Dealing with the rising cost of living

As prices rise and bills increase, many people are feeling uncertain about their financial situation.
To support you in navigating this time with confidence, we’ll explore:
Taking some small steps to change your financial habits could help you to manage higher living costs.
Start by putting together a list of all the things you own (your assets), and how much they are worth. Include things like:
Then make a list of the money you owe (these, are your liabilities). Include things such as credit card debts, car loans, home loans, buy now pay later accounts, phone plans, rent-to-buy facilities, leases and so on. To calculate your current financial position, take the total value of liabilities away from the total value of assets.
Next, review your spending. Check your bills, bank statements and direct debits to see what you are spending your money on. Then you could categorise your spending into commitments (such as your mortgage or rent and loan repayments); everyday spending (such as groceries and utilities) and occasional spending (e.g birthday presents).
This review may highlight some places where you may be able to cut back on spending. For example, you may have multiple paid streaming subscription services which could be reduced or switched to free services.
This may also be a good time to review what you pay for current household services like telephone, internet, energy, and insurance. If you check when your contracts and policies are due to end, you may be able to negotiate or find a better price before they auto-renew.
Also, there are several digital solutions to help with managing your money. For example Westpac offers customers in-app spend insights and budgeting tools.
Making some small changes to how you use energy could make a difference to your next bill. Some quick wins might be:
Some longer-term steps you might consider are:
If your grocery bills are a large part of your living expenses, consider these ways to make your money go further at the supermarket:
As fuel prices continue to increase, consider these websites and apps to help you locate lower priced fuel.
Here’s a few things that may help to manage your interest costs.
Interest is often calculated on a daily basis so get started sooner rather than later to reduce interest costs.
It is not uncommon for people to struggle with paying bills at some point so there is help available. If this is something you are experiencing, here are some steps that might help:
Look at your current financial position and understand where your money comes from and goes to. From here you can then create a budget, which helps to calculate how much you can afford to pay. This could help in any discussions you have with the people you owe money to.
Many organisations have dedicated customer teams to help get people back on track. Talking to these teams about your situation helps to find a solution that suits your individual needs.
Keep a record of all your conversations and keep all your emails and correspondence so you may refer to what you agreed later.
The support each organisation can offer you will vary and depend on your specific circumstances. Solutions may include:
If you cannot reach an outcome that you believe is fair, then find out who you can raise your concerns with. Many organisations have dispute resolution services that are run by an independent industry body or the government. Sometimes they may have an ombudsman who may be able to intervene or help you to reach a satisfactory outcome.
One of the largest essential expenses for some households is rent. Paying more than 30% of your gross income on rent, is a sign of being under rental stress.
For some eligible low-income households Rent Assistance, a non-taxable income supplement, may be available to people who rent in the private rental market or community housing. To find out more visit Services Australia.