How to Make and Save Money in Every Area of Your Budget

In this article, we break down every area of the budget that we feel is relevant.

Tips included are from personal experience of different writers here at The Thrifty Issues and all of them are mothers.

Every situation is different, so do what works for you.

The general budget split is to save 10% to 20%, invest 10%, sanity money 10% (we can spend this on whatever we want) and 60% is spent on living life.

All bills, long-term expenses etc come into this 60%.

This post may contain affiliate links for some of the products we personally use and recommend. Read the full disclosure here.

Housing

Possibly the largest expense for most families is the cost of housing.

Whether you rent or own, it definitely takes a chunk of your income.

We have rented and had mortgages; each one has pros and cons.

Save Money With Housing

Look for cheaper rent and weigh up the pros and cons of moving if you rent. Refinance for a lower interest rate and check the features of your home loan if you own.

Those are the two main ways most can save on housing costs.

However, if you get creative, your job might come with housing or at least some accommodation covered e.g. FIFO, rural teaching, farm work etc.

You can also share a house with another family. More single mothers are doing this and it helps them a lot as the housework and childcare can be split, allowing both to work.

Make Money With Housing

Rent a room on Airbnb or to a boarder, rent out your garage on Spacer or swimming pool on Swimply.

Check out how to make your home pay for itself here. And how to make money with Airbnb.

Must-Have Home Items

Aside from your obvious basic needs such as a bed, washing machine and oven, there are items that can save you money in your home.

1. A good mattress, good pillows and quality sheets. They all contribute to a good night sleep plus your body won’t ache.
When you are well rested, you make better decisions, are more patient, eat less junk food (actually, less food overall) and are less likely to make impulse purchases.

2. Seals. Check your home for any gaps and seal them up to stop hot or cold air escaping and reduce your power bills. This includes getting blockout curtains for windows, magnets or similar for heating vents, tape for doorways from Bunnings and draught stoppers from Kmart or similar.

While it might not seem like much, those little gaps can cost a fortune and considering how expensive heating and cooling is, it’s worth taking the time and investing a little money to sort it out.

Food/Groceries

Another massive expense for many families, especially those with teenagers, is food and groceries. This section will include cleaning supplies and toiletries.

Save Money On Groceries

Go through your options for free and super cheap groceries first (check out my full list here).

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.

45% off your first box with Marley Spoon and further discounts.

Up to $140 off Dinnerly, spread across your first few boxes.

Next, start doing things like meal planning and cooking in bulk.

Cook batches of meatballs, spaghetti, curry, soups and similar then freeze them for nights you don’t feel like cooking or are busy.

Try buying in bulk and look for discounts online.

Play the shops against each other. Sign up for all the reward programs (find a full list of Aussie loyalty and VIP programs here).

Flybuys and Everyday rewards are the two most people know.

Download the apps and maximise the points! Spread your shopping out so you aren’t spending large amounts in one store and they will send you better offers to entice you to shop with them.

By doing this you can accrue significantly more points than if you don’t plan it.

Make Money With Groceries

There are a few ways you can make money with groceries. Become a mystery shopper and get paid to shop.

Keep an eye out for massive bargains and clearances that you might be able to resell for a profit.

Must Have Items

How you cook and what your family prefers to eat will determin what is of use to you.

Check out our kitchen must haves in this article.

Transport

Some of us have lived without a car and used other options. In other locations, it has been impossible for some of us to live without a car.

The cost of owning a car is significant when added up over the year and if you include the purchase price/replacement price.

Save Money On Transport

Without a car, walk or bike ride, check when public transport is free or discounted, use car share programs and ride share.

With a car, make sure you get it serviced regularly, use apps such as FuelMap to get cheaper fuel and limit how much you use it.

Make Money With Transport

You could be an Uber driver or another delivery driver. Rent your car out when you aren’t using it through UberCarShare.

Some companies pay you to have signage on your car or if you have a business, make your car a moving billboard with a car wrap.

Must Have Car Items

A regular service, inflated and reliable tyres (seriously, check the tread on them and your spare) plus insurance. Car mats, car seat covers, air fresheners, and car cleaning kits all help too.

Health and Medical

Health insurance, doctors and specialist visits, gym memberships, glasses and the dentist can all add up quickly.

Save Money On Health/Medical

Firstly, read this post as it has a lot including rebates, payments you might be entitled to etc. Look for doctors who bulk bill and have a good relationship with your doctor.

With the dentist check if you are entitled to the $1,000 for your kids from the government. All family members should have regular check-ups. Use electric toothbrushes instead of regular ones, floss and mouthwash. Take care of your teeth and it will save you a small fortune.

For fitness, get a few key pieces of equipment and read this post about how to get fit and lose weight for less.

Make Money With Health/Medical

There isn’t really a lot you can do to make money unless you want to train as a personal trainer or enter competitions and win them. But if you neglect your health it will cost you a fortune.

Must Haves for Health/Medical

Health insurance has been essential. Compare plans with the government website instead of other health insurance comparison sites.

An electric toothbrush is much more effective than a regular toothbrush.

Home gym options for me include the aforementioned items – a yoga mat, kettlebell swing and activewear. It depends on what you like to do and how committed you are.

Electricity/Gas/Water

Bills for electricity and gas have skyrocketed with many families paying thousands. Having lived in both a super modern apartment and old drafty house, we managed to keep our bills below $100 a month ($60 in the apartment and $80 in the house so far).

Read 17 tips to reduce your electricity bill here.

Save Money on Your Bills

Check your usage, turn everything off when it’s not in use, utilise off-peak power if you have it, only use what you need and look for ways to combine tasks.

Check for gaps as listed above and compare your energy providers.

Make sure you are getting the best deal and that any concession you might be entitled to is applied to the bill.

Make Money With Your Bills

You have to pay them, but sometimes there are things you can do to make a little money.

For starters, compare and if it works, switch. Some companies provide cash incentives at times to switch.

Next, check if any of your bills are connected with any loyalty programs such as Flybuys and make sure they are linked so you get the points.

Must Haves For Bills

Direct debit and pay on time discounts are everywhere, so make sure you get the best options.

Get energy efficient appliances and consider upgrading when the budget allows. Some old appliances suck a lot of energy.

A rack for air-drying clothes can prevent you from needing to use the dryer. Or an outdoor clothesline. You can even get retractable ones for balconies, garages or small spaces.

Energy efficient light bulbs, powerboards with surge protectors, block out curtains, draught stoppers, water saving shower heads, timers and other items like this will help you lower your bills.

Insurances

If you cannot afford to replace it you can’t afford to leave it uninsured.

Do not skimp on insurance.

If anything happens, how will you replace it or manage in the meantime?

How to Save on Insurances

Always be honest when getting insurance. If you lie to cover something up and try to make it cheaper, your claim can be rejected later and you have wasted your money.

Work out what you need insurance for – house, contents, car, health, life etc. Then compare them all to get the best deal. With car insurance and similar insure for an agreed value, not market value!

It’s in the fine print and many people miss it but it can be the difference between getting enough to replace your car and getting only a few thousand when the agreed value could have been double that. List all your valuables and make sure you are properly covered for your home and contents.

Phone/Internet

These are essential items and while you do not need to have the best of everything, there is a difference in quality, longevity and usability.

Save Money With Phones/Internet

Don’t upgrade just because the latest phone came out. If you ‘have to’, always keep your phones in good condition so you can sell your old one and at least recoup some of the cost.

Work out what you need your phone to do, then compare your options online and always check real reviews to see how good the phone is and if it will last.

Compare plans or go prepaid. Always read the fine print with anything you choose to sign up for as well! You don’t want to be stung with extra fees or charges.

Make Money With Phones/Internet

Firstly, blogging has been the best for us. You can find out how to set up a blog and make money blogging here.

This site is hosted with SiteGround.

Online surveys such as our list of the best Australian online survey sites can help you make $2,000 to $5,000 a year.

Check out 43 ways for single mums to make money, read monthly side hustle updates here or look at buying things to resell online. The list of things you can do to make money is long.

Must Haves For Phone And Internet

A high-speed connection is a must, but really, the rest is a personal choice. Do what works for you.

Clothing

Knowing your style, what makes you comfortable and how you want to dress is important. Work out who needs what in

Save Money On Clothing

Get clothes second hand but know the value because some op shops charge more for Kmart and Shein than they cost brand new in store.

Get a session with a stylist to know what suits you and what brands work for you. This makes it easy to identify what looks good on you and saves time and money.

Read how to get clothes for free for more ideas.

Make Money With Clothing

If you are smart about what you buy, you can possibly resell them when you have finished with them.

Schooling/Kid Related Expenses

The quotes of it costing $1,000,000 to raise a child include housing and everything else.

Schooling, clothing, extracurricular activities and everything associated with kids can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Check out this post for loads of tips.

Save Money With Schooling/Kids

Firstly, learn to say no! They don’t need everything they ask for.

This alone will save some families a small fortune.

Decide what you will and won’t pay for then encourage them to make their own money in other ways, manage it properly and buy their own things.

Read this post with loads of tips to save money on school expenses.

For extracurricular activities, they don’t have to do them all!

Decide which ones work for you and your family.

Look for ways to do them cheaper and don’t feel the pressure to fill your kids afternoons and weekends.

Let them play, explore and be bored. It’s great for their brain development.

Make Money With Kids

Emphasis on the with kids, not from kids here. While there are many child influencers, we deliberately kept our kids mostly out of things here until we felt they were old enough to decide for themselves if they want to be all over the internet.

Child influencers/mummy blogging aren’t the only options for kids. While you might not be able to make money from your kids, you can encourage them to make money and have them pay for the extra things they want, save up and buy presents for others etc. All of which helps both you and them.

Kids can make money doing paper routes, buying things to resell, doing odd jobs for neighbours, babysitting if they are old enough etc. Let them think about it and choose what they want to do to make money.

Must Haves for Schooling/Kids

This will depend on your school or choice of how you educate your kids.

Hobbies/Entertainment/Travel

Hobbies and entertainment are important.

Save Money on Hobbies/Entertainment/Travel

Decide on the hobbies you want to do then research ways to save money on them specifically.

When it comes to eating out, trying a new beauty salon or having an experience, check Groupon because they have incredible deals.

Make Money with Hobbies/Entertainment/Travel

We shared 10 hobbies you can make money with here.

Must Haves for Hobbies/Entertainment/Travel

Know where the discounts are such as Groupon.

Check out this post on how to get a discount on everything too. Decide what you want to do and budget it in then go shopping for the things you need.

Celebrations

Birthdays, Christmas, weddings, parties and events can add up quickly.

Work out your budget for each then look for ways to make and save money with them.

I rarely have to attend weddings, but birthdays and Christmas happen every year as do mini celebrations in my family.

Save Money on Celebrations

Parties don’t need to be expensive. We did an extensive article on how to save money on kids’ parties.

The biggest thing to save money on most celebrations is planning ahead. Know what you want to do, set a budget and work with it.

For Christmas, check out this post with tips to make $2,000 by Christmas plus loads more tips to save money for it.

As for expensive invitations such as weddings, regular work lunches that add up etc read these tips.

Make Money With Celebrations

Christmas is the best time of year to make money! People are busy so more people use services such as cleaning, ironing, gardening and babysitting which means you can make a few hundred extra just offering those services.

Have a market stall, install Christmas lights for people, set up Christmas trees and all sorts of odd jobs if you want.

For weddings, you can do photography, hair, makeup and event planning with a little know how. Rent out items you own on OpenShed or similar sites and make money from what you have.

If you got married and DIY’d a lot of it, you can probably rent out what you had.

Must Haves for Celebrations

Organisation! Really, a notebook and pen or an app on your phone to keep track of everything, some great gift ideas and buying in sales will help a lot.

Beauty

Everyone has different things they view as necessary for their beauty routine and that’s ok. You do you! Don’t feel like you have to cut back, wear less or more or anything else. It is about what feels right for you.

Save Money on Beauty

Read our top tips to save money on beauty which includes some DIY face masks, body scrubs and so on.

Make Money With Beauty

Modelling, makeup artistry and some beauty treatments can be done with a little training and qualifications if you want to have a business.

It is competitive and many don’t make huge amounts of money doing it, but it’s an option.

Must Haves for Beauty

This will vary based on what you personally need and use.

Get Cash Back.

Shopback: Join Shopback for free and get a bonus after your first purchase. Get even more cash by doing online surveys, joining challenges, uploading receipts and utilising upsized cash back offers.

Honey: Slightly different, Honey offers cash back but also scans for discounts and coupon codes. Join Honey for free here.

Swagbucks: Best known as an online survey site, they also have a cash back program with the cash being awarded in points you accrue and cash out. Join free here.

Savings And Investments

Pay yourself first. It’s important. When you are trying to save whatever is leftover, you won’t end you saving anything.

Pick an amount, start saving and if you are consistent, you can be a millionaire.

Learn about different ways to invest, make a plan and work on it.

How do you make and save money?

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