Tips to manage the cost of living for your family

Don’t let the rising cost of living get in the way of enjoying your family life. Even when times are tough, there are many things you can do to handle the rising cost of living and keep you and your family happy. Here are a few top tips to help you save money while still maintaining your usual family life.

Effective meal planning can be a lifesaver when it comes to combatting the rising cost of living. Put in the time to plan your meals and reap the rewards of well-prepped meals throughout the busy week.

Rather than purchasing every ingredient as you need it, it’s both reassuring and money-saving to prepare the meals for your household in advance. This way, you don’t have to worry about overspending while making meals, while also having the flexibility to create easy and nutritious recipes. You can draft out a weekly schedule of the meals you’ll be making or cook a few batches whenever you have time.

Bulk-buying is a great way to help you save money while also letting you get creative with the emails you’re making. Take on the challenge of creating different meals with the same ingredients with your family, and get creative with it. Experiment with different cuisines and cooking styles to find out what your family likes eating and enjoy the money you save while creating meals from bulk-bought ingredients.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more to save time and stay organised, pre-prepared meal packages might be helpful. Not only can these meals help you save time and money in the long run, but they can also help busy families cut down on food waste.

Reduce your utility bills and become more environmentally friendly by adopting energy-efficient habits. From something as simple as turning off the lights when you don’t need them, to switching to energy-conserving products like LED light globes, there are many ways for your household to become more energy efficient and save on funds.

You can start becoming more energy efficient by identifying everyday activities in your home that can be done with less energy. For example, rather than turning on the lights in the morning to get ready, you can be more conservative by opening the blinds and using natural sunlight.

While switching to energy-conserving products may seem costly in the short term, it can definitely pay off in the long term. Products like smart power strips and plugs which control the volume of energy used for each device can help you save on wasted energy. LED light bulbs also use up 90 per cent less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs, while lasting up to 25 times longer.

From food to toiletries, to phone plans, your essentials are some of the few things you can’t cut out from your daily expenditure. Luckily, you can almost always find alternatives at cheaper prices to save money. 

When it comes to food, you can compare and find lower prices for your preferred brands by using price comparison mobile apps. These apps keep track of the daily prices and deals of all items sold at major grocers and can help you find out where you can do your shopping for the cheapest prices. This way, you can save money as well as keep up to date with the different discounts and deals major supermarkets usually have throughout the week.

Cashback sites like ShopBack and CashRewards can also help you save money on your essentials as they offer exclusive member discounts and coupons across many stores for site members. All you have to do is create an account on the site and make purchases using referral codes or links provided through the platform. By using these sites, you can enjoy extra savings as you shop and use your cashback for future purchases.  You can access these sites on a desktop, as well as download their apps for convenient use on your mobile device.

Some supermarkets like Coles also have exclusive deals for both shopping and phone plans so you can take care of your essentials in one go. Coles Mobile offers great value mobile SIM only plans, including month-to-month and prepaid. If you purchase a month-to-month plan and link your FlyBuys card, you can get a bonus Coles egift card worth 10% of your largest single shop each month until 31 March 2024 (capped at $30 per egift card). This means you can enjoy an affordable phone plan while also saving on your monthly essentials. Find out more here.

Not all fun activities for your kids require a lot of money. In fact, creative DIY activities are often more enjoyable for your kids simply because it means they have the freedom to do whatever they’d like. Some popular DIY activities that all your family members can enjoy include making play dough, folding origami, designing and printing stickers, and other simple arts and crafts activities. If you know your kids will enjoy these activities for a long time, you can also buy materials for these DIY activities in bulk to save.

Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and BINGE are all the norm these days, but with exclusive shows and movies on each platform, the cost of maintaining multiple subscriptions at once can add up fast. A simple way to save on costs is to reevaluate which subscription streaming services you need and to unsubscribe from the platforms that you don’t. Depending on the type of content your family prefers (e.g. shows over movies, cartoons over real-life action), you may find some streaming platforms preferable over others.

Another way is to look for group packages that may make paying for streaming services cheaper. If you’re with Optus, you’ll have access to Optus SubHub, where you can save money on subscriptions when you link them to Optus SubHub. You may save up to 5% on each subscription when linking two, and up to 10% on each subscription when linking three or more.

Save up to 10% on subscriptions including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, BINGE, BritBox, YouTube Premium, and more when you link them to Optus SubHub. T&Cs apply.

SubHub T&Cs: Eligible customers and services. Group discounts apply outside free/trial periods. T&Cs apply. Optus Sport is not further discounted.

This is general information only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Other requirements under the law apply. Seek professional financial and/or legal advice to determine the right outcomes for you and/or your business.