The best money-saving techniques are the ones you can stick to for decades.

Building lasting wealth is rarely about a single big win, but rather about small, repeatable habits.

Do them consistently, and the results can be incredible.

Here are some of the best saving techniques to help you build long-term wealth.

Simple saving techniques that build wealth

Start by making your money work for you.

Move money into savings the day you get paid, before you spend a cent.

Automating this step removes willpower from the equation, and so when the transfer happens by itself, you never miss the money.

Next, get on top of the big three costs: housing, transport, and food.

These usually dwarf the small stuff like your morning coffee.

Trimming a large recurring bill saves you money every single month.

Similarly, refinancing a loan or renegotiating a plan can free up hundreds of dollars a year.

Another of the most effective saving techniques is tracking where your money goes. You cannot fix what you cannot see.

A simple spreadsheet or budgeting app will do the job. Review it once a month and look for leaks.

Finally, treat windfalls with care.

Tax refunds, bonuses, and pay rises are easy to spend away. Instead, directing even half of these windfalls to savings can accelerate your progress.

None of these steps requires a finance degree. They just require consistency.

Put your savings to work

Saving is only half the story.

Cash sitting idle in the bank slowly loses value to inflation.

To get a grip on inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate at 4.35% in June 2026.

Although that is a reasonable return on savings, shares have historically returned more to ASX investors.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has delivered a long-term annualised return of roughly 8.2%, including dividends.

But what if you don’t know what to invest in? Low-cost index funds (or ETFs) are a simple way to capture market returns without having to do any of the heavy lifting.

Two examples of this are VAS and A200.

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) tracks the top S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) companies, whereas the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) tracks the largest 200.

Both charge tiny fees of 0.04% and can be bought in a single trade.

Reinvesting distributions from these funds, along with additional savings, lets compounding do the heavy lifting.

Over many years, that compounding effect can turn modest savings into serious wealth.

Foolish Takeaway

None of these saving techniques is complicated, which is the point.

Pay yourself first, automate, track your spending, and invest the difference.

Start small if you need to, then build from there.

Repeat the process long enough, and with compounding, the numbers can look after themselves.

Master a few simple saving techniques today, and your future self may thank you.

The post Best money-saving techniques to build long-term wealth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 ASX ETFs for beginner investors in July
• 3 ASX ETFs that make long-term investing easy
• VAS vs VGS: Which Vanguard ETF is winning so far this year?
• Should I target high growth or balanced strategies for my superannuation?
• Own Vanguard ASX ETFs? It’s dividend payday!

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Everyone loves a bargain and there could be a number of ASX 200 shares offering just that right now after heavy share price falls.

In this article are three ASX 200 shares I’d buy that have fallen by more than 30% over the past year.

REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA)

REA shares are down around 33% over the past 12 months.

This ASX 200 share owns realestate.com.au, which attracts an enormous audience of buyers, sellers, renters, and property watchers. That attention gives REA a major advantage because agents and developers want their listings placed where Australians are already looking.

The more people who use the platform, the more important it becomes to advertisers. That helps REA protect its market position, charge more for premium products, and keep investing in a better experience for users.

I also think the opportunity extends beyond property listings. REA can use its audience, data, and relationships to grow areas such as seller leads, property insights, financial services, and tools for agents.

Housing activity can slow when interest rates remain high or confidence weakens, which may weigh on listing volumes and near-term earnings. However, those conditions do not remove the competitive advantage created by REA’s scale.

After the share price decline, I think investors are being offered a more attractive entry point into one of the strongest online businesses on the ASX.

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Life360 shares have dropped around 31% since this time last year.

The tech company has built a digital platform that helps families stay connected and respond when something goes wrong. Users can check whether a child has arrived at school, receive driving alerts, find a lost item, or keep an eye on an elderly relative.

Those frequent interactions can make Life360 part of a household’s normal routine, which helps explain the scale the platform has reached.

Life360 finished the first quarter of 2026 with 97.8 million monthly active users and 3 million paying Circles. Advertising revenue also climbed to US$19.7 million during the quarter.

That large audience gives the company several ways to keep growing. Life360 can attract more users, convert more families into paying subscribers, sell connected devices, introduce additional safety services, and earn more advertising revenue.

Given its strong growth potential and the share price decline, I think an attractive buying opportunity has opened up.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)

DroneShield shares are down approximately 38% over the past year and I think that has created a buying opportunity.

The company develops counter-drone technology that helps defence forces, governments, and security operators detect, track, and respond to unwanted drones.

Hardware remains its biggest revenue generator, with DroneShield supplying portable and fixed systems designed to protect military sites, airports, prisons, critical infrastructure, and public events.

I think demand could keep growing as drones become cheaper, more capable, and more widely used.

DroneShield also has a major opportunity to grow its software revenue. Counter-drone systems need to keep pace with new drone models, signals, and tactics, creating demand for updates, threat libraries, support, and ongoing improvements.

That could extend customer relationships beyond the original hardware sale and gradually make more of its revenue recurring.

Foolish takeaway

Falls of more than 30% show that the market has already lowered its expectations for these companies.

I think each business still has clear ways to become larger and more valuable, supported by customer relationships and capabilities that have taken time to develop.

Further volatility is possible, particularly with Life360 and DroneShield. But at sensible position sizes and with a long holding period, I would use the recent weakness to buy all three ASX 200 shares.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares down over 30% that I’d buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• I’d listen to Warren Buffett and buy cheap ASX shares
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why WiseTech shares could rocket 100%
• Buy, hold, sell: Harvey Norman and REA Group shares
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has positions in DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended DroneShield and Life360. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Life360. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price is in focus after the company reported an 11% jump in contracted utilisation to 740MW, following new customer contract wins. The company’s forward order book has also risen, now standing at 565MW.

What did NEXTDC report?

• Contracted utilisation as at 30 June 2026 grew by 73MW (up 11%) to 740MW.
• Pro-forma forward order book increased to 565MW.
• Order book expected to convert to billings, revenue and EBITDA from FY26 to FY30.
• FY26 net revenue, underlying EBITDA and capex guidance remain unchanged.

What else do investors need to know?

NEXTDC attributes its contracted utilisation lift to recent customer contract wins, strengthening its position as a leading data centre platform for the digital economy. The company says its pro-forma forward order book, now at 565MW, will progressively convert to revenue streams over the coming years.

Importantly, NEXTDC confirmed that guidance for FY26 net revenue, underlying EBITDA and capital expenditure is unchanged from previous updates. This gives investors some predictability for near-term financial performance.

What’s next for NEXTDC?

NEXTDC intends to deliver on its strong contract pipeline, moving forward orders to revenue and earnings between FY26 and FY30. The stability in earnings guidance suggests management is confident in executing its growth plans.

With its expanding customer base and certified Tier IV operations, NEXTDC is well-placed to respond to continued demand for cloud and data centre services across Australia and Asia.

NextDC share price snapshot

The NextDC share price has underperformed the market over the past 12 months with a decline of almost 7%. This compares to a gain of almost 1.5% from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

View Original Announcement

The post NEXTDC share price on watch as contracted utilisation rises and forward order book grows appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 top ASX 200 shares I’d buy for a self-managed superannuation fund
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Which ASX tech companies does Macquarie like in the surging cloud computing sector?
• SK Hynix IPOs in the US. Here’s what that means for ASX investors
• 2 ASX shares tipped to grow 45% or more in the next 12 months

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Nextdc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.