Jeremy Tauri: Check finances

This week is money week.

This week is money week - a great time to give yourself a financial health check. Here are five quick things you can do to make sure you end the week in a better position than you started.

Check out debt: Do you know what you owe, and what interest rates you're being charged on it? Pay off the most expensive debt first.

Start saving: If you don't have a good emergency fund squirrelled away, start one. You can alleviate a lot of stress if you have enough money in the bank to cover you for three months' worth of income. A good idea is to take the money you want to save out of your pay when you first get it.

Make a budget: This doesn't have to be rigid but a budget is an excellent way to make sure that you know where your money is going. Check out your bank statements, you may be surprised at how much money is frittered away on a coffee here or a muffin there. Give yourself a set amount to spend on treats. If it helps, keep cash on you for incidental spending. Being able to see the money makes it harder to spend.

Set goals: Saving is boring if you don't know why you're doing it. Set some smaller goals, maybe a holiday overseas, along the way to big goals like buying a house. Work out how much you will need to save each week to get to those goals and work that into the budget you are creating.

Sort your retirement savings: It seems far off, but the sooner you start saving for your retirement, the better off you'll be and the less you'll have to contribute to hit your target. If you have many years until you want to access your KiwiSaver account, put it in a growth fund. Yes, the returns may be volatile over the next little while and you may even find your balance goes backwards. But this is just a loss "on paper" while you weren't planning to access the money anyway. Ignore it, remember you're in it for the long run and you will find your account bounces back over the long haul.