We Asked A Bunch Of People How They Manage Their Money

People are happy to talk about money in broad strokes. Your friend will totally tell you when they’re saving for a house, but they’re way less likely to talk about how much they’re saving or how they’re doing it.

Many people see money as the ultimate taboo. Whether you earn a lot or a little, it can be uncomfortable to talk about. But if we all stay quiet, how does anyone figure anything out?

To help start a positive conversation, we asked a bunch of young Australians to share some of their money hacks: what do they do with their cash, and how do they build their savings? Here’s what they told us.

Get Smart With Your Accounts

It may sound cliché but keeping your savings separate from your everyday spending account really can help. This approach can create a mental barrier between ‘spending money’ and ‘savings’.

“I’m not an organised person but since I was about 18, I’ve had three bank accounts: my everyday one, another which is for fun things like holidays (or now that I’m 30, skincare), and then my long-term one,” says Tahlia. “Then I essentially pretend the long-term account doesn’t exist, so I never dip into it.”

“Through the power of sheer denial, a bad memory and utter laziness I’ve managed to save a fair amount.”

It also (literally) pays to grab a good savings account early on. If you’re between 18 and 29, you could be eligible for up to 3% p.a. variable interest on your savings (up to $30k) if you have both a Westpac Life savings and Choice everyday account. Giving you the flex to spend and save, to earn the bonus rate, all you need to do is grow your savings balance each month and spend five times on your linked Choice account each month – check out the eligibility criteria here.

With a Westpac Life savings account, you can even set up different ‘buckets’ within your savings account. You could have one bucket with the longterm goal of saving for a house deposit, alongside a different bucket where you’re putting aside money for a much-needed holiday.

You can set up as many as six different savings goals, all separate from your day-to-day transaction account for spending. It makes saving for multiple goals at once simple.

Find Creative Ways To Save

From meal-prepping to shopping around for the best deals, most money-saving hacks take a bit of extra effort. But Nat uses one she doesn’t have to think about at all: automatic transfers.

It’s a matter of simply setting up regular deposits into your savings account – which can be as small as a couple of dollars a day.

“It’s like automatically adding to a piggy bank,” Nat says. “I don’t notice the amounts leaving as they’re so small, but it has a decent impact on your savings. It’s like saving the cost of a meal out once a month.

“I like to think of myself as ‘thrifty not stingy’ when it comes to getting more bang for my buck (especially now!) so all these little things count.”

Think of it as putting your savings on autopilot.

Create A Budget

This is the most common hack you’ll hear when it comes to money, but everyone has a different way of doing it.

For Krissi, it’s all about spreadsheets. “I have a budget spreadsheet where I track everything I spend (and save), split between regular expenses and weekly cash-flow,” she says. “This allows me to anticipate every cost I possibly can and therefore minimise unexpected expenditure.”

There are plenty of resources you can use to get your budget started. But it’s ok if you’re not the spreadsheeting type. There are all sorts of budgeting methods out there that cater to different types of people.

Set Your Goals And Stick To Them 

It doesn’t really matter what your budget looks like, as long as you stick to your own rules.

“The key to being successful is being honest with myself about what I want or need to spend at the start of the month,” says Krissi. “I know I’ll want to get a pedicure, so I’ll enter that as a regular expense so it doesn’t blow out my weekly allowance.”

Other people have a more extreme approach. “Saving money is my jam!” says Tara. “When I get paid I set aside money for rent and bills, and then put about 90 percent of the rest of my money in a savings account. This leaves me very little spending money, but this way I’m always saving money and reducing my spending.”

Sticking to your own budget will be way easier if you’re clear about your short-term and long-term goals. Are you saving for a new car as fast as you can? Or are you gradually building up a rainy-day fund? You can tweak your budget at any point when your needs or circumstances change, and with a Westpac Life savings account you can track multiple long or short term goals in real-time.

Yep, cutting back on unnecessary spending can definitely sting. But it’s weirdly satisfying to see that savings balance grow.

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Lead image: Caleb Lucas / Unsplash

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