What do you do to save money?

[Donovan83]

One of the side effects of moving to Australia has taught me how to be more frugal and to be more conscientious with my money. I could live the same lifestyle I had in SA if I wanted to (the eating out and spending lots type of mentality), but choose not to.

A big difference between Australia and SA is that it is possible to make the most of a much higher income while living fairly cheaply. Everyone's circumstances are different so this may not always be the case (might not earn a higher salary or may prefer to have the same spending habits in SA, or might have children, for example).

There are a few things I have learned to do that save quite a bit of money. For example:

• Taking lunch to work every day.
  Or at least most days. You can buy freezer and microwave safe glass containers that are perfectly sized for weekday lunches for $3 each. My partner and I headed off and bought about 20 of these. Every second weekend I make a big thing of basmati rice, and then a slow cooked stew (either lamb or beef). The stews are really healthy, I know what is in them and the work out to under $3 a meal.
  
  Individually, if we bought lunch every day it'd be around $12 a person.. so each week, this saves us $45, which is enough for a nice dinner out somewhere if we want to.
  
• Don't own a car unless you need to
  We live really close to work (2km from the city) in an area that isn't popular, so the rents are lower. Not only that, but public transport in the Melbourne CBD by tram is free - if we lived in the burbs it'd be $36 each per week. I have a granny trolly that I take to Woolworths or we order Coles delivery - it's free on a wednesday.
  
• Make the most of specials
  The specials here do make a difference. For example, usually my shampoo and conditioner is $20, it was on special for $9.50 so I stocked up. The rice I usually buy was $9.90 for a 5kg bag, down from $19 for the same thing. Sometimes I will try a different brand just because it's on special, usually it's much the same as what I normally buy.
  
• Maximise the good things you can do for free
  The SA mentality is that you need a gym contract, and in SA that is probably true. But in Australia you can really make the most of the safety we have. For example, if you're into cycling, get a bicycle. I often go for a ride at lunch time just to get a break from work - it's so nice being outside in the fresh air. This isn't as much fun in Melbourne because it's almost always freezing and almost never sunny, but that does make the nice hot shower at the end of the ride a lot nicer!
  
• Buy things online
  This saves so much money! I bought cycling gear online - in the shops here it was $450, online price was $160.
  I bought some new EarPods because i lost my old ones - $16 online, $45 in the shop (they haven't arrived yet so let's hope they're not fakes).

There are countless other little things you can do. I find it hard to balance the desire to live now vs save for the future. I'm willing to give up some of the luxuries like daily take away coffees and daily bought lunches... but I wouldn't be willing to live further out and have a longer commute to work for the sake of saving on some housing costs.

What are your cost saving ideas? How do you make your dollar go further?

Edited August 8, 2015 by Donovan83

[ottg]

I think it depends how far you want to take it!

Not so long ago there was a newspaper article around this topic and this person described a few extreme methods like:

couch surfing; dustbin raiding; pet sitting for someone

But google and a few more pops up here:

http://www.kidspot.com.au/MySpot-hot-topics-50-frugal-living-tips-from-real-mums+5935+180+article.htm

http://zenhabits.net/the-cheapskate-guide-50-tips-for-frugal-living/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/the-ultimate-frugal-living-guide-18-tips-for-extreme-penny-pinching.html

Heck...why not getting a second job or do extra freelancing or blogging selling ad space or spending more time on saaustralia then you have less time too spend

https://www.freelancer.com.au/

https://www.elance.com/q/find-work

http://ozlance.com.au/

[AFreshStart]

Hi Donovan83,

A great thread and some excellent suggestions!

I probably should preface this by saying that we were already frugal in SA before we moved and had already scaled back our lifestyle and so many of those changes came across with us. We live a minimalist lifestyle, favoring experiences over material possessions and had already 'leaned' our lives, clearing all debt and have living off a single salary now for 5-years.

Here are a few of ours.

1. Bake your own bread and make sandwiches for lunch. We are a family of 4 so we it's 4 lunches a day. We use a $99 bread maker to make a loaf of fresh bead every 2nd day, healthier, fresher and in many cases and we use the left overs to turn into bread crumbs, which I use in a week night meal like cassoulet or freeze them. We also do a weekly pizza night and make them from scratch, the bread maker kneads the dough which saves time and money making pizza bases for cents vs dollars.

2. Buy imperfect picks, we shop with a small family run super market called Harris Farm Markets and to save on food waste they buy and sell imperfect picks, apples with a spot, carrots that are a little wonky, they all taste the same but cost half the price because of an imperfection or blemish. Woolworths have started something similar as well.

3. Join the club, we are Flybys and Everyday Rewards members. We alternate shopping between Coles and Woolworths because when they notice you aren't buying from you they throw in extra offers. Coles is currently running a deal when if you spend $130 a week for 4 weeks you get $50 cash back, half way through it Woolworths is now offering us $30 cash back spending $100 a week for 3-weeks. In these weeks we bulk buy dry goods, which are often discounted anyways and have a long shelf life and if there are meat specials we buy and freeze.

4. Discounted Meals, 90% of the time I make meals from scratch, but occasional on weekends we are having too much fun on our days out that we get back late and I pop into Woolworths and look at the reduced section when you can pick up meals for half price. Often it's just reduced ingredients, last week it was a bag of Coleslaw, a special on pulled pork and a deal of 4 rolls for $0.90, buying all of them and adding an apple, mayo and some BBQ sauce we had pulled pork rolls and fed all four of us under $10.

5. Use FREE services, we are IKEA Family members, it's free, and sadly the benefit we use most is being retired 1st September, but for the past 4 years all hot beverages were free Mon-Fri. They also offer 1-hour free childcare in Smaland and FREE WIFI. Since my daughter is at home with me 2-3 days a week I'd pop in there, have a free flat white, put here in Smaland for an hour and use the FREE WIFI to catch up on e-mail admin. We had a similar experience in May where every weekend Toys R Us VIP club members (FREE) had a LEGO Ninjago Activity, we just signed up for the FREE workshops and I took my eldest along and each we he got to build and keep his LEGO creations, GRATIS! They also run free holiday activities to keep the kids busy, they had an animal farm over the holidays and it was a great, FREE day our for me and the kids.

6. Earn Miles, linked to our Everyday Rewards card we get Qantas Points on spends over $30 and we switched to ANZ credit cards and got a 40,000 points joining benefit if we spent $1,000 a month for 3 months, which was easy as we just transfers all our debit orders to our credit card and are also have AMEX card that gives us even more rewards in places that accept it. Without catching a single flight we are well on our way to getting 3 one-way tickets to South Africa/Europe/America by the end of the year. Of course this only works if you know how to balance your accounts, we are debt free bar a mortage and haven't had consumer debt in years, using the cards like a savings account, not incurring interest.

7. Offset account, if you do decide to buy property get an offset account, you aren't then earning taxable interest and your mortage interest is calculated on the net of your mortage and cash balances.

8. Bundle services, if you bundle services you get discounts, they don't always make you aware of it thought, so ask and push for it. We have substantial savings by having our gas and electricity with the same provider and paying electronically and receiving e-bills saves us 20% on our bills. Likewise we're with Optus for home phone, ADSL, Fetch TV and my month-to-month cell contract. This gives me a %15 discount on those combined fees and $10 cash off off, which covers the cost of our monthly NETFLIX account. Optus also give freebies/rewards, we got 2 movies tickets for Hoyts a couple weeks back and on their Optus Rewards programe I get discount movie tickets, saving us $6-$12. I also brought my own phone to the network, unlocked. If you work out the costs for example on an iPhone 6 contract, buying one from the Apple Store and bringing it across will save you over $600 over 2-years if you took a contract with them and you can get 1-year interest free with Apple, again this only works if you can balance your books. All our services are month-to-month, no lock-ins, so we can switch to alternative suppliers as we find better deals.

9. Shop around for insurance, there is little reward for loyalty here so compare benefits and switch to the best deal that suits your needs and requirements and evaluate if you are using all of those benefits. You shouldn't incur new waiting periods, saving you time and money. Your needs change when as your family grows.

10. Use the deal, as discussed in another thread Australians use the sense of urgency and push specials and deals, but they are only deals IF you need X or Y. In buying a new car we got the best deal they were offering, and bettered it. We bought our car for cash (of course the best way to do things to further save money) and got an upgraded 4-year warranty, FREE Rego and Road Side Assistance. I wrangled in a few extra accessories and then had them drop the price even further because I wanted a manual car and they only had automatics and split the difference in costs between the them, all in it came to over $3,000 savings. It required some back and forth negotiations, but we eventually settled on the compromise, and of course we transferred the funds to our credit card and bought the card on that, we incurred a slight cost doing so from the dealers, but the fee was nominal in comparison to for the Qantas points we received doing so.

Hope that helps you and or others as they plan towards financial security.

Cheers

Matt

Edited August 8, 2015 by AFreshStart

[RYLC]

There are some awesome websites on saving money in Australia. Simple Savings is one I have used. At first it was just tips such as when groceries are marked down, insiders guide to finding bargains, knowing that Thursday specials are available after 8pm on Wednesday evenings if the shop is open, etc. but now they have a forum as well and it has been sooooo helpful in understanding the Australian way of thinking.

I just read for a couple of years and didn't post much. The stories that unfolded over the years have taught me so much about social norms, etc. There are many families on extremely low incomes on there and it is amazing what they manage to do with such a low earning rate. I'm talking family of 4 or 5 on $45,000 living in a capital city. So sometimes when I read threads on here about will $100K be enough I think that my simple savings buddies would think that they had won the lotto!!!

Edited August 8, 2015 by RYLC

[doggit]

Great thread, thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

[Nev]

I have started doing fruit for lunch, lot healthier and less than the 8-12 bucks a day.

If you go to a wholesale fruit place if there is one around and pick up what is in season a healthy lunch (2 banana's and 2 narchies) can be as little as $1.50

[Donovan83]

That's a good idea but I'd get so hungry if that was all I ate! I need some kind of protein/carbs, especially on days that I ride. Even just some yoghurt would help. Do you go to the QV Markets? They are a great way to get cheaper food, which is often much better than the woolworths/coles stuff.

I didn't really mention rewards programmes because I am extremely sceptical of them. I will never join any rewards programme that has an annual fee (even if it's just an annual fee on a credit card) because I feel like they're 1) encouraging you to spend more for the sake of "saving" (you're not saving, you're spending - you're just being incentivised to spend) and 2) unless you spend A LOT then you end up just getting your annual fee back.

Having said that, some things I have automatically have rewards on them. My Amex card gives me the odd voucher. I only use ones I would've spent anyway - I got a $30 statement credit for spending $100 at Woolworths, for example. You should ALWAYS check the bottom of your receipt when you shop at woolworths if you have one of those everyday rewards/flybuys cards - I recently started checking and I have had a few nice vouchers pop up. I have $20 off a $100 shop for my next visit which is quite cool!

I also recently changed to ING Direct, and they give you 2% back if you use paypass to pay for purchases under $100. It doesn't sound like much, but I've used paypass instead of cash this week and it's already come to about $3.50 - so basically, I get a free coffee. Which is nice

I'll combine the two above next week - I'll stock up on things to make my bill under $120, scan my voucher and then use paypass - $22 off a $120 shop ain't bad It's still all horrendously expensive, but this helps cut things back a bit.

I am a member of Qantas frequent flyer (got free membership through Amex). I just let the points accumulate. So far I swapped my points for a nice small suitcase (was worth about $250) and recently redeemed $75 in Woolworths vouchers (this is over the course of about 2 years).

It's amazing how much you can get accumulate in this kind of stuff if you just remember to scan your cards at the till. As I said... as soon as you have to pay to be a member, I don't bother.

[Chips]

Informative post,thanx guys

[Donovan83]

I forgot to mention this, but there's a really great piece of software called YNAB - www.ynab.com. It's not really just software, it's a bit of a personal finance philosophy.

I think the philosophy and software are primarily geared towards people trying to get out of debt/curtail spending, but I found it incredibly useful and powerful to track how things are going. It's a bit expensive ($60) but it has a 34 day trial.

If you do decide to check it out and buy it... http://ynab.refr.cc/VM4C3ZC (this is a referral link thing - it gives you a 10% discount).

Edited August 9, 2015 by Donovan83

[AFreshStart]

Donovan83,

Yes, as I shared above, unless you know how to spend, where to spend and have learned how to make your money work for you it can catch you out on paying annual fees.

That said the majority I listed above are FREE - Everyday Rewards, Flybys and IKEA Family.

A word of warning for those coming out, Qantas Frequent Flyers have a joining fee in Australia, but is FREE to join in South Africa, so if you are considering joining, do so there.

Consumer credit lines here normally have a $99 joining fee and of course high interest rates on defaulters, so not even worth looking at it if you can't manage your money.

Credit cards linked with loyalty programs like ANZ Qantas do incur a fee, but if you are clever this can be waivered, which we did on ours, and even if we had to pay the fee, the 3 single international tickets are worth more than the savings.

We aren't flush for cash, we didn't inherit trust funds but in our mid-30's have managed to be debt free, are building our savings and retirement funds and bough our new car for cash, all on a single income as a family of 4. How? By doing much of what we have shared above and by adhering to a couple basic principles, which aren't dissimilar the ones listed the software you linked to.

1. Save for an 'Emergency Fund' ($1,000 short term)

2. Clear all debts outside of a Mortgage (and pay it off early if you can)

3. Save 3-6 months salary in Savings.

4. Save 15% of your monthly income into your Retirement Fund.

These simple principals are the basis of solid financial planning.

Cheers

Matt

[Tiermelk]

www.ozbargain.com.au - I`m not really sure if it`s saves or costs me money....

[Tiermelk]

A word of warning for those coming out, Qantas Frequent Flyers have a joining fee in Australia, but is FREE to join in South Africa, so if you are considering joining, do so there.

That is true but, you can join Qantas Frequent Flyer for free via this link (till 31 Dec 2015) - https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/joinffp?code=TRAVELAGENTor also via Woolworths Everyday rewards.

[Tiermelk]

I also recently changed to ING Direct, and they give you 2% back if you use paypass to pay for purchases under $100. It doesn't sound like much, but I've used paypass instead of cash this week and it's already come to about $3.50 - so basically, I get a free coffee. Which is nice

Yep they are great - they also refund cash withdraw fees from other banks - basically you can withdraw cash for free at any ATM.

Use this link to sign up and you can get a $75 sign up bonus! https://www.campaigns.ingdirect.com.au/refer?code=DVI735and I`ll get $75 too.

[DXB2OZ]

We joined Costco for $60 a year - does require car and storage space to really get the benefit. Our biggest savings there are cat food, cat litter, wine and cleaning supplies. I also joined Naked Wines - you have to buy by the box, but you get new and interesting wines, often really good for $10 a bottle. I haven't found anything worth drinking in the stores for that price (although they make great drain flushers ).

But as a general rule always watch for the specials in every store. End of year sales tend to be really good. Linen, clothes, etc. I just wish that Bunnings had a loyalty card!!

When going to a doctor, check for a bulk billing practice. We have a lovely practice nearby, but we always end up forking over - especially as they insist on a double appointment for first timers so they can get to know you and your history. 2 minutes further away is another lovely clinic which does not insist on a double appointment for first timers and is bulk billing - which means that, provided you have your Medicare card, after your appointment with the very nice doctor, you smile, say thank you and walk out the door without putting down a penny.

If you are stuck with a car, make the most of discount vouchers and WATCH the price. It fluctuates wildly! I don't know if it is just my imagination, but I try to avoid filling up on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, as that seems to be the worst. Tuesdays are often good.

Central heating/cooling is lovely, but the cost of running it will make you want to weep! Check out Big W, Costco or KMart for cheap fans or heaters - actually we splurged at The Good Guys for our heaters, but not much more. Position one in the main living area for most of the time. We generally run our heating morning and evening for an hour or two to take the edge off, otherwise it is free standing and throws.

[SurferMan]

I may set the cat among the pigeons here but 6 months with no income and almost zero reserves and 3 kids to feed taught me the following:

• Cook in bulk some of the old standby meals, i made soup and stew in bulk. I made stocks from leftover bones and veggies, wasted NOTHING.
• Get handme down clothes from mates.
• Grow your own veggies. I am a bit of a greenthumb so this was easier for me than some others.
• Bath kids in 2's if possible.
• Time driving to be off peak so your style is max economy.
• We went for the cheapest cuts of meat and organs. Yes not everyones cup of tea but when you literally dont know where the next meal is coming from....
• No aircon and heaters!
• Wash the car once a month max.
• Borrow coin from your good mates if you need to stay afloat.
• Go into work early if you can, the costs are cheaper off-peak.
• Try get people to call you, instead of the other way around.
• Use as many free services as you can. I was amazed at what was on offer in my neck of thw woods.
• Lights, lights, lights. Get into the habit of switching them off when you leave a room.
• Switch off all IT equipment when not in use. DO NOT use standby mode, its called vampire power. I fitted a wireless kill switch to all my IT kit. Basically I walk to the wall and hit a switch, and it kills a powerboard with all the devices on that powerboard. So for eg, you have your TV, DVD, Apple TV, WII/XBox etc all on the same powerboard, I linked it to this, and on the way to bed, I just kill it all off. In 2 months I saw a 30% drop in usage, just from that.
• Use your appliances off peak. We dont have a smart meter, but for those who do, this is a huge saving.

One of the key lessons for me is credit card debt. I am in the process of killing off 4 cards, one is dead as of yesterday! Yaay, another will fall in the next 3 weeks and the other two by the end of October. That will mean I am debt free, and I made a deal with my wife that we will NEVER own one again. They are not needed if you have a debit card anyways.

Those are my learnings, not totally in line with the post I know, but maybe there are some things of value in there to help people.

[Guest]

I am going to save these tips in the event we end up in Australia. Thank you so much for posting guys, some really good ideas here, and who doesn't like to save a few bob here and there:-)

[Donovan83]

I guess there's always a risk of going too far with cost cutting, although it's good to know you could if you needed/wanted to.

For example, you could skip meat completely (which is probably the biggest cost in a budget), substituting meat for chickpeas (which are around 38% protein), and lentils with rice (which together form a complete protein). Fruit, vegetables, plant based proteins (and eggs), etc instead of meat would probably reduce your grocery bill by about 40 to 60% or more.

But lentils are disgusting. I like chickpeas, but not on their own - so I combine the two approaches. If I am making a stew or korma, I'll put half lean lamb meat and half chickpeas - $8 worth of meat with about $1 of chickpeas (instead of another $8 in meat). I usually get about 6 to 8 lunches from a lamb korma, so the protein costs drop by around $1 per meal (which would be a reduction of about a third in cost per lunch).

I'm pretty bad because I tend to spend the savings on going out to nice restaurants I guess it's still kindof a saving because I'd be doing that anyway.

Another saving is coffee. If you buy takeaway coffee a couple of times a week, it can easily add up to a lot, even though it's just $3.50. Let's say you buy a coffee 3 out of 5 workdays, for 48 weeks a year. That's an average of around $42 a month.

Which brings me to my last thing, which is more of a mindset than anything else. Every monthly expense has a potentially big impact on your financial future. A guideline for calculating the effect a monthly expense has on you over 10 years is to take the monthly amount and multiply it by 152. Over 10 years, your 3 coffees a week costs you almost $6,500.

Of course, coffee is delicious so it's worth it... but it's good to at least be aware of the effect of regularly occurring costs when signing up for things.

[rozellem]

But lentils are disgusting. I like chickpeas, but not on their own - so I combine the two approaches. If I am making a stew or korma, I'll put half lean lamb meat and half chickpeas - $8 worth of meat with about $1 of chickpeas (instead of another $8 in meat).......

Erm, nothing wrong with those ingredients, I'd fire the cook (or buy him a good recipe book).

[Donovan83]

Erm, nothing wrong with those ingredients, I'd fire the cook (or buy him a good recipe book).

Hehe.. it's something about lentils that I just find hard to enjoy.

[Tiermelk]

Nothing better than a lamb chop on the braai, and not to shabby on the BBQ either!

[Donovan83]

Nothing better than a lamb chop on the braai, and not to shabby on the BBQ either!

Amen to that!

I'm lus for some pap and wors and some nice relish at the moment. I might go buy some pap at the QV markets this weekend and cook it up.

[RedPanda]

There is pap at the QV markets!?

[Tiermelk]

I'm lus for some pap and wors

---> Vaalie

[monsta]

@Surferman thanks. It's good for people to see that some people are doing it tough in Aussie.

Its been said before, but living on minimum wage is tough. Be careful about saying things like, "I would give up my mansion in Santon to live in minimum wage in Aussie"

[RichardH]

Another saving is coffee. If you buy takeaway coffee a couple of times a week, it can easily add up to a lot, even though it's just $3.50.

You have forgotten those Perth prices already!