Lighten electricity bills
Cut your power bill by switching to a low-flow shower head, installing energy-efficient or fluorescent light bulbs, unplugging the second fridge and using drying racks instead of the clothes dryer. Insulation keeps your house warmer in winter, cooler in summer and can cut heating and cooling costs by a third. It’s one of the easiest ways to save energy and help the planet.

Swap shopping at the mall for buying on the internet
Online shopping means that many of the savings on costs of traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers (such as rent and staff) are passed on to you. After searching for years for a leather satchel, I found a 1920s French postman’s satchel on eBay and within my price range. It’s one of my prized possessions!

Get a better mortgage deal
If you pay your lender’s standard variable rate, ask for a cheaper rate. Some places offer discounts of up to 0.7 per cent if you’ve borrowed more than $150,000. Also see if they offer a cheaper basic home loan, which has fewer features (for example, no redraw facility or offset account) but charges less interest. Add up fees involved in switching home loans to make sure it’s worthwhile. 

Review your mobile phone plan
If your call costs are out of control, see if you can get a better deal. Talk to other providers, tell them what you want, ask what discounts they offer, take away their brochures and compare costs. If you’re on a plan, you may end up paying less by changing to one that better suits your usage. Base-rate plans generally include fewer free calls and charge more when you exceed that limit.

Cut back on transport costs
How much do you spend getting to and from work? Include all tickets, taxis, parking costs, tolls, petrol and car maintenance. It’s not cheap: a two-week train ticket from suburban Sydney to the CBD can cost close to $100 – and driving’s more expensive. Cut back: car-pool with colleagues who live near you, consider cycling if you’re not too far away, or ask the boss if you can work from home some days.  

Be a smarter shopper
Sit down, plan your meals and put together a list before you hit the shops. That way you’ll only buy exactly what you need, and you should end up with all the ingredients for dinner in the cupboard. In the supermarket, think twice about anything at eye level. These convenient eye-level shelves are in a prime position and that’s where supermarkets place their expensive products.

Look at your spending
An easy way to save money is to sit down and take a serious look at your spending. Work out what you can live without and make changes. Start with the obvious areas of spending. Things such as expensive gym memberships, flash holidays, weekly dinners out and impulse buys at the shop. Then look at your day-to-day expenses – they may be small, but can really add up.

If cash is disappearing from your wallet, take a pad and pen around with you for a week. Write down every time you open your wallet. It will show you where you can cut back and save.

Cut down on convenience shopping
Plan your meals, make time for a weekly trip to the supermarket, stock your kitchen and count the savings. You won’t need to stop to buy household groceries at a convenience store or service station; they’re horrendously expensive and should only be used to grab the bare essentials in an emergency.

There’s also no reason to resort to expensive takeaways. Home delivery can cost up to $50 for a big family. If you want a night off from the kitchen, buy something your partner or kids can cook.  

Buy pre-loved goods
You can save a fortune buying second-hand clothes, furniture and toys. Gone are the days of getting up at dawn on a Saturday for the first look around the neighbourhood garage sale. Online marketplace eBay gives you access to used goods from all over the world. You can search, view, bid and buy virtually anything you want from the comfort of your home.