Making ends meet

New research from Mozo has found many Australians are living paycheque to paycheque with nearly half of the population saving less than $200 per month.

More than 16% of Australians run out of money before their next pay day.

Mozo spokesperson Gemma Rasmussen said more people than ever are struggling to make end meet.

“Many Australians are struggling to make it to payday, with half the country scraping away less than $47 in savings a week,” Ms Rasmussen said.

“With stagnant wage growth and the cost of living steadily increasing, it’s little wonder that many Australians are finding it hard to get ahead.”

A quarter of Australians save more than $800 each month and a further 27% save between $201-$800 a month.

Survey results also revealed that people are most likely to cut out convenience food when times are tight with eating out and buying takeaways sacrificed to make ends meet.

Only 11% of those surveyed said they would cut back on smartphone and internet usage and one in five said they’d cut back on grocery shopping.

Staple items like fuel and cleaning products were the least likely to be cut out of the budget, indicating Australians aimed to reduce discretional spending first.

Top 10 things Australians cut back on when they can’t make it to pay day

1. Eating out
2. Takeaway
3. Entertainment
4. Clothing or footwear
5. Pub
6. Grocery shopping
7. Tobacco
8. TV subscriptions such as Netflix or Stan
9. Hairdressing
10. Newspaper and magazines

Need help saving? Take control of your finances in 2020.

The information in this article has been prepared for general information purposes only and not as specific advice to any particular person. Any advice contained in the document is general advice and does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on anything based on this advice you should consider its appropriateness to you, having regard to your objectives, financial situations and needs.