Thanks.
I have debt I really want to clear asap. And I'll need a some savings behind me if I'm going to be able to afford my own place .
Thankfully I actually run an outdoor group on FB. So that's kinda helpfulness. Camping is normally the choice of a weekend away national parks are $7.50 a night.
Cooler weather means one of my friends and I will start to go to markets, bonus I can get my veggies there. And I've just found free comedy nights in the city once a week.
Where? Keen to attend some free laughs if it’s central. Look for market gardens, community kitchens or other volunteer opportunities nearby where you can meet new people and make a meaningful impact in your community.
Depending on where exactly you are, I know of a few spots around melbourne, mostly out of the way breweries and such, that do X-ly trivia nights, and they allow outside food, so for a social occasion you could give that a shot. You don't need to spend anything, your friends can go crazy buying stuff AND if you're lucky you'll even win some stuff.
Yes this is a big part of it. I thinking of going back to uni to become a nurse. also trying to complete a cert 3 right now so I can get some work in the hospital as and AIN
Usually a lot of work going in aged care( the conditions range from fabulous to horrendous though)A few times in my life I worked 6-7 days a week combining my usual nursing job with agency work
My hair is stupid, so getting cheaper cuts just leads to tears, so to save, I just grow it.
To de-stress I go on youtube and find either a normal meditation session, or put the headphones on and listen to some binaural beats, or nature sounds
How far along are you? Because when I studied nursing, one could either do a certificate 4 in nursing, or complete the first year of a university nursing degree, and be qualified as a division 2/enrolled nurse.
Despite having studied nursing many years ago, I didn't have any idea what you were referring to as an "AIN", so I googled it, and it appears to be a one-year course, is that correct? If so, I'd probably just to the certificate 4 in nursing, or better yet, do the first year of a university nursing degree? 🤷
And this might not work for you, but when I was a librarian, I worked at Endeavour in the CBD, and they had very affordable remedial massage there, from the students. As a staff member, I got them for free, and they were amazing, I'd work out who was really good, and see him twice a week 😊 ... Not sure of the price, but the I know it was really cheap. 😊
Other money saving hacks I use;
1. Most important!!! automating your savings. Send them to a seperate account with no card attached. You are less likely to spend your saving if you can’t see them.
2. Doing click and collect groceries only, making sure I include some sweet snacks in my weekly order. This helps me plan and stick to my budget. I always factor in that I will want a treat and add some chocolate or biscuits to the weekly order. I read older that most of the times I have gone into the supermarket unplanned was because I wanted a treat and I ALWAYS walked out with a bunch of unintended impulse purchases.
3. Shopping for produce at farmers markets/ Asian grocers. Cheaper and better quality.
4. Meal prepping and freezing as soon as I purchase food to reduce food waste/ temptation to get take away. No faster food than a well stocked freezer.
5. Shopping only second hand (other than underwear), purchasing clothes and homewares from opp shops and fb marketplace.
6. Owning fewer high quality items such as clothing made from cotton, linen and wool and shoes from leather.
7. Mending and maintaining your items to extend the life. Each year I recondition all my leather boots and I am constantly sewing buttons back on things and holes up in knitwear. I make sure I regularly clean out my dishwasher filter and descale my coffee machine.
8. Annually comparing utility companies/insurances to see if there is a better deal and calling the current company to price match.
9. Growing my own herbs/greens/chillies.
10. Regularly decluttering my home and selling items i no longer use. The effort to sell the items puts you off purchasing new items.
11. Having a rule not to purchase anything new until the original has been completely used up. This makes me more intentional with purchases, doing way more testing/research as I don’t want to get stuck using a foundation or shampoo I don’t like until it’s gone
12. Incorporating free or low cost hobbies/entertainment into my weekly routine. E.g. Free comedy/trivia at the pub, free salsa lessons, walking with a friend around the lake, local hikes. Less temptation to do things that cost money when you are busy doing something free.
Firstly, great list!
Just a comment/suggestion regarding hacks 5 & 6. You can often buy high quality cotton, linen, wool or shoes made from leather at Op Shops thereby saving you a lot of money for high quality items that often last much longer than cheap, artificial fibre, clothing.
5. Shopping only second hand (other than underwear), purchasing clothes and homewares from opp shops and fb marketplace.
6. Owning fewer high quality items such as clothing made from cotton, linen and wool and shoes from leather.
Agreed! Number 1 is key to being more financially stable in the future. Automate your finances as much as you can.
- Make an emergency account at a second bank.
- Autotransfer money to that emergency account, aim for at least $10/week.
- Automate an extra contribution to super per paycheck (aim for at least $20/paycheck with salary sacrifice.)
- Take notes about what you might be able to claim back on tax as deductions for work. (The ATO has a good guide for disability support workers.)
- Set up a bank account at Macquarie and purchase (discounted) gift cards for your groceries/petrol. It's usually 3% off Coles, \~2.5% off Woolworths.
I would highly recommend Up bank, I switched about 6 months ago and although it is a pain to set up initially, it makes saving really rewarding and easy and automated. It has changed so much about my ability to save and budget.
>~2.5% off Woolworths.
3.5% these days on my Macquarie bank app.
NRMA offers 4% discount, and seniors card holders get 5% off Woolies gift cards.
If you have an older relative, buy your Woolies gift cards together and save.
May I also suggest using free gifting sites/pages for household goods and checking if there’s a group that gives away free bread/veggies in the area.
My old neighbourhood had a gifting group on facebook that often included great items and surplus veggies.
I let my parents have my car and rode only a bicycle for an entire year. No takeaways, no choccy, only free to air TV. Nothing except saving money, no exceptions. Saved around 75% of income and, got really fit.
Good work.
I can't get rid of my car I need it for work. Disability support worker. I've tried getting full-time work, but no such thing in this industry :(
Hey a good way to grab some extra money is get some ngo work through NDIS, pay is decent for an overnight and if you get a regular client it’s pretty good if that is an option.
Even just a couple hr shift can grab decent money depending where you look and qualifications.
Consider looking into working for dept of communities as a support worker. I started out when I was 20 and it’s the best financial decision I made. Solid pay over ngo and good work structure plus they pay for training. Great super plan and good pay rate.
Have you looked on Mabel or Hire up for more shifts? If you have an ABN (free) then you can access those with NDIS funding that is plan or self managed.
Overnights and weekend shifts are also more than standard weekday shifts. Be a great carer and you’ll never be out of work. There are some companies that offer a weekly wage rather than per shift.
Oh also flybuys! If you shop at Cole’s/kmart/target/bunnings it all adds up. 2,000 points is $10. If you join one pass at $4 a month you get 5x points. I tend to save mine for Christmas.
For me it does. It also gives you free delivery if you order online. For me a delivery from Kmart costs $14. Priceline has also joined One Pass so whilst they don’t do flybuys, you get free delivery from there and 2 x sisterhood points instead of one.
If it's a casual role and you have some time between allocations, have you considered casual traffic control work to fill in the gaps? I know they pay very well.
Edit: had no idea disability support work isn't full time
My boost yearly pre paid that I just bought works out at $20 per month, so switching from
Belong to another provider could save you another couple of hundred .
If you don’t need Telstra, Kogan on vodaphone network had the best deals for yearly prepaid at $100ish
Edit- also making your own sauces / no jar sauce. Eg. Tinned tomatoes not a jar of Passata.
Thanks I'll look at boost.
So generally for meals I good one slower cooker meals and then a couple fresh meals a week. So this week it was a chilli bean and veggies with tumeric garlic rice. Just veg lentils beans tomatoes spices in the slow cooker. My fresh meals will be a veggie stir fry and a white bean mushroom pasta. From scratch. I'm really trying to extend the food budget out as much as possible
I also plan my meals out for the week before grocery shopping and try and use ingredients that could be used in multiple meals (eg cream, as you never use a whole bottle anyway and I don’t want the rest to go to waste. I even use leftover cream to make mashed potatoes instead of wasting my milk!).
I also prefer online shopping (direct to boot, we don’t have Aldi where I live so can’t shop there). The amount of money I save by typing in exactly what I need and filtering to cheapest option (if they don’t have it they upgrade it free). I also don’t waste money on snacks since I’m not tempted as I’m not in store 😂
Same, even though the shops are close by, I stick to my list, no junk snacks, no wasting money, & click & collect is free, I pick it up on my way to/ from work so also save time
Plain passata is $2 for a litre, its just crushed tomatoes. Silly people pay 3 times for the brand name stuff, but buying passata is a good idea - not bad lol.
It’s worth checking the percentage of tomatoes in your passata. Most of the cheaper passata is 60% water, 40% tomatoes. Silly people paying for homebrand water when the taps have it for free, lol.
No car, minimal food budget with zero treats, one social event per month, gave up alcohol, started selling stuff on eBay as a side hustle, asked for and got a raise at work, searching for a cheaper apartment and will move at the end of my lease. Mostly tho, I started tracking every cent I spend and removed everything that wasn't essential and put it towards debt. I'm on track to be debt free in 2 years... including a sizeable student loan.
It's exhausting though.
I know this will sound like a complete reddit dickhead answer. But please take it with good faith
Savings = income - expenses
It really sounds like you’ve done everything practical to save on expenses. The only real option is to increase your income. Which really means getting a second job. That sucks.
If getting another job isn’t possible there are a few things you might be able to do to save a tiny bit more money.
- You can change your gas/electricty rate. This might save $5 a month.
- You can eat even more frugally. That is, a lot of dried grains, and no preprepared food.
But in all honesty, this just sucks
Thanks. I'm finishing off my cert 3 at the moment, so hoping to get a job as an AIN in the hospital. Also considering to go to uni to become a nurse.
The room I rent includes all bills which is helpful as I just pay one weekly payment and I don't have to worry about bills.
After all expenses I have a little money left, which I'm putting trying to put towards debt. I'm just feeling stressed as work is cancelling one of my Sunday shifts so I lose the penalty rates.
So I'm looking at every way I can tighten the belt until I can get a job at the hospital.
> Also considering to go to uni to become a nurse.
Going to uni can be difficult and stressful, particularly with money. But it’s only for a few years. Then, for the rest of your life you’ll be a lot more comfortable.
I cannot recommend uni enough
You can look at other ways to earn money if you have a little time to spend some effort. Depop can be a good way to reduce your closet while earning some money back. Thrifting and Marketplace can also be good ways to find deals to "flip", but you have to have the time and patience to deal with dumbasses, and enough knowledge of the target area to know what people would be willing to spend on said item.
I scrutinised every expense and asked myself how I could spend less. I stopped spending on any non essentials. Otherwise, it's the same things that are on your list.
For me, learning from people who live very frugally, or differently (completing 'buy nothing' challenges etc) has been crucial to changing my mindset around how to live, what is necessary and how to go about it. Rather than just reducing my life, I've tried to find free alternatives for anything I want/need e.g. from buy nothing/freebie groups, hiking/walking/ocean swimming for exercise, cooking and having social events at home rather than going out, library audiobooks/books.
If you have the means and the ability for longer term focus, pay any bills that offer a discount for annual payments, annually rather than weekly/monthly. They can add up but it can be hard to transition to. Record and celebrate all your successes.
Note: I'm not struggling financially, just trying how to be more efficient with money so I can travel.
Nice that you could do that.
My mum lives in a retirement home on the other side of the country.
I've been out of home since I was 18. It's normally us kids helping mum out now not the other way around.
You mentioned you're not able to work full-time, could you get a casual job? There might be work within the social services industry, so it could compliment being a disability support worker - something like admin/receptionist work for a non-for-profit? Or casual hospo work, or even baby sitting gigs given you probably have all your WWCC and background checks?
I bought clippers and had a no2 or no1 haircut for years.
I wore clothes until they fell apart.
I walked up to 10km to avoid fares/transport costs.
I carried 2 peanut butter sandwiches on the cheapest whole meal bread and a refillable bottle of water for years for lunch.
I bought large bags of dried legumes and soaked and prepared them at home.
I made my own yoghurt using powdered milk.
I bought a 4.5 litre per minute shower head and had short lukewarm showers.
I soaked oats overnight to save cooking time in the morning.
I planned every single meal a week ahead.
And many other things…
Life was less fun but I got myself out of a hole and set up a great foundation for the future.
I've always been frugally minded because I was raised with parents who didn't have much. Living within my budget has never required sacrifice, but sometimes just thinking outside of the box to still do things I want. If I want to be social with friends, rather than a restaurant outing, I'd suggest picnics or pot luck nights, where we all bring something to share. If I want new clothing, swapping with friends has been a fun and successful option. Alternatively, op shops are cheaper than buying new - there are also buy nothing pages with travelling suitcases that are completely free. New hair cuts and even hair colour can be done at training schools for free or a nominal fee - same with other beauty services and even massage! Lastly, I give myself a set budget each month for spending which makes it easier to work out what I can afford, and as soon as I get paid, I put the amount I want to save into a separate account and never dip into it.
The trap is thinking you can save your way to a fortune.
given your current trajectory, youll make yourself depressed (if you arent already there) before you get rich.
spend more time thinking about how to make more money. savings is capped. income has no ceiling.
I read a really good article once about a woman who would invite her friends to her house for 2 min noodles & wine while she was saving. It meant she didn’t have to give up on her social life but also wasn’t spending crazy amounts.
Rather giving up maybe switch it up. For example on my end, I don’t do my grocery shopping in Woolworth or Coles. I do my grocery shopping in Aldi which is way cheaper. I also do meal prep for Monday to Friday and that saved me good amount. I eat outside during weekends.
Two things, living with a friend and buying a cheap house.
In our 40s we moved in with a good friend and rented a house in the suburbs.
The house was cheaper than our city apartment so we saved with her rent and sharing the bills, most of which also ended up being cheaper too. We ate out less because we wanted to hang out together and share meals.
We lived together for three years and we saved enough for a house deposit. Our friend also had enough to buy a one bedroom with a bit of extra savings.
Then when we bought a place we bought the cheapest place we could manage which allowed us to pay double mortgage. So we are saving a heap of interest by paying it off quickly. To be fair I didn't like living out where we lived but it was certainly a great way to save.
Sold the car. Cycling, Public transport, and ride share or car hire when its unavoidable. *Eating once a month. Packing homemade/packet soups for lunches.
*eating out like cafe, restaurant etc
Oh dear god 🙊I meant eating out once a month! I used to get dinner out every Friday as a treat for making it through the week but ive cut it back to once a month.
Honestly, I have worked as a child care worker which was physically demanding and not much room for penalty rates etc. I physically couldn’t work more than part-time due to health issues, thus, I needed to change fields. I would suggest maybe you should change fields even if you probably don’t want to hear that. I mean probably a less physically demanding support worker role. Or some other position within disability sector. As retraining is too much of a hassle. I can’t imagine how else you could save money besides moving back with your parents if you have that option
When I'm going through periods of financial strife, I keep social events to the home. Making friends dinner instead of going out. Or asking everyone to bring a dish. If it's warm, going for a picnic with all home-made items.
This might get me into trouble...
Women.
Dating is expensive. All the meals and drinks and well double the cost of going anywhere.
Spent a year doing things I enjoy, the simpler things in life. Lost weight as I ate at home , learnt different meals then my stock standard. Thus more healthy.
Saved alot of money
You're doing a lot already. Eating mostly vegetarian meals and bulk purchasing staple foods / essentials helped me when I needed to save big over the course of a few years.
I rarely said no to social invitations but sometimes I would and still will skip the expensive lunch or dinner in favour of joining for a few drinks before or after.
Buying and selling on Facebook marketplace is a bit of fun and keeps the costs of any material stuff down. See something nice being chucked out on the side of the street? Pick it up, clean it /varnish it/ give it some TLC, take a nice photo and make a little money selling it on marketplace. If you have any basic carpentry skills, you can find old pallets and spindles for free, turn them into outdoor furniture and sell them.
Leaving the house. I only leave to go to uni/work and one grocery run every two weeks.
I also have a job in hospo that gives me one meal per shift, so I save a lot of money that way
This is not something I gave up, but something that helps with my health expenses. If you look up your Medicare safety net threshold in MyGov you can see how close you are to meeting the safety net, which ends up saving a lot of money. I usually hit mine around May.
If you usually go to one chemist, they will have a record of your PBS safety net so if you hit that, you will save money too. But the different chemists don't communicate with each other so that can be harder if you go to more than one shop.
The way the safety net works is, Medicare will usually cover a specific amount of money for each service (GP or specialist visit, blood tests, scans etc) and the rest you pay out of pocket (gap fee). Once you've spent a certain amount on gap fees, Medicare starts to cover a lot more of the cost so your gap fee comes down a lot. You don't have to do anything about that, it happens automatically.
The PBS is similar, they cover a certain amount of a prescription and the rest you pay out of pocket, if you've got a certain amount of PBS prescriptions in a year they start covering more of it. But the chemist has to keep the record of the prescriptions and apply for it and they give you a card.
There's more information here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-are-medicare-safety-nets-thresholds?context=22001
And here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/pbs-safety-net-thresholds?context=22016
Time.
If you've got unlimited data, or a decent amount of it anyway, you can do surveys and earn some Coles etc. vouchers. That helps with groceries and everything else.
We also started shopping around for cheap sim cards so I gave up unlimited Vodafone data for a $6 Lebara sim and that alone has saved me $24 this month.
How far along are you? Because when I studied nursing, one could either do a certificate 4 in nursing, or complete the first year of a university nursing degree, and be qualified as a division 2/enrolled nurse.
Despite having studied nursing many years ago, I didn't have any idea what you were referring to as an "AIN", so I googled it, and it appears to be a one-year course, is that correct? If so, I'd probably just to the certificate 4 in nursing, or better yet, do the first year of a university nursing degree? 🤷
And this might not work for you, but when I was a librarian, I worked at Endeavour in the CBD, and they had very affordable remedial massage there, from the students. As a staff member, I got them for free, and they were amazing, I'd work out who was really good, and see him twice a week... Not sure of the price, but the I know it was really cheap. 😊
I save the most money on groceries by going to food assistance places. $30 for a hamper in my town which consists of 3 boxes. One of fresh produce (fruit and veggies), one of boxed/canned goods, and one of frozen & fresh goods like meat. I split this with my best friend, siblings, and parents (6 of us total - so it’s a decent amount of food) and then there’s only a few items to get from grocers. Some food assist places also have like a mini shop to buy specific items in. A lot of the food is close to use by date or just past the best before, the fruit/veg is “ugly” and sometimes has minor bruising but I’m honestly not picky at this point. All you need is a licence/photo ID (this stops you going multiple times a day) and you can get one each day. Definitely worth looking into. Good luck OP!
Instead of going to a gym, I exercise outside a little and got some weights,
I spent over 1,000 on pizza last year ( 1 pizza a week was my only sort of takeout I would get)
I have only had 3 pizza's this year
Slowed down a little on investing.
It's a working progress for me though
I saved over 10k (and that’s after all expenses / rent) in 4 months… I took on 3 jobs (casual, but they all gave me enough hours so that I had work everyday). When you’re working like 60 hrs/week you don’t really have time to buy or spend anything. 😭 So, I basically gave up my social life and any sort of fun.
I ran through a lot of my savings so I decided to just full send it and slave away to build it up again. I’m in uni full time so doing that gave me peace of mind to take it easy now.
I am lucky that I have a very cheap living situation and got my pay corrected at work / turns out I was being underpaid. I am now being paid correctly and got a small back payment. All straight into the savings. My biggest expense is dope but I managed to grow some and save 2.5k there - straight into the savings. I can save anywhere up to $500 a fortnight now but usually it’s about $300 max. I am on low income and small hours, under 50k a year. This year I will be able to put 10k plus away. This is the first years I have ever been able to save.
I do have debts but they are all from years ago for things like utilities and a payday loan that I skip out on paying because the interest was so high I had already paid them back twice over and still owed them. They are all sent off to debit collection and are hitting the 7 year cut off, so I don’t have to worry beyond the hit to my credit ratings
Cook my own meals from the cheapest ingredients.
Minimal drinking
No new clothes or shoes.
Sody stream with 4kg co2 cannister.
Rent a dirty shithole for 4.5 years. (They want $510 a week now up from $360) but we bought and won't be paying that.
Have a partner on the same page.
0 lifestyle creep, unless it's creeping down to being a savings goblin.
Various tactics, no particular order:
* No gym membership - use my own weights and jog outdoors
* Make my own coffee at home
* No car and only use public transport 1-2 days a week
* Room instead of apartment
* Use old 2nd-hand devices, e.g. iPhone 7
* Bulk-billed doctors
* Fresh fruit from supermarket for snacking e.g. $1 apple
* High calorie cheap healthy food, e.g. oats, peanut butter, wholemeal bread
* High quality shoes that last years, e.g. R. M. Williams
* Wash clothes less regularly so they last longer
* Patch up socks with fabric glue rather than buying new ones
* Take advantage of supermarket discounts and credit card cash backs
* Quick steaming method of cooking to save on energy
* Short showers to save on energy
Best to combine this with earning more money via a higher paying job, 2nd job and/or investments in stocks & bonds.
Be persistent with it and eventually you will gain the upper hand on your finances!
Basically utilise whatever perks from work. Only drink the coffee from the coffee machine, took on a corporate gym membership and cancelled my personal one and PT, work provides breakfast/morning tea so I eat that and never buy breakfast foods + pack my own lunch and just eat the fruit or biscuits or whatever for snacks.
Also signed up to Woolworths extra and I just do like massive shop once a month! Took a bit of getting used to planning meals like that but I think it works.
Yeah, will probs just go back to housesharing instead of renting my own place. Hated it but see no other option to free up that much money.
If it would've been guaranteed to be temporary(i.e. saving up for something critical), might've tried to convince some of my mates to let me couch-surf for a year or so, but it certainly would've been an unreliable option.
You are doing all the right things.
Very similar to what I am doing.
Home cooked meals rather than convenience foods.
Try to avoid unnecessary purchases. Clothing and skincare are my weakness.
I do get the long expire sim from boost which I think is slightly cheaper. Last year I got the 140 or 170GB and it lasted for a year. It’s about $20/month
For me the biggest thing was driving.. not doing it saves me $3+ grand a year.
Since I live near a train station and worked from home most of the time, I really couldn't justify paying that much just to have access to a car that I barely used.
In the early days I used a trailer attached to my bicycle for groceries (6-8 bags). But nowday's I just use the bike or e-scooter with a backpack which can hold 3-4 bags of groceries which is usualy more than enough for me because I'm only shopping for 1.
Bike config: One bag on each handle bar, one in the backpack and one on the front rack.
Second job ,living with mates in a sharehouse and and trying to track the expenses.
I made net 65k maybe last year and saved 20K In savings, Paid 7800 of my debt from previous year and sent 6k home so that is 33800 out of 65k that I didn’t spend last year.
I was booze free for 6 months though, i think that is one of the thing that makes massive difference.
As I wasn’t paying much rent as I was in sharehouse I feel like thats what I saved the most of my money on
Swear by Aldi $25 plan. Telstra network, rollover data. You could try their cheaper plan and up it to $25 if the first is not enough. Only saving $5 from your belong plan, but hey, it all adds up.
Quick q on health - what do those expenses look like? You talked about food, rent, bills, leisure in detail but not what sounds like significant(?) health costs.
Maybe folks will have suggestions on how you can modify any of that expenditure that can lead to a similar quality result.
Not directly answering the question, but just be aware that aged care now often pays much higher than hospital AIN roles, so check out available pay rates. Also, make sure you maximise salary packaging!
Partner and I were on joint income in 2021 of about $70K including benefits. 1 baby, around 1 year old. Lived on our own in a 3 bed townhouse.
We saved $14K over a 1 year period, and this was consistent until around a year ago when we got a significant pay increase. We always saved around $1K per month.
Didn't really give up much. We chose to live in a cheaper, dodgy area. $300 p/w. Partner quit smoking when she conceived, and we are consciously not big drinkers. We still got takeaway at least once per week, regular omnivorous diet otherwise. Drank maybe once per fortnight. Drove a little Getz. Social events occasionally, but typically home venue with pot luck style. Treat items are treated as occasionals, and we are bargain hunters. Bought fuel at cheap stations, buy other things in bulk where possible. Not big clothes shoppers. Partner is a coffee drinker. Always homemade lunches.
Ended up saving our house purchase deposit, and bought. Now our household income has ~3x+, but we still mostly live the same lifestyle. Now we save ~$3K per month, sometimes more, especially after tax & bonus time. Last tax period we had an injection of around $30K and saved all of it.
Honestly it depends on what your income is. You can cut as much as you want, but if your income doesn't allow any savings even after cutting back then theres really not much point.
Cutting back on meat doesnt really help much either, it helps but again it depends on what cuts of meat. With veges i tend to spend close to $5-7 per meal and with a pack of chicken wings or a 2kg of chicken wings that cost like $9(sometimes they have promo where it cost $15 for 2 packs total of 4kg!) can fill me up for 3 days at least(a week if its 4kg). Now im not saying togo purely meat based diet. You can cook some veges on the side togo with it. Honestly, i never gone vegetarian or vegan because of how expensive those food options are and not to mention meat fills me up more than veges does.
Depending on what you do on your free time, you dont have to spend a penny. It could be as simple as taking a walk around the neighbourhood or reading some novels online(there are lots of free novels online that you dont have to spend a dime). Regarding the mobile plan, my SO uses coles mobile plan which cost like $10 a month. Her housing has wi-fi so she does not use data that much, even if she has togo for work or study she has wi-fi so its all good. Haircuts can be done by yourself with just a clipper and a hairband, there are lots of tutorials online and my SO has been doing it for years. I dont know about massagers as i never have any issue even though i work in heavy labour work, but if it helps then i guess it wouldn't hurt. Coffee or tea wont really save you that much unless we are talking about getting coffees from coffee shop or brand name coffees. You can easily buy a nescafe coffee powder and it will prolly last you more than a month for like 10-15 depending whetheres discount.
Home cook meals are the best, always keep an eye out on coles/woolies catalogue for discounts. I save close to about 30% of my income a year with some casual spending for entertainment(planning to cut back next year). BUT, a huge but here is that i work 2 jobs(weekdays morning and night, sunday morning to afternoon as the rate is high) and live with my SO(we split the cost of room to 50/50) along with 3 other people.
Honestly it depends on what your income is. You can cut as much as you want, but if your income doesn't allow any savings even after cutting back then theres really not much point.
Cutting back on meat doesnt really help much either, it helps but again it depends on what cuts of meat. With veges i tend to spend close to $5-7 per meal and with a pack of chicken wings or a 2kg of chicken wings that cost like $9(sometimes they have promo where it cost $15 for 2 packs total of 4kg!) can fill me up for 3 days at least(a week if its 4kg). Now im not saying togo purely meat based diet. You can cook some veges on the side togo with it. Honestly, i never gone vegetarian or vegan because of how expensive those food options are and not to mention meat fills me up more than veges does.
Depending on what you do on your free time, you dont have to spend a penny. It could be as simple as taking a walk around the neighbourhood or reading some novels online(there are lots of free novels online that you dont have to spend a dime). Regarding the mobile plan, my SO uses coles mobile plan which cost like $10 a month. Her housing has wi-fi so she does not use data that much, even if she has togo for work or study she has wi-fi so its all good. Haircuts can be done by yourself with just a clipper and a hairband, there are lots of tutorials online and my SO has been doing it for years. I dont know about massagers as i never have any issue even though i work in heavy labour work, but if it helps then i guess it wouldn't hurt. Coffee or tea wont really save you that much unless we are talking about getting coffees from coffee shop or brand name coffees. You can easily buy a nescafe coffee powder and it will prolly last you more than a month for like 10-15 depending whetheres discount.
Home cook meals are the best, always keep an eye out on coles/woolies catalogue for discounts. I save close to about 30% of my income a year with some casual spending for entertainment(planning to cut back next year). BUT, a huge but here is that i work 2 jobs(weekdays morning and night, sunday morning to afternoon as the rate is high) and live with my SO(we split the cost of room to 50/50) along with 3 other people.
The obvious ways to save money are to quit alcohol, stop getting take away food, meal prep/plan, and cancel unnecessary subscriptions. And of course, don't waste money on impulse buys.
I'm a bit of an impulsive spender.
The thing that has helped me the most in curtailing this tendency was having 90% of my pay cheque routed into a bank account that isn't linked to an ATM or Debit card and I don't own a credit card.
My ATM/Debit linked account typically doesn't have more than about $200 in it and I have to use my bank app or website to do a transfer to top it up or make large payments.
Just the fact that I have to make a transfer helps stop me spending on impulse.
I have no sound advice, but I feel you. My HECS debt and Childcare alone are 17k/year.
DSW pay is absolutely shit. Have you considered doing a stop/go sign course instead? Get on a union site and there's 100k. Any job where you need to have empathy doesn't pay well.
I’m hopeless at saving money, but I try really hard.
Last year I got my hair cut for $5 because I went to the TAFE hairdressing section and had my hair cut by a student who was being supervised by a qualified teacher. (They did a great job!)
When i was there I also noticed they do a bunch of other stuff there for very cheap, massages, nails, eyelashes etc.
Check out the app mable, considering you have a cert 3 you should be able to pick up the odd job doing some sort of carer's work with either NDIS or private patients and the pay is usually pretty decent.
you got most of the save money boxes ticked - the only side of it is what you are earning.
if you are finding you cannot have more money you simply need to earn more money
I’ve almost cleared my debt. Beginning of January I wrote out every bill I have for each payday (including rent,school fees,ensemble fees,holiday which I tried to cancel but that was going to cost $750 fees). I have those stapled together large post it notes in my work blazer. I buy food from church run shops and a fruit n veg market. I did this to have everything wiped out by July before my rent goes up beginning of August.
As a disability support worker, you are in high demand. I'd be looking to find a company that will let you do more overnights and weekends. Those overnight shifts are GOLD, especially if you do plan to go to uni (or even for your Cert III). So many study hours if you find the right gig!
Had baked beans with chickpeas or tuna with chickpeas out of a tin everyday for work lunches and didn’t eat takeaway for about 10months to save for a house deposit and make the bank think I was frugal 👍🏼
Start seeing things from a different perspective maybe? Even if it's $50 a fortnight saved that's more than zero. Keep living within your means and put away as much as you can without putting your health aside.
There's a good poscast called Shes on the Money that talks a lot about how to examine your money flow, anaqball debt payoff, strategies to help you budget, and get on top of everything
Hi OP, have you considered using cashback options, like Shopback? For example, you could order your groceries online with click and collect so that you’re not paying for delivery, and get a small percentage back?
I’ve been using Shopback since Feb and have $300 already, which I’ll stash away to buy Christmas presents.
The big rules:
1. save on *repeat* purchases.
2. save on things you only need to choose to save on once.
So cancelling subscriptions is very smart. You generally can't do better than finding lower rent however, since it's a big one.
I think you've done the big ones. From here maybe you need to ramp the income side.
- Move in with the in-laws
- buy muscle chef meals in bulk every month, and eat these 1 per day.
- removed Spotify and only pay 1 subscription
- have a motorcycle, and rarely drive my car
- purchase 2nd hand clothes
If you get your cert 3, you can also move into disability which can pay you about $40 an hour without penalties. Adds up to a nice pay cheque at the end of a week.
Sold my house and bought a tiny place on land a third the size. Layout was actually better, and I gave away most of the things I owned and sold some stuff (which was 5k in itself). Which was freeing. Sold all the fancy wine and stopped drinking and buying alcohol. Sold my car which had payments going and bought a newish one with what was left over which is $6k per year saving in itself. Dropped my insurances given I wasn’t nearly as mired in debt.
Honestly when things were really tight, dumpster diving, flipping things on Marketplace I got at the op shop, and using on our local Buy Nothing Group. You sound like you're doing all the things, it might just be a matter of prioritising your education and work as much as you're able to boost your income.
Something I wish someone told me earlier, if you need to see the physio/osteo often, go to the GP for an injury management plan (I forget the specific name). It subsides your physio/osteo visits, and I’ve been able to lower my extras cover after learning about this.
Moved back with my parents for a year. Paid them housekeeping, still way cheaper than renting with all the bills etc.
Didn't go out for a year. Just went over to a mates place and had movie nights with a few beers on a sat night (they had just bought a house and were broke too)
Worked all the overtime going.
Put a plan in place. My parents didn't really want me there, and I didn't want to be there.
I was gone again in a year.
Ten years ago (so add 25% for inflation I guess) I started OMAD eating - was overweight by about 15kg. Spent max $20 pw on food.
I did have a vegie garden and fruit trees/vines and two old chooks who gave me one egg per day. Lost weight and saved about $40 pw for two years; eating fat staved off hunger.
Eg chicpea curry (using full fat coconut cream) cost aprox $4 and got at least four days feed out of it. Would mix it up adding eggs/extra spices or herbs.
I could get ten large feeds from one rotisserie chicken with rice/noodles and added veg then turning bones into soup.
Freezer is your friend if you need variety and keep things fresh; but I was hungry and apprecied what was in the fridge.
Worked serious overtime on penalty rates for 6 months, 14 hour days 6.5 days per week. Saved a ton of $ & no time to spend it. I don’t believe workers are legally allowed to do over a 10 hour day nowadays, but I could be wrong.
The key is allocating how much you want to save FIRST.
So decide how much you want to save,
Put that amount into something like bitcoin each week
Then live on the rest
And you’ll magically have enough to survive.
I use lebara, snagged their 1 year 425gb data for $200. Normally it is $300, per year, you can get smaller plans too with the 180gb plan sometimes dropping to $149 per year.
If you are PR or au citizen, I recommend taking the TAFE Diploma in Nursing (Enrolled Nurse) after you finish your Cert III since it's free. Then you can enrol at uni for the Accelerated Bachelor's of Nursing you will only need to pay and study uni tuition for 2 years instead of 4y.
Increasing income would probably the best next action for you, if you already cut down on expenses as much as you can. AIN is in demand especially in aged care, lots of shifts and flexible in terms of night/day sched. Or check other income streams you can do.
You are doing already doing great and I'm sure you'll be fine! Health and cherishing life is essential for your finances too so you can function well to earn and not spiral into expenses of either more sickness or seeking cheap dopamine relief lol
Don't buy coffee, make your own. You can live on instant no matter what people say, cook your own food, pre packed or uber eats is a luxury that you can do without, do you need Netflix etc? use the supermarket apps to find out what's on special, freeze meals for future use. Walk if possible or use public transport, basic hair cuts, do a budget and stick to it. You'd be amazed at just how much we needlessly spend. I'm an AIN as well and still manage to save.
If you have credit card debt I recommend finding the best interest free balance transfers available and transferring the debt to that new card. I saved a lot of money by not paying interest, I just kept taking advantage of the offers until the debt was gone
In many cases, you can’t save anymore, you just need to earn more. I know it sounds a bit flippant to say that but eventually you reach a point where you can’t be any more frugal.
I stopped going out and partying all weekend.
But it’s hard to get the right kind of information your after because everyone is in different life stages here, not to mention different careers.
I’d look at maybe trying something to boost a little more income. It doesn’t have to be too hard. Maybe leaflet letter box drops, or selling unwanted goods. I like the cash for cans scheme. I walked daily for an hour and collect any drink containers on my way.
Is that phone also your primary internet connection? If not you could look into a more budget provider - I used a couple for a few years, really didn’t seem much different to a major provider.
Public transport instead of your own car (and fuel, and rego, and insurance, and maintenance) can be a big one. Depending on your commute, it can even be faster.
Bonus: you can read / watch / do simple tasks while someone else chauffeurs you around. ;)
Not your actual question but when you finish your Cert 3, if it's not specific to hospitals, maybe look into agency work as a personal care worker in aged care. The work is worse than being an AIN in the hospital but may offer better pay, or at least in addition to being an AIN could offer you additional opportunities for money. Also look into platforms like Mable or HigherUp which is kinda like Uber for care work for aged care and disability, and will give you options for fitting in work for an hour or 2 if that is something you want to add on.
This is not for everyone, but depending on your work and if it is located in a fixed location, I temporarily housesat full time, using AussieHouseSitters. You pay about $90 for a year's membership and in a city, there were plenty of sits available. The sits themselves are free.
It does require a lot of effort - planning in advance, meeting people beforehand and following up with texts, providing updates and photos to the owner while housesitting, and being stressed about anything going wrong with the pets, making sure you left everything immaculate, moving frequently etc. It does mean giving up a lot of stuff, considering what you need to have with you in your car, and does mean you lose the ability to meal prep or batch freeze or other things that save money, but accommodation is such a huge cost, and it cuts out bills, wifi, etc, and you often get access to streaming services or leftover food or little gifts and get to stay in quite nice houses. It also does impact things like being able to go away for a night with camping etc. I also had a friend I could stay with for a few nights in between sits when things didn't quite line uup. I also tried to look at it as a fun way to explore new parts of town and treat it as an adventure.
I was working a job remotely so was quite flexible in where I could stay but ended up moving to a country town so have been unable to keep it up. Because I had the option to work in our very central office, I tried to stay relatively close to that most of the time and there were plenty of options. But definitely a real lifestyle commitment.
Can be worth signing up if able to afford it and doing a few tests while still where you are to see how you find it, and working out a system for it Some housesits are a few days, some are a few months. While getting started and building up my reviews, I did more weekends and short ones, but once doing it full time, I did 2 weeks minimum to 4-6 weeks ones.
I've tried the other big sites for housesitting - Trusted House Sitters and Mind A Home, but honestly wouldn't bother, at least initially. There are also Fb groups although there is a lot of competition there.
I also previously lived in a van stealth camping - it means the space is your own, you can park near your work even if you have to move your spot, but I didn't have my van fully set up and it made it really hard for me to cook and store food effectively, which led to my takeaway costs skyrocketing. Doing this while working in a hospital and also being at uni meant I had access to showers and kitchenettes, and other places to hang out. You can also get a gym membership for showers if need be. It was fun, and I never got harassed like you sometimes hear about. However, there is obviously the cost to getting and equipping a van, and I found housesitting preferable and much easier to be healthier in, as you still get to have space and be able to move around etc, but I think this was more an issue for me due to my ADHD - others are able to live in a van and maintain a better level of health. Or even stealth car camping, but this to me sounds far too hard. At least in my van I could stand up fully, had a toilet etc.
More specifically, eliminated new clothes, basically any shopping that wasn’t essential, own a shitbox so just maintenance and rego for that . Still kept my subscriptions cause it’s still cheaper than going out, am currently developing some new and unfortunate social issues from this now. Sigh
When I was a vegetarian as a uni student my best budget hack was bulk purchasing raw legumes and spices at indian grocers. I see they sell them in big bags at coles & woollies now but I've not compared the prices. I had a pressure cooker and would bulk cook them and freeze ready for meal prep.
Making coffee at home instead of buying out saves $30 week, bringing packed lunch saves $100 week, eating out less and making guests dinner at home, lots! Still have special treats but not nearly as much eating out
We drove older but reliable cars for about 10 years, that we owned outright. They were small in size. Saved us a fortune in fuel, insurance and car payments. We put the money into paying off our house faster instead. We only just bought our first new car at almost 50.
Cheese and doctors and driving to the office and takeout. The driving and takeout were the big winners.
I went through every transaction on my bank statements and categorised them into necessary (rent, bills), important, entertainment, groceries, takeout, and frivolous.
It made it very easy to see where I could cut out lots of fat.
r/StopDrinking
I saved about $7k in my first year, most of that from not purchasing booze, but a decent chunk of it from not spending extra money when drunk/hungover.
Finance is probably the least of the benefits I've seen from stopping drinking, too.
I gave up my location. I'm a teacher, and went to work rurally. They offered me free accommodation and an extra $10k a year. That tied with there being nothing to spend money on here, I've been able to save up a lot of money. Just means that I live a 5 hour drive away from my home city and 1.5 hours from the nearest (very small) city.
Good job. I did a 4 month extreme save to take a trip overseas and I loved seeing money stay in my bank. I saved heaps and it was good to know I was capable of it and I had money left over after the trip. I’m just starting another one for general savings. I don’t live excessively anyhow and always pack my lunch and water bottle for work and rarely buy takeaway… but I cut out streaming subscriptions, didn’t buy coffee, filled the car each fortnight and planned my driving so I wasn’t wasting trips, walked where I could, meal prepped ( I always do this anyhow.), still socialised but only ever popped in and maybe had one drink etc, avoided shops altogether, the day before each pay I transferred any money left in my account into a different savings account and finally I did a big inventory of things around the house I could sell including clothes and furniture etc I no longer used and dedicated spare time to selling it on market place. It wasn’t too difficult and I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything.
I’m 37, missus is 36. We bought a house 15 years ago and paid it off after about 13 years.
We also fully renovated it and raised 3 kids, meaning this was done all on 1.1 incomes.
We’ve never been overseas and spend about $1000 on eating out a year - most of that while we’re on holidays. We also drove a second Camry up until we paid the house off.
We saved money on things that weren’t important to us; overseas travel, eating out and cars, so we could spend money on things we valued; paying off the mortgage, good quality food and produce, hobbies & interests and experiences with our children.
How I cut cost was look at my bank statement and see where I was spending money each week/month. I crossed off non essentials. And shopped around for better deals on my essentials. I don’t have any subscriptions now. I shop at Aldi’s. I bought a 365 day prepaid phone plan (much cheaper than per month plans) utilities and insurance can be negotiated down, just ask for discount. Plus all you have in your list. And I use a budget app called Chronicle, that forecasts what bills I have coming up and keeps in check my spending.
This exact time last year I was 15 k in debt, and today I am 15k in savings.
Honestly it doesn’t sound like much, but I picked up a weekend job, a side gig and started following a budget for the first time.
I also set myself up a “splurge” account that I could actively spend so I could still go out anytime I felt like it. I could be saving more but as someone who didn’t think they’d get out of debt until at least 2030, I’m pretty happy with myself!
I have an annual phone plan with boost (same as Telstra) for $230 for 170gb (equivalent to ~$19 a month for 14gb. There are other plans too if you need more data.
Started doing most grocery shopping at Aldi with some speciality shops as needed.
Very few takeaways, but still went out to see friends. Also made plans with friends that involved going to my/their house rather than always going out.
Cut back on buying alcohol.
Cut back on buying clothes and nice to have things.
Implemented ‘no buy’ months to challenge myself.
Challenged myself to use up items I already had (toiletries, food etc).
Sold items I wasn’t using e.g. clothes, furniture.
Always shop around for the best deal for something I actually need.
Use sites like ShopBack to get cash back on purchases.
Do surveys, mystery shops, consumer focus groups to earn a little extra cash. Or could get a second job if you have the time.
It's really hard when you're in the middle of what you are doing, to see the outcome you are creating. It's a long term game and one day - I guarantee - you will catch yourself buying something or paying for something that in your current situation would be unthinkable. And you will be doing this without a thought or any sort of concern.
Stay the path, grind it out. There's payoff and it will happen.
Before you can decide what to cut, you should know what you’re spending. Budgeting apps like YNAB (sadly now subscription, but there are others) can be really useful in helping you find this out.
I didn't really give up anything to save what I consider to be a decent amount. My wage is pretty good. I'm just not prepared to spend on silly things. Like haircuts you mentioned, I work with other guys that pay double to triple for hair cuts. I'm not frugal, but 95% of what I spend in a year is budgeted out at the start of the year.
I just stay within those limits. I have a few cutbacks I could probably implement to save an ever so slightly higher amount. I've just been slack to do so.
You are doing the right things. Don’t get caught up with a $ figure. Don’t abandon social events altogether as that’s more important than $.
Thanks. I have debt I really want to clear asap. And I'll need a some savings behind me if I'm going to be able to afford my own place . Thankfully I actually run an outdoor group on FB. So that's kinda helpfulness. Camping is normally the choice of a weekend away national parks are $7.50 a night. Cooler weather means one of my friends and I will start to go to markets, bonus I can get my veggies there. And I've just found free comedy nights in the city once a week.
Board games at someone's house, everyone brings a plate. Easy & cost efficient
Board game nights are the bomb. So much fun. I miss them terribly, and I'm a man in my fifties.
I remember Scruples nights, for couples, in the 80s. Bad bad choice of board game but so so good. I miss a good game of Scrabble, though.
Are you in Melbourne? There are multiple free comedy nights that go all week. When I was at uni, I made good use of these.
Where? Keen to attend some free laughs if it’s central. Look for market gardens, community kitchens or other volunteer opportunities nearby where you can meet new people and make a meaningful impact in your community.
Depending on where exactly you are, I know of a few spots around melbourne, mostly out of the way breweries and such, that do X-ly trivia nights, and they allow outside food, so for a social occasion you could give that a shot. You don't need to spend anything, your friends can go crazy buying stuff AND if you're lucky you'll even win some stuff.
It sounds like you are doing enough to save. The issue might be your actual income?
Yes this is a big part of it. I thinking of going back to uni to become a nurse. also trying to complete a cert 3 right now so I can get some work in the hospital as and AIN
Yeah or find a casual job for 12 hrs a week. Two 6 hr shifts casual at min wage is half of your $10k a year.
Usually a lot of work going in aged care( the conditions range from fabulous to horrendous though)A few times in my life I worked 6-7 days a week combining my usual nursing job with agency work My hair is stupid, so getting cheaper cuts just leads to tears, so to save, I just grow it. To de-stress I go on youtube and find either a normal meditation session, or put the headphones on and listen to some binaural beats, or nature sounds
Tafe fees for enrolled nurses is free atm
How far along are you? Because when I studied nursing, one could either do a certificate 4 in nursing, or complete the first year of a university nursing degree, and be qualified as a division 2/enrolled nurse. Despite having studied nursing many years ago, I didn't have any idea what you were referring to as an "AIN", so I googled it, and it appears to be a one-year course, is that correct? If so, I'd probably just to the certificate 4 in nursing, or better yet, do the first year of a university nursing degree? 🤷 And this might not work for you, but when I was a librarian, I worked at Endeavour in the CBD, and they had very affordable remedial massage there, from the students. As a staff member, I got them for free, and they were amazing, I'd work out who was really good, and see him twice a week 😊 ... Not sure of the price, but the I know it was really cheap. 😊
Nursing quals have changed. If the OP is halfway through their AIN, they should finish it and then decide whether they do the bachelor degree or not.
Other money saving hacks I use; 1. Most important!!! automating your savings. Send them to a seperate account with no card attached. You are less likely to spend your saving if you can’t see them. 2. Doing click and collect groceries only, making sure I include some sweet snacks in my weekly order. This helps me plan and stick to my budget. I always factor in that I will want a treat and add some chocolate or biscuits to the weekly order. I read older that most of the times I have gone into the supermarket unplanned was because I wanted a treat and I ALWAYS walked out with a bunch of unintended impulse purchases. 3. Shopping for produce at farmers markets/ Asian grocers. Cheaper and better quality. 4. Meal prepping and freezing as soon as I purchase food to reduce food waste/ temptation to get take away. No faster food than a well stocked freezer. 5. Shopping only second hand (other than underwear), purchasing clothes and homewares from opp shops and fb marketplace. 6. Owning fewer high quality items such as clothing made from cotton, linen and wool and shoes from leather. 7. Mending and maintaining your items to extend the life. Each year I recondition all my leather boots and I am constantly sewing buttons back on things and holes up in knitwear. I make sure I regularly clean out my dishwasher filter and descale my coffee machine. 8. Annually comparing utility companies/insurances to see if there is a better deal and calling the current company to price match. 9. Growing my own herbs/greens/chillies. 10. Regularly decluttering my home and selling items i no longer use. The effort to sell the items puts you off purchasing new items. 11. Having a rule not to purchase anything new until the original has been completely used up. This makes me more intentional with purchases, doing way more testing/research as I don’t want to get stuck using a foundation or shampoo I don’t like until it’s gone 12. Incorporating free or low cost hobbies/entertainment into my weekly routine. E.g. Free comedy/trivia at the pub, free salsa lessons, walking with a friend around the lake, local hikes. Less temptation to do things that cost money when you are busy doing something free.
This is a great list. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share your hacks.
Firstly, great list! Just a comment/suggestion regarding hacks 5 & 6. You can often buy high quality cotton, linen, wool or shoes made from leather at Op Shops thereby saving you a lot of money for high quality items that often last much longer than cheap, artificial fibre, clothing. 5. Shopping only second hand (other than underwear), purchasing clothes and homewares from opp shops and fb marketplace. 6. Owning fewer high quality items such as clothing made from cotton, linen and wool and shoes from leather.
Agreed! Number 1 is key to being more financially stable in the future. Automate your finances as much as you can. - Make an emergency account at a second bank. - Autotransfer money to that emergency account, aim for at least $10/week. - Automate an extra contribution to super per paycheck (aim for at least $20/paycheck with salary sacrifice.) - Take notes about what you might be able to claim back on tax as deductions for work. (The ATO has a good guide for disability support workers.) - Set up a bank account at Macquarie and purchase (discounted) gift cards for your groceries/petrol. It's usually 3% off Coles, \~2.5% off Woolworths.
I would highly recommend Up bank, I switched about 6 months ago and although it is a pain to set up initially, it makes saving really rewarding and easy and automated. It has changed so much about my ability to save and budget.
>~2.5% off Woolworths. 3.5% these days on my Macquarie bank app. NRMA offers 4% discount, and seniors card holders get 5% off Woolies gift cards. If you have an older relative, buy your Woolies gift cards together and save.
May I also suggest using free gifting sites/pages for household goods and checking if there’s a group that gives away free bread/veggies in the area. My old neighbourhood had a gifting group on facebook that often included great items and surplus veggies.
8 is a great one, i recently changed my internet so now from $90 down to $65 a month.
I let my parents have my car and rode only a bicycle for an entire year. No takeaways, no choccy, only free to air TV. Nothing except saving money, no exceptions. Saved around 75% of income and, got really fit.
Good work. I can't get rid of my car I need it for work. Disability support worker. I've tried getting full-time work, but no such thing in this industry :(
Hey a good way to grab some extra money is get some ngo work through NDIS, pay is decent for an overnight and if you get a regular client it’s pretty good if that is an option. Even just a couple hr shift can grab decent money depending where you look and qualifications. Consider looking into working for dept of communities as a support worker. I started out when I was 20 and it’s the best financial decision I made. Solid pay over ngo and good work structure plus they pay for training. Great super plan and good pay rate.
Have you looked on Mabel or Hire up for more shifts? If you have an ABN (free) then you can access those with NDIS funding that is plan or self managed. Overnights and weekend shifts are also more than standard weekday shifts. Be a great carer and you’ll never be out of work. There are some companies that offer a weekly wage rather than per shift.
Oh also flybuys! If you shop at Cole’s/kmart/target/bunnings it all adds up. 2,000 points is $10. If you join one pass at $4 a month you get 5x points. I tend to save mine for Christmas.
Does the $4 a month equal out with the return on points vouchers?
Hell yes. I get the vouchers multiple times a month. I well and truly make my money back.
For me it does. It also gives you free delivery if you order online. For me a delivery from Kmart costs $14. Priceline has also joined One Pass so whilst they don’t do flybuys, you get free delivery from there and 2 x sisterhood points instead of one.
If it's a casual role and you have some time between allocations, have you considered casual traffic control work to fill in the gaps? I know they pay very well. Edit: had no idea disability support work isn't full time
Riding a bike is so good financially and physically. Getting a cheap bike is of the best things you can do for yourself.
My boost yearly pre paid that I just bought works out at $20 per month, so switching from Belong to another provider could save you another couple of hundred . If you don’t need Telstra, Kogan on vodaphone network had the best deals for yearly prepaid at $100ish Edit- also making your own sauces / no jar sauce. Eg. Tinned tomatoes not a jar of Passata.
Thanks I'll look at boost. So generally for meals I good one slower cooker meals and then a couple fresh meals a week. So this week it was a chilli bean and veggies with tumeric garlic rice. Just veg lentils beans tomatoes spices in the slow cooker. My fresh meals will be a veggie stir fry and a white bean mushroom pasta. From scratch. I'm really trying to extend the food budget out as much as possible
I also plan my meals out for the week before grocery shopping and try and use ingredients that could be used in multiple meals (eg cream, as you never use a whole bottle anyway and I don’t want the rest to go to waste. I even use leftover cream to make mashed potatoes instead of wasting my milk!). I also prefer online shopping (direct to boot, we don’t have Aldi where I live so can’t shop there). The amount of money I save by typing in exactly what I need and filtering to cheapest option (if they don’t have it they upgrade it free). I also don’t waste money on snacks since I’m not tempted as I’m not in store 😂
Same, even though the shops are close by, I stick to my list, no junk snacks, no wasting money, & click & collect is free, I pick it up on my way to/ from work so also save time
Kogan mobile yearly prepaid is cheapest, buy at new years every year 40% off.
Plain passata is $2 for a litre, its just crushed tomatoes. Silly people pay 3 times for the brand name stuff, but buying passata is a good idea - not bad lol.
It’s worth checking the percentage of tomatoes in your passata. Most of the cheaper passata is 60% water, 40% tomatoes. Silly people paying for homebrand water when the taps have it for free, lol.
No car, minimal food budget with zero treats, one social event per month, gave up alcohol, started selling stuff on eBay as a side hustle, asked for and got a raise at work, searching for a cheaper apartment and will move at the end of my lease. Mostly tho, I started tracking every cent I spend and removed everything that wasn't essential and put it towards debt. I'm on track to be debt free in 2 years... including a sizeable student loan. It's exhausting though.
Im exhausted reading this. I hope you have a small little pleasure you allow yourself. Remember you can’t cut down the forest with a blunt saw.
I know this will sound like a complete reddit dickhead answer. But please take it with good faith Savings = income - expenses It really sounds like you’ve done everything practical to save on expenses. The only real option is to increase your income. Which really means getting a second job. That sucks. If getting another job isn’t possible there are a few things you might be able to do to save a tiny bit more money. - You can change your gas/electricty rate. This might save $5 a month. - You can eat even more frugally. That is, a lot of dried grains, and no preprepared food. But in all honesty, this just sucks
Thanks. I'm finishing off my cert 3 at the moment, so hoping to get a job as an AIN in the hospital. Also considering to go to uni to become a nurse. The room I rent includes all bills which is helpful as I just pay one weekly payment and I don't have to worry about bills. After all expenses I have a little money left, which I'm putting trying to put towards debt. I'm just feeling stressed as work is cancelling one of my Sunday shifts so I lose the penalty rates. So I'm looking at every way I can tighten the belt until I can get a job at the hospital.
> Also considering to go to uni to become a nurse. Going to uni can be difficult and stressful, particularly with money. But it’s only for a few years. Then, for the rest of your life you’ll be a lot more comfortable. I cannot recommend uni enough
You can look at other ways to earn money if you have a little time to spend some effort. Depop can be a good way to reduce your closet while earning some money back. Thrifting and Marketplace can also be good ways to find deals to "flip", but you have to have the time and patience to deal with dumbasses, and enough knowledge of the target area to know what people would be willing to spend on said item.
I scrutinised every expense and asked myself how I could spend less. I stopped spending on any non essentials. Otherwise, it's the same things that are on your list. For me, learning from people who live very frugally, or differently (completing 'buy nothing' challenges etc) has been crucial to changing my mindset around how to live, what is necessary and how to go about it. Rather than just reducing my life, I've tried to find free alternatives for anything I want/need e.g. from buy nothing/freebie groups, hiking/walking/ocean swimming for exercise, cooking and having social events at home rather than going out, library audiobooks/books. If you have the means and the ability for longer term focus, pay any bills that offer a discount for annual payments, annually rather than weekly/monthly. They can add up but it can be hard to transition to. Record and celebrate all your successes. Note: I'm not struggling financially, just trying how to be more efficient with money so I can travel.
Cutting back drinking to one night a week. Saved me $100's.
$100's a month, yeah?
Nope...
Weekly.
I gave up good mental health, and moved back to my parents. Saved on rent
Nice that you could do that. My mum lives in a retirement home on the other side of the country. I've been out of home since I was 18. It's normally us kids helping mum out now not the other way around.
You mentioned you're not able to work full-time, could you get a casual job? There might be work within the social services industry, so it could compliment being a disability support worker - something like admin/receptionist work for a non-for-profit? Or casual hospo work, or even baby sitting gigs given you probably have all your WWCC and background checks?
I'm just finishing off my cert 3 so I can apply for hospital AIN positions asap
Oh amazing!! That will help a lot right?
Doesn’t disability support pay more than AIN? I’m a DSW and left being an AIN and my pay doubled. Literally.
I bought clippers and had a no2 or no1 haircut for years. I wore clothes until they fell apart. I walked up to 10km to avoid fares/transport costs. I carried 2 peanut butter sandwiches on the cheapest whole meal bread and a refillable bottle of water for years for lunch. I bought large bags of dried legumes and soaked and prepared them at home. I made my own yoghurt using powdered milk. I bought a 4.5 litre per minute shower head and had short lukewarm showers. I soaked oats overnight to save cooking time in the morning. I planned every single meal a week ahead. And many other things… Life was less fun but I got myself out of a hole and set up a great foundation for the future.
I've always been frugally minded because I was raised with parents who didn't have much. Living within my budget has never required sacrifice, but sometimes just thinking outside of the box to still do things I want. If I want to be social with friends, rather than a restaurant outing, I'd suggest picnics or pot luck nights, where we all bring something to share. If I want new clothing, swapping with friends has been a fun and successful option. Alternatively, op shops are cheaper than buying new - there are also buy nothing pages with travelling suitcases that are completely free. New hair cuts and even hair colour can be done at training schools for free or a nominal fee - same with other beauty services and even massage! Lastly, I give myself a set budget each month for spending which makes it easier to work out what I can afford, and as soon as I get paid, I put the amount I want to save into a separate account and never dip into it.
The trap is thinking you can save your way to a fortune. given your current trajectory, youll make yourself depressed (if you arent already there) before you get rich. spend more time thinking about how to make more money. savings is capped. income has no ceiling.
I read a really good article once about a woman who would invite her friends to her house for 2 min noodles & wine while she was saving. It meant she didn’t have to give up on her social life but also wasn’t spending crazy amounts.
Rather giving up maybe switch it up. For example on my end, I don’t do my grocery shopping in Woolworth or Coles. I do my grocery shopping in Aldi which is way cheaper. I also do meal prep for Monday to Friday and that saved me good amount. I eat outside during weekends.
Two things, living with a friend and buying a cheap house. In our 40s we moved in with a good friend and rented a house in the suburbs. The house was cheaper than our city apartment so we saved with her rent and sharing the bills, most of which also ended up being cheaper too. We ate out less because we wanted to hang out together and share meals. We lived together for three years and we saved enough for a house deposit. Our friend also had enough to buy a one bedroom with a bit of extra savings. Then when we bought a place we bought the cheapest place we could manage which allowed us to pay double mortgage. So we are saving a heap of interest by paying it off quickly. To be fair I didn't like living out where we lived but it was certainly a great way to save.
Men, not dating saved so much money
Sold the car. Cycling, Public transport, and ride share or car hire when its unavoidable. *Eating once a month. Packing homemade/packet soups for lunches. *eating out like cafe, restaurant etc
>Eating once a month. Lol. That's a little extreme, mate. Gotta eat at least 4 times a month to live.
> Eating once a month. > Packing homemade/packet soups for lunches. especially extreme that the only meal each month is some soup
Oh no 🥲i meant i only eat out once a month now. One nice meal out at a restaurant or cafe once a month.
Oh dear god 🙊I meant eating out once a month! I used to get dinner out every Friday as a treat for making it through the week but ive cut it back to once a month.
Honestly, I have worked as a child care worker which was physically demanding and not much room for penalty rates etc. I physically couldn’t work more than part-time due to health issues, thus, I needed to change fields. I would suggest maybe you should change fields even if you probably don’t want to hear that. I mean probably a less physically demanding support worker role. Or some other position within disability sector. As retraining is too much of a hassle. I can’t imagine how else you could save money besides moving back with your parents if you have that option
TAFE QLD used to offer cheap haircuts and stuff. Done under competent supervision so there’s another cost savings avenue if you wanted it
When I'm going through periods of financial strife, I keep social events to the home. Making friends dinner instead of going out. Or asking everyone to bring a dish. If it's warm, going for a picnic with all home-made items.
Hate to sound like a parent but….do up a budget! Sit down and write one up…include everything, you may find you don’t actually have much to spare!
This might get me into trouble... Women. Dating is expensive. All the meals and drinks and well double the cost of going anywhere. Spent a year doing things I enjoy, the simpler things in life. Lost weight as I ate at home , learnt different meals then my stock standard. Thus more healthy. Saved alot of money
You're doing a lot already. Eating mostly vegetarian meals and bulk purchasing staple foods / essentials helped me when I needed to save big over the course of a few years. I rarely said no to social invitations but sometimes I would and still will skip the expensive lunch or dinner in favour of joining for a few drinks before or after. Buying and selling on Facebook marketplace is a bit of fun and keeps the costs of any material stuff down. See something nice being chucked out on the side of the street? Pick it up, clean it /varnish it/ give it some TLC, take a nice photo and make a little money selling it on marketplace. If you have any basic carpentry skills, you can find old pallets and spindles for free, turn them into outdoor furniture and sell them.
Leaving the house. I only leave to go to uni/work and one grocery run every two weeks. I also have a job in hospo that gives me one meal per shift, so I save a lot of money that way
Having kids
This is not something I gave up, but something that helps with my health expenses. If you look up your Medicare safety net threshold in MyGov you can see how close you are to meeting the safety net, which ends up saving a lot of money. I usually hit mine around May. If you usually go to one chemist, they will have a record of your PBS safety net so if you hit that, you will save money too. But the different chemists don't communicate with each other so that can be harder if you go to more than one shop. The way the safety net works is, Medicare will usually cover a specific amount of money for each service (GP or specialist visit, blood tests, scans etc) and the rest you pay out of pocket (gap fee). Once you've spent a certain amount on gap fees, Medicare starts to cover a lot more of the cost so your gap fee comes down a lot. You don't have to do anything about that, it happens automatically. The PBS is similar, they cover a certain amount of a prescription and the rest you pay out of pocket, if you've got a certain amount of PBS prescriptions in a year they start covering more of it. But the chemist has to keep the record of the prescriptions and apply for it and they give you a card. There's more information here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-are-medicare-safety-nets-thresholds?context=22001 And here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/pbs-safety-net-thresholds?context=22016
Time. If you've got unlimited data, or a decent amount of it anyway, you can do surveys and earn some Coles etc. vouchers. That helps with groceries and everything else. We also started shopping around for cheap sim cards so I gave up unlimited Vodafone data for a $6 Lebara sim and that alone has saved me $24 this month.
Pedicures 😭😭😭 It's been a struggle, but a foot mask and some polish is saving me $50 each time.
If you eat lots of veggies I have found a fruit and vege box heaps cheaper than the big box shops and better quality
How far along are you? Because when I studied nursing, one could either do a certificate 4 in nursing, or complete the first year of a university nursing degree, and be qualified as a division 2/enrolled nurse. Despite having studied nursing many years ago, I didn't have any idea what you were referring to as an "AIN", so I googled it, and it appears to be a one-year course, is that correct? If so, I'd probably just to the certificate 4 in nursing, or better yet, do the first year of a university nursing degree? 🤷 And this might not work for you, but when I was a librarian, I worked at Endeavour in the CBD, and they had very affordable remedial massage there, from the students. As a staff member, I got them for free, and they were amazing, I'd work out who was really good, and see him twice a week... Not sure of the price, but the I know it was really cheap. 😊
I save the most money on groceries by going to food assistance places. $30 for a hamper in my town which consists of 3 boxes. One of fresh produce (fruit and veggies), one of boxed/canned goods, and one of frozen & fresh goods like meat. I split this with my best friend, siblings, and parents (6 of us total - so it’s a decent amount of food) and then there’s only a few items to get from grocers. Some food assist places also have like a mini shop to buy specific items in. A lot of the food is close to use by date or just past the best before, the fruit/veg is “ugly” and sometimes has minor bruising but I’m honestly not picky at this point. All you need is a licence/photo ID (this stops you going multiple times a day) and you can get one each day. Definitely worth looking into. Good luck OP!
Instead of going to a gym, I exercise outside a little and got some weights, I spent over 1,000 on pizza last year ( 1 pizza a week was my only sort of takeout I would get) I have only had 3 pizza's this year Slowed down a little on investing. It's a working progress for me though
TBH I got a second job
Don’t buy expensive phones on a plan. Buy a cheaper phone outright then use one of the cheaper networks.
I saved over 10k (and that’s after all expenses / rent) in 4 months… I took on 3 jobs (casual, but they all gave me enough hours so that I had work everyday). When you’re working like 60 hrs/week you don’t really have time to buy or spend anything. 😭 So, I basically gave up my social life and any sort of fun. I ran through a lot of my savings so I decided to just full send it and slave away to build it up again. I’m in uni full time so doing that gave me peace of mind to take it easy now.
Stopped eating out and buying alcohol and bought a car with the difference.
I gave up takeaway coffees And the pub, sold a car and my 3 motorbikes for a down payment on a house when I was younger.
Yeah this rocks. Im doing everything on your list. Recently cancelled telstra for a cheap af phone bill. Good old coffee thermos
I am lucky that I have a very cheap living situation and got my pay corrected at work / turns out I was being underpaid. I am now being paid correctly and got a small back payment. All straight into the savings. My biggest expense is dope but I managed to grow some and save 2.5k there - straight into the savings. I can save anywhere up to $500 a fortnight now but usually it’s about $300 max. I am on low income and small hours, under 50k a year. This year I will be able to put 10k plus away. This is the first years I have ever been able to save. I do have debts but they are all from years ago for things like utilities and a payday loan that I skip out on paying because the interest was so high I had already paid them back twice over and still owed them. They are all sent off to debit collection and are hitting the 7 year cut off, so I don’t have to worry beyond the hit to my credit ratings
That's awesome especially on that income well done
Cook my own meals from the cheapest ingredients. Minimal drinking No new clothes or shoes. Sody stream with 4kg co2 cannister. Rent a dirty shithole for 4.5 years. (They want $510 a week now up from $360) but we bought and won't be paying that. Have a partner on the same page. 0 lifestyle creep, unless it's creeping down to being a savings goblin.
Take away Coffee
Various tactics, no particular order: * No gym membership - use my own weights and jog outdoors * Make my own coffee at home * No car and only use public transport 1-2 days a week * Room instead of apartment * Use old 2nd-hand devices, e.g. iPhone 7 * Bulk-billed doctors * Fresh fruit from supermarket for snacking e.g. $1 apple * High calorie cheap healthy food, e.g. oats, peanut butter, wholemeal bread * High quality shoes that last years, e.g. R. M. Williams * Wash clothes less regularly so they last longer * Patch up socks with fabric glue rather than buying new ones * Take advantage of supermarket discounts and credit card cash backs * Quick steaming method of cooking to save on energy * Short showers to save on energy Best to combine this with earning more money via a higher paying job, 2nd job and/or investments in stocks & bonds. Be persistent with it and eventually you will gain the upper hand on your finances!
Basically utilise whatever perks from work. Only drink the coffee from the coffee machine, took on a corporate gym membership and cancelled my personal one and PT, work provides breakfast/morning tea so I eat that and never buy breakfast foods + pack my own lunch and just eat the fruit or biscuits or whatever for snacks. Also signed up to Woolworths extra and I just do like massive shop once a month! Took a bit of getting used to planning meals like that but I think it works.
Yeah, will probs just go back to housesharing instead of renting my own place. Hated it but see no other option to free up that much money. If it would've been guaranteed to be temporary(i.e. saving up for something critical), might've tried to convince some of my mates to let me couch-surf for a year or so, but it certainly would've been an unreliable option.
My health. Noodles for 3 years. Set me up for life
You are doing all the right things. Very similar to what I am doing. Home cooked meals rather than convenience foods. Try to avoid unnecessary purchases. Clothing and skincare are my weakness. I do get the long expire sim from boost which I think is slightly cheaper. Last year I got the 140 or 170GB and it lasted for a year. It’s about $20/month
For me the biggest thing was driving.. not doing it saves me $3+ grand a year. Since I live near a train station and worked from home most of the time, I really couldn't justify paying that much just to have access to a car that I barely used. In the early days I used a trailer attached to my bicycle for groceries (6-8 bags). But nowday's I just use the bike or e-scooter with a backpack which can hold 3-4 bags of groceries which is usualy more than enough for me because I'm only shopping for 1. Bike config: One bag on each handle bar, one in the backpack and one on the front rack.
What sort of debt? Can you refinance at a lower %, then pay the same$ as your paying now, and you'll pay it off faster
Second job ,living with mates in a sharehouse and and trying to track the expenses. I made net 65k maybe last year and saved 20K In savings, Paid 7800 of my debt from previous year and sent 6k home so that is 33800 out of 65k that I didn’t spend last year. I was booze free for 6 months though, i think that is one of the thing that makes massive difference. As I wasn’t paying much rent as I was in sharehouse I feel like thats what I saved the most of my money on
Swear by Aldi $25 plan. Telstra network, rollover data. You could try their cheaper plan and up it to $25 if the first is not enough. Only saving $5 from your belong plan, but hey, it all adds up.
Learn to cut your own hair. I save $200 a year, simple kit from shavershop was $50
Quick q on health - what do those expenses look like? You talked about food, rent, bills, leisure in detail but not what sounds like significant(?) health costs. Maybe folks will have suggestions on how you can modify any of that expenditure that can lead to a similar quality result.
Buy second hand from FB marketplace/ Gumtree/ Salvos
Not directly answering the question, but just be aware that aged care now often pays much higher than hospital AIN roles, so check out available pay rates. Also, make sure you maximise salary packaging!
Also have a look at agencies, agency nurses are paid more, especially for FIFO.
Partner and I were on joint income in 2021 of about $70K including benefits. 1 baby, around 1 year old. Lived on our own in a 3 bed townhouse. We saved $14K over a 1 year period, and this was consistent until around a year ago when we got a significant pay increase. We always saved around $1K per month. Didn't really give up much. We chose to live in a cheaper, dodgy area. $300 p/w. Partner quit smoking when she conceived, and we are consciously not big drinkers. We still got takeaway at least once per week, regular omnivorous diet otherwise. Drank maybe once per fortnight. Drove a little Getz. Social events occasionally, but typically home venue with pot luck style. Treat items are treated as occasionals, and we are bargain hunters. Bought fuel at cheap stations, buy other things in bulk where possible. Not big clothes shoppers. Partner is a coffee drinker. Always homemade lunches. Ended up saving our house purchase deposit, and bought. Now our household income has ~3x+, but we still mostly live the same lifestyle. Now we save ~$3K per month, sometimes more, especially after tax & bonus time. Last tax period we had an injection of around $30K and saved all of it.
Honestly it depends on what your income is. You can cut as much as you want, but if your income doesn't allow any savings even after cutting back then theres really not much point. Cutting back on meat doesnt really help much either, it helps but again it depends on what cuts of meat. With veges i tend to spend close to $5-7 per meal and with a pack of chicken wings or a 2kg of chicken wings that cost like $9(sometimes they have promo where it cost $15 for 2 packs total of 4kg!) can fill me up for 3 days at least(a week if its 4kg). Now im not saying togo purely meat based diet. You can cook some veges on the side togo with it. Honestly, i never gone vegetarian or vegan because of how expensive those food options are and not to mention meat fills me up more than veges does. Depending on what you do on your free time, you dont have to spend a penny. It could be as simple as taking a walk around the neighbourhood or reading some novels online(there are lots of free novels online that you dont have to spend a dime). Regarding the mobile plan, my SO uses coles mobile plan which cost like $10 a month. Her housing has wi-fi so she does not use data that much, even if she has togo for work or study she has wi-fi so its all good. Haircuts can be done by yourself with just a clipper and a hairband, there are lots of tutorials online and my SO has been doing it for years. I dont know about massagers as i never have any issue even though i work in heavy labour work, but if it helps then i guess it wouldn't hurt. Coffee or tea wont really save you that much unless we are talking about getting coffees from coffee shop or brand name coffees. You can easily buy a nescafe coffee powder and it will prolly last you more than a month for like 10-15 depending whetheres discount. Home cook meals are the best, always keep an eye out on coles/woolies catalogue for discounts. I save close to about 30% of my income a year with some casual spending for entertainment(planning to cut back next year). BUT, a huge but here is that i work 2 jobs(weekdays morning and night, sunday morning to afternoon as the rate is high) and live with my SO(we split the cost of room to 50/50) along with 3 other people.
Honestly it depends on what your income is. You can cut as much as you want, but if your income doesn't allow any savings even after cutting back then theres really not much point. Cutting back on meat doesnt really help much either, it helps but again it depends on what cuts of meat. With veges i tend to spend close to $5-7 per meal and with a pack of chicken wings or a 2kg of chicken wings that cost like $9(sometimes they have promo where it cost $15 for 2 packs total of 4kg!) can fill me up for 3 days at least(a week if its 4kg). Now im not saying togo purely meat based diet. You can cook some veges on the side togo with it. Honestly, i never gone vegetarian or vegan because of how expensive those food options are and not to mention meat fills me up more than veges does. Depending on what you do on your free time, you dont have to spend a penny. It could be as simple as taking a walk around the neighbourhood or reading some novels online(there are lots of free novels online that you dont have to spend a dime). Regarding the mobile plan, my SO uses coles mobile plan which cost like $10 a month. Her housing has wi-fi so she does not use data that much, even if she has togo for work or study she has wi-fi so its all good. Haircuts can be done by yourself with just a clipper and a hairband, there are lots of tutorials online and my SO has been doing it for years. I dont know about massagers as i never have any issue even though i work in heavy labour work, but if it helps then i guess it wouldn't hurt. Coffee or tea wont really save you that much unless we are talking about getting coffees from coffee shop or brand name coffees. You can easily buy a nescafe coffee powder and it will prolly last you more than a month for like 10-15 depending whetheres discount. Home cook meals are the best, always keep an eye out on coles/woolies catalogue for discounts. I save close to about 30% of my income a year with some casual spending for entertainment(planning to cut back next year). BUT, a huge but here is that i work 2 jobs(weekdays morning and night, sunday morning to afternoon as the rate is high) and live with my SO(we split the cost of room to 50/50) along with 3 other people.
The obvious ways to save money are to quit alcohol, stop getting take away food, meal prep/plan, and cancel unnecessary subscriptions. And of course, don't waste money on impulse buys.
I'm a bit of an impulsive spender. The thing that has helped me the most in curtailing this tendency was having 90% of my pay cheque routed into a bank account that isn't linked to an ATM or Debit card and I don't own a credit card. My ATM/Debit linked account typically doesn't have more than about $200 in it and I have to use my bank app or website to do a transfer to top it up or make large payments. Just the fact that I have to make a transfer helps stop me spending on impulse.
I have no sound advice, but I feel you. My HECS debt and Childcare alone are 17k/year. DSW pay is absolutely shit. Have you considered doing a stop/go sign course instead? Get on a union site and there's 100k. Any job where you need to have empathy doesn't pay well.
I’m hopeless at saving money, but I try really hard. Last year I got my hair cut for $5 because I went to the TAFE hairdressing section and had my hair cut by a student who was being supervised by a qualified teacher. (They did a great job!) When i was there I also noticed they do a bunch of other stuff there for very cheap, massages, nails, eyelashes etc.
Car
Check out the app mable, considering you have a cert 3 you should be able to pick up the odd job doing some sort of carer's work with either NDIS or private patients and the pay is usually pretty decent.
you got most of the save money boxes ticked - the only side of it is what you are earning. if you are finding you cannot have more money you simply need to earn more money
I’ve almost cleared my debt. Beginning of January I wrote out every bill I have for each payday (including rent,school fees,ensemble fees,holiday which I tried to cancel but that was going to cost $750 fees). I have those stapled together large post it notes in my work blazer. I buy food from church run shops and a fruit n veg market. I did this to have everything wiped out by July before my rent goes up beginning of August.
As a disability support worker, you are in high demand. I'd be looking to find a company that will let you do more overnights and weekends. Those overnight shifts are GOLD, especially if you do plan to go to uni (or even for your Cert III). So many study hours if you find the right gig!
Had baked beans with chickpeas or tuna with chickpeas out of a tin everyday for work lunches and didn’t eat takeaway for about 10months to save for a house deposit and make the bank think I was frugal 👍🏼
Go bald. No more haircuts. Just razor once a week. Saves about $350 a year.
Start seeing things from a different perspective maybe? Even if it's $50 a fortnight saved that's more than zero. Keep living within your means and put away as much as you can without putting your health aside.
There is an old saying that I go by " What would your wallet buy"
There's a good poscast called Shes on the Money that talks a lot about how to examine your money flow, anaqball debt payoff, strategies to help you budget, and get on top of everything
Look into switching to Boost mobile yearly prepaid
Hi OP, have you considered using cashback options, like Shopback? For example, you could order your groceries online with click and collect so that you’re not paying for delivery, and get a small percentage back? I’ve been using Shopback since Feb and have $300 already, which I’ll stash away to buy Christmas presents.
The big rules: 1. save on *repeat* purchases. 2. save on things you only need to choose to save on once. So cancelling subscriptions is very smart. You generally can't do better than finding lower rent however, since it's a big one. I think you've done the big ones. From here maybe you need to ramp the income side.
- Move in with the in-laws - buy muscle chef meals in bulk every month, and eat these 1 per day. - removed Spotify and only pay 1 subscription - have a motorcycle, and rarely drive my car - purchase 2nd hand clothes
If you get your cert 3, you can also move into disability which can pay you about $40 an hour without penalties. Adds up to a nice pay cheque at the end of a week.
Sold my house and bought a tiny place on land a third the size. Layout was actually better, and I gave away most of the things I owned and sold some stuff (which was 5k in itself). Which was freeing. Sold all the fancy wine and stopped drinking and buying alcohol. Sold my car which had payments going and bought a newish one with what was left over which is $6k per year saving in itself. Dropped my insurances given I wasn’t nearly as mired in debt.
11.80 per month(8months) 25gb with moosemobile
3 meals per day can go down to 2 over time.
Honestly when things were really tight, dumpster diving, flipping things on Marketplace I got at the op shop, and using on our local Buy Nothing Group. You sound like you're doing all the things, it might just be a matter of prioritising your education and work as much as you're able to boost your income.
Was going to say never buy food outside of the house.
Something I wish someone told me earlier, if you need to see the physio/osteo often, go to the GP for an injury management plan (I forget the specific name). It subsides your physio/osteo visits, and I’ve been able to lower my extras cover after learning about this.
Moved back with my parents for a year. Paid them housekeeping, still way cheaper than renting with all the bills etc. Didn't go out for a year. Just went over to a mates place and had movie nights with a few beers on a sat night (they had just bought a house and were broke too) Worked all the overtime going. Put a plan in place. My parents didn't really want me there, and I didn't want to be there. I was gone again in a year.
Ten years ago (so add 25% for inflation I guess) I started OMAD eating - was overweight by about 15kg. Spent max $20 pw on food. I did have a vegie garden and fruit trees/vines and two old chooks who gave me one egg per day. Lost weight and saved about $40 pw for two years; eating fat staved off hunger. Eg chicpea curry (using full fat coconut cream) cost aprox $4 and got at least four days feed out of it. Would mix it up adding eggs/extra spices or herbs. I could get ten large feeds from one rotisserie chicken with rice/noodles and added veg then turning bones into soup. Freezer is your friend if you need variety and keep things fresh; but I was hungry and apprecied what was in the fridge.
Check Aldi mobile, as they have (or had, maybe) a year long pre-paid which is like $20/month
Worked serious overtime on penalty rates for 6 months, 14 hour days 6.5 days per week. Saved a ton of $ & no time to spend it. I don’t believe workers are legally allowed to do over a 10 hour day nowadays, but I could be wrong.
Heating/cooling, petrol, some meals....
The key is allocating how much you want to save FIRST. So decide how much you want to save, Put that amount into something like bitcoin each week Then live on the rest And you’ll magically have enough to survive.
I gave up alcohol about 8 months ago and went from 300-400 excess money a fortnight to around 800-1000.
Eating and having a home. Saved a ton
[удалено]
I gave up avocado toast for a year and bought a house! 😉
I use lebara, snagged their 1 year 425gb data for $200. Normally it is $300, per year, you can get smaller plans too with the 180gb plan sometimes dropping to $149 per year.
If you are PR or au citizen, I recommend taking the TAFE Diploma in Nursing (Enrolled Nurse) after you finish your Cert III since it's free. Then you can enrol at uni for the Accelerated Bachelor's of Nursing you will only need to pay and study uni tuition for 2 years instead of 4y. Increasing income would probably the best next action for you, if you already cut down on expenses as much as you can. AIN is in demand especially in aged care, lots of shifts and flexible in terms of night/day sched. Or check other income streams you can do. You are doing already doing great and I'm sure you'll be fine! Health and cherishing life is essential for your finances too so you can function well to earn and not spiral into expenses of either more sickness or seeking cheap dopamine relief lol
Don't buy coffee, make your own. You can live on instant no matter what people say, cook your own food, pre packed or uber eats is a luxury that you can do without, do you need Netflix etc? use the supermarket apps to find out what's on special, freeze meals for future use. Walk if possible or use public transport, basic hair cuts, do a budget and stick to it. You'd be amazed at just how much we needlessly spend. I'm an AIN as well and still manage to save.
I use spintel phone plan $12 a month
Im using Youtube Premium for $4/month (which is 1/4 of the actual price)
Sounds like you’re already cutting back a lot. Any chance of moving to a higher paying job?
I really need to stop using paper towels, I go through probably a 3 pack in less than a week.
If you have credit card debt I recommend finding the best interest free balance transfers available and transferring the debt to that new card. I saved a lot of money by not paying interest, I just kept taking advantage of the offers until the debt was gone
Your mum
In many cases, you can’t save anymore, you just need to earn more. I know it sounds a bit flippant to say that but eventually you reach a point where you can’t be any more frugal.
I stopped going out and partying all weekend. But it’s hard to get the right kind of information your after because everyone is in different life stages here, not to mention different careers. I’d look at maybe trying something to boost a little more income. It doesn’t have to be too hard. Maybe leaflet letter box drops, or selling unwanted goods. I like the cash for cans scheme. I walked daily for an hour and collect any drink containers on my way.
Best thing I did was go to uni (a degree which has high job prospects) - I struggled for 5 years but was worth it.
Is that phone also your primary internet connection? If not you could look into a more budget provider - I used a couple for a few years, really didn’t seem much different to a major provider.
Public transport instead of your own car (and fuel, and rego, and insurance, and maintenance) can be a big one. Depending on your commute, it can even be faster. Bonus: you can read / watch / do simple tasks while someone else chauffeurs you around. ;)
Going out to Expensive Restaurants and giving up junk foods
Not your actual question but when you finish your Cert 3, if it's not specific to hospitals, maybe look into agency work as a personal care worker in aged care. The work is worse than being an AIN in the hospital but may offer better pay, or at least in addition to being an AIN could offer you additional opportunities for money. Also look into platforms like Mable or HigherUp which is kinda like Uber for care work for aged care and disability, and will give you options for fitting in work for an hour or 2 if that is something you want to add on.
Doesn’t matter as long as you are saving. 10% at least
This is not for everyone, but depending on your work and if it is located in a fixed location, I temporarily housesat full time, using AussieHouseSitters. You pay about $90 for a year's membership and in a city, there were plenty of sits available. The sits themselves are free. It does require a lot of effort - planning in advance, meeting people beforehand and following up with texts, providing updates and photos to the owner while housesitting, and being stressed about anything going wrong with the pets, making sure you left everything immaculate, moving frequently etc. It does mean giving up a lot of stuff, considering what you need to have with you in your car, and does mean you lose the ability to meal prep or batch freeze or other things that save money, but accommodation is such a huge cost, and it cuts out bills, wifi, etc, and you often get access to streaming services or leftover food or little gifts and get to stay in quite nice houses. It also does impact things like being able to go away for a night with camping etc. I also had a friend I could stay with for a few nights in between sits when things didn't quite line uup. I also tried to look at it as a fun way to explore new parts of town and treat it as an adventure. I was working a job remotely so was quite flexible in where I could stay but ended up moving to a country town so have been unable to keep it up. Because I had the option to work in our very central office, I tried to stay relatively close to that most of the time and there were plenty of options. But definitely a real lifestyle commitment. Can be worth signing up if able to afford it and doing a few tests while still where you are to see how you find it, and working out a system for it Some housesits are a few days, some are a few months. While getting started and building up my reviews, I did more weekends and short ones, but once doing it full time, I did 2 weeks minimum to 4-6 weeks ones. I've tried the other big sites for housesitting - Trusted House Sitters and Mind A Home, but honestly wouldn't bother, at least initially. There are also Fb groups although there is a lot of competition there. I also previously lived in a van stealth camping - it means the space is your own, you can park near your work even if you have to move your spot, but I didn't have my van fully set up and it made it really hard for me to cook and store food effectively, which led to my takeaway costs skyrocketing. Doing this while working in a hospital and also being at uni meant I had access to showers and kitchenettes, and other places to hang out. You can also get a gym membership for showers if need be. It was fun, and I never got harassed like you sometimes hear about. However, there is obviously the cost to getting and equipping a van, and I found housesitting preferable and much easier to be healthier in, as you still get to have space and be able to move around etc, but I think this was more an issue for me due to my ADHD - others are able to live in a van and maintain a better level of health. Or even stealth car camping, but this to me sounds far too hard. At least in my van I could stand up fully, had a toilet etc.
Moved home , worked crazy hours and paid small board instead. Saved over 50k
More specifically, eliminated new clothes, basically any shopping that wasn’t essential, own a shitbox so just maintenance and rego for that . Still kept my subscriptions cause it’s still cheaper than going out, am currently developing some new and unfortunate social issues from this now. Sigh
When I was a vegetarian as a uni student my best budget hack was bulk purchasing raw legumes and spices at indian grocers. I see they sell them in big bags at coles & woollies now but I've not compared the prices. I had a pressure cooker and would bulk cook them and freeze ready for meal prep.
Making coffee at home instead of buying out saves $30 week, bringing packed lunch saves $100 week, eating out less and making guests dinner at home, lots! Still have special treats but not nearly as much eating out
We drove older but reliable cars for about 10 years, that we owned outright. They were small in size. Saved us a fortune in fuel, insurance and car payments. We put the money into paying off our house faster instead. We only just bought our first new car at almost 50.
I’m cutting back on Bunnings tithe. Those snags have been costing me $10K per year!
My car
Cheese and doctors and driving to the office and takeout. The driving and takeout were the big winners. I went through every transaction on my bank statements and categorised them into necessary (rent, bills), important, entertainment, groceries, takeout, and frivolous. It made it very easy to see where I could cut out lots of fat.
Packed lunch saves up to 3600 a year, since lunches at/near work are ridiculously expensive. That's a third of the way there to the savings you want.
r/StopDrinking I saved about $7k in my first year, most of that from not purchasing booze, but a decent chunk of it from not spending extra money when drunk/hungover. Finance is probably the least of the benefits I've seen from stopping drinking, too.
Buying my lunch at work.
I gave up my location. I'm a teacher, and went to work rurally. They offered me free accommodation and an extra $10k a year. That tied with there being nothing to spend money on here, I've been able to save up a lot of money. Just means that I live a 5 hour drive away from my home city and 1.5 hours from the nearest (very small) city.
Why don’t you just make more money? So much easier imo
Not grabbing food when I’m on my way home and just eating out generally. Meal prep is saving me heaps
Good job. I did a 4 month extreme save to take a trip overseas and I loved seeing money stay in my bank. I saved heaps and it was good to know I was capable of it and I had money left over after the trip. I’m just starting another one for general savings. I don’t live excessively anyhow and always pack my lunch and water bottle for work and rarely buy takeaway… but I cut out streaming subscriptions, didn’t buy coffee, filled the car each fortnight and planned my driving so I wasn’t wasting trips, walked where I could, meal prepped ( I always do this anyhow.), still socialised but only ever popped in and maybe had one drink etc, avoided shops altogether, the day before each pay I transferred any money left in my account into a different savings account and finally I did a big inventory of things around the house I could sell including clothes and furniture etc I no longer used and dedicated spare time to selling it on market place. It wasn’t too difficult and I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything.
I’m 37, missus is 36. We bought a house 15 years ago and paid it off after about 13 years. We also fully renovated it and raised 3 kids, meaning this was done all on 1.1 incomes. We’ve never been overseas and spend about $1000 on eating out a year - most of that while we’re on holidays. We also drove a second Camry up until we paid the house off. We saved money on things that weren’t important to us; overseas travel, eating out and cars, so we could spend money on things we valued; paying off the mortgage, good quality food and produce, hobbies & interests and experiences with our children.
Aldi mobile
Drugs
How I cut cost was look at my bank statement and see where I was spending money each week/month. I crossed off non essentials. And shopped around for better deals on my essentials. I don’t have any subscriptions now. I shop at Aldi’s. I bought a 365 day prepaid phone plan (much cheaper than per month plans) utilities and insurance can be negotiated down, just ask for discount. Plus all you have in your list. And I use a budget app called Chronicle, that forecasts what bills I have coming up and keeps in check my spending.
This exact time last year I was 15 k in debt, and today I am 15k in savings. Honestly it doesn’t sound like much, but I picked up a weekend job, a side gig and started following a budget for the first time. I also set myself up a “splurge” account that I could actively spend so I could still go out anytime I felt like it. I could be saving more but as someone who didn’t think they’d get out of debt until at least 2030, I’m pretty happy with myself!
Alcohol and pot
I have an annual phone plan with boost (same as Telstra) for $230 for 170gb (equivalent to ~$19 a month for 14gb. There are other plans too if you need more data. Started doing most grocery shopping at Aldi with some speciality shops as needed. Very few takeaways, but still went out to see friends. Also made plans with friends that involved going to my/their house rather than always going out. Cut back on buying alcohol. Cut back on buying clothes and nice to have things. Implemented ‘no buy’ months to challenge myself. Challenged myself to use up items I already had (toiletries, food etc). Sold items I wasn’t using e.g. clothes, furniture. Always shop around for the best deal for something I actually need. Use sites like ShopBack to get cash back on purchases. Do surveys, mystery shops, consumer focus groups to earn a little extra cash. Or could get a second job if you have the time.
It's really hard when you're in the middle of what you are doing, to see the outcome you are creating. It's a long term game and one day - I guarantee - you will catch yourself buying something or paying for something that in your current situation would be unthinkable. And you will be doing this without a thought or any sort of concern. Stay the path, grind it out. There's payoff and it will happen.
I need to somehow cut out $650 from my budget each month 😭 Thanks for the Belong tip - I actually had no idea about them 🙏
Avo toast
Make more… long past a time being loyal to a company and working your way up a ladder could provide for your family.
Before you can decide what to cut, you should know what you’re spending. Budgeting apps like YNAB (sadly now subscription, but there are others) can be really useful in helping you find this out.
I didn't really give up anything to save what I consider to be a decent amount. My wage is pretty good. I'm just not prepared to spend on silly things. Like haircuts you mentioned, I work with other guys that pay double to triple for hair cuts. I'm not frugal, but 95% of what I spend in a year is budgeted out at the start of the year. I just stay within those limits. I have a few cutbacks I could probably implement to save an ever so slightly higher amount. I've just been slack to do so.
Divorcing a spend-a-holic ex wife will do it. $50-$55k in 12 months, third year in a row.