In the lead up to the Federal Budget across the month of May, 9News and Joel Gibson are helping bust the budgets of Aussie families.
Rising costs including gas and electricity, childcare, rent, mortgage repayments and groceries are draining Aussies of their hard-earned cash, leaving little to none for savings.
It is particularly tough for single parents raising children on a sole income.
Brisbane woman Destani Davies told 9news.com.au she had seen a $200 weekly rise in her weekly bills.
Davies, 37, is a single mother with five children and works as an author and public speaker.
She says most of her money is spent on rent, which is $1220 per fortnight.
"I do feel my expenses have increased due to the cost of living. I would say by $150-$200 a week," Davies said.
Davies said she'd feel her bills would be more manageable if she was able to save $200 per week.
Here's a snapshot of Davies' weekly bills:
- Electricity: $903 for the quarter, around $69 per week
- Groceries: $250-$300 a week
- Netflix: $22.99 a month, around $5.70 per week
- Rent $610 a week
- Mobile and internet: $315 a month, around $78.75 per week
- Public transport: $80 per week for three people
- Petrol: $100 per week
- Gym: $40 per week
- Linkt toll: $20 per week
- Personal loan: $250 per week
All up, Davies' weekly bills amount to $1553 per week.
Ahead of the federal budget in May, Davies says she would like to see Family Tax Benefits increased for families, plus childcare subsidies increased.
"(And) if there was an opportunity for family members outside of the primary carer to look after children - as in childcare or before and after school care - that a payment potentially be made available to support them in doing that," Davies said.
Overall, as a single-income household, Davis admits her financial position "could be better", however acknowledges she is in a "fortunate position" compared to so many other Australian families.
We had personal finance expert Joel Gibson take a look at Davies' weekly bills and he provided some helpful tips for slashing some of her costs.
Gibson told 9news.com.au Davies could be looking at over $2000 of potential savings from shopping around and "switching" providers.
Electricity and fuel: Save over $1000/year
"Electricity usage is quite high (not surprisingly with five kids) especially in the summer (presumably due to air con?)," Gibson explained.
"A good tip for air con is to set the thermostat on about 22 or 23, not 18 or 19 degrees, and also use a fan.
"Fans are very cheap to run and they make the air con feel four degrees cooler.
"The difference could be hundreds of dollars over the summer."
As for Davies' electricity provider, Gibson did some digging and found hundreds of dollars' worth of savings over one simple switch.
"The box on the front of your bill is now compulsory on every bill and it tells you that just by switching to your provider's cheapest plan, you could save $375.31 per year," he said.
"I checked the government website energymadeeasy.gov.au and there are some even cheaper plans if you switch providers.
"For example, this plan from Ampol Energy, which is over $1000 less per year and includes a 10c/litre fuel discount."
Telco: Save over $700/year
"The Optus family mobile plan is a good option for a big family with 320GB of data on 4 SIMs for $165/month," Gibson said of Davies' telco plan.
"But there are some cheaper options such as the Aldi family plan (eg 150GB of data across up to six SIMs for $125/month). This would mean paying out your device but it could save $480/year.
"Otherwise, Optus has annual pre-paid plans that cost $320 (currently on sale for $220), which equals about $27/month and has 260GB of data for the year.
"These are great value and four of these would cost you at least $700 less per year."
He added: "The Optus NBN deal is not the cheapest at $90/month. It's cheaper than Telstra (around $100) but there are plans at the same 50Mbps speed starting from around $60/month for six months and then rising to $80 after that - such as Dodo, Exetel or Tangerine.
"Most are BYO modem but could save you around $240 in the first year."
Groceries: Save hundreds of dollars - potentially
"Feeding a big family for $250-$300/week is a big achievement! But there might be a few things to try if not already doing so," Gibson said.
- Weekly fruit and veg box delivery services can help you save (eg Farmers Pick rescues produce rejected by the supermarkets and delivers 15kg of fruit and veg for under $70/week)
- Shopping at Costco or Aldi also helps, even if it's not for your whole shop
- Bunnings, Amazon, Reject Shop and Chemist Warehouse also have cheaper cleaning products and toiletries if you can make the occasional trip and stock up
Streaming: Save up to $180/year
"Netflix has a cheaper 'Basic' tier with ads now which could save up to $180/year if you can bear to watch ads," Gibson suggested.
Transport: Save hundreds - potentially
"Use the 10c/litre fuel saving with the Ampol Energy plan above if there's an Ampol nearby," Gibson explained.
"Use the apps such as EzySt and PetrolSpy to find your cheapest bowser before filling up and you could save up to 50c/L.
"Here's an example today in North Brisbane of the big differences between petrol stations sometimes."
Joel Gibson is the author of EASY MONEY, and a money-saving expert on TikTok, TODAY, 2GB, and ABC Radio.
The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.
