# How to save money in Australia

> Which everyday changes are worth real dollars over a year, from rent to phone plans, and how to make sure the money you free up actually ends up saved.

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- Author: Marnix
- Published: 2026-11-01



There's a particular kind of frustration in getting to the end of another month and finding your savings exactly where they were. Nothing went wrong, as such. You paid the rent and didn't do anything wild, and there just wasn't anything left to put away. Then someone in the group chat asks who's in for a weekend away in March, and you realise you can't really say yes.

Search for how to save money and you'll find lists, often fifty tips long, and plenty of them are sensible. What they can't tell you is which ones are worth the effort for you, and most start with your coffee, which can make saving feel like giving up every small pleasure in your week.

What I'd like to do in this article is put a yearly price on the usual advice, so you can see which changes are worth making, and then turn what they free up into that weekend in March. And if there's genuinely nothing left after rent and food right now, the [section on what to do if there's nothing left over](#if-theres-nothing-left-over) is the one for you.

## Start with where it actually goes

Before changing anything, it helps to sit down with your bank app and look at what really happened over the last pay cycle, across every account and any buy now pay later, like Afterpay. Then scroll back a year for the things that only turn up once or twice, like a car service or Christmas. It's the quickest way to see which of the changes below even apply to you, because there's no point pricing a phone switch if you're already on a cheap plan. Our guide to [making a budget](/blog/how-to-make-a-budget) goes through turning what you find into a plan.

Those once-a-year costs are worth noting as you go, since they're usually what wrecks a month that looked fine. In Clova they sit as upcoming bills beside your plan, so you can see them coming weeks out and set money aside before they land.

## Putting a yearly price on the usual advice

Saving tips come in all sorts of units, a monthly bill in one place and a weekly habit in another, which makes them almost impossible to compare. Putting each one on a yearly footing fixes that, and it shows what a change gives you once it's been running a while. So I've priced eight of the most common ones for someone renting a room in Melbourne and working in the city, using prices from October 2026 and allowing for whatever replaces the thing you stop buying, like the food you bring from home.

| Change | About a year | Section |
| --- | ---: | --- |
| Rent | $2,600 | Home and travel |
| Commute | $1,710 | Home and travel |
| Lunch | $1,180 | Weekly buys |
| Insurance (gap between average quotes) | $570 | Home and travel |
| Phone | $550 | Recurring bills |
| Coffee | $410 | Weekly buys |
| Subscription | $190 | Recurring bills |
| Power, your share | $99 | Recurring bills |

Rounded, largest first. Work-day changes count 46 working weeks. Insurance is a gap between average quotes, and the eight aren't one combined total.

The biggest numbers belong to the changes that are hardest to make, because rent and the commute are tied to where you live and work. If I were starting from scratch, I'd go to the bills first, and the reason comes down to effort.

## Bills you only have to switch once

You make one call or fill in one form, and the saving comes back every time the bill does, without any willpower involved. That's the opposite of most saving advice, which asks you to make the same hard choice over and over, and it's why these are the changes people actually keep.

Your phone plan is the one to look at first, because so many of us stay on whatever we signed up for years ago. The big providers charge for the name as much as the network. In October 2026, moving from a $74-a-month plan with one of them ([Telstra](https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/sim-only-plans)) to a $28 plan from a smaller provider that runs on a big network ([ALDImobile](https://www.aldimobile.com.au/collections/mobile-plans/)) would save about $550 a year, for one phone call or one online form. I'd just check the data and coverage suit how you use your phone first.

A music subscription you've stopped using is even easier. At about $16 a month in October 2026 ([Spotify](https://www.spotify.com/au/premium/)), that's about $190 a year back, and while you're there, check your statements for others like it, because deleting an app doesn't cancel it.

Power takes a bit more organising in a share house, where nobody quite owns the bill and the plan can sit untouched for years. In Melbourne's inner suburbs, the state regulator's default price for a typical household is about $1,480 for 2026–27 ([Essential Services Commission](https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/media-centre/regulator-reduces-victorian-default-electricity-prices)), and a share house can easily stay on it for years simply because nobody changed it. A plan 20% cheaper would save each of you just under $100 a year, split three ways. Your own bill will be different, so put a recent one into [Victorian Energy Compare](https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/), the state government's comparison site, before counting on anything, and agree with your housemates how a cheaper bill changes what each of you pays.

## What you buy most weeks

This is where the lists spend most of their time, and I think they get it half right. Lunch really is one of the easiest places to find money, simply because it happens so often. A sandwich at one city cafe I checked was about $17 in October 2026 ([Brief Brew](https://www.briefbrew.com.au/cafe-menu)), so bringing lunch from home twice a week, at about $4 a time, leaves you about $26 better off in a working week. Over a working year, which is about 46 weeks once holidays are taken out, that's close to $1,180. Cooking a bit extra at dinner is usually easier than making a separate lunch, and there's no need to give up the days you eat out with the people you work with.

Coffee is the half they get wrong. Swapping two cafe coffees a week for ones made at home saves about $410 a year on my rough prices, which isn't nothing, but it's a long way down the list for something that might be the nicest ten minutes of your workday. If it is, keep it and change something else.

## Where you live and how you get to work

These are the big ones, and I'd treat them as decisions to make when life is already changing, because chasing them for the saving alone rarely works out. A room $50 a week cheaper is $2,600 over a year, and in Melbourne that kind of gap between rooms was common in October 2026 ([Room Buddy](https://roombuddy.com.au/rent-report/)). But if the move itself costs $1,000, it takes 20 weeks of the lower rent just to get back to even, and a cheaper room further out can bring a longer commute or bills that used to be included. If you're moving anyway, though, a cheaper room is one of the few changes that adds up to thousands.

Getting to work is easier to change a little at a time. Say a day of driving costs you about $30 in fuel and parking. In Victoria, a full fare was capped at $11.40 for the whole day in October 2026 ([Victorian Government](https://www.vic.gov.au/half-price-travel)), so taking the train two days a week saves about $1,710 over a working year. Victorian fares are also half price until the end of 2026, which makes it cheaper again for now. Try the trip on a normal workday before counting on it, since a route that takes too long or doesn't run after your shift won't last.

If you keep the car, the insurance renewal notice is a good prompt to shop around, which is also what [Moneysmart suggests](https://moneysmart.gov.au/car-insurance/how-to-save-money-on-car-insurance). Insurers price the same driver very differently, and renewal is when a lot of people quietly pay more than they need to. In Canstar's 2026 research, the average quote for drivers in their late twenties was about $570 a year higher than the average among the policies it rated best ([Canstar](https://www.canstar.com.au/car-insurance/what-does-car-insurance-cost/)). That isn't what you'd personally save, but it shows how far apart prices can sit, and it's why I'd get a few quotes for comprehensive cover, the kind that covers your own car too, rather than letting it roll over. Check the excess on each, the amount you'd pay towards a claim, so a cheaper policy isn't cheaper for a reason you'd regret.

## If there's nothing left over

I'd be wary of any saving advice that assumes there's always something to trim. Sometimes there isn't, and if rent, food and the bills you can't avoid already take everything, those come first. Don't let a savings target push you into borrowing for the basics. If a bill is getting hard to pay, ask the provider about hardship help, which means arranging more time or smaller payments, and check whether you're eligible for concessions, the discounts on bills and fares that governments offer people on lower incomes ([Moneysmart](https://moneysmart.gov.au/budgeting/managing-on-a-low-income)).

The [National Debt Helpline](https://ndh.org.au/) on **1800 007 007** offers free financial counselling, and a counsellor can help you work out what to tackle first. You don't need to have it all worked out before you ring.

## Making sure it ends up saved

If you have managed to free something up, all of that only gets you halfway. When a bill gets cheaper, the difference stays in your everyday account, where it blends in with everything else and gets spent on whatever the week throws up. It only becomes savings once you move it somewhere it can't drift.

That somewhere is best a separate savings account you can still get to easily, so the money is out of sight but not locked away. Interest, the money the bank pays you for holding your savings, helps, though while you're getting started it's what you put in that does the work. Some accounts pay a higher rate for the first few months and then drop, and others only pay their best rate if you deposit every month or never withdraw, so check what you'll actually earn once those conditions kick in. Moneysmart, the government's free money guidance site, has a [guide to savings accounts](https://moneysmart.gov.au/banking/savings-accounts) that covers what to compare.

Then work out what your changes free up, turn it into an amount per pay, and move it as soon as the pay lands. Say you switched your phone plan, cancelled the music subscription and started bringing lunch twice a week. Spread across the whole year, including the weeks off when you're not buying lunch anyway, those three free up about $37 a week. I'd move a round $35, or $70 if you're paid fortnightly, and leave the odd dollar as breathing room, because a transfer that never pinches is one you'll keep. If the weekend in March comes to about $700, two or three nights away with friends once travel is included, starting about five months out gets you there in time.

Freed up each week, averaged over a year: about $37, from the phone switch, the cancelled music plan and two lunches from home.

| Weekend away goal | |
| --- | --- |
| Moved after each weekly payday | $35 |
| Weekly paydays | 20 |
| Goal | $700 |

Averaged over a year and rounded. No interest or withdrawals assumed.

The hard part is doing it every payday, including the weeks when $35 feels like a lot, and that's usually where good intentions lapse. For me this is the heart of budgeting, deciding where each pay goes as soon as it lands, and it's what Clova is built around. The money itself sits in your savings account. In Clova, each pay is split into a few allocations, the amounts set aside for things like rent, bills and food, and the weekend sits beside them as a savings goal, showing what you've saved and how many weeks are left. What's left until payday is yours to spend, so you know on the day your pay lands that the bills are covered and the $35 is spoken for.

Clova is a budgeting app in development, built around payday. Join the waitlist to hear first. [Join the waitlist](https://getclova.com/)

If you find yourself taking the money back out, look at what it was needed for. A forgotten yearly bill needs its own place in the plan, which is what those upcoming bills are for, and a transfer that leaves the groceries short is simply too big, so bring it down a little and keep it going. When your pay or costs change, change the amount with them.

## Saying yes to March

Wherever you're starting from, I don't want saving to feel like judging every small thing you enjoy. A couple of changes and a transfer on payday will do more than a month of trying to spend less on everything, and when March comes round and the group chat starts planning, I'd love for that weekend to already be sitting there as a goal, full, so you can just say yes.



Published prices were checked on 28 October 2026, and the power prices on 1 November 2026. The eight ladder comparisons are separate, with no total claimed across them. Annual equivalents use 52 repeated weeks or 12 calendar months at unchanged prices; real behaviour, prices and payment dates vary. The ladder shows all eight comparisons after the stated replacement cost, with track widths based on unrounded annual amounts and $2,600 as the largest. Insurance compares two research averages. Work-day changes (commute, lunch, coffee) use 46 working weeks a year, allowing for leave and public holidays.

- Rent: my $350-to-$300 example gives $50 × 52 = $2,600. My $1,000 moving-cost estimate takes $1,000 ÷ $50 = 20 weeks to recover, leaving $1,600 in the first 52 weeks if everything else stays equal. Refundable bond is separate upfront cash; it is not automatically an expense.
- Commuting: my $30 fuel-and-parking day less the published $11.40 full-fare cap, twice weekly, gives ($30 − $11.40) × 2 = $37.20 a working week, × 46 = $1,711.20 a year. Over 52 weeks it would be $1,934.40. Fixed car costs remain. The temporary half-price fare is excluded, and no 2027 fare is assumed.
- Lunch: two $16.80 sandwiches replaced with my $4 home lunches gives 2 × ($16.80 − $4) = $25.60 a working week, × 46 = $1,177.60 a year. The home food is additional spending, already deducted here.
- Insurance: Canstar's 2026 quote-sample averages, sourced 28/05/2026, give $2,367 (market average) − $1,796 (Canstar 5-Star rated policies) = $571 for ages 25 to 29. Those samples don't establish a personal saving or equivalent cover for you.
- Phone: $74 × 12 − $28 × 365 ÷ 30 = $547.33 a year as a service-cost equivalent, or $10.53 a week. A 30-day plan is paid 13 times in some years, so cash timing differs from this annual equivalent. Promotions, SIM setup costs and handset repayments are excluded.
- Coffee: my estimates of $5.50 a cafe coffee and $1 at home give 2 × ($5.50 − $1) × 46 = $414, excluding equipment. Subscription: $15.99 × 12 = $191.88, exactly $3.69 a week, if cancelled without a paid replacement.
- Power: the Essential Services Commission's Victorian Default Offer for 2026–27 is $1,481 a year for a typical CitiPower residential customer on a flat tariff at 4,000 kWh a year, applying 01/07/2026 to 30/06/2027. My hypothetical 20%-below offer costs $1,184.80; $296.20 less than the default, divided three ways, gives $98.73 each. No personalised or current retail offer was obtained.
- Payday: averaged over 52 weeks, the phone switch frees $547.33 ÷ 52 = $10.53, the cancelled music plan $191.88 ÷ 52 = $3.69 and two home lunches $1,177.60 ÷ 52 = $22.65 a week. Together that is $36.87, about $37. A round $35 is moved after each weekly payday; $70 a fortnight is the same. The weekend away is my $700 estimate for two or three nights shared with friends, including travel. $700 ÷ $35 = 20 weekly transfers from zero. The Clova goal card shows it ten transfers in: 10 × $35 = $350 saved, ($700 − $350) ÷ $35 = 10 weeks to go. No interest or withdrawals are assumed. Moving this money to the goal is not another saving on top of the reductions.

## Common questions

### How can I save $10,000 in three months?

Without interest, you would need to put aside about $3,330 a month. Work out whether your income after essentials can support that before treating it as a target. Selling something gives you one-off cash, while extra work takes time and may bring tax. If the gap is too large, a longer deadline is usually more realistic than cutting essentials.

### Do round-ups count as saving?

Yes, if the money stays saved. Round-ups transfer a little of your existing money whenever you spend; they do not reduce the purchase price or create extra income. They can sit alongside a regular saving amount, but buying more things to trigger more round-ups leaves you with less money overall.

### Should I save before paying off debt?

Keep essential bills and required debt repayments covered. Beyond that, the balance between an accessible cash buffer and paying down expensive debt depends on your interest costs and circumstances. If repayments are becoming difficult, a free financial counsellor can help you work through that decision. You can find one through the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.

## Sources

1. [Room Rent Report, October 2026](https://roombuddy.com.au/rent-report/) · Room Buddy · Accessed 2026-10-28
2. [Public transport now half price for everyone](https://www.vic.gov.au/half-price-travel) · Victorian Government · Accessed 2026-10-28
3. [Public transport](https://www.visitvictoria.com/practical-information/getting-here-and-around/public-transport) · Visit Victoria · Accessed 2026-10-28
4. [Cafe menu](https://www.briefbrew.com.au/cafe-menu) · Brief Brew · Accessed 2026-10-28
5. [How much does car insurance cost in Australia?](https://www.canstar.com.au/car-insurance/what-does-car-insurance-cost/) · Canstar · Accessed 2026-10-28
6. [How to save money on car insurance](https://moneysmart.gov.au/car-insurance/how-to-save-money-on-car-insurance) · Moneysmart (ASIC) · Accessed 2026-10-28
7. [SIM-only plans](https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/sim-only-plans) · Telstra · Accessed 2026-10-28
8. [Mobile plans](https://www.aldimobile.com.au/collections/mobile-plans/) · ALDImobile · Accessed 2026-10-28
9. [Premium plans, Australia](https://www.spotify.com/au/premium/) · Spotify · Accessed 2026-10-28
10. [Regulator reduces Victorian default electricity prices](https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/media-centre/regulator-reduces-victorian-default-electricity-prices) · Essential Services Commission · Accessed 2026-11-01
11. [Victorian Energy Compare](https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/) · Victorian Government · Accessed 2026-11-01
12. [Simple ways to save money](https://moneysmart.gov.au/saving/simple-ways-to-save-money) · Moneysmart (ASIC) · Accessed 2026-10-28
13. [Savings accounts](https://moneysmart.gov.au/banking/savings-accounts) · Moneysmart (ASIC) · Accessed 2026-10-28
14. [Financial counselling](https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling) · Moneysmart (ASIC) · Accessed 2026-10-28
15. [How to cancel Premium plans](https://support.spotify.com/au/article/cancel-premium/) · Spotify · Accessed 2026-10-28
16. [National Debt Helpline](https://ndh.org.au/) · Financial Counselling Australia · Accessed 2026-10-28
17. [Managing on a low income](https://moneysmart.gov.au/budgeting/managing-on-a-low-income) · Moneysmart (ASIC) · Accessed 2026-10-28

## Related reading

- [How to turn a savings goal into a payday plan](https://getclova.com/blog/savings-goals)
- [Emergency funds: how much you need and how to start one](https://getclova.com/blog/emergency-fund)
- [How to make a budget in Australia](https://getclova.com/blog/how-to-make-a-budget)

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