How to do an Annual Financial Review and how we Saved $18,790 Last Financial Year
This financial year was different for many reasons, as it is for most people.
For starters, we were travelling for almost this entire year so some months we had virtually no expenses, other months, such as April, our expenses were through the roof.
It will be hard to do a proper comparison but now we are settling on the Sunshine Coast and since we know our expenses from the past year, we can do my annual financial review and plan for this coming financial year.
This review compares 2018/2019 to the 2019/2020 financial year.
With such huge differences in my lifestyle, there is a significant difference in expenses.
That said, we weren’t able to save as much as hoped due to a drop in income and we do still have some debt.
Each section includes tips on how you can reduce your expenses or make more money, too.
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How to do an Annual Financial Review
An annual financial review is simply reviewing all your finances, looking at areas you can cut back and making a plan for the future.
Previously, we focused on income vs expenses and only on how we can cut back.
In this year’s annual financial review, we are also looking at side hustles closely.
Reviewing how we make money, which options make the most and where to focus more energy.
Check out one of the annual financial reviews here.
Housing – $12,302.63 Cheaper
For the 2019/2020 financial year, housing expenses were $12,097.37 total, mostly inclusive of water, electricity, gas etc.
The 2018/2019 financial year, the expenses were $24,440 excluding other bills.
What’s the difference?
Travelling was significantly cheaper than renting for us, partially because of work covering some accommodation e.g. in the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Slovenia.
Housesitting and staying with family when expected to, saved a lot.
We signed a lease in Honiara when we were stuck there because of the pandemic in March.
The bond for that property was forfeited when we repatriated though.
How we Will Reduce Housing Costs for 2020/2021 and how you can too
We now pay $390 per week for a place right on the beach on the Sunshine Coast.
It is a popular location so while it isn’t big enough to rent one of the rooms out and doesn’t have a garage to rent out, we can lease it on Airbnb when we travel.
How can you Reduce Housing Costs?
Depending on the house you have, there are so many ways to make your home pay for itself such as renting out a room on Airbnb, renting out the home while away, renting out the garage etc.
Transport – $2,672.53 Cheaper
We owned a car for 3 months and 2 weeks in the 2019/2020 financial year, that’s it.
October it was sold (for almost exactly what we had paid for it).
Car expenses were registration, petrol, tolls and insurance. There was no service during those few months.
The car expenses including owning the car, Uber, taxis and car hire but excluding the sale of the car were $4,487.47.
We sold it for $5,500 so really, that wipes out the transport costs if we choose to include it.
In the 2018/2019 financial year, our travel expenses were $13,160 if we included the cost of the car or $7,160 if Iwe exclude it.
Our flight expenses are another story…
How Much we Spent on Flights – $5,800
Some of the flights we paid for as they were personal but then secured articles or other bonuses from the trips.
The only flights that weren’t work-related/reimbursed through travel work, were the repatriation flights.
We lost the cost of our return tickets due to the pandemic and had to pay another $4,500 for us to get home.
The original price was $1,300 for the 3 of us vs $4,500 for the repatriation flight, so the total cost of lost money and new flights was $5,800.
Last financial year, we had numerous flights so only being out of pocket for the repatriation ones isn’t too bad.
Food – $ Who Knows!
To be honest, we did not keep track of this properly because we were travelling and indulged more than normal plus food was covered on work trips.
We allowed a larger budget but we were also well provided for.
It was interesting to note we were able to eat well on under $80 a week in the Solomon Islands vs $200+ per week in Australia.
However, Australian food was very expensive (think Aldi items for 3 times the price) over there. Vanuatu was the same.
Eat local and it’s super cheap in those countries. If you eat like a tourist or expat, you pay through the nose.
We definitely spent more on food while travelling, as we couldn’t buy in bulk on sale, have a pantry or anything else we usually do to save money.
However, there were also times friends and family gave us meals when we visited so there were some weeks we barely spent on food at all.
Also, in previous years, we had a lot of HelloFresh credit. While we travelled, we gave the credit to a sister to use.
Get up to $200 off with HelloFresh, spread across your first 6 boxes for new and returning customers. Conditions apply.
Get easy meals from $2.19 per plate with this discount from EveryPlate.
How Will I Reduce my Groceries?
Being back in Australia, soon with a house, we will establish a pantry again, meal plan accordingly, hopefully, grow some vegetables and do what we used to.
Check out how to get free and super cheap groceries for ideas on what we do.
We will eat out less. When travelling, we wanted to try a few places and our habits changed drastically. Now, we rarely have takeaway.
We will share recipes, our meal plan and tips in The Thrifty Issue Facebook Group too.
Insurance – $500 Cheaper
This past financial year, we had car insurance for a brief period (included in transport costs above) and travel insurance.
Travel insurance was for the family for a year. I won’t need travel insurance this year.
The year before we had travel insurance, car insurance and contents insurance.
Car insurance was included in transport costs, the other two were $961.
We saved $500 not needing contents insurance.
How to Reduce Insurance Costs
Never pay the renewal, instead, always get a fresh quote. Read through and make sure you are insured for what you need and not over insured.
We know people who didn’t realise they were still paying insurance for something they no longer owned.
Others were paying a price to insure a car at a value higher than it was now worth so they saved when they had that corrected.
Education – $4,295 Cheaper
When travelling, education was free with specific apps and the opportunity to learn where we were.
Now, we need new uniforms, school fees and a computer for each child to attend the local public school.
Our education expenses for last year relate to a diploma and cost $2,385, that was it.
Compared to the year before where we paid for a diploma plus kids schooling, we saved $4,295.
How to Reduce Education Expenses
Read this article on how to reduce the cost of education. It covers everything.
Clothing – $1,500 Cheaper
This was mainly shoes and a few outfits each. We didn’t get a chance to op shop much this year but we also didn’t need much.
Spending most of our time on the road or in the South Pacific meant we had a limited wardrobe which was rotated. This saved heaps.
The year before, we needed clothing for numerous events and things so it cost more,
How to Reduce Clothing Expenses
Buy second hand, do clothing swaps, mend your clothes and use a capsule wardrobe.
You don’t need as much as you think and you don’t wear as much of your wardrobe as you might think you do.
A capsule wardrobe is a smaller wardrobe with key items that are interchangeable.
Read how to get clothes for free.
Celebrations – $2,100 Cheaper
We scaled right back on this already with family already.
Read how to save money on kids’ parties and how to reduce the cost of expensive invitations e.g. weddings etc.
How to Reduce the Cost of Christmas, Birthdays and Celebrations
There are so many things you can do. For Christmas read how to reduce waste and save money this Christmas and how to make Christmas pay for itself.
Also, how to easily make $2,000 in time for Christmas.
As for Birthdays, check out the list of Aussie birthday freebies!
Bills – $1,220 Cheaper
Most of our bills were included in the accommodation so we rarely paid anything for electricity, water, gas etc.
Phone bills were more expensive as we were overseas in countries where it costs more than Australia.
Back in Australia, those expenses dropped.
How to Reduce Bills
Compare all your service providers to make sure you are getting the best deal.
Switch off everything when it’s not being used and make use of natural heating, cooling and light.
Check out 19 ways to keep cool this summer, 17 ways to reduce your electricity bill and how to reduce internet and mobile costs.
Debt – $11,250 Still Owing
Income dropped due to sites getting hacked and the world shutting down.
So the debt did not get paid in the time we wanted.
How to Reduce Debt
The freedom you feel from clearing debt is amazing.
We have lived most of our lives debt free so having this hang over us is horrible.
Use these tips to reduce debt faster.
Other Expenses
It was interesting to see how much lower ALL our expenses were such as medical, entertainment etc.
We used mostly natural medicine to treat things as needed and none of us were super sick this year. Previous years, we have had huge medical bills.
Entertainment was mostly covered by work and in the islands we cancelled Netflix so we didn’t even have that as an expense.
We didn’t track medical or entertainment closely this year but will for the 2020/2021 year.
How to Reduce Medical, Entertainment and Other Expenses
Medical can be reduced drastically, especially if you are on Centrelink or a lower income. Check out this post for tips.
Our biggest ones are to find a dr who bulk bills and get friendly with your pharmacist. They know so much and often, a visit to the doctor is unnecessary.
To save on entertainment, find free hobbies. We love bushwalking, swimming, snorkelling, surfing and outdoor sports which we have the equipment for.
Diving is another passion but that can be expensive. Lucky for us, it has been covered because of work.
Which Side Hustles Were Best?
This year we did fewer side hustles compared to the year we made $33,277 on the side in 12 months. As we were travelling, many of our regular side hustles were not possible but we still did a few.
Travel Writing and Marketing
This was by far the best until the pandemic hit. As mentioned above, we went to numerous places, accommodation, flights, experiences and so much were all included. Plus payment for writing.
When it comes to travel writing and marketing, we enjoy working with locally owned businesses to teach them marketing aspects they don’t know and get them exposure usually only the ‘big’ tourism companies get.
It is significantly more rewarding than staying in a fancy hotel. Although, we don’t say no to nice hotels!
Right now is not the time to get into travel writing but if you wanted to get into freelance writing in general, we share how to become a freelance writer here including where to get paid gigs.
Blogging
The Thrifty Issue provides a full-time income and is more my main gig. However, we own a few other blogs which we consider to be side hustles.
We don’t put as much time or effort into those ones and am not associated with them but they generate a nice side income.
Blogging has been one of the best ways for me to make money and opened opportunities we never thought possible.
You can start a blog and learn how to make money blogging here.
Other Side Hustles
Previously, we made good money renting our place on Airbnb, renting out the garage, doing a medical trial for $4,050 once, recyclng cans, buying things to resell and make thousands a month doing it, basically anything.
Check out 43 ways for single mums to make money and 19 ways we’ve made money from home and remotely for ideas.
Online surveys can make you a few thousand too. We’ve tried these ones and can recommend them.
What are your plans for 2020/2021? How have you saved money reviewing your finances?
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