From supermarket savings to super: your top money stories of 2025
17 Dec 2025
Canstar’s Wallet Wins stories aim to keep you informed about important finance news, while offering hacks, tricks and deals to help ease the pain on your hip pocket. As the year comes to a close, we look back at our most popular stories from 2025 to see what mattered most to readers this year.
10. Earn money while you shop with IGA’s cash reward program
Aussies were looking for ways to save at the checkout in 2025, and with that in mind, IGA challenged the major supermarkets this year when it launched a cashback rewards program. We took a look at the IGA Cash Back program to see how it stacks up against Everyday Rewards and Flybuys.
9. Mortgage vs super: Where should you put your extra money?
With cost of living on everyone’s mind, budget-conscious Aussies may well be wondering about the most efficient way to use extra cash. We weighed up the difference that an extra $200 a month could make if you put it towards your mortgage or contributed it to your super, and also considered what a lump sum payment of $2,500 might do.
8. The lazy way I saved $200 on my energy bill
Energy bills have a major impact on our finances, particularly with the subsidy coming to an end this year. Despite this, research shows that as many as 51% of us don’t compare their energy bills regularly, likely due to not knowing where to start.
To help out, our Energy expert, Kevin Goh, detailed how he saved $200 and counting on his energy bill by taking advantage of the Better Bills guidelines to switch to the cheapest plan available with the same provider in just a few minutes.
7. Government introduces new Solar Sharer offer with free solar electricity
November of this year saw the government announce a new scheme, starting in 2026, that would share free solar energy to eligible households across the country during hours of low demand. The scheme aims to reduce energy costs, and while many welcomed it, some who paid upfront to install their solar panels questioned how fair the scheme is on them.
6. Car insurance prices continue to accelerate
We looked at over 67,000 car insurance quotes and found that, in the 12 months prior to June 2025, car insurance premiums had increased by as much as 6%. Victorians and mature drivers bore the brunt of the hikes, but the news wasn’t all bad: we also found that the average Australian driver could save as much as $692 just by switching to a different provider.
5. Best-Rated Pillow Brand
With many of us losing sleep this year over bills and living expenses, it’s really no surprise that the announcement of our Most Satisfied Customers award winner for pillow brands was so popular.
We rated 12 of the most well known pillow brands on comfort, value for money, durability, design and ease of cleaning with Koala coming out on top with a 5/5 score for overall satisfaction.
4. Median house prices could soar by up to $154k by end of 2026
The last few years have seen significant house price growth in Australia, but 2026 could prove to be a whopper. Melbourne is predicted to see the biggest jump in median house price, jumping to $1,059,810, which represents an increase of 10%.
3. What are Australia’s largest super funds?
With over $4.4 trillion in assets being managed by more than 100 super funds across Australia, it’s no wonder our readers want to know which funds are the biggest. While it’s important to remember that fund size doesn’t necessarily mean safety, the top five biggest funds by asset size this year were AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super, Unisuper and HOSTPLUS superannuation funds.
2. How much super do you need to retire on $50,000, $70,000, $90,000 or $100,000 a year?
Whether you’re edging closer to the end of your working life or early in your career, the amount of money you’ll need to comfortably retire is probably not far from your mind. We crunched the numbers and found the super balance you’ll need to have depending on your age, and the size of retirement income you want.
1. ALDI launches nationwide grocery delivery
In perhaps another reflection of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the most popular Wallet Wins article of this year was the announcement of discount grocery store, ALDI, launching their new delivery service in September, which goes to show that readers are hungry for supermarket news in these cost-conscious times.
This article was reviewed by our Deputy Finance Editor Alasdair Duncan before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.
- 10. Earn money while you shop with IGA’s cash reward program
- 9. Mortgage vs super: Where should you put your extra money?
- 8. The lazy way I saved $200 on my energy bill
- 7. Government introduces new Solar Sharer offer with free solar electricity
- 6. Car insurance prices continue to accelerate
- 5. Best-Rated Pillow Brand
- 4. Median house prices could soar by up to $154k by end of 2026
- 3. What are Australia’s largest super funds?
- 2. How much super do you need to retire on $50,000, $70,000, $90,000 or $100,000 a year?
- 1. ALDI launches nationwide grocery delivery
