ihatebudgets - Membership Site

Poor health Symptoms -

$ You only ever make minimum payments on your credit card.

$ You have two or more credit cards, all at or near their limit.

$ You are unaware of the amounts you owe on all your cards.

$ You spend more than you earn.

Diagnosis….. If you have two or more of the above symptoms, you should take steps to manage your credit card more wisely.

Cure…

$ Avoid store cards and get a low rate credit card to lower your interest payments.

$ Set up an auto pay to your credit card to ensure regular repayments.

$ Don’t just make the minimum payment - aim to pay off debt in 2-3 months.

$ Set up a surplus fund for emergencies, ideally one quarter of your annual income.

Emergency alert!!!

Symptoms…

$ You take out cash advances on your credit card to pay other bills.

$ Your  cheques bounce.

$ You get calls from debt collectors.

$ You lie to your family and friends about your spending or hide credit card statements.

Diagnosis… If you have two or more of these symptoms, your problem is more serious and will require more drastic steps.

Cure…

$ Add up the credit card debt you pay off each month. If it comes to more than 20 per cent of your take home income, seek professional advice.

$ Financial counsellors are generally free of charge and can help organise your financial situation and set up repayment arrangements.

$ Contact your financial institution to see if it can help consolidate your debt.

This is why having a budget is extremely important. It helps you structure your money and gives you a  clear outline of where your money is going. Always remember that a Budget is your number one tool to achieving your financial goals.

Look, setting up a budget is not easy! But with a little perserverance and effort it can change your life around.

 Think about it, no more sleepless nights worrying about money or the lack of it. Set your goals and stick to them but don’t forget to give yourself some little rewards along the way as you work toward achieving your major goals.

 There is no need to live like the proverbial church mouse or stop doing everything just to cut down your expenditure! Make sure that you still get to do things that you like ie. the movies, dining out, but do it in such a way that it’s a reward for all the hard work and sacrifices you have been making.

Don’t forget, budgets are not about going without, they are about reassessing what you have (income), to achieve what you really want (goals).

Like anything we do in life we need to apply a certain amount of discipline to the task at hand. Creating a budget is no different. Whether it’s recording on a daily basis what we spend or entering our spending into the ihatebudgets software programme it all requires some discipline. That’s why we have included a section on setting goals in the ihatebudgets training modules, to help you achieve what it is you really want. 

By working through your goals you will begin to develop the discipline to create your budget. The next step is to continue to fine tune it to the point where it is no longer a chore, and becomes a welcomed task, because you are now in control of your finances rather than your finances controlling you.

When setting up your family’s budget make sure they all know what you are doing and why. Look, this is critical to the success of your budget!

 By working with your partner on what you both want to achieve and setting mutual goals that you can both work towards, will go a long way to ensure the success of your budget. Let your children know that you are creating a budget and why, obviously this will be dependant on their age and ability to understand.

Teach them that the reason you are creating your budget is to achieve the financial goals you have set and they will very quickly become part of the overall process. Ask them what they would like to see in the budget, be it a holiday, new car or whatever.

 I know from personal experience that I no longer take my youngest daughter to Bunnings with me anymore. Bree would ask me when was I looking at some power tool, ” Dad do we really need it or is it just a want?” but the best one is ” Dad is it in the budget?” and the absolute killer ” Does mum know about this?” You guessed it, I’ve created a monster.