Student, 21, who spends $60-a-week on her dogs explains how she still saves on a meagre income and how other cash-strapped Aussies can do it too

A medical student who works two part-time jobs claims she only has $30-a-week left to spend on herself once other expenses are taken care of.

Chloe Oriel, 21, slammed her 'piss poor' weekly $705 income, over half of which goes on the basics, including rent, gas, electricity and car insurance.

But the University of Newcastle medical radiation student said she had some other non-negotiable expenses, including $60-a-week for her three dogs who she views as her 'children' and eat better than her, despite the cost of living crisis. 

Ms Oriel, who outlined her weekly expenses and budgeting in a video entitled 'How I budget my 'Piss Poor Salary as a Uni Student', revealed she works an average 5-7 hours a week in a pub, which brings in around $200. 

In addition, she does four hours of tutoring which earns around $120 and she receives $770-a-fortnight in independent Youth Allowance and rent assistance from Centrelink.

This amounts to around a $705 weekly income, from which $475 goes on rent, electricity, gas, Wi-Fi, fuel and groceries.

The budget-conscious student from Lake Macquarie in NSW also manages to put $100 each into an emergency fund and a savings account. 

She claims to spend $50-a-week on food for herself, while her beloved pets eat $30-a-week worth of food, which cost an additional $30-a-week on insurance and other related costs. 

This means that Ms Oriel is left with $30 to spend on herself. 

'I live with my partner and so we split groceries each week and we tend to cook around three meals a week but big portions so that we can spread these out,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 

She buys fruit and vegetable boxes from a local supplier. 

'They are only $30 a box for a lot of fresh food all locally sourced which is amazing,' she added.

'We have three dogs, two of which are dachshunds and I own them personally and as I'm sure most people know, they can be very susceptible to injuries so the pet insurance is quite expensive as it needs to cover for a lot of things.' 

She admitted that the dogs eat better than her and her partner.

'They are also mainly raw fed and that can be quite expensive but I value my dogs health, the $30 is also just an accumulating fund that I keep for food, toys, vet trips that aren't covered by insurance,' Ms Oriel explained.

Despite labelling herself as 'piss poor', she was 'pretty happy' with what she earned.

'I’ve got parents that would be willing to help out if I really needed it,' she said.

'But for the most part I’m not the most worse off. I definitely could do with a little bit of money but you do what you can.’

Her biggest tip for those feeling swamped by bills in the the cost-of-living crisis is to create a spreadsheet to track of spending.  

'All the little things add up so much, especially with tap and pay,' Mr Oriel explained.

'I was genuinely shocked when I found out how much money I was spending each week on frivolous things that could easily be cut down if I disciplined myself enough.'

Ms Oriel told news.com.au she had $500 in savings and lived a 'very frugal' life.

'I know a lot of people may think that isn’t a lot, but I think it’s all about perspective, and since starting this budget a month ago, I have managed to save this much up, which I’m really proud of,' she said. 

 She also resists splurging on things and holds off buying anything to see if she really wants it.

'If I really want something, then I save that $30 each week until I can afford it; I’m very much of the opinion that if I can’t afford it, then I won’t buy it,' she added.

Tackling the cost-of-living crisis has become the central focus of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government.

A deadly cocktail of rising energy bills, higher petrol prices and skyrocketing rents have helped push the consumer price growth to a six-month high.

The Labor administration brought in a $300 energy bill rebate to help struggling Aussies. But some economists fear it might help drive up inflation.