A mother-of-three has shared her genius and astonishingly simple hack for saving money while paying for the essentials which has been commended by the Barefoot Investor himself.
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes says inflation is “homegrown” as it has been caused by the Albanese government’s “inability to restrain its spending”.
According to The Australian, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch a political recovery strategy ahead of the winter break when Parliament returns for two weeks.
He is determined to focus on Labor’s supermarket crackdown, tax cuts, energy subsidies and vaping reforms.
“As the RBA continues to talk about the heavy spending by this government, putting increasing inflationary pressures,” Ms Hughes told Sky News Australia.
“The fact that Matt still refers to the previous government when everyone has acknowledged – all economists and the RBA – that this is homegrown sticky inflation caused by this government’s inability to restrain its spending, and that’s going to just prolong this cost-of-living crisis.”
Writing to Pape in the Herald Sun, Rita revealed a finance hack she fell back on during a tough period in 2017 when she found herself newly single and looking after three kids.
“I got a job as a house cleaner for three wealthy wives, and they all paid me in cash,” she said.
“So, I spent all my money in cash (rent, groceries, the lot), and I am convinced it not only saved me hundreds of dollars in surcharge fees that you wrote about last week.
“But also helped me keep to a budget during an extremely stressful time of my life.”
The woman explained she still used the method seven years on, withdrawing cash in $50 and $20 notes for spending money.
“Life is simple with cash!” she declared.
Pape commended the approach, pointing to how debit or credit card surcharge fees can add up over time.
“You worked out for yourself what a bunch of PhDs from the University of Melbourne and University of Adelaide concluded after analysing data from 11,000 participants,” he said, responding to Rita’s message.
“It doesn’t matter whether you use a credit card, a debit card or a buy-now-pay-later service – you are likely to spend more money using cashless methods than when you pay with cash.”
He then said cash looks to be on the way out, with the method of payment only being used for 16 per cent of transactions.
“You can bet your shiny ’lil fitty that the Commissioner of Taxation is the main one cheering on its demise,” he said.
“After all, the ATO’s supercomputer has so much data on you it would make Mark Zuckerberg drool (and it’s only getting more powerful with artificial intelligence).
“Yet, for all its computing power, it’s still no match for a single mum with a dustbuster.”
Earlier this year, Pape recommended Australians struggling with the cost of living zero in on their finances following the release of the federal budget.
“Plus, all the rosy economic forecasts they make in the Budget can’t hide the fact that many people feel like they’re living in a recession right now,” he wrote in his newsletter.
“Bottom line? Don’t look to Canberra for help – they’ve got enough problems of their own.
“Instead, focus on what you can directly control, and I guarantee you’ll move mountains.”