The natural beauty of regional Australia is unmatched, but like everywhere else in the country, managing your money is at the forefront of many minds, especially heading into the new year when spending reaches an all-time high after the festive period.
For some, money management means checking price tags and savvy shopping, for others it means paying off your debt. But thankfully there are tips to guide you. If you’re cutting down on groceries, you can compare unit prices, and if you’re fighting credit card debt you could try a balance transfer credit card. Whatever angle you’re targeting, there are always a few new tricks to learn, and ways to save your money without really changing all that much.
Read on to find out our top tips for regional Australians to effectively manage their money.
Use a balance transfer credit card
Paying off debt can seem like an oppressive weight on our shoulders, especially with rising interest if we’re unable to pay it back as quickly as we were expecting. It happens to the best of us, but there are structures in place to help you out if you find your debt building or growing out of control.
Balance transfer credit cards are designed specifically to cut or eliminate added interest to your debt, for a specified period of time, often between 6 months and 2 years. If you’re not accruing interest you’ll have less in total to repay, which should make it a faster and more feasible process.
Plus, if you have debt on more than one card, consolidating it onto one card with a lower interest rate further compounds this benefit. Outside of paying off debt, merging two cards is a smart move, for example if you’re a new household of two individuals. You’ll streamline your finances, make things easier for yourself by having all your payments tracked in one place, and therefore be more likely to make all your payments on time. You may even access some new rewards or points when signing up for a new card.
Supermarket saving
Checkout costs are the second most expensive bill for a household (behind rent). So if you can save on your celery, or score a deal on your spuds, you’ll see a nice change in your bank account.
The first trick is to check how much you’re getting per kilo, or per unit. A kilo of pasta might be $7, while a half-kilo is $5. Dry goods like pasta won’t go off very fast, so buy the bigger option and you’ll be getting more bang (or pasta) for your buck. Thankfully, stores like Woolworths and Coles will tell you the price per kilo at the bottom of the label, so you don’t have to calculate it yourself.
Another tip is to try cheaper brands. Even if you think your current picks are tried-and-true, you never know what you’re missing out on until you give it a go. That is, if you can tell the difference. If you see that another brand is half-off, take a risk, save some money, and maybe you’ll find a new favourite too.
The last supermarket trick is to buy in batches when items are on sale. Eggs and milk might be iffy to stock up on if they’re close to their cell-by date, but dry and canned goods like tuna or rice can be bought in bulk during a sale for major savings. The first time you do this, your weekly shop will cost a lot more, but it’ll pay back dividends when you have to buy half as much food the next week – and have savings on top.
Additional quick tips
- Pre-cut food like shredded cheese is always more expensive.
- Meat prices vary by cut, but silverside, shoulder, and drumsticks are some of the cheapest.
- Shop seasonally on fresh produce to get the cheapest price.
- Buy frozen fruit & veg when they’re out of season.
Use what you already have
You don’t have to be buying something to save money, sometimes all you have to do is use what you have efficiently. If you use a lot of glad wrap to keep your food fresh, try reusable bags, boxes or beeswrap instead. If you always end up with leftovers after meals, learn a few recipes where they can be used – like bone broth. And if there’s something that you can’t live without, but it’s costing you a fortune, try making it at home.
How to save on fuel and utilities
Energy and fuel bills are always growing, so savings are always welcome. Check on FuelWatch to see which petrol station is the cheapest on any given day. But if you’re living where petrol stations are sparse, you might like to stock up on cheap days instead.
For electricity, keep the lesser used appliances off at the socket until you need them. Household items like printers, TVs, and computers all suck a little power while on standby, and over the year that adds up. So while your fridge does always need to be on, if you switch off everything else at the wall before bed or work, you’ll see a nice drop in your bill.
Additional quick tips
- Look out for cheaper internet plans.
- Go solar and make use of the rebates, it’ll pay off later.
- Consider an electric car, their mileage may impress you.
- Look at the energy efficiency rating on appliances for lower energy bills.
Buy second hand
If you’re not an old hand at buying second hand, it can be intimidating. You could get sold a lemon, expecting a laptop – or worse, receive something in the post that doesn’t work. The first step is to dip your toe into Gumtree or Facebook marketplace to browse for something you need that you’re an expert in, where you’ll be able to tell if the condition in the picture does not match up with the description provided.
Once you’ve got a few successful sales under your belt, you can start haggling, and sniff out a scam better. You can also browse second hand clothing stores or op-shops for clothes, decoration and furniture. And of course the best thing about shopping secondhand are the deals. No where else can you get good items dirt cheap, you just need to keep your eyes open.
Conclusion
All these money management tips can be boiled down to one thing: look around for a better deal.
As long as you’re being proactive and trying to stretch your dollar further, you’ll find sales, guides, and events to do just that. So see where your money is going, and research or think about how to spend less.