Practical ways you can cut your expenses

Saving money is still one of the biggest trends in the financial sector, and in a lot of cases it’s downright necessary. The following tips are ways in which you can save and the good news is that they won’t affect your lifestyle or what you’re able to buy.

1. Try shopping once a week, which is aimed at limiting impulse purchases and encourages you to plan better for meals. An additional bonus is that if you have a car, doing your groceries once a week will cut down on your car expenses too.

2. Pay annually if you can on things like insurance or other annual services. A lot of companies allow you to pay bills in smaller monthly instalments, but while they aren’t considered a ‘loan’ that’s exactly what they are and in a lot of instances you end up paying the equivalent of interest in the form of higher payments.

3. Avoid paying those late fees by making a list of when all your payments are due. If you use online bill payment options you can even schedule your bill payments early so that you don’t have to worry about missing a payment when it’s due.

4. Flaunt your age for a discount because if there is one virtue of getting older that is worth taking advantage of it is the senior discounts available. Starts at 60 has compiled a list of all the places you can use your seniors card in Australia.

5. Don’t buy movies and books. Libraries are great placed to save a heap of money if you are an avid reader or movie junkie. If you are comfortable with and know how to download eBooks or stream movies you can also make use of the many services available that offer free or low-cost opportunities.

6. Brew it yourself to save money on coffee (and even beer, if you are so inclined). Of course, the occasional treat isn’t going to hurt anyone but if you’ve looked at your budget and you’re spending in excess of $20 a week on takeaway coffee you might want to give this some thought.

7. Unplug your unused devices. It’s an interesting concept because even if you think your power items are using next to no power in standby mode, you’ll notice a difference in your power bill just by turning them off.

Do you have any tips for cutting costs? Have you had to change your habits because of finances?