Aussies are being careful with their cash as they look to 2021

Grocery bills and utility costs are among some of the biggest concerns for Aussies as they try to bounce back from COVID-19.

Exclusive: Grocery costs, job security and energy prices are the biggest financial concerns for Australians heading into 2021.

Financial services firm Canstar’s latest Consumer Pulse report quizzed more than 2000 Australians on their fiscal outlook.

An overwhelming number (87 per cent) of people said they were actively trying to use less energy to help minimise rising household expenses, which they identified as groceries (12 per cent) and gas (9 per cent).

Job security (12 per cent) was also cited as a worry in a year where more than 3.5 million Australians registered for JobKeeper payments and a further 1.3 million went on Jobseeker.

But despite the tough times, half of the many Australians forced to work from home during the pandemic said they had managed to tuck away savings.

‘I’ve been able to save’. Stefanie Reilly, right, and Selwyn Mazid are taking steps for their financial future. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Canstar’s editor-at-large Effie Zahos said during the pandemic, “people either did really well out of it or you didn’t”.

“Some have done amazingly well and are able to save so much more but others haven’t been able to do that and one in three had to dip into their savings,” she said.

“Things changed dramatically for us, when you shut down the economy you close your wallet.”

The number of people living within their means has climbed from 66 per cent last year to 73 per cent this year.

‘I’VE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE’

Small business owner Stefanie Reilly, 35, from Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north, runs a public relations agency and took a significant income hit at the beginning of the pandemic.

She signed up to JobKeeper but quickly took herself off the payments, after her business income climbed by 1900 per cent.

“I went from one client and having to be quite frugal and having to tighten my budget to 14 clients during the pandemic,” she said.

“I’ve been able to save money and I’m looking at buying a property down the track.”

The amount of debt Australians is carrying has also fallen by 38 per cent from $48,809 last year to $30,188 this year.

Latest Reserve Bank of Australia data showed Australians have smashed down their credit card debts accruing interest from $27 billion in March to just $20 billion – the lowest level in 16 years.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said one of the key focuses of the federal government will be to bring down the unemployment rate from 7 per cent in the new year.

“The economy still has to go through a lot of adjustment and there will be a few things that change in the post-COVID world and some of that will play out in terms of job insecurity and we will learn which business models work and which don’t.”

Mr Bloxham also said Australians have become better savings, tucking away 20 per cent of their income in the June quarter compared to six per cent in the March quarter.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Aussies are being careful with their cash as they look to 2021