We are half way through the year. Now is the time to reconsider your expenses and develop new habits that you’ll keep for the rest of the year. Rod Attrill, money expert at leading financial comparison site comparethemarket.com.au, shares his top tips to help us spend less and save more in 2019 with these savvy money saving hacks.
Spend less, save more – money saving hacks:
Don’t spend what you don’t have
Many of us have been guilty of this before – factoring credit card limits into our everyday spending budget. Avoid this by either slowing down on the use of your credit card or by reducing your card limit to an amount that you feel confident you can pay off every month.
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Sort out your priorities
Always pay off large high-interest debts first from a credit card or a home loan. You can even reduce the interest on some of your debts temporarily by transferring your credit card debt to a 12-month-zero interest card or by fixing your mortgage interest rates. This allows you to clear those bigger debts quickly.
Split your money across different accounts
Limit any impulse spending by distributing your monthly income across multiple accounts. Create separate accounts for your bills, savings, everyday spending and splurging (e.g. holidays, eating out and other fun activities). Decide on how much you are willing to set aside each month into each of these accounts and re-evaluate this amount if you get any payment increases such as a promotion.
Cancel unnecessary subscriptions and memberships
Are you still paying for that gym membership you never use or paying for multiple video streaming services that offer the same content? Quit spending on those extra products and services that no longer appeal to you and try to bundle your memberships and subscriptions with other necessary items. For example, some mobile providers will let you combine phone plans with paid video and television subscriptions so you can make the most of both services.
Switch to a cheaper provider
Have you reviewed your health insurance, energy provider, mobile plan or car insurance policies recently? If you haven’t, it might be time to look at these plans and policies to see if they are still valuable for your needs and lifestyle. Check to see if you are still paying for extras that are no longer relevant to your lifestyle (e.g. paying for pregnancy cover and you’re over 50). You can use free online comparison sites like comparethemarket.com.au to compare a range of policies and see if you are still getting the best value for your money.
Make your savings harder to access
Try to put your savings into accounts that you can’t access easily without incurring a penalty. Most banks offer fixed term deposits or even high interest savings accounts that penalise you every time you make a withdrawal. You could cop a fee or even lose interest for the month. Setting your money aside like this can make it easy to save for those big-ticket items such as a holiday or house.
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