Saving Money is Easy! hits the shops

It's in store from today, my new book Saving Money is Easy!

You'll find it at ABC Shops and Centres and all good book stores around the country

Tip of the Day 6 January 2010

Hidden Money

Hide $100 note in the back of your purse or wallet (they're those lovely green notes!) and then put your credit cards away in a safe place. This way, when you are out and tempted to put something on credit, you can't. You have the option of spending the $100, but how long will it take you to save another $100 to put in it's place?

Tip of the Day April 23, 2009

The 50 Box

This is one of our favourites. Never spend a 50 cent coin. My children love to check my purse and their father's wallet for 50 cent pieces. Any 50 cent pieces they find go into the 50 box and when we have saved $50, we take it to the bank and deposit it into our holiday savings account. You'll be surprised how many 50 cent coins you accumulate and if you remove them immediately, you don't even miss them. We were able to pay for a family holiday one year just by saving our 50 cent coins!

Tip of the Day April 22, 2009

A good use for an old jam jar

Have a savings jar on the fridge. Any loose change you find around the house, in the washing machine, on the floor of the kids' bedrooms, under the sofa cushions or on the floor of the car goes into the jar. When the jar is full, deposit the contents into a savings account. If you don't feel you can afford to "dump" all your loose change into savings, choose a denomination - say all 5c and 10c coins or all silver and just save those. The amount of money in the jar builds quite quickly, it's amazing just how much loose change you can find in a household when you are actively looking for it.

Tip of the Day April 21, 2009

Banking the difference

Save the difference between budgeted amounts and the actual cost. For example, if you have budgeted $120 for electricity and the bill is $106, pay the bill and bank the remaining $14 directly into a separate savings account. Do this with all your budgeted spending - petrol, phone, even groceries. This method of saving can become a competition to see how far below budget you can get your bills so you can save more. It's a fun way of saving for a specific goal - a holiday, new car, home renovations etc. Get the whole family involved in the "how low can you go" competition with the goal as the prize at the end. Set a time to reach your goal and then see how much you can save.

Tip of the Day March 26, 2009

How much should you save?

The short answer is as much as you can. What does that mean? It means different things to different people. However, no matter how much money you earn or how many expenses you have, you will always save more if you pay yourself first.

The suggested amount is 10% of your gross salary, but if you can't manage that, save 5% or 2%. Even saving just $5 a week regularly will help you establish a good saving routine and habits. You can make saving automatic by setting up a regular direct debit from your everyday account to your savings account.