In the current economic market with soaring house prices, saving can sometimes feel unachievable – but not for the Boothey family.
Jasmine, Aaron and their two children, daughter Blair, 5, and son Hamish, 2, have somehow worked out a secret formula that sees them being able to save $60k a year – which is nearly two thirds of their after-tax income.
“Our spending hasn’t increased significantly over the past 10 years, while our income has,” Jasmine told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We have always been mindful not to spend pay raises and cash windfalls, which is a trap we see so many others fall into. We got into the habit of being savers from the beginning, and now it’s just habit.”
The Adelaide couple collectively earn $125,000 each year and with strict budgets, they own two properties and are planning to build a family home next year.
Jasmine has a money-saving blog called Bargain Mums and says that her and her husband set financial goals a little higher every year and make a game out of it. They break it down into goals per month, and only ever buy new items when the existing one breaks.
“We have also never gone into debt for anything other than a mortgage, if we want something, we save up for it,” Jasmine says. “I have always thought that if you need a loan for something, you can’t really afford it.”
The Australian Bureau of Statistics have found that the disposable income of an average Aussie household is $998 a week, but for low-income earners, it’s $407. High-income earners on the other hand have five times that amount at $2037.
Research also found that 26 per cent of Australian households have a total debt of three times or more than their income.
When it comes to stretching every dollar, Melissa Goodwin of the blog Frugal and Thriving tells SMH: “Frugality isn’t just about saving money. The true definition of frugality is the wise management of resources. Those resources include money, but they also include other physical resources as well as personal resources like time.”
For more tips on how to save, read our story here.
Visit Jamine’s website Bargain Mums here)
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