'The last 12 months have been really tough': Sydney couple's struggle to save for their first home
By Jo Abi|
Aussie families are looking for new ways to save at the supermarket, with many of the usual tricks no longer keeping up with the increasing cost-of-living.
This is something Aimee from Penrith in Sydney's west has been struggling with since before the New Year. The mother-of-two works locally, which saves on travel costs, but she and husband Josh have been facing other budget strains.
"We're renting," Aimee, 31, tells 9Honey. ?"We'd like to buy, but obviously with our little ones its not quite in our immediate future. We're hoping to buy in a few years time."
Aimee and Josh lived with her parents for a few years to save money before settling into a home of their own with Henry, three, and Evie, one. Henry has just started pre-school, which has added to the family's expenses.
The couple has spoken openly about money during their relationship, combining their finances so they could work on their shared goal of saving for a home.
"[Josh] was always on the same page as me. We wanted a future together."
When they began trying for children, they unexpectedly fell pregnant with both children "straight away", forcing them to put their plans to buy a home on hold.
?When it comes to their money personalities, Aimee says they are "spenders and savers, a combination of both."
"I'm definitely more of a spender and he's more of a saver, but I feel we balance each other out pretty well."
She remembers reading the book The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape which helped her design their budget.
"It helped us get an idea of how to move forward. Obviously now its getting harder and harder because of the cost of living," Aimee says.
"We've definitely been feeling that over the last 12 months with groceries, electricity and gas. It's like everything's increasing and we're surrounded by houses that are so expensive.
"You think, 'Are we ever going to be able to afford this?' But we've got little little kids so we are focused on just getting by, and we'll catch up."
One of the easiest ways families can save is to cut back on food costs, including groceries, food deliveries and eating out.
?"I like to shop wherever I can save the most. I can't believe how much groceries cost these days."
"When we lived with my parents, Mum did all the groceries, we'd pay board. It was amazing," Aimee says.
"Then when we were living together we sat down and looked at our incomes, looked at our expenses, looked at our bills and sort of worked out what we could spend on groceries."
Aimee says it "took a few months of playing around" before they settled on a budget that would work: "I feel like we found our groove."
Aimee would do the grocery shopping, saving as much as she could, and prides herself on finding the best savings.
"I've always be a bit savvy like that. I like to shop wherever I can save the most," she says.
"I can't believe how much groceries cost these days. It's becoming so expensive. And we're very much people who really value quality, we don't want to lose out on the quality of our food, so its been tough.
"Our groceries aren't just food, its also formula and nappies and wipes and all the extra cleaning products."
One change Aimee has made is to try a meal delivery kit service.
"I've always been someone that plans out the week so I know what we're cooking each day, then we can chop and change here and there depending on when we get home from work," she says.
"But I've found in the last 12 months, especially because our budget has been tighter because I was on maternity leave, we've been eating the same meals over and over again because we know that fits into the budget. It gets really boring after a while as well."
Just as Aimee thought she couldn't eat sausages again, she spotted a challenge by meal delivery kit service EveryPlate for families to try the service and see if they could recreate the same meals for as little as the company was creating them.
"I thought it would be really great for us to just open up that variety and try new things," she says.
"I went and bought all of the ingredients that I needed for one of our favourite meals which is Mexican chicken and vegetables and it came to $45, so per plate that's $7.60. With EveryPlate that's $4.44."
Aimee has continued ordering Every Plate meals? to continue to save on groceries and improve variety for her family.
"I feel like we're more in survival mode right now, and I feel like a lot of my friends are in the same sort of boat."
She says Josh is "more of a cook" than she is, but she has been improving her skills by following the simple recipe instructions.
"You know you have exactly what you need for that meal and the convenience of it being delivered directly to your door."
Aimee plans to continue to work part-time until her son starts school, when she will "pick up some extra days" and she and Josh can focus on saving for a home once more.
"I feel like we're more in survival mode right now, and I feel like a lot of my friends are in the same sort of boat right now too," she says.
"Even though house prices are coming down, they are still out of our reach at the moment.
"We don't see our friends as often as we used to and we used to go out to dinner a lot more but now we are more likely to catch up for a barbecue at each other's houses and bring a plate of food with us."
Aimee also runs the successful social media channels Managing Mummahood which has helped her connect with other families and share money-saving tips and tricks.
"I really treasure that, being online with these families I can connect with and see how they're all saving money and picking up different hacks along the way."?
?Share your budget tips and tricks by emailing Jo Abi at jabi@nine.com.au.
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