Smart tricks to save more cash during Australia’s brutal cost of living crisis

Saving money is hard at any time, especially during a cost of living crisis. But there are genius hacks and tricks to help you get ahead.

Saving money is hard at any time, but today you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s almost impossible.

In the current cost of living crisis with inflation up, high interest rates and skyrocketing rents, it seems like every day throws up a new challenge to stop you from saving.

But at the same time, when you save more money faster, you accelerate how quickly you get ahead. And in the current market conditions, the more money you can find to save and invest today, the easier tomorrow will be.

Saving isn’t easy. Life can be expensive, and there’s so many nice things you can spend your money on. Handling your money can also be complicated and confusing, meaning it’s hard to manage things in a way that makes it easy to save.

The good news is that there are a few hacks and tricks you can use to make it easier to save more and spend better.

You need a plan

Your savings plan is the first big step towards success.

To plan your savings the smart way, first lay out all the spending you need or want to do and look at what money you have coming in. Once you have the money coming in and going out, you’ll clearly see how much you have left over for saving.

To plan your savings the smart way, first lay out all the spending you need or want to do and look at what money you have coming in. Picture: iStock

When you go through this process, it’s important you don’t get too caught up with how much money you’ve been spending in the past. Instead, you want to look ahead at how much you want to be spending and saving in the future. If your savings focus is new or newly refreshed, this number will often be quite different.

Your bills and fixed costs should be the easy part, so start there. Then look at the more variable and discretionary spending and think about what’s really important to you.

You need to prioritise

If you’re anything like me, when you lay out all the spending you’d like to do, there probably won’t be as much left over for savings as you’d like – or even any. This is completely normal.

Once you’ve had first pass at your budget, an important next step is to circle back and prioritise or de-prioritise spending so you can save more. Think about what spending is crucial, which of your expenses are “nice to have” and what spending is less important to you.

Reducing or eliminating lower-priority spending will allow you to save more.

Keep in mind that you can make some changes to your spending quickly, but other changes might take a little more time and work. For example, moving house to reduce your rent might not be something you can do tomorrow, but it can be done if you decide it’s important to hit your savings targets.

Reducing or eliminating lower-priority spending will allow you to save more. Picture: iStock

You need a system

A good savings plan is only half the battle. I think almost everyone (myself included) has done a budget that didn’t work. Where this most often falls down is in your banking and how you’re actually managing your spending and income.

Without a good savings system, it’s common to get excited about your plan, but then have life get in the way of your results. Something comes up in the month and you chalk it up as a one-off. But then it happens again. And again. And again.

Before you know it, a heap of months have passed and you’re nowhere near on track. This can be frustrating, stressful and a real motivation killer.

On the flip side, when you nail your saving, spending and money management, your progress becomes so much easier. You get better results in less time. You need to put in less effort to get the same results. And you get more confidence, less stress and better peace of mind.

But you have to get there.

Once you have a good savings plan, you need a good savings system to make it easier to get the results you’re looking for. You want to have different bank accounts for your different spending and keep your savings quarantined to one side.

It is possible to get ahead in a cost of living crisis. Picture: iStock

When you get this right, you can streamline your money management, automate your banking, save yourself a bunch of time and massively increase your chances of saving success.

The wrap

Saving money is important at any time and the more you can save, the faster you’ll get ahead – and the easier your tomorrow will be.

But saving is hard at any time, and in today’s cost of living crisis it can seem almost impossible.

But the reality is that it is possible, if you know how to tackle things.

Create a smart plan as your first step, then prioritise ruthlessly to pump up your savings number.

From there, create an automated saving system to make it easier to get the results you’re looking for.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Therefore, you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your circumstances before acting on it, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a finance professional.

Ben Nash is a finance expert commentator, financial adviser and founder of Pivot Wealth, the creator of the Smart Money Accelerator, author of Replace Your Salary by Investing and host of the Mo Money podcast. He runs regular free online money education event which you can book here.