that we never drink but like to keep cold (whyyy?) and, according to money expert Effie Zahos, this is costing us at least an extra $244 per year. Selling your second fridge will save you money on your power bill, and give you a little cash boost on the sale too.
5. Use energy efficient appliances
How many stars does your dishwasher have? If you’re running a 3-star dishwasher instead of a 4-star, you’ll be paying around $30 extra per year. While it’s not financially viable for most people to replace all their old appliances, it’s important to keep in mind if you’re ever in the market for kitchen appliances, the star rating really matters.
6. Shop and cook in season
This will save you so much, and also will have you eating the best quality food at the right time of the year. You can tell what’s in season by checking the prices when you shop, but this guide will help you shop in season. When something is in season, lemons for example, they’ll be growing by the crateful, meaning they’re not in low supply, equalling better prices!
7. Grow your own herb and vegetable garden
If you only have a small space, opt for a herb garden (Bunnings has these great raised garden beds for $32.40 that you can get started with). If you have more space, go the whole hog and build a vegetable garden. This will save you money, and is fun for the family to get involved with.
BATHROOM MONEY SAVING TIPS
8. Buy your toilet paper online
This sounds like this most boring thing to buy online, but trust me on this one; it saves money. Amazon has great prices for bulk toilet paper, with the Quilton range working out to be the best price available right now. They have 48 rolls for $25.25, working out to be 52c a roll.
9. Try beauty product dupes
It pays to check out dupes of some of your favourite products, because sometimes they’re so much cheaper and just as great as the real deal. AdoreBeauty has a great round-up of their favourite beauty dupes, where they share all the secrets, including how to save almost $30 with their favourite concealer dupe. Or head out for a CostCo visit, where you can pick up a great moisturiser dupe for only $12.50 each - when the real deal sells for $80!
10. Shop the chemist for beauty products
With all the rising costs, finding alternatives is a great way to save and a great place to start for your beauty products is the chemist. Places like Chemist Warehouse offer price beat guarantees and products at heavily reduced prices. Don't forget to check out the sales section too! Meaning you can save without having to sacrifice your beauty regime!
BEDROOM MONEY SAVING TIPS
11. Do a wardrobe cull and get selling
We are seeing a lot more of this, we're totally here for it. Selling unwanted clothes, and accessories has never been easier with Facebook Marketplace. Go through your wardrobe and if you haven’t worn something in the past year, sell it! To get the best prices, look for brand-specific groups, which is filled with fans of that label. For instance, If you love the label "Spell", and if you sell in that group you can get the best price possible, because everyone in that group already appreciates that label and knows the clothes.
12. Sleep under the fan, instead of the air-conditioning
While it’s sometimes nice to sleep in a cool room, it’s churning through the dollars as you snooze. A ceiling fan is an affordable alternative for cooling, without using too much electricity and making your power bill go up.
LAUNDRY MONEY SAVING TIPS
13. Avoid using the dryer
We know this is a bit of a no-brainer, that the dryer adds so much to the power bill and that line-drying is the more affordable option. By scrapping the dryer each week, you can save around $360 annually on your power bill.
14. Only buy laundry detergent on sale or in bulk
It's noted that laundry products tend to go on sale every six weeks of so at supermarkets, so it's a good idea when you sees it on sale to buy up and save.
Tip: If your clothes aren't highly soiled, use half the recommended amount per wash. Sensitive skin users can benefit highly from reducing the amount of detergents used on your clothes.
15. Opt for cold water washes
Washing everyday items, (minus the odd towel/sheet wash), on cold not only helps in preventing colours running, but this is actually a money saver. Washing on cold means less energy being used, saving around $46 a year (if you’re doing around 7 loads a week).
16. Replace your old washing machine
This might not sound like a money-saving hack (because buying new appliances is expensive!), but if you’re using an old washing machine that isn’t energy-efficient (check the star rating) then you’ll be seeing the effects on your power bill. It might just be time to upgrade!
LOUNGE ROOM MONEY SAVING TIPS
17. Adjust your air-conditioner temperature
Nothing quite beats having a super cool loungeroom on a hot summer’s day, but of course this comes at a cost. While it’s cheaper to not use the air-conditioner at all, if you can just adjust the temperature a little (say 23ºC instead of a breezy 21ºC) you can save just under $50 a year, and it all adds up.
18. Bundle or streamline your streaming services
If your are the kind of family that has had every streaming service, simply because it was novel and through COVID-19 when we were stuck at home we wanted to watch everything. Now, it pays off to go through and decided which ones you want to keep (aim for 2?), and then ditched the rest. You can also save money by bundling with services like Telstra TV, who often have great deals.
MISCELLANEOUS MONEY SAVING TIPS
19. Get savvy when shopping for fuel
I have a favourite petrol station (it’s a thing as you age, I’m sure!) and the prices are always cheapest in town (sometimes even by 15c). There are loads of petrol-watch apps that keep an eye on prices, and one of the best is the My 7-Eleven App which let’s you keen an eye on prices, and lock in the best price for up to 7 days.
20. Activate the Round-Up bank account feature
This little hack is a forced savings function that a few banks, like ING, offer. How does it work? Say you buy yourself some lunch for $6.50, the account will automatically round it up to $7 and pop that 50c into a round-up account to stack your savings. You can choose whether to round prices up to the nearest $1 or $5, so depending on which option you choose, will depend just how much money you save each year.
21. Update your mobile phone plan
It’s common for mobile phone users to just set and forget their phone plan, but this is a great area to be saving money. Canstar has a great comparison calculator where you can search for what you need (Phone on a plan? Sim only?) and shop the best price available.
22. Clean up your auto-payments and subscriptions
It’s a common trait, signing up to something and later down the track being unimpressed with yourself for your impulsive purchase. So, it's encouraged that everyone should go through three things – auto-payments in Paypal, on Apple Subscriptions/Google play store and then download two months of each of your bank accounts and go through and highlight any recurring payments and make sure that they’re essential – removing any that you don’t need.