Whether you are saving for your next holiday or your dream house, counting your pennies can be a long and tedious process.
But saving money doesn’t have to be so agonising. We spoke to certified financial planner Adele Martin to get some expert tips.
• Take your lunch to work – this could save you as much as $50 per week. It doesn’t sound like a massive saving, but over a year it adds up to $2,600. Adele notes that this is a whopping $100,000 over the course of your working life.
• Have a look at your home and contents insurance. Adele says that consolidating your polices to one provider can often save money.
• Likewise, Adele suggests shopping around with energy providers – some offer discounts of 10 or 15 % if you sign up for 12 months or more.
• Have a good look at your bills, some providers will offer a discount if you the bill is direct debited from a bank account.
• Swap Foxtel for Netflix – Adele says that this could save over $1,000 a year.
• While it might seem like a bit of a faff, sitting down at the weekend to meal Planning and write a weekly shopping list could save you $1,000’s of dollars a year.
• If you have credit card debt, you pay be able to pay it off faster if you move to a credit card that offers an interest free period.
• Adele suggests using separate bank accounts or offset accounts for different types of expenses. For example, a bank account for clothes, make up, getting hair and nails done, an account for entertainment and socialising, an account for household expenses and groceries. Adele says if you put some money into each account every week, you will become more conscious of what you are spending and ensure you don’t over spend.
• While gym memberships are good value if they are being used, if you are not an active gym member it’s just money down the drain.
• When it comes to your mobile phone bill, Adele says that if you are consistently going over the data cap on then you should look at a new phone deal as often the newer deals allow a lot more data.
• If you need a new dress for a special occasion, Adele suggests renting one or borrowing one from a friend.
• And when it comes to clothes, Adele suggest having a good wardrobe cull; selling unused items clothes on ebay can give you extra cash to go shopping with.
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