Frugal and proud of it: how 'loud budgeting' became cool

Young Australians are embracing global ‘cash conscious’ trends popularised via social media to proudly cut back on increasingly expensive non-essential items, not only to cope with the cost-of-living crisis but also to prioritise saving and reduce debt while interest rates are high. A consumer sentiment survey conducted by National Australia Bank (NAB) revealed a 24 percent annual increase in the number of NAB Reward Saver accounts opened by Gen Z customers and an average 5.3 percent growth in their account balances over the past 12 months.

On average, NAB says their Gen Z customers are saving $450 per month by cutting back on spending, with 56 percent putting spare dollars into high interest savings accounts or mortgage offset accounts. Young people are saving an average of $124 per month by not eating at restaurants, $96 per month by not using food delivery services and $73 per month by skipping coffees, snacks and café lunches. They are also saving an average of $70 per month on petrol by using their cars less frequently, $64 per month by foregoing entertainment and $30 per month by quitting streaming services.

NAB Personal Banking executive Paul Riley said: “In 2024, being ‘cash conscious’ is officially cool … ‘Loud budgeting’ is all about unapologetically prioritising your own financial goals, setting smart boundaries on spending, and feeling comfortable to talk about it openly and authentically. Rather than going out for an expensive dinner with friends, younger Australians are confidently opting to stay in and choose to put that amount into a high interest savings account or pay down debt.

“The other hot budgeting trend is ‘no or low spending months’ which involve giving up alcohol, takeaway food or shopping for clothes or beauty for the month, not booking holidays, food prepping or bringing your lunch to work or finally asking mates to repay cash you’re owed,” Mr Riley said.

Maya McIntyre, 23, is putting an extra $250 into a high interest savings account each month.

“I’m definitely making some changes to what I’m spending money on and I’ve cut back on things like streaming subscriptions, I’m eating out less and I’m choosing cheaper or free things to do with friends rather than expensive meals and pub visits,” Ms McIntyre said. “Most of my friends are making some changes to the way we think about our finances and some of us are definitely more open to saying ‘no’ to things if we feel like we want to save money instead.”

Since mid-2023, NAB has seen a 62 percent increase in the number of customers using its personalised spending feature available on the NAB app and internet banking. This automatically categorises transaction data to help customers easily identify where their money is going. Categories include subscriptions, memberships, gym and health, insurance and supermarket spending.

For many Australians, the 2026 Federal Budget initially felt like a direct challenge to the way wealth is created, held and transferred between generations.

The headlines were immediate: changes to capital gains tax, reforms to discretionary trusts, restrictions on negative gearing and increased scrutiny of investment structures. Unsurprisingly, affluent families, business owners and investors began asking the same question:

Is the way we hold our wealth still fit for purpose?

In recent days, the government has announced several significant amendments following industry consultation and public feedback, including exempting testamentary trusts from the proposed 30 per cent minimum tax and expanding capital gains tax concessions for small businesses.

The backdown is welcome. But it also highlights something much bigger.

This Budget has accelerated a conversation that many Australian families have been postponing for years.

The conversation is not really about tax. It is about wealth stewardship.

For decades, Australians have built wealth through businesses, property, investments and careful long-term planning. Yet many families have not revisited the legal structures surrounding those assets in years, sometimes decades.

We often see clients who have spent years building significant wealth, only to discover their legal arrangements no longer reflect their current circumstances.

Their children are now adults. They may own multiple properties.

They may have sold a business, entered a second marriage, become grandparents or accumulated digital assets that did not exist when their original estate plans were prepared.

The trust that distributes income may need to be reconsidered. The bucket company may no longer be so attractive.

The Budget has simply exposed a reality that already existed: wealth structures cannot remain static while life continues to evolve.

Importantly, trusts themselves are not the issue.

Trusts are legitimate planning tools that provide flexibility, protection and continuity. When used appropriately, they allow families to adapt to changing circumstances over time.

And neither is tax the issue, really. Getting the fundamentals right is more important for long-term, sustainable wealth than a few favourable tax treatments around the edges.

The real issue is complacency.

Too often, families create structures and assume the job is done. It isn’t.

Estate planning is no longer a document you sign once and file away in a drawer. It is an ongoing process that should evolve alongside your life.

We are also seeing a broader shift in how Australians define wealth itself. It is no longer just the family home and an investment portfolio.

Modern wealth includes businesses, digital assets, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, frequent flyer points and increasingly complex family arrangements.

At the same time, Australians are living longer than ever before, meaning wealth may need to support multiple generations simultaneously. This creates new responsibilities and new risks.

How do you help your children enter the property market without exposing family wealth to relationship breakdowns?

How do you structure wealth so that it remains a source of opportunity rather than future conflict?

These are the questions families should be asking now.

The recent debate surrounding testamentary trusts also serves as an important reminder that policy decisions can have unintended consequences for vulnerable Australians. It is encouraging that the government has listened to feedback and clarified its position.

But the lesson remains: the wealth landscape is changing.

Increasingly, governments, regulators and tax authorities are paying closer attention to how wealth is held and transferred. That means families cannot afford to adopt a “set-and-forget” approach to their structures.

The families who will be best placed for the future are not necessarily those with the greatest wealth.

They are the families with the greatest clarity. Clarity around ownership, succession and governance. And clarity around how wealth will transition from one generation to the next.

Ultimately, preserving wealth is not about avoiding change.

It is about preparing for it.

Because the greatest risk is not change itself.

It is losing the ability to respond to it.

Anthony Hunt is Co-Founder of Wealth Lawyers and former COO of Westpac Private Bank. He advises business owners, investors and affluent Australian families on wealth protection, succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer

Frugal and proud of it: how ‘loud budgeting’ became cool

Australians under 30 are enthusiastically adopting ‘cash-conscious’ behaviour to grow their savings while interest rates are high

The Federal Budget may have softened some of its proposed tax reforms, but it has exposed a bigger issue: too many families are relying on wealth structures that no longer reflect the realities of modern life.