Credit Simple
Saving is the worst. I cannot save money. I just can’t. I look at my payslip each month and take out the rent, the food, the car, the power, the water, the gas and there’s barely enough left to pay for the odd drink after work let alone save up for a deposit on a house or anything stupid like that. I know I was supposed to pay myself first but somehow that just never worked out. By the time…
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Is everything you do with your money logical? Don’t fool yourself. Human brains were designed for fight or flight. There’s emerging research showing that even the smartest humans make stupid financial mistakes thanks to our prehistoric brains. Neuro-economists have found longs lists of “cognitive biases” behind why our financial decisions are so flawed. They’ve found that both amateur and professional investors alike are tripped up by inadequate evolution. So when you next fall into the needs versus wants trap, borrow…
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It’s the great untold illness of personal finance. That’s sexually transmitted debts (STDs). It’s bad enough to build up your own debt. But when you shack up with someone else you often take on their debt as well. It’s easy to do. You spot someone across the bar, or on Tinder. The next thing you’re wildly in lust and then you become one. Bet you didn’t ask how big his or her debt was before falling head over heels for…
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Ouch. You’ve just been pinged with failed automatic payment and a $20 dishonour or unarranged overdraft fee. Come on. Admit it. You’ve paid extra fees or failed to get prompt payment discounts for bills that you knew were coming up but failed to pay. That’s just throwing money down the toilet and possibly damaging your credit history. My own bill payment system is failsafe for me. Everyone is different, however, and there is more than one way to skin this…
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Are you a part of the sharing economy yet? If you’ve used Uber or Airbnb, then you’re part of it. But there’s plenty of other sharing businesses springing up, and one that we think looks especially interesting is the renting business. The internet has made it ridiculously easy to rent your stuff and get paid for it*. Take Rentoid, as an example. It’s kind of like eBay, with one crucial difference: the stuff in the listing isn’t for sale, its…
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You know you need to change your financial ways. But it’s hard to actually do it. Just imagine standing at an EFTPOS terminal about to make a financial blunder and someone nudges you into making a better choice. A nudge is like having a little conscience sitting on your shoulder. Behavioural economists have found that tiny regular nudges that prod you to do things you wouldn’t otherwise can be a real game changer when it comes to mastering your money.…
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If I were a millennial today, I would strive to save and invest, and limit my extra spending for really nice to do things. It sounds obvious, but many people, young and old, don’t manage their finances well, and this sees them less well off than they should have been. Saving and investing sounds like no fun when there are so many spending choices for young people. The millennial cohort of the community are increasingly well qualified to take the high-profile and…
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Let’s have a quick talk about the meaning of life. Well, maybe not the whole nine yards, but do you have moments in your cubicle when you wonder if the way you’ve got your life planned is the smartest way to go at it. What are your plans for financial security, and where do you hope to be when you retire? And how soon do you want it to happen? Here’s an unnerving thought: is it possible your plans for…
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Are you swimming in debt? Or even drowning? You’re not alone, heaps of Aussies have that same feeling they are sinking financially. Debt has its uses and can be used to spread out large or unforeseen expenses. Being in debt all the time, however, isn’t okay and you need to use credit, not let it use you. But there is a way out. Debt can be whittled away one dollar at a time if you start today. So what is “too much…
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“The day my Dad closed the bank of Mum and Dad when I was in my twenties. If things got tight, I’d just go to him and ask for a loan. Finally he said, “you’ve got to do this on your own”, and of course he was right.” – David Slack, Content & Social Media Manager “I racked up a pretty nasty credit card debt when I was 19-20. I realised I needed to pay it off and just not…
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