Money Tips - Cost of Living
3 simple tips to build your financial resilience
Tip One: Reduce your spending.
Sure, this one is obvious. But, if you can’t increase your income, you need to cut back on spending, and where possible, pop this difference into savings and/or paying down debt.
Sit down and deep dive into where your money is going and will be going; what you’re spending now and any upcoming expenses (including higher mortgage repayments and an increase to your power bill as we head towards winter).
Trim back where you can by reassessing your subscriptions, bank fees, where you grocery shop, and check whether shifting providers for your phone, broadband and power could make a difference. Every little bit helps.
Tip Two: Build your savings.
With saving rates higher than they’ve been for a long time, you may be able to build your savings faster.
If you don’t have emergency savings, now is the time to start. Set up an automatic payment for each payday, or, if you’re on police pay, we can set up a salary deduction to whip your savings out before it even hits your main account. Out of sight out of mind! Having some savings put aside will help you be more resilient if you have an unexpected bill.
Tip Three: Get debt under control.
If you have high-interest debt in credit cards, store cards or other personal loans, your debt repayments will be making a decent dent in your money plan. Check out whether you can save money and time by consolidating your debt into a lower-rate loan.
We offer low-rate personal loans secured by PSS or a motor vehicle – head to Sorted to play around and see if it’s an option for you.
Bonus Tip:
Knowledge is power when it comes to your money plan, so keep informed with tips, tricks, and commentary from NZ financial journalists and organisations. Some popular ones include Frances Cook, Mary Holm, Brad Olsen, and of course, Sorted!