In the leadup to Christmas it's tempting to overspend and use credit cards. This overspending often continues into the New Year with extra food needed to feed visiting friends and family. Linda Hall asked Hastings Budget Advisory Service co-ordinator Kristal Leach some questions about avoiding starting the new year in debt.
1 What is a simple plan for a weekly budget?
A budget is simply a road map to achieving your financial goals. A simple household budget should make provision for your regular weekly, and monthly expenses, but importantly also your annual expenses, such as rates, insurance, car registration & WOF. Make sure your budget includes provision for expenses like birthdays, Christmas, medical bills. Total all your expenses, convert the monthly and annual expenses to weekly, and deduct them from your income. Hopefully there is a some spare cash left over to save.
A good budgeting tip is to use a separate bank account for all bills. Work out how much you need to transfer to this separate bank account each payday, and set up APs to pay all your bills from this account. What you have left in your everyday account is money for you to spend on discretionary items and/or put aside for savings.
2 Tips on how to avoid the temptation to use credit cards?