In a nutshell:
- 2022 was the year of “cost of living, almost everything seemed to get more expensive!
- The Fox & Hare members and team came up with many creative ways to offset the rising cost of living.
- From menstrual cups to mutts, these are the Fox & Hare teams five favourite life hacks guaranteed to save you money in 2023.
2022 was bloody expensive.
Food, fuel, travel, you name it and the cost is likely up from 2021. Unsurprisingly, though, Fox & Hare’s money minded team and members came up with some creative ways to offset the increase in cost of living. From meat free Mondays to menstrual cups, here are our advice team’s favourite, creative ways to make bank in 2023:
-
Go vego for a few nights per week:
More money and less disease is a winning combination – one that I’ve (gladly) seen increasing in popularity over the last twelve months! Whether you’re partial to steak, chicken, pork or kangaroo – meat is expensive and too much is bad for you. There is good news, though, and when you cut back – like a huge number of Fox & Hare members have over the last year – you’re able to buy better cuts, contribute to the end of battery farming and live a longer, healthier life.
Gone are the days of bland, boring vegan & vegetarian food. We started our meat free journey with this super simple, but delicious, braised eggs banger from chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
According to a Canstar Blue survey of 6,000 Aussie shoppers, the average spend on supermarket meat and seafood products, per shop, across Australia is $36 which, assuming respondents shop once per week, equates to roughly $1872 per year.
Cut that number in half and you’ve bought yourself a return flight to Tokyo, significantly decreased your risk of stomach/bowel cancer and, provided you buy ethical, made a sizeable contribution to a world with less suffering.
– Simon, F&H Financial Adviser and bed & breakfast Host.
-
Use a menstrual cup:
It’s estimated the average Australian woman spends $234 per year on her period. Couple that with a persistent wage gap and multitude of other unofficial “taxes” applied primarily to women (hair & makeup, anti-ageing, nails, etc) and we’ve some serious financial inequities to unpick.
One of the coolest ways I’ve seen my members cut back on their spending in 2022, and I myself have been doing for over 15 years, is making the switch to a menstrual cup. This is a $30-50 spend every 2-5 years that will pay massive dividends to your bank account, overall health and even the environment.
The cups are designed for long term use, so you can quite literally save thousands of dollars with one purchase, minimising your period’s impact on your bank balance and redirecting hundreds of pads and tampons from landfill.
Most important, though, unlike tampons, menstrual cups don’t absorb your vaginal fluid, leaving your PH levels and bacterial balance intact – minimising the risk of toxic shock syndrome, infections and other nasties! Win, win, win.
– Trish, F&H Financial Adviser & Mum
-
Apply for scholarships:
I am a recent graduate and, as a result, simultaneously staring down the barrel of a long period of HELP repayments while considering whether post-graduate studies are an option for me. One of the most interesting cash saving schemes I came across in 2022 was applying for scholarships!
One Fox & Hare member spent five hours on a successful scholarship application and ended up being awarded $3,400! That’s like getting paid $680 per hour – to write about her passion. I’d always considered scholarships as reserved for a small few, but the reality couldn’t be more different.
There are more than 3,000 up for grabs in Australia and they are available across both higher education and vocational sectors. Even better, they’re not limited to tuition! And can cover other expenses such as living and accommodation costs.
If you’re considering levelling up in 2023, I would definitely recommend looking into a scholarship!
– Sam, F&H Associate Adviser & recent graduate
-
Choose a Mixed Breed/Bitza:
Choosing a cross/mixed-breed dog can simultaneously reduce your veterinary costs while improving the wellbeing of all pets in general.
2022 marked the first year that I would welcome a dog into my life. Larry is a pure-bred Greyhound, adopted from the local dog’s home and a very good boy. I had never questioned the (assumed) knowledge that pure bred = more expensive = higher “quality”.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I found out it would be more expensive to insure a pure breed than a Bitza (bits of everything) and would likely cost significantly more in vet and other bills over Larry’s lifetime!
The quest for “pure” bloodlines in pedigree / purebred dogs leads to inbreeding which, in turn, leads to the proliferation of painful and life-threatening disabilities over the animal’s lifetime. Selective breeding guaranteed that Larry would look and act a certain way, but also entrenched an increased risk of debilitating disease, like Osteosarcoma, inflammatory bowel disease and Glomerulonephropathy that will seriously affect his quality of life – and, less importantly, my bank balance!
Even more surprising than the realisation that pure bred dogs are significantly more likely to experience health issues, was the realisation that choosing a mixed breed “mutt” would result in a significantly lower risk of congenital health issues, better long-term health outcomes and savings on vet bills / insurance.
I still love Larry and I still love Greyhounds, but if their situation wasn’t so dire, with so many needing to be rescued (17,000 are killed in Australia every year) – I’d be sure to choose a pet with a higher likelihood of good health.
– Glen, F&H Co-founder, Financial Adviser & newly minted Dog Dad
I love my pure breed, but if the insurance companies are to be believed, choosing a mixed breed would likely improve the quality of life for my pet AND reduce associated vet bills
-
Ride a bike where you can:
I was so surprised to find out the average Aussie family spends more than $18,000 per year getting from A to B in their car. That’s a huge amount of money for any pay bracket and absolutely must be minimised – at every possible opportunity.
Happily, I’ve noticed a huge jump in the number of Fox & Hare members cutting costs by switching the car for a bike where possible. It’s not a perfect solution, but one of the most accessible for a decent number of Australians. Transportation costs are rising faster than inflation, spurred on by spiraling fuel prices, higher personal loan repayments and the climbing cost of insurance.
Even if you’re not able to give up the car full time, which most of us are not, you can still save a huge amount by switching to a bike where possible.
The average household paid $100.39 per week for fuel in 2022, that’s $5,220 over the course of the year! If you can switch 75%, 50% or even 25% of those journeys for a bike ride, you’d be pocketing an absolutely massive $3915, $2610 or $1305 – and that’s before we get started on the health benefits!
– Courtenay, F&H Advice Operations Manager
What next?
If you’re worried about your current financial position and ready to take steps toward financial security, reach out to Fox & Hare for a free coffee and catch up.
We have helped hundreds of people, just like you, unlock their potential.
We can assess your current financial world – and clarify what it is exactly that you can achieve.
Do you want to be bad debt free? We can tell you exactly how long that will take. Do you want to own a home? We can tell you how long that’ll take too.
If you like what you hear, you can tee up a second, commitment free, “Goals and Values Session” and begin to unearth what’s been holding you back and why.
We’re close to fully booked for the next two months and only take on 10 new members every month, so if you’re into it.
About Fox & Hare: Founded in 2017 by two former Macquarie execs, Fox & Hare aims to empower and educate Australians in the wealth accumulation phase of their life journey. Through the provision of a safe, inclusive and accepting environment, they’ve built a diverse and devoted following of 30/40 somethings, from many backgrounds, abilities and genders. The organisation and its co-founders have featured in the AFR, IFA and Sydney Morning Herald, been included in Financial Standard’s Power 50 and voted IFA’s Thought Leader of the Year.