How to save money: Aussie mum reveals the hack that saves her up to ‘$25 on a tank of petrol’

Aussies are embracing some very frugal hacks to save money during the cost of living crisis, according to new research.

The survey of 1001 people by TopCashback found the tips and tricks ranged from well-known to controversial.

Most popular savings hacks include filling up on petrol on lowest-price days (60.2 per cent) and collecting empty cans for the cash rebate (45 per cent).

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Savvy spender Christina, who shares her money saving tips and budget shopping finds on her Instagram account The Stingy Mama, also tries to save money on petrol and uses apps to find the best price.

Her favourite is the 7-Eleven app which locks in the lowest price of the week.

“That one’s really good, so maybe you don’t need petrol right then and there, or the petrol [price is] low but you can’t get to the petrol station that day. You can lock it in and it lasts for a week. 

“I would use that one religiously because that one really does save you, like sometimes I’ll save $25 on a tank of petrol.” she says.

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But there was another particularly frugal hack Christina was surprised to find among the survey results.

“I have to admit, I also cut my sponges in half [to get two sponges from one]. I thought that I was the only one that did that, but alas, it’s a thing,” she said.

“There were some things where I’m like, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t necessarily go quite that far, like there was something about reusing teabags or something and I was like, ‘yeah, I don’t reckon that’s the one I would go for’,” she tells 9honey.

The mum of two is referring to reusing teabags to get more than one use, which 13.9 per cent of Aussies say they do, double the amount who cut sponges in half at 7.5 per cent.

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But the potentially controversial hack of pretending to be sick to avoid costly dinners, birthdays and nights out with friends, which 15.5 per cent admitted to, was something Christina found relatable.

“I definitely understood… it’s always funny to me that if someone invites me to their birthday, why I’m paying to go to their birthday, like as in if I host something, I host it and I would pay for it and if I couldn’t afford to pay for it, then I wouldn’t do it like that,” she said.

“So that was definitely one that I kind of agreed with where I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t like paying for other people’s birthdays’. I’m happy to get them a present, but I don’t think I should pay for the whole night out essentially.”

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Other tips and tricks Aussies are doing to save are regifting presents, adding water to soap and shampoo to use the last little bit, checking stores for end of day sales and freebies, borrowing items and searching the streets for items left out during council pick up time.

While Christina was raised to be frugal, she became even more savvy with money after having her first baby when her husband made a career change that meant they were living on minimum wage.

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In addition to saving money with frugal hacks and cutting back on little luxuries, Christina is a fan of cashback apps and has a side-hustle filling out surveys.

“The other things that I’m doing still involve me spending money, but I figure this is money I’m spending anyway, so I’m gonna get something back from it. There are websites and apps like Top Cashback, for example, so you get a percentage of what you spend back and so I definitely try and take advantage of those sorts of programs,” she says.

“Market research, for example, that’s a really good side hustle, where, you know, it doesn’t take that much time, but you can earn some extra money and then I feel like when you get that extra money, it’s like guilt-free spending… if you do choose to spend it.”

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