How to get free money in Australia amid rising cost of living expenses
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Are you feeling like your day-to-day expenses are creeping up higher and higher? With inflation rising faster than household incomes can keep up, we all could use an extra few bucks saved and added to our budgets.
Fortunately, there are many easy ways to do exactly that. We’ve compiled a list of tips that can help you save more of your hard-earned money.
Tip #1: Loyalty reward cards
Loyalty reward cards or cash back programs have been around for a while, and with the choice of personalised offers and the ability to get cash discounts off your grocery shopping, they can certainly help your wallet.
The base rate of direct cash off your shopping is 2000 points (or $2000 spent) for a $10 discount, though that can quickly add up if you take advantage of bonus points and special offers.
One customer saved up their Everyday Rewards points to do their Christmas food shopping, and saved nearly $200 off the bill!
If you’re sceptical over the benefits, Macquarie University Business School Professor, Jana Bowden, explained that these loyalty programs offer a ‘practical way’ of saving money.
She added that customers should fully acquaint themselves with the perks of the loyalty programs to maximise the benefits.
‘It's all about two things: knowing what you are signing up for, and why the brand is offering the program, as well as knowing how you can use these programs to maximise the value from them,’ she said.
Tip #2: High interest savings accounts and term deposits
Savers have had a rough go these past few years, with savings accounts offering (at best) near-zero interest.
However, things are starting to get better, as some high-interest savings accounts can now get you a return of up to 4.75 per cent per annum.
These accounts may have certain requirements, such as making monthly deposits and/or a certain number of bank transactions, but if you put the time and effort into finding the right one, they can be worth the extra effort.
If you don't mind locking your money away for a while, you can consider term deposits, which offer up to 4.5 per cent in return, in most cases with terms of up to 5 years.
If the average Australian (who has $28,409 in savings, according to comparison website Finder) placed all of that money into both a top-yielding savings account and term deposit, they could make an extra $1,379 annually off the savings account interest, and $,1278 from the term deposit.
However, please note: Member @Maud's brought to our attention that although these interests rates are great and bring a good return each month, that for a pensioner who receives the Age/DVA pension the interests earned via these accounts needs to be declared in your tax returns. So, for example, @Maud's AMP High Earner Account earned her $320 interest in December 2022, which effectively has been reduced by $60.80 in the long term. Although every bit counts, the tax cannot be avoided.
Tip #3: Cashback offers
Most of us are familiar with traditional cashback offers on larger items such as appliances, or occasional discounts on food items. But companies like Cashrewards and Shopback offer cashback from a variety of stores and services, depending on their current offers.
You could save quite a bit over time if you take advantage of these offers, though it’s important to remember that the amount you get back will depend on the store and the offers available at the time.
Tip #4: Coupons and sales
Who doesn’t love a good sale? Though, with the modern age decent sales seem to only last for a few hours. Luckily, forums like ourselves and our friends over at OzBargain have your backs here.
Ozbargain is Australia’s largest bargain hunting community and a great way to save money because thousands of users report on flash sales, discounts, and special offers at any given time. We work closely with them to ensure any good sales that we know you would be interested in are also featured on our forum, but if you want to check them out for yourselves, you can click this link.
You may want to act fast, though – some deals are gone in a flash, and retailers' websites crashing due to high traffic is no joke!
When it comes to finding ways to save up, there are plenty of accessible and tried-and-tested strategies that can make a big difference. Some techniques from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on how to create a household budget include:
Oh and don’t forget we will be introducing some very cool features in the next few months to help all of you save more than ever before… So be sure to watch this space!
Members, how do you get the most out of your money? Share your tips and money-saving stories with us in the comments below! We also have more discounts available for you right here!
Fortunately, there are many easy ways to do exactly that. We’ve compiled a list of tips that can help you save more of your hard-earned money.
Tip #1: Loyalty reward cards
Loyalty reward cards or cash back programs have been around for a while, and with the choice of personalised offers and the ability to get cash discounts off your grocery shopping, they can certainly help your wallet.
The base rate of direct cash off your shopping is 2000 points (or $2000 spent) for a $10 discount, though that can quickly add up if you take advantage of bonus points and special offers.
One customer saved up their Everyday Rewards points to do their Christmas food shopping, and saved nearly $200 off the bill!
Rewards cards can add up to a lot of money over time. Credit: Woolworths
If you’re sceptical over the benefits, Macquarie University Business School Professor, Jana Bowden, explained that these loyalty programs offer a ‘practical way’ of saving money.
She added that customers should fully acquaint themselves with the perks of the loyalty programs to maximise the benefits.
‘It's all about two things: knowing what you are signing up for, and why the brand is offering the program, as well as knowing how you can use these programs to maximise the value from them,’ she said.
Tip #2: High interest savings accounts and term deposits
Savers have had a rough go these past few years, with savings accounts offering (at best) near-zero interest.
However, things are starting to get better, as some high-interest savings accounts can now get you a return of up to 4.75 per cent per annum.
These accounts may have certain requirements, such as making monthly deposits and/or a certain number of bank transactions, but if you put the time and effort into finding the right one, they can be worth the extra effort.
Term deposits have been found to be the ‘most attractive’ offer to savers. Credit: Cottonbro studio/Pexels
If you don't mind locking your money away for a while, you can consider term deposits, which offer up to 4.5 per cent in return, in most cases with terms of up to 5 years.
If the average Australian (who has $28,409 in savings, according to comparison website Finder) placed all of that money into both a top-yielding savings account and term deposit, they could make an extra $1,379 annually off the savings account interest, and $,1278 from the term deposit.
However, please note: Member @Maud's brought to our attention that although these interests rates are great and bring a good return each month, that for a pensioner who receives the Age/DVA pension the interests earned via these accounts needs to be declared in your tax returns. So, for example, @Maud's AMP High Earner Account earned her $320 interest in December 2022, which effectively has been reduced by $60.80 in the long term. Although every bit counts, the tax cannot be avoided.
Tip #3: Cashback offers
Most of us are familiar with traditional cashback offers on larger items such as appliances, or occasional discounts on food items. But companies like Cashrewards and Shopback offer cashback from a variety of stores and services, depending on their current offers.
You could save quite a bit over time if you take advantage of these offers, though it’s important to remember that the amount you get back will depend on the store and the offers available at the time.
Shopback rewards can be substantial. Credit: Shopback
Tip #4: Coupons and sales
Who doesn’t love a good sale? Though, with the modern age decent sales seem to only last for a few hours. Luckily, forums like ourselves and our friends over at OzBargain have your backs here.
Ozbargain is Australia’s largest bargain hunting community and a great way to save money because thousands of users report on flash sales, discounts, and special offers at any given time. We work closely with them to ensure any good sales that we know you would be interested in are also featured on our forum, but if you want to check them out for yourselves, you can click this link.
You may want to act fast, though – some deals are gone in a flash, and retailers' websites crashing due to high traffic is no joke!
When it comes to finding ways to save up, there are plenty of accessible and tried-and-tested strategies that can make a big difference. Some techniques from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on how to create a household budget include:
1. Gather your financial information, including things like your income, expenses, bills, and bank statements.
2. List your income. This includes all sources of income, such as your salary, government benefits, and any other sources of income you may have.
3. List your expenses, including all of your fixed expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, groceries and entertainment.
4. Track your spending for a certain period of time, such as a week or a month, in order to get an accurate picture of your spending habits.
5. Set a specific financial goal that you want to achieve, such as saving for a vacation or paying off debt.
6. Create a budget plan for how you will manage your money in order to achieve your budget goal.
7. Stick to your budget, and adjust as needed in order to stay on track.
Members, how do you get the most out of your money? Share your tips and money-saving stories with us in the comments below! We also have more discounts available for you right here!
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