Money Saving Tips for Mums in Australia - 2026

This is where many Australian families leave significant money on the table. The government payments available to families with children are substantial and underused.

Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B. FTB Part A provides per-child recurring payments based on family income. FTB Part B provides an additional payment for single-income families or families where the secondary earner earns under the threshold. Both are means-tested and reduce as income rises, but many families in the $75,000–$120,000 household income range still qualify for meaningful payments.

Childcare Subsidy. The Australian Government Childcare Subsidy covers a percentage of childcare costs based on household income and activity level. From July 2023, the maximum CCS rate increased to 90% for the lowest-income families. If your family uses approved childcare and you have not reviewed your entitlement recently, log into myGov and check your current rate.

Parenting Payment. If you are a primary carer and your income and assets are below the thresholds, Parenting Payment (partnered or single) may apply. The thresholds are higher than many people assume.

Medicare and health. Bulk-billing GPs, free immunisations through the National Immunisation Program, and the PBS for prescription medications are all part of Medicare. Knowing what is covered avoids unnecessary out-of-pocket spending on services and medications already paid for through the tax system.

Use the Services Australia Payment and Service Finder to confirm what your family is entitled to.

Even after the Childcare Subsidy, many families pay $50–$150 per week in out-of-pocket childcare costs. Strategies that reduce this:

Use all eligible sessions. The CCS is calculated on sessions attended. If you are paying for sessions your child is not attending, you are subsidising the provider without receiving the subsidy yourself.

Consider different centre arrangements. In-home care, family day care, and occasional care all attract the CCS at potentially different rates. For irregular or part-time care needs, occasional care can be significantly cheaper per-hour than full centre-based care.

Request a quote from multiple providers. Childcare fees are not regulated at a fixed rate and vary between providers. Comparing three or four providers in your area for the same age group often reveals $20–$40 per day variance.

Families with children spend more on groceries than any other household type. The strategies that consistently reduce this:

Batch cooking during time-free windows. Cooking double batches and freezing halves reduces the mid-week pressure to buy convenience food or order takeaway. A batch of bolognese, a tray of muffins, and a pot of soup made on Sunday morning covers several weeknight dinners.

Buy children's basics in bulk. Nappies, wipes, non-perishable snack foods, formula - buying in volume from the cheapest source (often Aldi, Costco if you have membership, or online direct from manufacturer) reduces per-unit cost by 20–30%.

Switch to home brand for commodity items. Flour, pasta, tinned tomatoes, rice, frozen vegetables - there is no quality difference. Switching a family's trolley to home brand on these items saves $30–$50 per week without changing a single meal.

Activate supermarket Boost offers. Both Woolworths Everyday Rewards and Coles Flybuys offer weekly targeted discounts. Activating them before the weekly shop takes ninety seconds and regularly saves $5–$15.

Children grow quickly, which makes new clothing one of the fastest-depreciating purchases in a family budget.

Buy up a size. Buying the next size up during end-of-season sales means you pay sale prices for items used at full-season timing.

Consignment and secondhand. Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, and local op shops are full of barely-worn children's clothing. For fast-growth stages (0–2 years particularly), secondhand is economically rational.

Group hand-me-down networks. Informal networks between families with children of different ages redistribute quality clothing at no cost. These work best when maintained actively rather than as one-off exchanges.

Discount codes for new purchases. When buying new children's clothing - for school uniforms, specific occasions, or gaps in the wardrobe - using exclusive discount codes makes a meaningful difference. ROOPON's membership provides access to exclusive partner codes at Australian clothing and homewares stores, delivering 15–40% off at checkout. For mums making regular clothing and household purchases, this kind of discount access consistently covers the $19.99/month membership cost.

Active members receive FREE included prize-draw entries per their plan and campaign terms. Extra packages exist for specific campaigns. See /giveaways for live prizes.

Family budgets are often managed by one person carrying a disproportionate amount of the mental load. A few structural improvements:

Automate savings transfers on payday, before discretionary spending is possible.

Set a shared household spending limit for purchases that require discussion versus individual discretion - commonly $100–$200 per person.

Review subscriptions together twice a year. Family streaming, sports, gaming, and news subscriptions accumulate and go unreviewed. A joint thirty-minute audit usually results in $40–$100 per month in cancellations.

Australian families have more access to government support than many realise, and more room to reduce grocery and clothing costs than they typically use. The combination of claiming full CCS entitlements, meal planning, home brand switches, supermarket loyalty activation, and discount code access for regular purchases adds up to several thousand dollars per year for most families - without materially changing how you live.

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ROOPON members get exclusive discount codes from Australian partner stores plus FREE included prize-draw entries (per campaign terms). Browse available deals at roopon.com/discount-codes and enter this week's draw at roopon.com/giveaway.