Young Aussie earning six-figures reveals items she ‘refuses’ to buy: 'Save $5,000 a month'

A young Aussie who is earning six-figures thanks to multiple side hustles has revealed why she refuses to spend money on things like coffee and getting her nails done. But she's happy to shell out for travel and a $450 dinner with a view.

Amy Coulston works full-time in administration but has managed to double her income through working multiple side hustles. The 24-year-old told Yahoo Finance she is putting all the extra money she earns straight into her savings.

“I’ve been doing surveys, market research calls, mystery shopping, affiliate digital marketing. There’s a million different things I’ve been trying out, especially this year,” Coulston said.

“I started doing it really sort of full throttle probably 12 months ago. In the last few months, I’ve pretty much been matching [my full-time income] which is pretty crazy.”

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Coulston and her partner are currently saving to buy their first home on the Sunshine Coast and are hoping to have around $200,000, plus money to cover fees, saved by January 2026.

“I haven’t really inflated my spending with my income increase so I’ve tried to just put everything that I get from side hustles to savings,” she said.

In June, Coulston shared that she earned $9,487, with $4,732 earned from her full-time job and $4,755 from her side hustles.

Coulston noted her earnings varied month to month and averaged between $6,000 to $8,000.

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She currently spends a couple of hours a day on her side hustles, along with dedicating a decent chunk of her weekend to researching new side hustle sites which she then shares online.

Coulston said she’s found market research to be the most lucrative of the bunch and uses sites like Askable to get jobs.

“Market research is probably one of my favourite ones just because they are the best amount of money that you can get for the time you put in,” she told Yahoo Finance.

“It’s usually $60 an hour just for a video call and telling [businesses] what you think of their website or what you think of their product.”

‘Clear priorities’ helping with savings

Of the $9,487 she earned in June, Coulston said $4,113 went towards expenses like rent, groceries, internet and medical bills, along with budgeting for "fun" money. The remaining $5,373 saved went directly towards her house deposit.

She shared online that she personally “refuses” to spend money on items like nails, a fancy new car, drinks out including alcohol and coffee, trendy new shoes and other items, waxing and laser hair removal, food delivery platforms, and big-name telco providers like Optus and Telstra.

On the other hand, she makes sure she always has room in the budget for items like YouTube premium, more expensive cinema seats, concerts, experiences, physical paperback books, air-conditioning and the “good” brand of toilet paper.

Experiences included budgeting for an upcoming trip to Europe with her best friend, along with a recent $450 dinner with her partner that had a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

“It caused so much controversy that I didn’t want nails on my fingers at all times but I always think that when I’m 80 I’m not going to be so thankful that I had fake nails on every week but I will probably be thankful that I went travelling,” Coulston said.

“I think just having priorities on the things that are actually important to me. Nails might be important to someone else, but they are not super important to me."

Coulston said budgeting and having “clear priorities” on what she will and won’t spend money on has been key to helping her save.

“I’m always going to save money for spending time with family and friends and going out and doing fun things," she said.

"I still want to enjoy life but I don’t need to spend money on stupid stuff like a Doordash delivery fee."

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