Budgeting

Every year I try and think back to all the ways I tried to save money over the last twelve months I think it’s always nice to have a record and it a great way to pay yourself on the back for a year for all your hard work to save money over the year. 

I also love that every dollar we save each year, and each new habit we adopt compounds over the years to help us save even more in the future. 

Here are 17 Ways I Saved Money in 2023. I hope they help inspire you with some ways for you to save more money in the coming year! 

Disclaimer: None of the suggestions below are sponsored products, they are all just my own genuine attempts to save money that I am sharing in the hope they will help inspire you with some ways to save money as well.

17 Ways I Saved Money in 2023

1. Utilised food apps or memberships to save on dining out 

Eating out is getting ever so expensive and it is something we like to do so this year we tried to find ways we could save whilst still getting to occasionally skip cooking. Some things we tried were signing up for discounts such as to Rashay’s for a discount on our total bill, Or signing up to get a free dessert, and using KFC and the My Maccas apps to save on food. This meant rather than paying full price for meals we could get a discount or find cheaper meal options to save money.

2. Joined Cinema memberships to save on movie ticket prices. 

It now costs about $25pp to see a movie in Sydney which imo is getting just too expensive. This year to help us save on cinema tickets we paid $15 to join Hoyts rewards VIP program which saves us 25% on tickets for the whole year and let’s us gain access to reward points that can get get us a free movie ticket and offers discounts on food and movie of the week for $10 a ticket. We’re also a lot more selective on what movies we go out to the cinema to see.

3. Used fuel apps 

To save money on fuel which is a huge chunk of most of our budgets, I utilised my State’s fuel app which tracks the price of service stations around my State. It helps me plan out where to get petrol. With the app I was aware of the petrol price cycle which is currently ranging from highs of $2.20 to lows of $1.70 on any given day. By checking the app before fueling up for both our cars this helped us save up to $0.50/litre on both cars which is no small savings. 

4. I started paying more attention to reward discount offers 

This year I made more of an effort to take advantage of rewards discounts and offers I was being offered such as from my utility provider, private health insurance and NRMA roadside membership. 

My private health insurance offers many discounts on gift cards from 3-10% so now before buying things I check my list of discounts to see if I can get a small discount before buying them. I recently discovered that with NRMA I can save 20% on parking which will help save some more $$.

5. We cooked at home more 

I don’t think this is a new one for any of us, but in 2023 my husband and I really made an effort to cook at home to save money and experimented with new recipes. We found ways to have more expensive meals we’d normally buy out at home without the high cost. 

We tried Hot Pot for the first time in Jan 2023 and loved it but knew dropping $120 on Hot Pot was going to be a very expensive habit. So we found a way to have Hot Pot at home using our One Pot which only costs us about $40 rather than 3 x that to dine out. 

Some other meals we have learned to do at home are Beef Brisket, a range of Japanese dishes including Okonomiyaki and Katsudon, Pork Knuckle or Indian curries. To dine out for many of these would cost us $60 and upwards but to have them at home works out much cheaper for us and we still get to eat the food we love. 

6. We started brewing our own beer

This is a really new one, but friends of ours started brewing their own beer at home this year. When they mentioned after a small initial outlay, the cost was only $1 per bottle of beer I was for the idea. 

My husband bought a home brew kit with a gift card he won at work and is awaiting his first batch in the coming weeks. We are yet to see if these first batches of home brews can live up to his beer ratings. Some of his favourite beers are priced at $18 a can, so fingers crossed this could be a good saving! 

7. We changed our dining out habits

With the cost of living crisis and the very high cost of living in my hometown Sydney, dining out is becoming more of a luxury than ever. We used to love dining out on the weekend but with the cost, it’s now getting harder to justify that expense. I felt like everytime I went out to a cafe or restaurant, I was just outraged by the cost of everything and it wasn’t so enjoyable, at least not on a regular basis. Especially now that we are semi-chefs hehe. (See #5 ;))

Now when we want to eat out for dinner, we usually just get take out rather than dining in, this way we can save money on things like drinks (which are now $5+ for a soft drink), and can cook our own rice rather than paying $8-10. 

We’ve also done our best to find new restaurants that are more affordable for us to dine in and left the more expensive ones for more special occasions.

We also reduced what we order when we go out. In the past we would have shared an entree and ordered two mains, but now sometimes we just order two mains and skip the entree or just order one main to share. 

8. I became more of a bargain hunter

I’ve always been someone who tries to find the best deals, but felt like I could do better and keep more of my money in my pocket. 

Recently I found myself about to pay full price for some new beach towels. These were $70 beach towels so not some cheap towels from Kmart. Instead of paying full price I put the towels back on the table at the store and set myself weekly reminders to look out for a sale. Within two weeks I was able to get the towels I wanted for 40% off and didn’t have to wait much longer at all. 

I’ve now implemented this habit for things I want to buy to help me get the best deal and go that extra step to make sure I really want to buy something before I hand over our hard earned cash. 

I’ve done the same for more pricier groceries where if I could hold off on getting them, I just waited a week or two until they were on special again before I bought them. 

9. I shopped around for my mobile plan

Each year I review my mobile plan about twice a year to make sure I am getting the best value on my plan. This year I waited to until Black Friday to buy a sim card that was on special that would that would cost me half the half the price per month then my current mobile plan. This will save us $360 a year between two plans! 

It’s an annual plan, which I have never had before but I am keen to give it a go, and it I don’t like it I can always change it next year 🙂 

10.  I started looking into how to propagate fruits and veggies at home

This year we started growing our own fruits and veggies from seeds from items we bought. I’d seen a lot of these seed propagation videos on pinterest that helped inspire me to get started. And the great thing is you don’t really need to spend a cent to do this. We have just been taking seeds from food as we buy them, and using takeaway or butter containers to plant the vegie seeds in.

This is still a new process, and we are yet to set up proper veggie gardens but we are hoping it will save more money in the coming years. As we speak we have attempted strawberries, basil and capsicum and have some thriving chives and spring onions, hopefully with more to come.  

11. We meal planned more frequently

This year we really tried to find our groove with meal planning and eating out less. We were consistent with our meal planning so we shopped with more intention, wasted less food and saved on our grocery budget and found the more we stuck to our meal plan the easier it got and the more it become a routine. We also got better at making different meals so we could change things up a bit an avoid getting sick of eating the same meals. 

Some of our favourite meals this year were katsudon, pulled pork tacos with pineapple salsa, beef brisket burgers with coleslaw and salami napolitana pasta with red capsicum. 

12.  I identified what really brought me joy

This year I honed in more on what really brought me joy. This meant I spent more in some budget areas, like on Entertainment, namely concerts/festivals but cut back in other areas like dining out.

When I saw one of my favourite bands the Foo Fighters play in Sydney recently, watching them play for 2.5 hours I knew my tickets were the best use of my money vs having an average overpriced dinner out. 

Whenever I go to a concert it’s something I really enjoy so I will do my best to be more mindful of that next year when I need to decide what’s more important in our budget and prioritise.

13.  I spent less on takeaway coffees

My husband loves coffee so this was more of a saving on his part. This year he found a coffee he loves from Coles that’s a bit more expensive than the Aldi one he used to buy, but it means he’s more than happy to make coffee at home rather than having it out. With some coffees now $6 or $7 it’s a decent saving of $5 or more per cup of coffee and will go a long way to helping us save. 

We ended up buying the coffee straight from the supplier so it is much fresher, albeit a little pricier but still a huge saving. 

14.  I focused on finding free activities when we travelled 

This last year we went on numerous weekend trips and on our first trip to Japan. 

When we travelled this year we focused on finding free activities to stretch our budget further whilst still having a good break, such as watching the sunrise and sunset, walks on the beach, stargazing and watching movies at our Airbnb. 

We ate breakfast at home and grabbed dessert from the supermarket to save on buying expensive restaurant desserts. 

15. I spent less time at the shops browsing

This year I spent less time going to the shops. It meant I often wasn’t aware of what sales were happening which meant I was less tempted to buy anything I didn’t really need. 

Instead of browsing stores on my lunch breaks to pass the time, I’d watch a show or go for a walk. If I did go to the shops I would get what was on my list and leave which helped me be more intentional with my spending and save money. This isn’t too difficult for me, as I don’t particularly enjoy shopping these days but limiting browsing as a hobby certainly makes it less tempting to spend.  

16.  I was more mindful of our electricity use

In July our electricity cost per KWH went up 20% so it was going to add a hefty amount to our bill over the coming Summer. So to try and keep our bills down we checked our electricity app frequently (I set a reminder on my phone to check it at least once a week), we made sure to turn off lights we weren’t using, we used blankets as much as possible in the colder months before turning on the heater, and utilised our fans and windows when it wasn’t hot enough for air conditioning. 

When we had to put the heater or aircon on we made sure to adjust the temperature so it was on higher or lower setting to use less power and a lower fan speed and would only turn the ducted on in the rooms we needed to. We are currently looking into getting solar to try and save even more money on power next year. 

17. I organised my home  

Over the last few months, I really made an effort to organise my home more and get more clarity over the things we had in our home. 

I wanted to make sure if I had something I needed in the future, that I would be able to easily find it, rather than having to go and buy something and waste money on something I already had at home but couldn’t locate. 

I tried to declutter things I didn’t need so that I could store the things that really mattered.

Now I am much more aware of what we own and where it is located, and this will hopefully save me money in the new year. 

I would love to know what you did in 2023 to save money. Share yours in the comments!

Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash

Have you ever conducted an energy audit on your home? 

Conducting an energy audit on your home is a great way to help you reduce your electricity bill and save some cash on your upcoming and future electricity bills. With electricity bills on the rise, and record temperatures expected this coming Summer, it’s as good a time as any to start looking at ways to save money on your power bill. 

6 Steps to Conducting a Home Energy Audit

To make your home more energy efficient, you can carry out a home energy audit. You’ll pinpoint appliances to upgrade, save big bucks on your energy bill, and make your home more comfortable to live in. 

Here are 6 steps to get you started.

1. Find out your energy usage in kilowatts per hour (KWh)

For any Aussie’s out there, the government has a super handy dandy energy benchmarking tool to work out the average electricity use in your local area. (If you aren’t from down under do a google search and see if there is something similar offered in your country :))

You simply need to enter your homes postcode and the number of people in your household:

Then answer 3 more questions to find out what the average energy use is in your suburb. 

The following results will display based on your selected postcode area:

This will help you to compare your energy use from your electricity bill and see if you are perhaps using more energy than you should be. You can then compare this figure to your most recent electricity bills. This information can help you see if you might need to make changes such as upgrading old appliances, or being a little more aware of how much electricity you are using.  

2. Identify energy guzzling appliances 

It’s important when you are armed with your energy use, that you start to identify older energy guzzling appliances. When appliances last longer than expected it can be a positive thing, but sometimes when we hold onto these appliance for too long they end up costing us in higher power bills such as; old fridges, pool filters and small fan heaters. 

There is number of ways to identify which appliances are more energy consuming than others. 

The first is using a smart meter and utilising your electricity providers app to identify what your appliance is costing to run, by trying to run only that appliance. I.e. Have your regular stand by power on and then only run the dishwasher at 11am. Then the next day check the app and see how much your energy use shot up at 11am. Experiment over the coming weeks to determine how much other appliances are costing. 

Another simple trick, if you don’t have a smart meter, is to turn off all your appliances except the one in question and look at your electricity meter to see how many revolutions it does in a minute. The faster (more revolutions) the meter goes, the more energy the appliance is using.

Another method is to multiply the wattage of the appliance (often found on the base) by the number of hours used per day. Divide this by 1000 to obtain your daily kWh and then multiply by the rate per kWh on your energy bill to find out how much the appliance is costing you each day.

Related Posts: Want more money saving tips? Check out 11 Every Day Tips to Save Money

3. Upgrade old appliances 

If your appliances are 10 years or older, it is likely they are using more energy than more modern and energy efficient appliances. This may seem like an expensive investment to update appliances, and it likely will be depending on how many you need to update, but the energy savings will help offset the cost.

Remember to go for the highest energy star ratings where possible. You can also check with your government and see what rebates are available. Some governments offer rebates to help you purchase new energy efficient appliances such as replacing lighting to LED downlights.  

You might even be able to pick up some good second hand bargains or floor models that are still energy efficient models, but that are discounted.

4. Check your lighting and heating/cooling is optimised  

A great way to save on power is to replace inefficient halogen lighting with LED lighting. Heat and cool only the rooms you are currently in in your home. Set your air conditioner or heater temperature to a lower temperature in winter such as heating at 23 degrees or higher temperature in Summer such as cooling at 25 degrees so it still heats or cools the room as desired and makes the room a comfortable temperature, but uses less energy, saving you money. 

Related Posts: If you loved this post you may love 22 Things I Did in 2022 to Save Money

5.  Install adequate insulation and ventilation

If your home is hot in summer and cold in winter, it’s time to look at insulation and ventilation. Installing insulation can help keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer, such as by installing batts in your roof. It can be difficult to install insulation in walls of a pre-built home but there are alternatives such as wall insulation foam sprays that can provide a workaround (albeit an expensive one). 

It may be worth getting a few insulation experts out to provide you with quotes on what it will cost to insulate your home better. Remember this should provide you on savings when it comes to your future electricity bills. 

6. Check for air leaks

You don’t want your heating and cooling to flow out of your home under the door. As part of your home energy audit you should check for any air leaks under doors, and through the sides of windows. These can easily be fixed with caulking and weatherstripping such as caulking around window gaps or using door seals.

Check your local hardware stores for solutions to stop air leaks in your home so you can keep your home air cool or warm as desired. You might even hire an energy assessor or other weatherization expert to test your home for air tightness to help you make sure your home is more airtight and saving you on electricity.

Well there you go, 6 steps you can carry out to do a home energy audit and hopefully save some money on your electricity bill. These tips may not be something you can implement overnight, but over the coming months you can try and work towards each step, such as saving up to buy a newer appliance to replace a less efficient one and doing your research on what government assistance or rebates are available to you in your local area which may help offset any costs involved. 

If you are keen to save money on your electricity bill this upcoming quarter, if might be well worth the effort to conduct an energy audit on your home to make sure you are savings as much money (and energy) as possible. With the cost of living going up, every dollar you can save will really help to stretch your budget further and keep more dollars in your wallet!  

The above six steps are courtesy of Energy Australia’s DIY Energy Audit. This post is not sponsored and I do not receive any commission from it, it is merely to share helpful advice with readers in the hope they can reduce their electricity bill. 

I’d love to know what you found from your energy audit. Leave a comment below if you found this post helpful, if you were able to identify anything from your home energy audit or if you have any extra tips to save on electricity. 

Do You Want to Learn How to Spend Your Money With Intention?

If you want to take control of your financial future, stop stressing about money and learn how to spend your money with intention, book in for your free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me Financial Coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances! 

You can learn more about Minimise With Me Financial Coaching services here. 

Photo by Anthony Indraus on Unsplash

At the end of every year, I like to take a moment to reflect on the money-saving tips and tricks I implemented or attempted to adopt during the year in order to save money. For the last few years now I’ve compiled these into a blog post in the hope that they might be helpful to inspire your own saving goals in 2023.

You can check out my prior ones here…

17 Things I Did in 2017 to Save Money

19 Things I Did in 2019 to Save Money

I think it’s always helpful to think bigger picture when it comes to saving money. Often it’s implementing regular habits and behavioural changes that you repeat that end up saving you the most money rather than once-off attempts to save money. 

Some of these tips may be things I did to save money in prior years and others might be completely new ones. The magic of these tips is the more you repeat these, the more you will save month after month, year after year! 

So here they are without further adieu…

22 Things I Did In 2022 To Save Money

1. Set Up Google Flight Tracker Notifications

Now that 2020/2021 has been and gone, this year we wanted to make up for lost time and so, booked 3 seperate holidays. In order to try and save on those pricey flight prices I utilised Google Flight Tracker to try and get the best deals on flights. 

If you are interested, simply google a flight I.e. Syd to Melb flights 

Click the Flights tab

Enter your preference options and dates, and then toggle on the Track Prices tab. Google will then email you when there is a sale on your chosen dates.  

You can also select the price graph and date grid to see the price history and select the cheapest dates to fly. 

2. Used An Expense Tracker For Travelling to Ensure I Stayed In Budget

For my most recent overseas trip I utilised my own Travel Expense Tracker to track our budget to actual expenditure across different categories. This way I could see how much we were spending on a particular category and could be more mindful of spending on our trip. You can grab the same one I used here!

3. Paused Memberships

I love my Audible membership but can’t always get through a book a month, so whenever my book credits start to pile up, I’ll pause my membership temporarily and save the monthly fee until I am all caught up and can start using my credits to select some new books to listen to. 

Likewise, with TV streaming I stick to having one or two at a time and swap them in and out as I need them. I find having around two more than enough to watch, especially when you add in Youtube content.  

4. Only Bought Clothes When I Need to Replace Something

It’s a good thing that clothes shopping is no longer a hobby of mine, so it’s fairly easy for me to wait to replace clothing until I need something. But rewinding several years back this is where a huge chunk of my money would have gone.

I like to keep a list of clothing items I need in my Trello app so I can replace things as I need to and can easily find exactly what I need to replace. Now I focus on quality over quantity and let my clothes tell me when I need to update my wardrobe, rather than advertisements or shop windows. 

5. Upgraded Our Appliances

This year my dishwasher and dryer after 11 plus years of loyal service both bowed out. After previously paying a service tech to attempt to save our prior washing machine, only to have to call him back to fix a remaining leak and then ending up having to replace the machine anyway, this time we just started a new and bought new appliances (with much research!). 

We also decided to enter the year 2022 and updated our 11 year old 40″ TV to a 75″ one. I always prescribed to; if it works, why update it – but after achieving some of our huge financial goals the prior year we thought a new TV was a great way to celebrate our financial journey progress!  

These updates certainly cost us money upfront but would have given us a slight energy efficiency increase (even if only a small one), saving us on our power bills. Unfortunately dryers even a decade later still seem to still have horrid energy efficiency ratings (but don’t worry it is not used too frequently!)

6. Decanted Products When Travelling

On prior trips, I’ve always ended up needing something I forgot to bring or didn’t have and had to resort to buying things I needed at my destination. More often than not I am irked at the price of things that seem to be so much more affordable at my local discount chemist or supermarket. 

On my most recent trip, I tried to think ahead and bring those items along whether it be Panadol, eye drops, Dencorub, or makeup wipes to avoid having to keep buying things on my travels. Of course, you can rarely plan for everything that you need, but you can always try and limit what you end up having to buy whilst on holiday.

I used small travel containers to take only a small amount of what I needed to use to save on extra baggage and make sure they fit in my makeup travel bag and were convenient to travel around with. 

Even with my best efforts, I still did need to go and buy a few items at my destination but at least for the most part, I had everything I needed. I am trying to make my life easier but adding these items to a pre-made travel packing list I can refer to before each trip I take. Easy!  

7. Found More Fun Free Activities

With all the extra time we had at home in recent years (skipping over that part), we had to find more fun and free activities we could do at home. 

We started online gaming and now enjoy playing some PC/Nintendo switch games in our free time. These may have a once-off cost involved to purchase a game (though sometimes PC games are free!) but they do in the long run save us paying for other entertainment. We can also play with friends and family so it has a social aspect as well 🙂 

We now love listening to vinyl, look for local walks in our city to enjoy, and take advantage of star gazing on clear nights. All are completely free! We even invested in bikes, although we do need to make an effort to use those more!

When we venture out to see a movie we’ll try and use a gift card (yay for experience gifts!) and search for discounted movie tickets (if you are an NRMA member you get discounts at Event Cinemas or you might be able to get a discount via your health insurance, it is always worth a try!). 

I extend these efforts to try and find as much free entertainment when travelling as possible as well; such as walks, gardens, lookout points, museums, and art galleries which often are free entry. There is so much to do when travelling that doesn’t cost anything. By taking advantage of nature and walking as much as we can it helps us save on entertainment when travelling. 

8. Transferring Extra Cash To Savings

Each time I get paid, I check my pay amount and if it is slightly higher than normal (I.e. I got leave loading or a small bonus) I will transfer the extra straight into my savings account. This way I actually can utilise that extra cash for something important and spend it with intention rather than just letting it slip through my fingers. 

9. I Stayed Out of Debt

Back in May 2017, we repaid the last of my husband’s student loans. That was our last consumer debt owed and we have now been consumer debt free for over 5 years! And I promise there were no regrets about becoming debt free. This has allowed us to fast-track paying off our mortgage as we only had one debt to focus our efforts on. 

Even though my husband is back at University now doing his Master’s, we are cash-flowing his studies rather than taking on more student debt. By staying out of debt we can save much more money each year and continue to work on our next financial goal whatever that may be. 

10. Found Quality Coffee at Home 

My husband is a lover of coffee, I on the other hand don’t drink it so that at least helps hehe. But to try and save money on buying coffee out (and irking at the price to get a takeaway coffee – Sheesh!), which is now about $5.50 or more by the time you add in specialty milk, we were able to find a good quality ground coffee at our local Coles supermarket which my husband was more than happy with after much trial and error of other varieties. 

Although this coffee does cost more than other brands at the supermarket, it is a lot cheaper than paying $5.50 a coffee, 7 days a week. 

So a huge thanks to my hubby for hearing me on this one and keeping his takeaway coffees to only very occasionally. And a bonus, for tea lovers, supermarkets now even sell Bubble Milk Tea packs for under $10 which again at $8 odd a pop, is helping us save $. 

The savings here are great, let’s say a $10 pack of coffee lasts you a week vs $5.50 x 7 days a week, we are already at a saving of $1482 a year (grabbed these rough estimates off my husband based on his consumption). 

11. Planned Ahead for Gifts

Have you ever noticed, that when you shop last minute you end up paying more? And then you are stuck paying $8.99 for a card as you didn’t get to the cheap shop earlier and then you don’t have any wrapping paper or tape, so now you are forced to buy a $5 bag on top of finding a last-minute gift that is full price, even though you could have got it online cheaper if you just had more time. 

I used to be a serial last-minute gift shopper, but over the years I have attempted to try and be more organised when it comes to buying gifts. My general rule is to try and prepare at least a month out when it comes to gift buying. For Christmas I like to start a bit earlier in October, and take advantage of the Black Friday sales come late November. 

Whenever I am in a cheap shop I’ll have a quick think about what birthdays or events I have coming up and what cards I will need. This saves any last-minute expensive gift-related purchases. And gifts do certainly add up in your budget over the year!

12. Asked For a Raise

I’ve never been that confident at asking for raises but I found some awesome advice a few years ago so I got into the habit of tracking what I did above and beyond my job description. Every time I worked on an additional project I would keep a note of that somewhere so I could refer back to it. 

When it came time to have our pay review discussions, I had my achievements in black and white to justify my case for a raise ready to go and could demonstrate my added value across the last 12 months.

This enabled me to get a slightly larger raise than had I not asked, so I highly encourage you to do the same and ask for what you deserve. Remember, no one cares about your income or budget as much as you do! 

Every dollar is going to be an extra dollar to put toward your goals.    

13. Maintained Good Tax Records to Maximise Refunds

Over the years I have set up a fairly easy to maintain tax filing system in Google Drive. It’s a great way to keep records for tax and ensure we can claim as many allowable tax deductions as we can. 

When you spend money for your job and are entitled to a deduction for those amounts, you want to make sure you’re keeping track of those expenses as you go and saving yourself a paperwork headache come tax time! 

And this could be some serious cash. If you earn over $45,000 per year in Australia, each dollar you can legitimately claim as a tax deduction can put 32.5 cents back into your pocket (As per ATO tax thresholds 2022-23)! 

Disclaimer: Correct at the time of writing this but subject to change. This example is based on a 100% deduction for work purposes, with receipts and subject to tax assessment. Please note this is general advice only and should not be relied upon as personal tax advice. Please consult a tax professional for specific advice for your personal tax scenario. 

14. I Used Up What I Had First

Before my minimalism journey, I would often bring new beauty, hair, and makeup products home to try, more often than not, just because they were on sale and I couldn’t resist. 

Since identifying these unhelpful spending habits, I have made an effort to use up what I have first, and only replace things like foundation, or lotions when I am running out. This way I am conscious of what I already have at home and can avoid buying things I don’t need!

I keep a rule of only having 1-2 spare ready to go when the current item I am using runs out and so far this has gotten me by. If I am ever really that desperate I can usually get the item from the shop that same day.   

15. Stocking Up On Sale Items

I used to avoid having too many items stocked up in my home, but with frequent stock shortages and the cost of living crisis we are facing, it now makes more sense to me to stock up on things I buy frequently when they are on sale to make sure that I have them when I need them and ideally on sale. 

If things I will definitely use are on sale, I will now stock up a bit more than I used to.

I won’t buy a year’s supply but I will grab 1 or 2 extra to help save some $! Things I try to stock up on now are vitamins, hand soap, dishwashing liquid, dishwashing tablets, lotions, shampoo, conditioner etc.  

16. Utilised 7/11 and NSW Fuel Check Apps 

I am sure I don’t need to remind you about the increase in petrol prices at the moment, we are all feeling the cost of living increase this year. To help with this wallet pain, I regularly check the 7/11 and Fuel Check Apps to see what petrol prices are around my local area so I can stay aware of when petrol prices are going up or down and plan to fill up my car accordingly. 

I am lucky to have a friend who is as vigilant as I am with fuel prices so between us we keep on the ball with when the best time to fill up is.

I’ve used the 7/11 fuel app to lock in petrol prices that are low and saved myself $20 on a tank countless times. It’s definitely worth the slight hassle for me. If you aren’t using a fuel app like the 7/11 ones or NSW Fuel check one, this is something that could really help you save some serious dollars!  

17. Invested in Quality Shoes

A while ago, if you looked at my shoe collection you would have a common theme of budget shoes, all under $30 a pair – bargains! This past year I spent the most I have ever spent on a pair of shoes before ($240) and I will sing from the rooftops about it. When you hit mid-30s, you cannot put a price on a good pair of comfy shoes! 

Although this is an example of me spending more money than before, and may not be a saving in that respect, technically I am saving money as I am buying one pair instead of many shoes, that are quality, will last me longer and I am certainly going to save money on massages for a sore back and feet! 

And so I am counting it a savings win for me.  

18. Used Bank Cards with no Fees or Reimbursements

My bank card refunds me all ATM fees and International fees and charges me no monthly fees, all of which can be expenses that add up quickly. 

I extended those savings on my recent overseas trip where I managed to save myself around 3% of each transaction as international transaction fees were reimbursed to me as well as $5 overseas ATM withdrawal fees. It sure pays to look into your banking card options before you travel! Look at all these green refunds! 

19. Cut and Died My Own Hair

I have been trimming and dying my own hair for years now, which came in particularly handy over recent times. To hit the salon with my locks, I would be forking out over $250 every six to eight weeks versus the $20 or less it costs me to DIY my hair at home.  

If I dye my hair 9 times a year thats $20×9=$180 vs $2250 if I went to the salon each time.

I keep my hair the same colour so I am not worried about any colouring mishaps, but of course, if you want to do something more experimental please do see a good hairdresser and save yourself any unwanted heartache. 

20. Dined Out Less

I am not sure about you guys, but after months of being stuck at home, I kind of got used to eating in the comfort of my own home, away from the noise and squishy, awkwardly placed tables. 

We started to adopt the habit of eating out less a couple of years back to save money and have carried that into 2022. 

Sure, I still love to dine out on occasion, but nowhere near the number of times I would have in prior years. We now prefer to save eating out for more special occasions.

By eating at home we can save much more money than eating out. We usually stick to buying only two mains, often make our own rice for Indian or Thai curries, and drink what we have in the fridge to save even more. 

So to add in some dollar values:

• At home, we can pay $1.77 for a bottle of Coke No Sugar vs paying $8 (or more) for two glasses in a restaurant. Again, repeat that once a week, and hello savings! Estimated savings: $323 a year.
• If we skip ordering rice and make our own at home we pay 50c vs $5.00. Again, $4.50 saved once a week is $234. 
• I even asked for some alcohol for Xmas last year for a mini cocktail bar so I could make myself some of my favourite cocktails at home, saving a whopping $18 a pop. Say $18 twice a month I am saving $432. 

Of course, it isn’t all sacrifice! These small adjustments have made our “Outings” budget stretch a bit further so we can enjoy ourselves when we do go out. 

21. Found a High-Interest Bank Account

It’s always good practice to look around for the best high-interest savings accounts. When I did this earlier this year, I found a new bank account my current bank was offering that was paying a much higher rate of interest than I was currently getting. So after a quick change, we were able to earn a lot more in interest than we had been. 

If you have just $5000 in a savings account earning 3% the interest alone might cover one of your subscription costs per month and I think that’s a win 🙂 

22. Learned For Free

There is so much free knowledge available out there whether it be books, online courses, documentaries, Youtube videos, podcasts – you name it. This year I did my best to take advantage of as much free educational content as I could. 

Not to say that I didn’t spend any money on my own personal growth this year, as I did, and I think that is always a worthy investment, but I did take advantage of as much available information as I could. 

Don’t forget to sign up to the Minimise With Me Mailing list for your free eBook ‘101 Ways to Save Money, Whilst Still Living Awesomely’!

Of course, this is all in unison with everything I have done over the prior years, don’t forget to check out my prior posts 17 Things I Did in 2017 to Save Money and 19 Things I Did in 2019 To Save Money

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

Question: Which of the above suggestions are you hoping to implement in 2023 to save money? Let me know in the comments 🙂

Photo by Eyestetix Studio on Unsplash