Key Insights

• Saving for your first home while enjoying life is possible. Our saving hacks tell you to Automate savings, use round-up apps, and track spending to build a deposit without sacrificing fun.
• Cutting back on small expenses like entertainment and takeaway coffee can lead to significant annual savings.
• Pay off debt swiftly to save on interest and shop smart by comparing prices, exploring coupon sites, and stocking up on essentials.

When you’re trying to live your best life, who wants to think about savings? 🙄 You’re finally earning your own money and you want to enjoy it #yolo. But what if we told you that you can live large and save? Then one day down the track, when you’re ready, you’ll have a sweet cash deposit for your first home.

Check out our hacks below 👇

1. Automate your savings

Set up a direct debit so that as soon as your pay hits your bank account, some money is siphoned off safely into a savings account. This is a super easy way to save and you’ll quickly adapt to your adjusted pay. This technique we like to call out-of-sight = out-of-mind.

2. Round ups

There are some super cool apps that will round up your spendings to the nearest cents or dollars, sending the rounded amount to a savings account. For example, if you spend $4.50 on a takeaway coffee, the app might round up to $5 and put the 50 cents into savings.

3. Track your spending habits

You know the sitch: you’re about to buy something when you check your bank balance and you’re down to $24. Wait, what? Most bank apps will let you sort your spending into categories. Intuitive spending categories give you an instant overview of exactly where your money is going (and can be a real eye-opener!). Being more aware of your spending habits can help curb that ‘need’ for a second takeaway coffee.

4. Cut back on extras

So now you know where you might be being a little bit extra with your spending. Are you ready to tweak those splurgy habits? Some small cost reductions can make a mad difference over a year. Check out the examples below.

• Entertainment – cut back $15 per week and save $720 per year. ( do you really need 5 streaming services?)
• Takeaway coffee – cut back $20 per week and save $1,040 per year. (Look, you’ll sleep better for it and hello glowing complexion.)
• Daily lunch – cut back $40 per week and save $1,920 per year. (Bring a homemade lunch to work 4 days of the week and treat yo’self on Fridays!)

You get the gist. Small reductions equal big impact.

5. Sell your stuff

We’ve all got those clothes or impulse buys that are just sitting there, wasting space. Get on ebay, Facebook Marketplace and sell the heck out of them! Use what you make to pay down any debt you have or chuck it into your savings account (whilst maybe keeping a little for yourself for something spesh 👠🎫👕).

6. Ditch the debt ASAP

Everyone gets into a bit of debt. We don’t judge!  But one of the smartest things you can do is get rid of your debt sooner. Think of all that money you’re paying in interest. Devastating. When you don’t have high-interest credit card payments or other debt to deal with, that money can be used for more fun.

7. Shop smarter

Here are a few hot tips to get savvy with your shopping:

• Shop around for the best prices. We know the IGA is closer but the prices are sometimes so much higher than Woolies. Come on, drive those extra few minutes.
• Hack luxe. We know you’d love that $250 knit but Kmart has something similar for $30.
• Use coupon sites like Groupon or ShopBack. Getting more for less? Heck yes.
• Stock up. When you see items you regularly purchase on special, buy a few. Things like deodorant or dishwashing tablets can be expensive to buy at full price every time.

8. Rollover your credit card.

Often banks will have an offer where you can rollover your existing credit with another bank to their bank with a lower interest rate for the first 12 months. This can save you a lot of interest over the year and can be well worth it!

9. Talk to peeps in the know (that’s us!) 👋

You might not be ready to think about buying a house right now but when you are, we’ve got your back. We’ll give you the lowdown on how much deposit you’ll need and the different types of home loan options available to you. Getting to know the numbers takes a lot of the freak-out factor away from home ownership.

If you’re a little curious right now, why not check out how much you can borrow. You might be super surprised. We’ve also got an awesome calculator that can convert the rent you’re paying into house packages you could actually own instead of renting!

We’re all for you living your best life now and down the track when you make the decision to buy a home. Adopting some of these savings hacks will put you in a better position in the future. We don’t want you to restrict the things you love in life because if you do, you won’t stick to it – and what is the point if you don’t enjoy the journey! If you’re curious about creating a budget, we’ve created one just for you right here. 💯