10 Ways to Save Money and Cut Costs in 2023

With the rising cost of living, Aussies could always benefit from a few techniques to save more money. I've always been a little cheap, I love a good deal and I love saving money. Whilst I recommend focusing on the big key wins to reduce your cost of living (https://www.themattjordanquest.com/post/3-key-budgeting-principles-to-help-you-save-money), here's an indulgent post for the frugal ones, I'll try not to sound like someone on the show "Extreme Cheapskates."Here are 20 ways to save money and cut costs:

1 - Minimise Restaurants & Takeaway

Restaurants are getting crazy expensive and takeaway is just as bad, if not worse with delivery and service fees. Even though groceries are also increasing, it's still far cheaper to prepare food at home. Look at some recipes for meal prepping healthy and high-protein meals to get you underway. If you do want to go out to restaurants, try avoiding those high-mark-up alcoholic beverages and if you do want takeaway, see if you can order directly through the restaurant as apps like UberEats typically charge higher amounts for the same food or service fees in addition to delivery fees.

2 - Restrict Online Shopping

Online shopping is a really easy way to spend money without the effort of going into the store. The more barriers between you and the ability to spend money will help restrict your spending. Try shopping in-store where possible, the difference in effort between going in-store and shopping online might just help you reduce your spending.

3 - Exercise The 30 Day-Rule

A lot of our spending is driven by advertising and impulse. The 30-day rule states that if you would like to make a purchase consider putting it off for 30 days. This distance between getting the impulse to buy and when you actually make the purchase will determine if you really wanted to purchase the item of were just influenced by advertising and impulse.

4 - Cancel Subscriptions You Don't Use.

List out all your subscriptions and evaluate all those that you do and don't regularly. Most of us have old subscriptions that we don't use anymore but even if you don't, try using subscriptions on a rotational basis. 1 month you watch Netflix because of a show you like, and then the next month subscribe to Prime. this way you're reducing your overall cost whilst still enjoying the variety of different services each month.

5 - Refinance Your Loans

You may not even know that you are overpaying interest on your car, home, or personal loans. Search around to see if you can find a better rate, then call your bank or lender with this script:

"Hi, *Other Bank* is offering X% interest on *type of loan*. I was looking at refinancing to the lower rate but I was wondering if there's a better deal you can offer me beforehand"

Make sure you're nice on the phone and you might just get a better rate.

6 - Pay Off High-Interest Debt

The amount you pay on high-interest debt is crazy high when you track it over the life of the loan or payment period. By tackling these high-interest debts like credit cards, personal loans, or car loans you can save yourself thousands in the long run. The main 2 techniques for tackling debt are paying off the smallest debt first or paying off the highest-interest debt first. I talk more about these techniques in this Blog: https://www.themattjordanquest.com/post/5-money-habits-shackling-your-finances

7 - Practice Mindful Consumption of Utilities

Are you leaving the heating on overnight or while you're out of the house? Are you taking longer showers without realising it? Practicing mindful consumption of electricity and water can save you thousands over the long term.

8 - Buy Second-Hand

Furniture, decorations, and other home goods can be expensive, utilising services like Gumtree and Facebook marketplace to get quality second-hand goods can save you lots of money. Just be careful not to fall for scams as these can be somewhat common with marketplace sales.

9 - Borrow Instead of Buy

Things like party and camping gear is expensive and rarely utilised regularly. Consider borrowing these items rather than buying them outright if you don't plan on using them regularly. If it's only going to be used a couple of times a year, borrowing is a great way to save some money.

10 - Watch Out for Invisible Costs

Take something like a boat, if you want to buy a boat you might look up the cost of boats near you and say "Hey, that's not too expensive." The issue with this is that it misses so many additional costs that come with the boat. First, you need a trailer for the boat, then you need a bigger car to tow the trailer, then you need to pay for trailer registration, then you need to pay for fuel and upkeep of the boat, then you need to pay for repairs to the engine. The costs of things we want to buy are rarely as obvious as the price tag, so make sure you're accounting for all the costs of buying. This applies to big purchases like houses and boats as well as small purchases, there can be hidden costs everywhere.