Why budgets are worth the effort

A budget is only useful if it is real and based on how YOU earn and spend your money.  Where budgets can sometimes fall down is if we fill them in based on how we THINK we spend our money, rather than where we ACTUALLY spend it.

Talking about money and finances can feel awkward; we’re all different, so you could work through this with someone or if you want to do it by yourself there are lots of good online resources to help. One of them is here: moneytalks.co.nz/resources  We talk through their templates below.

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‍Focus on ACTION!

The Financial Plan of Action booklet can be used to help you define your goals and then your action!

Writing down your goals is a great way to gather your thoughts about how to achieve them. Breaking them down into big goals and manageable steps can make things feel more achievable too (and celebrating the small steps is just as important!)

Our tip is to not just focus on the 'what' of the goal, such as 'living in a bigger house', but how achieving the goal would feel for you. Why is the goal important to you? How would life be different if you achieved it?

Download and save the Plan to start; it’s free!  

Saving for purpose  

Linked to the mindset around the goals you set, it is the habit of saving that can make a big difference (rather than the amount).

Set aside a few dollars to a savings account (or glass jar!) and name your account something personal to you, like “Getting Married” or “Xmas Gifts”. This helps to keep the focus on saving for something meaningful and can help cause a 'pause' before you spend the money from there.  

Making the budget work for you

How to make them useful

Whilst it can feel daunting to look at where your hard-earned money has been going it's a lot easier than it used to be. Most banking apps have a download function where you can download your spending and then review it as part of setting your budget and financial goals. This is easy to do, click here for a quick tutorial. 

A downloadable template

The Simple-budget-MoneyTalks is where you can record your income and expenses to see where your money goes.  

You can save it and return to it later as you go through the list.

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And finally, any of the links above go to your own copies of the documents which are completely private to you. We don't have access to any of the links. TEAM SPOTTY

This was originally posted as an education article on the Money Sweetspot customer portal. If you read this as one of our customers, you would've earned some money off your loan! Do the mahi, get the treats. Find out more.

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