Top tips to slash your household budget

Who doesn’t love money? You spend your life working for it, saving it and spending it. It doesn’t just buy material items, but can give you a sense of freedom, independence and fun, and help you make memories.

However, sometimes money can get wasted and spent on large-scale items that have small-scale value, but the good news is there is something you can do.

Check out these simple tips and work out if you can save.

1. Do you still work? Do you buy your lunch? One sure-fire way of saving your money is to bring your own lunch to work. If you’re particularly into cooking and/or baking you can also make your own sweets and puddings. Don’t forget you can also make your own cleaning products.
2. If you want to save on water, limit your showers to 4 minutes or less. If you have a water tank, use it to give your garden a drink.
3. When it comes to electricity, set your air-conditioners to 24C during the warmer months and if you haven’t got home insulation maybe give it some thought. You can also use energy-saving light bulbs throughout your house and only illuminate rooms that actually need it.
4. If you’ve got a dishwasher, fill it to the brim before sticking it on a cycle. A half-filled dishwasher uses the same amount as a full load so you may as well fill it to its capacity.
5. Love coffee? Get yourself a coffee plunger and buy a bag of your favourite coffee. You’ll get about a month’s worth of coffee and save yourself about $100.
6. Use the mid-year sales as an opportunity to buy birthday and Christmas presents.
7. Have you tried shopping online? It’s definitely one way the ‘clever placement’ of merchandising in the supermarkets won’t get you.
8. Are you paying for things in your private health insurance that you don’t need? Say for example you are still covered for obstetrics but you’re well passed your child bearing days. Take the time to review your insurance cover and only get what you need.
9. Ensure your electrical appliances (fridges, microwaves, washing machines etc.) are working to their most efficient. A large portion of a household’s energy bill falls to the whitegoods, so you want to be sure they are energy efficient.
10. Use a direct debit option to pay your bills and sign-up for electronic bill notifications, like the electricity or your telephone. In doing so you avoid the sneaky charges companies place on you for administration — that’s having to send you a paper invoice and not being able to just take the money from your account.

Are you budget conscious? What tips do you have to keep your household costs low?