Cooking up some savings

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There are plenty of ways of making a difference to your savings account. Switching to a more suitable account, creating a feasible budget, ensuring that you make regular deposits – there are all kinds of strategies to making the most and losing the least of your nest egg.

What these strategies all really come down to is spending less and saving more, often easier said than done – or is it?

Even something as simple as cooking at home rather than regularly eating out could make all the difference to meeting your financial goals. And it’s a method that is becoming more and more popular in recent years.

Gen Y leading the way

If you can’t handle the savings heat, it’s best to get out of the financial kitchen – but Generation Y is certainly proving they know their way around the metaphorical spatula. Sometimes described as a “lazy” bunch, millennials are certainly not averse to putting in the effort to cook up some savings.

A new study from McCrindle has shown that 31 per cent of young Australians have increase the frequency of home cooking, while 54 per cent cook for guests and nearly half have created a gastronomic extravaganza for a social dinner party. It looks like the expenses of eating out might be dying out as Generation Y decides to put down the credit card and pick up the apron.

Does it make a difference?

You don’t have to take our word for it: cooking at home was listed as one of the recommended habits to develop as a simple way to save money by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Rather than spending $10 a day for a work lunch, take 10 minutes to make a sandwich instead and put the savings into your bank account. You’ll quickly start noticing the difference.

For the more advanced frugal cooks, there are some additional methods to boost your savings even further:

  • Put a lid on it. While you’ll certainly want to let some food reduce to increase the flavour, by keeping a lid on your saucepan you are reducing the amount of time and energy needed to finish your dish. In the long run, this will reduce your electricity/gas bill too.
  • Cook in batches. One of the main reasons that people don’t make their lunches every day is because they don’t have time – so don’t make it every day. It isn’t much harder to make a big batch of something than it is to make a single serving, so spend a little time on Saturday or Sunday making your lunches for the week. Remember to store them properly too!
  • Use energy-efficient appliances. You can get information on the power use of nearly any appliance – aim for the ones that are the most efficient. If you’re cooking at home, you’ll be using them more, and saving money on lunches isn’t much use if you’re then spending it on unnecessarily high utility bills!

For more tricks and savings tips, make sure you get into contact with the team at Bank of Heritage Isle and take your savings to the next level!