Helpful hints - Money saving ideasAround the home
- Planning ahead is one of the best ways to make savings. Plan your family’s meals for the week to avoid last minute rushes to costly corner stores.
- Reduce your energy bill. Look for the energy rating label on new appliances – the more stars, the more efficient it is.
- Trim your water bill – it’s good for your budget and you’ll be doing the environment a favour. Reducing showers from 15 to five minutes and installing AAA-rated shower heads can see you save around 1,040 litres a day or around $380 annually.
- Organise a baby sitting pool with neighbours to save on child-minding and babysitting costs. To further cut back on entertainment costs, organise a picnic at a park instead of dining out.
- Hobbies are good fun, but they can also be a way to increase your income. You may be able to make things and sell them, or even hold classes for others to learn your hobby.
- Gifts are an area where people often over-spend. Buy discounted presents during the year, and store them until needed.
- ‘Luxuries’ have a way of becoming ‘necessities’. Giving up a daily cappuccino, for example, could see you save over $700 a year – more if your partner has one too.
- Not every purchase you make has to be for a new item. Huge savings can be made by purchasing near-new articles advertised for sale in newspapers, on the internet or at garage sales.
- Form a buying pool with friends to get bulk discounts.
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