Is your money smarter than you?

For most of us, there is a chance that our money is indeed smarter than us. It runs like the wind, it knows how to hide and lets be honest, we can sometimes be so intimidated by it, that we just avoid managing it.

Lets get a hold of your money now, because it takes the average first home buyer person around 4 years to save a deposit.

Pay off that credit card

Credit cards normally start off as a back up, but often get more of a workout than they should. To save successfully, you’re the only one who should be working out. Start paying off that Contiki Tour you took in 2000... And those shoes that were on sale but still cost two weeks wages. Don’t try and be a hero: pay off what you can, when you can. If you can do this, then you can get serious about buying a home.

Do a personal audit

It is just possible that you are spending your money on things you don’t need. Too many a home deposit has been lost to brunch. There is an awful lot of smashed avocado and coconut water being ordered these days, when baked beans are packed with protein and practically paleo. They’re also equally instagrammable with a bit of creative direction.

Write a list of what you spend, and work out what isn’t completely necessary. If you can’t free up some cash this way, we are going to have to suggest you move back in with your parents or in laws... no one wants this.

Open up a savings account

It is far easier to save money, if you have a savings account. A place where your money feels so cozy that it doesn’t want to be anywhere else.

Interest rates are pretty low for savers at the minute, but the sooner you start saving, the faster the interest will add up. Aim to put aside a set amount, every time you get paid: treating it like a bill that must be paid.

Or...

If you are still short of ways to save, here is our top ten desperate measures list:

1. Reuse toothpaste

2. Swap Foxtel for watching foxes

3. Sell your iPhone 7 and buy carrier pigeons

4. Get your clothes from gym change rooms (although you probably cant really afford the gym)

5. Wash your clothes by stamping on them in the shower.

6. Eat dinner by the fridge light

7. Save the leftover bits of soap bars and compress them into a new one.

8. Clag glue instead of hair gel

9. Go on a potato diet

10. Turn shoe boxes into shoes

 

If even these aren’t working for you, you could always do something sensible and talk to one of our finance experts. Or have a play with our handy calculators to give you a feel for how much you’ll be able to borrow.