Staying on top of your weekly finances can be a big task.  You have to consider your grocery items, car, petrol and travel expenses, health, rent or mortgage, school and other costs if you have children and then there are the costs associated with your lifestyle and holidays.Here are some great tips to help you plan your budget and save some money.

Budget Planning Tips

Start by writing down all of your known expenses into a spreadsheet  – this should include absolutely every known expense like

• Rent or mortgage payments
• Council fees
• Groceries
• School or study fees
• Gas, water and electricity
• Rates and taxes
• Medical/dental fees and private health
• Insurances
• Car and petrol or public transport
• Holidays
• Clothing and personal care like hairdressing etc
• Add in a contingency or miscellaneous budget for unforeseen items like birthdays, gifts, urgent medical, leave a good amount of Christmas too

• Automate as many payments as you can – that way – you are less likely to forget payments and
• Look at ways to do salary sacrifice or payments into your superannuation to reduce your taxation
• Start a savings account if you can and add to it regularly – even a direct deposit from your pay each week – even if its just $25 or $50 can all add up
• Determine your weekly income and deduct expenses – this leaves you with your spare cash.  If you do not have spare cash – you need to look at ways of saving money

Saving Tips

• Get a mortgage health check – you could save thousands over the term of your loan by reviewing your bank and rate and repayment structure
• Look for special offers on gumtree and sell unwanted items on gumtree or ebay – you will be amazed at who might want your items that you no longer need and that you can grab a great bargain’
• Start a veggie patch – great fun and plenty of fun ways to add some colour to your meals
• Buy a deep freeze – if you buy items in bulk – you can save lots of money every week by shooing smart
• Do your shopping for groceries on line – its amazing how much less you buy when you are not tempted by the packaging, your hunger or your kids
• Do regular maintenance on the home  eg scale the clean the cofeee machine, empty the gutters etc – this will prolong the life of things like machinery and reduce emergency repairs and big call out fees
• Shop at the right time of year – wait for the sales or buy ahead if you can (only what you need though)
• Look for specials on items you buy regularly – especially big cost items or regular purchases – but in bulk if you can store it
• DIY – that’s right – do it yourself or have a go – Bunnings and Masters have great classes and courses to give you some tips on how to do things
• Then there are the little things like spend less time in the shower, keep reticulation to the recommended minimum, turn off taps properly, shut doors, turn off lights, wash clothes in cold water, try not to use your dryer

Our final tip – stay away from the shops if possible – an outing to the shops will cost you money!  Try packing your own snacks and head outdoors to the beach or park.

Good luck and start planning today!