Our Top Tips For Saving Money

With the cost of living at an all-time high, it can be hard for a lot of families to reign in their monthly spending and a lot live month to month or even week to week, but it doesn’t need to be so hard.

We share our top tips for saving money:

1. Bills

If you are smart with your regular bills, you can save a lot of money and it is quite easy.

Shop around for the best deal– You can save a lot on your phone, home and car insurance and utility bills by shopping around providers and getting quotes online. The biggest saving we had by doing this was our electricity bill. We have saved over $300 a year by seeking out the best deal from local providers.

Phone and internet provider companies are always offering great deals, especially on their packages if you bundle your phone, mobile and internet together. Have a look online to see what suits your family the best. Also, if your contract is up, mention to your existing provider that you are thinking of going elsewhere. I swear they will jump through hoops to try and keep you as a customer.

Of course, one thing that always seems to be going up in price is health insurance. Luckily, there are sites that let you compare packages that let you obtain the best deal for your family like Compare the Market.

Compare the Market compares insurance policies, utility plans and financial products from some of Australia’s most trusted brands. The service is free too!

2. Groceries

With a family of five, I understand how much of the monthly budget grocery shopping can take but we have managed to cut our weekly bill in half by using these tricks:

Buy in bulk– for example, most of the supermarkets carry packets of 20 or so brand name toilet rolls for around $10 now, which works out a lot cheaper than buying the smaller packs. Bulk meat packs from butchers are also a great buy.  Bigger jars of things like coffee, packets of cereal, flour etc work out to be more cost effective per 100g than the smaller packets.

Clearance items– It is easy to suss out when your local supermarket has their “mark down time”. Our local Woolworths marks down their meat early on a Saturday morning, so we usually get there not long after to snap up the bargains to put in the freezer.

On sale– if something I buy regularly is on sale at a huge discount I will buy a couple of them. Like last week, Omo washing powder was half price at Coles, so I bought two of them. This also goes for things like coffee (I usually buy the big jars of Moccona), bags of rice, toiletries (deodorant, hair care, shower wash) etc. You save a lot of money and you don’t have to buy any for quite a while if you stock up.

Markets– It’s a great idea to make the most of local markets for discount produce and meat.

No name brands– You can save a lot by buying no name or home brand products. I usually buy things like flour, sugar, eggs and milk in the home brand ranges because essentially they are basics we always use and they are exactly the same as the branded products.

Make it from scratch– Things like biscuits, muffins and cakes can be easily made and you know what is going into them. Saves money and preservative free!

You can save money (and the environment) on plastic bags and sandwich bags by using reusable containers such as Sinchies. Sinchies allow you to feed your children (and you) healthier, additive and preservative free food whilst on the run, out and about or at school! I use the pouches for freezing yoghurt for the boy’s school lunches. Just buy a large container of yoghurt, fill up the pouches and freeze. It works out a lot cheaper than buying the yoghurt tubes.

They are fantastic for picnics, sporting events and going places like the zoo. Sinchies are offering a discount code for 20% off valid until the end of April. Just use the code OE20 at checkout!

3. Clothing

Clothing kids can be an expensive exercise, especially boys who seem to be continually growing. I’m pretty sneaky when it comes to dressing the boys. I buy them brand name tees and hoodies from Ebay or outlet stores and buy plain shorts, jeans or tracksuit pants from discount department stores. The boys then look like they wear brand name clothing but at a quarter of the price. I have also found that if we buy brand name sneakers and shoes they last a lot longer than cheaper, discount store shoes. So essentially, the cost per wear works out to be a lot better.

For myself, I usually buy brand name clothing from outlet stores. I stick to classic styled clothing that never dates, as fashion items go out of style very quickly. You also have to be smart about what to buy as well. If you see something at an expensive boutique store and then something similar at a cheaper store, buy the cheaper version. For example, I have seen a long line black cardigan selling at some stores for over $150. I bought a very similar cardigan in the Mix range at Coles for $25. Same look at a fraction of the price! You could also check out some online deal sites like Sello for some fashion bargains.

4. Homewares and furniture

Always buy good quality furniture. It is going to last a lot longer than the cheap furniture you will have to replace after a few years.

Reuse, recycle or upcycle – it’s easy to sand and repaint wooden furniture than has lost its lustre or has a few scratches/ dents in it. You can pick up fantastic solid furniture on sites like Ebay or Zilch (Zilch is a site where people list furniture etc to give away) and with a bit of TLC they will look amazing.

Discount department stores have become very homeware trend-savvy of late and you can pick up great homewares like cushions for under $20. I recently bought cushions from Kmart for $10 each. A cheap and easy way to update the lounge room.

We hope these tips will hope you save money. Let us know how you save money by commenting below.

#SP This post was a collaboration between Compare The Market and Woman of Style and Substance as per our  Disclosure Policy