Currently completing a Master’s Degree in Teaching (Secondary) at Victoria University, Angela has joined forces with the Inner West Community Foundation (IWCF), to develop, facilitate and now manage their new Money Mentor program. The program has been created to provide our teenagers with key life skills to assist them to successfully understand and navigate their finances.
Angela strongly believes that the more we educate our youth on navigating the vastly saturated financial landscape and support them build their financial literacy and confidence, we can create effective global citizens who contribute to economic growth, both personally and professionally.
Join Angela and her Money Mentor contributors in this regular financial wellbeing column as she shares the knowledge and tips to help you make the most of your money.
Your financial wellbeing underscores your general health and happiness
When you think of the word “Wellbeing,” what might initially come to mind is mindfulness, eating well, exercising, and generally looking after yourself, however another essential contributor to your overall wellbeing is your financial situation.
Financial wellbeing does not directly correlate with how much income you earn – especially if you are spending more than you earn. External factors that can impact your financial wellbeing are the economic climate, government policy, personal relationships, and your health. Many of these are out of your control however being consciously mindful of your individual financial behaviours and triggers can allow you to constructively change these behaviours to become more financially successful.
Thinking about your financial situation as part of your overall well-being is a great way to start to make constructive changes to how you manage your money to ultimately get the best out of all facets of your life.
Five Top Tips to feel secure about your finances.
- Keep Track Of Your Expenses
Document over a period of 3 months what your cash inflows and outflows are. This can be done using a budget.
- Consolidate Debts
Cancelling unnecessary credit cards, paying off loans that you are being charged high interest on or consolidating your loans into the one with a more competitive interest rate and fees is great ways to do this. Take a day out of your month to specifically focus on this without and you’ll be amazed at how much progress you can make.
- Put Some Money Away In Savings
Try to set aside 5 – 10% of your net wages every month to pit into savings. This can be done by depositing money into a savings account, making additional contributions to your superannuation or setting up a term deposit, dependant on your specific savings goals.
- Review Your Current Service Providers
Take time to review the bills for your service providers such as insurance, electricity, entertainment, etc. to make sure you are not overpaying these. Do some research to see if a better deal is available to you and switch when you find that you can either save money or get more value for your payment.
- Plan Ahead
If you know you are going to buy a household staple each week for a month, you may be able to buy a bulk supply for the whole month at a reduced cost. There are many instances where planning ahead can help you save money, reduce expenses and meet your financial goals more quickly.
