NAB research reveals that one in four Australians have recently cut their spending on food delivery services and entertainment amidst rising cost of living pressures.
People right across the country are looking to make their money go further by cutting back on non-essential spending:
- One in two switched to cheaper brands or actively looked for cheaper products
- About 28% cut back or cancelled subscriptions such as newspapers, magazines or apps
- About 25% reduced or stopped streaming services or cut back on gym memberships
- About 22% cancelled or cut back on outsourcing home services like lawn mowing and house cleaning
- About one in five cancelled or cut back on activities such as sport, dancing, or hobbies (19%).
The research also found that Australians are making incremental changes in the way they behave daily in order to save money:
- Around 4 in 10 cut back or stopped buying micro treats such as coffees, snacks, and lunch (44%)
- 43% started by creating a budget and kept better track of their spending
- Around 1 in 3 cancelled, delayed or made more modest travel plans (34%),
- Cut back or cancelled charitable giving (34%)
- Around 3 in 10 cancelled or delayed a major household purchase such as a TV, fridge or washing machine (29%).
NAB Group Executive Personal Banking Rachel Slade said the survey showed Australians are being creative and flexible when it comes to managing their money.
"We can see the impact of inflation starting to show with prices moving up and we know many Australian households are already feeling cost-of-living pressures. This research reflects the conversations I've been having with our customers – people are finding ways to make short term changes and get on top of their money." she said."
"There are options available to customers to help them stay in control of their money, whether that be creating a budget, bucketing funds, immediately transferring savings into a separate account to reduce the temptation to spend or making accounts invisible. And we have a team of experts in money at NAB to help step you through them."
Ms Slade encouraged any customer having difficulty to contact NAB.
"We are here for our customers - if you feel like you are under pressure, we want to talk to you and find out how we can help." she said.
For many Australians a home loan repayment is a significant monthly cost. NAB offers advice on managing your home loan:
- Consider an offset – linking an offset account to your variable rate home loan helps you pay off the loan faster.
- Line up your costs – adjusting your repayments can help to manage your budget and align your direct debit on the same day you receive your salary. If you're ahead and want to decrease your home loan repayments, talk to us so we can help you with that change.
- Build in flexibility – fixing the interest on all or part of your loan can give a period of repayment certainty. If you split your loan between fixed and variable rate you will still have flexible features like offset available.
- Take advantage of offers in the market – you can claim $2,000 cash when you refinance your existing home loan to NAB.*
