What if you could do things now to make your financial situation better? Below are 7 things you can do which have an immediate effect.
Some will take longer than others, but making the decision to do it now is half the battle!
Setting the goal, taking the action and making the changes is what will see you in a much better position later.
Think about it, where do you want to be one year, two years or even 10 years from now?
If where you are right now isn’t where you want to be financially, you need to make some changes.
Here are the ones I’ve found helped me the most go from homeless to multiple international award-winning CEO, speaker and author living in my ideal area.
Get A $75 Bonus From ING
ING has their $75 Orange Everyday sign-up offer on. They share different rewards at different times and right now you can get $75.
If you are a new customer of ING you can get $75 for opening an everyday account with them. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $75 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
- Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
- Make 5 settled transactions
- Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
- Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser
Then you get your $75 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until 31 March 2024.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure.
1. Clear Debt
As simple as it sounds, it can be extremely hard, especially if you have multiple debts or they’re debts such as payday loans with high interest. Decide to clear your debt, then create a plan of action and do it.
Dave Ramsey wrote The Total Money Makeover and Scott Pape wrote The Barefoot Investor.
Both have basic steps to take to help clear debt, starting with creating a mini emergency fund of $1,000 to $2,000 which is for emergencies.
Sort out your budget and start throwing everything at debt.
For inspiration and tips check out how this couple cleared $90,000 worth of debt in 12 months (and they were unemployed when they started).
These 6 tips to easily clear debt will help too.
2. Set up Your Investments Including Super
If you haven’t looked at your superannuation in a while (or ever), do it today! Getting your super sorted means you’ll be able to retire easier.
Firstly, consolidate all your superannuation accounts into one so you save on fees etc.
Check the insurance options and benefits with each, as well as fees before you consolidate. You can compare the top-performing super accounts here.
As for investing, shares are my preference. You can start small with roundups or $5 a week/a month/whatever you choose with options such as micro-investing options.
Make sure you do research if you’re investing yourself though otherwise, it’s just gambling.
Right now, the share market is volatile so it’s a good time to learn more and not make rash decisions.
You don’t need large amounts of money to become a millionaire and retire comfortably.
3. Set Up Savings
A $1,000 to $2,000 baby emergency fund is your first savings step if you don’t already have one.
Get a high-interest savings account that is separate from the rest of your banking so you can’t touch it.
Start putting as much as you can into it until you reach the $1,000 or $2,000. Personally, I feel $2,000 is the minimum you should have here in Australia.
Once that is set up, focus on clearing the debt. For me, even when I was paying down debt I tried to save something, even if it was only $10 a week.
The reason being, once the debt was clear, I had essentially no savings! Do what works for you though.
I have no debt, so my money is split minimum 10% investing, minimum 20% savings, minimum 10% whatever I want/sanity money and a maximum of 60% for living expenses.
Get A $75 Bonus From ING
ING has their $75 Orange Everyday sign-up offer on. They share different rewards at different times and right now you can get $75.
If you are a new customer of ING you can get $75 for opening an everyday account with them. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $75 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
- Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
- Make 5 settled transactions
- Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
- Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser
Then you get your $75 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until 31 March 2024.
4. Know Your Net Worth
If you’ve never worked out your net worth, it isn’t too hard. Add up your assets (house value, savings, superannuation amounts, investments etc).
Add up your liabilities (personal loans, credit card debt, mortgage and any other debt).
Deduct your liability amount from your asset amount and that is your net worth.
Meaning, if you had to sell off everything today, this is how much cash you’d have.
Read this post to find out more about calculating your net worth and why it matters.
5. Have Sanity Money
Some call this a ‘smile’ account, the first time I heard about it, it was called sanity money, as in money to keep you sane.
This money is yours to do whatever you want with.
If you’re partnered you each need to get an amount for this purpose.
Spend it on whatever you want and don’t feel guilty about it.
Whether you decide on $10 or $100, it’s up to you and your personal circ*mstances, but you need it.
Having this amount from each pay helps reduce the chances of a blowout later or a spending binge because you feel deprived.
6. Create a Spending Plan or Budget
Tell your money where to go! Knowing how much money is coming in, what your expenses are and how you are saving/paying off debt/planning for your future is crucial.
Don’t make it complicated either. Know what needs to go where then set it all up.
Check out this post on how to create and stick to a budget.
7. Automate It!
All my bills are set up to be direct debited. Anything that needs to be manually done has a schedule and reminders to ensure it’s all done though.
You can have your payroll do super contributions or divide your pay into a separate savings account as well.
Automate your finances and you’ll have less stress, your money will go to work for you and you’ll have the headspace free to do other things.
For more on automating your finances check out The Automatic Millionaire. David Bach is a fantastic author and a lovely guy.
What changes will you make to improve your finances?
Resources
Books: The Total Money Makeover. The Barefoot Investor. The Automatic Millionaire
Articles: How this couple cleared $90,000 worth of debt in 12 months
6 tips to easily clear debt
How you can be a millionaire even as a single mum
Calculating your net worth and why it matters
How to create and stick to a budget
You can compare the top-performing super accounts here
The Thrifty Issue Facebook Page.
The Thrifty Issue Facebook Group.
The Thrifty Issue Instagram
