As I use Pocketbook to breakdown my spending habits, I can’t help but wonder; Am I ‘normal’ in the way I spend? Do I save enough?

For peace of mind, I started to scour the Internet for answers. Here’s a few reference points I found that helped.

Spending in buckets, not bucket-loads of spending

In September, ASIC (the body that regulates companies in Australia) put together this infographic on the average spending habits of Australians, at different life stages (see below). This is a great starting point to check whether or not my buckets of spending are at the right size.

What about savings?

The “Household Saving Rate” (total savings vs total income) is used to help economists understand consumer confidence (where less saving = more spending = more money circulating in the economy). I found this to be a simple way to compare my saving habits against the rest of Australia.

Interestingly, today’s Household Saving Rate is around 10-15% of income – which is a 30 year high, having risen quickly from all time lows of 5% during the mid 2000s. Recent uncertainty in the economy being the big contributor to consumers being cautious.

With this in mind, a target of 15% seems like the sensible place to benchmark.

Some simple maths

These numbers gave me the simple tools to compare myself against what’s considered “normal” today. So without boring you with detailed decimals, here is an example.

 
How do you compare?

The best way to budget is to use these as future goals and slowly start to change spending behaviour based on history. As always, Pocketbook is the easiest way to track and catagorise past spending. Most of the work is done automatically. You can try it here. It took me only minutes.

And for the record, my benchmark tells me I’ve got A LOT to work on…

Bosco

Infographic via ASIC, moneysmart.gov.au