Crowd sourcing the best day for sales and other cost of living hacks

The Gold Coast mum has "always enjoyed a bargain". When her rent climbed two years ago, she began actively seeking out saving hacks.

She says she's saved her family well over thousands of dollars since adopting cheaper options from books and friends.

As energy prices soar, Ms Balhatchet's sons, aged six and ten, are learning how to save early through an electricity-culling contest.

She said many providers estimate how many people live in the house based on energy consumption. This figure is often printed on statements.

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"We always try to get the [figure down] as low as we can," she said. "Currently for the three of us, we only appear as 1.2 people."

Ms Balhatchet said explaining the economic and environmental impact of energy to her boys was "fun". They look at a graph of their consumption every month.

"They need to see that what they do has a flow on effect," she said.

Her biggest energy-saving tip is turning off switches when not in use.

"Every night when I walk through the house and lock the doors, I also walk through the house and turn all switches off," she said.

'If you wouldn't use it, it's not a saving'

Ms Balhatchet's saving does not end at electricity. She uses 50 per cent off apps to find sales at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi to make groceries cheaper.

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Sales generally come out on a Wednesday and Ms Balhatchet goes to all three stores for the cheapest deals.

She said many people make the mistake of buying products because they are on sale. Instead, she suggests carefully planning ingredients around what your family enjoys eating. Look for sales on those products.

"Just because it's on sale, doesn't mean it's a bargain," she said. "Work around what your family likes to eat ... the freezer is your friend."

The mum buys school lunch ingredients in bulk and divides them into smaller bags herself to maximise these savings. She takes a 'cook once, eat twice' approach to meals where groceries are used for more than one dinner.

Despite Ms Balhatchet's efforts, rising costs continue to come knocking. On top of her job as a paralegal, she works once or twice a month at a wedding reception venue.

"I didn't need it before," she said. "It's only been since Covid-19 [that I started this job]."

Her groceries, like those of most of us, rise even with penny-pinching techniques.

Ms Balhatchet said she had been impacted by 'shrinkflation' - where less product is sold for the same price as previously. She had noticed this with snacks that may be previously weighed 500g and were now 300g, for example.

She encouraged other Australians to find saving hacks that work for them as expenses continue to climb.