Look at your utility bills. On the right hand side will be a ‘daily usage’ figure. Multiplying that by 14 will give you your current average fortnight’s usage and let you know how much you should be putting aside each fortnightly pay. (Don’t forget, this figure will change as the seasons do! To get a yearly average, add up all your daily usage figures from your last 6 bills, divide by 6 and then multiply by 14.)

Don’t forget: Prepaid funeral plans, Netflix, coffee or gas station snacks, church tithes, pet food/insurance, car registration, household cleaning equipment, cosmetics, lotto/scratchies, rental items, gifts and more. If you can’t think of anything else, browse your bank statement to get an idea of how many ‘one off’ purchases you tend to make.

Okay, now head on over here to fill in your budget. How’s it looking?  Probably a bit scary. That’s because most of us just don’t think of our money that way. In fact, most of the time we might even feel pretty good! It’s just sometimes when certain bills come due that we start losing sleep or leaning on the credit card.  The reality is, however, that both of those are warning signs.

| ← Previous | | | Next → |