9 Financial Tips to Help You Get Ahead
Fair to say financially it’s a bit of a financial grind out there at the moment for a lot of people.
Good thing is these situations don’t last forever, but they are a good time to take stock of your financial situation.
Here are some simple tips that might help start to get you ahead financially.
- Always try and pay more than the minimum on your mortgage.
It might not happen at the start, even if you increase payments during the mortgage, it’s never too late.
As little as an extra $50 a fortnight will make a big difference, so a small increase is better than no increase.
Also check if you’ve got any large balances on floating on your mortgage that you’ve missed. It might be time to restructure and fix some lending if you’re not paying it down quickly.
- Review your general insurances (car, contents, house). Check market values are still relevant. Perhaps increase excesses to help keep premiums down. It may even be you’re under insured.
- Have a safety fund for emergencies. The amount will vary depending on your personal situation but think 3-6 months’ salary as a starting point.
Sometimes refinancing your mortgage can help create a fund depending on your income and equity.
Recently we’ve restructured/refinanced client’s mortgages to help get mortgage free quicker and create an emergency fund/buffer with the help of some generous bank cash backs.
- Go through your bank statements line by line to check where your money is going. If you’re like me, you may have teenagers with various subscriptions they may never use anymore!
- Sell some stuff. ‘One man’s junk is another man’s treasure!’ Decluttering and selling stuff you don’t use will help boost your savings. There’re even shops that will sell quality clothing on behalf.
- Avoid Lay-bys and retail sales and thinking you’re getting a deal. You can end up buying something you didn’t really need but bought just because it was on sale. To be honest I get caught out on this.
- Have designated savings accounts for things. Though try avoiding too many accounts! But things like pets, travel, car expenses, kids’ pursuits are prime examples where you can drip feed money every week to help cushion the blow of those niggly expenses.
For example, we have a pet account and recently spent a few hundred dollars on vet bills, so it was handy to have money aside rather than eat into our weekly spending budget.
- Check your payslips. Are they correct? Is it time to ask for a pay rise or extra hours.
- Check your KiwiSaver and have it reviewed – are you in the right fund to maximise your return.
Are you with the right provider, some providers have a better return than others.
The above are just a few ideas to get you started. For a review of your current mortgage feel free to contact us 7 days a week craig@craigpopefinancial.co.nz