Australia’s highest-paying side hustle might be checking your bills, with new Canstar research showing a typical household could save an estimated $4,474 over the next year with just three hours’ work.
That’s an estimated hourly rate of $1,491.
The research found an average family of four could achieve this by:
- haggling with their home loan provider;
- shopping around for their car and home and contents insurances;
- reviewing the cost of their private health cover; and
- moving to competitively-priced but comparable NBN, electricity, and mobile phone plans.
Potential savings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The | Average | Lower | Savings | |
Home | Haggle for 0.25 cut | 6.26% | From 5.69% | From |
Car | Switch to a | $3,133 | $2,093 | $1,040 |
Home & | Switch to a | $2,795 | $2,029 | $766 |
Health | Silver, family policy | $3,782 | $3,394 | $388 |
NBN | Home Fast plan, | $1,286 | $960 | $325 |
Electricity | Switch from average to | $1,772 | $1,455 | $317 |
Mobile | Switch 2x from the | $474 | $335 | $139 |
TOTAL | $4,474 | |||
Source: Canstar. See methodology here. Figures have been rounded.
The research found the biggest savings can come from hacking the rate on your home loan, which can be done in one of two ways:
- Haggling: a 0.25 percentage point discount on an average owner-occupier variable rate of 6.26% on a $600,000 loan with 25 years remaining could save a borrower almost $1,500 in interest in just a year.
- Refinancing: moving from an average variable rate of 6.26% to the lowest rate of 5.69% could cut a borrower’s interest bill by an estimated $2,267 in the next 12 months, even when switch costs are taken into account.
Savings from switching could climb even higher for some households
Seeking out savings on these seven bills is just the starting point for some households.
When combined with renegotiating car loans, credit cards, other insurances and more strategic supermarket shopping – such as swapping around half of a typical grocery basket to lower-cost alternatives – the total potential savings could exceed $11,300 in a year.
Australians remain hesitant switchers despite the cost savings
Canstar Research shows many Australians have never switched providers, including 52% of home loan borrowers, 44% of people with private health cover and around one-third of home and car insurance policyholders.
Policyholders who have | |
|---|---|
Home | 52% |
Health | 44% |
Home | 33% |
Car | 28% |
Source: Canstar. Based on nationally representative surveys in 2026. Home loan: 2,891 borrowers. Car insurance: 6,760 insured car owners. Home insurance: 5,484 with home insurance. Health insurance: 5,506 with private health insurance.
It's time to ditch the loyalty tax
Canstar’s Data Insights Director, Sally Tindall, says, “The reality is, a lot of people are still paying a ‘set and forget’ tax in some shape or form. They signed up to a deal years ago and never looked back, even though the market has moved on.”
“It’s time to break up the loyalty bandwagon, and for good.
“The first step is to carve out three hours in one day. If that means taking off a half day from work, so be it.
“Write down your regular bills, then go through them one by one. Ask yourself: can I negotiate this down? Can I get a better deal somewhere else? Or do I still need this at all?
“Sort the bills in order of most expensive and there is your to do list.
“While some bills are easy to switch, don’t be afraid to haggle with your existing provider as well. You’d be surprised how often they can find a discount once you mention you’re looking around.”
