David Koch reveals his choice of apps for budgeting, news, comparisons and financial education
Having a budget to meet your expenses is critical to getting financially ahead.
BEING a successful budgeter may seem near impossible for many but by taking a few simple steps you can be well on your way to cleaning up your finances.
Many people stumble early on when budgeting but these are some easy moves you can make to help get yourself back on financial track this autumn and avoid these common money errors.
NO PLAN
It probably seems very obvious, but if you just say you are going to budget without having a plan of attack you’re setting yourself up for failure.
AMP financial adviser Mark O’Leary says the first thing you need to do is understand your financial position.
“Most people don’t do this so make sure you articulate on a piece of paper what the actual position is,’’ he says.
“One of the biggest problems people have now is that money is invisible, now it’s on a credit card or it’s in a bank account, so a reality check is to have a bucket strategy.
“Work out what money needs to go where.”
You need a plan of attack to budget properly.Source:Supplied
SPEND MORE THAN YOU EARN
This is one of the worst traps anyone can fall into and can leave you paddling backwards financially.
Rising Tide Financial Services’ managing director Chris Browne says there’s a simple method to getting yourself back on your financial feet.
“Look at your needs and your wants, if you are spending too much in your wants that’s the first place that you should start cutting back,’’ he says.
One reprieve many households have experienced in recent months is lower petrol prices.
The national petrol price was at its lowest point in a year at 96.5 cents last week — this extra money should be used wisely, for example to pay off debt — or saved.
Roll credit card debts into a home loan to reduce costs.Source:istock
PAY OFF HIGH-INTEREST DEBT
If you’re living from pay cheque to pay cheque alarm bells should be ringing that you’re in financial strife.
O’Leary says the easiest ways to kick debt is by tackling money owing that attracts the high-interest rates first.
He suggests rolling credit card debts into a home loan — if you have a mortgage — and paying a rate of about 4.5 per cent on the debt instead of the average card rate at about 18 per cent.
This could end up saving you thousands of dollars in interest charges.
The golden rule with savings is to try to tuck away 10 per cent of your wage each week.Source:istock
SAVING
This is where many people struggle the most — being able to tuck money away each week.
Bank interest is very low at the moment — some online savings accounts offer interest rates of just two or three per cent, the sharemarket is down and property prices have stabilised.
The golden rule with savings is to try to tuck away 10 per cent of your wage each week, if you do this you will be well on your way to turning over a new leaf with your budget.
Of course it’s up to you whether you tuck it away in the bank, invest it or tip it into super.
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