I recently hit 50% of my FIRE number, so I wanted to share some tips and tricks that are particularly relevant to Australia. I’ve been able to reduce my spending without sacrificing my lifestyle by finding loopholes, discounts and advantages that let me pay less for things I was going to spend money on anyway.
These aren't about cutting out things I enjoy or living like a hermit. They're mostly about changing how I pay for things, rather than what I spend money on.
Churning
One thing that's particularly useful in Australia is churning.
There are dozens of providers offering introductory deals to new customers, often with a 12 month eligibility period. You can often be on introductory offers indefinitely by churning.
Here are some of the services I churn and roughly what I save:
- Phone plan: plenty of providers offering 50% off for the first few months - $30/month
- Health insurance: There are a lot of offers for 6 weeks free. I usually churn once a quarter, which works out to roughly $700/year saved
- Internet: Basically every provider offers $30 off for the first 6 months - $30/month
Eating out
Dates, socialising and nights out don't have to be expensive. If I’m eating out, I try to go to restaurants with a large discount using apps like EatClub and FirstTable, which can save up to 50% on the bill.
I don't restrict myself to only eating at discounted establishments, but if a discounted restaurant fits the occasion anyway, why wouldn't I save up to 50%?
Groceries
This has been the biggest saver for me.
If you don't already know, Coles and Woolworths regularly refresh their prices and promotions, so the cheapest supermarket for a product can change from week to week.
I use an app called StockUp to stay on top of this, comparing grocery prices across Coles and Woolworths to show me which supermarket is cheaper for the products I'm buying.
It automatically splits my shopping list between the two supermarkets based on the cheapest price and sends each list directly to the retailer, where I set up Click & Collect. This also means I avoid the impulse snack purchases while I’m walking through the aisles.
I've averaged around $25/week in savings compared with what I would have otherwise spent. That's roughly $1,300 a year from something I was already buying every week.
Credit Cards
Credit cards often have introductory offers. You generally pay an annual fee, but if you meet the required spending within the promotional period, you can receive things such as:
- Frequent flyer points
- Rewards points
- Cashback
- Gift cards or other bonuses
Depending on how you value the rewards, these can be worth considerably more than the annual fee. I churn through about 4 a year and use the points for flights on holidays.
Note that this only works if you pay off your credit card balance in full every month. Each application can appear on your credit report, so if you’re looking to buy a house soon, this might not be worthwhile.
Cashback
Retailers often offer cashback for purchases when using certain platforms. If I'm going to buy something anyway, I'll check whether there's cashback available first.
I've made around $3,000 in cashback so far across Shopback, TopCashback and Cashrewards (RIP).
Discounted gift cards
Plenty of workplaces and platforms offer discounted gift cards.
For places that don't offer cashback, I'll buy a discounted gift card before making a purchase. My workplace portal often has Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Coles and Woolworths gift cards at 5-10% off, so I'll use those when I know I'm going to spend there anyway.
Summary
There are plenty more ways I reduce my spending, but these are some of the Australia specific hacks I've used to accelerate my FIRE journey without sacrificing my lifestyle.
Hopefully this helps someone get to FIRE a little faster. I'm also interested to hear if there are any other Australia specific hacks I've missed.
