Shopping smarter, tracking spending - is this really millennials we’re talking about?

Despite the fact that millennials are popularly thought of as lazy, irresponsible and only interested in avocado breakfasts, recent research from Westpac has revealed that an overwhelming 91% of Aussies aged 18-35 are setting and proactively working toward their savings goals.

According to the reseach, 95% of millennials have at least one savings goal in mind, such as a home loan deposit, overseas holiday, new car or emergency fund, and 65% felt that goal-setting helped them plump up their savings account quicker.

Those who set specific goals, formed positive savings habits like putting away a portion of their paycheck immediately and took action by shopping smarter and using a budget to track spending, were more likely to not only save more, but also feel more positive about reaching their goals.

Westpac Head of Savings and Investing Needs, Kathryn Carpenter said “setting up a regular saving behaviour can help people, in particular Millennials, feel more confident and in control of their finances and their future.”

When it comes to what goals millennials are setting, it seems that despite recent findings that homeownership is no longer a priority for many Aussies, millennials are holding on to the great Aussie dream, with 64% saying saving to buy a property was their main goal.

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Carpenter said that one strategy employed by 1 in 5 millennials is using different savings accounts to keep track of different goals.

“When it comes to saving, every dollar counts. We know millennial consumers are trying to balance between saving for long term goals, like a home deposit, and shorter term goals, like a holiday or for a rainy day,” she said.

Westpac has also recently launched a new savings account dubbed Westpac Life, designed to help customers streamline the management of multiple savings goals by allowing savers to organise their money into six different savings goals within one account.

“Westpac Life is simple and flexible by allowing customers to have multiple goals in a single account and visually tracks progress against achieving those goals,” Carpenter said.

READ MORE: Mozo’s Westpac Life savings account review

Westpac Life joins a host of emerging products and technology designed to help Aussies get a handle on their money management. Among them are other innovative savings accounts, including the UBank USaver, which also lets customers split savings up into individual goals and the AMP Bett3r Account which features three linked accounts labelled Pay, Save and Spend.

If you need a market-leading savings account to get your money goals started, head over to our comparison tool to find some of the best rates around.