How to save $3,000 in 2025

Here are some practical ways you can start spending less.

Change your car insurance company

Potential saving: $670

There are big differences in what car insurance companies charge for similar coverage. Instead of accepting the premiums offered by your regular provider year after year, spend some time rather than money on checking whether there are cheaper deals out there.

Our car insurance survey found the difference between the highest and lowest premiums for a family of four was $56 a month – $670 a year. A middle-aged person has the potential to be saving $516 a year. Just make sure you check the policy to make sure you’re getting the same or better cover.

There are lots of other tricks for reducing your premiums, such as taking a higher excess and paying annually rather than monthly. Check out our list of 8 ways to save on insurance.

Shop around for groceries

Potential saving: $825

Do you go to the same supermarket every time you need a grocery top-up? You might be surprised how much you could save by swapping supermarkets regularly or splitting your spending between chains.

We researched what we’d pay for a basket of 22 grocery items across 8 weeks. Buying our list of groceries at Pak’nSave was $14 a week cheaper than at New World – even using the New World Clubcard. Across a year, that’s a potential saving of $700. Woolworths was more expensive again – $825 more expensive a year than Pak’nSave – even using an Everyday Rewards card. These numbers show the possibility for some serious savings if you’re willing to shop around.

If it wouldn’t cost you much more in petrol, and you have the time, you could split your shop across supermarkets to pick out the best prices from each. We like to use the Grocer app to do this – it takes a bit of time, but you can make a list of where you’ll get the cheapest price for each item.

Tweak the way you’re using power

Potential saving: $870

There are some big savings to be made if you’re willing to make a few changes to the way you use power.

• You can save $320 a year by setting your heat pump between 19°C and 21°C and leaving it there. Turning the temperature up really makes a difference to your power bill. It’s better to turn up the fan on your heat pump instead to get the warmth moving around your room faster.
• Switch off your appliances at the wall to save $100 a year. Appliances with a stand-by light are often the biggest power suckers when not in use. Switch them off when you’re not using them.
• You can save $260 per person in your household by cutting shower lengths from 15 minutes to 5. A 15-minute shower adds about $1 to your power bill. A shorter shower can save 66c. If you’re showering every day, that’s $5 a week, which adds up.
• Do your laundry in cold water rather than warm water to save $50 a year. Washing in warm water doesn’t make much difference to the cleanliness of your laundry, so for most washes, cold water is all you need.
• A warm towel after your shower might be nice, but your heated towel rail will be costing you nearly $3 a week. That’s $140-odd a year.

Drop a streaming service

Potential saving: $240

Have you taken a look at how many streaming services you’re paying for lately? It can be easy to lose track of how many you are subscribed to.

If you can say goodbye to one, stopping that small payment of $20 a month will save you $240 over a year. It doesn’t have to mean missing out on the shows everyone is talking about though – just do some service hopping and choose which streaming service you’ll give your money to each month.

Change your power company

Potential saving: $494

It can be frustrating to watch your power bills go up while news articles announce record profits for the big power companies.

You can take back some of the power by finding the cheapest power plan for you. Save on average $494 using our free Powerswitch comparison website.

At Consumer NZ, our mission is to make sure you’re armed with the knowledge that can help you spend your money well. Our website is packed with information, including test results, and service comparisons to help you make good spending decisions in 2025.