Withmultiple interest rate increases, a rise in the prices of essential goods and services, utilities and insurance premiums, Australian families are feeling the financial pressure valve go up and up.
Something has to give, and many people are seeking out the best advice on how to save money.
Like most Australian families, Raymond andMichelle D'souza have been impacted aspricessoar.
"Majorly, grocery bills when you have two kids – I think we get through a lot of fruit!" Ms D'souza, an accountant, said.
"We've noticed a very high increase in insurance … the valuation of the land has gone up as well, so that plays a role in our rates.Electricity has gone up quite a lot … the price of fuel has gone up rapidly," Mr D'souza, who's in procurement,added.
The D'souzas, who live in Moggill in Brisbane's western suburbs, have repeatedly found themselves caught out by rising bills.
"[Insurance] renewal usually comes to me and it was a huge increase, actually 100 per cent — if you're not keeping a close eye on all these payments they can really catch you off guard."
We asked financial adviser Olivia Maragna for her eight best tips for families who are feeling the squeeze.
"Taking action with these tips will literally mean a saving of hundreds of dollars, if not thousands of dollars on the yearly budget," Ms Maragna says.
"So the most important thing to do is to actually take action – start making those calls, start looking at your own expenses and at the end of the day, it'll make a huge difference to your hip pocket."
The D'souza's tried out the tips for a month. Here's what worked, and what didn't.
1. Food
Do your grocery shopping online —not in the store, Ms Maragna says.
"From a behavioural standpoint, if you know that you walk into a grocery store to pick up two things but you walk out with eight different items, then it's best tolook at shopping online."
- Make a shopping list and stick to it. Plan your meals. Don't be brand loyal, buy generic if it's cheaper. Avoid recipes that require special ingredients — if you're not going to use up the rest.
- Reduce your monthly groceries by looking in your fridge, freezer and pantry. What in there can be turned into a meal?
- Buy in season and on special.
- Have two vegetarian meals a week — eat less meat. Bulk up meals with lentils or rice.
- Quit takeaways. Have a cheat meal — like pizza — you can whip up as a replacement.
- Slow-cooker meals can be more economical, especially for families. They lend themselves to cheaper cuts of meat.
- Get baking instead of buying at the shop. Use Sunday afternoon, for example, to make snacks for school lunch boxes.
So how did they go?
"We made a conscious effort to buy our groceries online. And you're only buying what you need rather than spending on extra things," Michelle says.
"There is a saving there.
"But I do think you need to look at different websites to make sure you're getting the best deal, so that takes a bit of effort. When you shop around for the specials that can gain you even more savings.
"The only annoying thing is sometimes you forget things.
"And the other part of it is forcing yourself to be more organised and prep meals.
"That results in big savings because you're not falling back on getting takeaways.
"If we don't plan our meals properly, we might be getting home late — and we end up getting takeout.
"As for the vegetarian thing — we did try it. But it's not for us. We are meat people."
Potential savings: $260per month, $3,120per year.
2. Utilities and insurance
Ms Maragna says utilities and insurance are big expenses for every family, "but this is one of the areas where you can save an enormous amount of money".
Compare your utility providers and get some info on better deals.
"A lot of providers, institutions, and companies know that everyone's doing it tough so if you make that call and ask for a better deal, they're not going to be surprised by that phone call."
Contact your electricity provider, telecommunications provider, internet provider, car insurance andhome insurance and ask for a better deal.
If they don't give it to you, move to a company that will.
For insurance, you can extend the waiting period or coverage to reduce premiums.
So how did they go?
"We tried calling all our different insurances," Michelle says.
"We tried to pool different ones into one provider so you can make savings, but it wasn't working out because some insurers don't cover particular things, like cars for instance.
"So we ended up keeping some the same. But we did change our health insurance and made a saving of $40 on that one — that was from shopping around and having a more realistic view of what extras we needed.
"And we saved $108 by switching our home insurance providers and another $30 with a better phone deal.
"But in terms of utilities, we weren't making any headway there. We spent a lot of time on the phone but could only get minor improvements, so didn't think it was worth the switch."
Potential savings: $178 per month, $2,136per year.
3. Fuel
Use fuel-lock apps, and apps that alert you to cheap prices in your area.
There are various offers around which help you get cents off your price per litre, so utilise those.
"There are lots of apps out there where you can lock-in your fuel on a nice, cheap day of the week, like a Monday or Tuesday … even if you don't need fuel then, you might need it on Friday or Saturday," Ms Maragna says.
So how did they go?
"This was easy enough. We used the app and made some savings out of that. It was about making a conscious effort to fill up when the price was good, even if it's still a quarter full."
Potential savings: $60 per month, $720 per year.
4. Mortgage
Get a broker to look at your loans and get a better deal.
Even a 0.3 per centdiscount couldput an extra $1,500 a year in your pocket. 0.1 per centwill add $500 a year off your interest bill.
Ms Maragna says: "Look at your current mortgage rate and then you can either call your own bank and ask for a better deal or let the finance broker get a really great deal with the best bank out there."
So how did they go?
"Very easy," says Michelle.
"We just gave them a call and said 'see what you can do'.
"I just called once and got a small discount, which was a $73 saving.
"But I think you've got to fight for it. I just haven't had time, but you really should call up again and fight for a better deal, which you should do because it's your money.
"With all the rate rises, I would call them every six months.
"And we didn't go to a broker, but if you did you would probably get further with it."
Potential savings: $73 per month, $876 per year.
5. Manage your cashflow
"What I mean by cash flow is being in control of where your money goes," Ms Maragna explains.
"For an average couple or family, there's money coming in at all different times of the month, so the idea is for you to get control of your money as opposed to what your employer is doing or what your bank wants you to do."
"The idea is making sure you're in control of your money and adding discipline to your cashflow systems. The least amount of time you have to spend managing your money, the better."
- Set up a hub account then direct your funds into a bills account, a savings account and have a set amount for spending per fortnight. You can ask your employer to do this or set up a direct debit. This way, you're saving without thinking about it.
- Stop using credit cards, use debit cards instead. The "benefits"you get from a credit card, such as reward programs, are not worth it.
- Use an app to round-up transactions automatically and deposit them into your savings.
- Look through your bank or credit card statements for the last two months. Identify anything that isn't essential – spring clean.
- Are there streaming services that can go?
- Also, if you have a gym membership, it may be time to consider working out at home. There are loads of really great at-home fitness programs that you can purchase at a fraction of the cost of a gym membership.
- Delete apps on your phone that temptyou to purchase. Unsubscribe fromnewsletters for fashion, etc.
- Eliminate bad habits — besides affecting your mental and physical health, bad habits also cost a lot of money. Behaviours like smoking, playing the lottery, drinking, making impulse purchases, gambling and so forthare harmful to your financial health.
- Look for free entertainment.
- Track your spending for a month.
So how did they go?
"So out of six or seven subscriptions — including Spotify and everything — we removed one," Michelle says.
"Don't judge. We like our options.
"In terms of managing the money with different accounts, yes we are doing that. And it helps a lot to know exactly how much you have to spend each fortnight.
"But that's where this cost-of-living going up and lots of rate rises comes in — because at some point, your other expenses and personal spending need to come down.
"But ideally if you make aneffort I think you can get there.
"And in terms of knowing where all your money is going, I found a couple of things. There was a refund that I was waiting on that I totally forgot about, that was $280.
"This whole process makes you really aware of your money and makes you fight for it a bit more.
"So Raymond got me flowers and they were not the at all the ones he had ordered.
"We fought to get a refund on these and eventually got the $110 back.
"So not bad."
"I think it's because you get into a mindset of, it's your money, you should care about it.
"If you're managing it a bit more carefully, you'll see a big change."
Potential savings: $30 per month plus refunds etc, $750 per year
6. Get more money
"Can you get a side hustle?" Ms Maragna says.
"Whether that be a part-time job or freelance work in your spare time, it can help you increase your income.
"If you've already started saving, a side hustle could help you live a more comfortable life while putting more away than you could before.
"Airtasker canbring in a few hundred a month."
- Ask for a pay rise. Your employer should be keeping up with inflation, and aware of other cost-of-living pressures.
- Do an audit of any unclaimed money – Medicare, lost money, unclaimed orlost super.
- DIY – do it yourself. You will always have things to replace or repair, and these repairs can be a burden when you're living on a lowincome. It won't be affordable for you to immediately replace everything that breaks or needs fixing.Just go to YouTube or a dedicated website and learn to do it on your own.
So how did they go?
"I checked, we didn't have any unclaimed money on super or anything," Michelle says.
Raymond says: "In terms of DIY, my dad was staying with us and he did two full days of jobs around the house, painting, sprucing things up. So that saved us paying someone to do that."
Michelle says they used to hire cleaners once a fortnight, but decided it was an expense they couldn't afford.
While it means spending more of their spare time cleaning,itsaves them $160 a month.
"We didn't get around to getting started with any side hustles, I think it takes a bit of time and energy at the start to get established, and we didn't have the time.
"I did start registering for dog sitting, but haven't finished that application.
"And I looked into some bookkeeping, but really when both of us work full-time, the weekends are all that is left to spend time with the kids, family and friends."
Potential savings: $160 per month plus DIY savings, $2,400 per year
7. A freeze on spending
"Don't buy any non-essential items for a week — or even a month! Think about it as a contentment challenge," Ms Maragna says.
"While you're at it, take inventory of what you're grateful for each day. This should help kick your 'want-itis'in the pants."
So how did they go?
"It's probably the longest amount of time I haven't had ahaircut — up to six months now," Michelle laughs.
"But I mean, you've got to look decent, so this can't go on forever!
"Certainly we cut down on things like alcohol and coffee and that makes a big difference.
"And I managed not to buy coffee for a month butI love my coffee and don't believe we should give up on the small luxuries.
"But a big area of saving was on retail shopping. We are quite good at just walking around at the shops and spending on things we don't need.
"A typical budget for that is $500 a month for the family, so we tried to get that down to $250 and succeeded at that.
"And that goes hand in hand with the next tip, decluttering. Eliminating unnecessary things from your life — from a mindful perspective."
Potential savings: $330 per month, $3,960 per year
8. Declutter
Ms Maragna: "Declutter the things in your home that you don't need and are willing to let go of for the sake of your financial future.
"That vintage chair your aunt gave you? Sell it. That unused sporting equipment, the extra camping equipment you never use, stuff in the garden shed, unused clothes or toys. Sell them.
"You'd be surprised at how much clutter you have in your home (that you don't even use or think about). And the cash you can make on those things can be the difference between living pay cheque to pay cheque or not."
So how did they go?
"I didn't have much luck," says Michelle, who found the whole process too time consuming.
"I tried selling clothes, older kids' stuff, like their old toys and games.
"But it takes a so much back-and-forth with people to actually make a sale.
"I got a million messages about the pram but nobody bought it.
"But as soon as I put them up for free they went straight away.
"I'd rather give them to people who need it and just be done with it. And it's out of our house."
Potential savings: $0
What did they learn from the overall experience?
"I think all of them, hand-in-hand, work well.
"When you go and take control of your money, and you have a different perspective, it is a bit exciting whenyou find savings.
"So I think that motivated us to do more.
"Overall, it is a good thing that you manage your money.
"It is your money, you work very hard for it. So you should try to get the most possible out of it."
This article contains general information only. You should consider obtaining independent professional advice in relation to your particular circ*mstances.
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