Dunedin couple Bevan and Marie were among the dozens of entrants who recently entered a RaboDirect competition highlighting savings stories. Below they share their story and discuss how a change in their thinking has helped them reach their savings goals.

Bevan says the couple were typical of many Kiwis on low household incomes who struggle to manage their weekly expenses.

"At the time we were finding it very tough to pay the bills and felt that there had to be a better way to manage our money. We decided that something had to change so together we researched savings account options and made a decision to open a joint RaboDirect Premium Saver account," Bevan says.

"We started off by putting $50 into the account and then built on this by setting up an automatic payment to have the funds transferred fortnightly. We made a commitment to saving, no matter what our weekly situation was, and it was this financial attitude U-Turn that has created more opportunities for us."

After several months, Marie reminded Bevan about their savings account and they checked their balance online through the RaboDirect website.

"We were both really surprised about how much was in the account and how ridiculously easy it was to save. With the automatic payment set-up, we just learned to live on the funds that were left over each fortnight and forgot that we were even making deposits into our RaboDirect account," he said.

Since initially setting up the account, both Bevan and Marie have moved into better paid jobs and continue to maintain their $50 a fortnight payment. Once their bills are paid off they now look to deposit anything additional that's remaining into their savings account.

"The fact that we can't easily touch our savings in our RaboDirect account has contributed significantly to why we have a significant account balance. We now have a very healthy nest egg and have even started purchasing Managed Funds that are offered by RaboDirect to explore and learn about other savings options," he says.

Marie says she and Bevan are now more disciplined with their money.

"We're now confident that our commitment to saving money will help ensure a better future for us and our family. I'm certain that if we hadn't made the decision to open the RaboDirect account when we did we'd still be floundering around living week to week," she said.

For more details on RaboDirect and their savings and investment products please visit RaboDirect.co.nz or call 0800 22 44 33