Making small changes in your life can fatten your savings and help you budget better. Follow these tips to save more money.

Change one habit and save

Small changes can make a big difference to your bank balance. Change one thing you do regularly and you could save money. Some examples are:

• Give up drinking coffee or cut down on alcohol – it may sound scary but it will save you money and can have health benefits.
• Cancel your gym membership and try cheap or free ways to get fit instead.
• Make your lunch at home.
• Have people over for dinner rather than going out and ask everyone to bring a plate of food.
• Borrow books and DVDs from the library.
• Lock up your credit card for a month and only pay for things with cash.
• Get into the habit of checking your bank statements.
• Set a limit for birthday and Christmas presents or give homemade gifts.
• Share gardening tools and equipment with your neighbours rather than each buying one of everything.

Start saving with a friend

It can be harder to save money when the people around you are keen to spend. Try and find a friend who also wants to save money. You can share tips, enjoy cheap nights out and borrow from each other rather than buy new things.

You could even have a competition to see who saves the most money over a set time.

Save on clothes

With fashion changing every season, you don’t really need to buy new clothes all the time:

• If you’re buying clothes, check if you can wash them to avoid dry cleaning bills.
• If you buy something, make sure it goes with at least two other things in your wardrobe so you can get a few different outfits out of one item.
• Check op-shops and local markets for bargains.
• Take advantage of stocktake sales or end-of-season clearances to pay less for the things you need.

Find savings on food, groceries, electricity and water

There are lots of ways to cut costs at the supermarket checkout without going hungry or sacrificing quality.

If you’re looking for ways to reduce how much water or electricity your household uses, you might be surprised at the difference just a few small changes can make.

Reduce your bank fees

Some financial institutions offer basic bank accounts with:

• No account keeping fees
• Free monthly statements
• No minimum deposit amounts
• No overdrawn fees

Source: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/budgeting/simple-ways-to-save-money