Average household saving per month

tomleonhart on 16/11/2013 - 11:49

Hi folks,

Australia is in difficult time at the moment so saving is essential. I've been trying to find out what the average saving per month per household in Australia is but couldn't find any reliable source. My wife and I are trying hard to cut down expenses and boost our saving but since there's no sources, we don't know how we're doing. So I figured that I'll make a poll on Ozbargain as Ozbargainers are the best at saving $$$. So if you have a spare 2 seconds, please vote.

Here are the rules, by saving i meant money that you put aside and do not touch again per month:

  • Combine income of 2 or by yourself doesn't matter.
  • High income or low income doesn't matter.
  • Kids or no kid doesn't matter.
  • Living with parents doesn't matter, it only means you save more :).
  • Renting or bought a place doesn't matter.

Poll Options

  • 2
    No saving
  • 5
    0 - 500
  • 5
    500 - 1000
  • 5
    1000 - 1500
  • 10
    1500 - 2000
  • 8
    2500 - 3000
  • 10
    3500 - 4000
  • 0
    4500 - 5000
  • 1
    5000 - 5500
  • 1
    5500 - 6000
  • 7
    6000+
Financial

Comments

  • leeroys_dad on 16/11/2013 - 12:20

    typo in the second last option, but ticked it anyway because i know what you meant

  • andy19363 on 16/11/2013 - 12:37
    +5

    Ozbargainers are the best at saving $$$.

    I think you'll find that ozbargainers are perhaps the worst….
    If you look at most of the posts, they are for 'luxury' items…. stuff that people want… not need. Impulse-buying is rife amongst us.
    I reckon unsubscribing to ozbargain would save many a lot of money.

  • tomleonhart on 16/11/2013 - 12:47

    6 grand a month, that's some decent saving some of these guys have !

  • issh on 16/11/2013 - 13:15

    $1-1.5k for me

    However I'm a full time student, so that might skew the results a bit

  • mskeggs on 16/11/2013 - 14:23
    +2

    The ABS says Aussies on average are saving around 10% of income. I believe this includes superannuation, which is 9.25% of employee income, but the 10% includes all income sources (e.g. welfare transfers, retirees on pensions etc.).
    Considering the average went negative about 2003, the average person was spending more than they earned, this isn't too bad.
    I don't know what the median saver is, unfortunately.
    A useful graph is here:
    http://www.treasury.gov.au/PublicationsAndMedia/Publications…
    And obviously all the things you said doesn't matter clearly do. It is impossible for somebody earning $5k a month to save $6k, for example.
    And your savings rate should vary over your lifetime, for example an 80yro should be spending past savings and a 35yro with a new mortgage should save nothing beyond an emergency stash and aim to pay down the mortgage ASAP.

  • _Bruce_ on 16/11/2013 - 14:38

    Couldn't find a reliable source so you turned to an internet forum? As has been mentioned this varies a lot with life stage.

  • huntress_love on 16/11/2013 - 19:18

    do a budget first so you know where every cent goes first then you can work out how much to save and what you do can differently.

    I love something of the 'interesting' suggestions online to save extra money.

    For example - save on electricity, once a week, do not use electricity at all for most people that's in the evening when they come home from work. So no TV, computer and lights so use candles.
    saving on food - set yourself to live on only $20 per week for a certain time.
    Petrol - only put in $20 a week and try to walk or ride when you can.

    Some of these things are challenges, which you may or may not succeed, but they can save you a lot.
    I don't do all these things personally but just a suggestions if you are looking to save a certain amount for a house or something and it'll get your there quicker.

    I find there's so many free things and stuff on Ozbargain that you can entertain yourself for so much less.
    great example, collect or 'recycle' coke bottle and get free movie tickets and gift card when they come up.

    Understand how telstra prepaid work and do a bit of work porting in and out and your mobile bill is essentially free, another $60+ saved per month as a couple. (based on telstra encore cap)

    Collect bonus flybuys points by filling out the survey, a card each aim for 2000 points each month $20 off your shopping. (saving $240 a year)

    I do buy 'groupon' vouchers at times and refer 'friends' for cheap deals and get the referral credit to get even cheap vouchers or sometimes they work out free.

    Also dimmi is great if you eat out occasionally, you can making 2 bookings and get $50 dinner voucher free. (only Nov-double points month) There's no min speed but need to be 2 people so pick somewhere with modest pricing and buy a main and rank up those point. have 2 accounts so both can write reviews and earn more points.

    May have gone a little off point to your pole but I assumed you want to save more and not just try to find out how much to put away as an average because you may not earn as much as some.

  • eclaw on 06/02/2014 - 21:41

    Throwing in a fixed number doesn't actually provide much useful info if you think about it. Everyone is going to have a different income, different spending habits and financial obligations. A better way of measuring the concept of saving is to introduce a percentage rate instead. The gross figure provides little insight into the relative amount of saving people do if you can't treat it as a percentage of income

    • grasstown on 06/02/2014 - 22:03

      Op isnt after percent. But dollar amount. The price of goods Is the same for all.

      • eclaw on 09/02/2014 - 23:42

        The poster seems to be finding sources to give them an idea of how much to save. But since a dollar figure can't really be used given different income and financial obligations; I still think that a percentage will provide more value to them than slapping on a number.

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