A survey published a few months ago revealed some good and not so good news about the spending habits of the imaginary Mr and Ms Average Kiwi.
The not-so-good news is that about a third of us feel that dealing with money is a stressful business, but the good news is that about two-thirds of the respondents had a budget. Although the survey did not link the two results, it's probably fair to say that those who do budget are more in control of their money and are therefore less likely to get stressed about it. The simple answer for those who are stressed or have money problems is to start budgeting. It may be inconvenient, but it should be a reality for those who do not have infinite money.
Oily raggers are very creative when it comes to budgeting, so here are some of their suggestions.
Robyn from the Waikato uses a diary (a day to a page) for this. The opening bank balance is entered at the end of the day, each transaction is recorded, and the closing balance is calculated. "Keep all eftpos receipts until such time as this is done. Don't forget automatic payments or cheques written. I paper clip each account that arrives in the page it is due - or sometimes at an earlier date."
L. Dustin from Oamaru says, "When my hubby and I were on a tight budget, we came up with the idea that we would not spend over $29 without receiving the other person's approval first. We usually gave permission when asked by the other, but it gave us time to think if we really needed the item before getting it ... a sanity check. We saved a lot of money in this way."