Parenting Australia

Recovering from silly season spending made easy

Possible early New Year rate rises and post-Christmas credit card bills need not be a burden on summer festivities. The key to staying in control of your finances is keeping a close eye on your spending habits.

Mortgage Choice suggests these top tips to get you through the summer drought:

Put your new year resolution into action. With Christmas and New Year’s Eve out of the way it’s the time to knuckle down and put yourself into good financial shape. Stop exercising the credit card and start exercising your budgeting skills. If you can’t pay for it with cash then more often than not you really can’t afford it.

Raise your expectations for the year ahead. Set yourself a savings target for the first few weeks or months of the year. Then, review your progress and up the ante to save more over the next period. This will help create a financial buffer, preparing you for further rate rises and adjusting you to a good savings plan. Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity to become a habit, and six months for it to become part of your personality!

Reward yourself. You may not be able to afford a lavish family holiday but this doesn’t mean the fun stops there. Activities that don’t cost the earth do exist and can sometimes be more enjoyable and less work. Consider short family road trips, outings to the beach or park, or house swapping with a family friend or relative - a change can be as good as a holiday.

Bargain hunt. The beginning of the year is typically slow so take this time to shop around for bargains – a mortgage with a lower interest rate or improved features, better internet or utility providers, more economical phone plans, etc. A reputable mortgage broker can help you compare your existing loan with others in the market to see if there is a new loan or lender offering a ‘cheaper’ product that could save time and money off your loan, helping you cope with further interest rate rises.

Take advantage of the summer sales. If your debt level is looking to be on track and your spending habits subdued then keep in mind there are plenty of bargains to be had so now is a good time to plan ahead and start budgeting for next Christmas and all the important events along the way.

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